Not well, Colt knew. Not because it was his fault, but because of what he represented to her. Would she still love him if she knew he was just the poorer, paler version of Allan?
Or would she be sick at the thought of touching him?
FIFTEEN
When Colt’s father went to sleep, Beth Ann insisted on dragging Colt back to his cabin with her. “He’s just going to sleep all night,” she soothed, concerned about the stark look on his face. He’d held his father’s hand all afternoon, and even though the man was going to be fine, she knew Colt was concerned. In a private moment while his father was napping, Colt had admitted the state of his father’s home and the warrants for his arrest if he didn’t get it cleaned up. Henry couldn’t move back there.
But the problem with the property and the warrants couldn’t be solved that night. At her fussing and Henry’s insistence, they drove from Huntsville back to Bluebonnet, then out to the ranch. Colt hadn’t protested when she’d offered to drive.
Nor had he protested when she’d checked his fridge, found nothing in it, and insisted on going to the main lodge to make him a few sandwiches. When she’d returned, he still wore that stark look on his face, and she’d had to coax him to eat. He’d wolfed the sandwich down without a thought, and when it was gone, he tugged her into his lap and just hugged her close.
She felt tears prick her eyes, and ran her fingers along his scalp lovingly. What a terrible, tough day for him. “I’m sure we can figure out a solution for your father.”
He nodded, then tilted his face up. She kissed his lips automatically, smoothing her fingers over his cheeks, caressing him.
“How was work?” he asked. “Business picking up?”
“Not yet, but I’m hopeful,” she said. She’d always be hopeful. If it didn’t pick up, well, she didn’t like to think about that.
It’s because of who you’re dating, that awful voice whispered, and it sounded a lot like Allan in her head. She ignored it and slid from Colt’s lap, tugging on his hand. “Come to bed.”
He rubbed his face and nodded, rolling into bed, fully dressed.
She laughed and tugged at his boots. “You can’t sleep like that.”
“I’ve slept in mud,” he said, and she could almost hear the amusement in his voice. “Sleeping in my clothes ain’t nothing.”
Well, she wasn’t going to wake up with a hiking boot in her back. She plucked at his laces until they were undone, then wrapped her hands around his boot and tugged. It fell to the ground, and she quickly removed the other, just as his hand began to languidly trail up her leg. When she turned to unbuckle his belt, he was watching her with avid, hot eyes. Her fingers stroked over the crotch of his jeans, finding him hard already. His hand smoothed up and down her leg, caressing her. She rubbed her hand along his shaft, then loosened his belt. When she undid his zipper, she slipped her hand inside, cupped his hot length through his briefs. He groaned in need.
“You’re the best thing that has ever happened to me, Beth Ann.”
She gave him a saucy smile. “You always say the sweetest things when I have my hand on your cock, Colt Waggoner.”
Tonight, he wasn’t in a teasing mood, though. The look he gave her was solemn. “It’s true.”
She laughed lightly.
He wasn’t laughing. He continued to stare up at her. His hand moved to her cheek, brushed his thumb over her lip. “I love you.”
Her breath caught in her throat. He…She hadn’t expected that. Colt was someone who scowled whenever he saw a sappy commercial on TV. She knew he cared about her, had assumed in time that he might confess how he felt. And she didn’t mind waiting. But this. This felt like…a gift, with him staring up at her so intensely, need in his eyes.
Unexpected emotion pricked at her throat. She slid onto the bed, straddled him, and leaned over his body to kiss his mouth. “I love you, too,” she whispered, and then flexed her hips down over his.
Colt groaned, his hands moving to her br**sts and pinching the ni**les through her shirt. Desire crashed through her and she gasped against his mouth. He thrust against her, grinding his c**k against her core.
“Get undressed,” he said, his voice a harsh rasp. “I want to see your br**sts bouncing while you ride my cock.”
His words made her inhale sharply at the mental image, and she tugged her top off, casting it to the floor. She’d worn a camisole instead of a bra today, and it was quickly discarded as well.
His fingers went to her ni**les, brushing over them, his movements gentle and teasing. As she rolled off him to remove her pants, he removed his own. Moments later, she straddled him again, feeling the hard length of him resting against her pu**y. She rocked against his heat, sliding her hips up and down on him. She wasn’t wet enough—not yet. So she placed his hands back on her br**sts and sat up, gazing down at his intense face, while he gently teased and rolled her ni**les against his thumbs. His hips flexed slowly under her, making her body rise, and her pulse began to beat slow and steady through her body, thrumming with building need. Her own hands moved to his ni**les, playing with them, feeling the hard nubs against her own fingers, flicking them to watch his response.
His eyes were gleaming slits as he watched her, his hips bucking underneath her again, rolling gently. “You wet enough to take me, Beth Ann?”
“Hmm,” she said softly, and reached down between her legs, sliding two fingers into her pu**y. She pulled her hand away again and brushed her fingers against his mouth. “What do you think?”
She could tell from the look on his face that her small movement had pleased him. But her own breath gasped in her throat when he caught her hand in his and held her fingers against his mouth. He sucked one deep into his mouth, his tongue rasping as he licked it clean. “Delicious.”
Her pu**y clenched as his tongue moved over her other finger. Her own hips rocked, her breath hitching.
“Slide over me, Beth Ann,” he said softly. “Ride me.”
She braced one hand on the bed, raising her hips. Her other hand reached for his c**k and she braced it at the core of her body, then began to push back, seating him in her body. His fingers had moved back to her br**sts, tugging at the peaks as she gasped and worked herself down his hard length. And when she had seated herself fully, she sat back and moved her hips, just a little. He was so full inside her, and this way she got to look down at his delicious body. Her hands ran over his chest—so gorgeous. All hers.