The Best Man (6 page)

Colin’s hands circled her rib cage, holding her tight as he sat up and pulled her to her knees.

“I —”

He pulled her nipple back into his mouth.

Beth wanted to argue; to pout that she hadn’t finished her turn but he was feasting on her. Her breasts. Her shoulder. Her neck. Again and again. His mouth had her writhing.

It was too much. She threaded her fingers through his hair and tugged, almost rough. “Now. Now.”

His fingers clenched at her words. When he lifted his head up to gaze at her, his eyes had darkened, his pupils dilated as though he too had grown drunk from their touching.

Beth shifted so she could rub herself against his erection. She scratched her fingernails down his chest and stomach and gave the drawstring on his pants a tug. It untied easily. She grasped the base of his erection and slowly slid her hand up its length. Colin gasped and she reveled in it, circling the sensitive tip with her finger and caressing him until his breath came in shallow, needful pants. She pulled away.

Colin’s head shot up. “Please, love. Don’t —” He watched her with hungry eyes as she slide her pants off and came back to straddle his lap. She stroked him again, bending to flick his nipples with her tongue as she guided him to just the right spot.

He grabbed her waist, nodding repeatedly as she slid down. “Good … so good.” He lifted his hips up to drive deeper inside. “Fuck.”

Beth watched his head drop back and his jaw clench. He was struggling not to lose himself then and there, an ambition that had never looked hotter. She tried to find a slow pace; they had all night and no reason to rush. But the sense of loss that hit her every time she rose off his hips spurred her forward faster and harder. “Oh, God.”

She leaned down and pushed her tongue between his tightly closed lips. He responded instantly, kissing her deeply and fisting one hand in the hair at the base of her neck. He muttered against her mouth nonsensically before tugging her hair down to bare her neck.

Giggling breathlessly, she pushed herself back up. “What happened to all the sweet talk?” Beth sped up, the sense of feminine power and control she had thrilling her to new heights.

“Thought I was … coming on too … hard.”

“I think you are just the right amount of hard, Colin.” She pressed down, taking him as deeply as she could, and they gasped in tandem.

She met his eyes and got trapped in their dark green depths. He offered too much, he was only hers temporarily but the openness, the longing in his gaze called to her all the same. She should close her eyes, protect her heart but already the pleasure was too great. He pulsed inside her and shouted, rough and deep, as he pulled her to his chest and she let herself be swept under.

COLIN PRATT WAS A
cuddle fiend. Beth woke to find herself clutched against him like teddy bear, her head resting on his chest and their legs entangled. Escape would be tricky.

“I know you’re awake,” he mumbled.

She jumped slightly at the sound of his voice. “I didn’t realize you were.” Beth sat up and gave him a quick smile over her shoulder. “Morning.” Could he actually be hotter with bedhead?

Colin slid his arm around her waist, tugged her back down, and rolled onto his side to spoon. “I’m not nearly done with you yet.”

“Is that so?”

“You rode me like Valkyrie last night.” He cupped her breast and kneaded it for a moment before pinching her nipple lightly between his thumb and finger.

She closed her eyes. “What does that even mean?” And why did she sound so breathless?

“You nearly killed me. Now I want my turn at the reins.”

His erection on the back of her thighs brought a whimper. “Colin.”

“I dreamed about this -- touching you like this.” He brought his hand lower, slid a single finger into her folds and stroked her until she writhed against him. “I need you.” He lifted his hand and used it to guide her leg up so that her knee was tucked to her belly and, without another word, thrust into her warmth.

His arm clamped down across her chest and Beth grabbed hold of it. “I --”

“What, love? What do you need?” His breath was hot and wet on her ear.

“More,” was the only thing she could say. Arousal was a tight ball in her gut making her shake and tremble and need more than she’d thought she could.

He rolled them both over. “On your belly, love.” He covered her hands with his and thrust deeper. “Like this?”

She shook, wordlessly.

“Tell me what you want … what you need.” He whispered hoarsely, reaching up to brush her hair aside and kiss the back of her neck. He nipped at her shoulder. “I want to see you let go. Come for me.” He pulled her up on her hands and knees and held her hip, angling deeper, filling her with a perfection that shock her to the very core. She came until she was limp and her arms couldn’t hold any longer.

He caught her just before her face hit the sheet and gave a hoarse chuckle.  “That’s it.” He guided her back on to the mattress, settled himself between her knees, and kissed the corner of her lips. “Sexy little Valkyrie.” He nearly growled as he slipped back inside.

Beth gasped and cupped his face. His eyes were fierce, almost feral.

“That’s it. God.” Still twitching from the after spasms of her own release, she rubbed encouraging circles on his back.

He dropped his forehead against hers. “My name. Please.”

“Colin?”

“Like you mean it.” He nipped her bottom lip.

Beth clutched at his messy curls, turning his head so she could whisper in his ear. “You feel so good, Colin. So good.”

He moaned, deep and ragged, as he buried himself inside her a final time before collapsing beside her. “That was …” He caught her hand and brought it to rest on his rapidly moving chest.  “Beth, that was --”

“Oh, yeah.” She grinned at him. “Nice job with the mind blowing.” The sides of his mouth curved up, the classic self-satisfied male smirk, and she laughed. “Do I have to worry about your ego already?”

His head turned toward her and blinked one eye open to squint at her. “You did say ‘mind blowing’?”

“I did. Maybe you’re the Valkyrie.”

He chuckled and squeezed her hand. “Valkyrie are, by definition, female.”

“Oh.” Beth wrinkled her nose and shrugged. “I’m going to grab a shower.”

“Do I get to watch?”

“Nope.”

He sighed. “I’d argue, but I probably need a few more minutes to recover anyway. I’ll just lie here and imagine you taking a shower.” He smiled broadly and closed his eyes. “That’s right you dirty girl —use extra bubbles.”

Beth laughed as she glanced around the room in search of her pajamas. They were too far away. She wrapped the sheet around her chest and pulled it off the bed as she stood up, giving the bedding an extra tug to untangle them from Colin's legs.  She ignored his chuckling at her light-of-day shyness and collected her clothes.

Beth took her time showering and getting dressed, and then headed out to the kitchen with a bounce in her step she was careful not to overanalyze.

Colin was sitting on her couch speaking on his cell phone. “No. No. I am certain. I’ve told you that your personal physician should not even have a medical license, and if he comes near me again I will be pressing charges.” He sighed heavily. “I’m fine. Truly. I’m certain that the doctor was merely being overly cautious. I’ll book a flight for early next week and give you a call when I arrive in London. No, please don’t. I’m not … no, I’m no longer staying at … hmm? I’ll be staying with a friend here in Los Angeles. You can reach me on my cell.”  Colin sighed again. “I am not being … Fine, I’ve met a woman. No. She is spectacular and I intend to marry her as soon as she’ll have me. Of course she hasn’t agreed yet, she is entirely too practical to marry a man she has just met and who spent several hours acting like an imbecile last Saturday.” He gave a burst of boyish laughter. “Right. Yes. I’ll see you then. You too, Father.”

Beth stared at him wide-eyed.

“My father.” He gestured with the phone.

“I … umm ... I …”

“You were listening to my conversation with my father.”

She felt her cheeks heating up. “You were having that conversation in my living room.” She frowned. “That’s not the point. I think we should have a talk. I … umm.”

“You heard me tell my father that I plan to marry you and now you’re panicking.” He grinned. “Would you have preferred I share with him your remarkable talent for bed play?”

Beth tried to laugh. “So you didn’t mean anything by it, right? You were just messing with your father?”

“Of course I was messing with my father.”

She smiled. “I don’t know why I —”

“But I do intend to marry you.”

Her stomach clenched. “Colin, I … you are a … I … we …”

“You are adorable when you’re terrified.” Chuckling, Colin stood up and walked towards her. You’re forgetting one important matter.”

“Huh?”

“I haven’t asked you yet.”

“Oh. But, still, we need to talk, I —”

“Fine. Go have a seat. I’ll heat up the leftover takeaway and you can tell me all the reasons you could never marry a man like me.” He leaned over, kissed her cheek chastely, and turned to walk to the kitchen.

Beth followed him slowly. “That’s not what I meant. You seem like a really great guy. The thing is … we’ve only just met. It is way too soon to be thinking about … and even if it wasn’t too soon, there are far too many complications.”

Colin pulled the leftover containers out of the fridge and placed them on the counter. “So you’d prefer if I thought of you as a bit of fun then? The kind of girl you talk out of her pants for a night or two, but couldn’t actually see yourself spending any real time with. That’s the real you?”

Her cheeks burned. “I didn’t say that.”

“Where do you keep plates?”

“All the way to the right. Bottom shelf.”

He opened the cabinet, took out two and turned back to her. “Please continue. I’d very much like to know how I’ve misunderstood the situation.”

“What?”

He walked over to the bar and leaned over so they were eye to eye. “Either you aren’t the type of woman a man would want to marry, or I’m not the type of man you’d like to marry. Or, there is absolutely no reason for me not to try to win your heart.” His head tilted to the side and he studied her a moment. “I don’t understand why you would waste your time with a man who didn’t hope to marry you.”

How the hell is he making this sound reasonable? Damn accent!
“I just think maybe you’re jumping ahead of things a bit.”

“Very well. We’ll table all discussion of marriage until we’ve spent more time together.”

“Right. Good.” Beth nodded, and then frowned. “Except now I know you’re thinking it.”

Colin kissed her hard and quick. “Guess you shouldn’t listen to other people’s telephone conversations then.”

BETH HUNG UP THE
phone and exhaled. A quick call to her assistant had proven that Eli had things well under control. Her schedule was clear for the rest of the week.
Now what?

She choked down some fried rice and broccoli with garlic sauce and went back to her room. Colin was … insane. The sex was fantastic; seriously fantastic. That didn’t mean she was going to sign away her life and follow him across the globe. He wasn’t even her type. Hot? Sure. But he was bookish and impulsive. Beth knew another woman might find his antics romantic, but she preferred a bit more common sense. No. This thing with Colin was fun but temporary. She just had to remember that.

With this in mind, she walked into the living room to find Colin sitting on the couch with a book. He smiled as he looked up and Beth could feel her resolve weakening.

“Were you able to rearrange your schedule?”

She nodded. “Yeah. Eli already handled most of it.”

“I am sorry that I’ve disrupted your work. I can tell it’s important to you.”

“Not your fault, really. Eli gets something in his head and there’s no stopping him.”

“Still …”

Beth shrugged. “Don’t worry about it. How’s your head this morning? I should’ve asked already. I’m sorry.”

“It’s not bad; barely noticeable.”

“Can I take a look?” She gestured towards the bandage covering half of his forehead.

“It’s fine.”

She rolled her eyes and reached over to peel the medical tape. “I should change the bandage anyway.”

He grabbed her hand and kissed her knuckles. “Have I mentioned that you’re wearing a very pretty dress today?”

Laughing, she pulled her hand away and gently removed the bandage. Bruises had blossomed across his forehead overnight. Beth winced. “Maybe we should be icing this.”

He stood up. “It looks worse than it is. I’m fine. Promise.”

Beth frowned for a moment before rising. “I’ll go get some fresh gauze and tape.”

“I’d rather you stay here.” He ran his fingers down her arm.