The Care and Feeding of an Alpha Male (23 page)

“You’re not,” he said, rubbing her shoulder. “You want to be your own person. I get that. I fought for that for years.” He paused for a moment, then stroked her hair. “When I was in high school, I hated everyone and everything in this town.”

“You hated me, too?” she asked with a faint smile.

“I did,” he admitted.

“That’s okay,” she said with a sigh. “I was pretty stupid back then.”

“You were with Allan back then,” he said. “And I was a nobody. One of the Waggoner boys that lived out in a trailer in the junkyard.”

She remembered. He’d been there on the fringes of memory—a lean, angry teenage boy in ragged jeans with a permanent scowl on his face.

“When I was in high school,” he began slowly, “I wanted so desperately to get away from this place that I couldn’t stand it. I’d spend nights running at the school track, doing push-ups and drills, because I couldn’t wait to get into basic training. The day after graduation, I enlisted. I shipped out to basic and never looked back. I was so desperate to make something of myself that I wanted to forget everything that I’d been for the last eighteen years. I was going to remake myself into a new man.”

Her fingers linked in his. “And did you like the marines?”

“I loved it,” he admitted. “I’d still be there if it wasn’t for my knee. Two surgeries and I had limited mobility for a few years. Not enough to permanently sideline me, but enough to destroy my career.”

She pressed her mouth to his arm. “I’m sorry.”

“I spent a lot of time doing survival-training routines when in the marines. When I got out, I decided I didn’t want to be around anyone. I bought some land out in the middle of nowhere, Alaska, and built a cabin. I lived off the grid—no running water, no electricity, no nothing—for a year. And when I came into town one day, I called Dane just to find out how he was doing, and his life was a fucked-up mess. I was in the middle of some survival classes. Invited Dane. Didn’t realize how much he’d like it. I invited him to come join me. We lived up in the mountains for an entire year. No power, no phones, nothing. But then Dane wanted to come back. And Grant offered the survival business.”

“But you would have stayed?” she guessed.

He shrugged. “I didn’t care one way or another. But Dane missed people. And I think he was worried about Grant. Grant’s wife died five years ago, and the man was still a mess. At ends. Scrambling for projects to fill the day. Dane wanted to help him. So I came.”

She’d had no idea. Grant seemed so together. Actually, all three men did. Her hand stroked along the cords of his arm. “Do you regret coming back?”

“Some days,” he said lazily, and her heart twanged in response. “But I like you, and I like my friends, and right now that’s enough for me. The rest of the town could fall off the map tomorrow and I wouldn’t give a shit.”

She could understand that. “I shouldn’t care so much that they don’t see me as my own person,” she said softly.

“You care,” he said, rubbing her shoulder again. “Because you want to prove to them that you are, and they’re not seeing it.”

She nodded, and stared at the pile of papers in front of her, the keys carefully tagged to each page. “Look at that,” she said with disgust. She leaned out of his embrace and picked up the stack of paperwork and keys. “The Realtor trusted me with all of these people’s house keys. Why? Because I’m sweet little Beth Ann Williamson, who would never harm a fly or lie to a stranger. Why not trust me with all these people’s houses?” She tossed down the stack with disgust, and the keys jangled on the linoleum.

“You know what I think?” he drawled.

Beth Ann glanced over at him. “What?”

His sharp eyes glinted at her, and she saw a flash of dimple that made her knees weak. “They think you’re not the kind of girl to fuck her man in a stranger’s house.”

The breath caught in her throat, and desire began to pulse through her. “I bet that’s exactly what they think.”

“Want to prove them wrong?”

“Absolutely,” she breathed, a wicked smile curving her face.

He stood up, moved to the front door, and locked it. Colt turned back to her, his eyes gleaming. The front of his pants had tented, his cock already hard. “Shut the blinds, darlin’.”

She did, her body quivering with need. Her legs felt curiously weak—one touch from him and she’d collapse like a deck of cards. He did that to her. His touch never failed to make her feel naughty, and sexual, and oh so desirable. As if she were the most beautiful thing in the world and it was all he could do to keep his hands off of her.

She’d never felt like that before. Ever. And she craved it so badly.

As soon as she’d shut the blinds, Colt’s hand slid along her
ass, cupping it through her dress. “You look stunning today,” he said, leaning in to nuzzle her neck. “My cock is hard as a rock just looking at you.”

Warmth flooded through her. No comments on whether her clothes were inappropriate or if her shoes were the wrong color. He just liked to look at her. Appreciated her. She tilted her neck so he could continue to kiss it, his hand burying in her thick fall of blond hair.

“More beautiful every time I see you,” he whispered against her skin.

She felt the same way. Nothing in Colt’s appearance had changed since they’d started to sleep together—she kept his hair cut crisp and short for him. He kept clean shaven. Wore the same kinds of clothes. But every time she saw him, it was like a punch in the gut. The long lashes of his narrow eyes. How had she ever thought them hard? How had she ever thought his beautiful, sensual mouth was turned down in a permanent frown? She lived for those flashes of dimple that told her he was truly amused. That she’d gotten to him.

His arms slid around her waist and pulled her close to him, cradling her, even as he continued to kiss her neck from behind. Not aggressively making love to her this time, then. He’d make love to her soft and sweet. For some reason, that made her eyes prick with new tears. She turned in his arms to face him. “Thank you,” she said softly.

He raised an eyebrow at her, inquiring. His hands flexed on her hips, soothing, rubbing. Caressing.

“For knowing what I need,” she said softly. “For listening to me. For seeing me.”

“Always.”

“I’m so glad I have someone like you in my life,” she said, laying her hand on his chest. Not over his tattoo this time, but she spread her fingers over his heart, as if she could touch it. “Someone I can lean on and trust when the world around me doesn’t seem to make sense any longer.”

“Trust,” he repeated softly, as if tasting the word.

She nodded, staring down at her hand on his chest. “I can’t be in a relationship without trust. Never again. If I don’t have trust, I don’t have anything.” Her head tilted up to look at him and she smiled softly. “And that’s why I’m glad I have you.”

He leaned in to kiss her, his lips claiming hers in a gentle caress. His tongue stroked lightly against her mouth, then drew back. She continued the kiss, letting her own tongue rub against his even as his hand slid down her thigh, looking for the hem of her dress.

“Pick your poison,” he said between low, deep, searing kisses. “Countertop? Living room floor? Dining room? Bathroom? Bedroom?”

“Living room,” she said breathlessly.

He grabbed her by the hips and hauled her against him, lifting her a foot off the ground. She wrapped her arms around his neck as he carried her into the living room and gave her another long, sweeping kiss. “This looks like a prime lovemaking area.”

She blushed, her heart thrilling at his words.

He set her down, watched her kick off her heels. Colt frowned down at the pale yellow carpet, scuffed a heavy boot along it.

“What’s wrong?”

“This shit’s cheap as hell.”

She gave a little laugh and leaned in to kiss him again. “I can’t afford expensive.”

He shook his head. “I’m not laying you down on this crap.” His eyes gleamed. “I have a better idea.”

She
liked
his ideas. Her nipples hardened. “Oh?” Her voice was husky with need.

He glanced over at the window. There were two narrow windows, rounded at the top, equally spaced apart in the small living room. “Let’s go over there,” he said, and nodded at the first one.

She moved toward it, then gave Colt a questioning look. He took her hand in his own, kissed the palm with a smile, and then placed it on the wall next to the window. Then he moved to her other side and did the same.

Her palms pressed against the wall at shoulder height. If she pushed forward, her face would press through the blinds and she could see out into the street. Sunlight streamed in through the slats in the blinds over her body, leaving stripes of light on her skin.

His hands slid over her hips again, and he tugged her skirt up until it bunched around her waist. The thick raw silk fabric stayed in place, and she felt his hands slide over the soft flesh of her bottom, his fingers sliding her thong down her legs. She daintily stepped out of them and looked over her shoulder at him inquiringly.

“Keep your hands on the wall, darlin’.”

“I will,” she breathed.

He knelt by her leg, kissed one thigh. “If you wanted to open the blinds…that’s entirely up to you.”

A shocked thrill raced through her. He was going to make
love with her facing this window, then? And if she wanted, she could open it and show the world his body pounding into her? Her breath came in little pants, half aroused, half alarmed. Did she have the courage to do that? Did she even want to? “I…I think I want them to stay shut,” she said.

He chuckled and kissed her leg again. “That’s fine with me. I like having you all to myself.”

Her heart fluttered. He’d have shown her off if she’d wanted it, though.

His hand slid up the inside of her thigh. Her lower half was totally exposed, she realized, and he crouched behind her. “Spread your legs for me, Beth Ann.”

A tremble flashed through her, and she did, careful to keep her hands pressed on the wall.

“Wider.”

She obeyed, her legs now almost as spread as her arms. She stared at the mini blinds, her breath hitching even faster as he brushed his fingers between her legs. “Wet, but not wet enough,” he mused. She heard him shift on the ground behind her, felt his hands cup her ass. His thumb slid down the seam of it, sending an erotic thrill through her. She wanted to press her cheek to the wall and lean against it for support, but she couldn’t lean into the window. And that was part of the torture—she was exquisitely aware of where and how her body was placed.

His hands parted the cleft of her bottom and for a shocking moment, she thought he was going to touch her there. But instead, she felt his mouth on her core. Her gasp turned into a low moan of need. His tongue stroked inside her, and she felt his nose brush against her bottom. His face was…buried there.
Between her legs. From behind. A bolt of pure pleasure shot through her and she moaned, her fingers digging into the wall. Oh God. The mental picture in her mind was so incredibly erotic. His tongue swiped inside her, thrusting as his cock would soon. She rocked her hips gently, moaning at the flutters of need racing through her.

Then he gave her one slow, long lick that seemed to last longer than all the others, so long that her body was shuddering when he finally dragged his tongue away. She whimpered when he dragged his fingers up and down her pussy again. This time she was slick and hot with need, her folds silky from his mouth and her own arousal. “Much better.”

She felt his hands on her hips again as he stood and moved behind her. Then they moved off her again and she felt him lean in and press his cock against her, kissing her shoulder, even as she heard him rip a condom open.

“Colt, baby…please…” Oh heavens, she never called him
baby
. Would he hate that? It had just slipped out.

“I’m here,” he said softly. Then she felt him pull away for a moment—putting the condom on. A moment later, she felt his hands grasping her ass again. “Lean forward a little. Push that sweet ass out to me.”

She did, stepping backward a bit and gasping when his cock butted up against her heat. When had he gotten undressed? Did she even care? She wiggled backward a little more and felt the head of him sink deep. Was he holding still so she could impale herself on him? His hand tensed on her hip, and the head of his cock stroked inside her, a movement that made her keen with need. He thrust shallowly into her again, a mere tease.

She pushed back against him. Her hands had slid a little and she felt almost bent over in place, her bottom high as she backed up, searching for him.

On her next wiggle backward, she was rewarded with the surge of his hips moving forward, and he sank himself to the hilt. Beth Ann cried out at the intense sensation.

“That what you wanted, darlin’?” he asked huskily, and pumped into her slowly again, pushing until his full length was rubbing inside her.

“Yes,” she moaned, her eyes squeezed shut with the onslaught.

“You want me to push into you again? Or was that enough for you?”

God, he loved teasing her. Making her beg for more. “More,” she panted. “I need more.”

He pushed deep again, the movement slow and excruciating in its exquisiteness. Beth Ann moaned with need. He was making love to her so slowly, so sweetly, but she needed more. When he dragged his cock slowly out of her once more, and then just as unhurriedly sank back in again, she whimpered.

“What do you want, Beth Ann?”

“You,” she whimpered. “Harder. Faster. Please, Colt. Take me fast.”

She didn’t need to repeat it. He surged deep into her again, the force of his thrust rocking her forward on her feet and sending a tidal wave of pure pleasure through her. He thrust again, and again, his hands locked on her hips, and then she was clinging to the wall for support as he thrust into her over and over again, his hard motions rocking the two of them forward with every thrust. His skin smacked against her own, and oh God, she
was so close to coming. One hand left the wall and she slipped it between her legs, brushing against her clit as he slammed into her.

“That’s my girl,” he rasped hoarsely. “Touch yourself.”