His thrusts grew faster. Harder. So deep and powerful it felt like she was going to break. The kind of shattering her body had only ever done for Colt.
She tucked her head into the nook of his neck and tried to breathe. To drag one breath in after the next.
When he found her nipple and began to play with the tight bud, she gasped. He rolled it and tugged, knowing exactly what to do to drive her crazy. To make her pulse speed up and her heart beat so hard it almost hurt.
She opened her mouth on his shoulder, not sure if she was kissing or biting him. Or maybe she was just stifling the screams.
When his hand returned to her core, her entire body tensed. He rolled his thumb over her clit and her body pulsed. He did it again, this time firmer.
She lifted her head and kissed him again, letting his tongue sweep inside her mouth. Letting him taste her.Claimher.
When his mouth moved from hers, she wanted to groan. But then he nibbled at the lobe of her ear before whispering, “I love you so fucking much, Cricket.”
And that was it. Those deep, hushed words that whispered against her ear pushed her over the edge. She cried out, the sound a strangled scream as the orgasm hit her hard, making her entire body convulse.
Colt kept pumping, prolonging the throbbing in her core. Making her writhe and arch in his arms until finally, he growled. His teeth gently latched onto her neck as he shattered along with her.
Then he was just holding her, neither of them able to suck in a single full breath.
When she finally had the strength to lift her head, she cupped his cheek and looked at him. Her husband. Her entire world. “Are you okay?”
“I’m not sure. But you make me want to be.”
At least he was honest.
This time she pressed a gentle kiss to his forehead, letting her lips linger before whispering, “They’ll be okay.”
“This time.”
“There won’t be a next time.”
“We don’t know that.”
She swiped a trail of water from his brow. “There’s you. And Noah. And Becket. And Holden. And Jesse and his deputies. An entire army of people who’ll help to bring him in. You’re not alone.”
He leaned his forehead to hers and closed his eyes. “And there’s you, keeping me sane.”
“And I’m not going anywhere.”
CHAPTER 23
Colt couldn’t sleep. What had he gotten, two hours? Three? Whatever it was, it probably wasn’t enough, but he wasn’t going to get any more. Not tonight.
He watched the moonlight flicker over the road outside, telling himself he was here and not in bed because he didn’t want to wake Indie. But that wasn’t true. He needed to watch the house. Wait. Because his fatherwouldmake an appearance, it was just a question of when.
He closed his eyes, and the night he’d met Ben flashed back in his mind.
Colt fisted his hands so hard that his knuckles ached. He was angry. Angry at his no-good father for making him run and hide again tonight. And that he’d brought those men onto their doorstep.
His mother could have been home. What then? What would they have done to her?
He and his mother deserved better. He was only eight, but he knew that much.
Colt looked out his bedroom window into the dark night. He should be sleeping, but he couldn’t. What if his dad came back? Or worse, what if those men he owed money to came back?
Actually, he wasn’t sure if that was worse. Would he prefer the devil he knew or someone new to terrorize his mother?
A door opened somewhere downstairs. It was so quiet the noise almost didn’t reach him. But he’d become so attuned to any sound in this house over the years that he still heard it.
