For a few moments she just lay there, happy to be warm and alive. Then she tried wiggling her toes, wondering if they were frost-bitten. They moved, and didn't hurt, which seemed like agood start. Same with her fingers. Same with her nose, though that was harder to wiggle. Especially since it was pressed against Colton's broad, warm chest.
She was almost sure she'd fallen asleep facing the other direction, the little spoon to Colton's big spoon, and last she'd known, there absolutely hadnotbeen room to roll over in the sleeping bag. She lay there a moment, trying to figure that out, and then realized that they'd both been in several layers of clothing the first night they'd shared a sleeping bag, and this time neither of them were wearing more than hip-hugging briefs.
This was either bad, or the very best kind of good that had ever been. Jo was inclined to think it was the second one, although she probably shouldn't be thinking that way when she knew the only reason they were naked was it had been necessary to save her life. Never mind that she would have been pretty happy to get naked with Colton under almost any circumstances. These ones were…what was the word. Jo knew it wasn't right, but mumbled, "Existential?"
"Extenuating," Colton murmured back.
Jo caught her breath. She hadn't even known he was awake, much less…reading her thoughts, apparently. Cautiously, her nose still against his chest and her eyes closed so she couldn't see any potentially dismayed expression on his face, she said, "Can shifters read minds?"
Colton breathed a very soft laugh into her hair. "No. But they can wake up with a warm, beautiful woman naked in their arms and remember that extenuating circumstances got them there, so they shouldn't be hoping that the warm beautiful woman mightwantto be naked in their arms."
Jo hesitated, and Colton hugged her very gently. "It's okay. You don't have to be. Yesterday was scary. It doesn't have to turn into…anything."
"Oh, no, Ido. I'm just trying to decide if my heart can take a one night stand."
"Would it help if I said there's zero chance I won't be back as soon as this court case is over?"
Jo glanced up sharply, though all she could really see was Colton's jaw. Rich gold hairs dusted it now, two days of beard growth starting to show even if it was quite blond. "Really? You'd want to come back to Montana?"
"I'd want to go back to wherever you were, forever, for the rest of my life. Which is a lot," Colton said, still very softly. "I know it's a lot. But you almost died yesterday because I was an idiot who didn't think things through?—"
"I'm the one with the wilderness training," Jo said, sort of offended. "Let me take credit for some of that idiocy."
Colton paused, scooted back a little so he could try to look down at her, and laughed when their eyes met. "God, you're perfect. All right. I'm prepared to share one and a half percent of the blame."
"I insist on taking at least fifty percent."
"Two percent."
Jo smiled "Fifty."
"Five."
"We can keep doing this until I get my way," she warned, and then to her astonishment, Colton Drew lowered his mouth to hers and kissed her.
It was a tender kiss, edged with hunger and concern, and if any parts of Johadn'tbeen warmed up before, they suddenly flared into body-wide melting heat as she whimpered into the kiss. Colton lifted his hand into her hair, tightening his fingers as he deepened the kiss, and Jo forgot everything in the world except his strength and taste as she fell into it. When it broke they were both ragged of breath, and Colton's eyes were dark and delicious and promising. "I have something to tell you. Iwasn't going to until we were out of the woods because I don't want you to feel trapped, but?—"
Jo rolled her hips back to the containing edge of the sleeping bag, then forward again, against Colton's. "I like this kind of trapped."
Colton groaned and found her mouth with his again. Electricity shot through Jo, knotting in her breasts and between her thighs. Their kisses lasted even longer this time, until all she wanted to do was get rid of the last bits of fabric between them and do something about the urgent need he'd built in her, but he tried again to say something, and Jo reluctantly concluded she should probably let him. "Go ahead."
"I knew. From the moment I saw you in the airport, I knew you were the one for me," Colton whispered. "Shifters always know, when we meet our—we call them our mates, but what we mean is, our partners. The people we're supposed to be with. I've known for two days and I didn't want to tell you until?—"
"Until we were somewhere I could walk away. In case it was too much or I had to think about it. Oh, youaregood." Jo fought the sleeping bag to hitch her thigh over Colton's, and kissed him again, this time with deliberate urgency. "Thank you. Thank you for being the kind of man who would do that. Also, what a waste of two days."
Colton laughed right against her mouth. "Yeah?"
"Yeah. I think maybe we should stop wasting time now. Since our time togetherrightnow is limited."
"If you insist." Colton kissed her again, then squirmed down a bit to claim one of her nipples in his mouth. Jo gasped and he found the other nipple with his fingertips, and between lips and tongue and fingers, pulled and sucked and pinched until she thought she would go blind with need. Finally, when she was pleading incoherently, he slipped his hand into her panties to find her hot slick center and swirl his fingers there.
"Yes, oh my God, yes, Colton—!" She clutched at his hip, trying to pull him closer, and he chuckled, low and soft and intrigued.
"How long do you think I can keep you here?" he breathed, warm across her breasts. She looked down at him, at dark eyes with a hungry heat in them, and at messy blond hair that somehow gave him a wicked air. Or maybe that was just the way he smiled, like teasing her was the most satisfying thing he'd ever done. "How long do you think I can keep you on the edge of coming, before you lose control?"
"I don't know," she gasped. "Always. Never. I don't know. Please? I want you, Colton. I've wanted you since the first time I saw you.Please?"
"No condoms," he said with clear regret, but still that edge of wickedness in his smile as he brought his lips to her nipples again. "But I'm going to make you come so hard with just my fingers you'll be dying to know what I can do with my cock."
