I feel my phone buzz on the desk at my back and open it to see a text from Sadie, no doubt checking on me.
Sadie: Wade is taking me home. The cameras are off.
What? The cameras are off? We’re atwarand now she decides security measures are a guideline and not the law? For someone who demanded that I have round the clock security, she had no problem bumming a ride home frommybodyguard.
Not that I’m complaining. As lovely as Wade is, the constant shadow has been suffocating and right now I just need tobreathe.
As the first exhale leaves my lips my nose twitches with the scent of burnt sugar. Is something on fire? Great, I guess ifCirqueburns to the ground I don’t really have to worry about this anymore. And I can stop bribing the fire department to look the other way during inspections.
I grumble as I leave my office, wishing I didn’t love this place so much to prevent it from burning all my problems away.
After such a disappointing night, I didn’t think anything would be able turn it around. Yet as I follow the burning smell, I see Colton, standing behind the bar quietly cursing out the mini cotton candy machine, willing it to behave. I don’t say anything for a minute, just watch how he moves.
He stayed.
He didn’t just help me clean up the mess. He watched me make it with a smile on his lips.
Those fucking lips.
I silently make my way over to where he fights for a sweet treat, back to me, muscles flexing and relaxing as he shuffles around. That back has taunted me since the first time I saw him working out shirtless, invading my gym time and thoughts.
I place my hands on his back, and his swearing immediately stops. I circle his waist, pressing my forehead against the curve of his spine and soak him in.
“How much of that did you hear?” Colton asks, a hint of embarrassment coating his words as he flips off the power switch.
“Enough to know you’re losing,” I tease. “Do you want help,” I ask as he turns in my hold to face me, shifting my hands up to circle his shoulders, fingertips barely coming high enough to brush against the hair on his neck, even with the added height of five-inch heels.
“I was craving something sweet,” he answers, eyes fixed on my lips.
“I can help with that,” I say, leaning into his body, tilting my head up to brush my lips against his, a whisper of a kiss. He lifts both hands to my hair, threading his fingers through the strands, barely restrained tension radiating off him as he holds me there, speaking against my lips.
“Put me out of my misery,” he begs, trying to hold himself together and fraying at the seams. “Tell me I’m yours. Please, Harper.”
There is no hesitation this time, no excuse I want to make or distance to create between us. He has stripped me of my armor and wrapped me in his arms.
He stayed.
“You’re mine.”
I barely get the words out before Colton’s lips crash into mine, unleashing weeks of pent up want. He presses forward, holding me against the bar with his hips, tilting my head to the side to better claim me. I let out a whimper as his tongue moves against my own in languid strokes.
“Fuck, if you keep making noises like that Sunshine, we aren’t going to make it very far,” he sighs against my lips,moving to trail open mouthed kisses against my jaw and down my neck.
He moves his hands down my body, teasing and caressing over the corseted top as he nuzzles against my neck. His fingers tease over the slits separating the panels of silk that part against my outer thighs, playing with the fabric and my patience.
He shifts his body down, large palms covering the globes of my ass before he stands back to full height, casually pulling me up with him. My legs instinctively wrap around his waist as he walks us out from behind the bar, kissing every inch of my exposed skin as we move.
Colton weaves through the first few tables, holding me tight against him, steps confident and sure until I lean up to nip at his ear, my fingers tightening in his hair. He growls, the rumble deep in his chest that vibrates against my body. He doesn’t make it to my office, he barely makes it two more steps before sliding me down his front and dropping my ass onto one of the audience tables.
I’ve barely caught my breath before he drops to his knees, flicking the sheets of silk away from my body like they offend him. I lay one hand flat against the table behind me, keeping me upright as the other threads through his hair, guiding him where I’m desperate for attention.
He refuses to be rushed, licking, kissing and biting his way up my thigh before he gets to the barely-there lace covering of the body suit. He pauses, taking in the expensive and delicate material before whispering, “You can replace it,” the sound of fabric tearing cleaves the silence.
Colton’s tongue licks one smooth stroke across my center and hehums, finally getting the taste of what he’s been craving.
“I knew you would be fucking sweet for me, dripping down your thighs like my new favorite treat. Fuck the cotton candy.”
My God, his words. He paints my skin with praise, eachword sending a shiver down my body, wanting his filthy praise as badly as I want his cock.
