Page 38 of Shielded Hearts

“Oh!” In a flurry, she rose from the tub and made a dive for her device she left on the counter. Water dripped off her skin, but she ignored it as she skimmed the text she just received.

With a slosh, Colt emerged from the tub. He grabbed the towel off the heated bar and swathed her in it, then grabbed a second for himself.

She glanced up from her phone to find him staring down at the screen. “Thank you,” she said absently.

He scrubbed the terrycloth over his bare chest like it had offended him. “Who is texting you at eleven-thirty at night?”

“The client who wants a cozy cabin retreat.”

He leaned in closer to read over her shoulder. “‘Let’s plan a trip to Wyoming’ doesn’t sound like a client to me.”

She peered at his face. “Are you jealous?”

“Hell no. You’re free to do as you please.”

“Colt. I can assure you that I’m a free woman and this is my client. He’s a billionaire—he is eccentric. If he gets the idea to take a vacation, he texts me right away, even at eleven-thirty at night.”

He leveled her in a flat look that said he didn’t buy her story but he wasn’t going to argue about it. He swiped the towel over his shoulders.

“Billionaires keep weird hours. He’s actually married, and he wants to plan an anniversary trip for him and his wife. I expected something like this would come up soon…”

Another text rolled in, and she redirected her attention to the screen. This message had her biting down on her lip. “He needs me to find a placenow—or he’ll find someone who can.I can’t let that happen. I was afraid of this. It’s the reason why I was searching in Montana for a retreat. I thought this client would want to go to Montana because he loves fly fishing there. Now I only have a few hours to find a place for them in Wyoming!”

Colt lowered the towel from his body. Aspen didn’t know what to focus on. His big, hard body wasverydistracting, but she needed to focus on her job. Her business was her life.

But does it have to be?

“I don’t see the issue, princess. I live in Wyoming.”

Agitation sputtered inside her veins. “But we didn’t find any places to add to my catalogue!”

He stepped up to her. Took the phone from her hand. “I know a place.”

Then he lowered his mouth to hers in a hard stamp that felt like he was leaving his mark on her soul.

* * * * *

Colt couldn’t resist the draw of Aspen’s warm, damp body. He cupped her ass and hauled her naked body up against his.

She issued a rasp of surprise.

“Like you don’t know I’ve been aching hard in that tub with you, waiting for the minute I could take you.” He ground out the words at the same time he ground his stiff cock against the V of her thighs, raising a sharp cry of want from her.

He was acting like a possessive dick, but he couldn’t stop himself. He didn’t like the idea of any man texting Aspen after business hours, and certainly not when she’d just been naked withhim.

Later on, when he located his wits again, he would give that thought the time it deserved. Right now, he was going to get what he wanted. And he wanted the taste of her pussy on his lips.

Sliding his hand between her damp thighs, his fingers met her slick folds.

“Colt!”

He circled her clit two times, then three…and shoved two fingers into her channel. Her tight walls clamped around his digits.

Her body bowed. Supporting her quaking limbs, gaze fixed on her beautiful face, he thrust his fingers in and out of her pussy.

Her soft moans drove him even crazier. For a moment, he felt his grasp on control slip.

No. He refused to slake the dark need pounding in his balls until she came first.

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