Page 100 of Chasing the Wild
I don’t know if my sanity would survive finding the answer.
But Colt sweeps all of that away when he tilts my chin and dazzles me with a sinfully hot stare. “Now for dessert…” His thumb sweeps over my bottom lip. “We’re going outside.”
“Two truths and a lie, cowboy.”
Steam swirls to cloak our naked bodies, and the warmth of the water currently caressing my skin is absolutely to die for.
A girl could get far too used to this.
Colt had me damn near screeching when he showed me where we were headed. I accused him of being intent on murdering me and leaving my body out here among the trees, but no, in fact, there is a natural hot spring only a few short yards from the cabin. Another of the magical features of Devil’s Peak I have since discovered.
I’m still wearing his hat—only natural, of course, after the way he ate up every second of me quickly shedding my clothes at the water’s edge—and now we’re playing a game that is verymuch leading us on a fast track straight to thedessertportion of tonight’s little cabin adventure.
“You’re thinking too hard,” I mumble at him, splashing a little water teasingly in his direction. Colt is spending more time looking at my breasts than entertaining my game, and I’m being a shameless flirt, enjoying every second of his attention far too much for my own health.
“You’ll have to go again. Help me understand the game, angel.” He tilts his head to one side, eyes still fixed on the stiffened peaks of my nipples just below the water’s surface. Goosebumps pepper my arms, not from the cold, but from being insanely turned on while trapped in his gaze.
Holy fuck, it’s hard to resist climbing him like a tree, floating just out of arm’s reach, with his hair wetted and water droplets caressing his beard and throat. I want to slide my arms around his neck and lick up every single one of those glistening beads coating his skin.
“Fine.” Huffing out a breath, I give him a coy look. “I can’t stand egg whites on their own… I’ve traveled to London… I broke my tailbone falling off a horse when I was seven.”
“Too easy.” Colt’s eyes glitter, reflecting the scattered light of the lantern he brought out here. Overhead, the sky is pitch black, punctuated only by a brilliant carpet of stars. There’s almost no moonlight to see by, with only a tiny silver crescent dangling close to the shadowed outline of the Peak.
“Oh, am I that transparent?” I flutter my eyelashes. “Didn’t want to make it difficult for you, especially since I know you’re still catching up to speed, old man.”
He growls out something and lunges for my ankle below the water. I roll my lips together with a tiny squeal and tuck my legs up on the rock ledge I’m perched on.
“I see the way you leave your whites every time I cook eggs sunny side up. You’ve never been to London. So how’d you ass off a horse and crack your spine?”
“How’d you know I haven’t been to London?” I feign incredulity. Placing a hand on my chest.
Giving me what amounts to the Colt equivalent of an eye roll, he shakes his head. “You and I are cut from the same cloth. We didn’t have parents giving us the opportunity to travel overseas.”
He’s absolutely right, but I don’t want to delve into our past hurts right now. “It is on my list of places I want to go someday…”
“Where else would you go if you had the chance to travel? And don’t think I’m going to let you off without telling me about the horse thing either.” He adds.
“Top of my list? Ireland, for that wild coast they have… wander around some Scottish castles… spend a summer exploring cute little Mediterranean fishing villages… lots of dream places really. I have a folder of photos I’ve saved, whenever I see somewhere beautiful online, I add them in there. Maybe one day I’ll get the chance to visit in person.”
Colt studies me. Listens. It’s as if he’s entirely uninterested in anything outside of what I have to say. “And the horse story?” His voice is all rumbly and low.
“Ahh… that one’s kind of embarrassing, really. You’ll definitely judge me, cowboy.” I hide behind my fingers.
But his strong hands find mine, our bodies float closer together, wrapped up in the warmth and rising steam of the hot spring. He tugs my fingers away from my face and guides me to cling around him. God, he feels so nice to touch. I’m constantly in awe of how strong and sturdy he is, like every muscle has been finely honed over so many years of being Colton Wilder.
“Can’t be worse than me getting kicked in the ribs by one of the mares when I was about five and didn’t know better than to try and pretend to milk her like one of the cows.” He chuckles.
“You didn’t,” I snort, and his eyes twinkle in reply.
“I did. Learned pretty quickly that you don’t milk the horses.” He nudges our noses together, then draws back. Taking the last of my brain cells with him as he does so. “Ok… broken spine?”
“Broken tailbone.” I correct. “My Aunt was the one who arranged for me to have riding lessons each summer. Knowing I was horse obsessed and wouldn’t shut up about them—that’s how I learned to ride in the first place. All I had been doing was learning the basics, how to trot, to build my confidence, you know. They put me on a horse far bigger than I’d ever ridden before, for a group ride… well, I was too shy to speak up and wasn’t ready. So when the group took off at speed, I was thrown real good and hit the dirt. It was all over and done within about five seconds, but I landed hard on my ass… hence, broken tailbone.” Shrugging my shoulders, I grimace a little. Still feeling the ghost of the sting right at that particular point on my spine. It had been agony to sit down for months afterward.
“Yet, here you are. Back in the saddle like a proper horse doctor.”
“Sure am.” Holding on tight around his neck and waist, I’m very much feeling the need for this man to either fuck me right here, or to take me back to the cabin. But I want to hear his attempt at this game, since I’ve had several rounds telling him about myself. “Now. Your turn, Mr. Wilder.”
He hits me with a fierce look. One that I know is a sure sign that I’m successfully winding him up.
