Page 35 of Chasing the Wild
My stomach does a little somersault at the unexpected compliment. Standing beside his large frame, I can’t help but be drawn in by the look of his soft t-shirt that looks like a second skin on him. My fingers itch to reach out and touch the well-worn cotton.
“Only because you talked me off the ledge…again.” It’s the truth. I wasn’t sure I could do any of what I did tonight if it wasn’t for his steady presence grounding me. Suturing livestock while indoors with all the equipment to hold an animal still during broad daylight is one thing. Being covered in blood and out in the snow and in pitch black is another.
His jaw tics.
My blood starts to heat, the alcohol settling comfortably in my veins.
“I like how you talk to me.”
He silently scrubs at the containers in the sink. My eyes don’t want to stay off the way the map of veins on the back of his hands glisten, highlighted by the water.
“Thank you for trusting me.” I’m standing too close, I know I am. But he’s not moving away either, and the heat between our bodies draws me in.
My thighs squeeze as that all too familiar ache starts to rise.
I know what I heard out there tonight.
Whether he meant to say it, or perhaps it just slipped out by accident in the heat of the moment, I don’t know.
But I want to hear him say it again.
“I liked how you spoke to me,tonight.”
Colt goes still.
“It must be hard up here dealing with things like that on your own.” I’m being way too fucking bold, but after hearing a little of his life and the beer and the warm glow I’m coated in, surely there might be a chance he’s feeling the same way I am.
His big paw reaches over to take my bowl from my hands, but I shake my head. “It’s ok. Let me.”
I reach into the sink beside him, and our bodies fit together side by side. He stiffens slightly, but doesn’t move away. As I feel my hip press against his thigh my heart kicks into overdrive.
Suddenly, the kitchen feels like a furnace, and my pulse hammers in my throat as I watch his hands rest on the edge of the sink. He’s letting me get close. Too close. His scent and heat fold around me like a blanket I want to burrow under and stay wrapped up in.
Warm water rushes over my hands as I clean off the bowl, and then turn the faucet off. Without it, the kitchen is so quiet, all I can hear is blood rushing in my ears and the faint howl of the icy wind whipping past the windows.
Colt is standing in front of the dishwasher and I angle my body toward his, still gripping onto my stupid bowl like it’s the only thing stopping me from putting my hands all over this man.
“Does it get lonely up here?” My whisper sneaks out as my head tilts back and I’m consumed by his darkened gaze. His pupils are the deepest crevasse imaginable, as he looms over me.
Reaching out, he takes the dish from my hands, placing it on the bench beside my hip.
Oh my god.
There’s a force drawing our bodies together that I can’t fight as he shifts his weight and plants one hand on the other side of my body. Caging me in against the sink.
His eyes drop to my mouth and my chest is rising and falling faster with every second we’re locked in this forbidden moment. I feel him—his power, his masculinity, his damn intoxicating scent of leather and raindrops. There’s a flood of wetness between my thighs, and my underwear has surely gone up in flames.
My tongue swipes over my bottom lip.
Colt latches onto the movement with a fierce, hawk-like gaze.
Just as his jaw flexes, as he lingers with precision on that spot where my lips are parted, a burst of noise crashes through from his office just off the kitchen. The radio explodes into life, making me jump, and Colt’s head whips in the direction of the intrusive sound.
That’s when a familiar voice crackles down the line, making my stomach plunge through the floor.
“Yo, Dad? Are you there?”Kayce’s voice is tinny but unmistakable on the other end of the radio handset.
About three things happen at once. Colt jerks away from me like he’s just burned himself on a hot stove. I spin around and double over the edge of the sink, gasping for air. The world rushes in like a freight train.
