Page 47 of The Unknown Colton
“I will be,” he said. “Once I’m inside you, once we’re as close as we used to be.”
Physically they could be that close again, but she wasn’t sure about emotionally. But then he was touching her, sliding his hands and mouth all over her, and she couldn’t think at all. She could only feel the passion burning inside her, making her tremble.
She touched him, too, running her hands and mouth over him. But before she could slide her lips around his erection, he pulled back.
“I’ll go too fast,” he said. “I want to take my time.”
Maybe he knew, too, that this might be their last time. Their last chance to be this close. Maybe that was why he gave her so much pleasure, moving between her legs to make love to her with his mouth and his wicked tongue.
She squirmed against the blankets as he drove her wild with desire. The tension was so tight inside her, and then he moved his hands to her breasts, stroking them. She cried out as she came.
Then he was inside her, thrusting slowly, building the tension inside her again. But he knew how and where to touch her to release that tension. And she came again, screaming his name.
Then his body tensed and shuddered and he cried out her name.
And, “I love you.”
She loved him, too, but she couldn’t say those words right now, not when their future was so uncertain. And it wasn’t just Troy going back to the oil rigs that could end their relationship but whoever was following her around and breaking into her cabin and the hotel. That person could end their relationship and maybe their lives.
* * *
She didn’t say it back.
For the first time since they had exchangedI love yous as teenagers, Lakin didn’t say it back to him. Even though they’d made love and both stayed in her bed afterward, Troy felt like he was still shutout. Not out of her bedroom but maybe out of her life and her heart.
Long after Lakin had fallen asleep, he lay awake, worrying that his sister was probably right. He was going to lose Lakin if he didn’t make a commitment to her and their future.
Maybe losing her would be the best thing for her. She could have a better life with someone like that rich customer who’d also warned him about losing Lakin. Was that because he wanted her for himself?
And what about Whitlaw? What did he want from her? Just money or something more?
Eventually Troy must have fallen asleep because he awoke to sunlight slanting through the blinds to shine in his eyes. He blinked and squinted, trying to focus. But he didn’t need to see anything to know that Lakin was gone. The bed was cold beside him.
Maybe she’d already left for work, or maybe she’d gone to Roasters. He didn’t want her going there alone. That was where Jasper Whitlaw had first accosted her.
She’d given the photograph to Eli. But what had her big brother found out about Whitlaw? Was the older man even in town still?
Troy needed to make sure Lakin was safe. He dressed in a hurry and headed off to the coffee shop. But when he pulled into the lot, her SUV wasn’t there.
Maybe he’d just missed her. But what about Jasper Whitlaw? Had he been hanging around?
Troy was sick of waiting for this guy to show upand harass her again. He wanted to find the man and make him leave town. So he parked his truck and rushed into the café.
“Hey, are you here to pick up Lakin’s order?” the barista asked him.
“Did she place an order?” he asked. Maybe she was on her way.
“No, but she usually comes in every morning, and I haven’t seen her for a few days.”
Because Lakin didn’t want to run into the man who claimed he was her father.
“There was an older guy here the last day she was in,” Troy said. “He gave her a photograph. Did you see him that day? Have you seen him around town?”
The barista’s eyes widened and then narrowed. “Older guy, looks kind of homeless? I have seen him hanging around here, but that was more before he talked to Lakin. I haven’t seen him often after that day he gave her something. Then she drove off with her coffee mugs on the roof of her vehicle. I picked them up and washed them for her.”
“That was very sweet of you,” he said.
“Lakin is sweet,” the young woman said. “One of my favorite customers.”
