Page 37 of The Chase

She shook her head. “No, you’ll fix yourself. I haven’t lost like you have, I don’t know what that feels like. I was brought up by my grandparents, but that wasn’t much of a hardship, they were loving and good to me. The hardest thing I’ve ever had to overcome is… the kidnapping, being tied up, now being on the run… I went back home and pretended like it had never happened. A terrible coping mechanism, I know, but I didn’t even want to think about it. I’m sure this will take you years to overcome, but you’ll get there, it just takes time. Do what you need to do, find a therapist, road trip across the States, go sky diving or do whatever you need to do. I’ll wait, and you’ll sort your shit out, I’m sure of it.”

He saw it then, she had let him into her heart, too. She respected him, trusted him. She’d walked away from everything in her life, putting her faith in him. A well educated woman with a job, a house, a car, a sense of such self worth - that didn’t happen for a guy like him. But she had.

He blew out. Nodded once. He needed to change the story, he needed to step up and be the man she wanted him to be. The man he wanted to be. He had been holding back, but now, he needed to let go. Pull out the battery on that whining thing in his head telling him he wasn’t enough. He needed to take action and seize what it was he had wanted all along. He could trust her with his heart and soul, and he could respect her heart by holding it tenderly and loving it fiercely. She was there in front of him, all he needed to do was take her.

“I need a smoke,” he muttered finally, after a deep, pensive silence staring into the flames, mulling it over in his mind.

“I took your lighter,” she replied, her tone was even, keeping her eyes fixed on the bright red embers.

He frowned at her. “Well, can I have it?”

She turned then to look at him. “Come and get it. I hid it.”

His eyebrows shot upwards. “Where?”

“On me.”

He contemplated her with his dark eyes.

“Come and get it,” she repeated quietly, taunting him. She looked at him apprehensively, unsure how he would react.

He reached out for her and she pulled away, just out of his reach.

“Don’t play with me,” he growled.

“You can’t use your hands. If you want it that much, you have to use your mouth,” she said. “Your lips... your teeth… your tongue.”

He almost swayed with dizziness. “You are playing with fire, Kitten.”

“I know. Come and get me.”

He turned to face her and leaned forward, his heart hammering in his ribcage. Closer than he ever dared to go. He’d been here before but only in the hot throes of desire. This was calm. He was in control. His lips hovered a whisper above her lips. While she looked calm from where he had sat, he now knew she wasn’t. Her face had a slight flush, her eyes a glossy sheen, and her breath fluttered on her lips, in and out, rapidly. She opened her lips and her gaze dropped to his mouth.

He brought his lips down to meet hers. Lightly. Softly. And kissed her. A short kiss, just a taste. He pulled away and flicked his eyes up to her, checking her reaction. This was not a lust fueled, desperate devouring like in the past. This was deliberate, purposeful. He half expected her to laugh and pull away and say she didn’t want him after all. Half expected it, half wanted it, feared it. She had closed her eyes. Not squeezed shut, but closed in a blissed out, gentle way. She liked it. She wanted it.

Colt smiled to himself and brought his lips down onto hers again. This time harder. This time he used his tongue, flicking it inside her mouth. She groaned and responded, mirroring his actions. Bolstered by her response, he opened his mouth wider, and savored the taste of her. The pace picked up, but he still felt in control. He wanted this, it wasn’t carnal lust or his animal brain seeking this, it was him. His soul, his heart. Her hot, wet mouth consuming him, her tongue following his, the occasional clash of their teeth, it got his blood thumping down to his cock. He felt himself with his hand.

She made a noise and pulled away. “Remember, no hands,” she breathed, batting his hand away from his groin.

That turned his thoughts primal. But he felt at one with it, he felt whole, wanting more. All of him was pulling in the same direction now. Not torn inside, but working in harmony. Toward this. Toward her. Toward having her. He growled and launched himself at her. He fastened his mouth on her neck. That tendon that ran from her ear down to her collarbone. He nibbled, like she was a juicy piece of fruit and he was hungry. Starving. His lips sucked, too. He stuck to one spot, certain he’d leave a mark, then moved down, rooting down her neck. She smelled good. She felt warm, soft. He heard her gasp and moan. He felt her hands on his arms, pulling him in. He smiled and batted her hands away.

“‘No hands,” he growled back at her. She let out a muffled chuckle.

He moved lower, following the tendon down her collarbone, and heard her breath catch in her throat.

“Am I getting warmer?” he breathed into her skin. The heat coming off her was roasting.

“Yes, Colt, yes,” she rushed to reply.

He pulled off her long enough to glance at her face. Her eyes were closed, she was biting her bottom lip, her face flushed in the firelight. He nuzzled down again and went straight for her breasts. Fuck this, he was going in. No more games. With himself or with her. He couldn’t take it anymore. She wanted him and he wanted her and that was enough for him. With his teeth he bit the top of her T-shirt, pulling it away from her and down. It was baggy, it had some give in it. And it gave.

He dove into her now accessible cleavage. He stopped short when his mouth felt something cold and plastic. His lighter. He’d forgotten all about that. He gripped it with his teeth, extracted it from its perch nestled between her breasts and spat it onto the ground beside them. He didn’t even look at it or where it had landed, he dove straight back into her cleavage.

Two warm, soft globes met his mouth. She was the perfect size, not so massive that they required strength to lift, but enough to fill his mouth. He’d grabbed them that first time, but hadn’t appreciated them as they deserved. He battled with her bra, pushing it aside with his nose, rooting like a hungry newborn.

He couldn’t get her bra out of the way and growled with frustration. He bit down on her nipple through the bra she was wearing. She squealed, actually fucking squealed. And that’s when he lost it. His savage animal was taking over. His mind and his heart were happy to sit back now and just enjoy the ride. His inner savage was hungry.

He reached his hands out and gripped her upper thighs as she gasped out, “Colt, no hands.”

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