“You don’t remember them, honey? They’re your cousin Mike’s boy and their neighbor. They graduated college last year, the same as Sarah.”
Nothing galled him more than knowing that those boys were closer to Imani’s age than he was. The sight of all of them together made him feel ancient. A few minutes later, when the young people came back out onto the patio, they were all in swim attire and headed toward the pool. As the women started to take off their covers, Colt almost had a heart attack at the swimsuit Imani was wearing and the lack of material on her amazing body.
“Ah, fuck no,” he growled before he could restrain himself.
“What’s wrong, honey?” his mother asked in shock.
He didn’t even bother answering her. He strode toward the pool, fully intending to drag Imani back into the house and forbid her from even coming out for the next decade!
“Dude, I suggest you think very hard about what you’re about to do.” Justin grabbed his arm and stopped his forward momentum. “She’s not a kid anymore, and if you shame her in front of her friends and her family, she may never forgive you for that.”
Colt glared at him, hating that he was probably right. Whether Justin was referring to Sarah or Imani, ordering them into the house would probably piss off both women. “Do you mind if I remind these pricks not to touch my girls or I will break some fuckin’ fingers?”
Justin grinned. “Not at all. But you’re going to have a hard time claiming that Imani’s under your wing as Sarah is. Those boys look like they got it bad for her.” Justin started cracking up at his own joke.
Colt pushed him out of his way and continued to the pool area.
Justin didn’t take offense. He followed in Colt’s wake, snickering the entire time.
Imani saw him coming, and she immediately looked away.
That flamed his rage to new levels, and he clenched his teeth so tight that when he spoke he sounded as though he were chewing nails. “Gentlemen, may I have a word?”
“Yes, sir.” The four boys in attendance started moving toward him
“Man, I wish I’d thought to bring a recorder for this,” Justin teased.
“Shut up, puppy,” Colt growled.
As the young men stood before him expectantly, Colt stared at them with a look he’d perfected in the Army when addressing his men. Keeping his voice low and even, he ignored the audience he’d drawn by his angry march across the patio. “Sarah and Imani are under my protection. You are visitors to my house. I can be very creative with my Ka-Bar knife. Do I make myself clear?”
“Colt!” Sarah’s mortified shriek pierced through the stunned silence.
“Was I clear, gentlemen?” Colt would deal with the fallout from Sarah later. But there was no way in hell he was watching any man touching Imani while he lived and breathed.
“Yes, sir.”
Colt nodded, confident that he’d reminded everyone of who the hell they were dealing with. “Sarah, Imani, in my office please.” He turned toward the house and ignored Sarah’s indignant glare. He wasn’t surprised when she burst into his office a few minutes later, breathing the fire of outrage.
“I can’t believe you right now. Imani and I are adults! We’ve lived on our own for years and don’t need parental guidance!”
“I’m not offering parental guidance,” Colt gritted out and couldn’t help gazing directly at Imani as he said it. Thank God she’d pulled on the cover over her bathing suit. Otherwise, they weren’t going to get a coherent thought out of his mouth. “You will not disrespect me in my house.”
“But we weren’t doing anything!”
“Yet!” Colt growled.
“Sarah and I have boyfriends, or have you forgotten that? Do you think we make a habit of picking up random guys? Do you think so little of us?”
Hearing Imani’s first words to him for the day laced with so much disappointment made him feel like a zero.
“Sarah, I need to have a word with Imani.”
“I don’t think so.” Imani started backing out of the room.
“Don’t take another step,” Colt bit out.
“Colt?” Sarah looked at him uncertainly.
“Don’t worry, honey. I think I owe your friend an apology. She’s right that I should have trusted you both.”
“Okay.” Sarah looked to Imani to see if her friend was okay with his request.
Imani looked at him coldly. “I’ve got this,” she assured Sarah.
As soon as Sarah left the room and they heard her footsteps move away from the door, Imani turned to him and hissed, “Have you lost your damn mind?”
Colt advanced on her with a speed even he was shocked at. He grabbed her around the waist and pulled her hard against him. He grunted at the jolt of emotion that rocked him at the contact.
She gasped.
“Don’t you ever fuckin’ ignore me like that.”
She looked at him as though he were crazy. “I wasn’t trying to ignore you, stupid man. I was trying not to jump your bones in front of everyone. You’re so damn beautiful you make my teeth ache.” She said the last part in a furious whisper.
Colt was at first stunned by her confession, and then he was grinning as though he’d won the lottery. “And here I was complaining earlier about how you make my heart ache.” He wrapped his arms around her and hugged her close against him, letting her feel how hard he was for her. “I’m thinking that I have more to complain about,” he teased.
She wrapped her arms around his neck, stretched up on the tips of her toes, and kissed his stubbled chin. “God, how am I supposed to resist you when you do the hottest shit?”
“You like my threatening those guys, huh?” He grinned.
“Fuck yeah.” She giggled.
“I thought you were disappointed that I didn’t trust you.”
“Nah, that was for Sarah’s benefit. Threaten away.” Imani kissed his neck and started trailing kisses to his T-shirt-clad chest. “You know damn well if I waited twenty-two years for you, one afternoon in the pool with some little boys was nothing.”
“Bloody hell, you’re trying to get yourself fucked right here while there’s a crowd of people just outside that door.” The precum dampening his jeans was letting him know that he was pretty close to not caring who was outside that door either. He reached under the hem of her cover and tightened his fingers on the globes of her ass.
“Yes please.” She pushed her palms under his shirt and cupped his pecs.
“You do realize that that door isn’t locked, right?” He trailed a finger to the edge of her bikini bottoms between her legs.
“Your warning is so wasted right now.” She caressed his chest and his chiseled stomach.
“Do you know what happens to naughty little girls?”
“We get fucked? You know, like really hard and quick,” she whispered with hopeful enthusiasm.
He laughed before covering her lips with his and proceeded to ravish her mouth as the taste of her completely pushed him over the edge. He picked her up, and she quickly wrapped her long legs around his waist.
Holding her ass in his palms, he rocked his length up against her soft heat.
She whimpered and continued sucking on his tongue, which incited his passionate need. He wanted nothing more than to throw her on his desk and plunge his cock into her like a mad man.
“Sure, Mom, I’ll go get him.”
They both heard Justin approaching the door and had just enough time for Imani to straighten her clothes and for Colt to sit behind his desk as though that had been their position all along. It also hid his blatant erection.
Chapter Eight
Colt narrowed his eyes at his brother as he poked his head in the door and teased, “Do we need to mop up anyone’s blood?”
“One of these days, I’m gonna beat that grin right off your face.”
Justin rolled his eyes and looked to Imani. “Didn’t I tell you that he threatens to bea
t me all the time?” He tsked and shook his head. “Think I should report him for bullying on social media?”
Imani giggled.
“Don’t encourage him,” Colt muttered.
Imani sobered and smiled at both men. “Anyway, Colonel, thanks for our talk. I’m sure you now realize why your lecture was unnecessary.”
“Thanks for your understanding, Imani. And I’m equally sure you understand why we would have to agree to disagree. Enjoy your afternoon. But I would advise against unwise leniency or liberties.”
“Thank you, Colonel.” She left them then with a mischievous glint in her gaze.
The entire time, Colt watched, from the corner of his eye, Justin watching them with obvious fascination.
“Are you sure you know what you’re doing?” Justin asked as soon as the door closed behind Imani.
“Now why would you ask me that?”
“Dude, you’re unraveling.” Justin walked deeper into the room. The cocky grin from before had disappeared and been replaced by a look of concern for his brother. “You haven’t stopped gazing at her since you walked out there on that patio, and I gave you plenty of opportunities to come to your senses. You’re so fuckin’ into her that your lust is written all over your face. And I’ve never been able to read you so well.” Justin came closer to him, and his voice lowered. “God, you should see how you two interact. If there was some dry tinder in here, we’d all be dead.”
Colt stared at his brother without responding to his observation. It didn’t escape his notice that, by not responding, he was in fact confirming the statements Justin was making.
“Damn, dude!” Justin whispered in awe. “I’m happy for you, but I’m also terrified for you too. She’s gorgeous. If you don’t have gray hair already, the amount of men that will try for her will turn it gray.”
Colt leaned his head back in his chair and closed his eyes. He appreciated that his brother didn’t voice the obvious concern. She was younger than his ward. Would Imani wake up one day when he was old, grayed, and couldn’t fuck her like he could now and think she needed a younger man? What will happen when my skin is not as smooth as it is now? What will happen when she meets boys her own age and realizes they’re more up to date on all the latest trends and technologies, and I am a relic, a man who still can’t tell the difference between Instagram and Twitter. What happens when she wants to go to parties like the one she and Sarah had at their apartment? What am I going to tell my twenty-two-year-old girlfriend then?
Justin is right. What the fuck am I doing?
“I have some work to do here,” he finally told Justin. “Go make sure those assholes keep their hands to themselves.”
“Son-of-a-bitch!” Justin frowned at him.
“I would advise you not to curse our mother. I’m sure Dad would have something to say about that.”
“Fucker!”
Colt raised an eyebrow and couldn’t keep the smirk from his lips.
“Just tell me you’ll be careful.” Justin gave him a look of concern, but Colt ignored him.
“Go do as I asked. It’s too fuckin’ late for that anyway.” Colt turned his gaze to his desk and booted up his computer.
Once Justin left, he stared at the screen unable to process anything on it. He knew down to his bones that he loved her and that she was it for him. What he wasn’t sure of was whether he was it for her. She was in lust with him now, but did she love him? Would she love him ten years from now when his body wasn’t as ripped as the thirty-year-olds she could be dating and fucking then? He couldn’t go out there and watch her frolicking in the pool with the other young people. It would just remind him of what he didn’t want to face. So, like the coward he was when it came to her, he stayed in his office for the rest of the afternoon, and he was at least able to reach a contact at the Pentagon who was able to send him what Lippman thought he had on Imani.
The bastard had dug up the details of her background. It gave Colt insight into how lonely her childhood must have been. It made him admire her and fall in love with her even deeper. Her courage and determination were something he could only marvel at. And her happiness was even more critical to him. She deserved to be happy after losing so much.
But it was clear that Lippman had only theories and no hard facts about Imani’s abilities. While she was a skilled mechanical engineer, there was no indication that she’d ever dabbled in making weapons. The company she worked for had a division and facilities for weapons making that had an existing contract with the Pentagon, but Imani had never worked in that division.
Of course, he couldn’t stay in hiding forever, so he went to his bedroom once it was almost time for dinner, took a quick shower, and went down to the den to have a pre-dinner drink.
Although he had his back to the door, he knew the exact moment Imani entered the room. He closed his eyes in anguish at the rush of blood to his cock and the rapid acceleration of his heart. He felt almost lightheaded.
“We missed you this afternoon.”
Colt could hear the disappointment in her voice. And while it made his heart happy to hear it, he reminded himself of his resolve to slow things down with her and to re-evaluate their relationship. He wasn’t ready to let her go completely yet, but he also needed to give her space to re-assess and decide if she wanted this. He was older and knew what he wanted, but did she? Was she into meaningless frolicking in the pool? She had to know he was not likely to be like those boys, indulging in such activities. She’d looked happy with the other young people. Did he have the right to take that away from her?
He took a fortifying drink of his scotch before turning to her. “I had work to do and…” His voice trailed off at the sight of her. She was so fucking beautiful tonight. She wore a pink, or was that peach, dress. He had no idea what color it was, but it was a spectacular color on her skin. The dress hugged her lush curves and accentuated her youthful supple physique.
She was, as Justin had said, simply gorgeous. It wasn’t something his brother had to tell him, but hearing it from Justin was jarring. He balled his hands into fists to stop himself from grabbing her. Her makeup was natural as always. Something he loved about her. While other women, including his ward, tended to pile it on, Imani’s makeup was barely detectable.
“You missed a mean game of water volleyball.” Imani came deeper into the room, but she didn’t approach him.
He was eternally grateful for that because her perfume had reached him, and he was drowning fast. “I’m sure you had fun, Ms. St. John,” Colt told her in a cool voice he was far from feeling.
She arched an eyebrow at him. “Ms. St. John? Are you mad at me or something? Did I miss something? Because the guy I left in this room earlier today is sure as hell not here.”
He had swallowed another mouthful of scotch and had to fight like hell not to come up coughing as it slid down his throat the wrong way. His eyes watered from the effort, but she wasn’t done with him yet.
She crossed the room and came to a stop directly in front of him. She tilted her head back and held his watery gaze. “You asked me this afternoon to not ignore you, remember?” When he didn’t answer her and gazed steadily back at her, she smiled softly. “Take note, if you call me Ms. St. John again in that voice, I’ll be forced to remind you of that guy who was so deep inside me last night that I still feel him even now. Should I try to forget that and start ignoring you again?”
“Careful, I haven’t turned you over my knee yet.”
“Promises, promises,” she teased and moved closer to him.
Colt determinately held his ground, but he was powerless to stop himself from bending his head and fusing their lips in a searing kiss. He only raised his head when he heard the sound of high heels approaching the room. They pulled apart as Sarah entered his office.
Sarah walked toward him with a huge smile on her face. “Colt, I haven’t seen much of you today,” she said in a silky voice. She hugged him.
Colt was puzzled by her sudden show of affection, and it seemed that she didn’t notice Imani standing less than two feet away from her. Imani had moved to stand farther away from him and had ended up behind the door. It was understandable that Sarah hadn’t seen her when she entered the room.
“I’m glad you brought me home. I didn’t realize how much I missed the ranch.” She kept her arms wound around his neck and stared up at him lovingly. “Living in Chicago was the pits.”
“I thought you loved living in Chicago.” Colt gazed down at his ward in surprise.
“Can I be honest with you?” She laughed softly.
“Please.” Colt wasn’t amused. He’d briefly glimpsed the stunned, hurt expression on Imani’s face at Sarah’s words. Colt was about to warn her that Imani was there, when her next words distracted him.
“I only moved to Chicago so you can finally realize that I’m all grown up, that I can take care of myself. I got a job on my own and lived without your support.”
Colt removed her arms from his neck and put some space between them. “I thought you lived in Imani’s condo that she has fully paid for. And you got the job from a friend of mine.”
Sarah waved her hand at him dismissively. She had a point and was determined to make it. “You have no idea how hard it is to share my space. I like Imani, but I’m glad to be back here on the ranch. Can I start at the firm tomorrow?”
Imani slipped out of his office behind Sarah then.
Sarah didn’t notice because she was too busy trying to gain his attention.
Colt deliberately moved to sit behind his desk to put distance between them. Sarah had disappointed him before, but this time his disappointment was laced with disgust. She’d hurt Imani, and that was unacceptable. He wasted little time in dismissing her from his office. “You should go out there and make sure our guests are being taken care of. I will join you shortly.”
She protested, but he ignored her. Eventually she left, and he remained in his office for a long moment and wondered how Imani would react to Sarah’s defection and hateful words.
Secret Obsession Page 10