“Okay…” I said, trying to see where he was headed.
“So,” he said, raising his eyebrows and grinding his hips into mine. “We have time.”
I wanted to be responsible and go find a hotel somewhere, but the two of us had just made a commitment to one another to see this crazy adventure through until the end, and I’d admitted that I had every intention of being with him even after this was over. That felt kind of huge, and I wanted to commemorate it. Not to mention, watching him take on four men back at the diner had been really hot. I knew it was rather prehistoric to be turned on by violence, but I couldn’t help it. Colton was tough, and I liked that. A lot.
I looked each direction, studying the dirt road for any sign of anyone approaching. There was no one, and even if there had been, I wasn’t making decisions with my brain anymore. I stretched up on my tiptoes and kissed him.
Then, I let my lips whisper against him as I spoke. “Let’s find somewhere a little more private first.”
Before I could even finish the sentence, Colton was dragging me around the car, opening the door for me, and then climbing into the driver’s seat and taking off down the road. We turned down a few different side roads, weaving our way further and further into the nature preserve until we found a small clearing with a walking trail. Colton pulled his car into the back corner in the shade of a large conifer, and then we began walking down the trail.
“These shoes were not made for walking,” I said, gesturing to my heels. Because I’d been snatched from outside the bar, the heels were the only shoes I had, and maneuvering down the loose dirt path was tricky.
“We don’t need to go much further, I don’t think,” Colton said, squeezing my hand and bringing it up to his lips to kiss. “Do you want me to carry you?”
“Yes,” I said, practically shouting.
He laughed and held out his arms, into which I happily jumped. And to his credit, Colton carried me another ten minutes down the path without even breaking a sweat—another feat that only increased my already intense attraction to him.
At the end of the path, the tree limbs grew together, forming a dark tunnel that then opened onto a private, scenic lake. The shore was narrow and shaded, the water a perfect crystal blue.
“It’s so blue,” I said, jumping out of his arms and slipping out of my heels, squeezing my toes into the sand.
Colton grabbed my hand and twirled me in a circle, ending with me pressed against his chest. “The same color as your eyes.”
“I never would have guessed you were so cheesy.” I rolled my eyes, but also hugged him closer, taking a deep breath to try to quiet the thrumming of my heart.
Colton leaned down and pressed a kiss to my cheek and then let his lips move down my jawline. “Only with you, Rachel.”
A shiver ran down my spine, and I realized how much I wanted this. In the motel room, the world had felt far away. What we were doing had felt like a dream. But now, reality had caught up to us, and in the short hours we had before we were on the run again, I wanted to take a minute to enjoy this. To fully enjoy Colton Long.
I pressed my palm to his chest and shoved him backward, matching his steps with my own. “I don’t want cheesy.”
His eyes widened for a moment, worry filling his handsome features until I stepped away from him and slipped the denim jacket off one shoulder and then the other, letting it slide slowly down my arms and land in the sand.
“I want heat,” I purred.
Colton’s eyes pored over my newly exposed skin as if he hadn’t just seen me naked earlier that morning.
“I want to see you needy,” I continued, reaching for the zipper at my side and dragging it down the curve of my waist and hip. Colton licked his lips. “I want to see you beg.”
Before the words were even out of my mouth, Colton was standing in front of me. His fingers pushed between the open zipper and clawed at my skin while his other hand slid the straps from my arms. He clutched the delicate black material in his hands and then looked at me, his eyes wide. “Please?”
He was begging. I smiled, bit my lip, and nodded.
Gently, Colton pushed the dress down until it was a pool around my ankles. He kissed my shoulder and my collarbone and my sternum. He drew a line down the center of me with kisses until he was on his knees in front of me, his lips tickling my inner thighs. Then, once again, Colton wrapped his fingers around the waistband of my panties and looked up at me, his eyes like a puppy’s.
“Please?”
I ran my hand around his face, cradling his chin for a minute, enjoying the desire in his eyes, the anticipation in his brows. Finally, I nodded, and Colton tore my underwear off like ripping the bow from a Christmas present.
He dragged his hands up my thighs and across my stomach as he stood up and repeated the routine with my bra, dropping it into the pile with the rest of my clothes until I was entirely naked before him.
“Now, it has to be fair,” I said, grabbing the hem of his shirt and yanking it up his body. “I want this off.”
Colton obliged and pulled the shirt off his head, looking every bit like a male underwear model. His body was perfect.
Unable to wait for him to be fully undressed, I stepped forward and planted a kiss on his chest. Then, I ran my fingers over him, exploring every inch of him. I wanted to map his skin and memorize it. I wanted to know every line, every groove and freckle, every rib and muscle.
I trailed my finger down the indentation between his abs until I was unbuttoning his jeans and sliding them down his muscular thighs. Then, I stepped back and let Colton take off his boxers, enjoying the view. Looking at him was like admiring beautiful art. I never got tired of it.
“Please stop looking at me and come here,” he said.
I smiled. “You’re getting very good at this begging thing.”
He grew impatient and walked to me, wrapping an arm around my lower back and dipping me back into the sand. “That’s because you are getting very good at driving me crazy.”
I kissed the underside of his jaw. “You said we had at least five hours, right?”
He nodded, his breathing heavy.
“Then, we might as well take our time.” I hooked my ankles around his lower back, and Colton’s entire body clenched. His fingers dug into the sand on either side of my head and he squeezed his eyes shut. “We might as well enjoy it.”
“I certainly intend to,” he growled.
Colton moved over me and on me and in me, pleasuring me until I couldn’t see straight. I clawed at his back and purred in his ear like a cat. Words? Who needed words? All I needed was body language, and Colton was fluent in it. His hands moved over my skin in a rough yet tender manner. I felt like a new woman when I was wrapped around him. And, based on the loud grunts and heavy breathing I was getting from Colton, he was having a similar experience.
It was amazing being in the middle of nowhere, hearing nothing but the sounds of our own lovemaking and the water lapping against the shore. We didn’t have to worry about thin walls or nosy neighbors. We could focus on one another, give each other the attention we deserved. It wasn’t long before the tension building inside of me burst its banks, and my whole body tensed and released in a luxurious orgasm.
When at last I could see straight again, I pushed Colton off of me and rolled him onto his back. I wrapped myself around his waist and planted my hands on his firm chest as I ground my hips into him with a confidence I’d never experienced before. My entire life had been a game of “am I good enough?”. In any situation, I was keeping a mental tally of the ways in which I failed to live up to the expectations set for me. But with Colton, I didn’t feel that. For the first time in my life, I felt beautiful. I felt sexy. I felt wanted. I felt like enough.
Colton’s forehead wrinkled and then his hands were pressing down my back, drawing me down until I was flat against his chest, my head nestled beneath his chin. His hips moved beneath mine for a while longer until we were both still, our breathing flo
wing in and out like the tide.
Chapter 17
Colton
Laying in the sand next to Rachel, I felt more certain than ever that I was bad for her. I was also more certain than I’d ever been that I couldn’t do this without her.
“You were grieving,” Rachel said, trailing her fingers down my chest as she propped herself up on an elbow in the sand and looked down at me. “You didn’t know what you were agreeing to. You just needed the money.”
After Rachel called Jenna and told her to remain in hiding, I finally decided to tell Rachel how I had become involved with the Gambinos in the first place. I figured Rachel deserved to know if she was going to be running from them because of me. But when I told her, she almost seemed disappointed by the story.
“It’s not like you agreed to kill someone or something. You basically agreed to be a bounty hunter, of sorts. Your intentions weren’t bad.”
“I knew I was doing something shady, but I didn’t care. I didn’t have any direction, and I allowed myself to brought down to the level of common criminals.”
“Your dad had just died,” she repeated.
I shook my head and stared up at the sky. “Lots of people lose their parents, but not a lot of people start working for the mafia.”
Rachel crawled over me and kissed me. I could feel the sand sliding between our bodies and knew it was probably wedged into every possible crevice, but it was all worth it. Rachel was worth it.
“I don’t care what you say, Colton. You’re a good man.”
I let her hair slip between my fingers and twisted the silky ends. Was anything in the world as soft as Rachel? Everything about her—her skin, hair, and heart—was soft.
“I kidnapped you, Rachel. I think that disqualifies me from the title of ‘good guy.’”
She shook her head. “You’ve protected me from Tony, even though it would have been much easier for you to turn me in. Plus, you’re convinced you aren’t good, and in my experience, the people who believe themselves to be good rarely are. It’s those who are filled with self-doubt who have the biggest hearts.”
I held my hands on either side of her face and drew her close to me, pressing my nose to hers. “If you think I’m good, then I’ll work hard to be that for you.”
“See?” she said, kissing the end of my nose and then my forehead. “You have a big heart.”
Only for her. Rachel didn’t know much about me outside the confines of this very short relationship. She didn’t know how unusual this was for me. I rarely dated, and when I did, the relationship didn’t materialize much beyond the physical aspects. I had never allowed myself to be this vulnerable. I’d never spoken to a woman about my feelings, and I had certainly never told anyone about my dad’s death and how it had affected me.
On some level, I was afraid of my emotions. As a Navy SEAL, everyone expected me to be strong—both physically and emotionally—and I felt like admitting that I was lost in grief would make me weak. I was afraid someone would look at my life, at all the mistakes I’d made, and they would tell me what a failure I was.
But here was Rachel. She’d seen me at the worst of who I’d become. And not only that, but I’d hurt her. I’d pulled her into danger right along with me, derailing the normalcy of her life, and yet…she cared about me. She was determined to convince me I was a good man, and genuinely seemed to believe it herself. She believed in me, and I didn’t know how to thank her for that.
I tugged her down onto me and before she could resist, rolled her over into the sand and hovered over her. “One of the many benefits of having a big heart is that my stamina is incredible.”
She pressed the back of her hand to her mouth and laughed. “How long has it been?”
I leaned over and pulled my phone from my pocket to check the time. “Only two hours.”
“Then we have three left,” she said, drawing her hands down my chest and stretching up to kiss me.
She sucked my bottom lip into her mouth and nibbled it between her teeth, sending shockwaves through me. When she kissed me like that, I couldn’t think. Every thought in my head disappeared, and the rest of the world went fuzzy. It was just the two of us.
Rachel swiped her tongue into my mouth, and I swear I could hear my heartbeat in my ears, the steady thrum thrum thrum growing louder and louder.
And then, I stopped.
The sound grew louder. And as it did, I realized it wasn’t coming from my chest at all. It was coming from the woods on the opposite side of the small lake. I was about to ask Rachel if she heard it when I felt her body tense beneath me.
“What is that?”
I trained my ear on the distant tree line, but the sound was just a non-distinct rumble. “I don’t know, but I don’t think we should stick around to find out.”
I stood up and then gave Rachel a hand to pull her to her feet. I could see where my hands had messed up her hair and sand stuck to her like a second skin, but she was still beautiful. The most perfect woman I’d ever seen. I had to squeeze my eyes shut and shake my head to focus.
We dressed in a hurry, shaking our clothes out before slipping them on. The next stop would certainly be a clothing store; Rachel needed something other than a cocktail dress and heels, and I desperately wanted a new pair of boxer shorts. But again, now was not the time to be worried about that. The sound was getting closer.
“I can hear twigs snapping,” Rachel said as she pulled one of the straps of her dress over her shoulder.
“Maybe someone is trimming trees,” I said.
She nodded, but still kept her eyes trained on the tree line across the lake. The sky was darker now, making it hard to make out anything distinct between the trees.
She and I weren’t the only two people in the world. Just because we heard something headed our direction didn’t mean it was anyone from the mob. But regardless of who it was, I didn’t want them to find us naked on the beach, so it was better to pack up and head back to the car. We could grab another motel for the night and come up with a plan. Though, that had failed to happen the last few times we’d tried to formulate a plan. Other things kept getting in the way.
“Is it a car?” Rachel asked. Her eyes were closed so she could devote more energy to listening to whatever was making the rumbling, crunching noise.
“No,” I answered quickly, but immediately doubted myself. The sound echoed off the water, making it hard to pinpoint, but it could have been a car. I hadn’t noticed any roads leading to the lake when we’d first arrived, just walking paths, but the trees were dense across the water. Perhaps there was a road there I hadn’t seen. If that was the case, we could have company very soon. “But we should get going. I want to be back at the car before it’s dark.”
Rachel grabbed her shoes by the heels and stood straight. “I’m ready.”
I wrapped an arm around her waist and began walking through the sand when a flash across the water caught my attention. We both stopped and looked as a light broke through the trees, followed by another. It only took a few seconds for me to recognize them as headlights, but by then, it was too late. The doors flew open and four shadowy figures stepped out of the car.
“Colton?” Rachel’s voice was high-pitched and terrified.
I grabbed her hand and was about to pull her towards the trees when a voice yelled over the water, sounding both startlingly close and far away. “Don’t run or we’ll shoot.”
If there had been any doubt about who had found us, it was gone now. Even without the threat of violence, I recognized the Jersey accent.
Still, I lurched forward, thinking they were bluffing. The last men hadn’t even been carrying guns, and I’d assumed it was because Tony didn’t want anyone to get hasty and shoot Jenna. As soon as my foot landed in the sand, gunfire rang out. A tree trunk a few feet to my left exploded, wood chips flying out of it.
“That was a warning shot,” the voice yelled. “Try it again, and I won’t miss.”
Rachel gripped my hand and
pulled me back to her, staying close to my side. “What do we do?”
“They won’t shoot you,” I whispered. “They still think you’re Jenna, and Tony will have given orders to ensure she wasn’t harmed.”
“But what about you?” she asked.
“Don’t worry about me.”
“Just come with us,” the voice said. “Turn yourselves over and let this be done.”
“Go to hell!” I yelled back. I turned to Rachel and grabbed both of her hands in mine. “Run. You can get away. I’ll fight them off.”
Rachel shook her head, her eyes wide. “With what? They have guns.”
“So do I,” I said, patting my hip, though my small weapon was hardly a comfort.
“You’re outnumbered. You won’t make it,” she said. “Besides, where will I go without you? I don’t have any idea how to do this.”
“You’ll be fine.” I kissed her hands and then let them go. “Hurry, run.”
Rachel stared up at me for a moment, then stepped away in the direction of the trees. She was going to do it. She was going to listen to me this time and escape. I was going to prove myself to be a good man. I would distract the enforcers, so she could escape, likely sacrificing myself. And as terrified as I was, I knew it would be worth it. Everything I’d done up until that point would be atoned for. I would make everything right.
I studied her face as the last rays of the distant sunset played in her hair. Tears were gathering in the corners of her eyes and her lips were trembling, but she was still beautiful. Perfect. Her skin shone even in the dark, and I wanted to remember her this way forever.
“I’m sorry, Colton” she whispered, and I was about to wave her away. I was glad to do this for her. Anything for her.
And then, she ran past me. She was heading directly for the four men, her arms waving over her head to flag them down.
The Wedding Steal Page 15