The Airman's E-Mail Order Bride (Heroes of Chance Creek Book 5)

by Seton, Cora

  Would everything have been different if he’d only said good-bye before he left town? If so, he wished he could turn back time.

  “I’m going home tomorrow, right?”

  “That’s right.” Colt tried not to bristle at the question. It was only normal for Richard to miss his mom, but he couldn’t bear the thought of how empty the Hall would feel without Richard.

  “See you in the morning.”

  “Come here.”

  Richard made a face and crossed the room, but when Colt gave him an awkward hug, Richard hugged him back. “Night.” He slipped back out the door. Colt heard his footsteps pace down the hall and climb to the third floor room he used when he stayed at the ranch overnight.

  Alone again, Colt sat on his bed and pulled out his laptop. Running a cursory glance over his new e-mail messages he spotted one of Melanie’s lower on the list. He’d only thought about her in passing over the last couple of days and he knew he needed to get in touch with her right away. He pulled up their thread of messages and read over it again, hit reply and began to type.

  Melanie,

  There’s been a change of plans and I’ll need to cancel our agreement. I realize this is last minute and I will compensate you for any inconvenience. Just tell me where to send the money.

  Colt.

  A soft knock sounded at his door, startling him. He looked at the clock. That wouldn’t be Richard up again; the boy pounded when he wanted entry anywhere. Colt shut his laptop, stood up and crossed the room. It must be Mason or Zane or…

  “Heather?”

  She carried a suitcase in each hand and a pillow under one arm.

  “Hi. I’m moving in.”

  For a swift moment, Colt wondered if he’d fallen asleep and was dreaming this scenario, but when Heather brushed past him into his bedroom he realized it was real. “What do you mean you’re moving in?” God, she looked good. She must have changed after work because she wore poured-on jeans and a soft, silky top that had no shape of its own but somehow managed to accentuate her every curve.

  “Do you want me here with you or should I take a room upstairs next to Richard?” The look in her eye dared him to send her packing, but he saw vulnerability, too.

  “You didn’t even ask—”

  “The others took a vote and it was unanimous. They want me here.” Heather stood her ground.

  “Maybe I’m not ready to have you here.” He was, of course. Already his body was responding to her presence here in his bedroom, and lascivious thoughts insinuated themselves into his brain. His bed was only a couple of feet away…

  “Then it’s seven against one. I’ll find a room upstairs.” She turned to go.

  “Heather.”

  “What?”

  “Get over here,” he growled. Leaning forward, he pulled the suitcases from her hands. Her pillow dropped to the floor and he kicked it away.

  Her protests cut off when he covered her mouth with his. Heather was far too tempting to let escape. No matter what had happened, if she was going to sleep in Crescent Hall then she was going to sleep with him.

  He buried his hands in her hair and kissed her until she stopped fighting him. When he finally pulled back she said, “What was that for?”

  “Because you’re here. Because I can’t help myself.”

  “Does that mean you’ve forgiven me?”

  “It means you’re driving me insane.”

  “I’m driving you insane?” She untangled herself. “Maybe I’d better sleep upstairs after all.”

  He caught her hand. “You can’t expect me to figure all this out in a couple of days.”

  She searched his gaze a long time before looking away and he had the feeling that what she’d seen didn’t satisfy her. “I guess so.”

  He tugged her closer more slowly, giving her time to put up a fight. She let him pull her in and this time when he bent to kiss her, she wrapped her arms around his neck.

  “Just tell me the truth,” he murmured into her hair. “Did you think I wasn’t fit to be Richard’s father?”

  She stiffened and tilted her head back. “I didn’t think you wanted me.”

  It was his turn to pull back. “Of course I wanted you.”

  “You left.”

  His arms tightened around her. “I was scared.”

  “So was I.” He felt the dampness of her tears against his neck. “I was afraid you and Austin would fight. I thought your family would fall apart if they knew. I wasn’t sure… what you’d say if I told you. I couldn’t bear to be rejected again.”

  Every word she spoke was a blow to his heart.

  “I shouldn’t have left you. This is all my fault.”

  “No—it was—”

  He kissed the rest of her words away. He’d had no idea how good it would feel to finally man up and shoulder the blame. Now he could cross the gulf between them. They’d been so young. So unprepared for what life could throw at them. They’d both done their best but it hadn’t been good enough. Now they could give each other another chance. He bent to kiss her, and she met him eagerly. Heather’s kisses inflamed him just as much as they always had. He couldn’t get enough, and soon his need to be with her—to be inside her—outweighed everything else. When he led her to the bed, she needed no more persuasion to join him there.

  She unzipped her jacket and laid it on the easy chair tucked in one corner of the room. Then she began to undress, piece by piece, until Colt couldn’t stand it anymore and moved to help her. Heather batted his hands away. “Just sit down and watch the show.”

  He did what he was told, but it soon became a kind of sensual torture to watch her without joining in. He unbuttoned his own shirt and shrugged out of it, then shucked off his jeans, socks and boxer-briefs, too. Heather wasn’t the only one who could get naked, although she exhibited a certain style about it that he didn’t seem capable of. She unhooked her bra and laid it on top of the other items of clothing she’d already discarded and when she bent to slip down her barely-there panties, her breasts hung heavy and all-too-tempting in front of his face.

  Colt couldn’t restrain himself anymore. When she was naked, he set his hands on her slim waist and lifted her onto his lap before palming her breasts and covering one nipple with his mouth. Heather moaned, and shifted herself closer, wrapping her legs around his waist. When he moved from one breast to the other and back again, she closed her eyes and tilted her head back, giving him easier access.

  Sliding a hand down her back and over her bottom, he didn’t know why she felt so good—so much better than any other woman he’d known. Was it something about her body that made her just right for him, or was it their souls that matched up? Whatever it was made her irresistible, no matter what had happened in the past.

  Maybe this feeling told him everything he needed to know about her actions, too. Maybe she had done her best to make a good decision.

  Maybe there hadn’t been any good decision to make.

  All he knew was that pressed against her like this, she was all he could think about—all he wanted. He longed to be inside of her. As if she’d heard his thoughts, Heather wrapped her arms around his neck, lifted herself up and lowered herself down. Colt moaned as her hot, slick folds slid around him. Working solely on instinct, he began to move and she clung to him, murmuring phrases of encouragement into his ear as his pace increased. It turned him on to know she still wanted to give herself to him so freely, and the fact that she’d given him control over their lovemaking—and was so obviously blissed out by every move he made—set him on fire even more.

  As she leaned back to fully enjoy the ride, her breasts lifted and Colt was swept away by the view. Heather was beautiful, sensuous, made for him, and he couldn’t help but love her no matter what she did.

  He gave himself fully to the experience, thrusting into her until she came with a cry that he hoped wouldn’t wake the rest of the house. He came, too, a wave of love for the woman in his arms washing over him as he spilled into her. Hea
ther belonged with him. Belonged to him. He wasn’t going to let her go again.

  Spent, exhausted and energized all at the same time, Colt fell back, drawing Heather down on top of him. He kissed her, and only then noticed that Heather had suddenly gone rigid in his arms.

  “What’s wrong?” Fear made him gruff. If she said this was a mistake he didn’t know what he’d do.

  “Condom. We forgot the condom. Colt, I’m not on the Pill.”

  She had never, ever made this kind of mistake since the first time she and Colt had unprotected sex in the back seat of her mother’s Impala. In fact, she had prided herself on being a modern, capable woman who regularly stocked her bathroom cupboard with a fresh box of condoms even when months went by without a single date, let alone a passionate liaison. On the few occasions when her infrequent relationships had made it that far, she’d spoken up loud and clear about the need to use protection. Why had she forgotten all of that now with Colt, for God’s sake? She tried to sit up and untangle herself from him but he caught her up in his arms.

  “Wait.”

  “Wait for what? I can’t believe we didn’t—”

  “It’s all right.” He leaned back and began to laugh.

  “What’s so funny?”

  “Us! Don’t you see? Here we are in the same position we were back when we were teenagers. Driving each other wild. Making love without protection. Guilty as shit about being together. Worried about what everyone else is going to say.”

  Heather buried her face against his chest. “What are they going to say?”

  “They’re going to say we love each other.” He sat up, moving her with him. “They’re going to say we should have saved everyone a lot of heartache and married each other back then. We were obviously meant to be together.”

  “I can’t be with you if you think I ever wanted to hurt you, Colt.”

  “I know you didn’t. I guess I wanted to be angry at you so I didn’t have to be angry at myself.” He lifted her hand and pressed a kiss into her palm. “I was stupid to leave without saying good-bye. Every time I think about it I want to say, ‘But I was only a teenager.’ Trouble is, if I use that as my excuse, I have to admit it’s your excuse, too. We were so young.”

  “We really were. We don’t have that excuse now, though.”

  “Who cares? We’re in love, we’re going to get married. We’re allowed to have more children if we want.”

  “Shouldn’t we at least make it through twenty-four hours without an argument first?”

  “Do you have any more deep, dark secrets to reveal?”

  “No. How about you?”

  “Not a single one. So how about this: we’ll start over. We’ll rewind to the night we made love in your mother’s car and pretend the rest of it never happened. Come here.” He rolled her over onto the bed and began another thorough exploration of her body with his mouth. At first she held back, feeling like there was more to say, but soon his kisses inflamed her senses again and before she knew it, he was pushing into her.

  “Colt.” She looked up at him, wishing she could read his mind. Was he forgetting again? “Protection?”

  “Do you want to use it?”

  “Are you saying you want… a baby?”

  He leaned down to kiss her. “That’s exactly what I’m saying. Come on, Heather, let’s forget our past mistakes. Let’s make this real. Let’s make a family with our eyes open.”

  “Are you sure?” She couldn’t stand it if he changed his mind again.

  “I’m sure. Are you?”

  Was she? Reason told her they were rushing this, but looking into the oh-so-handsome face of the man she’d loved since she was seventeen, Heather knew reason didn’t come into it at all. She wanted to take this leap with Colt and believe in their future together like he did. If he could see past the fact she’d hid Richard from him, and glimpse a future in which they’d be one big happy family, who was she to say no?

  Heather didn’t answer in words. She slid her hands down his back and urged him inside of her. He obliged with a strong stroke that made her moan aloud. The thought of Colt making her pregnant because he wanted to—because he was in love with her—turned her on more than she could say. She closed her eyes and feathered kisses along the edge of his jaw. He laced his fingers in hers, lifted her arms over her head and moved purposefully within her.

  With each stroke her fears dissipated and her heart filled with a blissful knowledge that Colt was right; they did belong together. With his hands braced against the mattress, every muscle in his arms was defined. He was so strong, so handsome and every bit as reckless as she was. He was the man she’d always loved and that would never change. As he increased his pace, she let go of everything else and let him carry her up and over the edge of ecstasy. He muffled her cries with kisses and when they were done, she found that her cheeks were wet.

  “Why are you crying?” He wiped his cheek across hers to dry her tears.

  “Because I want you so bad.”

  “You’ve got me.”

  “I’m afraid I’ll lose you again.”

  “You won’t. I swear to God, Heather. Nothing’s going to break us apart again.”

  Wrapped in his arms, pinned by his weight, Heather let go of the last of her fears. Colt had come back to her, and together they would add another baby to their family.

  Colt pushed up on his elbows and looked down at her belly. “I’m not sure you’re pregnant yet.”

  She laughed and scrubbed the rest of her tears away with her hand. “You’re right; we might need to try again.”

  “I thought you’d never ask.” Colt rolled over and pulled her up on top. “Your turn to do the hard work.” He closed his eyes and flopped his arms out to the sides, but straddling him, she felt the truth of the matter; he was ready to go again.

  She dipped down to brush her nipples across his chest as she pressed a kiss to his mouth.

  She was ready, too.

  Chapter Eleven

  ‡

  “Two weeks is nowhere near enough time to plan a wedding,” Zane said at breakfast the next morning when Colt announced the date to his brothers. He and Heather had already broken the news to Richard together. Richard played it cool but he’d had a hard time hiding his happiness. It warmed Colt’s heart to know how important he already was to his son. Especially since Richard already meant the world to him.

  It was a cold, windy day, which meant morning chores hadn’t been pleasant, but Colt couldn’t remember feeling the nip of the stiff breeze when he’d been outside. Richard had worked alongside him as diligently as if he’d ranched all his life, and Colt was still buzzing with the after effects of making love to Heather the night before—and the idea that even now Heather could be pregnant again. Every time he thought about it, he grew half-hard. He was sure before the day was out they’d find a few more opportunities to try again. Good thing it was a school day. His brothers would respect a locked door, but Colt wasn’t sure Richard would, and their bedroom door would definitely be locked.

  The first thing he’d done this morning was find the draft of the e-mail he’d written to cancel his deal with Melanie and send it. With that chore out of the way, he could dedicate himself wholeheartedly to his future with Heather and Richard.

  “I don’t see why not. What’s there to do? I’ll talk to the minister today.” Colt dug into the big breakfast the women had prepared. He’d missed food like this and he was making up for lost time.

  “There’s a lot more to it than that,” Regan said.

  “You have to hire a caterer, get music together, decorate the Hall. You can’t do it half-assed, either; this is a once-in-a-lifetime kind of thing,” Zane said.

  “Don’t forget the wedding dress and the bridesmaids’ dresses. Even if they buy off the rack, they have to be tailored to fit. It’s intricate work and it takes time,” Mason said.

  “Then there’s the flowers for the church and reception hall, and Heather will need a bouquet,” Austi
n added.

  Colt looked from one to the next of them and shook his head. “Are you sure you’re my brothers? They used to have at least one cock between them.”

  Dan guffawed and the women chuckled. His brothers didn’t find it funny.

  “Three weddings.” Mason held up a corresponding number of fingers. “We’ve pulled off three weddings in the last nine months. We know what we’re talking about.”

  “They really do,” Ella said.

  Storm nodded. “You’ll be impressed.”

  “That’d be a first. Hey!” Colt scowled when Zane flicked water on him from his glass, but his heart lifted when he saw Zane’s smile and he knew the attack had been good-natured. He’d missed this kind of camaraderie with his brothers. “I still intend to marry Heather two weeks from Sunday.”

  “Then you’ll have to work fast. Start with the minister and we’ll go from there.” The satisfaction on Mason’s face told Colt his brother couldn’t wait to have ownership of the ranch sewn up. He couldn’t blame him. Mason had spearheaded the whole campaign of winning back Crescent Hall and he loved the ranch as much as Colt did. The knowledge that marrying Heather fast would settle things for everyone satisfied him, too. Everyone was much more relaxed this morning and Colt knew that was because it was obvious he and Heather had made up. He couldn’t hide his happiness today and neither could she.

  “What about you, Heather? Are you okay with such a short time frame?” Ella asked.

  “I am, except… I still want all the traditional wedding things, you know? I want my dress to be beautiful.”

  “Of course,” Regan said. “And you need to pick a theme and flowers and invitations.”

  “You’ll have to send those invitations really quickly!” Storm broke in. “Don’t forget the bachelorette party. I’ll take care of that if you like!”

  “We’ll do the rehearsal dinner,” Zane said. He looked at the other men. “We can handle making a reservation at a restaurant, right?”