by Stacy Finz
Light worked. She was getting over a bad marriage, trying to rebuild a business, and had no plans to stay in Glory Junction indefinitely. There had never been an expectation that they’d become an immediate couple. Still, she couldn’t help needle him. “It took you five days to decide you just wanted to fool around?”
“Not just fool around,” he said, sounding insulted. “I like you, Delaney. I like talking to you, drinking beer or wine together, this.” He swept his hand around the restaurant. “I like spending time with you.”
He just didn’t want to like it too much, she suspected. Not with her life in flux the way it was. Colt was more sensitive than he let on, hence the whole privacy issue. She could understand how he didn’t want the town to have a front-row seat to his love life, especially after what Lisa had done to him.
“Plus, we’ve been doing surveillance in connection with those burglaries I told you about,” he continued, putting his finger to his lips. “That’s not to be repeated. But that’s at least part of the reason I’ve been MIA. It was either that or come over in the wee hours of the morning. It seemed a little douchie, even for me.”
She felt a rash creep up her neck, remembering the time she’d gone banging on his door to show him a pair of cargo pants and he’d rightfully assumed it was a booty call.
“How’s that going ... the surveillance?”
“Jack’s got it tonight, but let’s not talk about work.” He rubbed the toe of his boot against her calf and she shuddered.
That must’ve been why he was having a glass of wine, Delaney thought. He wasn’t on call tonight, a rarity on a Friday. And how was it that she’d come to know his schedule so well?
“I guess you’ve got the night free?” she said.
“Yep.” He hitched his brows again. “Like I said, I’ve got plans.”
“Do share.”
“It’ll start with me taking off that dress.” He nudged his head at the bodice, making a big production of staring at her chest ... her puckering nipples.
“Then what?” She pressed her thighs tightly together to stem the tingling between her legs.
“Then I’m going to take my time looking at you.” He put his hand under the table again, pried her legs apart, reached up until he touched the layer of ruffles on her panties, and grinned.
“Then what?”
“You know what.” He winked.
The waiter arrived with a big tray and took forever putting it on a stand and serving each plate with a flourish, chattering endlessly about the black truffles on Colt’s risotto. At this point the only thing she was hungry for was Colt, so she tuned the server out until he left.
Colt tucked into his food like a starving man and when he caught her watching, said, “What? I’m gonna need my strength.”
Yes, you are. So sexually worked up she could barely see straight, she tried to eat her chicken. This meal would put a big dent in Colt’s wallet and she didn’t want to waste it, even though she couldn’t wait to get home and have him do all the things he said he would.
“You like it?” he asked.
“Delicious. Would you like to try some?” She held a forkful of the coq au vin to his mouth and watched him devour it.
“Mmm, good. You want to try some of this?” He gave her a taste of his creamy risotto, which melted in her mouth.
“Wonderful.”
They continued to feed each other across the table, probably annoying the rest of the diners. Away from Glory Junction, Colt was more flagrant with his affection and she was too wrapped up in him to worry about decorum. They were entitled to a romantic night out and it wasn’t as if they were sucking each other’s toes.
“Delaney?”
“Huh?”
He took a visual stroll over her dress ... her body, his eyes narrowing. “Hurry up and finish.”
Thank the Lord Jesus. “I’m stuffed. We can go anytime.”
He flagged over the waiter and asked for the check, not bothering to look at it when it came, just shoving his credit card at the poor man. As soon as the server returned with the receipt, Colt wrote in a tip, signed the bill, and pulled Delaney out of her chair. “Let’s go.”
They got as far as the lobby door when he suddenly turned around and steered her to the reservation desk.
“What are you doing?” she whispered.
“Getting a room.” He whipped out the same card he’d used to pay the bill and slapped it on the counter. “Just give us whatever you’ve got.”
It was a king suite for nine hundred dollars. Delaney gasped.
“This is crazy. Here, put it on mine.” She rummaged through her purse for her wallet. When she raised her head with her credit card in hand Colt shot her a look, one that said, don’t you dare. She quickly put the Visa away.
The reservationist gave them key cards and asked if they needed a bellboy for their luggage. The young woman wasn’t the sharpest tool in the shed.
“I’ve got it.” Colt practically shoved Delaney toward the elevator.
When they got inside and the doors shut, she said, “You’re insane. Nine hundred dollars!”
He pinned her against the wall and kissed her. “Shush. Don’t be a buzz kill.”
His mouth and tongue tasted like chardonnay and melted her insides as he licked inside her. She clutched his shirt, trying to hold on and stretch up to his height to take the kiss deeper. Even with her three-inch heels she was a good six inches shorter than him.
The door slid open and they stopped kissing long enough to find their room and jam the key card in the door. They got just inside the threshold when Colt unzipped the back of her dress.
“Very pretty but it’s gotta go.”
She let it slither down her body and stepped out of it. He leaned against the wall, slowly took her in from head to toe, and let out a low whistle. Then he reached out and yanked her against him while she wrestled with his belt buckle.
“Slow down,” he said. “I want to look at you some more.” He gazed down her bra and she felt him grow harder against her belly.
“I want your clothes off.” She untucked his shirt from his jeans, and he chuckled.
“Demanding, aren’t you?”
“Why should I stand here half naked if you’re going to stay fully clothed?”
He conceded her point with a bob of his head, then traced the lace on her bra with his finger. “I like this. And this.” His hand moved to her matching lace panties and he rimmed the elastic waist with his thumb, dipping in just low enough to tantalize her but not enough to stop the pulsing between her legs.
“Colt?” She let out a moan as he started to slide his hand lower. “Please.”
“Please, what? Tell me what you want.”
“You know what I want,” she said, her words coming out in halted breaths.
“Say it,” he whispered in her ear. “Tell me.”
She shivered as he continued to touch her. Colt pushed her against the wall, got down on his knees, slid her panties down her legs, nudged her legs apart, and kissed her so deeply she lost her mind. And her balance.
“I’ve got you, baby.” He clasped her hips in his large hands. “Tell me what you want.”
She couldn’t breathe, let alone talk. What he was doing felt so good. He ran kisses up and down the inside of her thighs, teasing. She tangled her fingers in his hair and guided his head ... his wonderful mouth ... to the place that quivered for him.
“This? You want this?” He delved his tongue in deep, making her cry out something nonsensical and slam her hands against the wall for purchase.
“Yes,” she said as he tortured her with that clever mouth of his. Sweet, sweet torture. “Colt, Colt.”
She felt herself clench and shudder as he brought her to climax. It seemed to go on forever, her entire body shaking, her legs wobbling, and her heart pounding. Colt lifted his head to watch her.
“Good?”
She tilted her head back against the wall, shut her eyes, and tried to catch h
er breath. “Mm-hmm.”
He got to his feet, picked her up, and carried her to the bed, where he gently laid her down. She heard his boots drop to the floor and the swish of his pants followed. Lifting up on her elbows, she watched him undo the first few buttons on his shirt, give up, and drag it over his head. He stood there in nothing but a pair of black boxer briefs that barely contained his arousal. In under a second he shucked the shorts, too. He grabbed a foil packet from his wallet and tossed it onto the side table. And then he was on top of her, kissing and fondling her breasts. The hairs on his chest tickled as he moved over her, touching and licking until she burned and begged.
She felt around for the condom, found it, and ripped it open with her teeth. Impatient, he took it from her and rolled it down his thick length. Then in one fluid motion, he entered her and slipped both hands under her bottom so he could go deeper. She folded her legs up to take all of him and began moving to his rhythm, matching him stroke for stroke.
He pumped harder and faster until all she could do to keep up was wrap her legs around his back and hang on. His mouth clamped onto her nipple through the thin lace of her bra and sucked as he moved in and out of her, the sensation so exquisite she thought she’d died and gone to heaven. Colt switched to her other breast, sucking and laving until she couldn’t take it anymore. Her senses spiraled out of control, her muscles contracted, and she found her release.
Colt pumped a few more times, threw his head back, called her name, and shuddered. He lay there for a second, cradled in her arms, then swung his legs over the bed and disappeared inside the bathroom.
Delaney crawled under the covers. Without Colt’s body heat the room had turned cold. She noticed that in their sex-driven haste, they’d forgotten to close the drapes. It appeared from what little she could make out in the dark that they had a view of the lake. And the mountains. She still couldn’t believe Colt’s impetuousness, but it made a smile bloom in her chest. He was spontaneous, generous, and adventurous.
And she’d fallen for him, hard, despite his efforts to shut her out. He’d made her rediscover herself as a woman, made her feel whole again, and safe. She kept coming back to that word. Safe. Safe to be who she was and not something she could never be. Safe to try something new. Safe to fail.
“What are you doing?” Colt came out of the bathroom unabashed in his nakedness. And why shouldn’t he be? He was gorgeous.
Thinking about how you’ve changed me. “Recuperating. Considering enrolling in an exercise class to keep up with you.”
“No worries there.” He let his eyes wander over her. “You’re in excellent shape.”
She looked around the room. “We’re staying, I presume.”
“Hell yeah, we’re staying.”
“It’s beautiful, but I feel bad that you spent all that money.”
“Because you’re a midwestern girl at heart with simple tastes?” Colt asked facetiously. “Or because you don’t think I can afford it?”
“Because we live thirty miles away and nine hundred dollars is a lot of money on a—”
“On a cop’s salary?” He stood at the side of the bed, putting on his shorts, which was too bad. She liked looking at him.
“On a whim. But yes, it’s a lot of money on any salary.” Sensitive, much?
“It won’t cut into my beer budget.” He plopped down on the bed and kissed her. “And for the record, I wouldn’t have made it the fifteen miles. You do that to me.”
“I do?” She still couldn’t believe it.
“Come on, Delaney. You’ve got to know how beautiful you are, how desirable.”
“Robert didn’t think so.” She stopped, suddenly appalled with herself. “Sorry. I’m not bringing him to bed with us. You’re the only person I want to be here with.”
He fluffed a pillow, put it behind his head, and stretched out next to her. “He told you you weren’t beautiful?”
“No, he told me he wasn’t attracted to me, that I was cold and sexless.”
Colt snorted. “The guy’s a worm and wears shrunken pants.”
“Colt, I designed those pants.”
“That’s okay, you were probably drunk.”
She shoved him but he didn’t budge.
“Baby, you’re smokin’ hot. And sexless?” He jerked his head. “What planet does he live on? If what we just did a few minutes ago was sexless ... maybe we should send him pictures.”
Her face must’ve turned white, because he said, “Delaney, I was kidding.” She remained silent. “Delaney, what?”
“He wanted me to sleep with other men.” This was what she meant about Colt making her feel safe. She’d never told this to another living soul.
“While you were still married?”
She nodded. “He wanted us both to . . . him with other women.”
“Like an open marriage?” Colt asked, and she wondered if the idea appealed to him, to all men.
“More like swingers, I guess. He thought seeing me with other men, and me seeing him with other women, would help him be attracted to me again. Save our marriage.”
She remembered the first time Robert had raised the idea, the repulsion that had swirled in her stomach.
“Don’t be so judgmental, Delaney. Plenty of couples are in the lifestyle, even people we work with.”
She wondered how he knew that. It didn’t seem like something anyone would advertise.
“We can start out slow. You could pick someone you’re attracted to, have him over to swim in the pool or barbecue, and take it from there.”
“You wouldn’t be jealous?”
“No, because we would be doing it for each other. Watching another man get you off . . . it would make me happy, Delaney.”
“Well, it wouldn’t make me happy. In fact, the very idea of it disgusts me.”
He looked at her for a long time, his eyes turning sad. “Then I’m no longer interested in being married.”
And that was that. The next day, she moved out.
Colt turned on his side so he could look at her. “Did you try it?”
“No.” While she wasn’t one to denigrate another’s lifestyle, sleeping with other men and other couples with her husband’s consent was not her idea of a marriage. “He gave me an ultimatum and I chose divorce.”
When Colt didn’t say anything, she felt exposed. Even though the fashion crowd was known for being experimental, she’d been too embarrassed to tell any of her designer friends for fear that they would judge her. Find her lacking.
“Why?” she finally said, unable to stand the silence. “You think I should’ve done it to save the marriage?”
Colt sat up and folded his arms over his chest. “Call me old-fashioned, but sharing my woman with another man—never gonna happen. To me, it doesn’t sound like a marriage worth saving. And Robert sounds like a prick.”
Something in her chest fluttered like a caged bird that had been freed. Until now, she hadn’t realized how insecure Robert had made her.
“Don’t tell anyone.” She sounded like a twelve-year-old.
“Never.” He pretended to lock his lips with a key. “But, honey, you don’t have anything to be embarrassed about. Any red-blooded man would be attracted to you, and in my opinion Robert was looking for a way to get you to sanction his screwing around without the risk of losing half the business. This bullshit about strengthening your marriage by sleeping with other people—give me a break.”
“Millions of couples share this lifestyle; I looked it up.” She didn’t know why she was being defensive. The truth was she’d had the same reaction as Colt. It had sounded like Robert wanted a license to cheat.
“I’m not judging.” He raised his hands. “If both a husband and wife want to swing, if it’s their thing and it makes them happy, that’s their business. But for Robert to have told you that it would help him be attracted to you again ... that’s fucking wrong. Personally, I don’t see how a man could let another man touch his wife. No way in hell would I.”
The possessiveness in his voice sent a shot of warmth through her body. It was exactly how she felt. When you loved somebody, you didn’t want them to be with anyone but you.
Chapter Eighteen
“That captain from the Fremont Police Department is back,” Jack said in a hushed tone as he stood in the doorway of Colt’s office. “He and Pond Scum came through here at about eight this morning.”
“Were they looking for me?” Colt had gotten in late after taking Delaney home from the hotel, showering, and changing into his uniform.
“I don’t think so. They went into your office, though. When I heard them I came to investigate and made it known that they shouldn’t be in here. After that they left.”
Colt thought they were probably taking measurements for Brian’s new desk. “Thanks, Jack. Why are you here, anyway?”
“I had some reports to finish and thought I’d clean my office. Between the summer hordes and the burglaries, I haven’t had time to organize.”
Colt sniffed bullshit. Jack was hoping Carrie Jo would come in, which she often did on weekends to catch up. He let it go, though. No reason to embarrass the dude, who clearly had it so bad for their receptionist that he’d waste a perfectly good Saturday off.
“You hear from your friend yet at SFPD?”
“Crickets,” Colt said. “I’ll bug him again. In the meantime, it might be good to put some feelers out there. The sheriff’s department or maybe even Nugget PD might have openings. If Brian comes in, he’ll want to select his own assistant chief, someone loyal to him.”
“I’m not worried about me, but I don’t like the bloody injustice of it. You’re an excellent chief, Colt, and you’re getting shafted.”
“Shit happens.” He tried to sound nonchalant about it, but it would hurt. The bottom line: Colt loved his job and would hate to lose it. “I’ve got a pretty good safety net.”
“You’d go full time at Garner Adventure?”
“Sure. It’s probably time I shouldered some weight there anyway.”
Jack snorted. “You shoulder plenty of weight. If I didn’t know better, I’d think there were two of you.”
“You’re a good friend, Jack.”