His fingers dragged over her belly, making small unconscious patterns that tempted her to squirm. “One time when I was on leave in Germany, a group of us went to this sex club with live demonstrations in addition to all the private playing that was going on. Some crazy shit. But there was a very intense BDSM scene going on. And watching it flipped a switch in my brain. You sure you want to know this?”
“Yes. You’re thirty-two and I’m twenty-six, Colton. Both of us have had experiences before today. I can handle it.”
“Okay.” He winked and pressed a kiss to her temple. “A woman saw me watching the scene and one thing led to another. She was a masochist, and frankly wanted more than I could give. But that switch of mine? Actually experiencing this for the first time permanently stuck it in the on position and made me realize that something had always been missing for me.”
Kady totally understood that feeling. Something had definitely been missing for her, too, and now she knew what it was. “Pretty sure the same thing just happened to me.”
Colton quirked a crooked smile, but then his face went serious. “I’m glad it was me.”
“I’m glad it was you, too.” Words sat on the tip of her tongue, but all she could hear was Colton telling her that the idea of long-term relationships freaked him out. She didn’t want to be that woman—the one who had sex and then started planning a wedding.
Meeting his gaze, she gave him a small smile. He was so damn gorgeous it made her heart hurt, though his eyes were bloodshot and dark. A long moment of silence stretched out, and Kady dreaded it turning awkward. She stroked her fingers over his cheek. “You look tired. We have some time. Lay your head down,” she said.
“Yeah, that sounds good.” He scooted down, laid his head on her chest, and covered half her body with his, his thigh across hers, his arm thrown across so he could tuck his hand beneath her. He let out a sigh of pure exhausted pleasure. “You mind?” he asked, a bit of a humor in his voice.
Kady chuckled. “I suppose I can put up with it.” In truth, she adored it.
“Your fault I was up all night reading,” he mumbled.
Heat filled her cheeks again, and Colton was right—it was ridiculous that his discovery of her stash of erotic romance made her react that way after everything else that’d happened. “Exactly how much did you read?” she asked.
“Pretty much everything from the scene in the alley ’til the end.”
“Ohmigod,” she said under her breath, thinking through all the filthy scenes that included. Her stomach flip-flopped.
He squeezed his arm around her. “Luckiest thing that ever happened,” he said in almost a slur.
The words seeped from his mouth right through her skin and into her heart. If he really believed that, maybe he was feeling some of the same things she was—that she wanted more, that she didn’t want this to end. Really, there was only one way to find out. “I don’t want this to be it, Colton.” Her pulse tripped into a sprint at the declaration.
No answer, unless the slow, deep inhale of his breathing counted. He’d fallen asleep. And as much as it sucked that she’d found the courage to say something after he’d passed out, the fact that this big, strong man had found the comfort and solace of sleep on her body was the sweetest satisfaction.
With him lying all over her like this, she couldn’t not touch him. She brushed her hand over his hair, stroked his back, and ran her fingers along his arm. Above all the questions about what might or might not happen between them that ran through her head was the feeling of absolute rightness about what they’d done, and what they were doing right now.
That feeling of rightness spread over her even more completely than Colton. And Kady resolved to say something before they left today.
…
A musical ringtone played way in the distance, hauling Colton out of sleep. His mind rose slowly into consciousness, resisting and regretting being pulled from the best sleep he’d had in days. Maybe longer.
As soon as his mind broke the surface, he realized he’d been hearing the ring of his cell. Panic flashed through him. What time was it?
He lifted his upper body and his eyes tracked to the clock on the nightstand. Two thirty. Damnit. The ringing cut out and Colton groaned. They needed to be dressed, packed, and ready to go in a half hour.
Staring down at the naked woman sprawled on the bed, Colton admired Kady’s beauty. The combination of her black hair, pale skin, and dark-pink lips was alluring and so damn appealing to him he didn’t want to look away. But the time didn’t give him a choice.
His stomach churned and burned over exactly he wanted to say to her.
Colton kissed Kady’s forehead. “Wake up, cupcake,” he said, loving how the mere mention of his longtime nickname usually piqued her ire.
“Are you really still gonna call me that?” she asked, coming awake on a smile. Her eyes were soft and warm and gentle as they focused on him.
Man, how he’d love to wake up to her every day. It made his cock harden just to imagine it. “Of course I am,” he said. “Nothing has to change.”
Kady blanched, then Colton literally saw as she shut down her reaction to his comment and brightened her expression again. She looked away. “Oh my God, is that the time?” She rolled out of the far side of the bed, avoiding Colton all together. “Shit, shit, shit.”
“Yes, that’s why I woke you,” he said, analyzing what had caused that momentary reaction. And then his mind repeated his own words back to him. “Kady, I didn’t mean—”
“Listen, we don’t have to do a whole postmortem,” she said. “And we don’t have time right now anyway. Mind if I grab a quick shower first?”
“No,” he said as his shoulders fell. Kady grabbed her purse and disappeared into the bathroom, the door closing behind her.
As much as he’d needed the sleep and sleeping with Kady had been amazingly restful, Colton was irritated with himself for wasting his remaining time with her. They could’ve spent the afternoon making love, talking, a thousand things that were way better and more productive than sleep. He stalked to his cell on the dresser and check who’d called, then pressed the button to listen to his voicemail message.
It was the private confirming that one highway was good to go and he’d be here to retrieve them at fifteen hundred. So Colton was definitely out of time.
When the shower water came on, Colton knew he didn’t want to leave things between th
em so unclear and unspecified—no way he wanted her a thousand miles away wondering if he wanted her.
He marched across the room and into the bathroom, not even bothering to knock.
“We need to talk,” Colton said to the closed shower curtain as he leaned his bare ass against the counter and crossed his arms.
The edge of the curtain whipped back and Kady poked her head through. “Uh, taking a shower here.”
He smirked at her and forced himself to resist the urge to lick the droplets of water from her lips. “Yes, well, fortunately, you’re very bright and able to multitask, and I’ve already seen all your beautiful parts.”
She rolled her eyes and tugged the curtain closed again. “Okay, so, what do you want to talk about?”
One beat passed, then another, and then Colton laid himself on the line. “I want us to try being together,” he said, his heart racing in his chest. “I want us to figure out how to make that work. If you want to, of course.”
This time, the curtain eased open much slower. Kady met Colton’s gaze, and her eyes were so bright with excitement. “Really? Yes, I definitely do,” she said. “Do you mean, like, a long-distance relationship? Because I’ve got a ton of frequent-flier miles. Or we could drive and meet in the middle, or—”
“I appreciate that, but if we could find a way, I’d love to avoid the long-distance thing,” he said, crossing the room so he could stand right in front of her. “First, because after eight years in the army, I’ve had my fill of long-distance everything. Second, because I’m a novice at relationships and I don’t want to screw it up. And, third and most importantly, because I don’t want to be away from you that much.”
A sweet smile played around her lips at his words. “What’s the alternative, then?”
Colton braced himself and uttered the invitation that he wasn’t sure why he’d never issued before. “Come work for me. As my partner. The two of us together? We’d be unbeatable. The job would bring you back to Boulder and we could be together.”
Man, was Logan—Colton’s college roommate and his best friend back in Boulder ever since—gonna have a field day with this development when Colton told him what was going down. But Colton didn’t even care about the hardcore razzing he had coming from all his buddies because he felt the rightness of this idea down deep.