The Bad Boy's Redemption (3 page)

“Well, it’s not like I haven’t wham bam thank you ma’am’d my share of women.” He squatted down with a sigh. “Some would probably say I brought this on myself, too.”

“But I’m glad you said what you said,” she said softly. “I feel a lot less confused now.”

“About what?” he asked, his expression guarded.

“About why it feels the way it does when we’re together.” She was suddenly feeling shy, but if Colt could find the courage to say he was falling in love with her she could go out on a limb, too. “Like something way more than just physical.”

“Yeah,” he said, relief spreading across his features. “So I’m not alone here?”

“No, you’re not alone. I’ve never been in love either, but I…” Her tongue slipped out to dampen her lips. “But I’ve had a crush on you most of my life so I guess falling in love with you would probably make sense.”

His eyes lit up, but his nod was reserved. “Then maybe we should just give this some space and see how things go.”

“Sounds good,” she said. “But don’t give me too much space. I seriously don’t think I could sleep tonight if you left me alone with the lizard. Even if he is in a terrarium. I mean, he’s escaped before.”

Colt grinned as he reached out to tug the collar of her pajamas. “That is wet, isn’t it?”

“Yes,” she said, smiling. “It is.”

“Then why don’t we get you out of those clothes and into a shower,” he said, curling his fingers through hers. “And then maybe we’ll be able to get to sleep before two in the morning.”

“It’s not even midnight,” she said, gazing up at him as he pulled her to her feet. “A shower doesn’t take two hours.”

“No, but the things I’m going to do to you after might,” he said, pulling her in for a long, slow, sultry kiss she felt everywhere.

Absolutely everywhere, from her lips to the tips of her toes and everywhere in between. Especially her heart, which thudded faster, knocking on Colt’s chest, bold now that it was pretty certain it would be allowed in.

And then he took her upstairs and joined her in the shower and for the next two hours Olivia felt very, very loved. And a little scared too, but sometimes that is what happens when wishes come true.

CHAPTER FIVE

Colton

Colt woke at seven twenty the next morning, roused by the sound of Olivia mumbling in her sleep. He lay propped up on one arm, trying to figure out what she was saying, but aside from a word here and there she was clearly speaking Sleepy Martian.

He gave up trying to decipher her mumbles and simply admired how pretty her lips looked in the morning light. He could watch her all day—how had he gone years without noticing the sexy hollow above her lip or that her lashes were so thick and sooty brown?— but by eight he figured he should probably get going.

If he wanted to make it back to his house to change clothes and pick up his running leg before the race this afternoon, he had to hurry. By ten o’clock all the good parking spaces in town would have been claimed and he’d be stuck parking in the mud alongside the highway leading out of town.

But he couldn’t leave without saying goodbye.

He leaned in, pressing a kiss to Olivia’s forehead, smiling against her sleep-warm skin when she made a happy sound. “Hey, sleeping beauty,” he whispered. “I need to head out.”

She wrapped her arms around his chest, hugging him closer, but her eyes stayed closed. “Do you have to? Stay and I’ll make you breakfast. When I wake up in about three hours.”

He laughed. “I have to run home and pick up a few things before the race. Want me to swing by and get you before I go to Daisy’s?”

“Yes,” she said, blinking sleepy eyes, clearly struggling to focus on his face. “You should stop by and make sure I’m not still asleep. Someone wore me the hell out last night.”

He grinned. “Feel like you were ridden hard and hung up wet?”

Her eyes narrowed wickedly. “The ridden hard part is right, but I’m not complaining.” Her hand moved beneath the covers, brushing against where Colt had woken up hard, summoning a soft groan from low in his throat.

“Behave,” he said, gently pushing her hand away. “No more sex for you until after the race. You have to save your energy.”

She pouted, her bottom lip looking so plump and tempting he wanted to bite it, but he restrained himself. He didn’t have an hour to lose when the nibble became a four-course meal.

Besides, he would have another chance at that lip. This wasn’t a one-night stand, this was something more, and Olivia had already agreed to stay over at his place tonight. The thought made him so happy he couldn’t resist pressing a quick kiss to her lips before he rolled over to sit on the edge of the bed and reached for the silicone sleeve on the bedside table.

“I had a thought as I was falling asleep last night,” Olivia said, rolling over behind him, her fingertips trailing back and forth across his bare back. “What if there’s a fire?”

“I’m a firefighter,” he said, smoothing his sleeve on, resisting the urge to roll back into bed and show her just how powerfully her touch affected him. “So you’ll be safer than most.”

“Not me, you.” She sat up, scooting closer until she was sitting on the pillow he’d slept on last night. “What if you can’t get your leg on fast enough and pass out from the fumes? I don’t think I could carry you out. You’re too big.”

He smiled at her, that warm, happy feeling swelling in his chest again. “You’re sweet, but you won’t need to carry me out of any burning buildings. I can take care of myself. And you.”

“I don’t need you to take care of me,” she said imperiously, “I’m after hot sex and companionship, Colt, not a caretaker.”

“Is that right?” He cocked his head. “This from the woman who was climbing me like a tree last night to get away from a lizard one tenth her size?”

Her lips puckered to one side as she cast a furtive glance toward the hall where Sir Licks-a-Lot was housed in the warmest corner of the hobby room. “Touché. Okay, so maybe I do need caretaking. On rare occasions.”

“And on those rare occasions, I’ll be happy to take care of you,” he said, kissing her cheek, wishing he didn’t have to leave her alone even for an hour or two. “You still want me to pick up food for Godzilla today?”

She looped her arms around his neck, hugging him closer. “Yes, I would be very appreciative if you would pick up food for Sir Licks-a-Lot. And then feed him. And then lock him up tightly in his terrarium so he can’t escape and hide out wherever he was hiding out before.”

She sighed as she pulled away with a grimace. “Speaking of, I should probably try to hunt down wherever he was shacked up. I don’t want to leave a few weeks’ worth of skink droppings to fester all winter.”

Colt tugged his jeans on and reached for his prosthetic. “If it can wait until I go back to work next week, Seth and I can come over on our lunch break and help you move things around in the kitchen.” He winked at her as he clicked his leg into place. “And I might be convinced to sweep up droppings in exchange for sexual favors.”

Olivia smiled, her eyes glittering. “You just got fifty percent hotter.”

“Damn, that’s hot,” he said, shoving his arms into his sweater, wishing this dressing business was going in the opposite direction. “How are you keeping your hands to yourself right now?”

“It’s hard,” Olivia said with a straight face. “But I have to pee so that’s helping.”

He laughed. “Then go, little girl. I’m going to head out—assuming you don’t need any help getting out of your pants.”

Olivia rolled out of bed and to her feet. “No thank you, sir. These pants are easy on and off.” Sticking her upturned nose in the air, she reached down and pulled her pajama pants out a good four inches, enough for Colt to sneak a peek down the front of them.

“Jesus,” he said, his mouth going dry. “No underwear?”

“I have chosen to embrace going commando,” she said, letting her pants snap back into place with a wiggle of her eyebrows. “If I don’t, I’m afraid I’m going to run out of panties and not have any left when I really need a pair.”

“I’ll buy you more,” he said, his hands closing around her waist. “But surely you realize you can’t show a man something like that and expect him to walk out the door.”

“Is that right?” she said, biting her lip as he lifted her off her feet, drawing her up his body for a kiss.

“That’s right,” he said, setting her back on the bed. “Now, I can’t go until I get another look. A closer look, to make sure everything’s in working order after a night hanging out wild and free.”

She giggled. “Hmm, yes, I hear that it can be dangerous if you let your lady parts get too wild and free. Especially around the holidays.” She hooked her thumbs under the elastic at the top of her pants. “I think a closer inspection can be arranged.”

She slid the pants slowly over her hips, revealing the thatch of silky hair between her legs. The sight made Colt’s cock twitch inside his jeans, demanding to be set free, already wild to be back inside her, to feel her slick heat tight around him.

“If you need to go to the bathroom, go now,” he said, reaching for the close of his jeans.

Olivia hummed beneath her breath as she tossed her pants away and reached for the top button of her shirt. “I don’t really have to go. It was just an excuse to show you some skin and get you back into bed.”

“Bad girl.” Colton tackled her, rolling her beneath him as she squealed. “You know what happens to bad girls, don’t you?”

“I don’t,” she said, her squeals turning to laughter as he ran his fingers up her ribs, tickling her on his way to her breast. “But I hope it’s something naughty.”

“Oh, it is.” He swatted her bottom with his free hand.

Her breath hitched as she arched into the fingers that had found her nipple and were twisting it slowly back and forth. “Are you going to spank me?”

“Maybe,” he said, squeezing a handful of her beautiful ass. “But I think you might enjoy that.”

She spread her legs, making room for him to fit between them. “I think you might be right.”

“So bad,” he breathed, pinching her nipple tight, drawing a hungry sound from her throat. “When did the sweet little girl I knew become a sex kitten?”

“I think it was around the time you kissed me.” She reached down to shove his jeans and boxers lower on his hips, freeing his aching length.

“God, you drive me crazy, Colt,” she said, the teasing note vanishing from her voice. “I’ve never felt this way before. It feels like I’m never going to get enough of you, even if we do this ten times a day, every day.”

“I know,” he said, fitting himself to her entrance and sliding inside where it felt like he had been made to fit. “But I don’t mind being crazy for you as long as you’re crazy for me, too.”

“Yes,” she murmured, lifting into his slow, languid thrust.

He held her gaze as he moved, loving the way her lips parted and her lashes fluttered, her pleasure so plain—and so beautiful—on her face that he could stare at her for hours and never get tired of seeing the way he affected her.

God, she was perfect—sweet and wicked, silly and thoughtful, a little crazy, but also one of the sanest people he had ever met. She was the good girl he couldn’t have imagined falling for back in his crazier days, but with a wild side she reserved just for him.

Just for him.

Because she was
his.

The word echoed through his mind as he began to move, taking her gently—he knew she must be sore after everything they’d done last night—but no less thoroughly for it. And as he reached between them, finding her clit and sliding his fingers up and down in time to his thrusts, he realized that he wanted her to be his.

He wanted to claim her, possess her, in a way he had never wanted to possess any other woman.

That was part of this insatiable hunger to get between her legs. When he was buried inside of her, her softness melting around where he was hot and hard, there was no doubt who she belonged to. For now, Olivia was his, a fact she proved as she softly chanted his name, voice growing louder as she neared the edge.

“Fuck, Olivia,” he said, fighting to hold on until he felt her go. “I want you so much. So fucking much.”

“You have me,” she said, fingernails digging into his ass as she ground up into his fingers, his cock. “You have me. Oh God, Colt, I’m coming. I’m coming!”

He groaned as her body pulsed around him and let her carry him up and over until he was drowning in her smell, her heat, and the bliss and wonder she sent shooting through him. She was like a drug, taking him to heights he’d never known existed before her. And he was hooked. He’d been hooked from the first time he slid inside her.

He was going to crave this woman until the day he died.

The knowledge settled inside him as he sagged on top of her, catching his breath as the spine-bowing orgasm finally faded away. He hadn’t bargained for something like this, but Colt had never been one to turn his face from the truth. And the truth was that what he felt for Olivia was something special, that once in a lifetime thing his brother had warned him about. He might not be completely in love with her yet, but he was well on his way, and in the meantime her pussy was the fix he’d kill to secure for another day.

And another and another.