A scream tore through my throat as the hazy nightmare held me hostage. Hands gripped my arms and I instantly tried to fight them off, but my limbs felt like they’d been filled with sand.
“No,” I whispered. “Please.”
“Mia!” the voice called through the mist. “Mia, darlin’, wake up.”
I forced my eyes open. Warm lamplight spilled across Colt’s clover-honey colored skin.
It took my body a moment to realize I was safe. I collapsed against the pillows as my surroundings came into focus.
His eyes rested on me, searching my face for answers. “What did you dream about?”
“I don’t know,” I admitted slowly. “It was one of those dreams where I couldn’t see, but knew I was terrified.”
“Yeah, I know you were terrified,” he rumbled. “You screamed in your sleep.”
“I did?”
He nodded. Colt settled back down and pulled me into his side. I lay my head against his chest and breathed him in, enjoying the comfort of him.
“Think you can go back to sleep?”
“I don’t know, I’m still pretty shaken.” My fingers swirled across his chest and then began to inch lower underneath the covers to find Colt hard.
I loved that he slept in the nude.
He groaned. Turning his head, his lips sought mine. His kiss melted my body until I was nothing but want. Colt rolled me onto my back, his hands easing down my underwear. His fingers found me wet and ready.
Colt reached for the condom on the bedside table. Soon, his large hands were back on me, driving me wild. His lips seized mine in a voracious kiss.
I moaned against him when his fingers delved between my legs.
“Christ, woman,” he murmured. His hand skimmed along my leg to gently push it open. And then he was inside me in one swift motion.
I arched against him, clawing his back with my nails, scoring his skin, branding him on the outside, knowing he was branding me on the inside.
He tilted his hips and hit the spot that made me shake. Colt thrust and thrust, relentless, demanding of my pleasure. I came with a hoarse cry, clutching him to me, not caring that my injured wrist twinged.
Burying his face in the side of my neck, Colt continued to piston his body into mine, and a few strokes later he came with his own guttural shout.
Our bodies stilled. The AC kicked on, cooling our heated skin. Colt shifted to slide out of me and I shivered and tightened around him, going up in flames all over again.
With a light chuckle, he pressed a kiss to my forehead and then my mouth. He went into the bathroom to take care of the condom and when he came back to bed, I crawled out.
“Where do you think you’re going?” he asked, his voice amused, sleepy.
“To clean up,” I said, leaning over and pecking his lips. “Be just a few minutes.”
After tending to the tender spot between my legs, I washed my hands and then went back to the bedroom.
Colt’s heavy breathing told me he’d conked out. Smiling, I climbed in bed next to him and fell into a dreamless sleep.
I tried to roll over, but there was a heavy arm thrown across my waist and a warm, hard chest at my back. Sleepily, I wiggled up against him. Colt pulled me closer, his lips grazing the back of my neck.
I heard the crinkle of a foil wrapper and then Colt’s hand slid between my thighs, stroking me into a fevered pitch of desire. He moved my leg and then he was sliding into me from behind.
“Oh God,” I whispered.
Colt rocked his hips against me while his hand continued to play and tease the bundle of nerves just waiting to explode. It didn’t take long—when he kissed the sensitive spot below my ear and pressed the heel of his hand against my cleft, I broke apart around him.
He gripped my hip and rode out his own storm. Instead of pulling out immediately, he dragged me even closer so that my shoulders were against his chest.
“Well,” I murmured. “I’ve never been woken up that way before.”
His hand cupped my breast, gently teasing my nipple. “You approve, yeah?”
“Yeah,” I said with a laugh.
“I’m gonna get the coffee going.” His hand slid up from my breast to catch my chin and gently turn it toward him. He gave me a quick kiss. “Come down when you’re ready.”
When I was finally alone I took a moment to stretch and luxuriate in the soft bed, wallowing in the smell of us on the sheets. Smiling, I threw back the covers and padded to the bathroom to brush my teeth.
In search of coffee and Colt, I headed downstairs to the kitchen. Without a word, he poured me a cup of coffee and doctored it the way I liked.
As he handed it to me, he said, “We’re leaving in an hour.”
“We are? Where are we going?”
“The garage.”
“Why are you dragging me to the garage?” I demanded.
“You don’t want to be locked up in the house, and you have this odd need to pull your own weight,” he teased. “You can work for me.”
“Doing what, exactly? I’m not really mechanical.”
“You can work in the office. Answer phones. Computer shit. We both know it’s a short term gig and its only so if anyone asks, you have a legit job. Take it for what it is.”
“Really?”
“Really.”
I set my cup of coffee down so I could launch myself at him. He caught me easily. I pecked his lips a few times in rapid succession. “Thank you.”
His response was to squeeze my ass. “Go take a shower. I’m ready when you are.”
I slid down his body and then headed up to Colt’s bathroom. While I was lathering my hair, I heard the door open and the sound of his heavy boots across the tile.
“Please, God tell me you’re almost done in there,” he muttered.
“Nearly.”
“Christ. You’re wet and naked and I’m about to climb in there with you.”
“I wouldn’t object.”
We made it out of the house two hours later.
My body felt like it was made of butter and my mind was muddled from the attention Colt had given me in the shower. He certainly kept me on my toes. One moment he was driving into me fast and hard, making me scream in pleasure. Another moment and he was sinking into me slow, making me beg for more.
I stole a glance at him. His eyes were shielded behind a pair of aviators. The strong breadth of him in his leather cut made me sigh.
He turned his head ever so slightly and grinned. “Like what you see?”
“Kinda, yeah.” I smiled back. I reached over and stroked his jaw. “Do you ever shave?”
“Rarely.”
“Good.”
His laugh was easy and full. I was getting addicted to the sound. I liked to think I had something to do with it—after all I’d noticed a change in myself after a short time with Colt. Somehow he’d battled through my walls, dismantling them stone by stone.
I’d had relationships before—I knew the early stages were spent in bed. But it felt different with Colt. Maybe it was because of how we met. Maybe it was because of who Colt was—a man who lived by his own rules and had grown up with two parents who’d had love at first sight.
Colt finally pulled into the bike garage parking lot. He cut the engine and engaged the parking brake.
“Ah, sweet freedom,” I said with a grin. “Oh my God.”
“What?”
I pointed to the green truck in the corner of the lot. “That’s mine!” I got out of and ran to my truck and all but flung myself across the hood. “I’ve missed you!”
Colt chuckled from somewhere behind me, but I didn’t care.
“Give me the keys,” I demanded, looking at him, my cheek still pressed to the faded paint.
“One condition,” he said, reaching into his jeans pocket. “You don’t go for a joy ride and then decide to leave town.”
I held up my cast wrist. “Have you forgotten how hard it will be to drive stick?”
His smile was slow. “I dunno, babe. You handled my stick well the other night.”
“Oh good, I see we’ve entered the teasing, juvenile sexual innuendo phase of our relationship.”
Colt’s brown eyes rested on me, warm with amusement.
“What?”
“You admitted we’re in a relationship.”
I rolled my gaze heavenward as I pulled myself off the truck hood. “You gonna show me the ropes or what?”
Colt came to me and in a possessive gesture, slid his arm around my shoulder and guided me inside the office that was already open, the smell of fresh coffee permeating the air. Boxer was at the desk, his gaze glued to the screen. He typed something and then rubbed his eyes. Looking up at Colt, he grimaced. “Damn spreadsheets.” He looked at me. “Morning, darlin’. How ya doin’?”
I shrugged. “Okay. I guess.”
“We’re here for you. Don’t forget that.”
“Thank you,” I said, feeling my throat close up at his sincerity.
Colt walked me to the chair next to Boxer and gestured for me to take a seat. “You’re going to learn the programs.”
“Programs?”
“Our bookkeeping programs for the shop. Boxer will show you how to order parts, schedule appointments, stuff like that.”
“Phone girl?” I asked with a smile.
“Phone girl,” he repeated with a nod. “Spend a few hours learning the ropes. After you finish up, we’ll head home.”
Home.
With Colt.
Colt left me alone with Boxer who was looking at me with a wide, knowing grin. “Stop that,” I commanded and gestured to the computer. “Show me your stuff.”
“You want to see my stuff?” he asked, all flirty and scruffy and hot.
“Show me your spreadsheets,” I demanded in a husky tone.
Boxer laughed. “A woman who saves me from looking at numbers all day. My kind of woman.”
The programs were intuitive. Before I knew it, Boxer and I had switched chairs and I was taking the reins. Customers called and after listening to Boxer field them, he let me take the next few.
A few hours later, he stood up and stretched. “You think you can man the phones alone? I have to run out and take care of something.”
“Uh, sure,” I said.
“Reap is in the garage, so if you run into trouble or have questions, you can ask him.”
“Okay.”
Boxer left the office, the door clicking shut. I got up to stretch my legs and make myself a cup of coffee. I was just stirring in some cream when the phone rang. I retook my seat and reached for the receiver.
“Good afternoon, Charlie’s Motorcycle Repair.”
“Darlin’,” the voice on the other end greeted.
A shiver of fear worked its way down my spine.
“Dev,” I replied, my voice sounding rusty.
“You’ve been bad, Mia,” Dev chastised.
I swallowed a gulp of scalding coffee to coat my suddenly dry throat.
“Why’d you run to the Blue Angels? Are you scared of me? Is that it?”
My heart thundered in my chest and my palms grew slick with sweat as I gripped the phone. I forced out a fake laugh. “No, you don’t scare me.”
“You don’t want to end up like Richie, do you?”
“No.” I felt faint, sick. “But I’m not involved in whatever Richie was involved in. I swear it. I know nothing.”
The other end of the phone line was silent for a moment. “If you’re not involved in Richie’s shit, then why did you run from me?”
“I—”
“You took him to the bus depot,” he interrupted. “Tried to help him get out of town. Yeah, I know about that, babe. Which means you know more than you’re letting on. You better tell me where the shipment is or I’ll do to your new friends what I did to Richie. And you—you don’t even want to know what I’m going to do to you.”
The phone clicked off. I set the receiver down in a daze and stared at it like I expected Dev to crawl through it and attack me.
“Babe? Mia?”
I turned my head, surprised to see Boxer. He’d returned, and I hadn’t even heard him.
He frowned. “You okay?”
I attempted to smile, but my lips barely moved. “Yeah.” My shaky hand tipped over the cup of coffee, spilling it all over a stack of papers.
“Sorry,” I muttered as I looked around for a rag to clean up.
“It’s okay,” Boxer said. There was a stack of napkins by the coffeemaker. He grabbed them and blotted the papers. “You sure you’re okay?”
I nodded. “Did Colt say when he was coming back?” I asked, dragging my fingernail across the material of my jean shorts.
“Now,” Colt said from the doorway.
