Dark Sexy Knight (A Modern Fairytale) (23 page)

She looked up at him, her eyes glistening but her lips turning up for the first time since she’d gotten home. She reached for his face, drawing it to hers. His lips found hers effortlessly, kissing her gently, tasting the salt of her tears and pledging that he wouldn’t let something like this happen again, hurt her again. He’d known from the very beginning that he didn’t deserve someone as sweet and lovely as Verity Gwynn, but by God, now that she belonged to him, he would protect her heart from knowing pain like today ever again.

She leaned away from him, meeting his eyes, sighing softly with relief and exhaustion. “Tell me what I saw.”

***

Feathering his fingers through her hair, he told her how Sandy had surprised him in the barn, boldly coming on to him and not taking no for an answer. What Verity had seen was Sandy kissing him and him pushing her away. And why didn’t he run after her? Because he turned to Sandy at the last minute and told her to stay the fuck away from him.

She knew he was telling the truth. She could see it in his eyes, hear it in his voice, taste it in his kiss, and feel it in the steady pounding of his heart against hers. He loved her. She would stake her life on it.

But today had taught her something both brutal and important—she was no longer a being independent of Colton Lane. She had bound her body to his last night. Today she realized that her heart was inextricably bound to his as well. As long as he cared for her, that was a safe place to be. But if he should stop caring for her, stop loving her, he may as well rip her beating heart from her chest because it would be no less broken. She was past the point of no return now, and it was scary because she’d never loved anyone as deeply as she loved him.

Which is why, as he finished his explanation, her fingers went to the hem of his T-shirt and pushed up, her palms sliding over his chest as she bared his skin to her. He reached behind his neck and pulled the shirt over his head, and she sat up, pulling her hair into a ponytail so he could unzip the back of her dress. Because the bodice had built-in support, there was no bra to unlatch, and Colton’s rough fingers trailed up her back, pushing the sleeves over her shoulders and down her arms as his lips landed softly on the skin at the base of her neck. He nuzzled and kissed as the sleeves drooped to her wrists, baring her breasts.

“What about Ryan?” he whispered close to her ear, still kissing her neck, his hands reaching from behind to cup her breasts.

Verity leaned back against his shoulder, releasing her hair so it trailed down his back and covering his hands with hers. “I told him I wouldn’t be up for a while.”

“He won’t come looking for you?”

His thumbs and forefingers pinched and teased her nipples into tight points, and she gasped at the sensation, pulling the sleeves from her wrists and leaning forward slightly to slip the rest off her body and onto the floor.

“I don’t . . . I don’t think so,” she said, her voice breathy and thin.

“Give me a second,” he said, releasing her breasts and crawling to the edge of the bed. He made it to the door in three steps, locking it securely before turning to face her. He watched her as he unzipped his jeans, hooked his thumbs into the waistband of his boxer-briefs, and pulled both down his legs to the floor. Completely naked, he stared at her from several feet away in the dim light of his room.

Without a word, she stood up and pushed her panties to the floor, where they landed on top of her princess uniform with a whisper. Then she raised her eyes to his and stared back.

“This is as vulnerable as people get,” he said.

She nodded. “Naked.”

“In every way,” he said. “This is me. And I belong to you.”

Her eyes filled with tears, but for the first time today, they were happy tears, tears that were born of his commitment and love and reassurance. Tears that told her that her heart was safe in his keeping and that she needn’t have worried so powerfully after seeing him in the barn. She hadn’t known that then, but she knew it now, and it filled her heart with such joy, it felt like bursting.

Her hands were loose at her sides, her long blonde hair reached the tips of her breasts.

“This is me,” she whispered, staring back at him, proud to return his vow. “And I belong to you.”

At the same time, they ran for each other, colliding in the center of the room, his hands on her hips to lift her up. She locked her ankles around his back as his lips smashed into hers, their teeth scraping, tongues mating, his erection thick and throbbing against her clit as he kissed her.

“I need you,” she said, cradling his face as she covered it with kisses. “I need you inside me.”

He set her down on the bed, leaning over her to kiss each nipple and the valley between her breasts. His lips trailed down her stomach in a path of fire until he reached her clit. Spreading her gently, he kissed the bud of rigid flesh then sucked it between his lips, his tongue flicking out across the bundle of nerves until she bucked off the bed and flooded his fingers.

The rip of foil.

His knees spreading her legs.

“Say it again.”

“I want you inside me,” she said, opening her eyes. “Now.”

With one smooth stroke he entered her completely, the walls of her sex sucking him forward until he was buried to the hilt. His eyes were black and rolling, fierce and desperate.

She reached for his face, caressing his cheeks as she looked deeply into his eyes.

“I love you,” she sighed. “You are my sweet place too.”

His eyes fluttered closed for a moment, and he exhaled, his breath warm on her forehead as he withdrew from her body and plunged forward again. He opened his eyes, holding hers captive as he continued to move within her, massaging her wickedly from the inside out, learning every secret place within her and claiming it for his own.

“Stay with me,” he panted as his thrusts became faster and harder, making her muscles tighten and gather, compress like a spring ready to explode.

“Yes!” she screamed, falling over the brink of bliss, her body convulsing madly, her muscles milking him, forcing his climax.

She watched from beneath him, in a haze of orgasmic pleasure, as he threw back his head and growled her name, spending himself in throbbing pulses she could feel, then collapsing beside her with a low groan of pleasure.

“Baby, you’re going to kill me,” he muttered into a pillow several minutes later.

“Never.” Beside him, she laughed softly, her insides still quivering and tender, her smile lazy and replete.

He leaned up on an elbow, reached down for the condom, and unrolled it. Tying a knot in the top he dropped it in a wastebasket beside the bed, then turned and grinned at her. “What now?”

Plunging her hands in his hair, she pulled his face down to hers, reveling in the feeling of his body covering hers. “Again.”

“I’ve never seen someone so excited about Slip’N Slide day,” said Colt as they pulled back into the driveway of his house after dropping off Ryan, slathered in sunblock, with his swim trunks rolled up in a towel, at Bonnie’s Place. He and Melody had embraced like long-lost best friends upon seeing each other again, and Melody proudly introduced Ryan as her “best friend” to everyone before Colt and Verity left, promising the morning CM that they’d be back to pick up Ryan at eight.

“They looked happy together,” said Verity.

Colt nodded. “I added you and Ryan to the visitor list so he can go see her when he wants to. They do the Slip’N Slide twice a month.”

Verity grinned. “At the rate they’re going, maybe we’ll be related someday.”

Her words pinged around in his head, but he wasn’t thinking about Ryan and his cousin when he answered, “Maybe we will.”

She sighed. “I wish the weekend could last forever.”

“Me too.”

He knew that work wasn’t going great for her since last week. Beverly had reported Verity for not returning to work on Wednesday, which had resulted in a formal warning from HR and the advisement that another such infraction could lead to her dismissal. And she wasn’t the only one cleaning up messes. Colt had felt pretty bad sweeping up his aunt’s favorite figurines with a broom and dustpan, and although he’d done his best to fix the coffee table leg he’d busted, he ended up taking the table to the dump instead.

But Sandy hadn’t come back to bother him again, and he hoped like hell that she had gotten the message. He was neither interested nor available, and it would be better for everyone if she just moved on to her next victim.

After Wednesday night’s marathon of makeup sex, he and Verity had barely stopped reaching for each other long enough to eat, sleep, and go to work. They were ravenous for each other—sneaking make-out sessions at work on their breaks, racing home to rip off each other’s clothes and jump into bed, and today? Man, today was like a dream. Not that Colt didn’t like having Ryan around. He did. But having Verity all to himself until they had to go into work this afternoon? Now,
that
sounded like heaven. Unfortunately, the grass wouldn’t mow itself, and the flower beds needed weeding, so as much as he wanted to drag her into his room and try ten new positions before one o’clock, there was work to be done.

He leaned his head back on the seat and shifted his neck just a little to look at her. “Gotta do some stuff around the house.”

She took a deep breath and sighed, then slipped her fingers through his. “I should do some laundry.”

“Won’t take me that long.”

Her breath hitched, and her eyes dilated. “Me neither.”

“Fuuuuuck,” he growled, tightening his hold on her. “I want you all the time.”

She made a small whimpering noise. “Me too.”

How the fuck was he supposed to go about his day, mowing the fucking lawn and weeding the fucking hydrangeas, with her huge, dark blue eyes staring back at him?

As if she could read his mind, she squeezed his hand and dropped it, her lips spreading into that sunshine smile he loved so much. “How about this? The bathrooms and kitchen could use a Sunday cleaning, and I’ll get started on the laundry. You do what you need to do out here and meet me inside in an hour or so. I’ll have lunch waiting, and we’ll still have a little time before work.”

A little time . . .
and he knew
exactly
how he wanted to fill that time.

She reached for the door handle, but he grabbed her other wrist, yanking her back to plant a hot kiss on her lips.

“I love you,” he whispered fiercely, staring down at her.

With her back leaning over the bolster between them, she looked up at him and smiled. “I’ll plan something special for dessert.”

Then she sat up quickly and opened her car door, giggling as he tried to pull her back for one more kiss. His eyes were glued to her ass in white shorts as she walked into the house and let the door close behind her.

Maybe we’ll be related someday.

And that’s when the fantasy truly took hold in Colt’s mind, playing like a movie of his life in fast-forward:

Verity wearing a diamond ring.

Verity saying “I do.”

Verity swollen with his child.

Verity rocking their child to sleep.

Verity in his bed every night and every morning.

Verity with gray hair, still looking like she wanted to jump his bones.

Verity.

Forever.

It was such a strong and potent daydream, it took him by surprise, and his heart raced, as much for the surprise of seeing a glimpse of forever as for knowing that he wanted to spend those years with Verity.

He didn’t realize he’d been holding his breath until he exhaled loud and long, still thinking about what it would look like to share his life with her, and liking, so much, how it looked.

Swinging his body out of the car, he trudged into the garage and rolled the lawn mower from its spot in the back, grabbing the gas can just in case. As he passed the bay window, he saw her walk through the in the living room with a roll of paper towels in one hand and a bottle of Windex in the other. Why this made his heart swell with love, he was uncertain, but perhaps because it was so
normal
. Just a weekend morning on a hot Georgia summer day, and he was mowing the lawn while his girlfriend cleaned the house. For Colton Lane, it was a slice of heaven that he’d never seen on his radar, and now that he had it, he never wanted to let it go.

Two hours later, his T-shirt tucked into his waistband and his body glistening with sweat, he pushed the mower back into the garage and swept the driveway free of edge clippings. Walking around the garage to the backyard, he passed through the gate and checked out the hedges that surrounded the property. They were high but starting to get straggly. He’d tackle them next weekend. Grabbing the hose from the side of the house, he sprayed off the back patio, sending errant clippings into the grass and gumballs from the sweet gum tree skittering under the shrubbery. He hooked the hose nozzle over the stair railing, then headed up the steps to the back door, only to find Verity, a bandanna holding her hair back and a smudge of dirt on her nose, standing on the top step.

“Oh, no!” she said, waggling her finger with a stern look. “You ain’t comin’ in my clean house all sweaty and dirty, mister. That’s why God invented outdoor hoses.”

He chortled, wondering if this was something her mama used to say to her daddy. “Is that right?”

She crossed her arms over her breasts, looking down at him all sassy. “That is right.”

He stepped up closer to her, his eyes level with her waist, and reached up to rub the dust from her nose. “You’re not all that clean yourself, darlin’.”

“You sayin’ I need to be hosed off too?”

He didn’t know it was possible to smile this wide. “Yes, ma’am.”

Before she could say another word, he snatched the spray nozzle from the railing, aimed and fired, spraying her shirt with a stream of water.

She gasped, and her eyes went wide. “Colton Lane!”

Reaching for the nozzle, she grabbed it from his hands and turned it on him, spraying his bare chest and jeans, backing him up as she walked down the stairs.

“Mercy!” he half cried, half laughed, holding his hands up as she sprayed him clean.

She dropped the hose, and he opened his eyes. Her white T-shirt was glued to her breasts, and her nipples stood erect under her thin bra. His breath hitched. His cock swelled.

They lunged for each other at the same time, her fingers unbuttoning his jeans as he pushed her damp white shorts and panties to her knees. She hooked her fingers in his underwear and yanked downward. His lips fumbled for hers, kissing her face like crazy as he lifted her to the picnic table. He stood between her legs, and she reached for his fully erect cock, scooting to the edge of the table and lining it up with the entrance of her sex. Grabbing his head, she kissed him as he thrust forward, into her body, gasping at the sensation of burying himself inside her and belatedly realizing that part of the reason it felt so fucking unbelievable was because there was nothing between his cock and her pussy. Nothing at all.

“Baby,” he gasped. “Condom.”

“No, no, no,” she sighed, kissing along his jaw as she rotated her hips in ways that should kill him dead where he stood. “Don’t stop. Please, Colton, don’t stop.”

He grabbed her ass and thrust into her again, building a rhythm, moving faster and faster, his cock gliding into her sex like it had found its home. He panted, groaning. The walls of her pussy tightened around him, clenching so hard, he could feel every ridge of skin and muscle as he pumped into her, again and again, her cries joining the sounds of morning birds and faraway traffic and a sprinkler a few yards over.

“Verity,” he panted, “I’m going to come, baby. I can’t . . .”

Her eyes were closed, and her forehead rested on his shoulder as she rode out her own orgasm, limp in his arms.

“I love you,” she murmured near his ear. “It’s okay.”

With her permission, he threw back his head, drew all the way back, then pushed into her again, coming in strong, hot spurts of cum that matched the pulsing throbbing of his heart. When he was spent, he leaned forward, resting his forehead on her shoulder and knowing that if they’d somehow made a baby today, it wasn’t an “accident,” as she claimed
she’d
been. It would be a matter of his daydreams from earlier miraculously coming true. And part of him fervently hoped that’s what would happen.

Still intimately connected, he clutched her tightly, holding her close, and whispered that he loved her, loved her, loved her . . . forever.

***

Verity still couldn’t believe that she and Colton had lost control so completely yesterday morning, making love in broad daylight, without protection. But later, in the quiet of her room, she’d looked at the calendar and decided that there was next to no chance she’d get pregnant, and she felt a sharp twinge of regret at this realization, which just about knocked her on her ass.

Living with Colton? Check. Loving Colton? Check, again. But forever with Colton? A forever that included a home and his children? Sure, she might have had some nebulous thoughts about it, but now the strength of her longing broadsided her. Yes, she wanted forever. Yes, she wanted it with him. She’d sat there on her bed as the calendar slipped from her fingers, trying to get her head around the enormity of this revelation. They’d been together for only a little over a month, but she knew. In the profoundest depths of her heart, she knew he was the one. The
only
one for her.

Back at work on Monday afternoon, it was hard to concentrate. All she wanted was a glimpse of Colton, and, checking the clock, she realized she’d earned one.

Glancing at Beverly, who’d been keeping an eagle eye on her since last Wednesday, she said, “I think I’ll take my break now, if that’s okay?”

Beverly was taking inventory of the Renaissance jewelry while Verity had just finished balancing the register. “Yeah. Fine. But you get twenty minutes. Not twenty-five. I don’t want to have to talk to Lynette again.”

Yeah, you do, you patronizing cow.

But she wasn’t in the mood for a spat with Beverly. Too much was going right in her life to let Beverly spoil it.

“Twenty minutes. Got it,” said Verity, giving Beverly a small smile as she slipped out from behind the counter.

She thought she’d head to the stables to check on Ryan and maybe get a peek at Colton practicing fencing in the sunshine, his muscles tan and taut. Her insides clenched and relaxed with memories of yesterday, and she grinned as she walked down the employee hallway. After they’d made love in the sunshine, he’d held her close and whispered he loved her, followed by the single word:
forever
. And she couldn’t help but wondering if his mind had been visiting the same wishful thoughts of a future that hers had.

It wouldn’t be such a strange notion, would it? For the caregivers of two special-needs people to find each other, to understand each other, to fall in love, and to build a life together? There was a certain, well,
verity
to it, like maybe Colton was right about them being a fairy tale, like maybe her bad luck really
was
all prepayment for the good luck she was enjoying now, like maybe some people in the huge, wide world were simply meant to find each other, and when they did, they shouldn’t let go, no matter what.

She grinned as she pushed open the door to the stable area, letting her eyes adjust to the bright sunlight. In the middle of the ring, Colton, on Thor, looked over at her and winked as she waved. And Sebastian, whom Verity had gotten to know a little, wolf-whistled.

“Quit whistling at my woman,” growled Colton, swinging his mace at Sebastian.

But Sebastian caught it with his lance, watching it wind around and laughing heartily. “You know I don’t swing that way.”

Which was a shame for the women at
The Legend of Camelot
because he was one beautiful man, thought Verity.