34. Ridley

34

RIDLEY

Every last inch of my body buzzed as I waited. Waited for Colt to tip one way or the other. Waited to see if he would burn the world down with me. If he would let some of that chaos reign.

But I wasn’t a patient person. I never had been. Always the one to jump without looking how deep the water was below.

My legs tightened around Colt’s waist, pulling him impossibly closer. And with that, I felt his length press against me, straining. My lips parted, crying out for breath, for him.

“I’m going to hell,” he muttered.

And then his mouth was on me. Not my lips but my neck, trailing over the sensitive skin there, where the bruises had now mostly faded to nothing. His fingers tangled in the straps of my tank. “This goddamned shirt,” he growled.

I pulled back slightly, breathless, but needing to see his face. “What’d my tank top ever do to you?”

“Been haunting my fucking dreams, that’s what,” Colt snapped. He slid one strap down and then another. “Been dying to know just how they all connected. Wondered if I snapped one, would they all come falling down?”

He tugged another and another before the fabric fell away, down to my waist, and my breasts were exposed to Colt. He stared down at them, tracing every detail with his gaze.

His hand lifted, thumb tracking over the underswell and then up. “Wondered if this was as golden as the rest of you.” That thumb circled my nipple, and I sucked in a breath.

“Colt.” His name was a plea. For what, I wasn’t even sure. But I was desperate for it.

That callused thumb circled again, drawing the bud tighter, making me crave more. He twisted the peak, and I let out a sound that was more animal than human.

Colt’s mouth lowered, pulling my nipple between his lips and sucking deep. A rush of wetness gathered between my thighs, and I rocked into him, craving a release from the building pressure. His teeth grazed my nipple, and I cried out.

His head lifted, eyes colliding with mine. “Fuck. Those sounds you make, Chaos. Need to hear what you sound like when I’m inside you.”

My core tightened, but there was nothing to close around, only reminding me how much I craved Colt. How much I needed him. Maybe from the first moment I’d seen him. Those damn broad shoulders and that scowl that somehow managed to make him hotter.

But it was more than that. Some part of me knew it was, even if I didn’t want to look at that piece too carefully, that sliver of connection that was so much deeper than anything else—how we understood each other’s pain, loss.

My arms tightened around Colt’s shoulders, and I pulled myself to him, not wanting to think about that tether. Right now the only thing I wanted to do was feel.

My mouth met his in a fever pitch. Our tongues dueled for supremacy, battling in a way I never wanted to end. But then Colt tipped the scales.

He moved forward, holding me to him with one hand while he shoved papers out of the way with the other. Then my back was hitting the cool wood of the table. The opposing temperatures only tugged at every nerve ending, coaxing them higher, making them cry out for more.

Colt stared down at me for a moment. His hand skimmed over my face, his thumb tracing my lips and then traveling down the delicate skin of my neck. He followed the line of my collarbone and dipped lower.

My back arched on instinct, nipples aching for Colt’s touch. He gave me what I wanted with both hands now, thumbs circling. Then his fingers twisted, and I bucked against it all, more wetness rushing between my legs.

“The way you move. Like a goddamned work of art. Could spend a lifetime memorizing all the ways you bend and bow.”

I shuddered at his words, the promise of them.

Colt’s hands released my nipples and trailed lower. One traced the curve of my side while the other circled my navel. He took his time, teasing and exploring, but never going where I wanted.

“Colt,” I ground out.

Those deep-brown eyes darkened. Some women would’ve misread the shift in color, been startled or maybe even scared. But that change only made my legs grip Colt’s waist tighter.

“Don’t. Rush. Me,” he growled. His fingers traced the line of my shorts along my lower belly. “Need to know what you look like beneath all these damn workout clothes. If you taste as good as you smell.”

Another shudder swept through me as my heart pounded against my ribs. “Please,” I whispered.

His mouth curved the barest amount. “God, you’re pretty when you beg. Think that deserves a reward.”

Then both of Colt’s fingers were in the band of my shorts. In one swift move, he jerked them down my legs. My bare ass hit the cold table, and I couldn’t hold back my whimper.

But Colt was back, stepping between my knees and staring down at me. The only piece of clothing still left on my body was the tank top ringing my waist now. His gaze swept over the length of me, halting between my legs.

“Feet up on the table.” His voice was low, coated in gravel, grit, and demand.

I shivered as I obeyed, lifting one leg and then the other. Everything about the position was vulnerable, the most intimate part of me on display for him.

Those dark eyes flashed, that hint of gold coming through. “So. Fucking. Gorgeous. Glistening. Just for me.”

My lips parted as I sucked in a silent breath, tried to hold on to anything that would keep me grounded when it felt like I could just fly off the table.

Colt’s thumb glided up my thigh, the rough callused feel only adding to the sensation. Then he parted me, sliding his finger along my slit and making a soft moan slip free. “Perfect.” His finger traced my opening but never thrust inside.

“Colt.” I knew I was begging, but I didn’t give a damn at this point.

“Love the sound of my name on your lips.”

Our eyes locked and I didn’t look away. “Colt.”

Two fingers stroked in. “So damn perfect she deserves another reward.”

My back arched as he moved those fingers in and out, almost lazily, to a rhythm that was only his. But every drag across my walls was the most beautiful torture.

“Please,” I whispered, my eyes fluttering closed as I tried to soak up every hint of sensation.

“Please, what?” he gritted out.

“Colt,” I breathed.

“That’s my girl.” Then his fingers were gone.

I whimpered in protest, but the sound was stolen from my lips as Colt dropped to his knees. He gripped my thighs and tugged me down the table, placing my legs over his shoulders. “Don’t come, Ridley. You tell me before you’re going to come because the first time I make you shatter, I’m gonna be inside you.”

His words vibrated over my core, the combination of sound and breath washing over me, but I didn’t have a chance to protest, because his mouth was on me. His tongue circled my clit, teasing the flesh and coaxing it to attention.

His fingers were sliding in again, twisting with each flick of his wrist. The tip of his tongue delved in a precision attack, one that had me nearly breaking apart on the spot.

My breaths came faster, hands curling into fists as I tried to hold back my orgasm. Colt’s lips closed around that bundle of nerves, sucking and flicking. My whole body convulsed.

“Colt,” I begged. Everything in me cried out for release. Needing to break. Needing Colt to be the one to break me.

“Gonna come, Chaos?” The words whispered across my clit.

“Yes.”

He was on his feet in a flash. I couldn’t even pull myself together to watch him, to take in all the glory that was Colt. I heard a belt, then a zipper. The sound of a condom packet tearing, and then Colt was hovering over me. His tip bumped my entrance, and he stared down at me with those dark eyes.

Storm eyes.

Ones I could get lost at sea in, never to be found again. But I’d happily go down with that ship.

“Tell me I can have you.”

There was only one answer, and it came out on an exhale. “Yes.”

It was all Colt needed. He slid inside me on one long thrust.

It wasn’t violent, but it wasn’t gentle either. It was Colt. Powerful and just a little rough around the edges.

And it was everything I needed.

My back arched as he slammed into me again. My legs hooked around his waist as he took me, just trying to hold on. My walls fluttered.

“Not yet,” Colt gritted out. “Need more of this heat.”

That nearly did me in. I gripped the edge of the table above my head. Trying to hold on longer. To give Colt what he needed.

He let out a growl as his gaze swept over me, the way the move had exposed the swells of my breasts even more. All of me on display. For him.

The last strand of control snapped. Colt powered into me over and over. The arc of his hips striking that spot inside that had the world going fuzzy around me. My hands tightened on the edge of the table, the bite of pain helping keep that one thread of control.

“Ridley,” Colt rasped.

And I knew.

I let go. I let everything I’d been holding back for weeks free. It wasn’t a spiral or even a shattering. It was so much more.

It was chaos.

My whole body convulsed, curling around Colt in every way it could. Taking him deeper and planting him there. Demanding more.

And he gave it to me.

Colt’s palm hit the table next to my head as he arched into me again and again. He came on a shout, and I took it all and more. Everything.

His chest heaved as I slowly released my grip on the table. My fingers had gone numb, and as blood returned to them, they began to tingle. A sensation that matched the rest of me.

Colt stared down at me for a long time, and the mask slowly slid back into place.

“Don’t,” I warned.

His face hardened. “Don’t what?”

“Put that wall back up.”

Colt slid out of me, and I couldn’t help the small wince. His hands were gentle as they slid along my thighs. “Did I hurt you?”

I sat up, not giving a damn that I was completely naked, and Colt stood there in his tee and nothing else. “No. I feel fucking fantastic, but if you get all weird on me, it’s really going to harsh my buzz.”

His lips twitched. “ Harsh your buzz ?”

“You know what I mean. We are both grown adults who were having a little fun. Don’t ruin that.”

Colt stared at me for a long moment. “It’s dangerous. We’re working together. A lot of serious shit is going down, and?—”

“And we need an outlet,” I argued. Because damn it all to hell, I wanted more of Colt. Whatever he could give. “Friends with benefits.”

Colt moved closer, his thumb tracing over my collarbone. “That what we are, Chaos? Friends?”

I bit my bottom lip. “Enemies with benefits?”

He chuckled but his fingers lifted, gently removing my lip from between my teeth. “Won’t lie. I want more of you. All oranges set aflame.”

My nipples pebbled again, and my breaths came quicker. “Then we set ground rules to keep it safe. I’m on the pill, and I’ve had a checkup.”

Colt’s eyes flashed as his thumb stroked my collarbone. “Been checked too.”

“Good. That’s the physical safety. No sleeping in the same bed.”

Colt’s expression went guarded. “No catching feelings that way.”

“No starting to think this is something it’s not.”

He nodded in agreement.

“No hooking up with anyone else while this is going on,” I said, trying to keep my voice even despite the fact that the idea of Colt with another woman made me nauseous. “Either of us have interest in someone else, we end this.”

Those deep-brown eyes darkened to black. “That enough rules?”

I swallowed hard. “I think so.”

“Good.” Then he lunged, hauling me over his shoulder and striding down the hall.

“Colt,” I squealed.

He slapped my ass, the sound reverberating against the walls. “I’m just damn glad you didn’t make any rules about the shower.”