27. Colton

27

COLTON

I watch her go, my eyes locked on her ass as it sways from left to right as she makes her escape.

With every step she takes, dread and panic quickly bubble up.

“Shit,” I hiss, scrubbing my hand down my face the second she turns the corner and disappears from my sight.

I’m fucking all this up.

I’m not exactly surprised. I’ve got no idea what I’m doing.

I don’t take women out on dates and try to be a decent guy.

I take them…wherever I can get them to take the pleasure and release I’m seeking before sending them on their way and forgetting it even happened.

But walking away and forgetting are the last things I want to do right now.

Before I’m even aware I’ve made the decision, I’m out of my seat and marching after her.

There’s no fucking way I’m letting her run when she’s feeling vulnerable.

I probably shouldn’t have teased her about being jealous, but I could see it darkening her eyes.

I loved it.

Back in college, seeing how she felt about me used to fucking terrify me.

But now…I’m obsessed.

I want her to look at me like I’m the most important person in her life. I want to see that “I need you now and I don’t know how to hold back” look she still gives me every time I glance over.

I never wanted to affect a woman past giving them pleasure, but what Ella gives me? Fuck. It’s everything.

It makes me feel worthwhile.

The only other place I feel like I truly belong is on the field. When I’m there with my team around me, I know I’m exactly where I should be.

But when the season ends and I lose that certainty in my life, it’s a little like being cast out into the ocean.

Sure, I have my friends, Dad and West. But there was always a hole. And I didn’t appreciate just how fucking big it was until Ella stepped back into my life.

My long stride catches up to her quickly, and I catch the door to the ladies’ room just before it closes. Pressing my palm against the walnut-colored door, I open it and silently follow her.

She’s standing just inside the door with her palms resting on a countertop as if it stopped her from falling.

My brows pinch as unease rushes through me.

Was she really running that fast?

Her shoulders drop as she blows out a long, slow breath. It must help whatever’s going on in her head, because she finds the courage to look up at the mirror hanging on the wall before her. And when she does, her eyes immediately lock onto mine.

Her breath catches, her hand coming up to cover her mouth, but I don’t give her time to react in any other way.

Wrapping my fingers around her upper arm, I gently spin her around and push her back against the wall.

“You ran from me,” I state, my voice nothing but a deep, raspy growl.

“Colt,” she sighs. “You’re just…” She trails off, but I don’t give her an easy way out by filling the void.

I might have once, but that’s not how we’re doing things anymore.

“I’m just…?” I prompt, lifting a brow.

We’re so close that our breaths mingle and her breasts almost brush my chest with every inhale.

The temptation to lean forward and claim her lips is strong, but I need her words first.

“You’re a lot, Colt. All of this…” she says, waving her hand between us. “It’s a lot.”

My hand lifts from where I’m still holding her upper arm until I’m cupping her jaw.

I’m not sure she realizes it, but the second I take her face in my hand, she leans into it.

My heart pounds impossibly hard as I watch her soak up my strength.

“In a good way, though, right?” I ask, showing a little vulnerability of my own.

If she’s not on the same page as me with all this, then…

I shoot that thought down, unable to even consider it as an option.

She closes her eyes, her lips twitching as she prepares what she wants to say.

I swear I stop breathing as I wait.

Suddenly, she reveals her honey eyes to me and gives me words that make my knees weak and tilt my world on its axis. “In an overwhelmingly what-I’ve-always-wanted kind of way,” she blurts honestly. “All I’ve ever wanted was to sit opposite you like I was out there and have you looking at me like that.”

Brushing my thumb over her tempting bottom lip, I whisper, “Like what?”

She swallows nervously, the tendons in her neck rippling against my palm. “Like I’m the only woman in the world.”

Her eyes glitter with emotion as she whispers the words, and her chest tightens.

“To me, you are,” I confess before caving to my need for her and crashing my lips to hers.

There is no soft and gentle easing into it. The second we collide, it’s like an explosion of need and we pick up exactly where we left off outside Kane’s house.

The second her lips part, my tongue is pushing past them and seeking hers out.

Her hands slide down my back before grabbing my ass and dragging me closer, pinning her between me and the wall.

She’s so soft, so tiny, so perfect.

“Fuck, El,” I groan as her grip on my ass tightens.

Ripping my lips from hers, I kiss along her jaw until I move down her throat, pausing to feel her racing pulse against my lips.

“Colton,” she moans when I suck on her sweet skin, needing to leave a fresh mark on her. “Oh god.”

“You drive me fucking crazy, Bombshell. You always have,” I confess. “No one else has ever made me feel like this.”

“Same,” she gasps as I drag the thick strap of her dress over her shoulder and find her braless beneath.

The second I have her breast free, I suck her nipple into my mouth.

There’s a dull thud as her head hits the wall, but I don’t stop, because not a second later her back arches, offering her up to me.

“Yes,” she cries, her fingers twisted in my hair, holding me in place.

“Like I’d stop if you asked me to,” I mutter, exposing her other side and giving it the same treatment.

Her rosy pink nipples are hard and desperate; her breasts heavy with desire.

“I’m fucking this date thing up, huh?” I say, pinching her between my fingers, my eyes locked on hers as I stand to full height again.

“I don’t have any complaints right now,” she pants out.

I can’t help but chuckle as she tightens her grip on my hair and tries dragging me closer again.

“Needy little thing, aren’t you, Bombshell?”

“Please,” she whimpers.

“Anything.”

With a brief look at the door beside us, I drop to my knees and set to work pushing the fitted fabric of her skirt up her thighs and over her hips.

“Pretty,” I muse, finding a pair of lace panties in the same Saints color as her dress.

“Colt,” she breathes impatiently as I tuck my fingers beneath the delicate fabric and drag them down her legs. “W-we c-can’t do this here,” she tries to argue. But the second she reaches to stop me, I gently slap her hands away.

“Let them catch us. I couldn’t give a fuck if the entire world sees me down here worshipping you.”

“Oh my god.”

“Lift,” I demand when the fabric falls to her ankles.

She hesitates, but the second our eyes collide, she does as she’s told.

“Good girl,” I praise when she lifts her sexy shoe from the floor, quickly followed by the other so I can remove her panties.

Her eyes widen and her chin drops when I lift them.

The second her scent fills my nose, my mouth waters.

“Fucking hell, I missed you,” I growl before hooking her leg over my shoulder, opening her up for me and diving for her pussy.

“Oh my god, Colton,” she cries as I lick up her and suck on her clit.

“Louder,” I demand before diving back in.

“Oh fuck. Fuck.” Her palm slaps the wall behind her as the sensation of my tongue on her sensitive flesh consumes her. “F-forgot…” Swallow. “Forgot how good you were at this.” Moving both hands to my head, she holds me in place as her hips rock against me.

I eat her like I haven’t eaten all week, and only a few minutes later, her legs are trembling and she’s racing toward her release.

“Oh god. Oh god,” she chants as her grip on my hair tightens until I’m sure she’s about to rip it clean out. “Colton,” she cries as her body locks up and she falls over the edge.

I don’t stop until she’s ridden out every second of her release and thoroughly coated my face in her juices.

“Holy shit, that was intense,” she gasps, desperately trying to catch her breath as I lower her other leg and get to my feet.

“Only the beginning, baby,” I confess before slamming my lips down on hers and letting her taste herself.

As I kiss her, my need to turn her around and take her almost becomes too much.

It takes every ounce of self-restraint I have to release her and step back, but I do it.

She looks fucking sensational with her tits out and her dress hitched up around her waist.

“Look at you,” I murmur, taking a second to commit the sight to memory.

The moment her shoulders begin to curl in, I bark, “Don’t,” forcing her to stand up straight again. “You are beyond beautiful and sexy right now. My every fantasy come to life. There is nothing you need to be ashamed or embarrassed of.”

Her cheeks get redder at my words and a small grin pulls at her lips.

“Clean yourself up,” I demand, shoving my hand into my pants and rearranging the situation I’ve got going on beneath my waistband.

I tell myself not to do it, but the second my fingers brush my length, I can’t help but squeeze.

My eyes shutter as a potent shot of desire fills my bloodstream.

“Colt,” Ella breathes.

“Not about me, Bombshell. I’ll meet you out there,” I say, pulling the door open and disappearing before she convinces me otherwise. Because let’s be honest, it wouldn’t take much right now to crack my resolve.

The second I get to the end of the short hallway, I find Matteo standing there like security at a club.

His eyes follow me as I move around him, but I don’t miss the grin on his face.

Clapping me on the shoulder, he tells me that he’ll let the chef know that we’re ready for our starters now. And without another word, he takes off.

I shake my head, a wide smile splitting my face as I find our table and retake my seat.

Reaching for my drink, I swallow two massive mouthfuls down, wishing like hell that it was something more exciting than soda.

The wait for her to return is agonizing, and by the time she emerges, looking as perfect and as elegant as when we first arrived, I’ve started to second-guess everything.

I was hoping to go in there and help get her out of her head. But what if I played it wrong?

“Bombshell,” I growl when she lowers herself to her chair and reaches for her drink.

Her expression gives nothing away, although I don’t miss the lingering heat in her eyes.

But then the most incredible smile curls at the corners of her lips, and she holds her glass out.

“Cheers, I guess,” she says, waiting for me to grab mine with amusement dancing in her eyes.

“Cheers, baby.”

Lifting her glass to her lips, she drains the whole thing in one go, her eyes never leaving mine. Not once.

Oh yeah, I totally did the right thing.

I’ve found my Ella under all her insecurities and self-doubt. And something tells me that we’re going to have some serious fun tonight.