Page 28 of Stormswept Colorado (Hart County #3)

TWENTY-SIX

Teller

Eventually, I tapped my palm against Ayla’s naked butt cheek. “Come on. Let’s get cleaned up.”

It was late, and we were sweaty and sticky and sated. Her dress was still bunched around her middle. I hoped it wasn’t ruined because she’d looked damn good in it. Those LA dry cleaning companies probably knew how to work magic.

She rolled off of me, and I admired that expression of relaxed bliss on her face.

And then I had to kiss her some more, since she was irresistible.

But finally, we made it into the hotel bathroom. Ayla stripped off her dress and tossed it through the doorway into the bedroom, while I switched on the water to let it warm up.

“I have to wash my makeup off,” she said, grabbing a bottle from her toiletry bag. Probably fancy stuff. “My hair is wild . Like I got mauled by some animal.”

“This animal enjoyed every second of it.”

“I did too.” She smirked at me in the mirror over the sink.

I braced a hand on the glass shower wall and watched her. Fully naked for the first time in front of me. Blond hair a messy halo, miles of perfect skin. My cock felt heavy between my legs. Not firming up again so soon, but definitely interested.

Ayla dabbed her face with a towel, then walked toward me across the expanse of tile. Once she was close enough that I could touch her, I trailed my hands down her sides, following her curves, then back up to cup her ample breasts. At the same time, her eyes roved over me just as appreciatively.

Ayla reached around to squeeze my ass. “You really are big everywhere, aren’t you.”

I barked a laugh. “I assume that’s a compliment.”

“Very much so. I like how you’re so much bigger than me. All this muscle. The guys I’ve been with before weren’t this…substantial. Some of them were leaner and prettier than me . But that’s LA for you.”

My chest rumbled with a growl as I hooked her waist, walking her into the shower through the open glass door. The air inside was already steaming up. “What did I say about mentioning other men?”

She bit her lower lip. “But it’s so fun to watch you react.”

“I’ll just have to make you forget about anyone else.”

“How will you do that?”

The water was nice and warm. I angled the shower head lower, so it would be the right height to hit her body, then nudged her forward into the spray. I stood directly behind her, hand on her stomach to hold her naked body to mine.

“By taking extra good care of you. You’re not lifting a finger the rest of tonight.”

Pumping some shampoo into my palm, I worked suds into her hair. Scrubbed my fingertips into her scalp. Ayla moaned and let her head fall back into my hands.

This woman was incredibly responsive to my touch, and that just urged me on.

She’d been the same a few minutes ago on the couch. Grinding herself on my cock before I was even inside her. That had been the sexiest experience of my life, watching her features contort with sheer pleasure in the mirror.

I probably could’ve come from that alone. And it had been decades since I’d had a hair trigger.

Then pushing my cock into her tight heat, taking control of her exactly the way we both wanted. I liked the idea of making her forget any man but me. Yet Ayla had already wiped every past sexual partner from my memory. A supernova blotting out the other stars from the sky.

No one could compare to her. And probably, no one else ever would.

I spun her and rinsed the shampoo from her hair, careful to keep the suds from her face. Her long hair hung like a waterfall down her back. Next was conditioner, which I rubbed into the ends, followed by another scalp massage since she’d liked the first one so much.

I wrapped the long tail of her hair around my fist and tugged gently. Her lips opened on a groan.

She kept making sounds of pleasure as I washed her body. Especially when I delved between her legs. The haze of steam and arousal in the shower almost reminded me of the backseat of my SUV, except we were both naked and soaking wet.

I stroked her clit until she pushed my hand away. “No, it’s your turn now. I’ll wash you.”

“I’m supposed to be doing all the work. You’re supposed to relax.”

Her wet lashes fluttered. “Please, Teller? I want to.”

I held her chin between my thumb and forefinger. “Okay, sexy thing. I can’t say no to you.”

She snorted. “You say no to me all the time.”

“Well, I’m not now .”

Ayla lathered body wash in her hands and smoothed them over my skin. I kept in shape and had a flat stomach, but I hadn’t boasted a six-pack since my Army days. Ayla didn’t seem to mind. Her eyelids were heavy, and she kept whimpering the way she’d done when I was the one doing the touching.

“You’re so sexy,” she murmured. She hadn’t even gotten to my cock, but it started to fill.

Then her fingertips moved over the twisted web of scars on my right side. Worst around my shoulder, trailing in silvery lines up my neck and face, down along my ribcage and across my pec.

I wasn’t self-conscious about them. Yet I hadn’t been with many women since the injuries. Some people could be weird about that kind of thing, either disgusted or a little too interested.

Ayla was neither. She touched my scars the way she did the rest of me. Like I turned her the hell on.

I wasn’t used to standing around and being admired. Wasn’t all that bad.

I wasn’t expecting the question she asked next. “Why aren’t you with anyone? A girlfriend or a wife. I have to think some lucky lady in Hart County would want to lock all this down.”

I smiled, but it faded when I considered my answer. “I was engaged once.”

Her green eyes lifted, flaring in surprise. “Really? To someone I’ve met before?”

I rested my hands on her hips. “No. My ex doesn’t live in Colorado.”

Ayla shrugged one shoulder, like she didn’t care either way, but that hint of jealousy in her tone had given me a secret thrill. “What happened?” She reached for another pump of body wash.

“I’d been a soldier for a couple years when I met her. We clicked. A year later, I asked her to marry me.”

“You were pretty young, then?”

“Early twenties.” Only a few years younger than Ayla was now. I chose not to dwell on that. “I wanted to get married right away, before my next deployment, but she kept saying we should wait. Maybe that was a warning sign.”

“What did she do?” Ayla asked angrily, which was unbelievably cute .

“We’d been together almost six years when she told me she didn’t want to be a military wife. Also, she’d met someone else. That was a bigger problem.”

“She what ? Are you kidding me?” Ayla balled her fists like she was ready to throw down on my behalf.

I caressed her face. “Relax, Troublemaker. It was a long time ago.”

She pushed me under the spray to rinse off. Her arms went around me, her forehead resting between my shoulder blades. “I’m sorry. Your ex was an idiot who didn’t deserve you. But if it was so long ago, why aren’t you with anyone now?”

I rubbed the suds from my skin, remembering how hard the break-up had hit me. Ancient history now, but I’d sworn I would never make the mistake of falling in love again.

Several years later, a fiery explosion nearly killed me and made romance an even lower priority.

“After I was wounded, it took a while before I was interested in sex again. Things were…rough. Physically and mentally both. The flashbacks were pretty frequent the first couple of years afterward. They’ve faded now, mostly. Talking to a therapist helped.”

“I’m sorry you went through all of that.” Ayla hugged me again. It felt nice. How could I have known she’d be this sweet?

“These days, my options for dating are limited as chief of police,” I said when she pulled back.

“If I so much as think about going on a date, half the town hears about it and wants to know the details.” I scrubbed my face under the water.

“I’ve got my plate full with work and with Piper and Ollie. ”

Ayla pressed a kiss to my shoulder blade. “I guess it’s good you’re single. Worked out great for me this weekend. The women of Hart County have no idea what they’re missing.”

This weekend .

Because that was all we had together. She was leaving tomorrow, and whatever this was, it would have to be over. Ridiculous to even imagine another scenario .

Superstar musical artists didn’t date small-town cops. I didn’t date period .

But it still made me nauseous to acknowledge that she might fall for some rich actor next month. Or even next week. As much as she felt like mine right now, she wasn’t. She would never be.

So I had to leave her with plenty to remember me by.

I turned around and cupped her face, dipping to drag my tongue across her lips.

“Wait, I haven’t washed your hair yet,” she said.

“Later,” I grunted before I claimed her mouth, kissing her deeply until she went soft and pliant under my hands.

I backed her up against the tile, caging her in with my arms while we made out.

My mouth lowered, kissing my way down, teeth grazing her nipple as I bent to one knee.

She gasped. My tongue darted out to her breast to soothe the sting.

My other knee dropped, and I pushed my face into her stomach, my tongue licking into her belly button. Her fingers raked through my damp hair.

Drawing one of her legs up and draping it over my shoulder, I kissed along her inner thigh. Anticipating my final destination.

Then I had to sit back and get an eyeful of the mouthwatering cleft between her legs. Every inch of her was so stunning. So precious.

I brought my thumb to her clit. Dragged it lower to her opening.

“ Teller .” Her head fell back against the shower wall.

“How does that feel?” I asked, fingers stroking.

“Unbelievable.”

“It’s about to get a lot better. I need to taste you.”

“Doesn’t the tile hurt your knees?”

I smirked up at her. “I can take it.”

She laughed, since I was just repeating what she’d said to me earlier. And take me, she had. She’d taken me so well.

Laughter turned to moans when I leaned forward and teased the tip of my tongue at her clit. Circling and flicking.

I drew my lips together and kissed her most intimate places, licking and sucking. Coating my taste buds with her sweetness. Oh fuck, that was good.

My daily life as a Green Beret, and later as police chief, had always been about keeping my cool. Staying in control, even if the world spun out around me. But Ayla made me lose it.

She made me feel like a beast .

I grabbed her other leg, draping it over my shoulder, my hands cradling her behind to hold her up. She cried out in surprise.

Ayla was braced against the shower wall and held entirely in my grip while my tongue pushed inside of her over and over. My cock was so hard it could’ve been forged out of steel.

“Teller, I’m going to… Oh , that feels…”

My tongue and lips kept working until she was trembling and moaning so loud her voice echoed on the tile. When her seemingly endless orgasm finally stopped, I carefully lowered her legs so her feet could touch the shower floor.

She didn’t stay standing, though, sinking down along the wall. I sat back against my heels. My erection jutted out, aching and throbbing for some attention. And that was exactly where her gaze fell.

Ayla’s hand tried to close around my shaft. I covered her grip with mine. Together, we stroked.

“Faster,” I grunted, showing her how I liked it. I was already so damn close.

I groaned as I came hard enough to make my vision white out, my release spilling over our hands and her stomach.

My shoulders sagged, and my palm smacked against the tile as I caught my weight against it.

That had been… ungh .

“We’ll have to clean each other up again,” I said. “Whoops.”

She looked up at me through her lashes and grinned.