Page 120 of Colt

I peered up into his eyes. “You’re a very complicated man, Colter Van Der Cleeve.”

He framed my face with his hands and kissed me gently. “Thank God you’re so uncomplicatedly perfect for me. We fit, and it makes us stronger together. I’m sorry I keep losing sight of that.”

“I know it’s hard for us at the moment,” I murmured, looking into the eyes I loved so much. “It won’t be for much longer. I’m waiting to hear about my internships. We’ll know more soon.”

He slid his hands around my back and locked them together. “I wanna tell the club. I’ve been workin’ on somethin’ that’s startin’ to come to fruition. I feel better about us leavin’ now.”

My heart bloomed like a flower in spring. Finally, he saidus. It was all I wanted. I understood we’d have to play a lot by ear, but we had to remain an us while we worked it out.

I reached up and cupped his cheek. “I’m so happy. I knew it was worrying you. I’ll come see you later. I’m freezing and we need to get moving before the roads ice up completely. You’re on your bike for God’s sake.”

He grimaced. “Gotcha.”

“Let’s go home.” I smiled up at him reassuringly, committing the face I loved most to memory.

Colt led me to the driver’s side and settled me in, bending down to kiss me one last time. “I’ll follow you. High gear, low speed.” Colt shook his head, looking at my old Toyota. “Bought you a graduation gift months ago. Should be here in the next couple’a days. I’ll feel better when it is.”

I blinked. “You got me a graduation gift months ago? But we weren’t even—”

Colt cut me off, pressing one last quick kiss to my lips. “Loved ya then, love ya now. Simple as that.”

Before I could respond, he was striding back to his motorcycle, leather jacket billowing in the breeze behind him. I stared after his retreating figure, open-mouthed and stunned into silence as I watched him swing his leg over his motorcycle. The engine roared to life beneath him, and he looked over his shoulder to send me a roguish wink before putting on his helmet.

Colt captivated me in ways that even a month ago, I’d never thought possible.

I couldn’t escape him. The gold hue to his thick, luxurious hair. How his eyes crinkled at the corners when he laughed, and the way they darkened when he whispered sinful words into my skin. I was lost in lust and feelings so big that their invisible chains bound me to him soul deep.

Shaking my head, I smiled in wonderment as I put the car into drive. Trust Colt to throw me so completely and fantastically off-balance. He was an enigma I never wanted to solve because where was the fun in that?

With a squeal of my tires, I slowly inched forward, checking my mirrors before pulling out onto the road in the direction of Hambleton. Colt’s tailpipes roared behind me, his single headlight illuminating the road like a comforting kind of companionship.

And even though the sky was grey and the air heavy with the onslaught of winter, I knew this was just the beginning for us, and I couldn’t wait to get on with it.

Chapter Twenty-Five

Colt

“This place is the shit,” I murmured, looking around the gallery apartment as my hand trailed languidly up and down the soft, supple skin of Freya’s naked arm.

My girl sighed and burrowed deeper into my side. “It’s perfect. Private. Nobody will find us here,” Her fingers teased over the rough hair on my chest and moved lower, curling around me and a low groan rumbled in my throat. “Think I’m all fucked out, Freya.”

She smirked and brought her hand back up to my ribs. “It’s ok, old man. You’ve more than exceeded my expectations over the last ten hours.”

Being with Freya felt like a new lease of life. Her humor, wit, and playfulness brought things out of me that had been barren for years, that was if they’d ever existed at all. She was fascinating, all-consuming. Even when she wasn’t with me physically, she was still there in the back of my mind imprinting on me.

Since that day last week when I’d chased her down the country road everything had finally slotted together. I’d gone hard on her, rougher than ever before and she’d lapped it up, thrived on it even.

It showed me how even though she was younger than me, we still had a meeting of minds. It proved I’d underestimated her, and I knew I had to pull my head outta my ass if I wanted the future I’d dreamed of with her.

It also made me get my backside into gear with an idea I’d had a while back but had been procrastinating over. It would leave the club in a better position when I left, so, in the last week I’d been out and about in town, reappropriating certain equipment and databases which could help the Demons streamline the way they handled things with the Sinners.

But I’d think about that for Church later. In the here and now, I had my woman, naked, next to me and not much time left to appreciate it.

I gathered her close, inhaling her soft, warm skin, and reveling in the feel of her silky hair against my chest. “It’s good we’ve got this, baby. Don’t want everyone gettin’ suspicious of how much time we spend together.”

“I just want to be with you any way I can,” she whispered.

My heart swelled with emotion. It was crazy how at thirty-six I was experiencing my first flush of love. It wasn’t a thing though, I was happy I saved at least that for her, I mean, she’d saved a lot more for me. Thinking back, I realized Freya had always been my safe place, the one person who got me. She was my home, and the rest of the world could’ve burned for all I cared.

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