Page 72 of Colt

Without warning, I got to my knees, and turned her around. Then, crawling to her back, I hauled her against me until we spooned on our sides.

“I’ve never come like that in my life, baby.” I swept her hair away and kissed her nape gently, heart swelling with emotion.

“I can’t move,” she murmured. “My legs won’t work. If you want me to shower, you’ll have to carry me.”

I kissed her nape again. She must’ve noticed my OCD. I couldn’t touch anyone unless they were freshly showered, but at that moment, curling up to Freya’s back, I couldn’t summon the will to care. “I want your scent on me while we sleep.” I trailed my fingertips up and down her back soothingly.

The more time I spent with her, the more it sunk in that she was it for me.

I waited for her breathing to even out and gave her shoulder one last kiss, murmuring softly into her skin...

“Made for me, Freya.”

Chapter Sixteen

Freya

My last week in Denver went by in a flurry of packing and saying goodbye to all the people I’d met over the years I’d been here.

It was the end of an era. School was done, and now the learning really began.

I’d loved my time here. It was where I’d learned to stand on my own two feet, where I’d matured. Denver would always be a special place to me, but I knew in my heart it was time to move on.

I jumped slightly as I heard the front door slam. “Honey, I’m home,” my favorite voice called out.

“In here.” I craned my neck and watched Colt saunter into the lounge carrying a Starbucks coffee holder containing two takeout cups. “You know how to make a girl happy.” I did a grabby hands gesture, sighing with pleasure as Colt handed me a cup.

“You’re a fuckin dream,” he said, watching me with a smirk as I took a sip, eyes rolling back in pleasure. “I won’t need to buy you diamonds if I ever need to get my ass outta the doghouse. A trip to Starbucks will sweeten you up. Easy—fuckin’—peezy.”

I lifted my shoulder in a shrug. “The odd diamond would be nice. I mean, a girl’s gotta have some sparkle.”

“Oh, you’ve got sparkle, baby. You already shine bright.” Colt sank down next to me, nodding toward the bureau I was going through. “Whatcha doin’?”

“Just going through my stuff.” I held up a photograph of Abi and me on the first day of school. “It seems so long ago.”

He took the image and studied it closely. “It’s been no time in the great scheme of things. You’ve bossed med school like you boss everything else. So fuckin’ proud of ya.”

My blood warmed. “You’re my inspiration.”

His eyes lifted to mine. “Huh?”

My lips hitched. “The first day you sat down and went through my algebra homework, it made me want to be smart. I remember thinking, will he be my friend if I’m clever like him?”

Colt’s eyes glazed over as he thought back. “You were special, Freya. Not long after I joined the club, your dad told me how the principal at school called him and your mom in to tell them how smart you were. You know they were thinkin’ about sending you away to a school for gifted kids?”

“Yeah.” A stab of pain shot through my chest. “I begged my mom not to do it. I told her I’d stop studying altogether if they did.”

“I remember feelin’ sick at the thought of you leavin’. Told your dad I’d help you along. It was crazy; you were a kid, but I was more comfortable with you than the brothers. The thought of you leaving was unbearable. You brightened my world. I was still reeling from what had happened in New York. When I met your dad, I was jaded and didn’t trust easy at all. Then I met a young girl with an old soul, and everythin’ slotted into place again.” His gaze slid to me. “Should’ve known you were mine.”

My heart fluttered.

Colt had a brain like a computer and the heart of a poet. He loved Byron, Keats, and Poe. Never before had I known a man who was so tough, capable, and strong but also so romantic.

He was a puzzle I never wanted to complete because while he kept surprising me, he kept enthralling me too. There was nobody else for me, but him, and I’d have followed him to the ends of the Earth.

I knew we’d have to fight for each other eventually, knew we’d be tested in ways I couldn’t comprehend.

And it didn’t faze me one bit.

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