Page 11 of Devastate Me

“So, you want to tell me what happened?” Ophelia asked. She took the kit from him, and they headed into the kitchen, where the light was best. She opened the lid with a frown and removed two packets of alcohol wipes and some antibacterial cream.

“I hit someone.”

Her eyes flashed in surprise. “You did?”

He rubbed the back of his neck with one hand, feeling an unexpected wave of shame. “Yeah ...”

“Care to fill me in on the details?” She held his injured hand and carefully wiped away the blood. It stung, but he’d had worse, far worse. Her gentle fingers on his skin could have eased any pain.

“I ...” He was going to brush it off or tell a white lie, but he decided against it. “I had a fiancée a few years back. While I was on my last tour, she slept with someone else. I just ran into the guy today at the VA center.”

Ophelia stilled, her hands frozen around his. “You were engaged?”

“Yeah.” He wanted to cup her chin and raise it up. He wanted her to look at him. “It was a long time ago. He was my best friend since we were teenagers. That’s why I punched him.”

Ophelia gently squeezed his hand before she began to spread antibacterial cream on his knuckles. “Oh God, that’s awful.” When she was done, he flexed his fingers. The bruises would be dark tomorrow, but he would heal. He always healed, even if it left a hell of a scar.

“Is she why you don’t date anymore?” Ophelia turned away as she asked the question, and her cheeks darkened with a blush.

“Shewas.” When she looked back at him, he stared meaningfully at her. “But I was thinking of getting back out there again.”

“Oh?” He could hear her faint response, and he couldn’t resist smiling. This woman made him want to smile all the damn time.

“Yeah. My type, in case you’re wondering, is small and curvy, with doe-brown eyes and raven-black hair.”

Ophelia’s lips parted, and he crowded her against the kitchen island. His hands caged her hips in, and she shivered. The clean, floral scent of her shampoo mixed with her natural feminine aroma went straight to his head. His eyes drifted along her face, from the curve of her kissable lips to the swell of her breasts beneath the tank top she wore and the gentle indentation of her collarbone.

Colt used his finger to tilt her chin up. Then he leaned down to kiss her. The second before their lips met, he felt the heady anticipation of his lips touching hers. He’d never wanted a kiss so much in his entire life. Then the distance between their mouths closed, and the world exploded in a rush of pleasure and sweetness.

The more he kissed her, the more he would crave her, but she was worth the risk. He was a man who’d fought for his country, and now he had to fight for her heart, and that was a battle he couldn’t afford to lose.

4

God, this man ...

The euphoric thought drifted through Ophelia’s mind as she kissed Colt back in his cozy kitchen. She thought of what he had said, how his heart had been broken and how he wanted to risk love again ... with her. What woman would be crazy enough to turn that down? She had wanted this man from the moment she had first seen him mowing his lawn.

She curled her arms around his neck and squealed as he hoisted her up and set her down on the polished granite surface of the kitchen island. It brought her mouth level with his for deeper kisses. She spread her legs, and he stepped between them, pushing himself against her as he cradled her head while he ravaged her lips with his. His kisses were rough, hungry, unapologetic. There was nothing better than a man kissing her like he didn’t care about anything else. Her last boyfriend had kissed her like he just wanted to get straight to sex, not like those kisses were fueling his passion.

Colt kissed her like he had to, like kissing her was the only thing keeping him alive. It was a rush unlike anything she’d ever experienced. Her head swam as she tried to catch her breath, and she clung to his massive shoulders.

After a few minutes, their mouths parted and he leaned back to look at her. Then he reached for the hem of her tank top and began to lift it up. His lips pursed as he took his time, forcing some control over the need she knew they were both feeling. He tossed the shirt away and gazed at her sensible bra as though she were a Victoria’s Secret model.

Colt traced a finger down her chest to the edge of the bra cups before he pulled one down, exposing one breast and then the other. Her nipples pebbled in the chilled air, and he flicked one, then did the same to the other. Without a word, he bent his head and covered an aching breast with his mouth, sucking the nipple between his lips. Sharp, violent need pierced Ophelia’s core, and she gasped, the sound filling the silence of the kitchen. He sucked harder, his beard brushing against her sensitive skin, tickling her.

Ophelia was incapable of speech. She could only moan and clutch Colt’s head, digging her fingers into the strands of his hair and tugging in encouragement. Colt tortured each breast with pleasure until her nipples were hard and wet from his attention, and then he laid her flat on the counter. When she tried to rise, he pressed a palm on her chest, urging her back down. He unfastened her shorts and slid them off. She whimpered in anticipation as he peeled her panties off and bent between her spread thighs.

Small, hot kisses to her inner thighs were her only way of knowing what he intended before he kissed her clit, then licked her slit. She nearly bowed off the counter as she lost herself to him, to the exquisite pleasures of this man and the way he used his mouth on her. He ran his tongue over her folds, which were very wet and impossibly sensitive. She’d never been so turned on in her life. There was something about his intense sexual focus and the complete silence from him except for his hard breathing fanning over her sensitive skin. None of her fantasies had prepared her for this, not one.

He licked at her clit while he inserted one finger into her. It was tight, but it felt so good for him to enter her. She just wished it was his cock. She wriggled a little, trying to encourage more from him without using words.

Colt didn’t relent. He drew a gasping climax from her, and just as she started to come down from the rolling waves of pleasure, she felt something nudge at her entrance. She lifted her head to see that he had opened his pants and rolled a condom onto his thick shaft before starting to push into her.

Dear God, he’s not going to fit. He’s monstrous. He—

Colt thrust into her, feeding his cock into her inch by inch. She closed her fingers around the edge of the counter as she struggled to take him in. He was halfway inside when he thrust hard, and was fully seated inside her.

Ophelia couldn’t speak. There were no words to describe the exquisite fullness. There was only him and this feeling of connection. He gazed down at her, his hazel eyes dark with lust. His hands gripped her legs, holding her thighs wide. She’d never felt more vulnerable in her life. He could fuck her ruthlessly, and she was in no position to stop him. Not that she wanted to.

---