Page 12 of Sweet and Wild

I nod, because he’s right. I never thought I’d see a day when I’d say that Wade Winchester is right.Twice. A tear rolls down my cheek, and he pulls me to him and wraps his strong arms around my shoulders. He doesn’t say anything. He doesn’t have to. He just lets me cry into his T-shirt and he rubs my back in soothing circles. I’d forgotten how much I’d missed this. Family, hugs, people who know you and who’ve loved you from the second you opened your eyes. Maybe being home isn’t so bad after all.

CHAPTER EIGHT

Lemon

Seventeen years old

Iwalk Sleep’n Pete out of the stable and through the west pasture. It’s just after midnight and I can’t risk his hooves waking my daddy or brothers as he thunders away from the yard. I glance at the stars overhead and the fireflies sparking in the distance like tiny green light bulbs flashing on and off, helping me find my way in the dark.

When we’re far enough from the ranch house, I hoist myself up into the saddle and nudge Pete’s sides with my boots. He bolts through the west pasture, and I ride the whole way as if the devil were on my back just to get to Colt. I can make out the lanterns and the shape of his body long before I come to a stop in front of our tree, and my heart trips all over itself at the prospect of meeting him, of touching him, without the fear of anyone catching us. I slide from the stirrups, spooking Colt’s horse Knievel in the process, and I throw myself into Colt’s waiting arms, kissing him like I’ll never get the chance again.

He cups my cheeks with his hands and pulls away. “Hi. I wasn’t sure you were coming.”

“I had to wait until Daddy went to sleep. He’s been staying up later than usual.”

“Do you think he knows?”

I laugh. “Well, considering we’re both not dead, I’m gonna go with no.”

Colt shakes his head and peppers my face with kisses. “I don’t like this sneaking around we’ve been doin’.”

“I want you to make love to me,” I whisper, running my hands up under his T-shirt, caressing the hard ridges and valleys of each clearly defined muscle.

“Whoa! Slow down there, Lemonade.”

“Stop callin’ me that. And I’m serious. I love you, Colton Hayes. I want you to be my first.”

“We got time, Lemon. We’ve got all the time in the world—”

“Then we should be using it doin’ what we love.”

He chuckles and places a kiss to my nose. “I can wait. We don’t need to rush into anything right now.”

“I want you, Colt. I don’t want to wait. This isn’t something I’m going to change my mind about.”

“Okay, but … here?”

“Why not? It’s not like anyone else is out here at this time of night to see us.”

He leans down and kisses me, tender at first and then our kisses become deeper, needier, and much more insistent. He walks me backward toward the blanket at the base of our tree. I stumble into him and we sink to the ground, his lips on mine and my hands in his hair. Colt kneels as he grasps the hem of my shirt between his fingers and slides it over my body, discarding it on the dewy grass. His Adam’s apple bobs as he takes in my shirtless breasts. My nipples bead against the tepid summer breeze and I’m suddenly nervous. We’ve spent so many nights just like this one, touching, kissing, and getting lost in one another, but all of that was above our clothing and I’ve never felt more exposed. I never thought I’d like it this much either.

Colt reaches out and traces his warm fingers over my collarbone and down my chest until he’s cupping my breast in his hands. He pinches my nipple and sensation bolts through me like an arc of lighting across a black Texan sky. “You’re so fuckin’ beautiful.”

I smile coyly and bite my lip. “Your turn.”

I grab his T-shirt and yank on it. Colt removes it and tosses it aside with lightning speed. Colt’s been working my family’s ranch since he was old enough to ride a horse and lift a bale of hay—but even knowing he was all hard-won muscle, even feeling him through our clothes when we made out, the images in my head clearly didn’t do him justice.

I reach out and touch his chest. He covers my hand with his and guides it over the hard planes of his abdomen to the bulge in his pants. Together we rub him through his jeans and his free arm wraps around my body and pulls me to him. I straddle him and lean down to kiss him, rocking back and forth in his lap. Colt grabs my hips and slides me over his dick. I gasp at the desperation in his movements. We’ve done this a few times now, but every time I’m this close to him, feeling his obvious desire for me against my pussy, my body is on fire. I work my hips faster, and Colt guides me with his hands on my ass. I lean forward so I’m close enough to kiss him, and he drives his tongue in my mouth as his hands slip between our slick bodies and squeeze my breasts.

Heat builds within my core. I rock against his hardness, my panties and Daisy Dukes providing a bittersweet friction. It’s too much, and not enough, but I still fall headfirst into the sensations. Colt’s calloused hands pinch and tease my nipples. I see stars as heat and pleasure collide within me and I cry out, but my begging is swallowed by the sweetness of his tongue stroking my own. “Oh my God!”

Colton smiles. “That was seriously the hottest thing I’ve ever seen.”

I giggle. “Sure. I bet you say that to all the girls.”

“No. I’ve never done that with anyone else.”

“Really?”

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