Page 99 of All the Missing Pieces

He did.

Colt’s arm tightened around me, pulling me down onto him as his hips rose up to meet me. My lips parted, my head tipping back as he filled me. The stretch was heaven, taking me right to my limits and reminding me exactly what I needed, that I was here, breathing.

Colt slammed into me again and my legs tightened, spurring him on, desperate for even more. His fingers slid into my hair, tightening on the strands. My head tipped back even farther, taking in that glorious late-afternoon sky.

The beauty of it all was almost more than I could handle. But I focused on every sensation, not wanting to lose a single one. The cold water sliding over my heated skin. Colt’s fingers gripping my hair. His cock moving inside me.

Then Colt’s head dipped. His lips closed around my nipple through the thin fabric of my bra. That nearly took me over the edge as he hummed around the bud.

His hips angled, hitting that spot where I needed him most. And then his teeth grazed my nipple. That hint of pain, the sensation that made all others sweeter, took me over.

My core clamped down around him as I let out a sound that didn’t resemble anything human. But I didn’t care. I wasn’t hiding from him. I could be who I needed to be.

Wave after wave rolled through me as Colt kept moving, thrusting deeper until his fingers fisted my hair, his lips moving to my throat, and he released inside me. We rode every ounce of pleasure the other gave until there was nothing left but shallow breaths and gentle hands.

Colt pressed a kiss to the column of my throat as he finally pulled out of me. “Thank you. I think I needed that reminder too.”

We were both processing the day, in our own ways and together. And there was something about that truth that had an ache taking root in my chest. But I smiled at the man opposite me. “Nothing like a little lake action to remind you you’re alive.”

Colt chuckled. “Pretty sure your underwear’s floating behind you.”

I laughed as I twisted in his arms, grabbing for them. “I’m not putting these back on. Nothing sounds worse than cold undies.”

He grinned back at me, looking lighter than before. “I’m kind of partial to you underwearless.”

“You would be.” I brushed the hair back from his face with one hand, my fingers tracking down to his scruff and feeling the prickle of it the way I'd wanted to earlier. “You’re something to look at.”

Colt quirked a brow. “Am I, now?”

“Quite the specimen.”

“Careful, this could go to my head.”

My thumb traced below his bottom lip, following the line of scruff. “I like seeing you like this. Relaxed, happy.”

That look faltered for a minute, but Colt held it. The quality changed but not the root. “We used to come here all the time. Mom, Em, and me. It was our spot. There was an old run-down cabin where my place sits, but no one lived up here.”

I stilled, a mixture of warmth and pain sweeping through me. My family had our own special lake spot and the memories that went along with it. That joy mixed with sorrow came on every time I ventured to a similar spot. But this was more.

Colt looked at me, but I knew it wasn’t me he was seeing anymore. “After everything that happened to Em and she didn’t want to leave the house much, I would still come out here. Just to think or try to silence the guilt.”

That pain beat out the warmth as I looked at the man who carried so much on his shoulders. So I did the only thing I could: I showed him that he wasn’t alone. “I made Avery go to the party that night.”

Colt blinked a few times, trying to bring me back into focus.

“She hated the parties the frats put on, but I wanted her to get out and experience college before we graduated. If I hadn’t…”

Colt’s hand slipped beneath my tangle of wet hair, and he squeezed my neck. “If you hadn’t, he would’ve taken her another time.”

“I know,” I croaked. “And I could say the same to you.”

Colt’s face softened. “You’re a smooth one.”

“I try.” I stared at him for a long moment, soaking in his heat, in such contrast to the chilly water of the lake. “I’ve never told anyone that.”

His brow creased as his thumb stroked the column of my neck. “What?”

“That I forced Avery to go. Not the cops. Not my parents. No one.”

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