Page 26 of Craved By You
Her not saying those three little words in return shouldn’t have bothered me. In fact, pre-Astrid me wouldn’t have given two fucks about any of this so I was struggling to figure out why I was having a hard time wrapping my head around any of this until I realized…
“Colt? What’s going on?” I walked quietly over to the bed and sat down on the edge, trying to keep up my tough exterior while I worked through what was happening in my mind.
I tried to brush it off. “I’m fine.”
Astrid rushed over in front of me and grasped my face in her hands. “It is clearly not fine, Colt. I love you, talk to me, please.”
She loves me.Just like that, the world started to spin on its axis once more and everything was going to be okay. “I’m really okay, I just had a moment.”
“One day you’re going to have to open up to me.” She looked me dead in the eyes and I could tell that she was being serious.
I nodded. “One day, sunshine. I’ll tell you everything.”
???
Astrid
There was so much mystery behind Colt and who he was, and it continued to drive me absolutely bonkers. What dark secret was he hiding that he was so scared that it would push me away? I was starting to feel as if he was waiting for me to fall madly in love with him before he told me because then it would be too late. I’d be destroyed.
Soon.
Soon, I would push him to share everything with me. That’s what you do for the person you love, and he clearly had some skeletons in his closet that needed to be cleaned out. Hopefullyhe didn’t actually have any of those in his closet, that would be awkward… And probably a deal breaker… Maybe.
Snapping back to reality, my eyes washed over him, and I couldn’t help but be filled with compassion. He had been through so much, and he clearly never had anyone to share those moments with. It would take time. Together we would face our demons and battle them head on. We’d come out stronger in the end.
Colt wrapped his strong arms around me and pulled me in closer than I thought possible. “Thank you for being patient with me, sunshine,” he said in a hushed manner. I leaned into him and tilted my head downward to kiss him when he leaned back onto the bed, pulling me with him.
“Colt, I don’t want to hurt you.” I squealed, surprised by his unexpected movement. “Ope.” I covered my mouth quickly. Colt didn’t like it when I talked down about myself.
It was too late. The words I had hoped that he would gloss over - though, who was I kidding? He would never - had made their way to his ears and the look in his eyes told me he was deciding my fate.
He gently rolled me off of him onto the king-sized bed beneath us and oh, was it comfy. I was never going to want to leave this bed.
“Stay,” he commanded.
I smiled and snuggled into the bedspread. “Not a problem.”
A few moments later I heard the garage door slam shut and Colt came sauntering back into the room holding the claws tight in his grasp.
“What have I told you about being mean to yourself?” he askedsternly.
“It seems to have slipped my mind,” I couldn’t help but sass back at him. “Why don’t you remind me?”
Chapter 16
Astrid
Ileaned up on my elbow and watched as Colt strode toward me, biting my lip as he got closer, tossing the claws on the bed. They taunted me, challenging me to a duel.
The way this man makes me feel...I swooned and rolled over onto my stomach, this time propping myself up on both elbows.
He stood there. The silence between us interrupted by the clinking of his belt buckle as he undid his belt, removing it from his pants with such grace that it would put angels to shame. I watched as he folded it up and brought the belt closer to me. My breath hitched for a moment but I was able to pull myself out of it and I quickly reminded myself that I was safe. Colt paused for a moment and raised his brow, waiting to see if I had anything to say.
“I’m good,” I assured him and he gently placed the belt beneath my chin and guided my face up higher to meet his. “I promise.”
Colt still didn’t say a word.
He pulled back the belt and tossed it to the side before kneeling down on the floor before me so that our faces were even. Colt used his finger to direct me to come closer to him and I scooted forward until we were almost nose to nose. He reached up and grasped me by the back of my head and pulled me forward so that his lips were touching my head.
