Temptation, The Complete Serial Series 1-4 (The Temptation Serial Series) (23 page)

It had been two weeks since that afternoon, two weeks since I shot a man, two weeks since Colt said he wouldn’t make leaving easy for me. And he was nothing if not a man of his word. Every evening, he made a picnic dinner—just for me and him. Every morning, he came over to kiss me and tell me he’d see me after his shift.

Morgan, Shane, and Riley left for New York at my insistence. The deadline was in two days and Morgan still had to get the prints and take them to the studio. With Jennings in prison and awaiting trial, there was no reason for Shane and Riley to stay. His bail was denied. He wasn’t going anywhere for a very long time.

Besides, after she told Shane the news of their baby bun in the oven, he was hell to live with. He doted on her constantly, not even allowing her to pull her chair out for meals. I was waiting for him to chew her food up and spit it into her mouth like a bird to its baby. Eww.

Truthfully, I was glad to be alone. I needed time to process. Two days. Two more days and I was flying back to Vegas.

My headaches wouldn’t stop and I was going to follow up with a doctor there, but had been cleared to travel. I decided to lay down in the dark for another nap.

***

Knocks at the front door woke me up. I padded down the hallway, down the steps, and opened the door. Colt stood there with a smile. In his cargo pants and tight white t-shirt, he looked edible.

He raised a bag. “Dinnertime, B.”

My mouth watered as the scent of hamburgers and fries wafted to my nostrils. “Lyra’s?”

“Um-hmm.”

I moaned, leaning close to his lips, watching his Adam’s apple bob up and then down. Snatching the bag out of his hand, I skipped up the steps to the kitchen. “That was mean,” he yelled from behind me.

“Meh! You love me.”

I froze. I should
not
have said that. It was going to be awkward when he walked in here for dinner. Reaching for two plates, I felt his hands clasp my waist. I steadied myself with the counter’s edge.

Warm breath fanned my ear. “I do care about you.”

He did. He’d proven that much lately.

“I care about you, too.”

“How hungry are you?” he asked, nipping at the tender flesh of my neck. My core clenched at the rasp.

I turned around in his arms and waited until his eyes collided with mine. “Starving.”

“Then why are you leaving?”

We’d had this conversation every night since I told him that I’d booked a flight to Vegas. And every night I told him the same thing: I had to.

“You know why.”

“I don’t,” he answered. I started to interrupt him, but he silenced me with a kiss. “But a promise is a promise. I won’t make it easy for you to walk away from me.”

Reaching to the back of my thighs, he lifted me up and carried me to the bedroom. He eased me gently onto the soft mattress, hovering over me, blanketing me with warmth and “care”, as he called it. I called it
love
. I loved him.

“Because you care?” I teased.

He growled, burning a pathway from the hollow of my throat down my chest. I raised up and let him tug my tank top off. He deftly unclasped my bra and I let the delicate lace fall down my arms, reveling in his gasp of appreciation.

I raked my nails up his abs and chest and tugged his shirt over his head. The man needed to be shirtless at all times, I decided. My back didn’t even hit the mattress before his mouth was on my breast, tugging and gently biting at the taut peak of my nipple. But he was nothing if not fair. He released it with a pop and showed her twin the same attention, making me a mewling, needy mess.

The thighs he parted with his knee quaked beneath him. “You’re shaking. You okay?” He sat up and looked me over.

“I will be if you stop worrying and give me what I want,” I growled.

A satisfied smile stretched over his lips and he lowered himself down, where I felt his erection right where I needed it most. “What’s that, B?”

I reached into the waistband of his shorts and he let out a hiss.
Who’s your mama, big
guy?
My fist curled around the silken steel and pumped for a few strokes.

“Pants fucking off. Now!” he roared, stepping back and ripping them down my legs. He missed the edges of my panties and apparently that pissed him off, because he grabbed the sides and tore them off my body. Ripping fabric was now my second favorite sound. My first was his growl.

He kicked his shorts off. Boy went commando! I didn’t even notice when I dove in a minute ago! Mama liked. He settled over me and when his flesh met mine, fireworks fucking went off.

Stilling, Colt’s head hung down. “I forgot a condom. Fuck me.”

I smiled. “I’m on the pill and I’m clean. So if you’ll let me, I will do just that, Officer Stone.”

Another growl and he surged forward, filling me like no one else had. We rocked together; tasting, feeling, and taking each other over the edge we had teetered on since I first found Swift Rapids and found him.

He was a gentleman, making sure his thumb found my sweet spot and pounding me until neither of us could breathe. Both of our bodies were coated in sweat when I cried out, unable to stop the waves of pleasure pulsing through me.

A roar from his throat meant he was right behind me.

He collapsed with a smile on his face. “Holy shit, B.”

I swallowed. “Yeah.” And I knew in that moment that he’d kept his promise. It would definitely be hard to leave now.

He brushed a strand of hair off my face. “Ready for round two?”

I looked down and was shocked to see him long and thick and ready.

“Hell yes.”

The hot, dry air slammed into me when I stepped out of McCarran. I hailed a cab and told him where to go. I needed to talk to Manny. STAT. It was early afternoon, so he would be at the gym.

I found him there, yelling at a new kid he was trying to train. Telling him to hit harder, move faster, anticipate the next move. The kid was sweating and panting and looked downright pitiful. I wondered if Shane ever looked gangly like that. Manny was the best in the industry, or so I’d heard.

He smiled when he saw me and opened his arms for a hug. “Hey, Brooky! I heard you were coming back and that they finally caught that piece of shit.”

I smiled proudly. “I popped a cap in his ass.”

“I know,” he laughed.

Shifting on my feet, I asked him for a minute of his time. He knew what was coming.

***

I’d spent the day in the air, landing at LaGuardia at four o’clock in the evening. Sin was already there, of course. She had been gearing up for the exhibit for days, or
shopping
, as I liked to call it. When I spoke to her yesterday, I told her to wear the red dress she’d texted a picture of. Red was a power color. It would draw every eye in the room.

Somehow, the traffic was on my side. I was able to hail a cabbie who knew his way around and wasn’t trying to get an extra buck, and he managed to carve a pathway to Times Square and drop me in front of my hotel in record time. I still needed to check in, get a shower, and get ready!

At seven, I caught yet another cab and made my way to the gallery. It was set in an old building with rustic brick walls and artfully placed lights illuminating each painting and sculpture on display. A hostess greeted me. “Welcome to Greenleaf Gallery. Are you here for the unveiling?”

“Yes. I’m a personal friend of the photographer, Mrs. Justice.”

Her eyes lit up. “She’s very talented, and I recognize you now. I’ll take you right to her.”

She led me through the room of people, all dressed in black ties and evening gowns; glitter and grace between every wall. They perused the artwork in the main room while the woman led me behind a curtained off area.

Morgan and Shane stood in front of an enormous portrait. It was of me, wearing Colt’s shirt, stirring the yellow paint. Tears pricked my eyes. She did an amazing job. There was one of me reading a book with my skin painted the maroon color of the binding, a portrait from the pool when Colt was so mad I was showing so much skin, and then the one of me wearing his hat, sitting in his cruiser. We took a series of photos in the rapids; all serious pictures except for a goofy one of me jumping up from one of the rocks, pumping my fist in the air with a huge smile on my face. She chose that one.

Only one thing was missing.

Morgan bum-rushed me and almost tackled me to the ground. “Did you see your paintings?”

I looked around and the three canvases were located in three of the room’s corners. Seeing my work in a real gallery was more than I’d ever hoped. “If I knew this was a real possibility, I’d have painted something happy,” I admitted.

A man in a penguin suit stuck his head in. “Mrs. Justice, we’re ready to begin the unveiling.”

She nodded and Shane stepped up, kissing her deeply and rubbing her tiny baby bump. “Showtime, babe.”

She sniffled and fanned her eyes. “I’m so emotional.”

I giggled. “Mood swings. Perfect title for the exhibit, Sin.”

Following them outside the curtain, I watched as the crowd gathered around. Servers made sure each patron had a full glass of bubbling champagne. The penguin suit man stepped up to a small podium and leaned in to the microphone. “Thank you for attending tonight’s unveiling. Mrs. Morgan Justice is an incredible young talent. Her work is available for sale and the exhibit will remain at Greenleaf for the duration of the month. Now without further adieu, please raise your glasses.”

Glasses raised toward the air.

“To Mood Swings.”

The crowd echoed his toast and then drank. Greenleaf employees removed the curtain and opened the exhibit to the art-hungry crowd. And they devoured it. Morgan, Shane, (and since she forced me to stay by her side) and I, shook hands and accepted thanks from those who praised both her work and mine.

I was shocked and in seventh heaven. This…this was what I wanted. This and Colt Stone.

You know the phrase…speak of the devil and he will appear. Well, the sexy devil that was Colt Stone sauntered into the room wearing a suit that was cut just for his body; drawing across taut muscle and slanting over tapered hips. I knew the glorious ‘V’ that lay beneath and wanted to claw the suit off of him. Too bad there was a public indecency statute.