“No, I left Hawaii two months ago and headed to New Zealand. I wanted to get a southern hemisphere perspective. They have a ton of open spaces away from city lights that are perfect for star gazing. I camped there for a few weeks, gathering data and images.” Along with more evidence that what the Pentagon had released about the existence of UFOs was just the tip of the iceberg. She planned to delve deep like she did with any topic that interested her, and discover every facet beneath the surface.
“New Zealand, huh? Sounds like you travel quite a lot.” Colt pushed his empty plate back on the table.
“Yep, I love traveling, getting the chance to visit places most people never see other than in pictures. Have you ever been to New Zealand? Or anywhere in particular that you enjoyed?”
He scratched the scruff on his chin. “I can’t say that I have. I get into Denver every once in a long while, have been to Vegas a few times, but for the most part, work keeps me here, bound to the ranch.” Dark frustration entered his eyes briefly before he covered it up and studied her. “And you’re going to be staying here in this cabin for two weeks?”
“Yeah. I have this banquet thing to attend in Vegas or I would stay longer. It’s gorgeous here. I can’t wait to get out and explore the area more.” She dearly wanted to stay longer. But she did have responsibilities, even when she acted like she didn’t. She just chose not to let them weigh her down.
“Just be careful, this high up, you’ve got mountain lions and bears to contend with, along with rattlers to be on the lookout for.”
She rose with their empty plates and carted them over to the sink. She transferred the pan into the sink, filling it with soapy water to soak. She would wash the dishes in the morning. For tonight, she wanted to take whatever time she had with the sexy cowboy and enjoy it to the fullest. “I’m always careful, but that doesn’t mean things can’t and don’t happen. There was this one time on safari in South Africa, when the camp got surrounded by a pride of lions, with nothing but canvas tents between us and them. There were some intense moments where I figured the members of the camp were about to meet their maker. Not a way I would want to go, either.”
His enticing lips curled at the corners and lines crinkled at the corners of his eyes. She didn’t know why but those lines at his eyes were downright sexy.
He asked her, “What did you do to make them go away? Was anyone injured or killed?”
She sauntered back toward him, adding a sexy swagger to her hips. Avery’s foot caught on her robe. She didn’t know how she did it—these things, tripping over her own damn feet, they just happened. She put her arms out to try and catch her fall or slow her descent. She had visions of herself prostrate on the ground, flooded with embarrassment because she was a total klutz. Avery wanted to impress Colt, but her body seemed bent on doing the exact opposite.
But Colt moved like lightning. He jumped from his seat and caught her before she completed the full nose dive, face first, onto the hardwood floor.
“Whoa there? You all right?” His strong arms surrounded her, drew her up against him, and quieted her normally overactive mind. His seductive aroma, a combination of horse, man, and the outdoors, tripped every sensory button inside her. And those eyes of his, framed by some of the longest lashes she’d ever seen on a man, but didn’t make him look girly at all, captured her gaze so that all she saw was him. If anything, those lashes increased his sexual magnetism a thousand-fold. Avery’s palms lay against the firm planes of his chest. The strength in him, in the breadth of his shoulders, ignited a slow burn.
“I am now,” she murmured, lowering her gaze to his lips shrouded by dirty blond stubble—the same stubble that had rubbed against her cheeks and neck, that she longed to feel again. It made his full lips appear downright sinful. “I used an air horn to scare the lions away. I carry a portable one in my hiking pack wherever I travel. It can be tricky to get it through customs sometimes, but I manage.”
“That’s rather brilliant. Avery?” He held her close, his big, calloused, working man’s hands caressing the length of her back.
“Yeah?” Arousal hummed through her veins. She wanted those hands of his all over her, and vice versa. She licked her lips and swallowed, her throat suddenly dry as she looked at him.
“I know you said that we didn’t have to have sex if I stayed the night. But what if I wanted to? What if I wanted to spend whatever hours we have tonight making love to you?” he asked in a husky bedroom voice. She felt the rumble of it in her chest.
Need curled inside her; his words electrified her entire being. “Then I would say, what are you waiting for? Because I’ve been on board with that idea since I asked you to stay the night.”
“And you don’t mind that I’m a Dominant?”
She shook her head in the negative. “No. I need your hands on me, Colt.”
He cupped her cheek, his thumb rasping over her bottom lip. The callouses made the caress tingle. She darted her tongue out and sucked his digit into her mouth, desperate for a taste of him. Beyond aroused and needy for the hunky cowboy, Avery held his gaze, as if in a hypnotic trance as she sucked on his thumb. Pleasure spread through her as his eyes darkened with desire. She raked his thumb with her teeth when he withdrew it from her mouth.
“You’re a feisty one, aren’t you?” His husky voice rumbled deep in his chest—flush against him, she felt the vibration spread through her torso to pool in her belly.
Colt’s mouth crushed hers. The banked embers of lust ignited a five-alarm fire that there was no stopping. The scorching flames of his kiss made all the loneliness of months and years on her own dissipate, all the empty spaces inside her overflow until he was all that was there.
Combustible.
It was the only word that suited the hungry mating of tongues and lips and the way they came together. Avery slid her hands up his chest, threaded her fingers into his soft hair, and held on, imprisoning his mouth against hers. She kissed him, and held nothing back, showing him just how much she wanted him.
Colt’s lips touched hers and all the chaotic thoughts in a constant tumble in her brain stilled. The world faded around them.
He tipped her head up, slanted his mouth, changed the angle of the kiss and turned it downright carnal. His dominant gesture made her weak-kneed with a profound craving for more. Kissing Colt was akin to a wild white-water rafting excursion. She wanted to hang on for dear life as she dipped and plunged.
Colt dragged her down to the floor until she lay beneath him.
While his mouth ravished hers, he untied the belt holding her robe in place. Avery shivered as he drew the material aside. He raised her arms up above her head, bracketing her wrists with one hand against the floor. Hot, liquid flames poured through her at the authoritative move. She’d never had a man restrain her hands before, and was surprised by the deluge of desire it caused.
Colt lifted his mouth, his slate-blue gaze suffused with lust. He traced his fingers lightly over her shoulders, and then down her chest to circle her breasts. He teased her nipples and they hardened into stiff peaks. His touch sparked pleasured tingles that raced from her breast to pool in her sex.
“You’ve got one hell of a body, Avery.” His hand trailed over her abdomen, slipped down between her thighs, and dipped inside her folds.