Chapter 16 The room quieted. The kind of quiet that silenced not only the world around her but those voices in her head. The ones telling her-screaming at her-that she wasn't enough. That she wasn't strong enough or brave enough. It all went away at the feel of his lips on hers. He cupped her other cheek, his tongue slipping between her lips. He tasted sweet and deep and familiar. When he suddenly lifted his head, she wanted to groan. To grab him and pull him back. Instead, she looked up at him. Traced the lines beside his black eyes. The curve of his hard jaw. There was so much emotion in his expression. A mixture of need and desire and pain. She swallowed hard, trying to calm her racing heart. "What are you thinking?" "I need to know that you want this," he whispered, sounding almost scared, an emotion that was so out of place on a man so powerful. "I choose you, Cricket. In the small easy moments. And the big hard ones. I'll always choose you." The big hard ones...there'd been so many. "I choose you too. Tonight. Tomorrow. Forever." His eyes darkened. And he dipped his head again and kissed her, his tongue slipping straight inside, curving, almost dancing with hers. The peace and fire and desire...it filled every hollowed-out part of her. He lifted her into his arms like she weighed nothing, but she still didn't feel close enough. She needed skin against skin. She needed him, all of him, right now. Quickly, she reached for the hem of his T-shirt and pulled it up. With one arm, he helped her, yanking it over his head. Then his lips covered hers again, and suddenly he was everywhere. He was all she could feel and his scent surrounded her. He slipped the straps of her dress down, and cool air brushed the tips of her nipples. But only for a second, before he took one between his lips. Then he was sucking and she was gasping, grabbing the short locks of his hair. Her head was back, her eyes closed. He swirled the bud in a circle with his tongue, and all she could do was try to breathe. Draw the air into her lungs even though it was difficult. With desperate fingers, she reached for the bottom of her dress, Colt helping her. Then all she wore were panties. And there was something so safe about wearing almost nothing in Colt's strong arms, held in place by his body. He was her safety. He'd always been her safety. He found her lips again, kissing her slowly, deeply, as he moved to the bed. The soft mattress dipped as he laid her down. His weight over her felt warm and familiar. He lifted his head, his gaze searing into her own. "It's been so long," she whispered. "And yet, it feels like no time has passed at all." It was so true. This strange in-between of feeling like both a lifetime and a blink. He lowered his head and kissed her, so softly it was almost a graze. The next kiss touched her neck, then her chest. On his way down her body, he claimed her other breast, taking her nipple inside his mouth and rolling it with his tongue. Her back arched and air hissed between her teeth. When he shifted again, light kisses brushed over her hip bone, his breath whispering over her skin as he moved. She barely felt him slipping her panties down her legs, or the slight shift in his body so that he settled between her thighs. When his tongue ran over her clit, she arched and cried out, the sound shattering the quiet. He tasted her again, and her entire body trembled. She grabbed at the sheets, clenching them in her fists, trying to anchor herself. His arms slipped around her thighs, widening her legs. And when his mouth latched to her clit and sucked hard, she was on fire. Her body burned. "Colt!" His name was something between a scream and a moan. When his fingers touched her entrance, she tensed. Then he slid two inside. It was both too much and not enough at the same time. She stood on the edge of that cliff again, both wanting him to push her over the edge but also needing to stay exactly where she was for as long as possible. His fingers began to move inside her, slow, rhythmic thrusts while his kisses trailed up her hip bone, then her side. She was panting. She couldn't get a single full breath in. When he took her mouth again, his tongue plunged straight inside, and she fell into the hole that was Colt. Losing herself in him as her hips thrust to meet his fingers. Desperately, she reached down his body and unbuckled his jeans. Once the zipper was down, she slipped her hand inside his briefs and wrapped her fingers around his length. His entire body stilled, and the cords of muscles that ran from his neck down his arms tensed and rippled. She'd always loved that she could affect him as much as he affected her. She slid her hand to the tip, running her palm over him, before shifting it back to the base. "Indie." Her name was either a growl or a warning, she couldn't tell. It didn't matter-she didn't stop. She continued to move over his length, remembering what he liked. Wanting to bring him to the same spot on the edge of that cliff where he'd pushed her. Suddenly, he gripped her wrist and lifted it above her head before kissing her again, the weight of his body pressing her into the mattress. When he rose, she wanted to groan...or maybe she did, because his lips curved. He pushed down his jeans and briefs, and then her mouth went dry. It didn't matter that she'd known this man, loved this man, since they were teenagers. It didn't matter that she knew his body better than she knew her own. She'd always feel that breathless, can-barely-think-or-move stillness at the sight of him. He crawled over her and settled between her thighs. She felt him right there. It took her two tries to wet her dry throat, but even then it didn't really work. He brushed a lock of hair from her cheek. "Do you want me to wear something?" She could have laughed. They'd tried for a baby for so long, they hadn't worn a condom for nearly a decade. "No. I want to feel all of you inside me." His eyes darkened. Slowly, he slid inside. Her eyes shuttered as he filled her. Stretched her. "God, I've missed you," he whispered, his lips grazing her cheek. Tears burned in her eyes. "It's like a piece of me has been missing since you've been gone. And now I have it back." He lowered his temple to hers. "We can both be whole again." Colt dropped his head into the crook of Indie's neck. Fuck, she was tight. He couldn't move. He could barely breathe. It was like he was fucking chained exactly where he was. He'd missed her. God, he'd missed so much about her. Her scent. Her warmth. The breathy sighs she made when he was inside her. She wrapped her leg around his waist, making him sink deeper. A guttural growl tore from his throat. This feeling right here...this was what he'd almost lost forever. This euphoria. This peace. It was something only she could make him feel. "Colt." Her breath whispered across his skin, her fingers dragging over his back. "Move." Then, as if to illustrate her point, she tilted her hips back then forward. Shit, she was going to kill him. He lifted his hips before thrusting back into her. The moan that escaped her throat shattered whatever control he had left. He lifted his head and kissed her again, his hips moving in rhythmic thrusts. Every time he returned to her, he felt that thing. When air suddenly felt easier to breathe. When peace didn't feel foreign or out of reach. He shifted his mouth to her neck and grazed his teeth across her skin before sucking, getting lost in the sweetness that was Indie. This was his home. And he didn't want to be anywhere else. He reached for her breast and cupped her. Finding the tight bud of her nipple and rolling it with his thumb. Her head tilted back and she groaned. A deep groan, one he'd heard in his fucking dreams too many times. He loved that sound. He loved everything about this woman. He moved his hips harder. Faster. And she met him thrust for thrust. Her hips rising, her hold on his shoulders tightening. When he needed more, he slipped his hand down her body and found the tight bundle of nerves between her thighs. The first stroke made her entire body jolt. He ran his thumb over her clit, fire burning in his veins at the scrunch of her eyes. The way she showed every degree of desire on her face. "Colt..." He found the sensitive spot behind her ear and sucked, before whispering, "I'm here, Cricket. Let me catch you." Another roll of her clit, and she cried out, her back arched, her nails cutting into his shoulders as she broke. He kept thrusting, his mouth never leaving her neck, sucking and tasting. Claiming. While his thumb still moved over her clit. Every sound she made. Every whimper and moan made his world narrow to just her. He tried to hold off, but then he looked at her and saw the complete abandonment of all inhibition. And he lost himself. He fell so fucking hard that he shattered into a million pieces. The groan that flew from his throat was almost painful, and he dug his head into the crook of her neck, thrusting two more times before finally stilling. The sounds of their heavy breaths were loud in the quiet, the stillness, in complete contrast to the chaos of moments ago. When he lifted his head, it was to see Indie's eyes closed, the smallest hint of a smile on her lips. He took a moment to study her. To trace every perfect inch of her perfect face. "God, you're beautiful." Her eyes opened, the curve of her lips transforming into a full, glorious smile. "You're not so bad yourself." She lifted her hand and cupped his cheek. "I missed you looking at me like that." "I've missed everything about you." He lowered his head and kissed her. A slow, gentle graze of a kiss. He dropped to the bed beside her and immediately tugged her against him. She pressed into his side, and it was like no time had passed. Like twelve months of separation that had almost killed him just disappeared. "Colt." The hesitation in her voice made some tension return to his shoulders. "Yeah, Cricket?" She pushed up and looked at him. There was sadness in her eyes. Maybe a bit of regret. "I'm sorry about your mom." "Why are you sorry?" "Because you guys are so close. And you went through a lot together." "I thought we were close. But if she really loved me, then she'd love all of me-including the part that chooses you as my wife." Indie swallowed. "I should have told you how she made me feel." "I wish you had." He slipped a lock of hair behind her ear. "No more secrets." "No more secrets." She wet her lips. "I love you." "You have no idea." He lifted his head and kissed her. She sighed, a sound of contentment. But the second she laid her head back on his chest, Colt's smile disappeared, his mind going back to his mother. What she'd said to Indie earlier that evening. It wasn't okay. Any of it. And it would never happen again. Tomorrow, he'd be making sure his mother knew that.