Colton Cowboy Hideout (The Coltons of Texas, Book 7) Read online

  Would she jump in her car first thing in the morning and go home? After tonight he wouldn’t blame her for wanting to run from here.

  He’d told himself that she was getting too close, that he was ready for her to leave, but now that she could drive away he realized how much he wasn’t ready to tell her goodbye.

  It was a little over two hours later when everyone else had finally left the suite and the twins were sleeping soundly in their cribs.

  Zane had seen to it that a new screen was placed on Josie’s bedroom window and had promised to up the security around the staff wing of the house, but Tanner didn’t think the man would attempt a break-in again. He’d obviously been searching for the watch and hadn’t found it in the room. There would be no reason for him to search the room again.

  Troy had promised to get back in touch with them if he got a hit on any of the fingerprints Deputy Clark had managed to lift.

  The fingerprint dust had been cleaned up and Tanner now picked up a drawer from the floor and returned it to the chest of drawers. “You know, Troy is probably right.”

  “Right about what?” Josie straightened from tucking in a clean top sheet on the bed.

  “That the man who broke in here probably knew we’d be in the staff dining room. He didn’t want a confrontation and he wasn’t looking to hurt anyone.”

  “You won’t convince me that when he jumped out from behind that tree in the woods he wasn’t looking to hurt anyone,” she said with darkened eyes. “But I agree. Tonight he just wanted the watch I don’t have.” She grabbed the pillow from the bed and stuffed it into a pillowcase.

  At least some of the color had returned to her face, he thought as he picked up another drawer and slid it into place. Together they worked in silence to put the yellow spread back on the bed. It was only when the room was back in order that he gestured for her to go with him to the living room.

  She curled up in one corner of the sofa and he went to the refrigerator and pulled out a beer for himself and poured her a glass of wine. He wasn’t much of a drinker, but tonight was the first time in a long time he almost wished he had something stronger than beer to chase away the chill that remained in the pit of his stomach.

  “Thanks,” she said as he placed her glass on the coffee table.

  He nodded and carried his beer bottle to the nearby chair. He set his gun on the end table, twisted off the bottle cap and took a long drink. “Now that Troy has said you can, are you going to leave?” His gut tightened as he waited for her reply.

  She sighed. “Not yet. That is, unless you’re ready to get rid of me.”

  “Not at all,” he replied. He was positively schizophrenic where her presence here was concerned. He didn’t want the temptation of her, but he really wasn’t ready for her to leave him.

  He didn’t like the way she had filled up all the empty spaces in his life and yet he dreaded the empty spaces she would leave behind.

  “I really don’t want to leave you in a lurch with the girls and I also really don’t want to go back to Granite Gulch without that watch in my hand.”

  “Tonight was just a grim reminder that we shouldn’t go back to the tree right now. As you said, he’s out there somewhere, and hopefully with more time and a plan, you and I could sneak away from here some night to get to the watch without him seeing us.”

  She leaned forward and picked up the glass of wine. She stared down into the liquid for a minute...two minutes.

  When another long minute passed and she still hadn’t spoken, still hadn’t taken a drink, he called her name softly.

  Slowly she raised her chin and he was stunned to see the glittering tears that chased themselves down her cheeks.

  “I can’t stop thinking about what might have happened if Lily and Leigh had been in the nursery. I can’t believe how close danger came to them tonight.” She placed the glass back on the coffee table without taking a drink.

  “I should leave here. I should leave here now before anything bad happens to you or the girls.” Her voice was a mere whisper.

  His instinct was to get out of his chair, to go to her side and comfort her. But he remembered all too well the out-of-control kiss that had happened when he’d last attempted to comfort her.

  Still, his gut clenched as he considered another real possibility. She could run from here, but the odds were that the man would follow her. As long as the man believed she had the watch in her possession, she was still at risk.

  “Josie, that’s the last thing you should do. I know it sounds crazy in light of what happened tonight, but you’re probably safer here right now than anywhere else. Zane assured me that he was going to step up the patrols around here and he will. Hopefully Deputy Clark got some good fingerprints and the man who is after the watch can be identified and Troy can get him under arrest.”

  He sounded far more optimistic than he felt. He seriously doubted the intruder hadn’t been smart enough to wear gloves, and the description they had given Watkins could fit a thousand men around the area.

  Josie swiped away her tears and picked up the wineglass once again. She downed the contents in several large swallows and then set down the empty glass. “I’m just so tired of being afraid,” she finally said. “I feel like I’ve spent my entire life being scared of something or somebody.”

  His heart squeezed tight with her pain. He tried to find the right words, but before he could speak again she stood. “I think it’s time to call it a night. The last thing I want to do is sit around here and have a pity party.”

  He smiled at her. “Josie, I would never accuse you of being a woman who wallows in self-pity. I admire the inner strength I know you possess and I know that strength will get you through this. We’re all going to get through this just fine.”

  She offered him a small smile in return. “When you say it, I almost believe it. Good night, Tanner. I’ll see you in the morning.”

  Tanner remained in the chair long after Josie had disappeared from his view. He sipped the beer and replayed the events of the evening in his head. His initial fear was gone. The rage that had engulfed him because someone had broken in finally dissipated.

  As long as they were all in the suite, nobody was going to harm them. Moving forward, his gun would never leave his side whether he was inside or out. If anyone wanted to hurt his girls or Josie, then they’d have to come through him.

  What was left inside of him was a deep ache for Josie. She was filled with such life, such humor and charm despite a past that had been fraught with fear and insecurity.

  He’d told her the truth. He believed right now she was safer here than if she went back to Granite Gulch. Here she was surrounded by a trained security team and she had him. In Granite Gulch he wasn’t sure she really had anyone to watch her back twenty-four hours a day.

  He finished his beer and grabbed the wineglass from the coffee table. He should be exhausted after the emotional roller-coaster ride of the night, but once he was in bed, sleep remained elusive.

  Brilliant moonlight came in through his window and the only sound was the faint rustle of the curtain moving from the air-conditioner vent just beneath it.

  He tried to clear his mind but thoughts of Josie wouldn’t leave him alone. When would Josie Colton get the right to be happy? If and when she finally managed to get the watch to her father, would her life then become safe? Was that the final act that needed to be accomplished to truly free her to find a sense of peace and lasting happiness?

  He closed his eyes and drew in several deep, long breaths in an attempt to relax his body. Sleep was just about to claim him when he sensed he was no longer alone in the room. His eyes shot open and his hand reached for his gun.

  “Tanner?” Her voice was a soft entreaty. “I can’t sleep in that room tonight. Can I please sleep in here with you?”

  CHAPTER 9

  Josie didn’t give him an opportunity to reply. She was afraid if she did he’d turn her away or get up and leave the room. And she not only n
eeded to sleep in his bed, but she also needed his big and solid presence next to her.

  She quickly walked around the king-size bed and slid in beneath the cotton sheets that held his heady scent.

  “Okay?” she asked.

  “Okay,” he replied after a moment of hesitation. His voice sounded deeper than usual.

  “I’m sorry, but even after all the cleanup in there, the room just felt tainted. Maybe I’ll feel differently about it tomorrow night.”

  “It’s okay, Josie. Just go to sleep.”

  He hadn’t moved a muscle since she’d gotten into the bed and a thick tension wafted from him. She didn’t want to go to sleep.

  What she wanted was his strong arms to surround her. What she needed was his mouth on hers, taking the taste of fear away. She was certain of what she wanted, and she wanted Tanner to make love to her.

  Since the night of their kiss they had been dancing around each other with a thick cloud of sexual want between them. Oh, yes, she knew exactly what she wanted, what she needed from him right now.

  She moved closer to him on the mattress and turned on her side to face him. He lay on his back, his facial features visible in the spill of moonlight through the window.

  His eyes were closed too tightly and a tic pulsed in his jawline. His lips pressed together in a taut slash, letting her know that sleep was the last thing on his mind.

  She reached out her hand and placed it on his warm, muscled chest. “Tanner,” she whispered. “I want you.”

  He turned his head to look at her and unadulterated desire flowed from his eyes. “Oh, Josie... I—I want you, too.” The words sounded as if they were beaten out of the very depths of him.

  “So, what are we going to do about it?” She moved her hand and felt the rapid beat of his heart beneath his warm skin.

  “We shouldn’t do anything about it.” His glittering gaze held hers intently.

  “But then we’d have regrets. Tanner.” She caressed her hand across the width of his chest. “I’ve had enough regrets in my life. I don’t want to live with any more.”

  With a low-throttled groan he turned over on his side and took her into his arms. He rolled her over on her back and then his mouth was on hers.

  Hot and hungry, his lips demanded a response and she gladly gave it. She opened her mouth and their tongues swirled together. His hands caressed up and down her back and the heat of his touch radiated through the thin material of her nightgown.

  It was exactly what she’d wanted—to taste his unbridled desire for her, to allow her desire for him to explode into something bigger than a man in the woods and something better than an intruder in the suite.

  He tasted of the promise of things she’d never had in her life before. Of safety and passion and love. And he tasted of the man she wanted in her life forever.

  “Josie, sweet Josie,” he murmured as his lips moved from her mouth and slid down the column of her neck.

  The sound of her name on his lips was sweet music. She wound her arms around him, loving the weight of him on top of her and the warmth of his body so intimately against her own. One of his hands moved from her back and slowly caressed up her stomach, up to cover one of her breasts.

  Her nipple hardened through the material, as if eager for his touch, and her heartbeat quickened as his mouth crashed down on hers once again.

  The kiss lasted only a moment before she wanted more. She gently nudged him aside and then sat up and pulled the nightgown over her head, leaving her clad only in a pair of silk panties.

  “You’re so beautiful.” His husky voice shot a thrill through her, a thrill that intensified as he lifted her up to straddle him.

  His slightly calloused palms covered her breasts and her hair fell over her shoulders as she leaned forward. His fingers toyed with the tips of her breasts and then he reared up so he could reach them with his mouth.

  Once again she wrapped her arms around the back of his neck as he flicked his tongue and sucked on first one turgid tip and then the other.

  Electric sensations shot through her, along with a rivulet of heat that stoked her need for him even higher. She rolled off the top of him but knelt beside him.

  His eyes glittered like those of a wild animal. He was so beautiful. The moonlight loved the angles and planes of his face and his gorgeous body.

  She kissed the center of his chest and then trailed lingering kisses down the length of his torso. When she reached the waistband of his boxers she raised her head and gazed at him expectantly.

  In an instant the boxers were gone and she took his velvety hardness into her mouth. He moaned and tangled his fingers into her hair as she moved her mouth up and down the length of him in an effort to give him the most pleasure.

  “Josie...”

  She raised her head and he rolled her over on her back. “Getting is good, but giving is just as good.”

  Shivers danced on her skin as he lowered his lips to her stomach and then worked his way down. She raised her hips to aid him as he removed her panties.

  When he reached her sensitive center he used his tongue and his finger, and within seconds waves of pleasure crashed through her, over her.

  She gasped his name and before the last shudder had left her body he positioned himself between her thighs and entered her. For a long moment neither of them moved. He filled her and it was as if their bodies had been made for each other.

  Then he drew back his hips and thrust into her again. New exquisite sensations forced a moan from her. She was lost in him and she never, ever wanted to be found.

  She arched her hips to meet each of his thrusts. Faster and faster they moved in a frenzy of need until they were both gasping.

  “Tanner,” she cried, shocked to feel the rising tension of another climax. It washed over her and at the same time he found his release, stiffening against her with another deep groan of pleasure.

  He covered her mouth in a kiss that wasn’t only a fitting end to what they’d just shared, but also sealed him into her heart forever. A rush of emotions shot through her, bringing the burn of tears to her eyes.

  Almost immediately he rose, grabbed his boxers from the floor and then without a word disappeared into the nearby bathroom. Josie rolled over on her back and stared up at the ceiling.

  Love. It thundered in her heart and warmed her very soul. She’d spent all the years in witness protection dreaming of everything she wanted in her life. She’d only been able to imagine what love might feel like and now she knew.

  Her heart sang with it and her soul was filled with a warmth that had nothing to do with the sexual connection they had just shared. This was a mind, body and soul warmth that came from loving a man to distraction.

  She’d only dreamed of a man like Tanner and it was a kind and good fate who had delivered him to her. He had all the qualities she could ever want in a man. And Lily and Leigh were special bonuses to fill her heart completely.

  She’d wondered what her future held and now she knew exactly what she wanted. She belonged here with Tanner and his two daughters. She wanted to be Tanner’s wife and the mother to his children.

  This was where her happiness lay—in Tanner’s bed, in his life, in his heart. She could only hope he felt the same way about her.

  She would get the cursed watch and take it back to Granite Gulch. She’d fulfill her obligations to her father and then she would return here to truly start her happily-ever-after.

  Although she would miss being close to her family in Granite Gulch, at least it was close enough that she and Tanner and the girls could visit her newfound siblings as often as they wanted.

  Whoa! Slow down, girl, a voice shouted in her head. Her emotions were leaping way ahead of reality. It was way too soon for her to feel so strongly about Tanner. She didn’t even know how Tanner felt about her. Oh, she knew he desired her, but that was a long way from the happily-ever-after she envisioned.

  He came out of the bathroom clad once again in his boxers. He slid
back in beneath the sheets and Josie immediately moved closer to his side.

  With a sigh he placed an arm around her and she snuggled into him. She’d never felt so safe, so happy and so loved as she did with his warm body against hers, with his breath stirring the errant strands of her hair.

  “No regrets,” she said softly.

  He tightened his arm around her. “Go to sleep, Josie.”

  And she did.

  * * *

  Regrets.

  Tanner had awakened well before dawn. He’d been spooned around Josie’s naked back with his arm thrown around her waist. Her curves had fit perfectly against his body and the scent of spicy peaches had filled his head, along with a million regrets.

  He now sat on the back of his horse, Beau, and waved to several other cowboys who were on horseback in the distance. Although his first instinct that morning when he crawled out of bed had been to get out of the suite before Josie awoke, he’d stuck around to help her with breakfast.

  She’d been in high spirits, teasing the girls and him. The brilliant sparkle in her eyes had cut through his heart. The gazes she’d cast toward him had been as if the two of them shared a special secret, one she was more than willing to repeat.

  Making love to her had been like nothing he’d ever experienced before, even in his years of marriage. She’d been so giving, so utterly alive in his arms. She’d made him feel as if he were the strongest man and the best lover in the entire world.

  Still, his head and his heart were filled with regrets. Hell, they hadn’t even used any protection. How irresponsible was that? He’d acted like a hormone-driven teenager with no rational thought in his head.

  He should have never allowed it to happen. He should have never let her come into his bed. At the very least he should have let her have the bed and he should have slept on the living-room sofa. Should have, could have—how many things he wished he’d done differently now that he was in the reality of day.

  He flicked the reins and decided what he needed was a good, fast horseback ride to blow out the cobwebs in his brain before he went back to the suite for lunch. He’d made the mistake of agreeing to have lunch with Josie and his girls before he’d left that morning.