“Um… you’re staring,” I said finally, when he didn’t look away. I didn’t even think he blinked.
“Yeah.”
Yeah? That was it?
Were we having a moment? Yes, I was definitely having a moment with a gorgeous manly-man stranger whose hands were still on me. I couldn’t wait to tell Audrey.
I licked my lips, and I watched as his eyes followed the movement. He took another deep breath and growled again. He wasn’t in a rush now to get me out of the rain. In fact…
“Um, you’re still holding me.”
His fingers tightened fractionally on my waist, the heat of his touch almost searing. He wasn’t letting go. “I don’t want you disappearing.”
I frowned. “Well, I’m not going that way,” I replied, with a tip of my head toward the rushing water. “Can you… um...” Whatever I was going to say fled when his thumbs began to slide back and forth over my wet shirt. It was as if he was touching my bare skin.
Heat flared. Need. A jolt of thrill. Of longing. Of… zing.
I broke the stare and looked him over. This close, he was huge. Broad, thickly muscled. I was in the middle of nowhere with a guy who could be the Incredible Hulk’s brother. I should be afraid he might turn green and rip me limb from limb, but I wasn’t. His intensity was insane. This close, I couldn’t miss how dark his eyes were, with little flecks of lighter brown in them. All that chemistry I’d been thinking I’d never find? Wow. It was all right here. In his gaze. His touch. His very being. It was as if the lightning in the sky was coming off of us, the electricity and connection that powerful. I was surprised we didn’t sizzle.
Yeah, I’d been reading too many of the romance novels Audrey had recommended. Maybe her whirlwind love affair with her rodeo cowboy had me yearning for my own adventures of the heart—or just the flesh. I’d just assumed I’d never feel… the heat from a guy. Crave a guy’s touch. What his mouth and fingers could do. His cock, God. How he might thrust his hips and take me hard. This guy? I doubted he did sweet.
I barely noticed the rain hitting my face. I only felt his hands. Saw his deep stare. Heard his rough breath. He was just as affected by me as I was by him. “Out of the whole world, I find you here.”
I frowned again. “What?” When he didn’t reply, I asked, “Are you going to let me go?”
Slowly, he shook his head.
“Um… okay, well, I don’t even know your name.”
“Colton Wolf.”
My mouth fell open.
This guy was Colton Wolf? Holy shit. There couldn’t be two guys with that name in the middle of nowhere Montana, on a road headed toward Cooper Valley and Wolf Ranch. Audrey had told me about Boyd’s brothers in one of our many gabfests. One lived on the ranch. Rob. The other was a Green Beret stationed on the east coast somewhere. Colton.
He wasn’t on the east coast now. I had the insta-hots for my soon-to-be brother-in-law’s brother. I exhaled, relieved. I wasn’t lusting after a total stranger because not only was it dangerous and creepy, but Audrey’d kill me. She was fine with me having a one-night stand, but I didn’t think she meant pick up a guy on the side of a deserted road and fuck him until I forgot my name. Regardless, I didn’t want to climb a random man like a dang tree, no matter how hot he was. No, I wanted to climb Colton Wolf. And there was a lot to climb.
I’d complained to God in the car just a little while ago. Maybe the raging creek was fate. Destiny. Maybe I wasn’t supposed to get to Wolf Ranch tonight. Maybe I was supposed to be in this guy’s arms.
It seemed my bad luck had changed. Yet we were still standing here in the rain, and he didn’t seem like he had any intention of moving.
I noticed he didn’t ask my name. I cleared my throat. “You’re right, we should get out of the rain.”
Another slice of lightning, then thunder rumbled. He didn’t even blink.
“Colton?”
His gaze had dropped to the side of my neck, and he was looking at me as if I were a buffet and he hadn’t eaten in a week.
That was good, right? I wanted a guy to look at me like that. I wanted someone ravenous for me. Especially since I was that way in return.
But this was Colton Wolf. I knew of him, and I had to assume if he was driving to his family ranch too, he was returning for the wedding. That meant I had to assume he knew of me. Or at least knew that Audrey had a sister.