Page 25 of Every Step She Takes
He carried me across the dark porch to a gray square embedded in the wood floor. Then he kicked the square and managed to catch the edge on his toes, lifting what turned out to be a cover. Underneath, water glistened in the moonlight.
“A hot tub?” I said.
He hopped in with a splash that had me laughing anew as he turned and lowered me into the water.
“My secret stargazing spot,” he said.
“The neighbors’ hot tub? You just come over here and hop in?”
“Only when they aren’t home. They never remember to turn off the heater.”
As he sat, we sank into the warm water together, and I was dimly aware that I was on his lap, but my head swirled, thoughts flitting away before I could snatch them. I did manage to seize one long enough to realize I should move, but when I squirmed, he held me there, chuckling, until my struggles dissolved in giggles.
As I settled onto Colt’s lap, he nuzzled my neck. Was he…kissingmy neck? Whoa, no.
I struggled to move away again, and he let me get to my feet and slosh toward another seat in the tub. I made it two steps before he grabbed me, spun me around and pulled me to him, and this time, when I ended up on his lap, I was straddling him.
“You’re so sweet, Lucy-girl,” he murmured as he nuzzled my neck. “As sweet and delicious as cotton candy.”
His hands slid down my sides. Mybaresides. I was still wearing the bikini.
I was on Colt’s lap, straddling him, wearing scraps of fabric, while he was in his bathing trunks, pushing up hard against me.
Pushing hard…
No, no, no.
He kissed my throat, whispering words I couldn’t hear as blood crashed in my ears, my brain and body warring. I had to go, gonow, but his hands felt so good.Hefelt so good.
Colt was kissing me.
Not just my neck. His lips were on mine, and I wasn’t sure how they got there. Time had seemed to leap from his lips on my neck to his mouth on mine. His hands gripped my hips, and he ground into me, and oh, God, that felt so good.
No, no, no.
I went to shove his hands off my hips. Only they weren’t there anymore. They were on my breasts. My bare breasts. Where was my bikini top? How did his hands get there? What the hell was happening?
Stop.
I needed to stop him.
Except I didn’t want to. It felt so–
Isabella.
Her name was like a slap, and I reeled back, arching from the kiss, breaking it, pushing Colt, his hands gripping my breasts as something sounded behind us.
As a click sounded behind us.
Aclick-click-click, like the whirring of some giant insect. Light reflected off the side of the house.Flash-flash-flash, keeping time with the clicks.
I twisted out of Colt’s grip just as the camera flashed again.
Chapter Thirteen
New York, 2019
When I finish, Isabella sits there, staring at me. “You’re… you’re saying Colt drugged you? Dosed your champagne and took advantage of you?”
