Dark Sexy Knight (A Modern Fairytale)(51)

Some nights he went to visit Melody, and though he always enjoyed seeing his cousin, he missed Verity on those nights, wishing he could slip into bed beside her soft warmth when he got home.

But they had yet to spend an entire night together.

On this point, Verity had proved to be unyielding. Until they told Ryan that they were together, she would wake up in her own bed every morning.

There were some nights, after midnight, when he had to force himself to wake her so she could go back upstairs, and others when he’d simply gather her in his arms and carry her up to her bed, pulling the covers up to her chin and then forcing himself to stop staring at her beautiful sleeping face and go back downstairs to his cold, lonely bed.

Lonely because her warm, soft body was much too far away when he went back downstairs. He’d explored every inch of her with his hands and some of her with his tongue too, sucking her pert nipples into his mouth as he slipped his fingers inside her body, listening to her moans and whimpers of pleasure like they were his own personal symphony. When she lay back on his pillow, her blue eyes indigo, her lips soft and swollen, he swore he’d do anything for her, just to have her in his life forever. And f*ck if she didn’t give as good as she got, her fingers curling around his cock and stroking him to the brink of madness before plunging her tongue into his mouth to kiss him senseless until he came in her hand.

His class was her body, and hers was his, and the only education they sought was pleasure. Mutual. Individual. What they liked. What they wanted. What they needed. Every night a taste of the paradise yet to come, and the very favorite moments of his entire life because, unlike the women he’d occasionally pleasured in the stables after a show, Verity meant something to him, and Verity didn’t leave.

When they weren’t making out, she lay on her back, and he rested on his side next to her, tracing words and pictures on her bare stomach as she told him stories about her parents and Ryan; her best friend, Elaine; and her high school quarterback boyfriend whom she hadn’t loved. She hated pecans. She adored the ocean. She wanted children. She was terrified of dogs.

He told her the good things he remembered about his parents—the way his mother smelled of apple pie and the gravelly sound of his father’s voice—and lots of good memories of his aunt Jane. He still hadn’t told her everything about Melody, but he would. Soon.

During one such conversation about what they each wanted from life, it suddenly tumbled out of his mouth that he’d like to go back to school and learn how to be a personal trainer, though he’d never actually verbalized such an idea before. She lit up like a firecracker, pushed him onto his back, straddled his waist, and told him that he had to do it. And then she leaned forward and kissed him, pulling her shirt over her head and pushing his to his neck until they were skin to skin.

“Promise you’ll do it,” she whispered, before kissing him like the world would explode if she didn’t.

There was something about her—about Verity Gwynn—that made anything seem possible, that made everything seem better, and before he knew it, Colton Lane woke up one month later to realize that he had fallen deeply and irrevocably in love with her.

It wasn’t a slow realization. It was like a lightning bolt.

One Sunday morning, she placed a plate of whipped cream– and strawberry-garnished pancakes in front of him. Then, grinning at him, she plucked the strawberry from the cream and bit it before offering the rest to him.

That’s when he knew:

I’m in love with you.

That’s all it had taken—a smile and a strawberry.

Sunshine and a sweet place.

Hell, he’d never had a chance.





CHAPTER 12


It had been a magical month for Verity Gwynn.

She and Ryan had settled into their jobs at The Legend of Camelot with unexpected ease. Although Artie gave her some pretty dirty looks when he passed her in the hallway at work, he hadn’t bothered her again as he had that day, and, as far as she knew, he didn’t bother Ryan either. In fact, Ryan was blossoming under Joe’s mentorship and guidance. He was already good with horses, but Joe was teaching him things, patiently correcting him when he did something wrong and praising him when he did something right. Her eyes misted to see the older man with his hand around Ryan’s shoulders, and she imagined that for Ryan, who’d missed their father terribly after he passed, Joe was easing an ache inside. And it made Verity grateful.

But she was most thankful of all for Colton in her life.

In short order, he had become her sun and moon, her best friend, her boyfriend, and, little by little, her lover. Though they hadn’t made love yet, she longed for the consummation of their relationship. It was harder and harder to leave him after watching a movie, curled up in the curve of his body, warm and safe, feeling more loved than she had a right to. No, he hadn’t said the words yet. Nor had she. But she felt them. With every passing day, she knew: she was falling deeply in love with Colton Lane.

Since losing their parents, Verity had been careful about how and when she shared news with Ryan. In a short amount of time, he’d endured a lot of change and transition, and it was important to Verity that, when she introduced Colton as her boyfriend and lover, Ryan understood it wasn’t a temporary arrangement—that Colton would be in their lives for a while and it was okay for Ryan to get attached.

With every passing day, she was more and more certain that she wanted that formal commitment with and to Colton, and she felt more and more certain that he wanted the same from her. This morning, for instance, she’d served him pancakes with strawberries and cream. She’d taken a bite of his strawberry, then giggled at his surprise, offering the rest to him. But the expression on his face as he sat at the table looking up at her was intensely tender, almost naked, and new in a way that felt different, that felt permanent, that felt like . . . love. It was then that she felt it in her gut: it was time to tell Ryan about them. And once she had, she could give herself completely to Colton.