Syrup yield per tap: .492 gallons, or nearly a half-gallon of syrup per tap. This calculation is the only meaningful way to compare sugar seasons, since the number of taps varies from year to year. This year ranks a close third behind 2011: .55 gals per tap and 1992: .52 gallons per tap.
—Colton Abbott’s sugaring journal, after the boil
The six-block walk had never seemed so long, but Lucy had never been so eager to get home before. She’d never gone home from work knowing Colton was waiting at her place, and that one detail made everything so much more significant. Walking onto her street at last, she saw him sitting on the stairs that led to her apartment. He was looking down at his phone, messing around with it while he waited for her. His long legs were stretched out in front of him, and he looked totally at home in her world, even if it was so far removed from his.
The sense of rightness, of belonging, of homecoming had nothing at all to do with the place where she lived and everything to do with the man sitting outside waiting for her. As those feelings washed over her, she no longer cared about smelling sweaty. She broke into a jog so she could get to him faster.
He looked up, saw her coming and got up to meet her, catching her in his strong arms and lifting her into a kiss that should’ve embarrassed the hell out of her, taking place as it did in broad daylight on the street where she’d lived for years. But she didn’t care in the least if anyone saw her kiss him.
“That was the longest ten minutes ever,” he said, letting her slide down the front of him until she was standing on solid ground again.
“I tried to hurry.”
“I’m kidding, babe.” He kissed her again and escorted her up the stairs, keeping his arm around her until they were in her apartment.
Lucy caught a glimpse of her coffee table covered with stuff. “What’s all that?”
He held out his hand to her. “Come see.”
She took his hand and went to sit next to him on the sofa to take a closer look at the items on the table.
“This right here would be a cock ring—the vibrating kind. Intriguing if I do say so myself. Over here we have a bullet vibrator and the already-mentioned nipple gloss. Personally, I’m looking forward to seeing your glossy nipples.”
Listening to him, Lucy felt her face heat up, but for once she didn’t care. By now he’d certainly come to expect that reaction when he was being outrageous, which was pretty much all the time.
“I’m not really sure what this thing is.” He held up a tapered object that was thin at the top and wide at the bottom and examined it from all angles.
“Um, I think that’s a, um . . .”
He glanced at her, his gaze fixed on her flaming cheeks. “What?”
“Butt plug.”
“Huh?”
“You um use it to, you know . . .”
“Oh please. For the love of God and all that’s holy, please finish that sentence.”
She shoved his shoulder until he fell over on the sofa, laughing his ass off. “You know exactly what that is. You just wanted to make me say it.”
“You have no idea how much I enjoyed that.”
“I hate you a little bit right now.”
“No, you don’t. You think I’m adorable and funny and sexy and irresistible, and you may as well admit it.”
“I’ll do nothing of the sort.”
He held up the plug, examining it from every angle and then glancing at her suggestively. “Want to play with my new toys?”
“We don’t need toys to have fun.”
“True, but I’ve spent all morning thinking about all the ways I could make you crazy, and I have to admit, my imagination has never been more vivid.”
“I’ll try the nipple gloss if you try the cock ring.”
“Oh baby, you’re on.” He was up and off the sofa so quickly she barely had time to register the movement before he was sweeping her along on the way to her room.
Clothes went flying in a flurry of color and movement. He was a man on a mission. When she was bared to him, she resisted the urge to cover herself the way she would have only a couple of weeks ago. Now she stood perfectly still and let him take a long perusing look at her. Naturally, the flush she couldn’t control overtook her, but he loved that.
She tugged at the button to the khakis he’d worn to the trade show and had trouble getting the zipper down over his bulging erection.
He drew in a deep breath and rested his hands on her hips, drawing her closer to him, but she resisted his attempt to kiss her.
Dropping to her knees, she pushed his pants and boxers down over his hips, encircled his cock with her hand and teased the head with her tongue. “You’ll never get the ring on when you’re in this condition, so we need to start all over.”
“Lucy . . .”
She wrapped her lips around the wide crown and sucked him in.
“Fuck.” He grasped the back of her head roughly, which only added to the thrill for her. “This is going to be quick.”
Opening her mouth wider, she slid him in, letting her tongue swirl around him as she stroked him with her hand. His head fell back in total surrender to her and his legs trembled, which filled her with satisfaction. He was so strong and capable, but knowing she had this kind of power over him was the sweetest kind of pleasure.
She stepped up her efforts, letting her free hand wander around to the back of him to squeeze his ass, drawing another sharp gasp from him.
“Lucy . . .”
The note of warning wasn’t lost on her. He was giving her the chance to withdraw, but that was the last thing she wanted to do. Rather, she relaxed her muscles and took as much of him as she could accommodate, all the while stroking with one hand and squeezing with the other.
He came hard, flooding the back of her throat with his release, which she swallowed greedily.
She stayed with him until she felt his muscles relax. The instant she released him, he fell back on the bed, wrecked. His arms covered his face and his chest heaved from the deep breaths he drew in and out. Lucy took advantage of his preoccupation and his newly flaccid state to apply the cock ring.
He sat up abruptly to see what she was doing.
“There,” she said, patting his thigh. “All fixed.”
He reached for her and pulled her down on top of him. “You’re a vixen, you know that?”
“Never been one before, so it’s all your fault.”
“I’m so glad you saved it for me. That was fucking incredible. You are fucking incredible, and I love you more every day. Not just because of things like that either. It’s everything. All of you.” He reached up to run his fingers through her hair, tucking it behind her ears. “The way you looked at me when you saw me waiting for you on the street. No one has ever looked at me like that before.”
“Somehow I find that hard to believe,” she said dryly, even though her heart beat madly.
“I’m serious, Luce. Women have looked at me before, but never the way you do.”
“How do I look at you?”
“Like you love me. Like you want more from me than a good time in bed. Like you want me.”
“I do want you and love you. And I want more from you than a good time in bed, although the good time in bed is a lovely benefit.”
“I do what I can,” he said with that impish smile she loved so much. “Now where’s that gloss?”
She found the wand on the bed and handed it to him.
He smoothly rolled them over so he was on top of her and knelt between her legs.
“What flavor is it?”
“I’m almost afraid to say.”
“Oh come on! Where’s your sense of adventure?”
“Um, it’s wrapped rather tightly around my cock at the moment.”
Lucy dissolved into giggles. He was so damned funny—all the time. “Spill it.”
“Funny you should put it that way. It’s ‘Cream My Jeans.’ ”
“That’s kind of gross.”
“Luckily, you won’t be the one tasting it.”
“I already took one for the team. This one’s all yours.”
“Here goes.” He withdrew the wand from the barrel and took great pains to carefully paint every inch of her suddenly super-sensitive nipples with the smooth gloss. “Mmm, that’s hot. Look how shiny they are.”
As he worked, his erection blossomed and stretched nearly to his belly button.
“You young boys recover quickly,” she said, caressing his muscular arms as he hovered above her, tongue trapped between his teeth as he created his masterpiece.
“That’s what you get for robbing the cradle.”
She gave a gentle tug to a tuft of chest hair. “You’re only three years younger than me.”
“But what a difference those three years make.”
“Indeed. I’m hoping you’ll reach the maturity of a seventeen-year-old one of these days.”
“Don’t hold your breath on—” He startled and his face twisted with what might’ve been pleasure—or pain.
“What?”
“It just started vibrating. Scared the shit out of me.”
Lucy cracked up laughing and couldn’t stop. She laughed until tears streamed from her eyes and her chest heaved with hiccups. Her laughter died, however, when he bent over her and began to clean up the gloss with his tongue on her sensitive nipples.
“Mmm,” he said, ensuring the vibration of his lips had her full attention. “I thought that might quiet you down.”
“How’s the buzzing down below?”
“Why don’t you tell me?” He moved so the bottom portion of the vibrating ring was pressed tight against her most sensitive area.
Lucy cried out from the triple threat caused by the heated gloss, his lips on her nipple and the vibration between her legs. She wrapped her arms around him, trying to get closer.
“You like that?”
“Yeah,” she said breathlessly. “What does Cream Your Jeans taste like anyway?”
“It’s sweet, but I like the way you taste better.” He moved from her nipple to her lips, the flavor on his tongue giving her a hint of what the gloss tasted like.
“If you liked that,” he said, “you’re gonna love this.” He pressed against her slippery flesh, gaining entry one slow inch at a time, giving her time to adjust and accommodate. Then he was fully seated, and the vibrating ring was pressed tight against her clit. The combination of his lips tugging on her nipple, the tight squeeze of his cock inside her and the vibration set off the most explosive orgasm of her life, and he hadn’t even moved yet.
“Lucy,” he whispered against her ear, holding her tightly as she came back down to earth. “God, that was amazing.”
“Why does my throat hurt?” she asked between deep breaths.
“Maybe because you screamed your head off.”
“I did? Really?” That had certainly never happened before.
“Uh-huh.”
“Thank goodness my neighbors aren’t home at this hour. They might’ve called the cops.”
He laughed and pressed deeper into her, which was when she realized the screaming orgasm had been hers alone.
“You didn’t . . .”
“Nope. You took the edge off. I’m good to go for an hour now.”
“An hour?”
“Uh-huh. Hold on tight babe. Here we go.”
Lucy was completely ruined for all other men. True to his word, he’d made love to her for a solid hour, until she finally begged for mercy and used a couple of dirty tricks to finish him off. She’d been in every possible position and a few she never would’ve thought of before him. His imagination was as robust as his stamina. Now she was facedown on the bed as he kissed a series of circles on her back while his hands kneaded her bottom.
“You’re out to kill me, aren’t you?” she asked when his efforts resulted in yet another throb between her legs. She was surprised she still had feeling there after what they’d just done.
“Not hardly. It’s your own fault for taking the edge off earlier.”
“I’ll have to remember the consequences of that in the future.”
“I want to play with that plug,” he whispered, his lips brushing over her backside and leaving her tingling with goose bumps.
“Not now. I’m wrecked. You’ve completely destroyed me.”
“You wouldn’t have to do anything.”
“Colton!”
He flopped on the bed next to her. “Fine. Be that way.” Lying on his back, he looked over at her. “That wasn’t a no though, was it?”
“No, it wasn’t.”
His eyes went dark with lust, which she found remarkable. How could he have anything left after that marathon? “So you’d be game for doing that sometime?”
“You like to embarrass me, don’t you?”
“Not at all. I like to keep it real with you.” He turned on his side and continued to run his hand up and down her back, as if he couldn’t stand to be that close to her and not touch her. She loved that. “I like that I can be myself with you and say whatever I’m thinking, even if it might embarrass you.”
“I like that you’re yourself with me. I don’t think I’ve ever been more myself with anyone than I am with you.”
“That pleases me more than you could ever know.” He leaned over to kiss her shoulder, punctuating the kiss with a little nibble. “So the plug? Sometime? Yes?” The eager-little-boy side of him was almost impossible to resist.
“Only if you do it, too.”
The face he made was positively priceless. “What? No way.”
“Why not?”
“Because, babe,” he said with grave seriousness. “That’s a one-way street. Exit only.”
“That is a double standard of the highest order.”
“Call it what you will. Rules are rules.”
“Then I guess we’re at a standoff on this topic.”
His hand slid down her back to cup her bottom. “I could make it really good for you . . .”
“I could make it really good for you.”
“Not happening.”
“Okay, then. Your loss.”
His head dropped onto her back. “This isn’t fair. You got my hopes up.”
Lucy smiled. “You get that you’re being totally ridiculous and narrow minded and sexist and—”
He shifted on the bed and kissed her before she could finish the thought, and because she loved kissing him so much she turned onto her side to give him better access to her lips. For the longest time, they did nothing more than lie there wrapped up in each other, kissing and touching and snuggling.
As hard as she tried, Lucy couldn’t imagine anything better than whiling away a summer afternoon in bed with Colton Abbott.