Chasing The Wild (Crimson Ridge Book 1)

I’ve been unashamedly staring at my ex-boyfriend’s father’s ass for the better part of the last hour.

Holy shit, that man fills out a pair of wranglers to perfection.

The trail we’ve steadily climbed higher and higher along while on horseback is rocky, narrow, and snakes its way up a ridged outcrop located at the far reaches of the ranch. Much to my delight, I’ve been fortunate enough to occupy the second rider position while Colt has led the way for us.

Although I suspect Peaches knows exactly where she’s going from the way her ears pricked up, and she has hardly needed any guiding. In fact, I’ve pretty much just been a passenger princess for this entire ride. With all the trail riding clients Colt has visit the ranch each summer, she must have frequented this track many times over the years I would imagine.

A girl can only dream of mornings spent like this. Blue skies overhead, a crisp, spring tinge to the air, and a gorgeous cowboy to soak up every moment with. Watching his broad shoulders, skill with his horse, seeing this man in his element—all of it is a blessing I don’t intend on taking for granted.

Our destination is a mystery, but I was told to pack for a night away from the house. Wherever we’re headed to I’m hoping, at the very least, there will be a fire I can huddle around. I’m certain Colton Wilder is fully immune to the cold, but my toes go numb the moment I so much as look at the snow, and I’m not built for roughing it cowboy-style while lying on a bed of dirt under the stars.

Maybe that’s his plan all along—force me to have to cling to him for warmth. Not that I would mind that one little bit, thank you very much.

As the horses crest the final rocky outcrop, my eyes grow wide. What comes into my line of sight is beyond anything I could have imagined. There’s a panoramic view overlooking the pointed tips of pine trees coating the mountain, while Devil’s Peak sits on the far horizon. She prominently guards the main plateau of the ranch and I can make out tiny dark spots of the cattle happily grazing hundreds of feet below this elevated ridgeline.

That’s when I spot the sweetest little A-frame cabin, a single-room type of accommodation that could probably sleep a maximum of four people comfortably from the look of it. Tucked in a perfect clearing, pretty as a picture nestled amongst pines and conifers and doused in enough sunshine to have the scene take on a sparkling quality. It’s a breathtaking sight, with a few snow drifts still settled in shaded patches, giving the whole scene a sprinkling of winter wonderland dusted over the top.

A small stall for the horses sits just behind the lodgings, and as I try take it all in, the sound of bubbling water catches my attention. Just off to the side of the cabin a small stream runs through rock and alpine grasses.

I haven’t even noticed Colt hop off his horse. It’s only when his warm palm finds my thigh that I look down at him, all hazel eyes and dark, scruffy curls peeking out at me from beneath the black rim of his hat.

“What is this place?” My mouth hangs open. It’s simple and gorgeous and immediately feels like Colt, even though I can’t explain why I get that sensation tingling through my awareness, but this place has his energy. Much more so than the big fancy house down at the main part of the ranch.

His eyes most definitely have a cocky twinkle in them when he taps my jean-clad thigh again, encouraging me to swing my leg over and hop down.

“This is the cabin where trail riders come and stay during summer. Bring ‘em up here for a night or two and let them get a taste of this part of the ranch. There’s a few more tracks the horses are familiar heading further in that direction.” Gesturing his chin towards the trees, Colt runs one palm down Peaches’ nose as she nuzzles him with a snort. I can only guess there must be more stunning vistas to explore if this, right here, is anything to go by.

“It’s beautiful.” I’m turning in place, a touch giddy and entirely overwhelmed by everything my senses are trying to digest all at once. “Wait… how is there a running stream up here at this time of year?”

Colt takes the reins of both horses, leading them in the direction of the stall.

“Stick your hand in.” Is all he calls over his shoulder.

It’s a weird fucking instruction, but I’m bemused enough to do as he says. Tugging off my glove, I crouch down beside the edge of the babbling creek, and as I get closer, I can already feel it, without having to touch the surface. On closer inspection, I can see steam drifting in little clouds and wisps off the surface. Sure enough, as I gingerly reach my fingertips to scoop the gleaming, clear water, there isn’t an icy bite to it that would be expected for this time of year and this altitude. Instead, the creek is as pleasantly warm as dipping into a bath.

“That’s crazy.” Muttering out loud more to myself than anything, I plunge my whole hand in. It feels incredible, and the further beneath the surface I dip my fingers, the warmer it feels.

“Now you know why this place is called Devil’s Peak.” Colt wanders back over to where I’m crouched down. “The whole mountain is filled with natural heated springs, and the groundwater here pours out hot as hell all year round. No matter how cold it gets, that creek runs like it’s got a fire lit beneath it. Damn good for the stock, too. Full of minerals and shit that keeps them healthy when they drink it.”

Shaking my head, I can’t help but grin. “That’s really cool.”

Colt’s face looks even younger at this elevation, lighter somehow.

“Do you come here much?” I stand up and automatically lean into him, no better than one of the horses, tucking against that broad chest, circling my arms around his waist, and my eyes flutter closed when he automatically wraps me up tight in response.

God, I’m so fucking weak for this man.

“Over summer I’m here just about once a week, depending on the groups booked in for trail rides, but it’s not the same when there’s other people around. Usually I’ll try to steal away on my own for a couple of nights here and there. Mostly spend time splitting all the wood that needs to be stacked ready for the colder months, but really it’s just an excuse to be alone with my thoughts.”

“You like it here.”

I feel him nod above me, followed by a rumbly sort of noise, an agreement that comes out of him right beneath my ear.

“I lived in this cabin for a long time. Before the main house was finished, this was where I came after I knocked down the shithole that used to be my grandfather’s house. Built this place, then spent a long time figuring out what the fuck I was going to do with my life.” He flexes his fingers against my spine, keeping me tucked close and I could gladly just stay here wrapped in the leathery, spiced scent of him and the deep resonance of his voice.

“I loved the land too much to leave after he was finally gone. But back then, I was an angry shit and had started to resent this all because of the bastard I’d been cursed to live with. Being up here helped give me back what I loved most about the ranch after losing sight of what it meant to care for the land. This spot, right here, was where I hid for a long time.”

Colt takes a deep inhale of the mountain air, while I draw in a deep, soul-quenching dose of him.

“After everything with my grandfather, then Kayce’s birth. I didn’t have anyone, or anywhere, and this place sort of spoke to me, so I stayed. At first, I judged myself for doing what I needed to do to cope, but then realized it wasn’t hiding… being out here was just a part of my process to go through until I found what my soul needed to feel whole again.”

This is my favorite version of Colton Wilder. I decide it right there on the spot. We’ve only been here all of ten minutes, and I can already tell this is my cowboy’s true heart’s home.

Therefore, it might just have become mine. Even if I can’t stay here with him.

“To be honest…” He clears his throat. “This little patch of dirt saved my life.”

I can’t even begin to imagine what his past was like, but being here and having this peaceful, wild location must have been deeply healing for him.

“Well, in that case, I love it even more than I did five seconds ago.” I tilt my head back and give him a grin.

If this is Colt’s happy place, then it has just leapt to the top of my list of favorite places to be in this entire world.

A cozy fire lights up the cabin in an orange glow as it pops and snaps, emitting a delicious heat. We spent all afternoon checking over the exterior of the cabin for any repairs needed after the recent buffeting of storms and heavy snowfall. Even though I’m sure there was much more I could have done to be helpful, Colt waved me off.

Supposedly, that’s why we’ve come up here. Maintenance.

Ever the pragmatic man he is, Colt tells me it’s all part of his shuffle of jobs that need to be done regularly on the ranch over winter. Although, I’m certain it’s more than that. He alluded as much last night in his truck, that he wanted to show me this place… and I’m clinging tight to that warm, gooey, ridiculous feeling occupying front and center in my chest.

Colt wanted to bring me here. To a place that holds such special meaning for him.

Knowing that, feels like I’ve been given a little peek behind the curtain of his carefully guarded heart.

Earlier in the day, he seemed happy enough to fuss around with a mental checklist of little details. Fastidious things like fixing down roofing tin and testing the wooden boards for rot. Stuff that I am very much clueless about and felt like I was only getting in his way if I tried to assist. My contribution was mostly just occasionally passing a hammer or a few extra nails, while I spent most of the time enjoying the view.

Both the muscular cowboy kind, and the mountain vista kind.

I’m guessing since Colt built the damn place with his bare hands, he’s got a bit of a love affair going on with this cabin.

Well, if it isn’t the biggest turn-on ever to know how endlessly capable the man currently at my back can be. We’ve already heated up and eaten the meal we packed to bring, making sure the horses were fed, watered, and warm for the night before coming inside ourselves. Colt has kept me tucked between his outstretched legs, and now there’s just the glow of the flames and a contented feeling wrapping around us.

I love that being together like this is effortless. There’s no need or urge to fill the silence. It’s not awkward or uncomfortable. It’s just enjoying each other’s company and small touches, like how his thumb absently strokes my upper arm, while appreciating the peacefulness up here.

Although I’m sure this rosy-hued scene will turn a more heated shade before too long. The more time I sit with my back pressed against his strong torso, the more I enjoy the steady rise and fall of his chest behind me. A growing torrent of warmth hums to life in my veins with each soft glide of his thumb.

“Layla… I’ve got something for you.” Colt’s voice is relaxed and rich as honey when he breaks the silence. I stretch a little, then twist around so I can sit facing him, our legs kind of tangle with one another’s when I do so.

“You brought dessert?” I tease. Curiously watching him lean back on his elbows onto the small couch behind him. We’re both on the floor, using a pile of cushions and blankets for comfort in order to be closer to the fire, and even though there is a loft with beds, I much prefer this idea. It’s a little nest-like, and the prospect that we might just end up fucking and spooning and sleeping in front of the fire feels mighty appealing right now.

Heat zaps up my spine.

Oh, yup, I’m definitely turned on by that idea.

“Well, for starters, you are dessert…” He wets his lips and devours me with hungry, hazel eyes. “But no, I wanted to give you something.”

All of a sudden, that heated look he just hit me with morphs, and Colt runs his tongue over his teeth. If I didn’t know better, I’d say he’s a little hesitant, rubbing one hand up the back of his neck, and I swear to god, right before my eyes, a faint blush appears on his cheekbones. Sweet Jesus, I’m instantly the horniest girl alive, sitting tangled between the thighs of a rugged cowboy who is looking all sorts of gorgeous and flushed.

Sounding gruff and gritty, he shifts his weight. “It’s a gift. Either an early one, or a late one, or fuck, I don’t know.” With a shrug, he adds. “You arrived after Christmas, and you’ll be gone before March, so I wanted you to have it.”

I’m blinking fast as Colt reaches one arm toward the end of the couch. Fisting his jet-black hat, this startling, gorgeous man nonchalantly leans forward, placing it on my head.

My brain vacates this plane of existence.

He stares at me with an expression I can’t decipher, and leans forward, elbows on knees while rubbing a strand of my loose hair between his thumb and forefinger. All the while, studying me, like he’s committing every inch of this scene to be stored away in his memory. Me seated between his thighs in a simple sweater and leggings. My curls over one shoulder. Fire dancing behind me. His hat seated on my head.

“But…” My hands fly up to the brim. I’m trying to form words of protest. “This is yours. You can’t give me your hat? You don’t need to be giving me anything.”

He clicks his tongue at me. “Like I say… whichever way you want to look at it, take it either as a late present, or an early one, since you’ll be gone before your birthday.”

“How do you know—”

“Bosses gotta have their employees’ records, don’t they?” Colt tugs on my hair gently, a curve playing on his lips.

“I couldn’t.”

“Trust me. It looks much better on you, angel. Besides, I hear you quite like me in a backward cap.”

Is that the sound of my heart exploding?

“Colt, seriously, you can’t give me this.”

The cowboy staring me down isn’t in the mood to discuss the matter. He shakes his head and heaves himself up off the floor. Towering over me, he extends a hand and effortlessly hoists me to my feet leaving me swaying before him.

I’m breathless and awe struck and utterly confused. Trying to read meaning into whatever this gesture is and at the same time, willing myself to not read any meaning into it at all.

I don’t know if my sanity would survive finding the answer.

But Colt sweeps all of that away when he tilts my chin and dazzles me with a sinfully hot stare. “Now for dessert…” His thumb sweeps over my bottom lip. “We’re going outside.”

“Two truths and a lie, cowboy.”

Steam swirls to cloak our naked bodies, and the warmth of the water currently caressing my skin is absolutely to die for.

A girl could get far too used to this.

Colt had me damn near screeching when he showed me where we were headed. I accused him of being intent on murdering me and leaving my body out here among the trees, but no, in fact, there is a natural hot spring only a few short yards from the cabin. Another of the magical features of Devil’s Peak I have since discovered.

I’m still wearing his hat—only natural, of course, after the way he ate up every second of me quickly shedding my clothes at the water’s edge—and now we’re playing a game that is very much leading us on a fast track straight to the dessert portion of tonight’s little cabin adventure.

“You’re thinking too hard,” I mumble at him, splashing a little water teasingly in his direction. Colt is spending more time looking at my breasts than entertaining my game, and I’m being a shameless flirt, enjoying every second of his attention far too much for my own health.

“You’ll have to go again. Help me understand the game, angel.” He tilts his head to one side, eyes still fixed on the stiffened peaks of my nipples just below the water’s surface. Goosebumps pepper my arms, not from the cold, but from being insanely turned on while trapped in his gaze.

Holy fuck, it’s hard to resist climbing him like a tree, floating just out of arm’s reach, with his hair wetted and water droplets caressing his beard and throat. I want to slide my arms around his neck and lick up every single one of those glistening beads coating his skin.

“Fine.” Huffing out a breath, I give him a coy look. “I can’t stand egg whites on their own… I’ve traveled to London… I broke my tailbone falling off a horse when I was seven.”

“Too easy.” Colt’s eyes glitter, reflecting the scattered light of the lantern he brought out here. Overhead, the sky is pitch black, punctuated only by a brilliant carpet of stars. There’s almost no moonlight to see by, with only a tiny silver crescent dangling close to the shadowed outline of the Peak.

“Oh, am I that transparent?” I flutter my eyelashes. “Didn’t want to make it difficult for you, especially since I know you’re still catching up to speed, old man.”

He growls out something and lunges for my ankle below the water. I roll my lips together with a tiny squeal and tuck my legs up on the rock ledge I’m perched on.

“I see the way you leave your whites every time I cook eggs sunny side up. You’ve never been to London. So how’d you ass off a horse and crack your spine?”

“How’d you know I haven’t been to London?” I feign incredulity. Placing a hand on my chest.

Giving me what amounts to the Colt equivalent of an eye roll, he shakes his head. “You and I are cut from the same cloth. We didn’t have parents giving us the opportunity to travel overseas.”

He’s absolutely right, but I don’t want to delve into our past hurts right now. “It is on my list of places I want to go someday…”

“Where else would you go if you had the chance to travel? And don’t think I’m going to let you off without telling me about the horse thing either.” He adds.

“Top of my list? Ireland, for that wild coast they have… wander around some Scottish castles… spend a summer exploring cute little Mediterranean fishing villages… lots of dream places really. I have a folder of photos I’ve saved, whenever I see somewhere beautiful online, I add them in there. Maybe one day I’ll get the chance to visit in person.”

Colt studies me. Listens. It’s as if he’s entirely uninterested in anything outside of what I have to say. “And the horse story?” His voice is all rumbly and low.

“Ahh… that one’s kind of embarrassing, really. You’ll definitely judge me, cowboy.” I hide behind my fingers.

But his strong hands find mine, our bodies float closer together, wrapped up in the warmth and rising steam of the hot spring. He tugs my fingers away from my face and guides me to cling around him. God, he feels so nice to touch. I’m constantly in awe of how strong and sturdy he is, like every muscle has been finely honed over so many years of being Colton Wilder.

“Can’t be worse than me getting kicked in the ribs by one of the mares when I was about five and didn’t know better than to try and pretend to milk her like one of the cows.” He chuckles.

“You didn’t,” I snort, and his eyes twinkle in reply.

“I did. Learned pretty quickly that you don’t milk the horses.” He nudges our noses together, then draws back. Taking the last of my brain cells with him as he does so. “Ok… broken spine?”

“Broken tailbone.” I correct. “My Aunt was the one who arranged for me to have riding lessons each summer. Knowing I was horse obsessed and wouldn’t shut up about them—that’s how I learned to ride in the first place. All I had been doing was learning the basics, how to trot, to build my confidence, you know. They put me on a horse far bigger than I’d ever ridden before, for a group ride… well, I was too shy to speak up and wasn’t ready. So when the group took off at speed, I was thrown real good and hit the dirt. It was all over and done within about five seconds, but I landed hard on my ass… hence, broken tailbone.” Shrugging my shoulders, I grimace a little. Still feeling the ghost of the sting right at that particular point on my spine. It had been agony to sit down for months afterward.

“Yet, here you are. Back in the saddle like a proper horse doctor.”

“Sure am.” Holding on tight around his neck and waist, I’m very much feeling the need for this man to either fuck me right here, or to take me back to the cabin. But I want to hear his attempt at this game, since I’ve had several rounds telling him about myself. “Now. Your turn, Mr. Wilder.”

He hits me with a fierce look. One that I know is a sure sign that I’m successfully winding him up.

Good.

There’s a pause, his fingers dig into the soft, fleshy part of my hips, while he turns things over in his mind for a long moment. “The first day I saw you, I didn’t want to leave the gas station… I could see your hard nipples poking through your bra the whole time we were talking… I’ve never eaten a sardine in my life.”

I can’t help but choke out a laugh, hitting his shoulder with my palm. He looks mighty pleased with himself, a small twist tugging at the corner of his lips as he attempts to maintain a straight face.

“You could not see my nipples. Oh my god. So that is obviously the lie.”

“Is it?” He holds my eyes, kneading my flesh and sliding his hands lower down to cup my ass.

“So, you’ve never eaten a sardine. That tracks, and I can’t say I blame you. They’re disgusting.” My tongue pokes out as I scrunch up my face.

That makes his lips twitch for a second, then his voice comes out all sexy and deep, and I know as soon as he opens his mouth, that if I wasn’t already completely gone for this man, he’s guaranteed that I am now.

“I honestly didn’t want to leave that day, you know. Nearly turned around and came straight back a couple of minutes later. I even pulled off the road at one point.” Colt admits.

“Why didn’t you?”

“Look at you, baby. You’ve got your whole life ahead of you. What was I going to do? Selfishly roll back into that gas station and fuck your entire life up—like I’m currently doing, might I add.”

God, I hate that he thinks that. “You’re not. I’m a big girl. I can make my own decisions.”

He clears his throat. “The only thing that stopped me was the thought that if I chose to put the truck back in drive, to keep on heading up here to the ranch, was that I would be thinking of someone else for a change. It wasn’t just me being a selfish old bastard. If I did that, maybe there might be something good that came out of it.”

“And then I turned up on your front porch.” I can’t help but nibble on my bottom lip as a smile creeps across my face.

“Like a fucking vision.”