As if to prove his point, Cole slowed his movements. His kisses grew intentional, full of lazy, languid sweeps of his tongue. He tightened his hand in her hair with each pass over her neck, her ear, the line of her jaw, and every kiss lit Savannah up from the inside. Her nipples pearled against the cotton of her bra, drawing a heavy exhale from Cole’s throat.
“You know,” he said, pausing to skim one tight bud with the pad of his thumb, and oh God, the friction of his touch through the fabric nearly made her whimper, “that does give me an idea.”
Savannah lifted a brow. “What kind of idea?”
“The wet kind. Come with me.”
He led her down the hall, kicking off his shoes and losing his T-shirt along the way. Her boots joined them, her jeans following suit, and by the time they got to his bathroom, Savannah wanted the rest of her clothes off, stat. She reached up, popping the button between her breasts to start freeing her shirt.
But Cole reached out, his strong, lean fingers circling her wrist. “No.”
She laughed. “Forgive me if I’m wrong here, but isn’t the point for us to be naked?”
“We’ll be naked soon enough,” he said, and the promise in his gold-green stare made her sex clench in anticipation. “But I want to undress you, and I want to take my time. I want to look at you.”
Savannah’s lips fell open to form a soft O. “What?”
Cole turned to the side, just long enough to get the water in the shower started. “I want to look at you,” he said again, sliding the backs of his knuckles over her cheek as he returned to the spot where she stood. “Will you let me?”
Her heart began to race for an entirely different reason than it had when they’d come crashing into his apartment. A lust-fueled romp between the sheets, or in this case, behind the shower door, was one thing. But letting Cole look at her—really see her, just like this, with no barriers and no bravado—was something entirely different.
Something risky. Something vulnerable.
Something Savannah wanted.
“Yes.”
Cole’s eyes widened slightly before glittering with unmistakable want. He guided her back until her hips met the counter, shifting to create enough space between their bodies so that every one of his movements was clearly visible to them both. Reaching up, he tweaked the end of the braid on her right shoulder, his opposite hand finding the indent of her waistline beneath her shirt.
She flushed. Spending the morning with him hadn’t been on her radar when she’d gotten dressed an hour ago in Station Eight’s locker room. If it had, she’d have ditched the Pollyanna braids for something decidedly sexier. Not that she had a whole lot of hey-baby in her arsenal, but still.
As if he’d zeroed in on her thoughts, Cole said, “I like these.”
“You do?”
“Mmm-hmm.” The dark edges of his smile said he meant it. “This too.” He slid a finger between her breasts, liberating a button on her shirt. Savannah exhaled, wanting nothing more than to rip the material wide so she could feel his hands on her.
Of course he saw her impatience, too. “The other day, we rushed. Not that I’m complaining.” He capped the qualification with a smile she felt in the deepest part of her belly. “But this time, I want more.”
Another turn of his wrist bared her skin down to her navel, with only the thin swath of her cotton bra covering her breasts. At least there was a tiny bit of lace on this one, although she wasn’t sure it quite qualified as a bra. The salesgirl had called it a bralette, whatever that meant, but Savannah had called it the perfect modesty solution for under her T-shirt when she crashed in a bunk full of fellow firefighters.
Cole’s green eyes shadowed to a stormy hazel at the sight of the plain, thin straps crossing right under her sternum. He freed her last two shirt buttons, putting her hip-hugging white cotton panties on display along with her bra, and the intensity on his face knocked the breath right out of her.
“Christ.” His hands moved from her waist to her shoulders, pushing her shirt to the bathroom floor. “I could look at you all day.”
For a long minute, that was all Cole did. His gaze toured slowly from the crown of her head to her face, lingering briefly on her mouth before coasting lower. The steam from the shower filled the small space, sending a sheen of moisture over Savannah’s skin and making the thin material of her bra and panties cling to her most sensitive spots. Cole’s stare brushed across her shoulders like a touch, dipping low between the slight curve of her breasts, lower still to the juncture where her thighs came together.
Savannah’s face blazed with both vulnerability and desire, but she refused to shy from either.
She trusted Cole as much as she wanted him to touch her.
Finally, he lifted his eyes, stepping forward to erase the distance between them. “I know you don’t think you’re beautiful, but you’re wrong.” He pressed two fingers over her lips, the rasp of his calluses making her pulse race. “Your smart mouth.” Both fingers slid lower, down to the hollow where her collarbones joined before tracing the muscular line where her arm met her shoulder. “Your strong body.” Cole skimmed back to her midline, not stopping until his hand had reached the center of her chest. “Your even stronger spirit.”
He kissed her, soft but deep. “I see you, Savannah. And what I see is beautiful.”
She pushed up to the balls of her feet in a rush, knotting her arms around his shoulders and crushing her mouth against his. A primal sound came from the back of Cole’s throat, and he opened readily, taking just as much as he gave. The clothing left between them fell one piece at a time, and Savannah nearly argued when Cole broke the contact of their kiss.
Until he turned to lead her into the warm spray of the shower.
“You said you wanted to get clean,” he said, guiding her so the steamy water spilled over both shoulders. He reached out to unwind her braids one at a time, tucking her hair behind her so it spilled down her back in soft, wet waves, then slipped a bar of soap from the ledge at his hip to lather her up from shoulders to knees.
A moan broke free from Savannah’s chest. Cole’s hands roamed over her skin, and even though his touches remained mostly chaste, heat bloomed in her core, aching and insistent. She let him turn her slowly around, rinsing the bubbles away before she spun back to take the soap from his hand.
“What are you doing?”
She looked up at him, meeting his molten stare through her lashes. “Returning the favor.”
Savannah rolled the bar of soap between her palms until they were covered in soft, slippery bubbles, the woodsy scent she’d come to associate with Cole filling her senses and making her even hotter. Putting the soap aside, she pressed her palms to the hard plane of his chest, running them on a smooth path all the way to his hips, then down the length of his leanly muscled thighs.
His breath hitched. “I’m not sure this is a good idea.”
“Why not?” The bold question flew right out, and she followed it with another pass of her hands.
Cole’s cock jerked between his hips. “Because I can barely resist you as it is, sweetheart. You get to washing me, and I guarantee neither one of us will get clean.”
Savannah moved one hand down the ridges of his soap-slicked abs. “You say that like it’s a bad thing. But I want to touch you, Cole. I want to make you feel good.” She wrapped her fingers around his cock, and even the gentle pressure of his length in her palm made her want to come.
“Savannah,” he hissed, thrusting into the circle of her fingers as she moved to the side to let the water rinse him clean.
But he let her guide him back, all the way against the tiled wall. “It’s okay,” she said, leaning in to brush a kiss to his mouth like a promise. “If you want to lose control, I’ve got you.”
Savannah sank to her knees in one fluid motion, too fast for Cole to protest. Her free arm slid low around the back of his hips, her opposite hand still working between his legs. The heated burst of his exhale sent desire
licking through her, and Savannah pressed her lips to the crown of his cock with a smile.
Cole’s exhale became a grunt, primal and full of want. “Ah.” He widened his stance, one palm finding her shoulder as she parted her lips and started to suck. “I’m not kidding, Savannah.”
She pulled back, but only far enough to look up at him. Lord, he was gorgeous, all hard muscles and intense, pent-up need.
Need she wanted to fulfill, if only for a little while. “I’m not, either. Now shut up and let me show you how beautiful you are.”
Flexing her grip around his body, Savannah returned her mouth to his cock. She worked him in short, fast strokes, following the movement of her mouth with her hand, one chasing the other. Cole’s grasp on her tightened. He turned his fingers in to her shoulder, the tension in his body a clear indicator of his restraint.
No. Not today. Savannah’s need built right alongside his, and she deepened her movements, swirling her tongue down the seam of his cock as far as she could take him.
Cole’s voice broke over a sharp curse. “So hot. God damn, your mouth feels so hot.”
Savannah pulled back only to repeat the movement, and his muscles coiled even tighter beneath her hands and mouth. His hands cupped the back of her neck, so lightly that it seemed as if he was afraid to push her. But she wanted it, wanted to feel him on her skin and taste him in her mouth.
She wanted to see him, too.
Without slowing the rhythm of her mouth, Savannah reached back to press his hands over the back of her head, an open invitation for him to take control and lose it at the same time. Cole’s fingers knotted in the wet fall of hair on her shoulders, taking everything she offered while giving her exactly what she wanted. He levered his hips, pumping against her lips with increasing urgency. Savannah slid her palm down the length of his shaft, pressing her thumb to the sweet spot at the base, and his body jerked hard under the touch.
“Fuck. Savannah,” Cole warned, still clearly trying to fight for control even though he was losing the battle. But she’d meant it when she said she had him, and even though her body screamed with need of its own, Savannah didn’t stop. His muscles pulled bowstring tight for only a split second before pulsing in climax, but still, she didn’t relent. She rode Cole through every second, her name falling past his lips as she swallowed him down until there was nothing left to take. Slowly, she gentled her movements, finally parting from his body to look up at him with a smile.
But before she could say a single word, Cole hauled her off her feet and out of the shower.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Cole’s legs were as unsteady as his brain, but the dark, unfettered urge to spread Savannah wide and make her scream until she ran out of breath overruled them both. Hooking his arms beneath her shoulders, he lifted her off the tile, barely thinking enough to turn the water off before he pulled her from the shower stall and led her the handful of steps to his bedroom.
“Cole, we’re soaking wet,” she said, blinking past her surprise. Rivulets of water beaded on her flushed skin, spiraling over her tight, tawny nipples and down the slope of her belly.
Nothing else mattered. He’d wanted Savannah ever since she’d left his place a couple of nights ago, and he wasn’t going to stop until he had her. Now.
“That’s nice.” Cupping her shoulders, he walked her backward to his bed, not stopping until her thighs hit the mattress. She didn’t protest as he eased her over the comforter, the shock on her pretty face turning quickly to desire as he parted her knees to situate himself between them.
Christ, but Savannah turned him on, so wet and hot and wanting. Her breasts lifted and fell in time with her quickening breath, and Cole was powerless to refuse. He leaned in, pulling one nipple past his lips, a smile parting over the hardened bud as she gasped.
“Beautiful.” He wondered if he could make her come like this, was tempted for a second to try, with his mouth on her nipple, her sighs pushing him faster. But right now, in the soft morning sunlight of his bedroom with nothing between them but need, Cole didn’t want fast. He didn’t want to make her come just for the down and dirty of it.
He wanted to taste her.
Angling downward, he braced his hands over her waist. Her lean muscles flexed in response to his touch, and he marveled at them as he slipped even lower. Cole strung a path of open-mouthed kisses over her rib cage, tracing the rim of her navel with the tip of his tongue. Savannah shuddered, letting her knees fall even wider, and the gesture filled his senses with the heady scent of her arousal.
His moan was involuntary, and he laid her bare in one swift motion. Pressing his hands against the flat of her inner thighs, he spread her sex, tasting the seam of her body with a long, slow lick.
Holy hell, he was never going to get enough.
“Oh . . . God.” Savannah’s mouth parted as wide as her eyes, her back bowing off the bed. Her wide-open pleasure made him repeat the ministration, once, then twice more as she trembled beneath him. Even though part of him dared the rest to go faster, to make her come as hard as she’d done him, he explored her core with soft kisses and gentle strokes, building one on top of the other until she was slick with need. His dick stirred to life again, growing harder with every one of Savannah’s velvety sighs, and damn it, he needed to slow down, just like he’d needed to make her stop in the shower.
But Cole couldn’t contain the pure, reflexive emotion razoring up from within him, making him crazy, reckless. Reaching low to palm the swell of her ass, he cupped her close at the same time he parted her folds with his thumbs, circling her exposed clit with a sweep of his tongue.
A guttural cry tore from Savannah’s mouth, and Cole buried his tongue even deeper. Teasing her wasn’t even a consideration. No, he wanted to suck that tiny, swollen bud until she broke, to penetrate her with his tongue, to taste and take and fuck her with his mouth until she flew apart beneath his touch.
Savannah began to tremble harder, her thighs quaking around his shoulders, and he realized only then that he’d done all those things without thinking. She arched upward, her spine curved tightly in release, her sex pulsing a wild beat under his tongue. A small, faraway part of him warned once again that he should wait, gather control and go slowly.
But Cole took one look at Savannah, her brown eyes glittering and her face flushed with hazy, satisfied bliss, and suddenly, his actions didn’t belong to him. One brisk motion had a condom out of his bedside table drawer, another had him fully sheathed. He covered Savannah’s body with his, sinking his cock between her legs in an unapologetically hard thrust.
She splayed her hands over his ass, thrusting back with equal intensity. “Cole. Oh my God, don’t you dare stop.”
Between her sexy demand and the raw pleasure rippling up his spine, he was done. He anchored his hands on her hips, pushing into her again and again. Savannah increased the pressure of her grasp, locking her arms around his lower back to hold the base of his cock flush with the top of her sex.
Her slick inner muscles squeezed, and her resulting moan dared him to pump even faster. Dark, dauntless pleasure curled up from the base of his balls to spread low through his belly, but Cole didn’t stop. He pistoned into her without remorse, filling Savannah’s body so many times he lost count. She came undone with a soft, keening cry, the sound triggering his own climax to break around him. Filling her core to the hilt, he erased all the space between them, covering her from mouth to shoulders to sex as he came.
Cole’s awareness filtered back in increments, a sound here, a sensation there. Savannah’s chest worked in rapid breaths beneath his, and he tried not to crush her with his body weight even though his deepest compulsion was to not let her go.
He wanted her close. For a lot longer than now.
Of all the emotions Cole had ever felt, this one scared him the most.
* * *
Cole sat back on the couch in his living room, surrounded by cartons of takeout Chinese food, a stack of fire and rescue manuals,
and the sound of Savannah’s unvarnished laughter.
“Are you seriously trying to tell me that one of instructor Brennan’s very first calls as a rookie was to rescue a kitten from a tree?” Her milk chocolate stare crinkled at the edges, sending Cole even further into relaxation mode. They’d spent the day—minus three hours for a power nap midafternoon—hanging out and studying emergency response protocols, and Cole had to admit, despite the unease he’d been carrying since yesterday’s conversation with Oz and his zero tolerance policy for all things impassioned, being with Savannah felt seamlessly good. After that weird intensity had crashed through him this morning post-sex, he’d waited for their emotions to finally get in the way and put a wrecking ball to what they’d started.
But instead, she’d just kissed him, rolled over to steal another one of his T-shirts, and asked if he really had the second volume of Fire Behavior and Combustion Processes. With a surprised laugh, Cole had offered her a cup of coffee while he looked for the book, and the next thing he knew, the entire day had flown by in easy conversation and even easier companionship.
She nudged him with a bare foot from her adjacent spot on the couch, her sweet smile ungluing his thoughts and bringing him back to the living room.
“Yep. I swear on my eyes, one of Brennan’s first calls was the proverbial cat in a tree,” he said, unable to contain his grin as he maneuvered his chopsticks through his carton of crispy shredded beef. “He and Mason went rock, paper, scissors for who had to go up, and Brennan lost. The poor cat was a good twenty feet above the ground, too, in a massive oak tree. Brennan had a hell of a time trying to get it detached from the branch. Not to mention a hell of a time getting it detached from his arm after that.”
It hadn’t helped that Cole and Alex had been on the ground, holding the ladder steady and goading the crap out of the rookie who would end up being their best friend. God, Cole had nearly forgotten all about that day.
Savannah took a bite of her Kung Pao chicken. “Well. I guess my ducks are in good company, then. What about you? What was your first call?”
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