"Oh, babe, I want to touch you." He slipped past the elastic of her panties and dipped into her waiting flesh.
There was no earth, no sky, no wind, no sun. There was only Cole. Cole was the solid strength that grounded her, the shelter covering her, the ragged breath catching in her lungs, and the heat scorching her body.
She surrendered completely to the skill of his tongue and the art of his fingers. Her breath came in gasps. Her body shuddered and she sang out moans of ecstasy.
"Oh, sweetheart, I love how you sing for me."
He paused to tug off her panties, pushing her skirt up to her waist. He spread her legs wide, then knelt between her naked thighs.
She looked up at him, backlit like a Hollywood god, his square jaw set, his sweat-shiny muscles rippling in the sun. She wanted him. Lord above, she wanted him. Posed as she was to accept his sexual demands, she wished like hell he'd just unzip his pants and thrust into her.
For a moment it looked like he might do just that. But then he gave her a slow, sultry smile and hooked his arms under her knees, raising them as he lowered his body. When his hips rested just above hers, the fabric of his jeans brushing the small cloud of hair between her legs, he stopped. He smelled tangy, like fresh sage and hot skin and molten desire.
Soft as a feather, his lips brushed hers, gliding smoothly over them like an eagle riding a thermal. She trembled at the raw strength that lay behind his deceptively gentle touch, and yielded to the predatory fierceness that had scattered her objections to the wind.
She was his, completely.
* * *
And Cole knew it. Today Rini would refuse him nothing. "Tell me what you want," he urged, his chest swelling with hope.
She searched his eyes for a long moment, a moment that felt like an eternity to his heart. Finally, she whispered, "I want my husband."
Her words filled him with elation. "You're sure?" He laid his forehead against hers. "If we do this, I won't go back to what it was before." Not that he possibly could, even now. Not after tasting her again.
"I'm sure." She kissed him, a sweet, yearning kiss filled with promise for their future. "Make love to me, Cole."
He nestled down onto her, feeling every lush curve and soft, inviting mound under him. He held her quaking body tight and claimed her lips with his, exploring her surrender with infinite joy and delight.
His tongue teased and tasted, drawing more moans and shudders from her as he plumbed the depths of her warm, welcoming mouth. So sweet. So giving. So perfect.
She began to move under him, subtly spurring him to deeper intimacy. His hand moved down over her hip, then up again, dipping into her waist, sliding up to her breast.
"Think the doctor will scold us? There are still two days to go."
"I'm sure she—"
Whatever Rini was going to say was lost in a sigh when he burrowed his face between her breasts, kissing and licking her, then dipped his tongue lower, skipping over her skirt to kiss and caress her tummy. Her belly wasn't concave as it had been before, but he loved the little swell that reminded him of the small miracle that was sleeping contentedly back at Tanya's.
A warm feeling of possessiveness flowed through him. God, he wanted Rini. He wanted to keep her and cherish her forever. Never let her go.
He couldn't wait any longer to make her his. He rose, and with eager hands Rini helped unfasten his jeans and pull them down his thighs, then she held out her arms to him. With a low sound deep in his throat he lowered himself over her.
He felt her legs wind around his waist, pulling him closer. Poised on the brink of joining, he looked into her eyes and caught his breath at the love and happiness he saw in them. Holding her gaze with his, he eased his aching manhood into the silken heat that beckoned. He groaned at the lightning quick, welcoming pleasure of being surrounded by her.
If there was a heaven, he'd found it.
* * *
At Cole's entry, Rini's mind simply ceased to function. Her body took over. She melded with him, and their joining became the center of her swirling universe. He filled her and quietly held her and whispered sweet words until she was bursting with emotion.
"Are you doing okay?" he asked. "Does it hurt?"
"You feel wonderful," she managed to answer on a sigh.
He let out a breath and started moving. Slowly at first, then more boldly, he rocked deep into her. His mouth came down over hers, his tongue matching the long, measured thrusts of his pelvis.
With every new stroke she burned hotter and wilder. More than ten endless months she had waited for this, and now she was finally his. She dug her fingernails into his back and hung on, drowning in the ecstasy of his hard, strong body claiming hers again and again.
Much too soon, she felt herself hurtling toward the brink of oblivion. She melted under him, into him, lost herself in the torrent of sensation flooding over her. She twisted and turned, crying out as he buried himself in her once, twice, three times.
Then she was over the edge. Pulsing and bursting in an explosion of pleasure. Calling out to him, over and over. He crushed her in a tight embrace, moving against her quickly, urgently. Then he arched up, throwing his head back like a magnificent beast, and she heard the echo of her name, torn from his throat, on a gust of wind.
He collapsed onto her and laced his fingers through hers. They lay like that for a long while, chests heaving, hearts soaring.
Cole rubbed his cheek in her hair and whispered, "Oh, Fire Eyes. You take my breath away." Lifting onto his elbows, he smiled down at her. He pulled her left hand to his mouth and kissed her wedding ring. "You're mine now. Only mine." He gave her a searching look for several moments. "You wouldn't leave me, would you?"
Rini's heart stopped. She shook her head. She didn't want to leave him. Not ever.
Now that they'd shared so much, surely he would say the words she longed to hear. Winding her arms around his neck, she held him close.
"Tell me you love me, Fire Eyes," he whispered into her hair. "Say you'll stay with me always."
Emotion burned behind her eyes. She shut them tightly and clung to him with all her heart. "I love you, Cole. And I never want to leave you. Ever."
She held him and waited for him to say it back. That he loved her, too. But the moment passed. Disappointment stabbed through her.
Give him a chance, Alexa had once said to her. A sigh fluttered past her lips. And she prayed she wouldn't have to wait too long.
Chapter Fifteen
Cole studied the pattern emerging on the piece of butter-soft buckskin in Rini's hands and smiled. "That's really pretty." The red, blue and yellow geometrical shapes looked like they'd been woven, the beads were placed so tightly and precisely together. "You're a pro at this. Are you sure you've never done beadwork before?"
He was putting together a buckskin vest and pair of moccasins for a friend's regalia, and he had decided to make Chance a set at the same time. When Rini had sat quietly watching him, he'd invited her to decorate the back of Chance's vest. At first she'd resisted, but he explained that it didn't matter how it turned out, it was the love behind it that counted, and she'd given it a try.
She returned his smile with a slight blush on her cheeks. "First time, honest. It's an old Finnish pattern I remember from a table runner in my grandmother's house before she died." She sighed. "I wonder what ever happened to it."
"That's great. Chance's regalia should reflect his whole heritage, not just my part."
Cole watched her work for a moment, noting that the purple smudges under her eyes were lighter today. He'd made her go back to sleep after they'd made love that morning, and he'd threatened to burn her books if she so much as glanced at them before dinner. With all her classes, endless studying, Chance's feedings, and his own attentions, he knew she must be running on empty.
But he wasn't about to give up the incredible physical relationship they'd enjoyed for the past few weeks, ever since the trip to Rincon. She had taken him to heights he'd never known possible, a
nd he'd given her pleasures she'd confessed to only dreaming of.
He wagered she wasn't about to give it up, either. Her body was so in tune with his that all it took was a glance and she was ready—hot and trembling and wet with desire. Desire that only he could satisfy. And he did. Every night and most mornings, too.
No, neither of them would give up this newfound passion, so he had to make damn sure she didn't collapse from exhaustion. Getting her involved in making Chance's regalia for the upcoming powwow seemed like a perfect way to get her to slow down and relax awhile.
They sat cross-legged on a large circle of leather on the living room floor, buckskin and tools, needles and tubes of beads surrounding them. She looked so beautiful sitting there across from him, her pale hair cascading onto her shoulders in waves, her tongue peeking out from between her lips as she concentrated on her stitching. As had happened so often over the weeks since Chance's birth, his heart contracted in his chest.
He'd made a vow to try to love her unconditionally, and he'd tried. Honest to God he had done his best. There had been times when he was sure his heart would break from the pain of not being able to let go, of not being able to make that last free fall into mindless, soul-deep love, as he so yearned to do.
But something always held him back. The dark, cynical part of his mind that always lectured him on the perfidy of women—that they would love you one day and be gone the next. The mocking skeptic in him that kept reminding him she wouldn't need him anymore once she'd gotten her degree and could support herself and Chance. The voice that never failed to point out as evidence her refusal to say she would never leave him.
Since that first time at Rincon, he'd continued to ask. And she always said she never wanted to leave him. Never wanted to leave him. But there was a world of difference between those statements. And he was just the man to pick up on it.
He'd gambled that making love would prompt her to take the final step to committing herself fully to him. It hadn't. But it had made him start waking up in a cold sweat at night, groping at the empty space in his bed where she should have been—only to realize she was seeing to Chance. He would feel like a fool, but only after the heart-pounding panic and the headlong rushing of blood through his veins had slowed enough to allow him to reason logically.
It was torture, and the only way it would be eased was when she could look him in the eye and tell him she would never leave. Until then, he knew he would not be able to let down the barriers he'd carried with him for so many, many years, no matter how much he wished he could.
She looked up from her stitching and caught him watching her. She tipped her head in that cute way she had when she found him staring—part curious, part pleased, part shy. With a breaking heart, he leaned over and kissed her, scattering beads and awls over the floor as he went.
How he wished he could just say the words.
* * *
Rini scowled and determinedly returned her concentration to the top of the page she was attempting to memorize. Only two more days until finals. She couldn't afford to daydream. Everything depended on her getting this nursing degree. For the past month, things had been wonderful between her and Cole. Wonderful and horrible. She didn't know what to do.
He had moved back into his room with her, and the spare room had become Chance's nursery. Every night they would make hot, passionate love, or slow, easy love, or intense, stormy love, until they were both exhausted and replete. Then he would gather her in his arms and they would sleep, entwined like the lovers they were.
And still he did not love her.
She had so hoped that making love to him would be the key to opening his heart. He seemed happy. He complimented her unfailingly on everything she did, encouraged and helped with her studies, watched with a smile when she fed Chance. Cole seemed content.
And yet, he did not love her.
She could feel the emotional barrier between them just as solid as a brick wall. To be sure, there were places where the mortar had crumbled so she could peek through that wall. But whenever she did, he would always retreat just out of reach, closing himself off behind that breezy affection or blazing passion, with a determination that nearly broke her heart.
What if he never grew to love her? What would she do? Should she take Chance now and leave Cole, before she totally lost herself in a dead-end relationship once again? Now, before Chance's tiny heart would be broken by seeing his daddy only on weekends?
She didn't want to think about the possibility of having to leave the man who had come to mean the world to her. But she could not spend her life with a man who didn't love her. And she had to be prepared for the eventuality that he never would.
That meant she had to graduate, and to graduate she had to pass her finals. Which meant memorizing the damned book she couldn't seem to focus on.
There was a loud pounding on the door, and she groaned. It couldn't be Cole—he'd gone into the office for a few hours. Besides, he would never knock like that for fear of waking Chance. She cast a glance at the closed door to the nursery, hurried over to the front door and opened it wide, ready to give whoever it was what-for.
In a blur of black leather and chains, a huge man lurched past, shoving her aside. Stunned speechless, she found her attention seized by the large silver gun he clutched in his hand. It was pointed at the ceiling, but the eyes in his bruised and bloody face were staring right at her.
She glanced desperately toward the nursery, then groped behind her for the front door. He turned and looked around as if crazed, his wild, long hair flying. A confused frown creased his face. He looked back, catching her inching backward. Grabbing her arm, he yanked her into the living room and slammed the front door shut.
"No!" She struggled against his iron grip. "No!" Resting his tall frame against the wall, he tugged her closer, almost cradling her against his black leather jacket. She could smell sweat and the open road, and a hint of exotic perfume. He studied her in what seemed like desperation. Then, suddenly, his expression changed subtly, softening.
"Ah. Fire Eyes," he croaked, then slid down the wall and lay unconscious, a battered heap at her feet.
* * *
Cole leaned across Lindsay's desk and gave her his most menacing scowl. "He wants to see you. God knows why, but he does. You owe him that much."
Lindsay paled. "I told you, I can't. Daddy would never speak to me again if he found out."
Cole bit back a curse.
"And he'd probably kill Billy."
"Let him try," Cole growled.
She put her hand over his on the desk. "Billy can tell Jeff anything he needs to—
"You're pathetic! He's your own flesh and blood!"
Lindsay jumped up. "And my father isn't?" She whipped around the desk, stalked up to him and grabbed his lapels, pressing up against his chest. "Jeff already has an adoptive mother who loves him! But what happens to me if I lose my only dad? After I satisfy Jeff's curiosity will he hang around to comfort me?" She backed off, waving a hand. "No way. He's made it clear what he thinks of me."
Cole sighed and pulled out a card on which he'd written Jeff's address and phone number. "Call him, Lindsay. For once, think of someone besides yourself." He pressed the card into her hand.
The office door opened and Lindsay's secretary poked her head in. "There's a call for Mr. Lonetree from his office, on line one."
He looked up worriedly. "Thanks." How did Charlie know where he was? More important, what emergency had prompted him to call? Cole picked up the phone and punched the flashing button. "What's wrong?"
"Rini called. Some guy broke into your house."
* * *
Cole burst through the front door and immediately spotted the big man lying prone on the sofa.
"Renegade!" He came to a sliding halt on his knees by the couch, at first relieved, then alarmed at the sight of his bruised and battered friend.
"Hey, compadre." White patches where Rini had bandaged his face shifted when Renegade smiled up
at him. "Hell of a woman you've got yourself."
Cole grasped his hand, then quickly let it go at the wince that distorted his friend's already swollen face.
"Stubborn as a mule," Rini muttered. She stood at one end of the sofa, holding a cup of tea and looking stern.
Renegade winked at Cole. "Thanks for the hospitality. I'll be out of your hair by morning."
"He's in no shape to travel," Rini said firmly. "I saw that contraption he's riding, and—"
Chuckling, Cole rose and gave her a kiss. "Save your breath. He's rattled out any brains he ever had a long time ago. One trip more or less won't make any difference." He took the cup from her hands. "You did good. Thanks for taking care of him. And for calling me."
Worriedly, he watched Renegade struggle to sit up and lean stiffly against the back cushion, his eyes closed.
Rini glanced at the man on their couch. "Um, I've got to get back to my studying. If there's anything you need, I'll be in the bedroom."
Cole gave her a squeeze. "Thanks, babe."
After she closed the door behind her, he handed Renegade the tea. "Drink. Then you can tell me just what the hell is going on."
His friend took a long pull of the green liquid and grimaced. "What is this stuff, anyway?"
"Something to help recover from childbirth, I think."
Renegade looked up in alarm, and for a second Cole thought he might spit it out.
He laughed. "Tough guy."
Renegade shrugged and slugged back the rest in one gulp. Setting the cup down, he let out a long, weary breath. "I found her." Cole didn't need to be told he meant RaeAnne. Renegade reached for the leather jacket Rini had folded over the back of the couch and pulled an envelope from a pocket. "Can you keep this safe?"
Cole nodded. "Of course." He knew better than to ask what was in it or how sweet RaeAnne Sommarby was involved in something that had left his best friend looking like this. But it was useless to speculate. The man was as tight-lipped as they came about work, even if it involved the long-lost love of his life.
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