by Nikki Chase
He puts his hand on top of mine and kisses my palm. His lips are soft, but hungry. He looks deep into my eyes. It’s clear as day that I want him too. He puts his free hand on the back of my head and pulls me close. This is it. We’re really doing this.
As soon as his lips land on mine, I get sucked into a vortex of passion so strong it’s dizzying. It scares me. Cole scares me. I want him so much I feel like he can completely crush me if he ever decides to let go. But I don’t care anymore. I’ll never find out where this leads if I don’t let go.
So I do. I let go.
I let our desires take over and let him take possession of my mouth. His hand on the back of my head slides down my back and he pulls me tight until my breasts are squished against his hard chest. Just as I curl my fingers around the back of his neck, the elevator stops and the door opens.
Cole grabs my waist and pulls me down the carpeted, dimly lit hallway, both of us rushing and panting with lust. He jams his key into the keyhole and turns with one hand, while his other hand grabs my hair. He kisses me like he’s running out of air and I have the oxygen that he needs, like he’d die if we stopped.
As soon as the door opens, we both stumble inside into the darkness, still locked in breathless embrace. I pull his blazer off his shoulders and he yanks the zipper of my dress down my back. Cole’s apartment feels warm and toasty and we shed our clothes like we’re both burning with heat.
By the time he pushes me down onto his leather couch, I’m down to my panties and he’s only wearing his jeans. The dim light of the city at night that enters the living room through the floor-to-ceiling glass wall highlights the cords of muscles just underneath Cole’s skin, showing off the contours of his chest and abs with its highlights and shadows.
“You look beautiful,” he whispers, as if speaking any louder would interrupt the moment. Tenderness and wickedness swirl together in his dark eyes, making my heart flutter and my core tingle.
I smile, and he groans as he pushes his knee between my thighs, forcing me to part my legs. I let him climb on top of me and wrap my legs around his waist. He plants his elbows by my shoulders and leans down, trapping me under his hard body. I grab onto his muscular upper arms and hold on tight.
I surrender to his kiss, letting him explore my lips, my earlobes, my neck. I sigh, enjoying the feeling of his weight on my body, the tactile dragging of his skin against mine. He feels warm and safe and comfortable. I feel like I’ve come home.
When Cole catches my nipple with his lips, I gasp. The tingles shoot straight down, and I feel myself throb with desire. Slick wetness leaks out of me, pooling in my soaked panties.
He looks up straight into my eyes as he presses the hard bulge in his pants against my bare inner thigh, letting me know just how much he wants me. My lips part and a moan escapes when I think about taking his hot, hard cock inside me.
He runs his fingers over my black lace panties. I’m glad I have the habit of wearing nice underthings when I dress up. I knew I was probably going to bump into Cole tonight, but I definitely didn’t think I’d end up in Cole’s apartment with him ravenously peeling off my clothes.
“I can feel how wet you are through your panties,” he says. If my whole body wasn’t already on fire, I’d blush in embarrassment — not that he’d be able to see me turn red in the dim light.
He pulls my panties down my legs, shifting his body to take them all the way off. He throws them down onto the white marble floor to join my dress and bra. I’m now completely naked and exposed to his hungry gaze.
He runs his fingers over my wetness and rubs my clit. I shudder with pleasure as he pushes two fingers inside me. I’m so wet he goes in smoothly, with no resistance at all.
For the first time in a long time, I feel alive. Unlike all the other times when we’d come together before, I feel like we’re both honest with each other now. The internal, emotional nakedness that we show each other makes me feel safe and comfortable letting go in front of him.
“Cole,” I say breathlessly in between lusty gasps. “Oh, Cole. Please.”
“Please what? Tell me what you want, Emily.”
“Please. I want you inside me.” I reach down and fumble with his belt. Once that’s undone, I unbutton and unzip his jeans. He leans closer to let me undress him, while his skillful fingers continue to make me gasp and moan and writhe underneath him.
Cole slides his jeans off and presses the tip of his cock against my opening. He feels so hot against my skin I could burn. I thrust my hips up to take him in, but he pulls back and smirks at me, teasing me.
“Fuck. You look so sexy when you’re like this,” he says.
I reach up to put my hands on his shoulders. I feel the ropes of his muscles rippling as he moves. I pull him close and he obliges. He leans down to kiss me, devouring me with his mouth. I feel wanton, but every cell in my body yearns for him, this man who has unwittingly turned my life into both hell and heaven.
“Please, Cole. I need you.”
He pulls back from the kiss and watches my face intensely. He rocks his hips to push his cock inside me, inch by torturous inch. I bite my lips and lift my hips up again, inviting him in. In response, he pulls back out again, making me crave the fullness from his cock even more.
“Stay,” he says. “I’ll give it to you if you’re good and if you stay still. Okay?”
I nod in reply. If I had my way he’d already be inside me, but I’ll do as he says if it means I’ll get what I need.
“Good. Good girl,” he says with a crooked smirk on his face.
He slowly starts to push back in again, and I fight the urge to swallow him whole this time, even though my body aches for more of him. I close my eyes and bite my bottom lip until it starts to hurt, trying to distract myself from my craving for him.
“Open your eyes.” Cole grabs my hair until it almost hurts. “Look at me.”
I do as he says and find him staring at me like he’s demanding my surrender. So I let him dominate my body and my mind. I let him have his way with me. He slides deeper and deeper into me, filling me up, making me stretch to accommodate his length. I drag my fingernails down his back when he hits bottom and grinds into me.
“Oh, Cole. You feel so good.”
“I can make it feel even better,” he whispers in my ear, his breath hot and heavy on my skin.
Cole thrusts up into me, hitting my sweet spot. I gasp, which only makes his cocky smirk grow even wider. He knows exactly what to do to my body. I wrap my legs around him and pull him down. I want him deeper and harder and faster inside me.
This time, he gives into my plea and starts to pick up his pace. I feel my arousal build up and my muscles clench around him.
“Are you going to come, baby?” He watches my face as I furrow my eyebrows and nod.
He starts to fuck me like his life depends on it. Through the fog of my arousal, I hear the creak of the couch dragging across the marble floor.
“Come for me, baby,” he growls.
He pulls my hair and bites down on my exposed neck. That little bit of pain sends my right over the edge and I tumble down the cliff of my climax, holding on to his big, solid arms as I lose control of my own body, shaking and shuddering and moaning his name over and over again.
He slams into me and grinds against me. I feel his cock pulse and twitch inside me, and I realize he’s shooting ropes of his hot seed deep inside me.
As we both lay on the couch with messy hair and sweaty bodies entangled into one, I close my eyes and run my hands over his hot skin, trying to memorize the lines and contours of his body.
“I love you, Emily.”
I open my eyes to look up at him.
“I love you too,” I say before I have the chance to overthink it. It’s the first time I say these words to anyone else after the accident.
Cole looks down into my eyes with the biggest smile on his face. “Please marry me, Emily. I can’t be without you again.”
“You’re being
crazy.” I smile.
“I know. But who cares? We’ve gone through so many crazy things together already, so what’s another one?” There’s sincerity in his eyes, and I realize he means it.
“You raise a good point. But here’s another good point to consider: maybe we should discuss this later. Like, when you’re not literally still inside me.”
He laughs, his eyes twinkling in the darkness. “God, I love you. I want to grow old with you, Emily. Please. Say you’ll marry me.”
I don’t know what’s coming over me, but before I can overanalyze it, I hear myself say, “I will. I’ll marry you.”
The truth is, now that I’m in his arms again, I can’t imagine us ever being apart again.
Epilogue
ONE YEAR LATER
“Oh my God.” Alice clasps her hands over her mouth and her eyes begin to well up.
“Don’t cry. You’re going to ruin your make-up.” I smile as I look at her reflection in the mirror in front of me. My own make-up artist is brushing my face with some kind of powder. She’s put so much product on my face I’ve stopped keeping track.
“You look beautiful.” She approaches the table where I’m sitting, grabs a tissue and carefully dabs her eyes. “You don’t have cold feet, do you?”
“Of course not.”
“Good. I was going to tell you if you do we can just spend the rest of our time here visiting temples and beaches together.”
“We can still do that.” I laugh. “But I’m sorry I can’t check out the men with you like I said we would.”
“Are you crazy? I’m happy enough I get to fly to freaking Bali in business class and stay at a five-star resort for free.” She takes a seat on the bed and continues staring at me in my white A-line dress, her eyes shining with happiness for me.
I smile. Cole and I have flown the closest people in our lives to the tropical island for the wedding. I ask, “Is everyone getting along okay?”
“Cole’s Dad is being kind of an asshole, but your wedding planner is handling him pretty well.”
“Well, I expected that and I already warned her.”
“He’s not happy about the wedding at all, is he?”
“Nope,” I say. “Cole didn’t want to invite him at all, but I told him I’m no longer in contact with either of my parents so we should keep all the family we do have.”
“You’re a better person than I am,” Alice says.
“Only sometimes.”
“All done! You look beautiful,” says the make-up artist, a Balinese woman who speaks impeccable, if heavily accented, English.
“Thank you,” I say.
I get up and walk across the hotel room toward the full-length mirror that’s propped against the wall. I nod my approval and the make-up artist leaves the room through the traditional, intricately carved double doors. It’s just Alice and me now in this swanky hotel room.
“You know, when Cole called me to ask for my opinion about the ring, I thought he was moving way too fast. You just started seeing each other again, for God’s sake. I told him what I thought, but he insisted. I told him, ‘Okay, just don’t blame me when she says no.’ And then he told me you already said yes. I feel like you undermined my credibility a little bit,” she says without taking her eyes off my reflection.
“Hey, I called you that same day and you pretended like you just found out. You liar.”
“Yeah, well, he only called an hour or two before you did. It’s your own fault for always waking up so late,” Alice says. “I’m surprised you guys managed to sort everything out so quickly. That was quite a bit of mess you were in.”
“Yeah. But in the end, the only thing I was worried about was his tendency to want to be in control and solve every problem himself. That’s how he got us into the mess in the first place. I made him promise that he wouldn’t meddle in my career and that we’d solve all our problems together. I also insisted that he let me get my own apartment, although I ended up spending most nights at his place anyway.” I giggle.
“Oh, Em.” Alice sighs. “If I were in your position, I don’t know if I’d even want to continue working. Seriously. How do you even get the motivation to work when Cole is perfectly willing to give you the life of a Kardashian?”
“Well, it’s different for you, Alice. You’ve worked really hard your whole life,” I say. I have to laugh at the Kardashian comment. “I’d only just started my career and I wanted to know if I could make it on my own without his involvement. I may find myself having to stand on my own two feet again someday.”
Alice grows quiet. We both know what I’m talking about. I’ve lost one love and, eager as I am to jump into a new life with Cole, I’m aware that I can lose him at any time.
“Are you ready?” My Australian wedding planner pops her head into the room. Having lived on the island for decades, she has a year-round natural tan and speaks the local language fluently. “You look like you’re ready. Beautiful, blushing bride. No cold feet, I hope?”
“Nope. I’m ready.”
“Great. All the guests are seated. There’s a buggy just outside waiting for you,” Denise says.
As I make my way outside, Alice helps me with my dress. I’ve deliberately chosen a simple, no-fuss dress to match the beachy setting. Keeping a floor-length white dress from getting dirty is no simple task.
Hot, humid air hits me as soon as I step outside. The afternoon wind makes it bearable, although I still wish I could jump into the private swimming pool to cool down.
Alice and I sit on the back of the little buggy that takes us to the wedding venue, a beautiful green clearing at the bottom of a set of stone steps that overlooks the ocean.
It’s late in the afternoon and the sky is just beginning to turn pink and orange. A warm breeze flirts with my loosely curled hair. The sound of waves crashing into the rocks helps calm my nerves.
I’m not used to this, any of this. Getting all dolled up in a designer dress, taking a vacation to a tropical island, or being the center of attention. I’m completely out of my element. At the same time, everything feels magical.
As Alice and I approach the top of the stone steps, men wearing checkered sarongs and Balinese cloth hats start playing a tune on their traditional musical instruments. The guests stand up and turn around to look at us.
Alice and I giggle as we walk down the stone steps hand in hand, trying not to fall while we balance ourselves on our high heels. I feel like it’s only appropriate for her to walk me down the aisle, seeing as she’s the only parent I’ve ever had.
On both sides of the aisle, I see the smiling faces of Marco, Sally, Caine, and even Cole’s father. I guess he has finally resigned himself to the fact that we’re definitely getting married after all.
Several of our colleagues and friends from Seattle whom we’ve grown close to over the past few months are also in attendance. We’ve even invited Linda, the old woman we met on the plane when we first landed in Seattle, the first person to ever predict our nuptials. But it’s still a small ceremony with only twenty people in attendance.
At the end of the aisle, Cole stands by the wedding officiant with a big grin on his face.
He looks dapper in his navy three-piece Armani suit. He’s wearing a crisp white shirt underneath and a light gray necktie. A single white rose is pinned onto his left lapel.
As I cast my eyes on Cole, our gaze lock. I almost can’t believe I’m about to marry this magnificent man. Looking into his piercing brown eyes, I know he has no doubt in his mind either that he wants to do this. Despite our stormy beginnings, there are no cold feet for either one of us on this warm, sunny day.
Alice lets go of me with a smile when we reach the altar and takes her seat on one of the gold Tiffany chairs in the front row.
Cole takes my hands in his. I look up into his eyes and smile as I think about how I’ll be holding these same hands for the rest of my life. And if we’re lucky, I’ll get to watch them age until they become wrinkled, old-man hands
.
I’m ready for the rest of our lives to begin.
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Preview: Stripped
1
Jessica
Three Years Ago
“Come on, it’s my birthday.” The guy grabs my wrist, hard. His lips form into the shape of a smile and the apples of his cheeks shift up, but something dangerous flashes in his cold eyes.
His friends around us cheer from their couches, their hungry gaze flicking between my half-naked body and the dancer who’s currently on stage.
“Happy birthday,” I shout over the music that’s blaring in the background, then give him my best customer-service smile and pull my wrist away. “But I don’t do anything beyond lap dances.”
He’s not letting go. At first glance, his arm looks like it’s draped lazily over the arm of the couch, but his big muscles are flexed.
“What time do you get off?,” he insists.
“Let me go,” I say through gritted teeth. “Or I’ll have to call security.”
“Come on, sweetheart. Let’s have a little fun. I thought strippers were supposed to be fun.” That fake smile on his otherwise expressionless face is seriously creeping me out. What an asshole. I look around to see if any bouncer is looking my way.
“Don’t be a creep, man.” One of the asshole’s friends taps him on the shoulder with an annoyed scowl on his face. “Take a hint. She’s not into you.”