“Will congratulate herself,” I assured. I had no doubt of this, yet Elise’s response still surprised me.
“You’re probably right.”
I carried her through the kitchen and down the darkened hall on the other side of the house. As we crossed the threshold of my room, I already regretted the need to set her down. Carrying her in my arms suddenly seemed to be the solution to any problem.
With my shoulder, I nudged the door closed until it sealed with hushed click. I dipped Elise’s knees just long enough for my left hand to clasp the lock on the knob and turn it home. I righted her again, but I made no move to take her deeper into the room.
The lamp on my bedside cast a soft glow over the space, but all I saw was Elise. She gazed up at me, questions, apprehensions, and — thank God — heated intentions swimming in those amber pools. I knew I needed to conquer the first two before I explored the third.
“You’re safe with me.”
Unblinking, she tilted her chin down, up. “I know that.” But her expression remained unchanged.
“I’d never hurt you. Now or ever.” One of the fears I’d left unexamined with Elise’s return to my life was if she’d ever worry that I had grown up to become like my father. She’d known me to be given to violence when we were kids. Hell, the first time we met, I’d come straight from a schoolyard fight. Would she ever trust my self-control?
Her eyes narrowed on me. “You mean physically?” she asked, frowning. “Cole, don’t be ridiculous.”
My shoulders slackened at her words, and I hugged her tighter against me. But I wasn’t finished. “You know I wouldn’t take anything from you that you didn’t want to give, right?”
Her lovely brow arched and a sassy smile curved her luscious mouth. “Like I’d let you.”
Laughter shook from me, rocking her in my arms. This was my Elise. The bravado, the show of fearlessness. Two of a million things that made her completely irresistible. But even behind her mettle, the questions and apprehensions remained.
“What is it?” I finally begged.
Her gaze softened, and as tiny as Elise felt in my embrace, she somehow looked even smaller, showing me a side of her that was completely foreign to me. This Elise was vulnerable. She needed protection and vigilance, but — I suddenly understood — not against a physical threat.
“Elise, I’m not going anywhere,” I vowed. She watched me, her expression unchanging, unswayed. I pressed my lips to her forehead, kissing her there before dropping to her mouth. Her lips were velvet soft, yielding to me despite her doubts. If it would have reassured her, I would have stood there, cradling and kissing her, until the sun rose.
I drew back and met her relentless gaze. “Let me be clear. I’ve asked you to stay the weekend, but the invitation has no expiration date. When we part — for an hour or a day — it will be because you have chosen to leave and not take me with you.”
That made her blink, and I congratulated myself on chipping away at her hesitation, if not breaking it down altogether.
“You’d…”
I watched her lick her lips and swallow, that nervous vulnerability now so obvious.
“…you’d come with me if I asked?”
My grin was automatic. “Honestly?” I zeroed in on her kiss-swollen lips, ready to return to them. “You’re going to have a hard time keeping me away.”
Her blush and her smile competed for territory, and she bit her bottom lip before I could do it myself. She looked so shy and lovely, tenderness and desire held a tug-of-war in my soul.
Elise arched a brow at me. “Do you plan to put me down anytime soon?”
I pulled my lips to one side and gave a half shrug. “That depends.”
“On what?” she asked, amusement sparking in her eyes.
I sighed with mock consternation. “Well, if you let me put you on the bed, that’d happen pretty soon.” I nodded sternly. “But if you’re against that, we might be here a while.”
Her answering giggle echoed in my arms and across my chest. I swear, the sensation stole my breath.
Smiling, she glanced over her right shoulder before looking back up at me. “It looks like a very nice bed,” she said softly.
I nodded again with pretend sobriety. “It’s an excellent bed. I can vouch for it personally.”
“Oh, can you?’
I took two steps toward the bed. “Of course, you should see for yourself.” I shrugged again. “I mean, I wouldn’t ask you to take my word for it.”
Standing there with her clasped against me, teasing her, playing with her, staring into those eyes the color of Tupelo honey, I shed the years like ill-fitting clothes. I could have been twenty-five or twenty-one. Or even nineteen.
Elise brought her hand to my face, the thrill of her touch humming through me. “You look…” She searched my face, looking mystified.
“Happy?” I offered, knowing it was true.
Her expression softened even as her eyes turned somber. Elise’s fingers traced down my cheek and then up the line of my jaw until they brushed over the shell of my ear. I wanted to moan in pleasure, but Elise’s sigh awoke me. I narrowed my focus on the sadness in her gaze.
“What is it?”
Her chest rose and fell, and I could see her debating her response. I waited. I’d wait all night if I had to.
Still stroking my ear, she lowered her lashes before looking back at me. “I’ve…” She swallowed then, and I realized she was struggling to speak. “I’ve never been able to forget you… I’ve missed you so much.”
I crossed the room in two strides and mounted the bed, still cradling her. Rolling us over until she lay on her back, I searched her eyes. Were those tears she was trying to blink away? Was this what it felt like to be speared through the chest?
“Elise, I never forgot you,” I swore. “I should have come back sooner. I never should have left. Every word I wrote you in that letter was true.”
“I-I know. I’m being stupid,” she stammered, nodding her head with jerky little nods.
I squeezed her shoulder. “I’m the one who’s been stupid.”
Elise swallowed with effort again, clearly fighting for her composure. Her eyes still shone, but she hadn’t let even one tear fall. “No, no. I just needed to tell you how much…” She bit her bottom lip, her eyes round as buttons. She blinked as though their gathering wetness could be air-dried. Despite how vulnerable she’d looked in my arms moments before, I knew my Elise hated vulnerability. Her chest swelled, and a familiar resolve stole over her features. “…how much it means to be with you again. Thank you.”
As always, her grit and her guts left me in awe. Did she have any idea how remarkable she was?
“Elise,” I whispered. Then I dipped my head and brushed my lips against hers. “You’re here, in my bed. I think I should be thanking you.”
She glanced around as though taking in her surroundings for the first time. “I am in your bed.” And then Elise brought her hands to her face, covering her eyes. “Oh, my God. I’m in your bed.”
“What’s wrong with that?” I asked, barely keeping the laughter from my voice. Her hands covered everything except her delicate nose, her delicious mouth, and her dainty chin. I placed a light kiss on each in turn.
I lifted my hand and traced my pinky over the border of her lips. “My bed is the perfect place to stretch out and talk all night,” I said innocently before dragging the little finger over the rise of her chin and down the slope of her neck. “Or we could put it to other uses. The choice is entirely up to you.”
Her lips parted as her chest heaved, but she made no move to uncover her face.
I’d climbed into bed still wearing my shoes, and I now took the opportunity to kick them off. Elise flinched at the sound of them hitting the floor, but then she remained both silent and motionless. The neckline of her T-shirt reminded me of the bottom of a heart. It tapered into a V at the top of her cleavage, but the garment was lazy about it, curving in and out on its w
ay down. Teasing me.
The cotton was a deep coral, and she’d paired it with a flared, apple-green skirt. The colors were so vivid now against the plain gray of my bedspread, they made me think of candy, and my mouth watered.
I had to taste her.
Unchecked, I let my little finger travel the wavering edge of her neckline. Down from the top of her left collarbone, up over the rise of her left breast. Her breath quivered as I traced down into her cleavage, and her response had me lingering there, moving my fingertip from the silken side of one breast to the other.
When my finger continued its journey back up the right side of her neckline, Elise released a little sigh that sounded to me like disappointment. That was all the encouragement I needed. I brought my lips to the point on her collarbone where my lucky finger had begun its journey, and I let my tongue play follow-the-leader.
At the wet exploration, Elise’s breath pulled sharp. I had to force myself to slow over her left breast. There I could feel the stampede of her heart. And my own pulse that had been steady and sure only a moment before spooked like a horse, ready to chase after hers.
She tasted like honey butter, sinfully sweet with just hint of salt. The very idea of her body misted in feminine sweat had my cock straining against the prison of my jeans.
In the well of her cleavage, I let my tongue dip low between her breasts until lace and padded underwire stopped me. Nudging the cotton neckline of her T-shirt open with my nose, I swept my tongue over the ripeness of her right breast, and a hint of a cry escaped Elise’s throat.
Keeping my loyal tongue right where it was, I lifted my gaze to find that Elise’s face had tilted to the left, her bottom lip caught fretfully between her teeth. Instead of sealing themselves flat against her eyes, her hands were now relaxed, her fingers slightly cupping over her face. In the spaces between her fingers, I could see her eyes were still closed.
I wanted her to look at me.
I’d always wanted her to look at me.
With my left hand, I pushed up the hem of her T-shirt to just under her ribs. When I pressed my lips to the fair, smooth skin right above her navel, Elise hissed in a breath. I ached to travel south, under the canopy of her bright green skirt, but I knew instinctively Elise would protest. She was still too tense and full of doubt to allow me between her legs. But I promised myself I’d taste her there as soon as I had the chance.
I stroked my hands up the sides of her slender waist until my thumbs met the winging of her ribs. Kissing my way up to her sternum, I slid her T-shirt higher until her lacy, rose-colored bra was exposed.
The sight of it had me swallowing hard. Watching Elise, I snuck the fingers of my left hand beneath the unforgiving underwire. Warm, supple flesh welcomed my fingertips. Suddenly impatient, I pushed my way inside to palm her, and Elise gasped at the invasion, her hands falling back against my pillow.
She kept her eyes shut even now. I wondered if it was to torment me. And it might have tormented me, but the sacred handful I now cupped was just the right distraction. The skin of her breast was unbelievably soft. Her pretty lace bra trapped my wrist, leaving only my thumb free to sweep over her petal-soft skin. But as I did, I felt her nipple bud tightly beneath my touch.
My cock thickened, and I couldn’t help myself. With a flick of the plastic clasp, her cups opened, and I took one perfect breast in my mouth.
I heard myself grunt as I sucked her hard.
“Ho, God!” she cried. Surrendering nothing of her, I lifted my eyes and found her looking down at me, her head still tilted to the side, her eyes half-lidded. At the desire in her gaze and the scrape of her fingernails on the back of my head, a hundred thousand years of human evolution fell away.
Rolling over, I hauled her on top of me before knifing up and leaning back against the headboard. Now face to face with her astride me, I whipped off her pastel T-shirt and sent it flying. Her useless bra slipped down her arms, and the sight of Elise straddling me — bare from the waist up in that sexy-as-hell skirt — nearly unmanned me.
“You’re fucking gorgeous,” I muttered, dipping my head and claiming her other breast. Sucking… tonguing… teasing her peaked nipple. My hands splayed across her lithe back, tugging her closer to me.
Elise threw her head back, arching against me. “Cole… God.”
Her voice was taut in a way I’d never heard before, a way that made me impossibly hard. I squeezed her tight, wanting to consume her. I felt wild. Ravenous. I lathed my tongue around her nipple and released her breast only to catch at it again with my teeth.
She cried out at the nip, grinding against my cock, and I almost bit harder.
Christ, calm the fuck down, I scolded myself, freeing her tender flesh and pressing penitent kisses the to bite mark I’d left.
“Sorry,” I whispered against her heart. I meant it. I really did. But at the same time, I felt like I was holding back a beast beneath my own skin. Any minute now, he’d rip through my control and fuck her long. And hard. And now. All he wanted was to be in Elise.
All I wanted.
“Oh, God, Elise,” I moaned. I needed to warn her. I needed to send her away while I took a cold shower or went for a swim or downed a bottle of NyQuil. But then I felt her fingers working the buttons of my shirt, and all possibility of warning or delay burned to ash.
I glanced down and found her fingers trembling. I took in her determined face and didn’t know what I was seeing. Was she still afraid? Or was she just as desperate as I was? It didn’t seem possible.
“Open, dammit,” Elise hissed at a stubborn button. Even through my haze of lust, my brows leapt in surprise. She was just as desperate.
The last of my control ripped at the seams. I tore at my shirt, and the cursed button gave a pop before sailing out of sight. In the next moment, Elise’s hands met my fly, and I tumbled her onto her back, one hand cradling her head while the other reached beneath her skirt.
Somewhere in the corners of my mind, I knew Elise deserved better. She should be worshipped from head to toe, covered with kisses and delicious, unbroken caresses. But now, as my fingertips met the soaked valley of her panties, all I could offer her was this inelegant, fumbling urgency.
A cry left her lips as I stroked over her hidden mound. And then my zipper gave way, and her hand wrapped tight around my shaft.
“Jesus—” Exquisite pleasure threatened to turn me inside out. I’d never wanted anyone like this. I’d never felt this dangerous need for anything. Elise was essential for my very life, and I had to have her.
Slipping beneath the elastic band of her panties, my fingers found sopping, searing flesh. Elise shivered at my touch, squeezing me again. My vision might have tunneled.
And then her free hand snaked around my back and into my jeans. She gripped my ass, tugging me toward her, and that was all it took.
I yanked her panties down, and Elise kicked herself free, her movements as graceless as my own. When the tip of my sex touched the heat of hers, our eyes locked, and I stilled. In hers, I saw the same desire, my own frenzied need mirrored back at me. I saw the promise of relief and the wonder of welcome.
I saw the person I’d loved my entire life.
“Finally,” I whispered, pushing inside her.
She was snug and hot and perfect. And I knew immediately I would embarrass myself and disappoint her. At best. But there was no help for it. I was moving, rutting like an animal, and I couldn’t have stopped even if the house caught fire.
The house might as well have caught fire. Everywhere she touched me, her breasts pressed to my naked chest, her bare legs closing around my hips, and the tight heaven that clenched my cock all set me ablaze.
We both panted as we moved, now desperate for air, for release, but I couldn’t speak. I couldn’t apologize for the moment that would come too soon. And I couldn’t tame my mind to focus on anything — graphing calculators, modeling software, W-2s — anything that would slow the inevitable break.
All I knew was El
ise.
And she was so beautiful beneath me. The slightest frown marked her perfect brow as she chased after her bliss, her sensual lips parted in her seeking. I reached down between us to stroke her where she needed me, knowing I was only seconds away from plummeting over the edge. But I wanted her to have everything. And I wanted to be the one to give it to her.
Her mouth opened wider and her eyes lifted to mine. “Cole…” It was my name on her lips that set me off, my orgasm gathering first at the back of my thighs before rolling over my hips and taking over every nerve in my body. Every cell lit with rapture. I felt it in my eyelids, between my toes, as though my entire being was exploding inside her.
“Oh, God, Cole.”
The sound of my name fell over me again. And again. And I realized with joy and relief that I wasn’t the only one whose body was being turned into stars. Elise was with me, and we were busy setting off new galaxies together.
In the last cosmic pulse, I sealed my mouth over hers and kissed her for all I was worth.
Chapter 27
ELISE
I lay in a sweaty heap under Cole’s magnificent body, fighting for breath. My own flesh was limp and pleasure-soaked. But as my breath steadied and my vision cleared, I looked down at us.
We were sprawled upside-down on his bed, our feet on top his pillows. My skirt was rucked up at my waist. Cole still wore his jeans halfway down his hips.
We hadn’t even bothered to undress. We’d barely kissed.
Jesus, what’s wrong with me?
I had completely lost control.
Well, not completely.
I had managed to stop myself from crying in Cole’s arms just minutes before. And I hadn’t uttered the words that were trying to tear from my mouth the moment our bodies joined. But I’d felt them.
Shit, I’m in so much trouble.
I’d had casual sex before. Sex that on the surface had been meaningless, but days later, after I hadn’t been able to bring myself to call the guy back or he hadn’t bothered to call me, I’d felt like I belonged in a landfill. Used and disgusting.
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