Cole

by Emilia Hartley

  Nothing in her life had ever felt like this. It was as if Cole had pulled her into a bonfire. Her skin was searing just by being near him. If he touched her more, she would feel parts of her flaking away into ash.

  But she wanted it so bad.

  She wanted a home, here on this lake shore, here in Cole. She could feel it, like a beacon that was calling out to her. All she had to do was follow it to her heart’s dream.

  9

  He leaned closer. Her lips parted with hope. But he leaned to the side. Seconds later, she heard the crunching of plastic and metal. The music twisted and then stopped altogether. She sucked in a breath to complain, turning her face toward him, when his lips crashed against hers.

  Jude groaned. Cole’s body slammed into hers. She gripped him and held on as the fire consumed them both. He spared no time, grasping the side of her face and forcing his tongue between her lips. She could have fought back, could have teased him, but she was powerless.

  Her beast roared with a ferocity she’d never known before. In her mind, she thought she could hear another roar, the sound of another beast.

  Cole’s kiss delved deep. It brushed her soul, and then he pulled away from her. She reached for him, but he was just out of arm’s length. A guttural, greedy growl escaped her. She stalked toward him. He looked down at her, his chest heaving, and she watched him acknowledge his defeat.

  His hands gravitated toward her.

  She didn’t want Asher the MMA fighter. She didn’t want any of the humans that came before. All Jude wanted was this tall, dark, and secretive dragon man who made her feel like she belonged. He’d lied and told her that his brethren were dead. Asher was very much alive. Which made her wonder how many of the others from the photo were alive as well. Why was he hiding them from her?

  He breathed her name. “I don’t want you to get hurt. I’ve already lost too much.”

  It was a plea. She could hear the pain that laced his words. His clanmates might not be dead, but they’d left. Cole had spent ten years alone. Ten years with no one to comfort his beast.

  Jude threaded her fingers through his hair and tugged. “I’m damn hard to kill.”

  Her beast rose and filled her eyes. She felt the power of it surge through her muscles, granting her strength her human body couldn’t contain all the time. She used it to shove him back. Cole’s eyes flashed with challenge. A grin slowly spread over his lips, and a hint of his own beast rose to greet hers.

  Jude’s heart thudded away. Adrenaline seared her veins. Her body sang with power and her soul cried out in desperate need. She didn’t have long to worry, though, because Cole closed the space between them once more. His mouth was on hers.

  Just where she wanted it to stay.

  Her world shrank to the interior of the cabin. She could think of nothing else. All that existed was the man in her arms, the one furiously nibbling her bottom lip and sending tiny thrills through her core. It wasn’t enough.

  She needed more. She needed to be closer.

  Yet, she couldn’t find her voice to tell him. Words were a distant memory. Jude was nothing more than want and pleasure. She had become a creature of primal desire, a sensation she’d never experienced with anyone else.

  Was it like this for all dragons? Not that she thought their hang-ups were worth it. When this was over, she feared Cole would go flying out the door and she would never see him again. In Colorado, dragons wanted her to bend to fit a role. Here, Cole would go on reminding her that she didn’t belong here.

  For this glorious moment, with his hands cupping her ass, Jude felt like she’d discovered the perfect home. It was the one she’d been waiting for all along. His cock seemed to think the same thing, too, for it strained against his jeans and the fabric of her shorts. The way it fought to be free, she was in for a wild ride.

  Cole feared his inability to control himself around her. It wasn’t so much that his body moved against his will. It was how his soul bent to hers. When she looked at him, he wanted to give her everything. All of himself.

  The world, too. If she asked for it.

  He knew it was a dangerous game he was playing. Jude was practically a stranger. She could have come to take over his territory and rule as queen. She might want the wholesale destruction of the world. And yet, Cole felt powerless. His desire rendered him into something unknown.

  He needed to stay within the realm of the known, to see his enemies before they could come for him. It was the only way he could do his job. Was Jude an ally or an enemy? There was no way to know while his brain was addled by her touch.

  And yet, he wasn’t ready to let go. He staggered down the hall, hands roving over her bare skin, her lips still feasting upon his. The bed in the back bedroom wasn’t much, but they toppled onto it together.

  Jude let loose a moan that tore through him. Desire and pleasure exploded in his loins. The beast whispered demands in his ears. It told him to bite her ear, taste her skin, discover the scent between her legs. Above all, make her moan like that again.

  Cole shuddered in fear and anticipation. He hovered over her, his weight on his hands. Her eyes were pure gold, burning red around the edges like molten metal. Her lips were parted, chest heaving as she fought for air. Though he wanted to pull back, he ducked his head toward her.

  First, he kissed the collarbone. Her skin smelled of sunshine and metal. He licked it, just to know for sure. Jude clenched her fists behind him, her nails digging into his skin. His dragon purred with delight. He kissed her sternum next. Her breasts were small mounds on either side of his face.

  He wanted to press them against his cheeks and bask in their warmth. As if she read his mind, her hands left his back. She grasped either breast and pressed them together. A ravenous growl broke free from him.

  He could take it no longer. Cole was losing his mind. He was more beast than man in that moment. When Jude playfully pushed, he fought back, using his shifter strength. If they weren’t careful, they would break the ancient twin bed frame. It rocked back and forth, slamming into the wall.

  Finally, he gripped her wrists and pinned them to the mattress. She wriggled beneath him, but it only made his blood hotter. He thrust toward her, sensation exploding through him as he grinded fabric on fabric. He must have hit her just right because her eyes rolled back.

  She arched into him. The scent of her desire blossomed in the air. Her musk wrapped around him. It begged him to shed his jeans, to tear into her shorts, and bury himself deep inside her.

  Instead, mustering a small bit of control, he continued to grind on her. He leaned in and took her shoulder between his teeth. He felt the small ripple of a shudder as it raced through her. He could bite down. He could mark her as his.

  Cole had never known a need so strong. As he grinded against her, she reacted with the same kind of fervor. Her moans filled the room. It took all his strength to pull back, to not bite down like his beast demanded.

  A whimper left her. She must have been close to release. He couldn’t stop now. Not when she writhed beneath him. He didn’t have to bite her to give her release.

  Jude was losing her mind. Pleasure overtook her whole body. It tingled in her core, washing from that central point out toward her fingers and toes. It rolled her eyes back and arched her spine. She couldn’t sit still. She couldn’t take the sensation rolling through her.

  But she wanted more. More. More.

  She wanted Cole buried deep inside her. She wanted to know all the ways he could fill her up. His hand was closed around her wrists, but she yanked one free and gripped the back of his neck.

  Forcing herself to focus, she looked him in the eye. Did her own gaze look the same? Heat ringed his ash colored irises, like embers floating off a bonfire. He was the little light in the dark that she could chase forever.

  Her core tightened. The dam was shaking. Hell, she was shaking, and they hadn’t even taken their clothes off. In the moment, she couldn’t imagine what it would be like for their bodies to c
ome together. This was already too much for her. She felt like she was going to come apart at the seams, that her pleasure would spill out into the world and leave her a shattered mess.

  Cole watched her. His ember eyes took in everything she did, every small movement, every small whisper of breath between her lips. She reached and freed her breasts from her tank top. His growl filled the room before his head descended. His mouth closed around her nipple and a new, electric feeling coursed through her.

  It was the action that broke the dam. Her orgasm exploded, fierce and unrelenting. It took her, casting her into a sea of sensation unlike anything else. She floated as Cole’s tongue flicked her nipple. Each stroke of his tongue was a wave that crashed over her. The waves dragged her under, where she couldn’t breathe, couldn’t think.

  She was pleasure and nothing else.

  Above her, Cole shook. He stared down at her with shock and awe in his ember eyes.

  10

  He buried his head in her chest. “Why do I need you so much?”

  Jude could barely breathe, let alone think. She had no answer for him, only a similar feeling that was tearing her apart. The way he was poised, muscles tensed, she could tell that he was readying himself to run. The moment she let go, he would book it for the door. It would slam behind him, and she would never get this ever again.

  She would never know what it was like to love him, either.

  Jude told herself she was thinking about his cock, but her beast wasn’t convinced. It wanted all of Cole. Every little bit of him that he wasn’t willing to give. His secrets. His guilt. His future.

  Just then, she pulled back. Her breath stuck in her throat, she scrambled out from underneath Cole and got to her feet. Heat seared her cheeks. Her mind spun in every direction.

  Cole looked…stunned. It was like he thought he would be the only one to run away. Seeing her run rendered him immobile. Which meant that Jude was the one who had to leave the room. She had to leave the cabin.

  Fresh air.

  It was all she could think about. And spreading her wings, but she fought back the urge to shift, afraid what her beast might do with the freedom. So, she stomped toward the lake. The clear waters stretched as far as her eye could see. Steering herself along the water’s edge, she kept walking.

  This wasn’t her home. Cole wasn’t her mate.

  She couldn’t let her beast claim what would never belong to them. If she did, it would end horribly for everyone involved. Jude didn’t want to put anyone through that. Her dragon would be aggressive and unrelenting. It would continue to chase Cole to the ends of the earth. All because he was the first dragon shifter to treat her like an equal, to show any kind of interest in her.

  That’s all it was. That’s all it could be. Jude knew nothing about him. He held his secrets close to his chest, near this positively haunted lake. His ghosts hung around him but refused to tell her his tale. Because it wasn’t for her to know.

  This wasn’t her world. It wasn’t her life.

  And it never would be.

  Even as she tried to tell herself that, tears stung her eyes. She dropped to her knees and wrapped her arms around her middle. Mourning for the life she wanted, but could never have, she let herself cry.

  All her life, Jude had been lost. She’d wandered from boarding schools, to small jobs that made her travel, never allowed to settle down anywhere. While the sky offered freedom, her soul was growing weary. The idea of burrowing into the earth was growing more and more attractive by the moment.

  Wake me.

  Release me.

  The whispers tickled her ear. She looked up, wiping away her leftover tears. No one was nearby. The trees stood utterly still, as if to let her listen.

  Wake me.

  Release me.

  Jude swallowed hard and got to her feet. She swayed. The water beckoned again. It enticed her forward. All she had to do was step forward and offer the water what it wanted.

  11

  Cole didn’t know what he’d done. One moment, he thought Jude was ready to claim him. The next, she raced for the door. Though he had been telling himself to leave the whole time, seeing her run away filled him with a new purpose.

  He ran for the door, racing after Jude. She deserved to know everything. If she was stuck here with him, if she was charged with uncovering his secrets, then he could give them to her. Then, it would be her choice.

  She could stay with him or leave and save herself.

  The beast greedily hoped she would choose to stay. It craved a companion. Not like Sybil or Asher, but someone who would see him. Someone who would hold him the way she had. Cole wanted to see that fire in her eyes every day for the rest of his short life. And it would be short if Sybil was right.

  Cole looked over the water, a sense of dread trying to overtake his burgeoning hope. He shoved it away and followed her scent. She’d walked along the water’s edge. Crashing through the overgrown grass and weeds, he gave chase. Jude was so close. He could give her the answers she was looking for.

  He walked along the lake bank but couldn’t find her. At some point, her scent dissolved into nothing. It was like she’d ceased to exist. His heart clenched tight, he searched high and low for her. He even called out her name.

  No answer came.

  Cole should have known that his moment of hope would lead to nothing. He’d insulted a gold dragon shifter, and she’d taken off. If only he’d been smarter, if he’d tried to keep her sooner. Maybe then he would have had a chance at momentary happiness.

  His attention was dragged toward the water. He glared at it and what he knew lurked beneath its surface, hating everything his old leader had ever done to him. Because of the old leader of their clan, no one could rest easy.

  All because they’d trusted someone. Cole and his brethren had put their faith in the hands of a powerful man, a man with dreams that were more like nightmares. They’d done their best to stop him, but the costs had been devastating.

  Cole carried his in his skin. The tattoos that covered his arms, chest, and back hid scars that were worse in his dragon form. And he thought he’d gotten off the lightest of them all. It was Heath who had suffered the worst loss.

  Cole looked back in the direction of the cabins. Asher had lost all light. Any innocence the young shifter might have had was long dead. The man lived for the way his fists sang in the air now. He lived for the pain that filled him when his opponent landed a hit.

  He wondered how the others were doing. Alec and Zane vanished and never appeared again. Cole had hoped for word from them at some point, but he couldn’t even find them online. Part of him suspected that they blamed him. Cole was the oldest. He was the one who should have protected them from what happened.

  But he’d failed. And now he was paying the price, his watch over the lake. His prison, right alongside the one in the lake.

  He’d been a fool for hoping Jude would stay here. This place was cursed. Not by a witch or any other spirit, but by the blood that had been spilt here. He could smell it now, as if he’d walked back in time.

  Cole had no future. He had no mate waiting for him, no lover to warm his bed at night. All he would ever get was glimpses at happiness, an emotion that wasn’t meant for him. That was the price he paid for what he’d done. His own betrayal had cost him everything.

  He should have screamed for Jude, should have found her. She would never belong to him, though. She wasn’t meant for him. If he pursued her, he would only break his own heart. Perhaps it was good that she’d left him. They had their moment. It’d released some of that tension between them.

  Now, he could focus on what was important. His job.

  But he couldn’t. He couldn’t get her out of his head.

  All she’d wanted to do was wash her skin of Cole’s scent. That’s what Jude told herself as she stepped toward the water. She leapt in, not bothering to take off any of her clothes. At first, darkness surrounded her.

  Then, the whispers resumed. They
weren’t warped by the water in any way. There was no distortion. If anything, the voice grew louder. It was commanding, as if grasping her mind with dragon claws.

  But Jude’s dragon was close to the surface. It was clear headed and cast out the intruding voice, bringing Jude back to herself. Her eyes adjusted to the dark water, lines and shapes taking form. There were sunken trees, rocks, and traces of humanity. A fishing lure glimmered as it shook, stuck on a nearby log. A pair of boots were half submerged in the silt.

  Whatever it was that Cole was hiding, the secret he bore like a weight, it was here in this lake. Jude knew it. If she could hold her breath and keep a keen eye, there was a chance she could find out on her own. She would know why all the other dragons had fled and then she’d be able to go home.

  Her beast growled at the idea. Her chest strained, though. It was hungry for air. She wasn’t done. If she surfaced, then someone would see her and come to drag her out of the water. That someone would most likely be Cole, and she really wasn’t ready to see him.

  Her job, then Cole.

  She swam deeper. Her beast’s power made her heavier and let her sink toward the bottom of the lake. It was much deeper than she thought. It was only a lake, how deep could it be? Yet she kept sinking and sinking until the sun was barely a thought above her.

  Something brushed against her thigh. She startled and a small bubble of air escaped her.

  Wake me.

  Release me.

  It called her again, tugging at her like a rope around her middle. While she knew it was wrong, she couldn’t help but feel the need to move toward the source of the voice. This was what they were hiding. It was why Cole frightened everyone away. It was why his clan had left him here.

  Deeper, darker. The lake grew cold around her. It rippled, like something massive was moving. She froze, scanning the darkness for a sign of life.