Was this even happening? Had she fallen asleep and was caught in a lucid dream of her deepest and most erotic fantasies? If this was a dream, she prayed she would never wake up from it.
Abruptly, Cole pulled away. His mouth no longer covered hers, leaving her feeling empty and neglected. Both of them were breathless. His dark-brown eyes pinned her to where she stood. She was frozen and unable to move as though she were under his spell.
Don’t stop!
The words lay on the tip of her tongue. She wished she had the courage to say them. Looking back at him, she tried desperately to read his thoughts, trying to figure out what he was feeling.
“Cole?” His name came out in a whisper. Part question, part plea. She wasn’t sure which.
Dropping his forehead against hers, he closed his eyes tightly. “Jesus, I’m so sorry. Leah, I…” He opened them and looked back at her, their lips almost touching, just a whisper apart. “I should have gone when you told me to.”
He started to pull away then, but she clutched his sides. In an unconscious reaction, not planned. She didn’t want to let him go. Instead she wanted to lie beneath him, just as she’d imagined so many times. She wanted to be able to touch his body from head to toe. Using her fingers, her mouth, her tongue, she longed to explore him.
“Leah, please. I can’t stay. I can’t do this to you. Treat you this way. It’s wrong.”
He pried her hands from his shirt and stepped several feet back. This time he was the one putting distance between them. She knew all too well what it felt like to be so desperate that if you were too near, too close you might just snap from the frustration wreaking havoc through your body.
She looked at his body. The evidence of her effect on him displayed itself proudly as it pushed at his trousers. Fighting the urge to go to him, drop to her knees, release his cock, and slide his hardness into her mouth, she instead turned her head away. The urge to act on her thoughts was all too tempting, and she wasn’t sure if she could handle such a rejection if he stopped her.
Cole ran his hands through his hair and walked from the room. He turned seconds later with his keys. Slowly he came toward her, almost as if he was unsure if he was going to penetrate a force field which somehow protected him from the feelings they’d just shared.
With a shaky hand, he reached up and cupped her cheek. She couldn’t help but turn her head into it, gently relaxing against the comfort of his touch.
“I’m so sorry, Leah. You deserve better than how I just treated you. Please forgive me.” He placed a gentle kiss to her forehead and walked toward the door.
“Don’t go.” The two words sounded desperate, but she didn’t care.
His hand was on the door handle when she said it. He stopped and dropped his head against the door. Time seemed to stand still in that moment. She waited for him to respond, to turn around and grab onto her like he had minutes before.
“I have to. Jesus, Leah, if I don’t…” His voice trailed off.
She knew what he was thinking. If he stayed, they would make love. He knew it just as much as she did. She hated that he was fighting something he wanted, too.
“Stay. Please, Cole, don’t go.” She was past the point of embarrassment and willing to do anything to get him to stay.
He let out a howl and raised his forearm up, pounding it against the door frame. Her heart sank at the pain she heard in his voice.
“I can’t. Damn it, Leah.” He spun around to face her then. “Why did this happen? It shouldn’t have happened.”
Swallowing the lump of fear which struggled to keep her from breathing, she took a step toward him, first one, then another until he stopped her.
“I am begging you to not come any closer. For the love of God, please just stop.”
The fire in his eyes told her that he didn’t want anything of the sort. His words might be pushing her away, but the bulge in his pants was still trying desperately to make itself known.
She ignored his request and took another step. He shook his head at her emphatically. Without words, he just kept protesting with actions which did nothing to hide what his body wanted.
With every foot that closed the distance between him, he started to move away. Trapped in the entryway, he now huddled in the corner, just to the side of her front door. It was such a contradiction to see him cowering there, almost afraid of what may happen. This big, strong man who had never shown her a moment of weakness now looked like he might shatter if she reached out to touch him.
She tested the theory and extended her arm, running her fingernails along his abdomen and up to his chest. He closed his eyes and dropped his head back, muttering something she couldn’t make out.
Hunger was eating away at her insides. She wanted so desperately to feel his cock, to rub and touch it. The image of stroking it in her hands consumed her. She had fantasized about what he would look like naked for so long that being so close to him in such an intimate way had finally pushed her past the point of no return.
Slowly she slid her hand in the opposite direction back down his torso. Her heartbeat pounded inside her head. Nerves and passion overwhelming her as her fingers continued downward, mere inches from his hardness.
Before she could react, his hand shot out. Grabbing her wrist, he pulled her away. “Don’t.”
Startled, she looked into his eyes. Anger lingered within them. It instantly deflated the bravado she had built up in the past minutes.
“Why not?” she demanded.
“Why?” he snapped back at her. “Are you crazy?”
She dropped her head no longer able to look into his eyes. Maybe she was crazy. So what? For months she had dreamed of a moment like this. Now that it was here, why didn’t she deserve an answer as to why he was rejecting her?
Looking back at him, she answered, “Yes, I am. I’m crazy about you. I’ve tried for months to fight it, to push you away in hopes that the feelings would stop, but they wouldn’t. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t stop wanting you.”
He released her wrist and held her face in his hands. “Don’t say that.” His jaw was taut and unyielding.
Turning her head, she kissed his palm and opened her mouth to allow her tongue to taste his flesh before answering. “It’s true, Cole. I’ve tried everything.”
“That’s why you’ve been pushing me away? All of these weeks of putting distance between us was because you felt this way?”
The disbelief in his voice made her wonder how he could even question her after what had just happened between them.
“Yes. I never thought in my wildest fantasies that you would feel the same way. I never thought you would want me, too.” She continued to kiss his palm.
“Fantasies? Jesus, Leah. What in the hell are you trying to do to me? Please don’t say anything more. This isn’t a game. You have no idea what you’re doing to me.”
His jaw tightened, the tension etched on his face. His brow filled with worry. No matter what his words said, he fought the same urges she had for months.
“I think I do. I hope I do. I want you, Cole.”
Leaning in, she placed her mouth to his neck and laved it with kisses. Trailing her tongue on his roughly shaven jaw, she closed her mouth and inhaled the masculine scent which always aroused her every time he got too close.
“Stop this. Damn it, Leah. Stop!”
She ignored his shouted order. Instead she took her hands and ran her fingers through his hair. Holding him at an angle, she made use of her tongue, trailing it up to his ear, and then gently bit down as she nibbled.
Cole had since dropped his hands to his sides. Now balled into fists, he pounded his clenched hands against the wall which trapped him from escaping her seduction. She could still feel his erection poking at her belly and knew, despite his protests, that this was exactly what he wanted.
Abruptly, he grabbed onto her. He lifted her body and held her to him as he nudged her head back and started to kiss and suck on her neck. She wrapped her l
egs around his hips and bit back a cry of pleasure when his dick pressed against her. The friction shot straight to her already-throbbing clit, which was aching for release.
“Is this what you want?” he whispered.
She was barely able to understand his muffled words as he continued to work his mouth and tongue against the soft indentation between her shoulder and neck. All she could manage was a strangled, “Yes.”
He was walking with her, the up and down motion of his steps massaging her pussy. She wanted to be free of her clothing. Never had she hated such thin barriers of cotton as she had right in that moment.
With one hand he pushed her bedroom door open, causing it to bang against the wall. He leaned over and within seconds they both fell to the bed. She didn’t unlock her legs from his waist. Nothing could tear her away from the intense feel of his long shaft pressing against her moist lips.
“Cole, please,” she whispered, unsure if he even heard her.
His large hands splayed against her waist and slid underneath her tank top. Her breath hitched, and she waited in anticipation as his fingertips continued to ascend, closing the gap between them and her aching nipples.
She arched her back the moment she felt his touch against the satin of her bra. Time stood still as she waited for contact until finally he palmed her breasts and squeezed their fullness. Hot fluid built up in her core and seeped from her. All these months of waiting for him to feel her in that way was almost too much for her to handle. She was so close to an orgasm, she could feel the burning tingle that worked its way through her every time just before she came.
When he retreated, she brought her head back up. He was looking down at her, his expression lost and filled with conflict. In that moment she would have done anything to ease his mind, to prove to him it was okay to give in to what they both wanted. Still, she hesitated to act, unsure of what might push him away.
“Tell me to stop. Please, tell me to leave like you did before,” he told her.
“No. I can’t do that.” Never before had she uttered a more true statement than in that moment right then.
“Leah…God, do you have any idea what is going through my mind right now? The things I want to do to you? Make me stop. Tell me to leave. If you don’t…Jesus, I won’t be able to help myself.”
His words came out with such pain in his voice, it broke her heart. She wanted to give him pleasure.
“Make love to me, Cole. Show me what you want to do. Give me what I’ve wanted for so long.”
“God help me. I can’t resist you.” He whispered the words before dropping his head down to kiss her.
He reached back and forced her legs free of their grip on his waist. Leaving her mouth, he kissed her neck, her chest, placing gentle pecks down her belly until his face met with her spread thighs. She watched in awe as he inhaled her scent, causing his nostrils to flare. He then dropped his head down and kissed her through her shorts. She could feel the wetness of his kiss and his tongue press against the fabric. She knew her moisture had also soaked through the fabric, and it gave her an unusual sense of lust knowing that he had, in a way, just tasted her.
Looking back up at her, he whispered, “You’re so wet. Your scent is like…I can’t even remember anything smelling so sweet.” He hesitated for a moment, his expression troubled. “Are you sure, Leah? Are you absolutely sure this is what you want? If we do this…if we go through with this, there’ll be no turning back.”
She reached for him, her fingertips lightly touching the top of his head. “Yes. Please, Cole. I’m begging you. I wanted you for so long.”
Cole levered himself up and knelt between her legs. “Take off your top. I want to see you.”
It wasn’t a question. He was telling her what to do. In that moment, somehow she had finally pushed him over the edge and broke his restraint. He was no longer fighting what he wanted and instead was going to take what she offered, what belonged to only him.
She lifted the hem of her tank top and pulled it over her head. The darkness of her nipples shaded the white satin of the bra she wore, as the tiny darts poked at the fabric like they would puncture holes through it. Leaning up, she reached behind and undid the clasp, her eyes never leaving his as he continued to gaze down at her. When she rested her head back down against the mattress, Cole grabbed at the delicate material shield and pulled it free.
His eyes glazed over, and she saw something in them she never had before. Incredibly, despite all the rubbing and touching they’d done, in that moment her breasts never felt so cold and alone. Eager for his touch, as though they may shrivel up and cease to exist if he didn’t take them in his hands and give them the attention they so desperately craved, she arched her back slightly, raising herself closer to him.
“You’re so beautiful.” He shook his head. “I want you so damn bad, Leah. Even though I know I shouldn’t, I still want you so fucking bad.”
“Don’t make me beg, Cole. Just take me.”
He dipped his head down and took one of her taut peaks into his mouth while massaging the other with his hand. The sensation was too strong for her to control her reaction. She screamed out his name as lightning bolts of pleasure shot straight down to her core. Her fantasies had not done him justice. His touch was more than she could have ever dreamed.
Lying down on top of her, he began grinding his hips into her. With every single second that he pressed his cock against her, intense heat built and her clit throbbed. She was teetering on the edge. The only thing keeping her from falling over the edge were the clothes that separated them.
As if reading her thoughts, he moved his head to her other nipple, sucking on it as his hands dropped down to her hips. He no longer hesitated but quickly pulled her shorts down to her thighs, taking her panties with them.
Stopping short of fully undressing her, he cupped her tiny curls and slid a finger inside her pussy. Instantly, she arched her body into him, accepting his invasion and seeking more.
“You’re so wet. So fucking hot.”
Slowly and in an indescribable punishment, he teased her pussy. He slid his finger into her, pulled out, and circled her clit, each time almost touching it but then pulling away. Several seconds of this torture and her body shot into full on frenzy.
With reckless abandon she grabbed at his shirt, desperate to get his clothes off his body. Loneliness returned when he tore his mouth away from the teasing ministrations he’d lavished on her nipples. He got up and ripped open his shirt. Buttons flew across the room as he threw it on the floor beside her bed. His white cotton undershirt was faded and worn. She could see the outline of his nipples and wanted nothing more than to return the favor and wrap her lips around them.
Sitting up, she yanked on his belt. Quickly, she unfastened it while he removed his T-shirt. Her mouth was now inches from his bare chest, the same chest that she had seen countless times before in various situations. He would wash his truck shirtless, play basketball shirtless, but never had she been this close. Finally she was within kissing distance, and she had no intention of wasting the opportunity.
In complete contradiction, the hard muscles of his pectorals felt soft under her lips. His skin, despite all its hard angles of chiseled perfection, was still delicate to the touch. She started to slide her head to nibble on the points which she’d seen poking through his shirt, but he began to pull away from her. At first she wanted to protest until she saw what he was doing. He was shimmying and struggling to remove his trousers amidst the challenge of their tangled bodies.
Wanting and needing to see him, she lay back on the bed, giving him the room he needed. Their eyes never left one another’s stare as he got up and off the bed. He pushed the stubborn pants down his legs. With him still bent over, she waited anxiously as he fumbled with his shoes. Finally he freed himself, kicking the pants and shoes to the side as he stood before her.
Her breath caught somewhere between her mouth and her lungs. All sense of life was sucked out of her as she l
ay there, looking up at him, completely mesmerized by the beauty of what she saw.
Perfection.
His washboard abdominal muscles crept down to narrow hips which met with well-defined thigh muscles, all of which served as the backdrop of what was to be the premiere attraction. His cock stood at attention, long, thick, and hard. A vein went from the base all the way up to the tip. The cap of his head was dark pink and looked painfully swollen with skin stretched tightly against it, a droplet of pre-cum glistening on top. She licked her lips and imagined taking him in her hand like an ice-cream cone and licking it off of him.
“If you keep looking at me like that, I’m liable to lose myself right here and now like a teenage boy.”
His voice seduced her. No longer the strong and masculine voice she had etched in her memory, now it was low, guttural, and primal as he circled to the edge of the bed like a predator stalking its prey.
Leaning over the edge, he raised her legs and pulled her shorts and panties the rest of the way off. He threw them to the floor where he had thrown his clothes and looked down at her thatch of hair that glistened with her wetness. A moment of awareness struck her then. She was completely naked and finally where she wanted to be.
At his mercy. Helpless to his touch. A prisoner to his gaze. A captive to his heart.
Chapter 5
Cole’s pulse was racing. He had no idea what he was doing. The little angel that normally sat on his shoulder seemed to be on vacation. That, or the devil that perched his ass on the opposite side had kidnapped him until further notice.
The things happening between them seemed almost unreal. For a moment he thought maybe he had fallen asleep back at the station, and he was actually in his chair having a dream that he had no business having.
Damn if she didn’t look so sexy lying there before him. A neatly trimmed strip of brown curls covered her lips, but did nothing to hide her wetness. He could smell her arousal. It seeped up his nostrils and shot straight to his dick. His cock all but stood at attention, like an order was being given to take all the hot sweetness she offered.
When Promise Meets Passion Page 5