Last Chance 05 - Second Chance

by Christy Reece

  Cole’s hands were at her hips, but he allowed her full control—how much she wanted and how fast she wanted it. She was well aware that he could take over anytime he wanted; the fact that he was allowing her to take what she needed only added to the intense sensuality of the moment. Those amazing eyes gleamed up at her as he watched her take her pleasure … she drew on him and he gave her everything.

  Soon it was too much. The rhythm became erratic, the incredible aching pleasure became wilder, more intense. Cole made one slight adjustment by pressing his pelvis against the very top of her sex, allowing her to grind against him in the exact spot she needed him most. Keeley’s eyes widened as the entire universe became one long, glorious, throbbing, explosive moment of ecstasy. Her mouth opened to scream and Cole pulled her down to him, covering her mouth with his to muffle the sound.

  An eternity later, Keeley came back to earth and realized the man inside her was still rock hard, his big body shaking with the volcanic need to let go. His face was buried against her neck as harsh breaths rasped from his lungs.

  “Cole?”

  “Keeley.” Her name was a mutilated, tortured sound.

  She sat up so she could see him, and he let out a long, low groan at her movement. Self-denial was etched on his handsome face. Why? Why would he give her the most unbelievable physical pleasure she’d ever known and deny himself?

  “Cole, let go,” she whispered.

  “I can’t … I …”

  Unwilling to take and not give, Keeley’s hands moved down to where they were still joined. Her fingers wrapping around the hot, hard length, she said softly, quietly, “Please … I need this, too.”

  Whether it was her hands or the words, she didn’t know. She heard a low, feral growl as he rolled her over onto her back, buried himself deep, and began a hard, relentless rhythm of thrusts. Unbelievably, Keeley felt the resurgence of desire deep within her. Gasping with new need, she locked her legs around his hips and closed her eyes; glorious explosions went off inside her and she reveled in the beauty of sheer physical satiation.

  Harsh breaths grating against his lungs, Cole pulled from the luscious body beneath him and rolled over on his back. When Keeley snuggled against him, he held her tighter. His mind was blurred with pleasure and the deeply intense feeling that something monumental had just occurred. For just a few moments, he closed his eyes and savored a rare sense of peacefulness.

  Regret would come … but not yet. Though his memory was sketchy in many things, he knew he’d never experienced this kind of sexual, intimate connection in his life. It was more than just physical … they had shared something he didn’t even know existed.

  Even before Rosemount got his drugs in him and tortured the humanity from him, Cole had never been one to delve deeply into his emotions. He loved and was loved, but accepted that emotion without exploring the feeling. Here, with Keeley in his arms, he recognized a joining, a connection, that could never be broken. No matter what happened in the future, this was a bond they would always share.

  She moved her head against his chest to peek up at him through her lashes. “I’ve never experienced anything like that in my life.”

  He wanted to say the words … wanted to agree with her, but he couldn’t. What they had shared was incredible, but could never happen again. He’d tried to comfort her and it had become an extraordinary event beyond his comprehension. Most important, for one brief moment in time, she’d forgotten that her life was a hell. He had to remember that was all it had been … all it could be.

  “Keeley, I—”

  Soft fingertips pressed against his mouth. “No, don’t say anything.” As if she’d read his mind, she raised up on her elbow and whispered, “I know what just happened was crazy and irresponsible. It wasn’t like me at all … and I don’t think it was like you either.” She took a breath and added, “For the record, I’m not on birth control, but I’m as regular as clockwork and the timing isn’t right. And I haven’t, um …” She stumbled and then started again. “I haven’t been sexually active in a long while, so you don’t have to worry about that either.”

  When she paused, obviously waiting for his health report, Cole provided it. “Neither have I.” He didn’t bother with details.

  She put her head on his chest and he heard her swallow hard before she added, “I don’t want to regret it.”

  Tightening his arms around her again, he said quietly, “Then let’s not.”

  “Thank you.”

  Seconds later her soft, even breaths told him she was in a deep, restful sleep. At last.

  Cole stared at the ceiling, refusing to allow himself the same relief. For this one night, he could ensure that her sleep would be unencumbered by nightmares. In the morning, before she woke, he would leave her. Then he would think and he would regret. But for right now, Cole held this beautiful woman in his arms and let himself wish for the impossible.

  The devil’s face hovered over him, leering. Shrill laughter, hideous and wicked, echoed around him. He was tied spread-eagle to the ground with ropes so tight they sawed into his skin every time he moved. The sun blazed above him, while insects stung and gnawed at his sizzling skin, feasting on the thousands of oozing cuts all over his body.

  Cole struggled against the bonds. If he could free just one hand, the devil would die. Pain speared through him and he fought against its overpowering deadly embrace. If he let go … if he gave up … all was lost.

  Agony seared deeper and the devil whispered his enticement. High and whiny, his voice pierced Cole’s skull like a branding rod. “You can’t fight. You’ll never escape. I’m your master. You’re weak, everything you loved is gone…. Let go and all the pain will go away.”

  Temptation lured. How easy it would be … how wonderful to put all the pain behind him. How easy to just … let … go …

  A scream penetrated his nightmare. Cole was on his feet and out the door before the agonizing sound stopped. As if a guide other than his senses led him, he found himself at the door of the children’s bedroom.

  Keeley was on her knees in the middle of the room. Sobs tore through her and the anguish radiating from her crumpled figure cut him to the core. There was his answer. The reason he couldn’t let go. Why he’d never let the devil win. He was here for a purpose: to return Hannah and Hailey to their mother.

  A slight breeze stirred behind him. Eden passed by, kneeled beside Keeley, and wrapped her arms around the weeping woman.

  Cursing himself, Cole stepped back into the hallway. He’d left Keeley’s bed just before dawn and returned to his own, telling himself he would lie down for a little while and doze. Instead not only had he endured another nightmare, Keeley had woken up to one also. If she’d still been in his arms, he could have prevented that.

  Hell, what was he thinking? That wasn’t the reason he was here. Comforting Keeley was best left to someone more qualified. Humanity, even in its most basic form, had been stripped from him. There were only a few things he felt qualified to do any longer. None of them involved the compassion this woman needed. Just because he’d been able to give her sexual pleasure sure as hell didn’t qualify him for anything else.

  Cole stalked back to his room. A quick glance at the bedside clock told him he might as well shower and start his day. It was just before six, and if he did manage to go back to sleep, the nightmares would return. No point in inviting them.

  Under the hot, hard spray, Cole fought for focus, but his mind battled images: Keeley’s beautiful face as she rode him, the way she bit her lip as she sought her pleasure, then her expression of ecstasy when she climaxed; clinching and clasping, her inner muscles had pulsed around him. Leaning his head against the cool, wet wall, he ground his teeth together as he struggled to control the arousal from the imagery.

  In an instant, those images were obliterated as he remembered the ravaged expression he’d just witnessed. Hell, that and nothing more had to be his total focus. He had to put an end to the pain she continued to suffe
r. Nothing else mattered.

  After all that had happened to her, she probably felt as though God had turned His back on her, and was trying to figure out what the hell she’d done to incur His wrath.

  Cole had endured his own battle with questioning God’s vengeance and had never come up with an answer other than to question His existence. Horrendous things happened in random chaos, and to look for reasons or try to make sense of it could only invite insanity.

  Slamming the shower door, Cole dried off, wrapped the towel around his waist, and headed into the bedroom. One of the many nice things about staying in a mansion was that each bedroom had its own bath. He rifled through the closet as he thought about the meeting he planned to have today. What did one wear to interview a she-devil?

  At the knock on the door, he called out “Come in” without much thought.

  The soft gasp behind him had him turning around. Keeley stood in the doorway. She was still too pale, but the shadows under her eyes seemed less pronounced than they had been yesterday. Perhaps those few hours of sleep had helped after all. Finally her expression snagged his attention—horrified and compassionate. What was that about?

  “Keeley. Are you okay?”

  “What? Oh yes … sorry.” Her throat worked convulsively. “I … um … I wanted to thank you again … for last night.”

  Damned if he wanted her gratitude. “There’s nothing to thank me for, Keeley. What happened was …” Hell, what happened was indescribable.

  A small tilt of her mouth told him she might feel the same way, but all she said was “Since everyone is up early, Eden and Jordan are making breakfast and wanted to know if you’d like to join us.”

  “I’ll be down in about five minutes.”

  Her face once more showed that flash of compassion before she closed the door. Why had she looked so …? Cole looked down, just now realizing all he had on was a towel. Wouldn’t be a big deal except for one thing. He’d had his back to her when she came in, and she’d seen the scars. Last night it had been dark, and though they’d shared an incredible intimacy, they’d actually touched each other very little. She hadn’t felt his back … hadn’t touched the scars.

  After seeing them, it was a wonder she hadn’t run away screaming. It’d taken him months to be able to look at his back without all the memories slamming into him. Now the scars were just part of him. They were what they were—evidence that even if he found himself questioning God’s existence, he would never question the existence of hell. That he’d seen firsthand.

  ten

  Keeley leaned against the wall outside Cole’s bedroom and took a shuddering breath. Dear God, what had happened to him? Who could have done that? And how painful it must have been. You didn’t get scars like that without enduring severe agony. Had he been in some kind of accident? Could a car wreck create the mass of thick welts and what looked like hundreds of long, thin scars?

  What kind of horrific event had Cole been through? And how strong of a man was he to have survived?

  How could she have not noticed them last night? Of course, the fact that she’d been concentrating on other areas of her body experiencing mind-numbing pleasure might have something to do with it. Now she regretted not knowing, not feeling. The man who’d made love to her so passionately last night was extraordinary in many ways. Keeley wanted to know them all.

  “You okay, Keeley?”

  She turned to see Eden standing at the top of the stairs, a frown of concern furrowing her brow.

  Keeley pushed away from the wall and nodded. “I told Cole breakfast is ready. He said he’d be down in a moment.”

  “Good. Let’s go on down before Jordan’s omelets get cold.”

  She followed behind Eden, her mind still focused on the incredibly giving, sexy, and mysterious man upstairs.

  Apparently she hadn’t convinced Eden that she was okay, since as soon as they entered the kitchen, she turned to Keeley and said, “Are you sure you’re okay? You’re awfully quiet.”

  “How long have you known Cole?” She inwardly winced. So much for subtle questioning.

  Jordan answered, “I’ve only known him since I’ve worked for LCR, which is around two years.”

  Eden nodded. “I’ve known him about four years or so.”

  “He seems very … controlled.” Except for that one glorious, incredible moment when he’d exploded and they experienced ecstasy together. Keeley crossed her arms over her chest, hoping no one could see how her nipples peaked in arousal as her body responded to that memory.

  When both Eden and Jordan shot her an odd glance, Keeley worried she’d given her thoughts away.

  “Cole’s had some experiences that might have hardened him a bit … but he’s an excellent operative,” Eden said.

  Relieved that they’d apparently not read her mind, she quickly said, “Oh, I’m sure he is.” The last thing she wanted was for them to think she didn’t like Cole or didn’t want him here. He’d made it more than clear that getting her girls back was his number one priority.

  “He’s also one of the best interrogators LCR has,” Jordan added.

  Keeley hid a grimace. Cole might be an expert at interrogation, but it was clear she wasn’t. “I just wondered—”

  “If you have questions about me, ask me.”

  Heat bloomed in her cheeks. Keeley whirled around and faced the tall, dark man standing at the door. Black brows arched over those amazing eyes; his head was slightly cocked as if in a challenge.

  “I was just trying to—” Hell, what could she say? I want to know more about you because you’re the most interesting, gorgeous, sexiest man I’ve ever met in my entire life. Uh, no.

  Cole let her off the hook with “Totally understandable” as he came toward her. “Ask away.”

  Her heartbeat tripled as she watched him. For such a tall, muscular man, his movements were silent, graceful. Keeley swallowed hard and lifted her chin. He’d invited the questions; she wasn’t going to pass up the opportunity just because her face was blood-red from embarrassment. “Where are you from? Neither Eden or Jordan have an accent, but you have a drawl.”

  His lips quirked slightly and Keeley focused on that beautiful masculine mouth. Last night he’d kissed her with that mouth. Kissed her? No, more like devoured her … and she’d loved every moment of it.

  “I grew up in Oklahoma. Lived most of my adult life in Texas.”

  “What part of Texas?”

  “Here and there.”

  He was being deliberately vague. She should have expected that. By necessity, LCR was a secretive organization. Asking personal questions of their operatives would probably always garner ambiguous answers.

  Eden broke into the tense silence. “Why don’t we all sit down and have breakfast.”

  Keeley headed to the kitchen table. About to pull out a chair to sit down, she was a little disconcerted to have it pulled out for her. Muttering “Thank you,” she sat down abruptly.

  Cole dropped into a chair across from Keeley, her wary expression bothering him. True, he needed to keep a certain distance between them, but her obvious uncertainty around him caused a slight sting he couldn’t deny. Was it the scars? Admittedly, they were hideous and would probably disgust most people. He was past the point of being embarrassed by them, but there was no doubt they had disturbed her.

  He told himself it didn’t matter. He wished he believed it. The thought of her being frightened or disgusted by him bothered him more than he would have liked to admit.

  Refocusing once more, Cole took a swallow of coffee and shot a glance at her. “I’m headed over to see Elizabeth Fairchild today.”

  “Elizabeth agreed to see you?”

  He shrugged. “Didn’t ask. Figured I’d drop in.”

  Her lips twitched as if she were struggling not to smile.

  “Something wrong with that?”

  She shook her head. “It’s just that Elizabeth is very big on protocol and proper etiquette. Not calling prior to visiting is
an insult to her.”

  Insulting the woman sounded damn good to him. “It’s not a social visit.” He watched her closely as he said, “I want you to go with me.”

  “Why?”

  “I want to see her hostility up close.”

  “Because you think she’s behind all this?”

  “Maybe.” Cole didn’t see the need to explain that he intended on learning as much as he could about the woman so he could stop the harassment. He had a feeling Keeley wouldn’t appreciate his interference.

  “Dropping in on Elizabeth, without having an appointment, to ask her questions?” She smiled. “Yes, I’d be happy to join you.”

  Cole was glad to see that Keeley didn’t mind stirring up her former mother-in-law’s ire. So why the hell did she let her get away with so much?

  Elizabeth might well refuse to see him. Not that he had any problem busting the door open and making her talk to him. If he could do it peaceably, he would. The last thing he needed was to get arrested. The woman apparently controlled the local law just like she controlled everything else in this town. At her word, they’d lock Cole up and he’d waste valuable time he didn’t have. The one meeting he’d had with the sheriff had convinced him the man would do whatever the hell Elizabeth Fairchild wanted.

  Taking Keeley along might help … or hurt. Either way, he wanted to see that animosity firsthand. Eden had told him Keeley hadn’t been out of the house in days. Maybe some sunshine would help.

  Cole checked his watch. “Can you be ready to go in about half an hour?”

  “Yes, but it might be a little early for Elizabeth. It’s only just now six-thirty.”

  “You got a problem with that?”

  Another smile, bigger this time, curved her full lips. “Not at all.”

  Elizabeth stood on the landing as she listened to Patrick, her butler, argue with some stranger about seeing her. The man had no appointment. Hadn’t had the decency to call and arrange a meeting. And he was here at the ungodly hour of seven o’clock in the morning. Some people could be so uncouth. She’d watched from an upstairs window as he drove up, and she’d seen Keeley get out of the car with him. That slut’s presence only reinforced her reluctance to meet with him. How like Keeley to be so common.