“I’m glad to know that checking me out amuses you this much.” Watching a woman laugh had never been a turn-on for Cole, until he saw Jamie laughing with all her heart. The sound of her laughter, the way her cheeks turned pink, made his dick come alive. His erection pressed against the zipper of his jeans, making it damn near impossible for him to focus on anything else but showing her how turned on he was by spreading her out on the kitchen counter.
“Well, you are a fine sight to look at, Cole Callaway,” she told him, smiling.
“You’re a pretty unforgettable sight yourself, Jamie Caldwell.” Cole moved closer to her. He could smell her arousal even through the fabric of her jeans, and it hit him like a truck. He knew this was the time to make his move, to show her what he had in mind, but with his mother still in the kitchen, it wasn’t the best moment. When he turned around to apologize to his mother for acting so crudely, he saw she wasn’t there any longer. The house was quiet, telling him his brothers were outside, so he moved a chair closer to hers, sat down in front of her and pressed soft kisses to the base of her neck and whispered softly in her ear.
“I love how you blush when I give you a compliment… the way your eyes turn darker when I get closer to you… the way your skin burns up when I touch you….” He nibbled and licked the base of her neck, her earlobes, running his hand up the inside of her thigh.
Her head moved closer to his, their breathing erratic, and in one swift move, Cole had his hand in her hair and pulled her face to his. “That’s enough.” His lips crushed hers. His kiss was fierce and demanding and left no room for misunderstandings; he was taking what he wanted. When he nibbled on her lower lip, he urged her to open up to him. The combination of her taste and the intensity was beyond anything Cole could control.
His other hand came up to her face and he traced her bottom lip with his thumb, dying to taste more of her.
Sitting there with her body so close to his was Heaven to Cole. He needed to kiss her again, needed to feel her lips on his. The moment his hand touched the back of her neck, the shock of contact was enough to make him drunk. Looking in her brown eyes, he made his intention clear, giving her enough time to escape his embrace and walk away before he kissed her again. When she didn’t make a move to stop him, he lowered his head and pressed his lips to hers. It was a soft and gentle kiss, just drowning in her, not pushing or rushing it, tasting the mint from her tea on her lips. He had every intention of keeping this kiss light, but the minute he felt her tongue pressed against his lips, any thought of taking things slow escaped him.
Her lips were heavenly, tasting like tea and something else that was purely Jamie, something perfect he couldn’t quite put his finger on. When his hand on her neck pushed to bring her closer, he lost the last thread of self-control he possessed. He needed to feel her, needed to possess her. When she let her tongue flick over his lips, he groaned into her mouth, desperate for more. Cole knew he had her. Their tongues met, and the intensity of the kiss hit him like a freight train. His hold on her neck became stronger, tilting her head so he could deepen the kiss. Nibbling on her lower lip, he shifted her on his lap with his other hand as she slowly pulled away from him.
“Cole, I need to lie down. I don’t feel so good.” She looked pale as she spoke to him and he knew he had taken things too fast.
“I got you, honey.” He slid one arm beneath her knees, wrapped the other around her waist and lifted her up against his chest. He carried her up the stairs and whispered reassuring words in her ear, telling her he was going to take care of her, that she didn’t have to worry about a thing. Cole pulled the covers back and slid her beneath them. After tucking her in and making sure she didn’t need anything, he sat in the chair beside her bed and watched over her.
Jamie spent three days in bed before she had the strength to get back up. It took another two days before her therapy sessions started up again, but one thing that had helped her keep it together was the fact that Cole hadn’t left her side once. He slept in her room every night, helped wash her hair and fed her, making her understand what being taken care of really meant.
Cole knew her first session in over a week would be brutal. He decided to add reps as well as increase the weights, pushing her harder than ever, but he needed her to see that she was already doing much better.
“I think you might be trying to kill me, Cole,” she told him, out of breath.
“Maybe so, but you’re meeting me head-on and you haven’t complained about the pain or winced yet, so I guess I’m doing something right. Now come on, give me three more of those squats.”
They stopped for lunch so Cole could ice her down before their afternoon session. She threw a few ice cubes his way and when he looked at her, she gave him her best innocent smile. He smiled back at her, popped an ice cube in his mouth and kissed her.
He pulled back slowly, teasing her lips with his tongue. “Let me take you out on a date tonight.”
She didn’t hesitate with her answer. “Yes.” She pulled him close to her and kissed him playfully, slipping an ice cube down his back, making him swear under his breath.
“You’ll pay for that,” he told her, keeping a hold on her hips as the ice melted on his back, and pressing his lips to hers.
This kiss was different than their last. This kiss was hungry for submission, hungry to take and hungry to give. His hands gripped her hips, slipping down to her ass, squeezing it as he helped her off her chair until she straddled him. She moaned in his mouth when he rocked his erection into her. She slipped her hands beneath his T-shirt and the second he felt them on his skin, his breathing became erratic; he needed more…. He groaned as her hands touched his back, rocking his erection into her again and again. Cole knew she was responsive, but he never thought she would be like this—feeling every kiss, every touch, surrendering herself to him. When Jamie started grinding on him, he knew she needed relief. He kissed her jaw in a trail down to her neck. Pausing, he gave the room a good look to see if anyone was near then slipped his hand inside her yoga pants. When he felt how wet she was, he sighed. “Fuck. You’re so wet…. Is this what you want?”
“Cole, please.” His finger teased her, rendering her helpless. He knew she was close and there was no way he would deny her this relief, but he needed more; he needed her to be just as crazy as he was feeling right then.
“What do you want, Jamie?” His fingers found her nub and he started putting pressure on it, running his finger in circles around it. She moaned and her head tilted back. “You are so damn sexy right now, sitting on my lap with my hand in your pants, getting you off, your head thrown back and your cheeks all flushed.”
“Please.” She writhed and tried to get his fingers to give her the extra something that would send her over the edge, but he wanted her to trust him with her pleasure. He needed her to trust him to always give her exactly what she needed and more.
“Tell me what you want, Jamie. Give me the power to take you there.” Cole knew he was demanding so much more from her on an emotional level, but that was who he was. He needed all of her.
He felt it the moment she let it all go and gave herself to him. She leaned forward and cradled his face between her hands, and the next words out of her mouth almost made him come undone. “I need you to make me come, Cole. I want to come all over your hand.”
“Let me take you there.” He sent her over the edge so fast he barely had the time to muffle her moans and cries with his mouth. When she came down from the high, she rested her forehead on Cole’s, pressed her lips against his and with one kiss, gave herself over to him.
“I want to lay you down on this table, taste every inch of you and fuck you until you can’t think of anyone else but me bringing you this kind of pleasure.” Cole’s voice was strained and his erection painfully hard, but this was all about her, not about him. He cared for this woman, there was no doubt about that, but to feel how responsive she was, how she told him what she needed and how she gave him complete power over h
er pleasure, he knew he could never let her go.
Chapter Six
Jamie had never been as nervous in her life as she was at that moment, getting ready for her date with Cole. When he’d asked her out, she’d surprised herself by not hesitating. She was starting to understand there was no point in pushing him away or keeping him at arm’s length. She was happy when she was with him; there wasn’t a doubt in her mind about that. He made her feel beautiful, he listened to her fears and he didn’t judge her for what she’d been through.
Jamie was putting the final touches on her makeup when someone knocked at the door. “Come in.”
Andrew opened the door and leaned in the doorframe. “Hey, beautiful.”
“Hi, you.” She blushed as Andrew took a few steps in her direction. There was just something about these brothers that made her feel beautiful all the time.
“So, I heard my brother is taking you out on a date,” he told her while taking a sip of beer, leaning against the wall, looking every inch as handsome as Cole.
“That he is. I have no idea what he has planned. Do you think what I’m wearing is okay?” She had no idea what they were going to do, or where Cole was taking her, so selecting an outfit for this date had turned out to be a bigger challenge than she’d expected. Jamie hadn’t thought she’d brought anything date-worthy until she came across the black silk top Becca had made her buy on one of their shopping trips. In that instant, she’d thanked Becca for persuading her to buy it.
“Honey, if I were the one taking you out, we wouldn’t even make it to the truck. You look gorgeous.” He winked at her, and she felt some of her nerves evaporate.
“Thanks. I’m just really nervous. I haven’t been on a date in a long time, and Cole just makes me…. I don’t know, nervous and calm at the same time. What if what I’m wearing isn’t okay?” She felt herself hyperventilating. Ever since Cole had asked her out, she had been a nervous wreck. She hadn’t gone out with anyone in years, and she wasn’t sure how she was supposed to act or what she was supposed to say.
Almost like he was feeling her anxiety, Andrew took her hands in his and softly said, “Take a deep breath. What you are wearing is more than all right. Anyone who can rock jeans like you are right now has nothing to worry about.”
“Thank you,” she said, giving him a kiss on the cheek.
“No problem, sweetheart. You have fun tonight.” Watching him leave the room, Jamie felt calmer and more relaxed.
“Damn, these brothers are good,” she told herself, laughing. She finished preparing, giving herself a silent pep talk.
Cole was getting ready when Andrew came into his bedroom and sat down on the chair by the window, looking like he had the weight of the world on his shoulders. “Man, I just saw your date and she is smoking hot right now.”
Cole laughed because Jamie was always hot. She just screamed sex and lust, even if she didn’t know it. It was one of the things he liked so much about her. She didn’t have to try, she just was.
“When is she not smoking hot? The woman drives me crazy.” Cole had opted to take Jamie out for a few drinks at the local bar then take her back to his cabin on the east side of the property for a bonfire and a movie. Hopefully, he would get to see her come undone under him or on top of him. He wasn’t that picky.
“Are you in love with her?” His brother’s question took him off guard and he stood in the middle of his room, silent for a few seconds before letting his heart do the talking for him.
“Yeah, I think I am.” Cole couldn’t stop smiling like a teenager because he really was in love with Jamie.
“Good. I think she’s in love with you, too,” Andrew told him as he drank his beer.
“Making her see that might be a challenge, though. When I saw her get out of the car when she first arrived, I forgot to breathe, Drew. I mean, she was just standing there wearing jeans, her hair in a ponytail, and I couldn’t remember ever seeing such a stunning woman.” If someone twenty years later asked him the moment that changed his life, he knew it would be the day she pulled up to his house.
Drew laughed and tapped his brother on the back. “You got it bad, big brother.”
“You remember when Dad used to talk about how the minute he saw Mom, he knew she was the one? He always said the Callaway men were cursed that way, and we always thought it was damn foolishness. I’m not so sure anymore.”
“Dad was always smarter than we gave him credit for.”
“I guess so. Okay, now get out of here. I have a date to get ready for.”
By the time Andrew left and Cole finished getting ready, it was past six. He made his way downstairs and the sight that welcomed him made his jaw drop. Those jeans were made to be worn by this woman and her top was so damn sexy, he almost forgot why they were going out in the first place. When he saw her lips painted red, he couldn’t tear his eyes away from her face. His cock twitched in his jeans. The woman was going to kill him before the date even started.
“Hey,” she said in a sultry voice.
“Wow, you look amazing.” He walked toward her and kissed her softly as his hand pressed against her lower back. When he touched bare skin, he groaned and dug his fingers deeper into her.
“You’re pretty handsome yourself,” she said, slipping her hands in the back pockets of his jeans, digging her nails into his ass. Oh, yeah, this was going to be a long night of foreplay.
“So, you ready to go?” he said, pulling away from her. The way she was looking at him right then made him want to skip what he had planned and take her straight to bed, but she looked so excited about their date, he wasn’t about to ruin it for her.
“Let’s do this!” she said, laughing, and he loved seeing her so carefree.
The ride to the bar felt so natural, like they’d done this a million times before. Jamie slid over to the middle of the seat to lay her hand on his thigh and head on his shoulder. “What made you join the Army?” she asked him, without moving.
He took a deep breath, gathering his thoughts before answering. “When my dad died, I was lost. It was like all I knew about this life and being on the ranch was gone, and I didn’t know how to deal with it. I was angry at the world, and angry with him for dying. So I signed up and the next thing I knew, I was doing three tours in Afghanistan and Special Ops. It gave me an outlet for the anger I had.” Cole had never told anyone what he had just told her, but somehow sharing with Jamie was something he did with ease and comfort.
“It must have been hard losing your dad so young. I don’t know how your mom did it, raising all of you hell-raisers by herself.” He squeezed the hand resting on his leg, letting her know how much that meant to him.
He laughed at the memories Jamie’s comments brought back. “I don’t know how she did it either, but she always made it look effortless.”
“I hope I’m as good a mom one day as she is.” She spoke softly, as if she didn’t want him to hear her.
“You’re going to be an awesome mom and a great wife, Jamie. There’s no doubt about that.” Cole’s emotions tangled up in his voice. She would be a great mother to their kids and a great wife to him. Imagining her with someone else wrenched his heart and he didn’t like the idea one bit.
“I hope so.” The rest of the trip to the bar was in silence, but there was nothing awkward about it. They were both taking each other in. His hand squeezed hers again as her head rested on his shoulder, and nothing ever felt more right.
When they arrived at the bar, it wasn’t as busy as Jamie had expected and she found some relief in that. She was just happy to spend time with Cole and not have to worry about remembering names and making small talk. Cole directed them to a pool table where four gorgeous-looking men stood. “Hey, man, didn’t expect to see you here tonight.” Jamie turned around as Cole spoke to a man behind her.
“We decided to blow off some steam. Who’s the gorgeous woman on your arm, man?” Jamie had to admit, the man in front of her was fine. His six-foot-two frame was solid, ther
e wasn’t an ounce of fat on him, and his green eyes were stunning; but when she looked at Cole, she forgot about the man he was talking to.
The only guy she wanted was standing right there beside her, pulling her to his side. “Jamie, this is Josh Thompson. His family owns the ranch next to ours.”
Jamie extended her hand to him, but he surprised her when he reached for her and pulled her in for a hug. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Jamie. If you ever get tired of this fool, let me know,” Josh whispered in her ear loudly enough for Cole to hear, shooting him a cocky smile.
“Sorry, Josh, but I don’t think you could handle me.” She felt completely at ease with him and who she assumed were his brothers. Jamie felt like she belonged and was home.
“Damn, I like her, man.” Josh smiled at Cole, and she couldn’t help but laugh at the two men who could easily be brothers. It was obvious their friendship ran deep, but for an unknown reason, Cole seemed to tense up when Josh flirted with her. She couldn’t help but smile at his reaction.
She wanted to reassure Cole that she only had eyes for him, but before she got the chance, he kissed her ear and whispered, “I know, baby.” Jamie smiled at his tender words. “I’m going to get us drinks. What’s your pleasure, beautiful?” Cole asked her, and she knew there was more than one meaning to that question by the look in his eyes.
“Beer.” Jamie smiled at the satisfaction in Cole’s eyes and heard the chorus of “hell yeah” from the Thompson brothers in the background.
“And she drinks beer! Cole, man, where did you find her and does she have a sister?”
“Sorry, there’s only one of me.” Jamie hadn’t laughed this much in a long time, especially not around men, but somehow these people made it easy to feel safe and secure. Cole put his arm around her waist and brought her closer to him. Her breasts touched his chest and her breathing was erratic. She placed her hands around his neck and he pressed his lips softly to hers. It was a soft kiss, but passionate enough to let the other guys know she was off-limits.
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