by Arell Rivers
He closes his eyes. When they reopen, the blazing green tell me that his iron control is gone. Kissing my mouth passionately, he moves his lips to my ear and moans, “Yes.”
The combination of his breath in my ear with his impassioned response make me wild. My body clenches around him as we move. Faster. Harder. Deeper. He strums my nipple while plunging into me.
A tingling sensation races from the tips of my toes up to where we’re connected and then explodes outward. “Cole! Yes!”
He stiffens and comes with several hard drives, yelling my name. Collapsing on top of me, his weight pushes me into the mattress. Pure. Bliss.
Struggling to get my breathing back out of the heart-attack zone, I run my hands over Cole’s sweat-slick back. Raising to his forearms, he pushes my damp hair off my forehead with a gentle touch.
“Rose, you’re amazing. And all mine.”
“Yes, all yours. And you’re all mine, Tarzan.”
He kisses me tenderly while pulling out of me. “I didn’t intend for our third first time to be that fast.”
I giggle. “Third time’s a charm.”
Biting my neck, he says, “Smart ass.” I smack his very tight ass as he moves off of the bed. “C’mon, let’s have that pizza before Round Two. Which will be at my house.”
I make a brief stop in the bathroom to freshen up, then walk into the dining room, tugging a T-shirt down to my mid-thighs. He’s back in his jeans. The lighted candles cast tantalizing shadows across his bare chest. The smell of the pizza ignites my physical hunger, and my stomach rumbles in appreciation.
“Sounds like someone worked up an appetite.”
“Says the man already munching on a slice.” I join him at the table and pick up my pizza.
“Hope you don’t mind that I didn’t heat it up for you. I was too hungry to wait.” We devour the lukewarm pie.
“That was so good.”
Smirking, he responds, “That’s what she said.”
I giggle. “I meant the pizza.”
He plucks a rose from the vase and rubs the petals across my cheek. “Deep purple roses are for enduring love. You’ve bewitched me, Rose Bloomer, and I’m never letting you go again.”
I swallow. “If I’ve bewitched you, then you have enchanted me, Cole Stewart Manchester. You’re stuck with me.”
“I like being stuck in you.”
I roll my eyes, but heat creeps up my neck. I reach for my glass and sip my water to try to cool my face down.
“And there’s your adorable blush. God how I’ve missed that. Come here.” He pats his thighs. I scoot over to his chair and settle on his lap.
“I’ve never had sex without a condom,” he whispers in my ear. “I love being with you without any barriers.”
My stomach flips. He’s been my first with so many things, I’m honored to give him this. Give us this. “I went on the Pill a little over a month ago. I was going to tell you in Las Vegas . . .” my voice trails off.
Cole puts a finger on my mouth. “Shhh. It’s okay. That’s behind us.”
I nod and wrap my lips around his finger, sucking on it. He chuckles. “Insatiable, much?”
Quirking my eyebrow, I reply, “Pot. Kettle.”
He starts to laugh. A full-on, deep belly laugh that causes me to laugh in response. Wiping away my tears of joy, Cole says, “God, I needed that. For a while there, I thought I’d never laugh again.”
“Me, too.”
“Let’s clean up in here and move our reunion over to my place. I’d like to get some clean clothes.”
“Or you could just stay naked.”
He raises his eyebrows and places his hand over his heart. “Scandalous, Ro. Whatever would the neighbors say?”
I giggle. “That you’re a kept man?” My hand drifts up to his dimple.
“I’d love to be kept by you. What would you do with me?”
“Oh, I don’t know. You make a mean omelet.”
“I knew it. You only want me for my cooking.” His dimple deepens.
“You also have a reliable car.”
His strong arms pull me to his naked torso. “I’ll give you a ride anytime.”
Saturday evening
COLE PRECEDES ME up the stairs, carrying my two suitcases toward his master suite. Suitcases that are filled with more clothes than resided here a week ago. As I reach the landing, my laptop case falls off my shoulder and lands in the crook of my elbow. Cole’s bedroom isn’t the place for work.
I call out, “Bringing my laptop into my Command Center.” I smile. I even have a named room in his house. I turn right instead of left, and head down the hallway to the room I claimed as my office.
From down the hall, Cole yells, “Rose! Wait—”
I open the door.
Holy. Shit.
The bed is gone. The room has been stripped bare. Not a piece of furniture remains, not even the curtains. Cole comes up behind me a second later, placing his hands on my shoulders.
Unable to process what I’m seeing, I lean my laptop against the door frame and whisper, “What happened?”
He squeezes my shoulders. “I couldn’t stand having your Command Center here if you weren’t coming back. It gutted me that you took all of your stuff away before I even left Vegas.”
“I knew you wouldn’t be here.” I try, unsuccessfully, to keep my tears in check.
“That night, after Gorman’s, when I got back here alone . . .” He doesn’t finish.
My brow furrows. “McKenna and I sent you and Ozzy home together.”
“Wills dropped Ozzy back at his place. We had accomplished what we set out to do.”
I step into the room and turn to face him. “What do you mean ‘accomplished’?”
He looks down at the floor. Understanding dawns. “You knew I was at Gorman’s. It wasn’t a coincidence that you two turned up there, was it?”
“Ro, I was desperate. You wouldn’t talk with me. I made Wills contact Roberto to find out where you were.”
Why does his admission make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside? But, still. “That was messed up. You know that, right?”
He nods.
“Plus, you were drunk.”
“I needed some liquid courage.” He shrugs his shoulders. The way his muscles bunch under his T-shirt makes my mouth water, but this isn’t the time for me to get sidetracked.
I force myself to look around. “So what happened to this room?”
“When Wills dropped me off from Gorman’s, I was mad. And frustrated. And hurt. I needed an outlet. Somehow I ended up in this room, which was just a guest room again since you had cleared out all of your things. I couldn’t stand to see it without your stuff in it. I”—he clears his throat—“I went a little crazy.”
He trashed my Command Center. My gaze sweeps the room, noticing dents in the walls and nicks in the paint. I picture him, drunk, throwing furniture.
And all I did was cry into my pillow.
“The next morning, I had all of the furniture removed.” He grabs my hand. “Redecorate it.”
Tentatively, I offer, “Maybe I could put up a neon sign that says “Rose’s Command Center.’”
He smiles. I love how his eyes crinkle at the edges. “Too soon to ask you to move in with me again?”
No.
Yes.
I don’t know.
Holing up in my house like I did before Cole and I became involved has lost its appeal. But we still have so many issues to work through.
“I love watching all your thoughts flit through your brain, Ro. But don’t overthink this.” He taps my forehead. “We’ll take it one day at a time.”
I nod. Trust. He was as lost as I was last week. He loves me as much as I love him. I close my eyes.
“Let’s leave this for another day.” His eyes take on a decidedly darker hue. “We’re in the wrong room.”
I let him lead me out of my Command Center, down the hallway and into the master. Looks the same. Huge bed. Chairs
off to the side. Green curtains that perfectly match his eyes framing a perfect vista of the pool. No, nothing’s changed. It’s been waiting for me this whole time.
In that commanding tone of his that always makes me do whatever he wants, he says, “Come. Here.”
My heart starts to pound loudly as I draw closer to him. His scent fills my entire being. He’s all male. And all mine.
“You’re mine,” he says, echoing my thoughts.
The whisper of a smile touches my lips. “Yes.” I place my hands on his chest, sliding them up and around his neck, erasing any space between us.
His arms encircle my waist and his hand rests on my butt. Squeezing, he pulls me in to his body, tighter, as if absorbing all of the hurt from the previous week. Erasing all of the pain.
His mouth crashes down on mine, and I’m instantly at his mercy. I’ve never felt this way with anyone before. I want him to control me, just as I want to consume him. This frenzy between us is like an untamed wildfire.
His tongue traces the outline of my lips. Opening my mouth to him, I welcome his plundering and reciprocate in kind. My hands travel upward into his silky hair. My fingers tangle and pull slightly, causing him to groan. The sound zings straight to my core, and I’m suddenly even wetter for him.
“Cole.” With his hands still on my butt, he pulses my body into his. His erection juts into my stomach.
“I want you again,” he says. “Now.”
Words fail me. I nod. He lifts me up, and I wrap my legs around his hips. Nothing separates us except my yoga pants and his jeans. I push against his hard shaft, sending sparks throughout my body.
He breaks away from my mouth to run his lips down my neck. He hits that one spot behind my ear, causing me to arch into him. “I love how responsive you are to me, baby.” Still holding me in his arms, he walks to the bed, turns and sits down so that I’m straddling him.
I kiss his lips, his nose and his ear. Nipping his earlobe, I relish his low growl. I still can’t believe I’m able to turn on this gorgeous, experienced, charismatic man.
He rumbles one word. “Naked.”
Yes, please.
He removes my T-shirt and bra, plus his own shirt before I’m able to summon movement in my arms. I manage to unbuckle his belt and open his jeans. He picks me up by the waist, as if I weigh nothing, and then sets me on the floor. After pulling my pants and panties off in one fell swoop, he stands and shucks his jeans. Commando. He’s so brazen. My Tarzan. Perfect.
Returning to a sitting position on the bed, he says, “Much better, Ro.”
My mouth goes dry at the sight of him. “Cole, you’re a work of art.”
He laughs. “I’ll let you name the sculpture after your fourth orgasm.”
Does he mean fourth one now? Or does my previous one count? Before Cole, I never had multiple orgasms. But four . . .
He taps my forehead. “Stop thinking. After your fourth one now.”
His hands surround my hips and draw me down on his thighs so that I’m straddling him again. I lean forward and kiss his nipple, flicking it with my tongue. One of his hands cups my cheek and pulls me up to his mouth for another earth-shattering kiss. His other hand cups my sex.
I break our kiss to watch his fingers stroke me. I say, “Yours.”
“Yes.”
He kisses me deeply again as his fingers stake their claim, rubbing my clit. In less than a minute, my orgasm shatters me. “Cole!” He doesn’t let up. His fingers continue stroking in a mind-numbing pattern. I can’t breathe, my whole universe is locked to what he’s doing to my body. He pushes a finger inside of me. Another orgasm, stronger even than the first, rolls through me.
Panting, I’m no longer on Cole’s lap. I’m staring at the ceiling, with my legs dangling off the bed. My body quivers. Lolling my head, I see Cole on his knees between my thighs. With a wicked smile, he puts my right leg on his shoulder. Deliberately, he repeats his action with my left one.
“Cole, I don’t think—”
“Yes. Don’t think, Ro. Just feel. And enjoy.”
He lowers his mouth. I can’t possibly come again. His tongue takes a long swipe.
“Ohhh.”
His calloused finger enters me, hitting that special spot inside while his tongue works its magic. The feeling is indescribable. Intense. Incredibly, my body builds again. He flicks my clit in rapid succession with his amazingly talented tongue. Pushing me higher, higher.
I reach out and grab onto my nipples. Twisting them like he’s done so many times before. The extra added sensation drives me over the edge again. He likes hearing me cry out his name, and it adds to my excitement, so I scream, “Cole! Oh God, I’m coming. Cole!”
Before my orgasm subsides, he stands. Keeping my legs on his shoulders, he drives into me with a hard thrust. He controls my body. He owns it. He feels so good inside me, pushing in and then pulling back. Faster. Harder. He’s so deep inside me that his balls smack my butt as he pumps.
He reaches between us and flicks my clit with his fingers like his tongue was doing minutes ago. My head thrashes from side to side. “Ro, give it to me. Come with me.”
My toes tingle. Oh my God, I’m going to come again. My hips rock in time with his fast thrusts, sweat covering my body and rolling down his.
“Now, Ro!”
My body explodes. Again. “Cole! Cole! Yes!”
He pushes deep into me and then stiffens, letting out a roar as his body bows over mine. With my legs on top of shoulders and his body still connected with mine, he stands for a long moment. Eyes squeezed shut, he pants, “Rose, my Rose. Damn, I love you, woman.”
I want to reach out and touch him, but my arms are like jelly. I can’t move my legs since they’re secured by his arms. “Cole, come here.”
He looks down at me and smirks. Damn, he knows what he does to me. Gently, he pulls out of me, lowers my useless legs and joins me on top of the comforter. His sweat-slicked body presses wickedly against my equally sweaty one. I barely have enough energy to wrap my arms around him.
“I guess you earned that cocky look.”
In response, he kisses my neck.
I’m in so much trouble.
Sunday morning
I AWAKEN, ONCE again deliciously wrapped in Cole’s arms. He’s staring at me.
“How long have you been awake?”
“Not long, Ro. I like watching you sleep.”
I must have the worst morning breath ever, considering all the Chinese food I ate last night after our last bout of lovemaking. I’m also sore, but in a good way. Cole rocked my world three more times before we fell asleep.
Shaking my head at him, I say, “Let me brush my teeth.”
“Back to that, are we, Ro?” His mouth widens into his sexy grin. He pulls me toward him, as if to kiss me.
Placing my hand in front of my mouth, I shake my head. “Be right back.”
I disengage my body from his and make a mad dash for the bathroom without pausing to put on any clothes. Cole appears in the doorway and passes me a brand new toothbrush.
I tease, “I’m thinking I should get you an endorsement deal with this company. You must own half their inventory.”
He chuckles. “I’ll have to check in with my publicist to get her thoughts on it.”
Running my eyes up and down his sexy, naked body in the mirror, I can do nothing but smile. Well, and contain my drool. We both brush our teeth, passing the tube of toothpaste to each other. It feels so right to be doing this companionable, everyday task with him, naked. Who knew?
“My teeth are squeaky clean, Cole.” I smile broadly.
He pretends to inspect my mouth, then leans in and kisses me senseless.
“Minty. Now it’s time to get the rest of you squeaky clean. It’s been hell for me being alone in this shower.”
“I know what you mean. I hated going into my shower, too.”
He walks over and turns on the water. I steal a glance at the clock. Whew. It’s only nine-thirty
, so we have enough time to play before Greta calls at eleven, her usual time on Sundays. Smiling, I join him to wait for the water to heat up.
“I like this.” He nuzzles my neck.
“Mmm. Me, too.” I run my nails down his sculpted back.
Opening the shower door, he says, “Ladies first.”
“Somehow I don’t think you’re being a gentleman. You just want to check out my behind.”
“Guilty. Now give me my show.” He swats me on my butt.
I sway my hips as I enter the massive shower. Before Cole, I never felt this sexy, this free. The spray of water from the dual shower heads and numerous body jets welcome me back. I look at him over my shoulder, my eyes drawn to his erection that’s growing bigger by the second. Smiling, I hope coquettishly, I shake my butt.
Cole growls as he steps in behind me. I rub my wet backside up and down his front. He grabs my hips and doesn’t let me move, his hardness pressing against me. I’m getting very wet, and not only from the water pulsing down the front of my body.
He circles his hips while holding mine still. I spread my legs and reach out to the white tiles on the wall for support. “Please, Cole.”
“Please, Cole, what?”
He wants me to beg, and he’s going to get his wish. What this man does to me.
Before I can reply, he bends over me and rumbles in my ear, “Tell me you want me to fuck you.”
“Yes.”
Heat stains my cheeks. Will I ever get used to the way he talks? And how much it turns me on?
“Use your words, Ro.”
I swivel my head and smile back at him. “You know.”
He circles his hips again and nips my earlobe. One of his hands is now cupping my breast, playing with my nipple. Moaning softly, I push back into him.
“Use. Your. Words.”
His fingers twist my nipple, shooting sparks directly to my core. I moan again, loudly, but he still doesn’t enter me. Instead, his other hand goes to my sex. A finger circles my clit. My breathing hitches.
“Please.” I pant. “Cole.”
In response, he removes his finger and bites my earlobe.
I can’t wait. “Fuck me,” I scream.