We gasped against each other’s lips, our grip on each other tightening as we soared toward climax.
“Come for me, Shannon,” Cole grunted. “Come.”
I nodded on a whimper as I neared the heights. Cole slid his hand between my legs, and his thumb pressed circles around my clit. The sensation blew the top off my head and I screamed.
“Fuck, fuck, fuck!” Cole yelled hoarsely, his fingers digging into my hips as he jerked up in one last hard thrust. I felt him swell even thicker inside me before he throbbed and his hot, wet release filled me. “Oh, fuck.” His chest heaved against mine as I collapsed on him, my head burrowing against the crook of his neck. He held me tightly.
His penis continued to pulse inside me as my inner muscles quivered around it.
When our breathing finally calmed, Cole said, “We’re not even close to done.”
“I don’t know if I can take much more,” I replied. And I meant it. I was sated and languorous and all I wanted was to fall asleep while still wrapped around him.
Cole eased me back from him and I pouted playfully. He smiled and kissed the pout right off my lips. With ease, he lifted me off his cock and gently lowered me onto the bed. I watched his delicious, firm arse walk across the room and into the en suite. He returned, after obviously disposing of the condom, and when he reached me he pulled me up onto my feet. “Now you can sit on my face so I can taste you like I’ve been fantasizing about tasting you since you stepped foot into the studio.”
I’d thought I was done.
But my sex clenched at his hot visual and unbelievably I knew I wasn’t done.
A few seconds later Cole was lying sprawled out on the bed, the sexiest offering known to womankind, and I was crawling up his body. I’d never done this before. Of course I’d had boyfriends put their mouths on me, but I’d never done it this way.
My legs shaking—from this or my last two climaxes, I had no idea—I faltered above him.
Cole sensed my uncertainty and took control, guiding me over him.
I felt his tongue thrust into me, and that was all it took. I was lost again, shyness evaporating.
When I came again, this time was sharper and shorter but no less sweet, and by the time I was done, Cole was hard again. He wrapped me around him and lifted me up off the bed. I noted he grabbed another condom out of his drawer before carrying me as he walked out of the bedroom. “You weigh absolutely nothing.” He squeezed my bottom, smiling as he entered the kitchen.
I felt the cold wooden table on my cheeks as he lowered me onto it. I stroked his sleek back as he spread my legs. My arms fell as he stepped back and I gripped the table edge, focused on my own thoughts as Cole’s burning gaze roamed over my entire body. “Rae said your first big crush was on Nate’s wife, Olivia.”
Confused at the random turn in conversation, Cole frowned at me. “What?”
“Olivia,” I repeated. “And I’ve seen pictures of past girlfriends and I’ve heard all about them. You have a type. And it’s tall and leggy and curvy and often brunette. You have an attraction to tall.”
Getting my point, Cole grinned and stepped back into my space, guiding my legs around his waist. “I have a new appreciation for tiny.” His eyes smoldered as his hands glided along my outer thighs. “Delicate, beautiful, fragile. I want to protect you while at the same time I want to shatter you,” he murmured against my lips, “but only in the best way possible.” The glint in his eyes reassured me. “Tiny but curvy.” His hands moved up along my waist to cup my breasts, his thumbs stroking my pebbled nipples. “Sexiest woman I’ve ever been with.” His right hand disappeared between my legs as he held my gaze and slid two fingers into my slick heat. “Beautiful here too.” His breathing started to escalate. “You feel fucking amazing.” He groaned the last word and his fingers disappeared for a few seconds as he put on protection. A few more seconds after that he thrust inside me.
I cried out, my hands sliding back on the tabletop as Cole pumped into me. Our gasps and groans and the wet drive of his cock in and out of me echoed off the kitchen tiles, the sounds of sex turning me on just as much as the feel of Cole inside me.
I came for the fourth time that night, taking Cole right along with me.
Suddenly I was being lifted in the air again and sleepily I clung to Cole as he carried me back to his bedroom, too tired to ask him why he’d relocated us in the first place. There he laid me in his bed, my front to his front, and he pulled my leg over his hip so our bodies were as close as they could be.
I snuggled deeper into him, my nose pressed to his throat, and Cole’s arms tightened around me.
CHAPTER 14
T he chill seeped into me, raising goose bumps on my skin and pulling me out of sleep. I lingered on the edges of unconsciousness, too tired to come fully out of it.
“Shortcake, it’s time to get up¸” a low voice said.
I groaned and buried my head deeper into the softness of the pillow.
I heard laughter. “Shannon, we have to get up for work.”
“Mmm, no,” I muttered, and followed up with a shiver. It occurred to me that the covers and warm body that had been keeping me nice and cozy all night had abandoned me. I patted down the length of my body, searching for the duvet, but before I could find it Cole grabbed my hand.
I supposed that would do instead.
I tugged on his hand with all my strength until his chest was against my back and his arm was over my waist. Warmer already, I tucked his hand beneath mine against my cleavage.
The vibrations of his chuckle from his chest to my back made me smile sleepily. A smile that left me quite abruptly when Cole lifted me right out of the bed.
I yelped in surprise, my eyes flying open. I clung to him as he climbed off the bed and started toward the en suite bathroom. Too tired to speak coherently, I made a few noises of complaint.
My brain started to wake up just as his gorgeous face came into focus. “I have a five-hour session today that I can’t be late for.” He stepped into the large shower and lowered me to my feet.
Thankfully he still kept a grip on me, because my eyes instantly closed and I swayed. We’d fallen asleep late and I’d definitely not had my eight hours of sleep. I needed my eight hours, or as close to it as possible, in order to function normally.
Cole snorted. “You really aren’t a morning person, are you?”
I mumbled something about needing eight hours, but I’d have been surprised if it was intelligible.
“I’m going to put the shower on now. I really need you to wake up.”
I nodded. “Mmm-hmm.”
Apparently he understood I was giving him the go-ahead to turn on the shower, because the water poured down on me, too cold, and I gasped, my eyes flying open. Cole was smirking while he fiddled with the temperature dial.
“That was deliberate,” I huffed, shoving him.
He grinned and grabbed my arm, pulling me into him. “It got your eyes open, didn’t it?”
I frowned. “Meanie.”
“You are really quite adorable when you’re tired.” He gently turned me around. “I’ll wash you. You wash me.”
I turned back to him. “You first. I’ll just fall asleep again if we start with me.”
Cole handed me the body wash, shampoo, and conditioner. The washing him part of the morning was fun and soon I was fully conscious. I had unfettered access to Cole’s hard body, but unfortunately there was a time constraint, so it was a quick but wonderfully pleasant exploration. We ran into a bit of a problem when it came to washing his hair.
I wrapped my hands around him and pressed my cheek to his back. “I’m too short to reach your hair.”
I felt, more than heard, him chuckling before he took the shampoo and conditioner and did it himself. I stood back from the spray and drank him in for a moment. He really was the most fantastic-looking man I’d ever had the good fortune to bed.
“Your turn.”
Just as I’d thought I might, I almost
drifted off again as Cole washed my hair. It was only when he started soaping the rest of me that my eyes flew open. I sucked in air as he slipped two fingers over my clit. I felt his erection dig into me. His warm breath puffed against my right ear as he bent down to whisper, “If you trusted me I could be inside you right about now.”
Reluctantly I pulled away from Cole’s tormenting touch so I could face him. Uncertainty made me want to run screaming from the shower, and yet at the same time I felt panic flare to life as I forced out, “I told you I don’t want anyone to get hurt here, and as much as I want to trust you it’s probably not going to happen . . . Maybe we should just stop before this goes too far.”
To my surprise this amused Cole. He shook his head with a smile. “We’re doing this. You will learn to trust me.”
I wasn’t convinced and I didn’t hide my reaction from him.
To my consternation Cole laughed and held me in a naked, wet cuddle.
Unfortunately he gave good naked, wet cuddles and I found myself relaxing against him despite myself. “Has anyone ever told you you’re exceptionally arrogant?”
He stroked my spine and murmured, “You say arrogant. I say optimistic.”
I laughed.
“I love that sound.” He caressed my bottom. “Now let’s get out of here before we make each other late for work.”
* * *
Holding my hand, Cole led me into INKarnate. The bell above the door chimed and Simon and Rae, who were chatting by the reception desk, turned to look at us. Their eyes immediately zoomed in on the handholding.
Rae had just opened her mouth to speak when Cole beat her to it. “Before you say anything, I’d like to remind you I’m your boss.”
She replied with a long, drawn-out snort. “I don’t think we’re the ones who need that reminder since we’re not the ones who just fucked an employee or our boss.”
I glanced up at Cole. He looked comically affronted. “I did no such thing.” Something wicked glinted in his eyes. “If anyone did the fuc—”
“Finish that sentence and die.” I let go of his hand and crossed my arms over my chest.
He grinned and strolled over to Rae and Simon to give them the coffee we’d brought them.
To my relief, the ribbing seemed to be over. Rae sighed. “Big day today. Cole, you’ve got a five-hour piece, I’ve got two second sessions for removals, and that means, Simon, you’ve got a fuck load of smaller appointments to contend with. Try to keep up.”
Simon gave her a wry smile. “No pressure, then.”
I grabbed a pad of paper off the desk. “Give me your lunch orders now and I’ll run out and grab some sandwiches. It’ll be too busy later on today for me to be able to nip out for them.”
They gave me their orders and Rae and Simon went to their rooms to set up. Cole, however, stayed.
I put the lunch money in my purse. “What is it?”
“Nothing.” He shrugged. “Just trying to work out how I’m going to get through today—all I can think about is how good it feels to be inside you.”
My blood instantly heated at the sudden turn of conversation. I pressed a hand to my hot cheek. “I’m so glad I’m not a typical redhead. I’d be wearing a constant beamer around you.”
“Personally I think the blushing would be fun.”
I rolled my eyes and gently nudged him aside. “Yeah, for you.”
Cole’s hand wrapped around my wrist and he pulled me back to him. He swallowed my gasp as he lifted me clean off my feet and crushed his mouth down on mine. Arms around his neck, I kissed him back for a few seconds before he gently lowered me to the floor, kissed my nose, and strode off into the back of the shop.
Feeling more than a little foggy, I had to physically shake myself out of the sexual stupor he’d put me in.
I was beginning to feel less and less in control of this whole situation.
* * *
It was an understatement to say we were busy. The odd few times I did see Cole he was completely professional around the customers and I didn’t have to worry about him making any more heated comments that flustered me. I did, however, have to contend with an increasingly itchy tattoo.
“I want to rub myself up against a scratching post,” I complained to Cole as we entered his flat later that evening with Chinese takeout in hand.
He smirked as I followed him into the kitchen. “Please don’t. You’ll ruin all my hard work.”
“I won’t. I just want to.”
“It’s healing. The itchiness will go away. You just need to persevere.” He lifted up his kettle. “Coffee?”
“Please.”
As he walked over to the sink I noticed he was a little stiff. He grimaced and pulled his shoulders back on a groan.
“Are you okay?”
He glanced over his shoulder at me. “Hunching over for a five-hour tattoo always pisses my back off.”
It occurred to me I hadn’t even thought about how physically uncomfortable Cole’s job could be. Feeling like a shitty nongirlfriend that I hadn’t considered this, I immediately thought of a way I could help. “I could give you a massage if you want. Years ago I had this friend Caro and when she was training to be a masseuse I was her guinea pig. I picked up a few things.”
“You don’t have to do that.” He threw me a tired smile as he walked back to put the kettle on.
“I want to.” I put the unopened takeout on the table. “Dinner can wait.” I left the kitchen, glad to hear his footsteps following behind me. Once in his bedroom, I pulled down the duvet and pointed to the mattress. “Shirt off. Lie on your stomach.” As Cole did as I said I went looking for moisturizer in the bathroom.
Finding it among other girlie stuff in the back of his bathroom cabinet, I felt a burn inside me that I could have likened to jealousy if I wasn’t so sure Cole and I weren’t ever going to be serious.
In the bedroom, Cole lay on his stomach, head on his arms. The sight of his broad shoulders and muscular back caused a little flip in my lower belly. Kicking off my shoes, I climbed onto the bed and straddled him.
“I like this already,” Cole murmured.
I tapped some moisturizer onto my palms and rubbed them together. “Did you live here with a woman?”
I felt him tense beneath me. “Yes. Why?”
“There’s still some girlie toiletries in your bathroom cabinet.”
“There is? I’ll get rid of them if it bothers you.”
“No. I was just curious.” I began to work gently at the muscles in his neck and shoulders first. The low groan he emitted shot straight between my legs and I squeezed my eyes closed. This was not a sexy massage. Cole was in real discomfort. I was helping him. Dirty thoughts back into the gutter, please.
“Her name was Elena.” He sighed, his whole body relaxing under my touch. “We split up eight months ago.”
Ignoring the sharp object that seemed to have lodged itself in my chest, I went for a casual tone. “What happened?” Shannon, you are clearly a glutton for punishment.
“We dated for nine months, lived together for three of those. First time I’ve ever lived with a girlfriend. It was a disaster.”
“Why?” I held my breath, hoping despite higher reasoning that Cole had no lingering feelings for this Elena person. Rae had not told me about an Elena person, and that, in itself, caused me concern. Had she broken Cole’s heart so badly no one talked about it? Crap.
“We weren’t really compatible. You really get to know someone—” He groaned again as I found the knot that was bothering him. I began to gently work it out. “Feels good, Shortcake.” His eyelashes fluttered closed and I almost growled in frustration.
“You were saying,” I prompted, trying to sound casual.
“Mmm? Oh yeah, Elena. Yeah, you get to know someone when you live with her. She discovered that she couldn’t deal with someone as laid-back as I am—apparently it means I don’t care enough—and I discovered she was a bitch. She talked about her friends behind their ba
cks and was always making negative remarks about people, even strangers on the street. It was when she started in on Hannah that I’d had enough.”
I couldn’t imagine anyone being mean to Hannah. She was so lovely. “Why would she start on Hannah?”
Cole grinned. “You like Hannah, don’t you?”
“Eh, yeah. She’s a pregnant superwoman. She’s a teacher, she’s a mum, she’s a stepmum, she’s a wife, and she’s smart and organized and caring and somehow manages to be all those things while looking absolutely amazing. I kind of want to be Hannah.”
He chuckled. “As nice as that it is, I like you just the way you are.”
I grew quiet at the compliment and stopped to put more moisturizer on my hands.
“Anyway,” Cole continued, “all of my girlfriends have had an issue with my friendship with Hannah. Elena never seemed bothered by it until one day . . . she just was. She started making underhand comments about Hannah, and then accusing me of being in love with her, until I couldn’t take it anymore. We broke up.”
I started massaging him again. I was relieved, but I really wished I didn’t feel that way. Relief suggested real feelings were involved here. I shrugged the relief off. “It might have seemed out of the blue to you, but these things rarely are. Someone probably made a comment and she twisted it into something irrational. I’d take a guess it was one of her friends.”
“You think?”
“Yeah.” I curled my lip in annoyance. “Girls are idiots. Especially when it comes to attractive women. One of her friends probably got a look at Hannah and how gorgeous she is and then said something about you two until it made Elena paranoid about your friendship.”
“Fuck. You’re probably right,” he grumbled. “Why do women do that?”
“Pfft, don’t ask me. They confuse the heck out of me most of the time too.”
“Makes them interesting, though.”
I laughed. “If you say so.”
“You confuse the hell out of me,” he said. “But I’m enjoying it so far.”
“Cole Walker, the patience of a saint.”