Part 22 (1/2)

He shook his head. ”No, I want it all.”

Her heart all but stopped. She wanted to hug him and burrow into him, but she forced herself not to.

”Are you sure?”

”Yes,” he said, his voice thick with defeat. ”I want to, pretty f.u.c.king badly.”

She narrowed her eyes on his face, trying to see him. ”Turn the light on, Cole. It's too dark here.”

”Why? Darkness has never bothered you before.”

”Because now it's you who's hiding from me. I want to see your face. Your eyes.” The man could hardly say relations.h.i.+p out loud. He was asking to date her, and at the same time his voice sounded as if he were being forced to walk the plank or face a firing squad. Could he blame her for doubting? She needed to see his face. She wanted so much from him, but she couldn't risk misunderstanding his words out of sheer desire that he wanted what she did.

He breathed out loud but turned the lights on. The second she focused on him, she gasped. His face was stormy, his eyes fierce, and he was bleeding from the corner of his lip. Then she realized what the metallic taste in her mouth was. It was his blood. She'd bitten him while coming.

”You're bleeding, Cole,” she whispered. ”I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-”

He didn't move an inch. He stared at her, his face so close their noses were almost touching. ”Forget it. I like you marking me. Now let's have this conversation your way, in bright light. Look into my eyes. I want to have a relations.h.i.+p with you. Not only s.e.x. I want the dating.”

”Missing your little uncomplicated decoy dates?”

He brought his hand to her lips. ”Christy, there's nothing uncomplicated about the way you make me feel. I don't need decoy dates. I need you.”

”With the strings?”

He nodded. ”I want the right to spend time with you, not only f.u.c.k you. I want the right to stay for breakfast. And I want you bareback.”

”Ah, so this all boils down to s.e.x.”

”Everything boils down to s.e.x, honey. Always. My drive to f.u.c.k you is huge, don't be mistaken, but this is more.”

”More?”

He nodded but didn't reply. She doubted he could put in words what that ”more” was, so she decided to cut him some slack.

”Are you sure you want to-how did you put it that day in your kitchen?-put up with the aggravation and the tedious job of keeping a female happy?” she asked, throwing his words back at him.

”Smart-a.s.s,” he hissed.

”The fights?” she continued, ignoring him. ”The expectations? The crying? The nagging? Walking on eggsh.e.l.ls all the time? Remembering dates? Having to express your feelings?”

Cole looked downright pained. He was doing his best not to grimace, but he wasn't succeeding.

She laughed softly. ”You're asking to date me, and at the same time you're grimacing at the prospect.”

He closed his eyes and ran his hand through his hair. ”I'm not grimacing at the prospect of dating you, love. I'm grimacing at the prospect of...h.e.l.l, I don't know, Christy. I'm just out of my depth in a relations.h.i.+p. I'm liable to f.u.c.k it up in five minutes. Faster than that probably.” He watched her through vulnerable eyes now, and he looked lost. ”I've been miserable without you.”

His lips were set in a grim line, as if his admission was a shameful weakness he should be horrified by. Tenderness swelled painfully inside her chest.

”You had me,” she whispered.

He shook his head. ”No, I didn't. You were available for me to f.u.c.k. That was all.”

”That was all you wanted,” she reminded him softly. ”You even stopped talking to me.”

His jaw pulsed. ”I've been a fool. I thought it'd be easier like this, but it wasn't.” He let out a long breath. ”I've missed you, Christy. So f.u.c.king much.”

She looked at his wary expression. It occurred to her that even if she was pinned to the door, with his d.i.c.k still shoved deep inside her, her p.u.s.s.y flooding with his c.u.m and her wrists bound with his belt, she was the one with all the power in the situation. He was terrified about f.u.c.king this up. Of being hurt too.

Christy tugged at her wrists. ”Untie me.”

”Sorry,” he mumbled, looking somehow abashed, as if he'd forgotten he was keeping her restrained.

Holding her body against the door with his hips, he unclasped the belt and released her hands. He ma.s.saged her wrists, soothed the redness with his thumbs. And then he brought them to his lips and kissed them with a tenderness that brought tears to her eyes.

What was it about him that got to her? She had no clue. He was bossy and arrogant to a fault. Distant. Expected to be obeyed. He was a control freak who needed to call the shots 24-7, power-tripping all the time. Getting him to express emotions was almost an impossible feat. Yet she felt so attracted to him, as if his insides talked directly to her. As if she knew him. Truly knew him. Which was crazy because Cole went to excruciating pains not to reveal too much of himself. He was very private with his life-very protective and wary of women intruding. Him going mushy on her? Not happening. That kiss to her wrists and this grimace on his face were as close to a declaration of feelings as she would get from Cole.

”So?” he asked insistently, his gaze never leaving hers, his voice uncompromising. ”Are you agreeing to date me or do I have to go back there to beat the s.h.i.+t out of Zack and any other motherf.u.c.ker that dares to talk to you?”

She would have loved to tell Cole to take a hike. Take his offer and shove it where the sun doesn't s.h.i.+ne. Berate him for dragging her away from the party and then proceeding to f.u.c.k her against the wall, but she couldn't. How was she going to get mad at him for taking something she was glad to give? She feared she was walking into dangerous territory by getting more involved with him, but h.e.l.l, she was very involved already. She had feelings for him. Cole f.u.c.king her blind while emotionally keeping himself at a distance had been killing her, so she might as well get the whole package and try shattering that armor of his.

At her silence, he faltered. ”Unless you don't want me anymore-”

She reached for him and kissed him softly. ”I'd love to date you. Now let's go home, soldier. You can explain to me in depth how everything always boils down to s.e.x.”

”And then I'm spending the night and staying for breakfast,” he stated with that obey-me-or-else marine tone of his, his c.o.c.k still deep inside her.

She nodded. ”You're spending the night and staying for breakfast,” she repeated in a whisper. She'd missed that too, waking up to his scratchy morning voice. Starting her day with him by her side.

He lowered one of her legs to the floor, and, gaze glued to where they were joined, he slowly withdrew from her. She whimpered at the sight. He was all s.h.i.+ny from her juices, and even half-erect, he was impressive. The second he pulled out completely, c.u.m rushed down to her saturated folds and began trickling down her inner thigh.

He stared, mesmerized, brus.h.i.+ng his finger over the tracks his c.u.m was making. ”That's how it's supposed to be, baby. Your p.u.s.s.y dripping wet from my c.u.m.” He lifted his head and looked straight into her eyes. ”I don't want any condoms between us. Ever. I want to feel all of you. Skin to skin. I want you to take my c.u.m deep inside you when I f.u.c.k you. ”

She nodded. There was such intensity on his face, such longing, her chest tightened and she could barely draw a breath.

Cole kept her close by all the way home, touching and kissing her at every opportunity. With her hand securely in his, he walked her to his bedroom, where they undressed each other, his mouth almost never leaving hers. He brought her to the bed and wors.h.i.+pped her b.r.e.a.s.t.s with his tongue and fingers until her nipples were swollen and achy, and she was so hot and bothered she thought she was going to lose her mind if he didn't take her. Then he trailed down and settled between her legs, gently opening her folds and licking her s.e.x, lapping at her swollen c.l.i.t with his tongue until she dissolved in wave after wave of pleasure.

”On your hands and knees,” he ordered as the spasms gentled.

She complied while he moved toward the dresser. Before she could see what it was he'd taken from the drawer, he was out of her sight and the bed dipped behind her.

”You are so f.u.c.king s.e.xy. Arch your back for me, babe.” She opened her legs wider and did as he asked, lifting her a.s.s to him, giving him a perfect view of her weeping s.e.x. He growled and loomed over her, his breath hot in her ear. ”Yeah, sweetheart, like this. I'm going to f.u.c.k this s.e.xy body until you can't walk straight.”

He kissed her neck, her shoulder blades, and then traced her spine with his lips and teeth while his fingers delved into her core and moved up to spread her lube on her rear. Her legs began trembling.

”I'm just going to play a little, sweet thing. Make you feel good,” he whispered as his finger penetrated her rear. Slowly. First one, then two. Ma.s.saging the ring of muscles and pressing against the inner walls. Never going too deep.