My chest tightens as I contemplate my response. I’m not good at this stuff. I never have been. I hate being vulnerable. Ihate letting myself feel, but I’m pretty sure Cole just held back for me and that makes me want to open up for him.
“I’m… I’m proud of you. That had to have been really hard. That guy at the store is a mess.” I grip the door handle as I talk.
He stays silent for a while, staring at the road ahead, his hands gripping the wheel tighter. Maybe I’ve said something wrong. I’m not sure proud was the right word to use. I should’ve used a different word or maybe I should’ve said nothing at all.
“Tess, I have to tell you something.”
“Okay…” My stomach churns. This is the part where he tells me he made a mistake earlier, that I’m cramping his style, and that he doesn’t want to be attached to someone.
It’s good if he says all this now. It saves us both the unpleasant aftermath of a broken dream. No one likes their hopes crushed, and I decided to go back to New York anyhow. That’s what makes the most sense.
“What’s up?” I finally say.
He draws in a deep breath and relaxes his shoulders, glancing toward me for a moment before drawing his gaze back toward the snowy road. “I’ve been in this world for a long while. I’ve seen good days, bad days, and every day in-between. The day we just spent together was the best day of my life and I don’t want it to end. You make me want to be a better man. You make me see a future I didn’t think was possible, and I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want to take you back to my cabin, tie you up, never let you leave, and keep you safe for the rest of eternity.” He sighs and brushes his big hand through his wet hair. “I want to help you forget every bit of pain from your past, Tess, but I know how important the city and the library is to you, and I don’t want to be the reason you give up everything you’ve worked so hard for.”
My throat tightens, and for a second, I can’t breathe, but the words tumble out regardless. “I want you too, Cole.” I turn toward him. “I mean I’m scared,really, really scared, butyou’re,” I swallow hard and try to compose myself, but the words keep bubbling out, “everything I’ve ever wanted. You’re funny, and kind, and tough, and I don’t know,” tears streak down my cheeks without invitation, “you make me want a life out here. You make me wantthis.”
Joe pushes into Cole’s driveway, clearing us a path, then turns back, waving as he heads out into the storm toward his own home.
The truck idles in the driveway, headlights washing over the cabin like a spotlight, as snow whirls a curtain of white between us and the rest of the world. Cole shifts in his seat, his hand flexing on the wheel. “Tell me again you want this, Tess.”
“I want this, Cole. I want you.” My voice shakes as I speak and my limbs tingle. I’ve never felt like this before. I’ve never wanted anyone so badly.
“That’s all I needed to hear,” he says, killing the engine of the truck before making his way around to help me out.
The silence of the engine highlights the howl of the wind as Cole cracks open my door and tugs me into his arms. My feet never touch the ground. He hauls me up over his shoulder like a sack of flour and carries me through the snow, up onto the front porch, and into the warm cabin he calls home.
I’m not sure what to expect next but I figure it’ll be a tour of the house, a history of how it was built, a few funny anecdotes, and an introduction to the old German Shepard I see laying by the fireplace. Instead, he kicks the snow off his boots and balances me carefully while he tucks them neatly by the door, then carries me past the Christmas tree, down the hall, and to the room on the right with the camo sheets and the gun safe.
I’m not sure what it is about this moment that makes me smile, but I do. The biggest, widest, brightest smile. The kind of smile I haven’t felt in years, maybe ever.
Cole tosses me onto the bed and catches my reckless little grin. “I could get used to that,” he says, lifting my legs one at a time to tug off my boots. “You going to keep smiling like that while I make you mine?”
My brows narrow playfully. “Make me yours? Are you a caveman?”
“Oh, I’m a caveman.” He grins and leans into my neck, biting me playfully. “I’m a dirty fucking caveman, and I’m going to claim you, Tess. I’m going to claim your pretty little body, then I’m going to hold you close and protect you always.”
My smile twists into something softer. Something that feels an awful lot like forever, and though all I’ve ever known of love is pain, right now, I truly believe the Hallmark movies might be right.
Cole leans down, his hands rough and urgent, though moving with care.
I bite my lip against a moan and watch his perfect body as it moves for me, our clothes now stripped to the ground, both of us laying bare for one another.
I lied when I said I wasn’t impressed by abs. I’m impressed.I’m really impressed.
And while abs are impressive, his massive cock is proof of a higher power. As he shifts his weight, it’s like it takes a full second for the movement to travel from the base to the tip. As Cole runs his teeth against my nipple, I can feel it nudging against my stomach.I’m not going to make it.
I trace the lines of his chest, the hard muscles rippling with every move. I’ve never wanted anyone like this, and I want every inch of him.
No, Ineedevery inch of him pressing between my thighs, and I need him now.
Chapter Ten
Cole
She lays before me, eyes wide, hair spilling like fire across my sheets. I’m sure we’re moving too fast, that I should slow down, that I should make sense of life before I make her mine, but that’s the thing… life doesn’t make sense without her now. I know that whole-heartedly and without a shadow of a doubt. This woman is mine. She’s the one I see a wedding with, kids with, a life with.
I run my hand down her throat slowly, studying how my slightest touch arches her body. Every curve begs for exploration. I let my hands settle on her hips as I run my kisses down her stomach and over her pussy. Slowly, I let my tongue separate her lips and find the areas that make her squirm. As I run my tongue around her swollen clit, I wait for those silent shifts in her body that tells me she likes what’s being touched, likes how I feel, and then I lock my grip into her hips.
