But with Cole’s help, the place has gone through quite a transformation already, and my star rating has improved significantly since I first took over. I couldn’t have done it without the man I’m currently preparing dinner for, and I don’t know how I’ll ever be able to repay him for his kindness.
I release a dreamy sigh while I give my carbonara sauce a final stir, remembering the way he’d taken control of my body so effortlessly. He played me like a damn fiddle, somehow knowing exactly how I like to be touched. When to ease off to draw out my pleasure and drive me mad with wanting him, and when to exert just enough dominance to push me over the edge. It’s like he has a direct line to my deepest, darkest desires and is determined to bring each and every one of my fantasies to life.
I never enjoyed Jason’s rougher side, but that’s because his pleasure laid in my pain. He got off on hurting me. Degrading me and letting me know I had little choice in the matter. Sex hadn’t been a positive experience then. It’s different with Cole. My broodyFBI agent thrives on driving me wild. Finding out just how many times he can bring me to orgasm in a single session is a challenge to him. It’s in the way his eyes flash with a mixture of lust and determination whenever I’m close. How he holds himself back, gritting his teeth to stave off his own climax, always making sure I’m left thoroughly satisfied before he allows himself to let go.
Cole Foster is perfection, in and out of the bedroom, and not for the first time, I catch myself wishing we’d met under different circumstances. Circumstances that would allow us to explore this intense connection we share and see where it leads.
I’m not ready to give up on the idea of us just yet, but I won’t pressure him into something he’s not ready for, either. I respect him too much for trying to protect my feelings and for not wanting to lead me on. But something in the way he looked at me, right after I brought him back from whatever faraway place he’d drifted off to earlier, lit a small flame of hope.
The way his whole demeanor changed once he’d snapped back into the here and now. How he’d fully immersed himself, staring into my eyes with the intensity of a thousand suns. I refuse to believe that my growing feelings for this man are one-sided. And maybe, with a little more time, he’d come to realize that finding true love, not once, but twice in one lifetime, isn’t the crime he thinks it is, but a rare gift worth treasuring.
I’m in the midst of draining the spaghetti noodles, waving a hand in front of my face to chase away the steam rising from the colander, when the doorbell rings. I’ve given Cole a spare key to get in and out of the building long ago, so he either forgot to take it with him when he left this morning—which wouldn’t be the first time—or it’s a new arrival hoping to secure a vacant cabin for the night. Either way, there’s only one way to find out, and I give the stove a cursory once-over, making sure all the burners are off before I grab my sweater and head downstairs.
I put on my customer service hat, bringing a friendly smile to my face in case it’s a potential paying guest, and swing the door wide. It takes my brain several seconds to process what I’m seeing, but when it eventually catches up to the rest of me, my expression falls, and I freeze, unable to form words around the terror clawing at my throat. Because the man staring back at me with cold, hard eyes is the last person I ever expected to see.
“Miss me, sunshine?” Jason drawls, and my entire body begins to tremble at the familiar sound of his voice before it finally snaps me into action. I go to shut the door, but Jason anticipates my move, shoving a thick biker boot into the doorway to keep it from closing. I don’t waste time trying to outmuscle him. I know I’m no match for him physically. Abandoning my efforts, I spin on my heel and dash for the stairs and the illusion of safety they provide.
If I can just get to the first floor and into my apartment, it’d give Cole the time needed to come to my rescue. And even though I doubt Scooby would attack my unwanted intruder, the mere size of him may be enough to make Jason think twice about following me inside.I just need to get to my phone, I tell myself as I skid around the corner. My arm shoots out, grabbing the handrail, and I take the stairs two at a time, breathing so hard I’m hyperventilating. Before I can get too far, a large hand wraps itself around my ankle and pulls with surprising strength.
I yelp, losing my footing and going down hard, hitting my forehead on the edge of the wooden step. Scooby starts barking aggressively, and I can hear him clawing at the door above our heads, but I know it’s no use.
“You really thought you could get away from me, didn’t you?” His menacing growl sounds close to my ear, sending chills down my spine. “That I’d let you humiliate me and not punish you for it? Oh, babygirl. I’m going to have so much fun showing you what happens to disloyal bitches like you.”
Jason flips me onto my back, painfully grinding my spine into the unforgiving steps, and I stare up at the man I once loved with round, fearful eyes. The anticipatory smile spreading over his lips as he looms over me like something out of my worst nightmare makes me sick to my stomach.
“I think it’s past time for you to learn your lesson,” he snarls, just before he pulls his arm back and everything goes black.
thirty
Cole
She’s gone.
That motherfucker took her. He took my girl. Snatched her up—in broad daylight—with me less than a mile away, and every second she’s with him is a second too long.
I’m going out of my mind with worry, as I pace the length of the bull pen of the Moose Harbor police department, clutching at my hair like a madman. The second the PI I’d hired to keep an eye on Jason Markham called to let me know he’d lost track of him, I dropped everything and bolted for the main building like my life depended on it. The debilitating terror that seized me once I realized he’d made his move made it hard to breathe. It was likereliving the worst moment of my life all over again, trying to get to the woman I love before the enemy could hurt her.
The woman I love.
Jesus Christ. Of all the times to come to that realization. I need a clear head more than ever right now if I want to get to Charlie before her ex has time to seriously harm her. I don’t have the mental capacity to open that can of worms, and I won’t be able to take a full breath, let alone think straight, until she’s back where she belongs.
Which is at my side, where I know she’s safe.
For a few moments following the call that sent my heart straight into my throat, I held a sliver of hope. Just because that idiot PI lost sight of his target didn’t necessarily mean Jason had gotten to Charlie. But when I stepped through the gaping front door of the main office, listening to the sound of Scooby’s frantic barking, my heart sank.
I hauled ass upstairs, bursting into the apartment, all but taking the door off its hinges. Ignoring the large dog running circles around me and yapping at my heels, I’d searched the rooms one by one, desperate to find even the smallest hint as to what might’ve happened.
When I came up empty and laid eyes on the meal still hot to the touch, I wanted to drop to my knees and scream my agony intothe heavens. Only the knowledge that the first twenty-four hours are critical when it comes to locating kidnapping victims kept me from sinking into despair.
I dug my cell phone out of my pocket and dialed her number, cursing under my breath when I followed the ring tone all the way to her bedroom, where it lay charging on the nightstand.
Leaving her place, I went on to comb the surrounding property, hoping her dope of a dog may catch her scent, but it was a useless endeavor. I checked the parking lot and every single one of the cabins. Her car was still there, so I knew she hadn’t left for town. In any case, she wouldn’t have abandoned our dinner to run an errand. I questioned Dave and the handful of guests currently staying on the premises, but no one had seen or heard anything suspicious.
I checked in with Dee on the off chance that she’d needed her friend, and Charlie, being the absolute angel she is, hadn’t hesitated to drop everything to be there for her, but no such luck. When I informed Dee of my suspicions, she promised to call the second she heard from Charlie, but I already knew she wouldn’t.
That was about the moment panic threatened to overtake me, but I pushed the useless emotion down. Locking Scooby into the apartment, I drove straight down to the station, where I’m presently leaving permanent skid marks on the cheap vinyl floorand feeling like I want to claw myself out of my own skin. The need to find her is so strong, I’m shaking with it as I bark at the chief of police, who’s staring at me like I’m a bomb two seconds away from blowing.
“What the fuck do you mean they can’t bring them in for questioning? One of these assholes knows where he is. He’s their goddamn president. He doesn’t do shit without his club knowing about it.”
