I snorted a laugh. “I bet.”
“Now you’re the one wearing too many clothes.” His voice was low, the sensual tease contained within his words sending sparks scattering through me and butterflies twirling in my belly.
I yanked off my tank top and toed off my socks one at a time without even bending over. We stared at each other, almost as if we were taking each other’s measure. The next few moments felt like opposite forces. On the one hand, they flew by in a blink. On the other, the time moved so slow and hot it felt like warm honey sliding off the end of a spoon.
When my senses recalibrated, Cole had me stretched out on the bed. He was resting on one elbow and his palm was trailing over my belly. His knuckles curled lightly as his touch explored me. Every millimeter where he touched me sent sparks scattering in their wake. Goose bumps rose in a sharp tingling sensation all over, my nipples so tight they ached.
Cole’s fingers unfurled and trailed upward, lightly tracing over my scar. I experienced the ping of self-consciousness that I usually felt whenever someone noticed my scar, much less touched it. He was the only man I’d ever been with who deliberately touched it. With anyone else, it was an accident, and if they happened to notice, they jerked away as if touching a hot stove. My pulse raced a little faster, and my throat tightened with emotion.
I couldn’t quite believe it, but he honestly didn’t seem to care about my scars. His thumb moved downward in a stroke over it, the touch soft and feathering. My pulse hummed along, and sensation gusted through me.
When he dipped his head and dusted lazy kisses on the side of my neck, I arched into him and gasped. All the while, I kept scrambling to try to feel like I had some sort of control. It was a lost cause, especially when I felt his lips close over a nipple, giving me a hot suck. My fingers speared in his hair as I flexed into him.
He teased one nipple to madness before turning his attention to the other. By the time he lifted his head to drop a lingering kiss in the valley between my breasts, right over my cluster of scars, I was beside myself, panting.
“Cole…” I rasped. I was impatient and shifted to slide my hand over the hard ridge of his arousal.
I bit my lip, glancing toward him when I heard the hiss of his breath between his teeth and he let out a strangled sound. “Adele.” His voice held a hint of warning.
I suddenly needed this, needed to feel in control, savoring the feeling of having Cole at my mercy. Rolling to the side, I slipped a hand into his boxer briefs, curling my palm around the velvety hot length of his arousal.
“Oh my God, Adele,” he murmured.
I giggled as I gave him a little shove to push him on his back and straddled him. “I’m taking charge.”
His eyes locked to mine, dark and searching. It felt as if he was taking my measure, and I gave a little saucy shrug before sliding back and yanking his boxer briefs down.
Cole naked was a sight to behold. All of him was muscled. He had a smattering of dark hair on his chest, narrowing to a line down his abdomen. There wasn’t an inch of him that wasn’t fit. Aside from that first scar, I saw another on his shoulder, and another on the side of his knee. I traced my fingers over each before leaning down to press kisses on the heels of my touch, asking, “What happened?”
He cleared his throat, his breath a little ragged, as he gestured to his shoulder. “Me and a branch met. I was going too fast. Nothing horrible. My knee—a boulder; it won.”
I giggled again.
He suddenly got serious. “Adele…” he began.
“Just a sec.” I leaned down, curling my palm around his length, as I brought my lips to his crown. A hint of salt and tang danced over my tongue. His fingers tangled in my hair, and I savored the subtle sting on my scalp. I needed this. I needed to savor this. I’d never been with a man who felt this into me.
Cole seemed to actually want me, and I was enjoying this. Enjoying feeling like I could drive him as wild as he had already driven me. I felt like I could push him to the outskirts of his control and I wanted to.
Shimmying down farther, I took him in my mouth, sucking deep, gratified at the sound of the ragged groan of my name. I settled in, teasing and sucking. I could feel him getting closer and closer to the edge. His body was taut and shivering. His fingers tightened in my hair, and he said my name once more. But I could barely hear.
All I wanted was to push him all the way over. When I sucked him in once more, swirling my tongue along the back of his cock, he jerked, and his release spurted into my mouth and over my hand as I drew back. I teased a little bit more with another slow suck before I straightened and rose up to look down at him.
His eyes were dark, flashing with fire. “Fuck me, Adele,” he rasped, his tone reverent.
I giggled again. Only Cole had this effect on me. “We’re getting there,” I pointed out.
I loved his answering low chuckle. His hand slid down from my hair to rest on the curve of my hip.
“Do you need a few minutes?” I asked.
His eyes locked to mine, and I might as well have dared him. He shook his head. “Oh, no. Don’t you worry. Although I do need a condom,” he added.
Before I could open my mouth to say anything, he shifted, deftly rolling out from under me and scooping his jeans off the floor. A moment later, a condom landed on the bed beside me.
“Well, aren’t you prepared?” I teased.
He rolled his eyes. “Always. I’m a wilderness guide, a firefighter, and a first responder. I have to be prepared for all possibilities.”
