Cole’s voice broke through my spiraling train of thought and my eyes whipped to his. “What do you mean?”
“I don’t know. You started to look worried there.”
I giggled. “Okay, maybe I did.”
He nodded. “We’re going to sleep after we shower,” he announced.
He lightened the mood with teasing as we disentangled ourselves, and he dragged me into the shower with him, kissing me under the steaming water and then tossing me a towel when we stepped out. His eyes stayed on me as I dried off. I started to feel self-conscious and glanced over.
“Stop it,” I ordered.
He shook his head slowly. “No, ma’am.”
“Ma’am?”
He grinned. “I like looking at you, Adele. Is there something wrong with that?”
He was serious, and my heart twisted in my chest as I shook my head, relieved that my skin was already pink all over from the steamy, hot shower. A little while later, we fell asleep together.
Cole was warm and strong, his presence a comfort in a way I never expected.
Chapter Twenty-Three
COLE
Bathroom problems
When my bladder woke me, I had to orient my mind for a moment. I’d slept more deeply than I could even recall. It took me a minute to catalog where I was and who was curled up beside me.
As soon as I did, my lips curled into a smile in the darkness. The sound of Adele’s breathing was soft and steady. With her head tucked against my shoulder, her breath gusted over my skin. I didn’t want to move. At all. But I knew I had to—bathroom and all that.
I carefully shifted away, racing to the bathroom. Moments later, I made my way back to bed. She didn’t seem to have woken from me tiptoeing away. I climbed back under the covers, grinning, feeling almost giddy, when she shimmied against me, snuggling up tight and making a sweet little sound in her throat.
My mind kept replaying last night. Holy hell, everything with her felt so good. She’d surprised me by taking control. And yet, that shouldn’t have surprised me. I sensed Adele needed to feel like she wasn’t vulnerable, that she wasn’t giving in. That realization made my heart twinge.
She shifted against me again, and I held her close as I drifted back into sleep. This was the first night I’d spent in thisapartment since we all moved out after we rebuilt the resort. Somehow, Adele, in a single night, had wiped away the messy emotional baggage I carried about this space.
The next time I woke up, I rolled my head to the side, disappointed to see Adele had already gotten out of bed. But when I dragged my hand over the sheets, I could feel the barest hint of warmth lingering. So she hadn’t been up for that long. I heard the sound of the shower running, and I was on the move quick.
I was already aroused, my body humming with the knowledge that she would be bare under the water raining down over her. She’d left the bathroom door open, and when I walked in, I called, “Knock, knock?” She giggled in response, the sound muffled from the falling water. “Can I join you?”
Her answer was also muffled, but it was affirmative. By the time I stepped into the shower and she met my gaze, she commented, “Oh,” as her eyes dipped to my very evident arousal.
I shrugged unabashedly. “It’s all your fault.”
She giggled again, and I spun her out from under the water and pressed her against the shower wall. “Good morning, sweetheart,” I murmured between kisses.
My hands were greedy, savoring her curves, her tight little nipples. In all honesty, I was impatient, my craving for her riding roughshod over any restraint. I slid my hand down between her thighs to find her wet and ready.
“Well, good morning again,” I rasped, my voice low.
She gasped when I sank two fingers inside of her. “Adele?”
Her lashes lifted. The sight of her skin flushed with soap bubbles rolling over her and her lashes spiky wet nearly buckled my knees. “I need you now,” I bit out.
She blinked, her tongue sliding over her bottom lip before she whispered, “Please.”
Without waiting, I lifted her against the tiled wall, away from the water raining down. I lifted one of her knees upward, positioning myself at her entrance, just before sanity slammed into my brain.
