“I…” I swallowed and looked away. “I don’t know. I don’t normally have time to be lonely. What about you?”
He slowly trailed his fingertips up and down my arm. “DoIget lonely?”
“Yes. Doyouget lonely?”
“I guess I did.” His lips lifted in a salacious smirk. “Now I just get needy.”
My lower stomach tightened. “Needy?”
“Needy.” Cole put his hand on my knee and slowly slid it higher on my thigh. “Since that night. I can’t be lonely because it feels like you’re always with me, plaguing my mind. And so fucking needy because you’re never actually there for me to touch.”
I licked my lips when his hand stopped at the hem of my shorts, anticipation stealing my breath. I held his gaze and let his icy blue eyes rule me. When they dropped to my lips I felt like I’d been punched. Knowing that he wanted to kiss me, feeling it so strongly, made me careless. The only rule I could think of was whateverhewanted.
“Do you get needy, Callie?” His voice lowered enough that I found myself leaning into him so I didn’t miss a single sound he made. “Do you think of me and wish I was here to touch you?”
The hand on my thigh tightened for a moment and I paused, holding my breath to see if he’d move it closer to where I needed it. He didn’t budge, though, and I found myself shifting my legs open even so slowly and only enough that I didn’t think he’d notice but he was as tuned into my body as I was his.
“Seems like maybe you get needy, too, Cupcake.” He pulled me tighter to his chest and put both hands on my back. I waited forhis next move but he just held me. Even when his heart thumped against my cheek and his breathing sped up, he stayed respectful and followed my previous wishes. Damn him.
I stayed there, stiff as a board, with a growing damp spot in my panties that I would have to address as soon as possible. “I guess I should go to bed…”
He grunted and let go of me. When I moved to get up, though, he gripped my hips and used that grip to pick me up and put me down so I was straddling him. My blood turned to lava as he slid his hands around to my ass and jerked me forward. There was no hiding his erection with it trying to fight its way to me through his jeans.
I put my hands on his chest and leaned back, torn between begging him to fuck me and remembering I couldn’t do just that for some reason or another. “W-what-”
“Take what you want.”
23
Callie
He stretched his arms out along the back of the couch and stared up at me. “I’m yours, Cupcake. Use me however you want.”
Oh, god, there was something about seeing a man as big and tough as Cole offering himself up like he was that just made me a little feral. I told myself I wasn’t doing anything wrong as I ran my hands up his chest and over his shoulders. The muscles flexed under my palms. “W-what I want?”
The couch creaking brought my attention to how hard Cole was gripping the couch. My hand shook as I slid it down his shoulder and arm to slowly uncurl his. I brought his hand to my thigh and pressed it down hard so he knew what I wanted. His big hand easily gripped the top of my thigh with his thumb dipping to my inner thigh. The grip was hard enough to bruise and I wanted it to.
I took his other hand and pulled it to my chest while holding his gaze. The muscles in his neck were tense and his face looked strained but he let me do whatever I had in mind. His jawmuscles worked when I pressed his hand to the center of my chest. I could tell I was playing with fire but I wasn’t thinking about consequences right then. I was in a trance over Cole and my body had more control than my brain.
“Callie.” There was a warning in the way he said my name. I had his hand clutched to my body and we both knew it would be so easy for me to move it to either side of my body so he could cup my breasts. Each time I blinked I could see him at the riverbank that night, his hands and mouth full of my breasts. I’d had his teeth marks all over my flesh for days as a constant reminder of how much he’d loved my boobs.
“Cole.” I slowly leaned forward and pressed my lips to his cheek. I hovered for a beat and then kissed the spot just below. I moved my hands to his neck and held him as I breathed against his warm skin between kisses. With our faces so close, the butterflies in my stomach went crazy. The potential for finally getting what I wanted was too great. I moved my mouth slowly but steadily closer to his until I brushed the corner of his lips.
I moved to the other side of his face and did the same, tasting him with the briefest of touches from my tongue. His chest rumbled with a groan and he moved both hands to my ass to squeeze it hard. A moan slipped out before I could stop it but once that sound hung in the air between us, Cole quit pretending that he wasn’t always in control.
He tilted his head back enough to lock eyes with me. “Kiss me.”
I slid my hands into his hair and let out a whimper before doing as I was told. I pressed my lips to his and he didn’t disappoint. He pulled back a fraction of an inch and his eyes fluttered open like he’d just been given the most delicious dessert. Our breath tangled in that hair-thin space between us, his tinged with the beer he’d had earlier and mint. In the beat of a second I felt like we’d shared hours hovering that closely.
“Fuck.” That was Cole’s proclamation before slamming his lips over mine. The force of his kiss surprised me but I felt that same desperation. I met him with just as much neediness.
Sliding my hands into his hair, I gripped whatever I could. I only realized I was tugging his ears when he sank his teeth into my bottom lip and growled.
“Those are attached, baby.” His breathless growl kept me from laughing; he was too hot like that, more animal than man. His hands moved to my hips and he dragged me back and forth against his erection until we froze with our mouths open against each other’s. The feeling was too good, too strong to do anything other than let it happen.
Like my shirt was on fire, I jerked back and forcefully ripped it over my head and then did the same to Cole’s. His hands were on my breasts instantly, kneading them and plucking my hard nipples through my thin bra. Without his hands guiding my hips I took over. I gripped his shoulder and let my head fall back as I rode him. “Neck, Cole.”
His hands slowed as he seemed to come back into his control. He sat up and wrapped his arms around me so one hand was gripping the back of my neck. It only took seconds for him to get his mouth on my throat but it was still too long. He was rough with his beard and teeth against my sensitive skin and it was just what I needed. By the time he brought his lips back to mine I was sliding my hips back and forth in his lap fast enough that I knew the denim of his jeans would leave me sore the next day.
