Page 55 of Cole

“What a cop-out,” I murmured back finally. “It’s so much easier to accept fate, isn’t it? Funny, I didn’t take you for a pushover.”

My words made him jerk. He leaned away, his hand still cupping my face. He studied me a long moment and then grinned.

“Fuck, Goldilocks, you’re not afraid of anything, are you? Me, my brothers, fucking destiny…”

I couldn’t tell him right then that I was afraid, all the time. I was afraid of turning out like my mother, of being locked in matrimony to a man like my father. I was afraid of never seeing my dreams play out, of never getting my shot, and dying full of regrets. I didn’t tell him any of that, because right now wasn’t about me, but it was clear, even in my own head, how alike I was to this man. It was completely unexpected, and undeniable.

But then Cole spoke in that low, rumbling tone of his, and every other thought fled my head.

“You, Issy, make a man want to be better, even a man like me.” Then he kissed me. Hard and long, making me cling to him, my knees getting weak.

His hands fell to my waist and tugged my jeans and panties down.

“Haven’t you heard my new rules about wearing pants in this house?” he murmured as he let my jeans and underwear drop and kicked them away.

“No,” I whispered, enjoying this playful side to such an intense man. “What is it?”

“It’s pretty simple. You don’t, ever.” He lifted me onto the smooth, polished wooden counter behind me. A counter I just knew he’d hewn and polished with his own hands. How was that such a turn-on?

“People aren’t allowed to wear pants at your place?”

He shook his head. “You aren’t allowed to wear pants. Just you, Goldilocks.” His fingers moved between my legs, stroking my slit. “You still wet for me?”

God help me, I was. Then again, we’d only finished in bed a few hours before dawn.

Cole was pushing his jeans down and kicking them off, ripping another condom wrapper with his teeth and rolling it on.

“You like to get your money’s worth out of a box of condoms,” I murmured as he stepped forward and without prelude pressed inside me.

“Hmm, seven down, five to go,” Cole murmured, thrusting in shallowly, stretching me enough to sink farther inside. I clung onto his shoulders, and he snaked a hand between us, leaning away so we were only touching where his cock was pumping into me. He played with my clit, setting a hard pace.

I was coming again in less than a minute. My body was too primed for his touch to hold back. He fucked me mercilessly, fingering my clit while I screamed his name. He followed right behind, his dick pulsing inside me so hard, I could feel it despite the condom.

What really undid me was how fast he came too. A frenzied quickie where both of us could explode so immediately? It was chemistry I’d never felt before.

When he pulled out, I groaned, my underused muscles protesting.

Cole helped me down from the counter, and held me close, looking down at my naked body.

“You’re sore, aren’t you?” he reached down and snagged both our jeans at once. “Come with me.”

eighteen

COLE

Isabelle’s scream when she jumped off the rock into the water echoed off the surrounding cliffs. It was a calm day, and the water was like a pool.

“It’s so cold! You made it look warmer than this!” her accusing voice came to me.

I chuckled, floating over to her as she pushed her wet hair back. Fuck, she was somehow even more stunning soaking wet.

It was a small cove I often swam in. There was a natural rock jetty where you could jump into deep water.

“Cold is good for your muscles,” I told her, swimming away when she splashed me.

“It’s horrible and so are you!”

“Well, you can’t say I didn’t warn you.” I caught her around the waist and pulled her into my naked body. Her legs drifted around me naturally.