Surrender My Love (Love in Bloom: The Bradens): Cole Braden

by Melissa Foster

He dragged his tongue over her lower lip. “Want me to stop?”

  “No,” she said breathlessly.

  “Thank fucking God.” He sealed his lips over hers again, resting his powerful thigh over hers and trapping her against the mattress as he brought her right up to the edge again.

  Her nails dug into the backs of his biceps as she tried to lift her hips, to take his fingers deeper instead of allowing him to continue the exquisite torture he was bestowing on her.

  “Does my girl want to come?” he taunted.

  “Yes. Hell, yes!”

  She didn’t have to ask twice. In a few perfectly placed strokes, she was crying out his name, rocking off the mattress, and mauling his mouth. She needed more of him, all of him. As the last of her orgasm vibrated through her, she pushed him onto his back and straddled his hips. He cupped her breasts, leaning up beneath her to love her nipples with his mouth and hands.

  “God, I love your mouth.” She buried her hands in his hair, holding his mouth to her breast as he took her up, up, up again with nothing more than his mouth on her breast and the friction of his cock against her wet flesh. She rocked along his hard length.

  “You’re killing me,” he growled. “I need to make love to you. I need to be buried deep inside you and feel you tight and wet around me. I need to feel you come.”

  She shook her head and slid down his body, lying between his legs. She stroked his cock, licking the tip, teasing him, enjoying the feeling of knowing her confident, always-in-charge man was hers for the taking. Finally, she lowered her mouth over him, tasting herself, then the overpowering taste of maleness. Of Cole. She stroked and sucked, feeling him swell impossibly bigger in her grasp. He pumped his hips with every stroke, groaning and making her even wetter with his sexy sounds. When she lowered her mouth to his balls, he fisted his hands in the sheets.

  “Fuck. Fuck, Leese,” he said between gritted teeth. “You’re gonna make me come.”

  She didn’t relent. Instead she moved slowly over his erection, holding it straight up in front of her mouth. With her eyes set on his, she licked him from base to tip. He groaned as she swirled her tongue over the swollen crown.

  “See? I can inflict torture just as well as you can.” She stroked him with her hand and moaned just to feel his cock twitch. Oh, how she loved knowing she turned him on so much.

  “Leese, you’re playing with fire.”

  “I like it hot,” she said seductively, taking him in deep and earning another heady groan.

  “I want to make love to you.” He eyed the open box of condoms on the bedside table.

  She crawled over him in what she hoped was a sexy, catlike move, and retrieved one. After she’d sheathed him, he lifted her easily, and she felt every inch of him fill her as he lowered her until she was fully seated.

  “Come here, angel.” He gathered her against him and kissed her passionately as she gyrated her hips. He rocked in time to her efforts, and her breathing hitched with the immense pleasure rolling through her.

  “So…good,” she said between kisses.

  Cole moaned in agreement. His hands clutched her hips, guiding her, quickening her efforts. Lust coiled low in her belly, circling her waist and climbing her spine, spreading like sharp pricks in her nipples, and finally—Lord, finally—she shattered around him. Cole thrust in deep, clutching her hips, keeping her tight against him as he found his release. She collapsed atop him, their bodies slick with sweat, each gulping for breath. He gathered her hair over one shoulder and pressed a kiss to her heated skin.

  “You do me in, Annalise Avalon. You totally, completely destroy me.” He lifted her chin, and the look in his eyes was overwhelmingly alive with emotion. He swallowed hard, as if he were trying to push past the strength of his feelings.

  Without another word, he swept her beneath him, cocooning her body within the powerful confines of his. He brushed his thumb over her lips and searched her eyes. She wondered if he saw how full her heart was.

  “You’re feeling it, too, aren’t you?” He pressed a tender kiss to her lips.

  “Am I that transparent?”

  “Like a window,” he teased. “I feel it more than see it. The look in your eyes is still cautious, but the way you’re holding me…”

  She realized she’d wrapped her right leg around his, and her hands were splayed on his back, holding him tightly to her. She trapped her lower lip between her teeth to stifle her guilty smile.

  “Don’t tell anyone,” she whispered, only half teasing.

  He moved to her side and gathered her in close. Just as she began to dose off, he whispered, “I want to tell the world.”

  Chapter Fourteen

  THE NEXT FEW days Cole and Leesa spent every minute they could together. They took walks on the beach, had dinner by candlelight, and Cole taught her how to strum a few chords on the guitar, but that usually led to them kissing, which led to touching and much, much more. He tried to get over to Mr. B’s during his lunch hour, when he had one, so they could steal a few minutes together during her breaks, and thankfully, she’d been spending the nights with him, too. She’d become less cautious with him, but the haunted look in her eyes when they were out remained.

  It was Friday afternoon, and he and Leesa were planning to take his boat out overnight. He hoped that being away from people would help her relax. On the water, there was no one to worry about but the two of them.

  He was reviewing charts in his office when his cell phone rang. Hoping it was Leesa, he smiled as he picked it up, and that smile turned to a stiff line when Mackenna’s name appeared on the screen. If there was one person savvy enough to dig up dirt on Leesa out of spite, it was Kenna. It was time, once and for all, to deal with her.

  “Kenna,” he said flatly when he answered the call.

  “That’s hardly a kind greeting to the woman you dated for two years.”

  He sighed. Was she really going to push this, even after the other night?

  “Can we please stop this game playing?” he asked. “Why are you suddenly interested in me again after all these years?”

  “It’s not sudden, Cole. I’ve never stopped being interested in you. But I knew I had to get things out of my system before you’d even consider seeing me again. And I have.” Her tone softened, and he’d be lying if he didn’t admit that the tightening in his gut did, too. He felt bad for her and her delusions. There was no way in hell he’d want to go out with her again, whether he was seeing Leesa or not. But he’d probably always have a soft spot for Kenna, a sense of feeling sorry for her, really, because she was obviously searching for something that had gone unfulfilled. Although that soft spot was no longer in his heart and would never be again.

  “Kenna, there’s nothing left between us. I’m sorry.”

  She sighed loudly. “You’re still hung up on my wanting an open relationship? Cole, we both needed that time to get the wildness out of our systems.”

  Maybe she was right. He’d thought about that over the years. Even thought she’d done him a favor. And now that he was with Leesa, he knew she had. Leesa filled him with emotions that Mackenna never had, and more than that, to Leesa he wasn’t an afterthought. Even if she wasn’t ready to admit it yet, he knew he was quickly becoming her everything, just as she’d become his.

  “Cole? Don’t you agree?” Kenna asked, bringing his mind back to the conversation.

  “Yes, maybe you’re right. We were young and we probably needed that time to grow up.” But while I was growing up, you were proving who you really were. He had a feeling she’d never let this go, and he had no choice but to bring it all out in the open. “That’s not what solidified the end of our relationship. It was what you did to Beth.”

  Silence filled the airwaves.

  “You found out about that?” Her voice was thin, shaky.

  “Yes. Beth and I were the reason you and I met, remember?” He paused. She remained silent. “Kenna, family is everything to me, and the fact that you’d hurt your sister l
ike that tells me who you really are.”

  “Who I really am? I was a kid, Cole.” She raised her voice, and he pictured her eyes narrow and angry, as they’d been the other night.

  He looked out the window, reminding himself that they needed to have this conversation to finally put an end to her hope.

  “Age is a poor excuse, Kenna. And it’s just that, an excuse.” He checked his watch. “I have patients to see. Can we just move on from this? Please? I don’t want to have to worry every time we run into each other.”

  “No, I guess you wouldn’t, would you? You’ve always been too wrapped up in yourself, your schooling, and now your work to deal with anything or anyone else.”

  “Kenna, I’m not going there with you.” He knew she’d been jealous of the time he’d spent studying, and maybe he hadn’t given her enough attention back then, but that was a long time ago, and he didn’t regret focusing on his studies.

  “Why, Cole? Because your only excuse was that you were young and stupid, too?”

  Cole rose to his feet, pacing in front of the window, looking over the town where he’d grown up, the only place he’d ever wanted to settle down. But no longer did he think of Kenna when he walked through the streets, or while he sat on the beach at night, like he had the summer they’d broken up. He knew she’d never understand what he was about to say, because to Kenna, college was about fun and sowing her wild oats, while to Cole it was about achieving the grades to get into medical school and pursue his career. But he’d never been a liar, and he wasn’t about to start now.

  “No, Kenna. Not because I was young and stupid. I’m sorry if I hurt you, or didn’t give you the attention you deserved, but I was at school to learn. To study and make it into medical school. The rest…well, I was perfectly content with just one girlfriend. I didn’t need more the way you did. Now, I hope we can put this behind us and move on. I have patients to see.”

  As he ended the call, he had a twisting feeling in his gut that this wouldn’t be the last he heard from her. He couldn’t worry about that now, though. He had Elsie Hood’s follow-up appointment to tend to. And then a blissful weekend with Leesa.

  Cole sat across from Martin, Ann, and Elsie with one goal on his mind—getting Elsie proper treatment for her pars fracture, which the test results verified. When the Hoods had entered his office, they’d brought with them tension so thick Cole could cut it with a scalpel. Elsie sat between her parents, fidgeting with the fray on the edge of her shorts, her eyes trained on Cole’s desk. Her father sat pin straight, rigid, as if he were preparing for a debate. Ann clutched the arm of the chair in her left hand. Her right hand rested on the arm of Elsie’s chair.

  It was times like these that Cole wondered what it must feel like to be a parent, torn between doing the right thing for a child’s well-being and coming between that child and her dreams.

  He and his siblings had been involved in every sport growing up, from football and baseball for the boys, to gymnastics and swimming for Shannon. Tempe hadn’t been into aggressive sports, but their mother had insisted that she choose something. She’d chosen golf and sailing. Cole was well aware of the hours and commitment it took from the family for typical sports, and he knew serious athletes practiced upward of three hours a day, some as much as seven days a week. Hell, he’d been one of those. And for Elsie, he’d learned during the initial exam, much of that practice meant leaving home at four thirty in the morning to get to the gym before school.

  Elsie’s chance at this year’s Olympic tryouts wasn’t just about Elsie and her success. This was about the hours and lifestyle her parents had given up in order for her to succeed, and Cole had a feeling that wasn’t going to be put aside easily.

  “Thank you for coming back to discuss the findings. The tests confirmed that Elsie has a subacute pars fracture of the lumbar spine, bilateral at the fifth lumbar level. This means that there is a fracture on both sides of the lumbar vertebra.”

  “Subacute?” Ann furrowed her brow and reached for her daughter’s hand.

  Cole was thankful that one of the two parents thought to help their daughter through the diagnosis. He paused for a moment while she gave her daughter’s hand a comforting squeeze.

  “Subacute. This means that the fracture occurred roughly six weeks to several months ago.”

  Elsie kept her eyes trained on his desk, her free hand now fisted tight.

  “Elsie?” Worry filled her mother’s eyes.

  Elsie remained quiet.

  “Elsie, do you remember having pain prior to a few weeks ago?” Cole knew she must, even if it had felt only like a pulled muscle. This type of fracture could not go unnoticed for so long. What he didn’t know was whether Elsie had complained and her father had disregarded her or pushed her through the pain, or if this was Elsie’s battle, supported by her father. Her mother seemed too surprised by the suggestion for it to be a feigned reaction.

  “I don’t remember.” She finally lifted hopeful eyes and asked, “But you can fix it, right, Dr. Braden?”

  He smiled to put her at ease and because, yes, he believed they could heal her injury with the right treatment. “Yes, Elsie. At your age, your spine is still growing, and bone-to-bone healing is not only possible, but if treated correctly, you should be able to compete again next year.”

  “Next year?” Martin snapped. His beady eyes narrowed. “Olympic trials are in two months.”

  Cole nodded. “Yes, I’m aware.” He folded his hands on the desk and leaned forward. “Mr. Hood, your daughter’s injury is not a pulled muscle. It can’t be fixed with a week of downtime. Bones need time to heal, and with a fracture of this type, at this stage, they need to be stabilized during the healing process. I can’t, in good conscience, recommend anything less than a thoracolumbosacral orthosis, or TLSO, in combination with anti-inflammatories, and of course, limited activity.”

  “We came to you because we were told that you had other treatment options available. You came highly recommended by other athletes,” Martin said with an accusing tone and a stare to match. “Isn’t there a surgery you can do that would fix this quicker?”

  Cole reined in his irritation at this man’s complete disregard for his professional opinion. “Mr. Hood, back surgery is serious business and not something we recommend unless we see that less-aggressive treatments aren’t effective first. In addition, recovery from back surgery is not any easier than what I’m recommending.” He turned his attention to Elsie, wanting to help her understand the treatment as much as her parents. “Elsie is a teenager. Her body is still growing, and healing naturally is always a better option for patients Elsie’s age. I realize that this puts a hitch in her plans, but once healed, after she demonstrates full range of motion, strength, and is symptom free, she should be able to return to competing.”

  “Dr. Braden, how long do you think that might take?” Elsie asked.

  “It’s hard to say, Elsie. Anywhere from two to several months.”

  Her eyes filled with tears. “If I had felt something weeks earlier and I had come in, would that have made a difference?” She must have felt her father’s dark stare shift to her, because while her eyes remained trained on Cole, she said, “I’m not saying I did, but if I had?”

  “It’s always best to tend to injuries when they first occur,” Cole explained. He didn’t want her to feel guilty about something that he could guess was probably directed by her overbearing father, but she was an athlete, and she needed to understand the ramifications of not tending to future injuries in a timely manner.

  “The important thing is that you’re here now and your injury is treatable.”

  Martin rose from his chair. Fear filled Elsie’s eyes as her mother rose beside her while she remained sitting.

  “Thank you, Dr. Braden. We’ll take this under consideration,” her father said.

  Cole came around the desk. “Mr. Hood, I’ve already spoken to our orthotist, and he can see Elsie today to have her fitted for a brace and to d
iscuss—”

  “That won’t be necessary,” Martin said. “We’ll go home and discuss treatment options among ourselves, and then we’ll be seeking a second opinion. Thank you for your time.”

  “Mr. Hood, if not treated properly, your daughter could experience life-long pain. I hope you’ll give my suggestion serious consideration. There will be other competitions.”

  “Dad,” Elsie said, her eyes darting between Cole and her father.

  Martin looked at his daughter, his wife, then at Cole, and said, “Thank you for your time,” and left the room.

  “Come on, honey,” Ann said with a hand on Elsie’s shoulder.

  Elsie hesitated with a frightened look on her face. “Dr. Braden, are you pretty sure I’ll hurt like this forever if I don’t do this treatment?”

  Cole hated to say it, but he owed her the truth. “Unfortunately, if you continue practicing with your injury, I’m afraid the pain will get worse, Elsie.” He lifted his eyes to Ann. “I’m sure your parents will help you make the right decision.”

  She looked up at her mother. “Mom?”

  “Thank you, Dr. Braden.” Ann held her hand out to shake Cole’s hand, and when he did, hers trembled. “I’ll speak with my husband.”

  Some patients moved in and out of Cole’s office like a gentle breeze, smooth and easy. As he watched the Hoods walk away, he felt the power of a gale-force wind follow them out.

  ***

  LEESA SAT IN the parking lot of Jazzy Joe’s Café with her heart in her throat and her cell phone pressed to her ear as she listened to her friend and previous coworker, Lena Bail, tell her about Andy. Leesa was meeting Tempe in a few minutes to discuss the Girl Power group. She’d thought Lena was calling her to chat, but boy was she wrong. She knew from the tone of her voice during their brief catch-up on how Leesa was doing in Peaceful Harbor that Lena’s call was not a social one.

  “Annalise, I’m worried about Andy.”

  Leesa held her breath, both soaking in the comfort of hearing her given name said so naturally and from the sound of her friend’s voice and rattled by the thought that Andy wasn’t doing well.