by Cecilia Lane
“I need neat and orderly. It helps keep my bear calm,” he said, watching her take in details of his life.
She had the distinct impression he was feeling her out and judging her reaction. When she didn’t give him anything but a tiny bit of surprise, he relaxed enough to take a seat.
“Tell me about it.” She followed him, curling her legs under her and resting an elbow on the back of the couch.
He gave her a look. One where his eyebrows shot together and his lips curled up into a smile. It said he had no worries, to ask him no questions, that everything was just fine in his life. That look was a well-practiced lie. She had one of her own that she gave to everyone over the years. It stung to be on the other side.
“Please?” She reached out and placed her hand on his shoulder before he could give her the denial that followed that sort of look. “I’m asking as a—your—”
Oh, she was mucking everything up. She didn’t know how to handle the ambiguous, tenuous, thing that had grown between them. She hurried on, ignoring her flushing cheeks. “I’m not doing research here. I shared with you. You can do the same with me.”
“Will you come here?” He pat his thighs and tilted his head in invitation. “Touch me, and you can have all my secrets.”
“That’s a big promise,” she said. Her heart sank onto the wings of butterflies that made up her stomach and she shifted once more. From the couch, to straddling him, with heat slithering through her veins.
Cole pressed her hands against his chest, holding them flat while his eyes slid closed. “My bear is restless. Unsettled. He wants to fight all the fucking time, and it doesn’t matter if it’s with me or with anyone else. I used to have everything sorted out and knew where I belonged. Then Pop got sick and Callum took over in the mayor’s office for a time, which meant I had to step up in the firehouse. It was a hard time for everyone and all that uncertainty made my bear nuts. But he was a damn beast even before then.”
His throat worked with his swallow and he slid his hands to her thighs. She kept contact with him, sliding her hands up and down his chest. Even through his shirt, she felt ripples of muscle. She stroked up and down, drawing tiny noises from him that curled pleasure hotly in her middle.
“Schedules, hard labor,” he continued, voice thick. “Those work. If I know what I’m doing and when, or tire myself out so there’s no fight left, I can have a little peace. He won’t rip at my insides and roar for blood.”
How many days had she worked herself to exhaustion? How many nights did she stay awake with memories she didn’t want to keep? His words could have come out of her mouth.
“Being around you, that’s the best solution. I’m not aching to tear into someone or seconds away from shifting. You quiet the animal inside me. You make me feel calm.” He raised his eyes to hers. “You’re not running. You don’t even smell afraid.”
“You make me feel brave.” She balled her hands into his shirt and pressed her mouth to his. He groaned and parted his lips, taking control as soon as she gave the smallest sign that she wouldn’t back away. He wanted her consent in everything before he would let his control slip and it drove her wild.
Darcy gave her a way out of Bearden, but she’d be crazy to take her up on the offer. Crazy to leave behind her research, but most of all, crazy to leave Cole. He’d dug his way into her heart and past all her defenses. He claimed a part of her that she’d unwillingly shared with someone else. Instead of wanting to run, she wanted more. She wanted normal. She wanted to feel whole.
She slid her palms up his shirt. He was hot to the touch. That soothed tight muscles up and down her body.
God, he made her feel drunk. She’d barely had anything to drink with dinner and only toyed with a bottle of cider at the bar. It was all Cole. He was the one making her head swim and daring her on.
He pulled away, eyes finding hers. “What is it you want, little bit?”
“I feel the same as you and your bear. You make me feel calm and normal.” Rylee licked her lips and pressed her forehead to his. “I can’t guarantee I won’t freak out, but I want to try for more.”
Relief, victory, and joy all played out in his eyes before they finally settled into molten, hungry gold. He brought his lips to hers again, kissing her softly. Testing and teasing at the same time. He wanted to see if she’d run, but she held firm.
A delicious groan rumbled in his chest and vibrated through her. He wound his arms around her, one hand going to the back of her neck and the other digging into her hip. He pulled her into his sphere and against the hard planes of his body, showing exactly how much he wanted her with a directed rock of her hips.
He was big and thick everywhere. Instead of frightening her, she wanted to sink into him. Let him wrap around her and keep her safe from every threat imaginable. He’d already pushed the broken pieces of her back together and now he was handing her the glue to keep herself whole.
Cole dragged his mouth over her skin, nipping at her neck. “This stops wherever you want. Understand me? The moment you smell of fear, the first time you breathe a hint of no, I stop.”
He kissed her between his words, nipped her flesh, sucked her and rubbed his stubbled cheek into the crook of her neck. Rylee nodded and even more weight lifted off her shoulders.
The world shifted as Cole stood. He carried her easily from his couch and into a dark bedroom. Excitement started her heart tripping in her chest. She’d met his lips and let him slide his fingers inside her. She could push her boundaries just a little bit further. And she trusted him when he said he’d stop the moment she stepped a toe over the line she wasn’t sure still existed.
Trust. It was such an odd thing to find in an even odder place. She never thought she’d be working with the supernatural, or falling for one.
Cole dropped her to the bed, then left her to turn on lights before she could even ask. He was all about her comfort, and she couldn’t see in the dark like he could. She appreciated the gesture; she wanted to ground herself in him and not let ghosts in the dark terrify her into stopping.
He knelt on the floor between her legs and ran his fingertips slowly up her ankle, up her shin, lightly over her knees. He pressed his palms against her thighs and skimmed higher and curled his fingers around her waist. He hesitated slightly, with his fingers heating the small of her back and his eyes boring into her. When she didn’t flinch, he dragged her shirt up and over her head.
“Do you know what happens next? What I’m going to do to you and make you feel?” Cole’s touch was fire blazing a path back down her body and to the front of her jeans. He held her eyes when his fingers worked open the button, then dragged down her zipper.
Brave. He made her brave. And stupidly hot as he rolled her jeans down her legs. Still, her cheeks flamed red. “I know how sex and foreplay work. I’ve watched porn before.”
A growl rumbled in his chest and he turned hungry eyes on her. “Tell me. What did you like?”
“When they, and you, ah...”
He leaned into her, his thumbs stroking the place where her legs met her body. Slowly dipping toward her center and slowly teasing her. “I have to hear you say the words, little bit. Need to know it’s what you want.”
She melted just a bit more. He was perfect. “I liked when you used your fingers on me. And I liked knowing you wanted to taste me. I want you to start here.” She pushed a palm up her body and cupped her breast.
Cole mirrored the motion on her other side, gold eyes dropping to her chest and a growl on his tongue. He reached behind her and skillfully unsnapped her bra and then she was bare for him. His growl grew louder in her ears, but it didn’t fill her with fear. She wanted more and he was there to oblige.
She arched into his touch and her hand fell away when he leaned forward to pull her nipple between his lips. He cupped and squeezed her breast, lapping and licking her nipple, until her mouth fell open with a soft moan.
He moved to her other breast, repeating his ministrations. His fre
e hand ran down her ribs and raised the fine hairs all over her body with his delicate touch. Over her waist, squeezing her hip. Rylee sucked in a breath when his fingers eased under the edge of her panties and dipped into her center.
Rylee turned her head into her shoulder and mewled something high and breathy. God above, he was overwhelming her in the best way possible. She didn’t have time to think of anything else when he was steadily building pleasure in her.
He released her nipple with a wet pop and then his hair tickled her thighs. Air exploded out of her lips and liquid heat slicked her core. He dipped his fingers into her and followed that up with a long, slow lick that made her eyelids flutter shut.
“Even better than I imagined,” Cole groaned between strokes of his tongue.
Shivers rippled up and down her spine. His words tethered her to the world, otherwise she’d float right away.
He plunged his fingers into her, no longer teasing. Each relentless stroke left her trembling. One swipe of his tongue after another crashed unbelievable pleasure over her. She wanted to drown in it. She never wanted it to end.
“Cole,” she panted, loving that his name on her lips drew a growl out of him. He made her feel like the sexiest creature alive, acting like he wanted to do nothing more than taste her and touch her.
Deeper. Faster. Harder. And then she exploded. Her moan morphed into a sudden cry and she arched hard against him. He growled when her hands dug into his hair, pushing his tongue deep inside as she throbbed hard.
“You okay?” Cole asked, kissing a trail up her body. He swallowed hard. His voice was too thick, too full of his bear. He didn’t want to intimidate her. He wanted her as relaxed as she’d been in the throes of her release. Fuck, he wanted her head thrown back and his name burning her lips as he buried himself again and again inside her.
But she stiffened when he rose from between her legs and pressed her back against the bed. The faintest whiff of fear entered the cloud of her arousal and soured the mood. Oh, his cock was still hard as a fucking rock and he was desperate to be wrong about that stinging scent, but the silence lengthened and scared the shit out of him.
Bear roaring in his head and wanting to go to war with the world to kill everyone who might give Rylee a frown, Cole rolled to his back and pulled her across his thighs. They’d found the line and he wouldn’t push her, just as he promised. He liked this position better. He could watch her, touch her, gauge her reaction.
“You’re perfect. This is perfect,” he assured her. “You’re in control.”
Another pensive silence and he wanted to kick himself. She was backing away, shutting down on him. He wanted to wedge himself in that door she’d cracked open. Show her the world wasn’t as dark as she’d been taught.
“You’re wearing too many clothes,” she finally said, biting her lower lip.
Cole searched her face. Big, blue eyes stared back at him under disheveled bangs. That stinging hint of fear faded fast and sweet, sexy arousal once again filled his nose.
He leaned up and ripped his shirt over his head, not needing to be told twice when his mate wanted him.
He couldn’t even push back on his bear leaking the wrong words into his head. She was his. She belonged in his bed, in his den. And he belonged in her.
He urged Rylee up just enough for him to shove his pants down his thighs. Arrogant pride filled his chest at her sucked in breath when he unsheathed his cock. “Like what you see, little bit?” he smirked.
Oh, she did. Her eyes went wide and her tongue flicked out to wet her lips.
“Touch me,” he ordered.
She wrapped her hand around his shaft and stroked him up and down.
Cole fell back, pillowing his head on his arms. She was so fucking hot with her hair bouncing around her shoulders and her glasses tilted just slightly out of place. But most of all, her hands ringing his dick made him throb.
“I’m in control, right?” She leaned forward, hair tickling his chest. Another stroke of his cock and she kissed the tip of his nose.
Holy fuck. He liked being in control. He needed it. But she could boss him around the bedroom all she wanted if she kept looking at him with those sultry eyes. He nodded.
“I want you inside me.” She licked her lips again and pushed down that tiny flicker of uncertainty. And with it gone, she rose up on her knees and fit his head against her entrance.
Cole thought he was going to die. His heart thumped as fast as hers as she slid slowly over him, eyes closed and a tiny, sexy smile lifting her lips. She sucked in a shuddering breath the moment she settled against him. Her eyes popped open a second later, and she reversed her path.
Fuck, she was tight. And wet. And hot. He was already addicted to the sensation of her gripping his dick. This was a bad, terrible, best fucking idea in the world.
He rose up, abs flexing with the movement. He closed an arm around her, hand cupping her shoulder and dragging her back down his shaft. He guided her movements, showed her how to ride him. “Do you know how good you feel?” he mouthed against her throat.
“Do you?” Her tiny laugh morphed into a moan on his next thrust.
By the Broken, she was fun to fuck. He needed someone who would laugh with him one moment and pant his name the next. Sex needed to be fun and hot and sweaty and—
“Cole,” she moaned again and had his entire attention.
Her mouth fell open, and she tightened around him. He guided her up and down his cock, short, shallow thrusts designed to bump her clit when their hips bucked together. She trembled, tiny little shakes as pleasure built inside her. Red flushed her cheeks and spread down her neck and across her chest.
He leaned forward and sucked a nipple between his lips, spilling another mewling moan into the air. His balls drew up tight against his body and he knew he was as close as she was to going off. He wanted to feel her pulsing around him.
“Mine,” he growled, just as her head fell back with a silent cry. She tightened around him, squeezing him in the most intimate embrace possible, and he emptied himself in her with a roar of his own.
He pressed his lips to her neck, right where a claiming mark would go, and barely wound a chain around his bear before he set his fangs against her flesh.
Close. Too fucking close. Too tempting. Too fucking perfect.
He smoothed her hair away from her face, kissing her lips and cheeks and nose. He settled her glasses back where they belonged. She breathed hard and heavy, and he scented the air again and again.
No fear.
Chapter 16
Cole sucked air down his lungs and took the bottle of water from Callum with gratitude. After a swig, he ducked his head under the nearby waterfall and scrubbed his hair clean. The fresh water felt good on his skin after running the border deep into the mountains.
Leah had caught Rylee sneaking out of his cabin that morning and insisted on being the one to aid her walk of shame before they met up with the Holden sisters for brunch. Cole almost pitied Pierre for the storm of squealing that was about to hit his restaurant.
With nothing better to do, he agreed to run a section of the border with Callum. The first half would be in their human forms, then they’d head home on four paws. And maybe by then, Leah and her band of troublemakers would release Rylee from their clutches and he could have her to himself again. His bear rumbled an agreement.
Rylee hadn’t been able to sleep naked, which was a loss. That she stayed the night and slept in a shirt of his was a win in his book. A very sexy, very delicious win.
“You’re thinking about her again,” Callum teased.
Cole shook his head and sent droplets of water flying everywhere. “Fuck off. Am not.”
“Your pheromones are going haywire and fucking hell, man. Keep that thing hidden.” Callum raised his hand to block Cole from the waist down.
“I say again. Fuck. Off.” Cole raised his middle finger toward his brother and adjusted his pants. He wasn’t that hard.
He was glad
Callum insisted on them running. He hadn’t spent much time with the clan while he was following Rylee around and making sure she was safe. Or spying, if he gave Olivia’s job description any heed. Regardless, his bear felt a touch more relaxed now that they’d burnt off a bunch of energy in the presence of their alpha.
Not only that, but he was happy to spend time with his brother. Callum filled many roles in his life and the clan, so it was a rare treat for just the two of them to do something together. Not that he’d ever breathe a fucking word to Callum or any of the others in the clan. He knew where the line was between acceptable and sappy behavior. Callum could follow Leah around with big moon eyes, but Cole wouldn’t be accused of being tied to his brother’s apron strings.
Cole took a seat on a nearby bench and took a look around while Callum doused himself in the cool water. The trees were in full bloom and the water looked gorgeous rushing down the side of the mountain. There was a reason why many in Bearden used the area as a romantic date spot. Maybe he should make plans to bring Rylee.
“How did you know, with Leah? How did you know she wasn’t just some human and you wanted to mate her?”
“You know how it is. Your beast takes notice and hates you every moment you don’t let him near the woman. You can’t breathe without her, and it’s even harder when you’re near. Instinctive urges to protect and provide.”
“Yeah, but, how did you know? Leah was human. It’s different. It’s... She wasn’t part of our life.”
Callum clapped a hand on his shoulder and pulled the bottle from his hands. He refilled it under the waterfall, sliding a glance toward Cole while he waited. “My bear knew before me. Started sending me all these images of Leah with both a mate mark and a bite mark. I couldn’t stop thinking about her. Couldn’t wait to be near her again. And the thought of her leaving, on her own or because of her asshole fae ex, drove me mad. I was ready to follow her out of the enclave, if that’s what she wanted.”
