by Cathryn Fox
“Turn around,” she whispered.
Cole turned his back to her and braced his hands on the wall. Gemma lathered his cock, his backside and thighs before dropping to her knees to wash his calves. She slid back up his body and he sucked in a quick breath as her breasts scraped along his flesh.
“All done,” she murmured and reached for the shampoo. Cole turned to her and his smile was soft when he grabbed the bottle from her hand to do his hair.
“The reach might be kind of hard for you.” He washed his short hair quickly and gave her a playful roll of his eyes after rinsing. “Does everything have to be strawberry?”
Gemma laughed as he opened the glass door and reached into the cabinet to grab two towels. He tied his around his waist, then proceeded to pat her dry. Everything in his touch was so gentle, so caring, it had need clawing at her insides. Barely able to summon the strength to breathe, and craving the feel of him inside her again, she sucked in a quick, sharp breath.
When her chest heaved, he paused. “You okay?”
Not trusting herself to speak, she nodded. Hands skimming her curves, Cole wrapped the towel around her and guided her out of the shower stall. He picked her clear up off the floor and placed her on the counter before reaching for his clothes. He gave them a quick rinse in the sink, wrung them out and draped them over the shower to dry.
His warm scent filled her senses when he lifted her again to place her back on the floor. Dark eyes met hers and she stifled a yawn as the exhaustion of the night pulled at her.
“Come on,” he murmured, his voice drowsy, sexy.
Lost in the moment, lost in him, she entwined her fingers through his and let him usher her out of the small bathroom. She fell into step beside him and Cole led her to the sofa without speaking. He sprawled out and pushed far against the back before reaching for her. She lowered herself and he shifted, dragging her hard against him. “Let’s get some sleep,” he murmured into her ear, his thumb lightly massaging the inside of her wrist.
He spooned her, her body fitting perfectly against his. His hands tightened around her waist and she listened to the steady beat of his strong heart. She diligently willed her own to slow down as a surge of warmth flooded her veins. Emotions pressed against her, forcing her to breathe slowly. Everything in his gentle touch had her yearning for so much more from him because, when it came to her feelings for Cole, there was nothing casual about them. She wanted the boy from her childhood in ways she’d never wanted another. But she didn’t just want to be in his hands, she wanted to be in his heart.
Chapter Seven
Cole lay there for a long time holding Gemma until she fell asleep in his arms. Being with her like this reminded him of old times at the ranch when he’d hung out with Brandon. Equal measures of happiness and sadness hit him harder than flying pellets from an exploding IED and he worked to fight down the barrage of emotions before he became completely undone.
Once Gemma’s breathing regulated to a soft, steady rhythm, Cole cleared his mind and let exhaustion take over. He awoke a few hours later to the brilliant morning sunlight streaming into the lounge, the storm long gone.
Gemma shifted beneath him, then turned until she was facing him. The towel he’d wrapped around her last night fell open to expose her skin—soft, lush, creamy skin his fingers itched to caress again. Sleepy eyes blinked up at him. She looked so warm and sexy all he could think about was pulling her on top of him and spending the rest of the day inside her.
“Good morning.” She pushed her pelvis against his morning erection, which his cotton towel did little to hide.
Trying for casual, Cole brushed her hair from her face and her soft, throaty purr resonated through his body. “Sleep okay?”
She stretched and, if he wasn’t mistaken, she’d purposely positioned her sex against his. There was a suggestive edge to her tone when she responded with, “Yeah, how about you?”
He stifled a tortured growl. “Pretty good.”
“That was very sweet of you to help me last night.”
There was that word sweet again. “It’s what friends do,” he said. “It’s what Brandon would have wanted me to do.” At the mention of her brother, she brushed her hand over the back of her neck and the look in her eyes turned serious.
“Cole?”
“Yeah?” His gut clenched. He didn’t like the questioning look on her face, one that warned she wanted to talk—about him. If there was one person he didn’t like to talk about it was himself.
“Now that you’re back for good, what do you want?”
He shrugged. “No wars, no death, no loss.”
She poked him in the chest. “But what do you want?”
“I want to work, train the dogs, help out at the motorcycle shop.” She gave a small frown and he knew why. He’d purposely left her name off the list. Maybe that would show her he wasn’t so sweet after all.
“Don’t you want to settle down someday, start a family?”
Not liking where this conversation was going, or the way it had him wanting things that weren’t his, he said, “Your staff will be here soon. We should get moving.”
She gave a sigh. “How come you’re so private and hate talking about yourself?”
He scrubbed his hand over his chin and, before he could think better of it, said, “It’s a defense mechanism. It’s no big deal.”
She toyed with his dog chains. “What do you mean?”
Understanding she wasn’t about to let this go, and not wanting to dredge up old memories, he hurried out with, “When I was a kid, I learned not to draw attention to myself.” He shrugged. “Like I said, it’s no big deal.”
She arched a brow and probed, the look on her face saying it was a big deal. To her. “Because of your father?”
Christ, he didn’t want to be talking about this, didn’t want her pity. “Yeah, he was a mean bastard.”
“And?”
“And I had to be careful not to do or say anything that would draw attention to my family.”
“What would have happened if you did?”
“He would have beaten the shit out of me.” A noise sounded in his throat. “Then again, he didn’t need a reason to kick my ass.” There he’d said it, but he swore if he saw pity in her eyes, he’d never be able to look at her again.
Her hand went to his face and she traced the pattern of his jaw. When he dared to look at her he was relieved to see gentle understanding. “I’m sorry it was bad.”
“I’m over it and we should go.” With his hands biting into her hips, he looked past her shoulders. “Let’s get you home.”
“My first appointment will be here soon, so I might as well just stay.”
“How about I take Stallone home with me, then. You can come by tonight after work to pick him up.”
Before he could climb from the sofa, she dropped a soft kiss onto his mouth, one too full of emotion and passion. “Gemma,” he murmured, his hands raking through her hair. “We can’t keep…we can’t keep sleeping together, okay?”
“Okay,” she said, but he didn’t miss the glimmer in her eyes. The bell over the front door jangled and she climbed to her feet. She gave him a tender smile full of promises as she adjusted her towel and made her way to her office to grab her scrubs.
Cole stomped into the bathroom and grabbed his clothes, which were still damp from the storm. Tugging them on anyway, he ran cold water over his face and pulled himself together before heading out to the front reception area.
Victoria’s head went back with a start when she saw him coming from the back room. “Oh, I…you startled me.” Her curious gaze panned his still-damp clothes.
He gestured with a nod toward the shelter. “Gemma and I came by last night to help Danielle with the dogs,” he explained. “A few of them got spooked from the storm and took off. We had to rustle them back inside.”
Victoria cringed and pressed her hand to her forehead. “I forgot to lock the doggy doors after you guys left yesterday.”<
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The sound of heavy paws on the floor had Cole turning around. “Hey, boy,” he said to Charlie as he pranced over, his new friend Stallone tight on his heels. He gave the dogs a rub, then straightened to see Gemma coming his way. The warm, pink flush on her cheeks and the way her silky hair swept against her shoulders had him wanting to drag her back into his arms and give her a proper good morning kiss. Long lashes blinked over tired eyes as she pushed her hair from her face, gathered it into her palms and tied it back in a professional manner.
Cole eyed her and knew she hadn’t had enough sleep. “Are you going to be okay?”
“I’ll be fine.”
He smiled, understanding how strong of a woman she was. He lowered his voice and reached out and rubbed the hem of her scrubs between his fingers, unable to help himself. “Okay, the guys and I will be by shortly to round up a few of the dogs. Did you want me to bring you breakfast?”
She shook her head. “I’ll grab something from the coffee shop next door.” Her warm smile nearly disarmed him when she added, “But I appreciate the offer. It was sweet of you.”
Knowing he needed to get out of there before his emotions got the better of him, he tapped his leg. “Let’s go, boys.”
He took care of the dogs and about an hour later, he decided to leave them both at his place for the morning while he met with the guys at the motorcycle shop.
“Hey,” he said, pushing through the back door to find the others waiting for him.
Jack glared at him and he tried not to fidget under his shrewd glance. He met the man’s dark eyes. Don’t look away. Don’t look away. He looked away. Shit. Under the pretense of studying the list of dogs they wanted to train first, he scooped a sheet of paper off the table.
“These are the ones we all agreed on?”
“You weren’t here last night to have final word, so we agreed without you.”
“Thunder and lightning,” he explained. “The dogs got spooked and Gemma needed help rustling them up.”
“Oh, is that what you were doing?” Jack asked.
“Yeah,” he said, offering his friend his best hard-assed face. “Let’s get out of here before the afternoon heat hits and the dogs need rest.”
Thirty minutes later, after gathering the top five dogs with the right personalities for the job, they made their way to the base. They spent the morning working with them. Progress was slow, but these animals had huge potential. Buddy in particular—a mix between a collie and shepherd—was highly intelligent, if not a bit wily. He was always keeping an eye on Cole’s hands, which was a very good sign.
Every now and then Cole would glance down the long gravel road and wonder if Gemma would be by to check on them. As he thought about the things they did inside that hangar the other day, he couldn’t help but feel a sense of anticipation. Shit, hadn’t he just said they couldn’t sleep together anymore?
Josh stepped up to him. “What do you think of Ralph over there?”
Cole frowned. While Ralph was one of his first choices in dogs, he had him worried the most. The canine was intelligent and loyal enough, but he lacked direction. Clearly no one had ever given him the attention or training he needed just to be a loving pet. “I’m not ready to give up on him yet.”
After talking technique with Josh, they all continued to work until midafternoon. With the sun high overhead, knowing the animals had had enough for the day, Josh gathered them in his truck and returned them to the shelter. Soon enough they’d be ready to be placed in the hands of soldiers, and free up space for Gemma. Cole went back to the shop with Jack to help out at the front counter while his friend worked on repairs out back. As dinner hour approached, he switched the sign over the door and shouted out to Jack that he was leaving.
The night air was cooler now that the storm had passed and as he walked the short distance to his condo, he decided a couple pit stops were in order. He grabbed a bottle of wine and made his way into one of the many restaurants lining the street. Once armed with food and drink, he hurried home. He was anxious to hear about Gemma’s day and in turn tell her about the progress they were making.
He pulled the food out of the bag, stuck the wine in the fridge to chill, and was reaching for the plates when the dogs started barking. Clearly they were aware of Gemma’s presence long before he was.
Cole hurried to his door and pulled it open. The second he found Gemma standing on his stoop his heart beat a little quicker.
She gave him a big smile before bending to pet the dogs. She rubbed Stallone’s ears and he pushed against her. “I hope old Stallone here didn’t give you any trouble.”
“Stallone’s a good old boy.”
She tugged on his collar. “Are you ready to go home and get some dinner?”
“I already fed him.”
“Oh,” she said, surprise apparent in her expression as she stood to face him. “What did you feed him?”
Cole knew as well as any dog owner that you couldn’t switch up an animal’s food without causing digestion problems and Stallone’s diet was different than Charlie’s, which meant he had to have his own food. “I grabbed some of his food from your pantry.”
“You were in my place?”
“I hope you don’t mind.”
“No, not at all. I just…how did you get in?”
He pulled a key from his pocket. “The spare key you keep under your mat.”
She gave him a sheepish look and held her hands up in surrender. “I don’t want to hear the lecture.”
“I don’t want to give you one. Just keep it here at my place from now on, okay?”
Her eyes lit with amusement. “Oh, and how can I trust that you won’t sneak into my condo in the middle of the night and try to ravish me when I’m asleep?”
“You can’t,” he teased in return.
“Well then, I guess you can keep it.” She gave Cole a devious wink and reached for Stallone. “Let’s go, boy. I’m anxious to get home and get to bed early tonight.”
“I fed Stallone and thought I’d feed you too.”
“You want to feed me?” She shot him a curious glance. “Since when did you become domestic?”
“It’s all ready if you’re hungry, and I have wine chilling.”
“Ah, now I see how this is playing out. First you keep my key and now you’re trying to lure me with alcohol.” She looked past his shoulders and inhaled the scents coming from the kitchen. “I must say, this night is shaping up to be a good one.”
Cole laughed and grabbed her hand. “Come on. Let’s eat. I want to tell you all about the training today.”
He led her into the kitchen and her stomach rumbled as she inhaled again. “Mmm, smells so good.”
“It’s pasta.” He rolled one shoulder. “With mushroom sauce.”
“My favorite kind.” She smiled. “Like I said, sweet.”
She moved past him and made her way to the kitchen. “Cole, this looks amazing. I had no idea you could cook.”
This time he gave the sheepish grin. “I picked it up.”
Gemma laughed. “Still, I appreciate the thoughtfulness.”
“Grab the wine.” He gestured to the fridge as he reached for the glasses. “Then have a seat while I make our plates up. First I want to hear about your day and how the fundraising is going, then I want to tell you how training went.”
A few minutes later, Gemma lowered herself into one of the chairs and took a sip of white wine. As she watched Cole divvy up the pasta and bread she began. “Well, today I found out for certain that we’re going to have a banquet in Dallas.”
Cole carried the plates over and placed them on the table. “Oh yeah?”
She nodded. “It will be in a couple of weeks. The event planners are putting it together and feel that if I expand my area it will bring in new blood.”
“And new blood means new money.” Cole handed out forks and knives and sat next to her. She went on to explain the details of the event and as he listened to her something inside him
hitched. He couldn’t help but notice how normal this all felt, how right it felt to be sitting with her at the end of the night talking about their days.
“Okay, enough about me,” she said, her eyes alive with curiosity. “I want to hear about the training today.”
Cole told her all about Buddy, Ralph and the others while they ate and drank. Once he finished relaying every last detail he noticed the way she was smiling at him.
“Why are you looking at me like that?” he asked.
“Because it’s nice to see you fired up about something again. You really do love working with these dogs, don’t you?”
He gave a shrug like it was nothing. “Yeah.”
“Is that why you became a bomb expert, so you could work with the K9 unit?”
Cole got quiet for a moment, his gut tightening as he thought about the real reason he opted to work with dogs. “No,” he said, that one word almost a whisper as his mind raced for something else to talk about.
Her hand reached out to touch his, and she gave a gentle squeeze. “Cole?”
He wasn’t sure what suddenly possessed him to say it. Maybe it was the good food, the fine wine or the easy conversation. Then again maybe it had more to do with the way Gemma felt so right in his place, the way her hand felt so comforting on his. But against his better judgment he found himself saying, “It was because of you, Gems.”
He listened to the sound of her throat working as she swallowed. “Because of me?”
He stared at his empty plate and toyed with his fork. “You loved your horses and dogs so much, and when I went away, leaving you and your family, working with the dogs somehow helped me feel closer to you and those I left behind.”
Cole tilted his chin, and when his gaze met with blue eyes full of emotion, everything inside him twisted into knots. He wasn’t sure who moved first. But the next thing he knew Gemma was in his arms and he was kissing her like a man starved for affection, a man hungering for much more than just sex.
“Gemma,” he said, his voice low and rough as warning bells went off inside him. Jesus, he was getting in so deep he’d soon need a compass to find his way out.
