“I’m too tall, my hips are too wide, and my breasts are too large.”
Cole snorted his disgust. “Says who?”
“All sorts of people.”
Fury built inside him. “You mean Stephen?”
She shrugged defensively. “Not just Stephen, though he liked to encourage me to run as much as possible since I have a tendency to gain weight if I don’t stay active. But guys used to make comments all the time. And the girls were even worse.”
“Let me tell you a little something about people, Keeley. Guys for one … when they make crude and cruel comments, it usually means one thing: they’re attracted but know they don’t have a chance in hell. Women … it’s pure jealousy, nothing more.”
“But Stephen—”
“You said yourself that Stephen was a spoiled child in a man’s body. He got what he wanted, but didn’t know how to appreciate the gift.”
“Stephen was constantly encouraging me to lose weight. If I exercise and eat right, I can keep my weight off, but when I got pregnant, I was sick a lot and couldn’t work out. I gained weight. Stephen liked my body even less when I was pregnant.”
Cole couldn’t be glad the bastard was dead, but he could wish him alive so he could beat the shit out of him. How could a man with any kind of intellect at all think about treating his wife that way? Especially someone as beautiful and special as Keeley?
“He was an idiot. And you deserved someone a whole lot better.”
“Make love to me, Cole.”
Aw hell.
She was biting her lower lip in nervousness and he wanted to join her. More than anything right now, he wanted to hold this beautiful woman in his arms and show her how wonderful she was and how she deserved the very best. But he was the very worst person to even be around her, much less make love to her.
“I can’t.”
“Why not?”
“You’re vulnerable right now and I won’t take advantage of that.”
She tried for a teasing grin but he saw the fear in her face—fear of his rejection. But what choice did he have?
“I’d be taking advantage of you, too. I’m not asking for promises. But we’re attracted to each other. We’re adults. We’re both single. And we both have known loss.”
His mouth tilted in amusement. “So basically it’d be mutual pity sex.”
A surprisingly sultry smile replaced the fear as her expression became one of knowing. Not that it’d take a genius for her to know he was turned on. The obvious bulge in his pants sure as hell wasn’t his gun.
“Not pity sex. More like spectacular sex between two people who are very attracted to each other. I haven’t stopped thinking about that night. How wonderful it was.”
Her eyes were filled with desire and vulnerability. It had taken a lot of courage for her to make this offer. And in that moment, all the reasons he shouldn’t be with this beautiful woman vanished. With a low growl of need, Cole pulled her into his arms.
Inches from her mouth, he stopped. If he was going to do this, then he’d damn well do it right this time. His eyes holding hers, he lowered his mouth to her luscious lips and feathered a soft, slow kiss. Relearning her textures, her flavors. She tasted better than he remembered, better than he had dreamed.
With a soft, sweet moan, she opened her mouth and Cole lost his sanity. He plunged in. He went harder, was ready for her in an instant … wanted to push her back on the bed, strip her clothes off, and taste every sweet, curvy inch of her.
Their hands seemed to want to be everywhere at once. She pulled at the buttons on his shirt as his hands glided down her body and went under her shirt. The second his fingers touched soft, silky flesh, he pulled away. This he needed to see to experience. He opened each button slowly, then slid her shirt off and dropped it on the floor. The catch in his breath wasn’t something he could control. Her white lace bra covered her breasts with an old-fashioned modesty. His hands literally shaking, he unhooked the front clasp and uncovered beauty.
He swallowed hard. “Keeley, you’re perfect.” The words sounded as if they were torn from his lungs.
“Really?”
Aroused to the point of explosion, he still recognized the insecurity and wonder in her question. And despite the desire hammering at him to get her naked and himself inside her as soon as possible, Cole took the heat down a notch. Their experience before, though hot and wild, had been about comfort. Tonight was different. Tonight he would savor.
This beautiful woman had never known the touch of a real lover. A man who could and would appreciate and cherish every sigh she gave and every peak she reached. If he did nothing else for Keeley tonight, she would leave this room assured that she was a beautiful, desirable woman.
Pulling away, he turned her gently around to face the full-length mirror attached to the door.
Her eyes wide with fear, she stiffened and tried to pull away from him. “Cole. No.”
His arms locked around her, he held her still and pressed a kiss to her soft, silky bare shoulder. “Yes, sweetheart. I’m going to show you what I see when I look at you.”
Ignoring the trepidation in her expressive face wasn’t easy, but he had to give this woman the knowledge of what she did to him. Probably did to just about every man who came in contact with her.
Pulling her bra off her shoulders, he let it fall to the floor. His hands cupped her breasts, the generous mounds almost overflowing his big hands. His eyes on the beauty in front of him, he leaned down and whispered in her ear. “Do you know what I see when I look at your beautiful breasts?”
She shook her head.
“Art in its purest form.” He rubbed his thumbs against her nipples and delighted in her gasping sigh. “Sweetheart, your breasts are beautiful.” He pinched the nipples lightly and enjoyed another gasping sigh. “My mouth waters from wanting to taste them, lick them, suck them.”
Her eyes fluttered closed.
“Open your eyes, Keeley. See the beauty I see.”
She opened her eyes again and he watched her expressive face as his hands left her breasts and drifted lower. Her warm skin felt soft, firm, resilient under his gliding hands. Encircling her waist, he gently bit the lobe of her ear and growled, “Unzip your jeans.”
Her eyes locked on his in the mirror, she obeyed him.
“Now slide them down those gorgeous legs.”
Again she obeyed, allowing the pants to drop to the floor. He almost lost it when he saw the white cotton briefs she wore. Just like most of her clothing, there was nothing remotely sexy about the garment, but on Keeley, it suddenly became wet-dream lingerie.
His hands slid over her hips, caressed the silky soft skin at her thighs. “Your legs are perfect, too. Long and beautifully shaped. I love how your sleek muscles ripple when you move.” He bit her ear again. “Do you know how often I’ve fantasized about having those legs wrapped around me again?”
“Really?”
“Oh, sweetheart, you have no idea how badly I want you. You’re a fantasy woman … the kind that men dream about but know they can never have.”
“You can have me.”
The shaky, breathy confession almost undid him then and there. “Thank you, Keeley.”
More than anything, he wanted to strip off her briefs, lay her on the floor, and plunge into her. But this moment was too important. The fact that she’d gone for so long not knowing how incredibly sexy she was seemed almost impossible. But he’d seen the evidence in her expression. She was totally unaware of her innate sensuality. The way she walked, moved … even her slow smiles made him think of sex with her.
Desire strumming hard, Cole took a ragged breath and allowed his hands to glide up and down her luscious curves several times, loving the way her eyes followed his movements. He stopped at her briefs and hooked his fingers into the cloth, taking them down as he continued down her legs. They dropped to the floor, on top of her jeans.
“Step out of them.”
As if her legs were weak
, Keeley took a small stumbling step. Cole’s arms held her as she moved away from the clothes, her last barrier against him. Knowing what he would see when he looked back in the mirror didn’t prepare him for the reality. She was a goddess. An olive-skinned, exotic beauty from the top of her silky head to the bottom of her long, narrow feet.
She needed to hear the words as much as he needed to say them. “Look at yourself, Keeley, and never, ever, doubt your beauty again.”
“I feel beautiful in your arms.”
His eyes on her face, he gauged her reaction as his hands moved over her, stroking. Dark brown nipples, peaked in arousal, hardened even more, and Cole knew he wouldn’t be able to hold out much longer from tasting her. His control in serious peril, he continued to caress as he expressed his thoughts.
“Watch my hands glide over you … you’re softer than satin. Soon, very soon, I want to taste every inch of that sweet, silky skin.”
Watching her eyes follow his hands as they glided up and down her lush curves was one of the sexiest turn-ons he’d ever had. A pretty flush of pink covered her entire body, tiny breaths panted from her, and the glaze in her eyes told him she was finding pleasure in watching.
“Have you ever watched yourself come?”
“What?”
The startled surprise in her expression told him no. He wanted to give that to her, too. Not only to see herself as the beautiful, sexy woman she was, but also to help her see she could explore her sexuality with him. He wanted her to feel safe and secure in his arms and with herself.
“Will you do that for me? Come for me … here, in front of the mirror? Watch yourself fall apart in my arms?”
A bright red flush covered her face. “Cole, I don’t know …”
“Trust me, sweetheart.” His conscience reared its ugly head at that comment. Hell, when she found out what he was keeping from her, would she ever trust anyone again? He’d been stupid for starting this, but damned if he would stop it. When she found out, he’d make sure she realized that in this he was telling the truth.
One of his hands glided to her breasts and caressed firmly, the other slid to the short ebony curls at the apex of her thighs. Her body trembled as her eyes followed his hand to her sex.
“Open for me.”
His breath hitched as she parted her legs. Cole’s hand shook as he placed it on her sex and felt the heat. He inhaled deeply, searching for control; the scent of her arousal almost pushed him over the top. As his fingers parted the soft folds, he groaned as heated moisture coated his fingertips. She was already throbbing, close, on edge.
“Let go for me, sweetheart. Watch me pleasure you.”
Delving his fingers deeper, Cole had to close his eyes for a second as he slid inside and felt her inner muscles clenching, drawing him in.
“So hot and ready for me.” He pressed a firm finger against the hard kernel of nerves at the top of her sex and groaned when she gasped and moved with sensuous grace against his finger. “That’s it, Keeley. Feel me inside you. Think about how I’m going to fill you.”
“Cole … I don’t … Oh …” She gave a low, sexy moan and began a dance of sheer beauty. His finger delving deeper, Cole watched her face, saw the flush of deep arousal as her dark eyes went black with heat.
Sliding two fingers inside her, his other hand cupping her right breast, he took her nipple between his finger and thumb and pinched gently. The answering throb inside her sex had him plunging deeper. Tension filled her body as she began a wilder dance.
Locking his eyes with hers, he plunged and retreated over and over. Her eyes went wide with shock, her mouth opened on a long, low moan as she shuddered and came against his fingers.
He let her ride for several more seconds, loving how she clenched and spasmed; imagined how she’d feel against his cock. When she gave one last shuddering sigh, he asked, “Do you want me, Keeley?”
Her eyes half closed, she moved her head in a languid nod. “More than ever.”
Clenching his jaw for control, he pulled his fingers from her hot moist core, turned her around, and covered her mouth with his, plunging and thrusting, devouring.
Keeley wrapped her arms around Cole’s neck and pressed against him. Though she was nude and he was fully clothed, it didn’t bother her in the least. This was Cole, and anything and everything they did together was perfect. What she’d just experienced with him was unlike anything she had ever dreamed, or fantasized about…. She wanted, needed to experience everything. But only with this man.
Cole pulled away slightly, fire glinting in his eyes as they roamed over her body. “I want to be inside you so badly, I can’t wait any longer.”
“Don’t wait. I feel like it’s been a lifetime already.”
Letting her go, Cole began to strip. Keeley helped him as much as she could, but had to stop several times to caress the hard silk of his skin. When his shirt landed on the floor, her fingers roamed over him, loving the furred mat of hair that covered his chest and tapered down to his hard, flat stomach and then to his groin. Before he could unzip his pants, her hand slid beneath his waistband, searching for the hard masculine length that could give such pleasure. Throbbing began anew between her legs as she remembered how it felt to have that hard length coming inside her.
Cole pushed her gently away and growled, “Let me get out of these clothes.”
A hot flush of heat swept through her as she anticipated seeing him nude for the first time. Her legs shaky, Keeley backed up until she felt the bed at the back of her legs. She dropped onto it and watched Cole strip down to his briefs. If she’d thought him beautiful before, she now amended that to magnificent. Only in her deepest, wildest fantasies had she ever imagined a man who looked like Cole Mathison.
“Lay back, sweetheart.”
Keeley lay down and watched as Cole walked slowly toward her. She was surprised when he stopped suddenly, his face a blend of hot desire and a touching uncertainty. “I don’t have any protection. We took a big chance before, but I—”
“Check the pocket of my jeans.”
The smile on his face almost distracted her from watching his incredible body move as he stooped down to pick up her jeans. Muscles rippled and flexed and it was all Keeley could do to sit still and not go to him. She literally could not stop staring. If ever there was a physically perfect man, it had to be Cole Mathison.
Her heartbeat went into overdrive when he pulled down his last piece of clothing, his underwear, and Keeley saw him for the first time. She hadn’t thought he could turn her on any more than she already was. But seeing him fully nude, fully erect, and to know that desire was for her … she swallowed a groan as he slid a condom over his long, hard length.
Her entire body throbbing with arousal as Cole approached her, Keeley scooted up farther on the bed to give him room. Instead of joining her, he dropped to his knees beside the bed and growled, “Come here.” Grabbing her legs, he pulled her toward him. Before she could fathom his intent, his mouth was on her, his tongue in her. She clapped her hand over her mouth to muffle her screams as she zoomed toward full climax again in seconds.
Before she had recovered her breath, Cole loomed over her. His face tender and aroused at the same time, he asked again, “Are you sure?”
Pulling him down to her, she whispered against his mouth, “Yes.”
And then he was inside her, moving, thrusting. Her legs wrapped around his waist, Keeley rose up to meet every thrust, glorying in the overwhelming and unbelievable pleasure he was giving her. Eyes closed, she let her mind accept what her heart had known for days. She was in love with Cole Mathison. For the first time in her life, she was truly and completely in love.
twenty-two
The night was quiet and peaceful … the aftermath of not only incredible physical pleasure, but an intimate exploration of her sexuality. Her body, though limp with exhaustion, felt reborn, renewed.
The baby monitor she’d placed on the bedside table transmitted the sweet sounds of Hannah�
��s deep, even breaths of sleep. And for just those few precious moments, despite the pain she continued to feel for Hailey, Keeley felt a small measure of tranquillity.
Cole had switched off the ceiling light, and the small glow from the bedside lamp revealed his expression of relaxed contentment. She had never seen him look so at ease. He held her tight in his arms as her hands glided over his shoulder, then his back. Tears pooled in her eyes as she felt the scars beneath her fingers.
“How did it happen?”
He didn’t pretend not to know what she was talking about. Releasing her, he rolled over onto his back. “On an op with Shea and Ethan. I had my mind on something else and screwed up … ended up getting captured.”
The words were so calm, sounded simple. The experience had to have been horrifying and the pain immense. She swallowed back the emotion and asked, “What did they do to you?”
He gave a hollow laugh. “Whatever the hell they wanted. Drugs, beatings, torture.”
“But why?”
“Because they could.”
“How long?”
“Almost a year.”
Dear God, a year! Her heart bled for him. “How did you get away?”
“Shea and Ethan rescued me.”
Wrapping her arms around him, she pressed the side of her face against his chest; his heartbeat, a strong, steady thud in her ear, was a gift. “Thank God they did. Did the person who did this … were they caught?”
“I killed him.”
She wanted to say “Good,” because for the first time in her life, she was glad that someone was dead. Whoever had done this deserved death. However, the pain in Cole’s voice made her think he somehow regretted killing him.
“You sound sad.”
He breathed out a long, low sigh. “Not sad that he’s dead … and not even sad that I was the one to do it.” He stopped for a second and then added softly, “But killing should never be easy, no matter how much the bastard deserved it.”
“I’m sorry you went through something like that.”
“Keeley, there’s something you—”
She climbed on top of him. “Shh.” Her mouth feathered down his face, pressing soft little kisses.
Last Chance 05 - Second Chance Page 23
