by Marie Force
Even though her heart beat fast with desire, she tried to wriggle free. “I don’t want to,” she said, which sounded lame, even to her. Apparently, it did to him, too, because when he ran his thumbs over her nipples they hardened, and she couldn’t stop a shudder from rippling through her.
“Liar.”
She looked up to find his eyes dark with amusement and longing and determination. No way could she do this. Could she? With her hands on his chest, she tried once more to disengage, but he was having none of it. “I really don’t want to.”
“Hey.” He waited for her to look up at him. “Do you trust me?”
“You know I do. Don’t ask me that.”
“Then get naked. I promise you’ll like it.”
Because she also saw love mixed in with the desire and determination in his eyes, she reached for the hem of her sweater and pulled it over her head. She swallowed hard, unbuttoned her jeans, and slid them off. He never took his eyes off her as she reached behind her to unfasten her bra.
“This isn’t fair,” she said when she faced him wearing only panties. “You haven’t even taken off your coat.”
He shrugged off his leather jacket and let it fall to the floor. “Happy now?”
“No.” She crossed her arms over her breasts. “More.”
With a rakish grin, he unbuttoned his shirt and then his jeans. When he was down to just his boxers, he reached for her, sighing as she wrapped her arms around him. “Now that’s what I’m talking about.”
Breathing in his warm, masculine scent, Olivia couldn’t help but smile at the relief in his voice. In a thick, Cockney accent, she said, “Am I permitted a quick trip to the loo, my lord?”
Cole cracked up. “Only if you hurry up. Your lord’s boner requires your immediate attention.”
“Then I shan’t make him wait.” Olivia surprised him when she stroked him through his underwear.
He gasped.
She kissed his cheek. “Be right back.”
As he fell on the bed with a loud groan, Olivia suppressed a giggle and scooted into the adjoining bathroom. She returned a few minutes later to find he had turned down the bed and waited for her under the covers.
When she hesitated, he held out a hand to her. “You’re trusting me, remember?”
Olivia took his hand, got into bed, and snuggled up to him. “Not quite the bed we had at the Fairmont, is it?”
“We don’t need a big bed. We only use a fraction of it.”
“That’s true.” Olivia’s stomach tightened with nerves while she waited to see what he had planned for her.
“Relax,” he said softly as his hand coasted from her belly to her breasts and back again.
“I can’t. You’ve got me wound so tight I might spontaneously combust.”
“That’s the goal.”
Olivia couldn’t help but laugh. “You’re out of your mind. You do know that, don’t you?”
“So I’ve been told.” He shifted so he was above her and brushed his lips over hers in a caress so light she wouldn’t have been sure he had kissed her if she hadn’t been watching him so intently. “Kiss me.”
She lifted her hands to his face and brought him down for a kiss that sapped the energy from her limbs and sent heat straight to where she lived.
His tongue explored her mouth as his hand cupped her breast.
Olivia arched her back, seeking him.
He tore his lips free and turned his attention to her breast.
She discovered the sensations were even more intense, more acute than usual, perhaps because of her cycle. Clutching handfuls of his hair, she kept her eyes closed against the dizzying array of feelings and needs. She still couldn’t believe she had let him talk her into this. But what she really couldn’t believe was the climax she felt building as he swirled his tongue around her hypersensitive nipple.
“Is this okay?” he asked, looking at her with dark blue eyes.
“Mmm.”
He flashed a cocky smile, but she expected nothing less from him. Through her panties, he pressed his erection into the V of her legs and returned his attention to her breast. Pushing hard against her and then letting up, he simulated intercourse with his hips and the motion of his tongue against her nipple.
Breathless, Olivia moved with him, higher, higher, and then she soared.
He brought his mouth down on hers to muffle the cry that erupted from deep inside her and stayed with her until the crisis had passed. Burying his face in her hair, he whispered, “Now that’s what I was talking about.”
Her laugh was weak and her breathing labored. “I don’t know how you did it.”
“A magician never reveals his secrets.”
“You must be a magician. I can’t imagine anyone else could make me feel the way you do.”
His smile lost some of its cockiness as he looked down at her.
She traced a finger over his lips. “What?”
“Are you going to wonder?”
“About?”
“What it would be like with other guys?”
“Cole,” she sighed, bringing his head down to rest on her chest. “Why in the world would I wonder when I have you?”
He shrugged. “It’s only natural that you’d be curious.”
“I’m not the slightest bit curious. In fact, I know now why I waited so long.”
“You do?”
“I was waiting for you, and I don’t have an ounce of curiosity about how it would be with someone else. I never will.”
“That’s good, because I’ve loved you from the instant I saw you leaning over me that day in the airport, and the thought of you with someone else—”
She silenced him with a kiss. “Not going to happen.” Another kiss. “You’ve really loved me that long?”
He nodded. “What about you? How soon did you know?”
“When I put my hands on your face and felt the jolt. Instantaneous.”
“Like being hit by lightning.”
“Just like.”
“This is special. What we have.” He looked down at her with eyes so blue she could easily get lost in them. “You know that, don’t you?”
“Yes.”
“Are you still worried about how it’s going to end?”
“Not like I was.”
“I won’t be happy until you say not at all.”
She nudged him onto his back and leaned over him. “I’m getting there.”
“What’s this?” he asked as she left a trail of kisses from his chest to his belly.
“This, my lord, is what’s known as your turn.”
Chapter 25
With the help of Cole, her father, Jenny, and Will, Olivia moved out of her parents’ house and into her own apartment later that week. Her father had given her a sofa, end tables, and the dining-room table and chairs from the house. She also brought her bedroom set and TV. The apartment was perfect for one person—a large combination kitchen–dining room–living room, a newly remodeled bathroom, and a nice-sized bedroom.
Olivia quickly put her unique stamp on the small apartment. Under her direction, Cole painted the living room a dark taupe and the bedroom a pale pink. He hung her favorite city posters in the bedroom and several of her watercolors in the living room. On the mantel, she propped a framed copy of her favorite sketch of Cole and surrounded it with the fleet of tiny cable cars she’d bought in San Francisco.
The best part, though, was the wide patio off the living room. Olivia planned to do a lot of painting out there when the weather permitted. In the meantime, she set up her easel in front of the big window in the living room.
“You’ll have good light there in the afternoons,” Cole said.
“Uh-huh.”
He slipped an arm around her and kissed the top of her head. “Cheer up, will you? You’ve got this great place all to yourself. It’s another dream come true. You said so yourself.”
“I know, but I wish you didn’t have to go.” They had spent a week togeth
er, and now that it was over, Olivia was anticipating the crash from the high she’d been on for days.
“I’ll be back in just over a week.” His brows furrowed into a comically stern expression. “By then I expect you to be completely unpacked.”
“I appreciate all your help. I know this isn’t what you wanted—”
He placed a finger over her lips. “I want whatever you want. If you need to do this for a while, that’s fine. I’m not going anywhere.”
“Well, you’re going back to Chicago,” she said with a pout. “Any minute now.”
“That’s not what I mean, and you know it. Whenever you’re ready to take things to the next level, you know where I am.”
“Thank you for understanding. I need this for me, you know? I lived at home for far too long, and I know I’d regret it if I never had my own place.”
“I get it, honey. Don’t worry.”
She smiled up at him. “That doesn’t mean I’m not willing to share.” Withdrawing a key from her pocket, she pressed it into his hand. “So you can come and go as you please.”
“For midnight booty calls between flights?” he asked with a devilish grin, clearly pleased by her gesture.
“I’ll take whatever you’re dishing out.”
“Thank you,” he said, leaning in to kiss her. He held her close for a long, quiet moment. “Have you decided what you’re going to do about work and school?”
She took a deep breath and expelled it. “I’m going to take another big leap and drop to part time at work so I can take three classes next semester. If I can keep that up, I should be able to graduate in a year—if I go all summer, too.”
“You should be fine, especially if Paolo’s predictions come to pass. After your show, you might be able to quit your job altogether and go to school full time.”
She shook her head. “I can’t bank on that.”
“I think you can. Victor and Paolo think you can. Your dad thinks you can. Need I go on?”
“I don’t need you and my dad ganging up on me.”
“Why not? Jer and I know what’s best for you.”
“You might want to tell your new best friend that I can take care of myself, thank you very much.”
His smile was all charm when he said, “But why would you want to when you’ve got us?”
She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him senseless. “Do we have time for a quickie before you have to go?”
His groan rumbled through both of them. “I hate to say it, but we need to head out if you’re going to insist we take the Metro rather than a cab.”
“Cabs are too expensive.”
“Spoken by the woman who made twenty-eight grand this week.”
“And you probably spent half that much at the Fairmont.”
“Not even close,” he scoffed.
“Metro.”
“If we take a cab, we have time for a quickie.”
“Really?”
“Ah, ha! I see your frugality only goes so far.”
She flashed a saucy grin. “I do have my priorities.”
His eyes went dark, and his jaw clenched with tension. “Stop it. We don’t have time.”
Sliding her hands over his chest and up to his shoulders, she planted kisses on his neck. “We could be so quick.” She nibbled on his bottom lip. He was tempted. She could see that. But then he snapped out of it to remind her they really didn’t have time. Sighing, she released him and followed him into the bedroom.
“So if you’re only working part time,” he said as he zipped his bag, “no more coffee dates in the airport, huh?”
“Why do you say that?”
“You won’t be there as much.”
“I’ll be there if you’re there. In fact, I’ll make sure Wednesday afternoons are free when I do my schedule for next semester.”
“Good answer. I’m off next week. Should I plan to hang out here?”
“Absolutely! What about Flights for Life?”
He slipped on his coat. “I’m going to tell them my schedule has changed, and I’ll have to go week to week on my availability. They appreciate whatever I’m able to do, and a lot of other pilots volunteer.” He zipped his coat. “Ready to go?”
“No.”
Cole got her coat and held it for her. “I’ll be back before you have time to miss me.”
“No, you won’t.”
He put his arms around her. “Why don’t you just stay here, hon? There’s no need for you to go to the airport.”
“It’s another half hour together.”
“You don’t have to.”
She pasted on a smile. “I want to. Let’s go.”
They were quiet on the brief Metro ride to the airport, each absorbed in their own thoughts. Because she wasn’t working, she couldn’t accompany him to the gate.
“So hopefully I’ll see you Wednesday around four,” he said as they approached the security line.
“I won’t get my hopes up.”
“Think positive. Capital has the best on-time record of any airline in the business.”
She rolled her eyes. “Save the commercial.”
Smiling, he reached for her. “I’ll miss you.”
“Thank you,” she whispered. “For the trip, for painting, and helping me move. Everything.”
“It was fun—every minute of it. Think about where you want to go next. Maybe New York?”
“You must have a limit on the number of flights you can dole out.”
“Unlimited for me, twelve a year for friends and family.”
“You should give them to your family.”
“My dad has no interest in traveling. I sent my brother’s family to Disney last year and my sister’s the year before. So this year’s flights are all yours.” He checked his watch. “I hate to say it.”
She hugged him. “Call me when you get home?”
“I will.”
“Is it just me, or does this get harder every time?”
“It’s not just you.” With his hands on her face, he kissed her softly. “See you next time?”
“I’ll be right here.”
“Counting on it.” He kissed her once more. “Love you.”
“Love you, too.”
She pulled on his hand and went up on tiptoes for one last kiss, and then, with great reluctance, she let him go.
***
Over the next month, they fell into a routine of Wednesday coffee dates on the weeks he was working followed by Friday night reunions that lasted well into the next week.
On one of his brief overnight stays in Washington, Cole let himself into the apartment, slid into bed, and made passionate love to her. He was asleep thirty minutes after he arrived and was gone when she woke up the next morning. Since he spent so much time at her place, Olivia bought him a lamp and an alarm clock for his side of the bed. The situation wasn’t ideal, but they spent more time together than some couples who lived in the same city. For now, they were making it work.
Her parents’ house sold in early December. Olivia and her brothers helped their father move into the modest townhouse he was renting until he got back on his feet. Her mother had consented to a second month in rehab, and Jerry reported that Mary seemed to be making some progress.
Olivia hadn’t been able to bring herself to visit her mother. Cole had offered to go with her the next time he was in town, and she’d agreed to think about it. Things were going so well in her own life just then that she hated the idea of letting her mother’s drama detract from her happiness.
Three days before Christmas, Olivia took the final exam in her international business class and bid adieu to her friends and professors in the business school. She skipped down the stairs of the Kogod Building, wishing she could scream at the top of her lungs that she was now officially an art major!
Since she couldn’t very well do that, she called Cole to share the news.
“How’d it go?” he asked.
“Who cares? It’s ove
r!”
“You care, or you wouldn’t have studied like crazy.”
“How are you feeling?” A bad cold had grounded him for a week, and he had been miserable and grumpy every time she talked to him.
“Terrible.”
“Poor baby. I’ll be there soon to take care of you. Three more days.”
“That’s too long.”
Olivia smiled at his petulant tone. Whoever coined the adage that men made lousy patients had never met a sick pilot. “Good thing you had next week off anyway so you can recover.”
“Yeah, I guess. Flights for Life called today to ask if I’d take a flight on Tuesday.”
“Will you be able to fly by then?”
“God, I hope so. How do you feel about Houston?”
“Hard to say since I’ve never been there.”
“It would be an overnight since they’re admitting the child for a night. Want to go with me? Be my co-pilot?”
“So, like, you would fly us to Houston?”
A cough cut off his laughter. “That’s the idea. But if you’re not up for it, I’ll tell them I can’t do it.”
“You’ve missed so many weeks already because of me. I don’t want you to miss another.”
“Is that a yes?”
“Sure,” she said with more confidence than she felt. “Why not?”
He laughed at her reluctance. “You might get a reprieve if this goddamned cold doesn’t clear up in time.”
“Are you still going home for Christmas?”
“Yeah, my dad would be heartbroken if I didn’t go.”
“We’ll have our own celebration when I get there.”
“You bet we will. Hurry up, will you? I need you to rub Vicks on my chest and make me chicken soup.”
She snorted. “I’m an artist, not a nurse.”
“Well, listen to you.”
“What? I was only kidding. I can’t wait to take care of you.”
“I meant listen to you calling yourself an artist. That wouldn’t have happened a couple of months ago.”
“You’re right,” she said, surprised by the revelation and the notion that she now considered herself first and foremost an artist.
“Have you talked to Paolo?”
“Briefly this morning. The show’s set for March 18.”
“I’ll put in for some time off so I can be there.”
