“It is,” Antony nodded. “Are you sure…?”
“Yes, yes. I’m fine, don’t worry,” Cole said tersely.
“I know it’s out of the blue but we thought it was time.”
Cole stared at the man sitting opposite him. Even now the man had a hulking presence and it was not because of his size. If he did not know him any better he would have been intimidated as he had been years ago. “I think it is time, too.”
A huge smile lit up the man’s face. “That means a lot.” He stood up and extended a hand. “We’ll see you then?”
“Wouldn’t miss it for the world,” Cole said, breathing evenly and thinking about drainage and mice to distract himself as he stood up and shook the extended hand.
Once the office door shut behind Antony, Cole expelled harshly and cursed fluently as he sat down staring at his phone like it was a poisonous snake. Tentatively reaching for it, he switched it back on and clicked on the other messages.
His body grew taut with tension as he took in the very naked photo of Seraphina lounging on her bed, covering herself strategically.
‘Hello lover. It’s a hot day today. Wouldn’t it be perfect to get popsicles and suck on them…long and hard? Hmm. Just imagine all that yumminess melting in my mouth. ;)’
A drop of sweat fell on the desk as he checked the last message. This photo was of Seraphina’s perfectly formed lips wrapped around a dripping Popsicle as she winked saucily at the camera.
The woman was trying to give him a heart attack at work, he thought furiously as he tried to come up with an appropriate reply. Who was he kidding? This had no appropriate reply. A smirk formed on his lips as he texted her back.
‘My mouth is growing wet and hungry with the prospect of sucking on something warm, juicy…and deliciously pink. Any ideas on how to sate my appetite?’
Fifty seconds later came the reply. ‘Oh St. John. I ache very much in all my pink spots. Can you remedy that?’
A salacious grin appeared on Cole’s face. He could definitely remedy that. ‘I am told that my fingers are magical. They could soothe your achy places over and over again.’
The dirty image of him soothing Seraphina’s flushed body came to mind and he groaned out loud. Glancing at the clock, he decided that the people in the building would benefit more from his being out of the office rather than in.
‘Meet me at my condo now?’
One part of him hoped she did not agree to it. After all, she did not seem to be the kind of woman who could be dragged from her work for a quickie. Hmm. Maybe they did not have to be quick. Maybe they could take all their time and go at it again and again.
Ping. The verdict was out. ‘You got it, sir.’
In a jiffy he was out of his chair and heading towards the elevators, telling his secretary to hold all calls. His pants had grown uncomfortably tight by the time he reached his condo. Flinging the door open, he strode inside only to come to a complete stop.
♥●●♥
Chapter 8
“Sweetie, your jaw is on the floor,” laughed a provocatively positioned Seraphina on the couch.
Cole snapped his mouth shut and swallowed hard. “You, ahh…” He got his bearings and then asked with a gesture towards her and the door, “How did you …?” He was certain he had a strong security system no one could bypass.
“Oh!” Seraphina suddenly flushed. “I roped Ethan into letting me in.” She sat up and looked warily at him. “Don’t be mad at him, please. I was very insistent and may have threatened him a bit.”
Cole’s lips quirked at the mention of her threatening Ethan. Ethan was not the type of man to be easily cowed by threats even from a woman. There was definitely something going on here.
“I’m not mad.” He grinned at her as he loosened his tie and took slow, predatory steps towards her. “I’m quite glad though. It’s a very pleasant sight to come home to.”
Seraphina’s breathing caught as he approached her. Her muscles locked and suddenly she felt like a deer who had been spotted by the lion – wanting to run but paralyzed. However, it was not fear that held her in place. It was the rush of excitement. She had never been so bold before, but something about Cole awoke that emotion in her.
As he walked, he unbuttoned his shirt which presented her with a very beautiful image of his firm chest and abs. Her mouth salivated and dried simultaneously once he reached her and crouched beside her.
“You were a very bad girl today,” he whispered huskily, trailing his fingers on her bare arm, raising hair in their path.
She licked her lips. “I was?”
“Yes, you were.” The fingers were slowly heating up her skin as they brushed the underside of her brassiere. “You know what I do to bad girls?”
“Spank them?” Seraphina breathed out, arching into his touch.
Heat clouded Cole’s eyes as he stared down at the vision beneath him. He did not think it was possible but he was harder than he had ever been before. Her hips were trying to get his attention and they definitely succeeded as they rubbed against his member. The last tendril of his self-control soon broke.
He growled and pulled her flush against his bare chest, devouring her mouth. She tasted like a well-aged wine and fresh mint. Her response was just as eager, her nails dug into his back and her hips went wild rubbing against his.
“Cole,” she moaned into his mouth, pleading with him.
He let her plead for a while before giving it to her and making her scream his name. Then he started all over again.
Following the quickie on the couch, they did it on the carpeted floor, then in the bedroom, various times in various positions. Finally wrung out, they lay on their backs staring at the ceiling, still trying to get their breath back after the vigorous but highly enjoyable activity.
“Did we just surpass the last time?”
Cole stared intently at the ceiling. “I think we did.”
Last time was not all they had surpassed. He had ever had such bed play with any other woman before. Seraphina was a burning flame in bed. She was not very experienced, which pleased him. He did not want to think of her with other guys. He slowly found himself becoming possessive of the woman.
Seraphina rolled towards him and a silly grin crept up. “You know what I think?”
“Huh?”
“I think as time goes on, we are just going to get better – at everything. Don’t you feel so?”
Cole could not bring himself to form an answer to her question and instead distracted her by kissing her softly, then slowly turning up the heat. He did not think he had it in him but the hardening between his thighs took both of them by surprise.
“You’ve some stamina!” she broke the kiss and stared down at him, impressed.
Cole shrugged modestly and went back to working her up all over again. This time they took it slow, letting the fire spread gradually until it could not be contained anymore. Seraphina was right – they did keep getting better with each time.
“Come with me, please?” Cole pleaded with Seraphina as he dropped her off at her place.
“I would love to…but I think I have to work that night,” Seraphina said almost pouting.
“Ditch work. Come on!” Cole could not believe he was actually whining and pleading like a child. “You know you want to.”
She stared at him long and hard, and then laughed. “Fine!” she surrendered. “I’ll be your date.”
“Oh, thank God.” He made a show of bowing to her with both hands joined, causing her to laugh loudly. The sound was so fresh and sweet that it went straight to his heart and made it twinge in a way he’d never experienced before. “Truly. You do not know the torture you’ll be keeping me from just by being there with me.”
Seraphina leaned forward and kissed him lightly on the lips. “You can thank me later, Handsome.” She winked mischievously at him and sauntered off.
Cole shook his head in amusement as a certain part
of him perked slightly at the concept of thanking her later and headed towards his office. The worries that had rendered him mindless before seemed to have disappeared for now. He thanked his lucky stars for Seraphina. She was not pushing him to do anything crazy. That had to be a good sign. Maybe he had been alarmed for no reason before.
“You have a glow,” Ethan observed.
“A what?”
“Your face is glowing,” he chuckled.
Cole shot his friend a mean look. “I’m a man. Men’s faces don’t glow.”
Ethan shrugged. “Yours is. It’s because of her, isn’t it?” When Cole did not respond, he continued, “she’s good for you. Try not to screw up.”
“She’s good people, I know, but we’re not dating exactly.”
“Really? Looked to me like it was more than dating.”
And then the alarmed thoughts began flooding through Cole’s mind again. Damn Ethan.
“He invited you to another event?”
“Yep.”
“And you said yes?”
“Yep.”
“But you are supposed to be working that night.”
“I know,” Seraphina smiled luminously at her friend.
“Have you gained some super powers that will let you be both places at once?”
“Carli.”
“What? I would keep your secret.”
“I’m bringing my inner bad girl out to play.”
Carli stared at her with wide eyes. “I didn’t know you had an inner bad girl. And eww, that’s a bit too much information, Seraph.”
She got whacked for her comment.
“Stop pretending to misunderstand me! I’m skipping out and going to this event instead. How badass am I?”
“That’s not badass. That’s stupid, Seraph!”
“Excuse me?” Seraphina stared at her Carli in surprise.
“You’re seriously going to bail on your work especially when you have an important assignment, to be a hand ornament for some rich guy you’ve known for like what…a week? You have more sense than that, don’t you?”
Seraphina’s entire body went rigid with shock at the harshly spoken words. “He is not just some rich guy, he is the love of my life, Carli!”
“Oh, for God’s sake,” Carli snorted in what seemed like derision and stood up. “Does he know that?”
“Of course he does. Haven’t you been listening to anything I’ve been saying?”
“Oh, I have been listening. He was skeptic, wasn’t he? I bet he does not even have a clue of what is going through your fluff head.”
“People can change!”
“What is your evidence of his change?”
Seraphina stood up angrily then, her body starting to quiver with the force of it. “What’s your problem, Carli? Why are you being so mean all of a sudden?”
Regret flashed across Carli’s face and she let out a frustrated huff. “I’m sorry. I wasn’t deliberately trying to be mean. I’m just worried about you. You seem to be stuck on the idea that this is it – that this is your happily-ever-after. But what are you basing that on? Some psychic’s word? She could be a charlatan for all you know. I know you believe in your feelings and all that but Seraph, this is your life. I can’t just stand by and watch as you open a world of pain for yourself. You’re my best friend. I tried to keep my mouth shut but I can’t take it any longer. Don’t get in too deep or it could become difficult to find your way back.”
There was a ringing silence for what seemed like ages and then Seraphina spoke in a quiet voice that carried a lot of emotion. “You’ve always supported me…believed in me. I don’t know why you’re suddenly against the idea of me finally having something happy happen in my life. Don’t I deserve to be happy? You know what? Screw you! I don’t need your approval to live my life.”
“Seraph… Wait!” Carli called after her as she stormed out of the apartment and slammed the door shut.
Once outside in the open, the floodgates began. Seraphina had not cried in a long time and everything that she’d suppressed came out. She felt anger, frustration and extreme sadness before the feeling of calm spread over her. She had meant what she had said. She did not need Carli’s approval to live her life. She had not needed anyone’s approval ever since she’d found her freedom. She refused to be cowed by Carli’s words. Wiping her face clean, she dialed Cole’s number.
“Hello, beautiful.”
She closed her eyes as she let his deep, cheerful voice wash over her.
“Hi!” she said in a cheerful voice that belied her red eyes. “Were you busy?”
“I was just going over some papers. But that’s okay. I love a distraction. What’s up?”
“I just wanted to hear your voice.”
“So you’re not calling to let me know that you want your thanks now?”
Laughter bubbled from within her. “You’re incorrigible, you know that.”
“Oh sweetheart, only for you… Only for you.”
They talked for a while before Cole had to go attend a meeting. She felt much better and pushed Carli and the conversation out of her mind. Cole on the other hand was freaking out inwardly. He had desperately wanted to ask Seraphina where she thought this was going but something held him back. He was afraid of what he might hear. He was not yet ready to let go if it came to that. He was afraid to go back to his boring life again. That had to be why, he reasoned to himself – why he did not bring up the topic. Of course, what else could it be?
♥●●♥
Chapter 9
“Do you have any siblings, Cole?”
“No. Do you?”
There was an edge in her voice as Seraphina replied, “no.”
Sensing the mood shift, Cole looked up and studied her. They were sitting on her couch watching a random movie she had picked out. At first he was against the idea. It was something normal couples – couples who had a name for their relationship – did. Then he ignored his irrational thinking and agreed to it. It was not something that got his adrenaline pumping but he found himself enjoying the normalcy of it.
Seraphina’s lips had thinned and her jaw was set hard like she was gritting her teeth. Her hand shook slightly and she tried to move it but Cole placed his palm over it, gently squeezing.
“What is it?” he asked, softly sensing something big was coming.
She turned sad brown eyes towards him. Something about her expression made his heart squeeze painfully.
“I had a little brother.”
“I…” It was on the tip of his tongue to say he was sorry but he knew from experience that the phrase did not help. It just made matters all the bleaker.
She looked away from him as she dropped the next bomb. “My father killed him.”
The sharp intake of breath was all Seraphina heard as she shut her eyes and tried to block the barrage of emotion that was beginning to course through her.
“My God… Seraphina, honey… You don’t have to talk about it.”
She opened her eyes and saw only sadness in his eyes. There was not the usual pity she was used to seeing in other people’s eyes when they learned her story. She hated to bring up the past, the past she had buried so deep. But she had to let him know. She owed him the truth about her origin. She took a shaky breath and began.
“That man was a very unhappy person. He didn’t like anything in his life. My mother…she foisted us upon him and ran away unable to bear his crankiness all the time. Things started to go downhill from there. He started drinking heavily. He started imposing restrictions upon us. At first…they were nothing major. But then, it got worse. We weren’t allowed out of the house… Not even to go to school. He would lock us in our rooms at night and barred the windows so we couldn’t get out that way. Then one day, he came home and found Alan going through an album – the wedding album, and he flipped out. He yelled and threw things around and cursed Alan. In his rage, he hit him so hard that my little broth
er flew backwards and lost consciousness. I was so scared I couldn’t move from my spot. I tried to… I knew I should have moved to help my brother but all I saw was him coming after me next.”
Cole did not speak. Instead, his hold tightened on her hand. The simple gesture was enough to give her strength to go on. A wound she had covered a long time ago was exposed once again and the rawness of it pierced her soul.
“I ran, Cole. I ran to my room and shut the door but he was stronger than me. Since that day, he began a new sport of beating us. We were not allowed to cry. If we cried, we were beaten till we saw stars. His moods were often contradictory. I don’t know what happened but I could only assume that he had lost his job and most of his money. That’s when he did it. That’s when he completely lost it. I was sleeping when I heard the screams from the basement. I was so scared but when I couldn’t find Alan I went down and…” Seraphina gasped when she reached this point. Her whole face was wet with tears and her body shook violently.
Cole cursed in a low voice and gathered her in his arms, his hold warm and firm around her. He felt immense rage towards the man who had broken this woman’s soul and heart. After what she had endured at that age, her soul had to have been broken.
“He was only seven. My poor, sweet brother was only seven and I couldn’t protect him. I failed to protect him. To save him.”
“Shhh,” he murmured, stroking her back in comforting circles. “It wasn’t your fault. None of it was your fault.”
“They always told me that. It took me a long time to believe it but sometimes the feeling of having failed comes back in sharp, agonizing waves. After he died, I paid penance. The beatings increased. The restrictions increased. One day he beat me so much that I lost consciousness. A neighbor called the police when she saw what was happening through the open window. The window was never left open but that day, it was. Help came. They saved me. They told me later that he was going to prison for a very long time. His sentence was increased to life when they found Alan’s body in the basement. Finally the physical pain stopped.”
Romance: He Done Her Wrong (Cuddlesack Queens #2) Page 19
