Cole’s face darkened and Briony raised an eyebrow.
“Fine.” Cole turned abruptly and left the room, leaving Briony worried she’d pushed him too far, and at the same time, pleased she’d finally broken through his steel-clad veneer.
Begging the need to change out of her “city” clothes and have a quick shower, Briony left Marnz and almost ran to her room. What. The. What? Unzipping her dress, she pushed her hands through her hair. She hated Cole Knight, didn’t she? They only got engaged because she needed to save her hotel. “And you’re flirting with him?” More than that. She was letting him in, and it was getting to her.
She shook her head at herself and dropped her eyes to her ring again. He bought you a ring. A real one. And the way he’d kissed her just now . . . For some reason those two things together made her wonder about Cole Knight more than they should have. The ring was part of the show, sure, but he’d gone out of his way to get something that suited her. And they worked well together, at the board meeting, on the plans, with the builders.
Briony shrugged. Just because her ego wanted to believe there was more to him didn’t make it true. She would have to control her body’s reactions to him. Lust was nothing. Pure hormones. Turning toward the shower she pulled off her dress so she was standing only in her underwear. The cool early afternoon air on her bare skin brought goose bumps out all over. “I need a cold shower.”
“That makes two of us.”
She whirled, her arm coming up to cover her breasts, eyes widening to see Cole standing by her bedroom door.
“I didn’t hear—”
“You weren’t supposed to.” In three strides he was across the room and had her in his arms again, pinning her arms to her chest. “Good of you to get ready.” He pushed a hand through her hair, pulled her head back, and Briony welcomed his mouth and drank him in as if he were a long draft of hot chocolate. So good and so wrong. Must. Stop. Kissing. She pulled back a little, but Cole just danced his tongue deeper in her mouth and instead of getting the hell out, Briony fell further into the kiss, letting the sensation saturate her body, loving the feel of Cole’s hands on her bare skin, wanting more of the man in front of her.
Mouths still entwined, Cole walked her into her en suite, shedding his jacket and shirt as he did so.
She managed to come up for air for a moment. “You already showered.”
“I feel dirty again.” Reaching behind her, he turned on the shower and pushed her into it. She gasped as the cold water hit her, and again as he stepped in, fully naked. In a second the water heated up, but her breath still caught in her throat. Then his tongue was demanding hers and he was pushing her against the wall of the shower. Her hands went to his chest, smoothing the slick water over the light dusting of dark hair there. He released her mouth and his lips found her throat as one hand pulled her wet hair back to allow him fuller access. The other hand sent a shiver of heat screaming through her as it slipped across the front of the wet panties she still had on.
“Oh dear, you’ve got these wet,” he said and traced the line of her crease with a long, gentle finger.
She went to open her mouth to respond, but he covered her lips with his again and instead of protesting she let out a moan as his fingers continued to stroke her line of pleasure. He passed lightly over her thrumming clit, and moved along the line of the black lace thong, barely skating the edge of her ready, wet passage.
“Seems like you were waiting for me,” he said as he released her mouth and growled into her wet hair.
“Hardly,” she managed. “You said you were going.”
“And now it looks like you’re going to be coming.” He pushed the flimsy black lace thong out the way and circled the edge of her pussy.
“I don’t think—”
“No. You’re right. Don’t think. This isn’t about thinking.” He pulled his hand away and she missed it instantly, a small protest escaping her throat with a whimper. He chuckled and lowered his head to take her full breast in his mouth. His tongue rasped over her nipple and he sucked at it, pulling the nerve endings right to the surface of her skin. How could such a simple action cause so much reaction? With the water flowing over her and his tongue, mouth, and hands all over her body, Briony felt as if she was pure liquid sensation. Strong, sensual, delicious liquid she felt everywhere as Cole licked and nibbled his way down her body. When Cole lightly bit the underside of her breast, she felt it in her toes and at the back of her eyes just as much as on her chest. And when his hands strayed back down to between her thighs, she thought she might be in danger of heading down the drain as she melted.
“I feel like I’ve forgotten something,” he said as his hand moved again to the crease of her pleasure center. “Got it,” he said as he took hold of the lace thong in his fist. “I think these are ruined.” He tugged and the old lace tore in his hands.
“That wasn’t—” But he didn’t let her finish, instead sliding a finger between her thighs, inside her wet, hot sex, stealing any thought she had of protesting as her eyes shut with pleasure.
Briony opened her eyes and found Cole’s green eyes glinting, pure viper on her. She knew hers would be wide, dark, her focus lost in the sensation he was drawing out of her with his fingers. He added a second finger to his repertoire and twisted them both inside her, sending a shudder through her whole being. His eyes flickered, registering his satisfaction, and Briony closed hers again, arching her spine and letting her head fall back as the water from the shower cascaded onto her sternum. His head followed the flow of water downward and, gasping, Briony couldn’t believe the torrent of sensation mounting in her so quickly as his tongue swirled again around her hardened nipple. Dear god. As his fingers drove in and out, and in, and out, his tongue on her breast kept time and Briony had to fight hard not to completely dissolve.
“Let go. I want to watch you cum, and then I want to take you all over again.” Cole’s voice was a deep growl. The dark huskiness in his voice mixed with hot water, lust, need, and power. Briony shuddered and put her hands, palms flat, onto the wall of the shower to steady herself.
“You want it harder? Faster? How do I make you fall apart?”
“There,” she managed. “Yes, there. Faster. Now.”
His fingers sped up, and holy hand job, Batman, he dropped to his knees and let his tongue join his fingers, licking, stroking, loving her clit until she did what he demanded, she fell apart, completely, utterly, with no reserve.
“Oh god, oh yes, Cole. Oh my, yes.” She clenched around him and couldn’t help herself calling out his name, pushing a hand through his slicked-back hair, and finally, shuddering to a halt. The two of them rested a moment, him on his knees with his head against her thigh, her back to the wall, a hand in his hair. The shower poured on, but the world slowed. Amazing.
Finally he stood, and Briony tried to still her racing heart. “That was . . . unexpected.”
Cole ran a finger down the side of her jaw and tipped it upward. Good god, did the man have to be quite so generously endowed with gorgeousness? Briony suddenly felt smaller, despite the fact that this tall man-fest of muscle had just gotten down on his knees for her. She tried to still her breath, calm her heart rate, and push out a snappy retort. Best sex since . . . since the last time with him.
“Won’t you be late for your meetings?”
He shrugged. “I’m not finished yet. Turn around.”
Briony couldn’t believe the effect his growl had on her already satiated body.
She was about to protest when he pinned both her arms above her head and spun her to face the wall. His mouth pressed close to her ear and his voice rumbled into her brain, drugging her with desire. Again. “This time I’m going to take you from behind. I’m going to spread your legs wide and part you with my cock. And we’re going to watch every bit of it together.” He wiped at the glass door of the shower to reveal the mirror on the opposite wall, and Briony saw them: wet, naked, pinned against the wall. Her short frame was almost t
otally enveloped by his tall one and she wondered whether she would, actually, be parted by him, bodily.
As if to answer her question, he lifted her right leg, and tucking his under it, he held her high on the wall. The new angle pressed her farther up against the wall, and she gasped as the cool tiles met her warm breasts. “You’re going to open up to me like a ripe fruit, and I’m going to hold you up so my cock goes in right to the hilt.” Running his hands up from her waist, stroking her oversensitive breasts on their way up her body, he spread her arms wide, out to the edges of the shower.
Her hands pinned under his, Briony was completely helpless, but she felt anything but vulnerable. Instead, watching him move his hands back down her body in the mirror, she couldn’t believe that she was ready for him again. Ready, and oh so willing.
“Are you on birth control?” he muttered in her ear.
She nodded.
“Good. Nothing I need to worry about? I can always stop and get a condom.”
A shake of the head. “You?”
“A hundred percent clean.”
“Take me, then.”
He didn’t bother to respond this time, simply cupping her right butt cheek with one hand and guiding his rock-hard erection into her in one long, delicious slide.
Oh. Man.
Her passage still slick from his earlier attention, he slid in all the way to the hilt, just as he’d promised. Briony felt the stretch as she accommodated his girth, a stretch that was all sorts of good. He paused as if he, too, was relishing the sensation of their two bodies melding again. Surely, it hadn’t been such a good fit the first time? Or ever? Briony searched her memory frantically and nope, she came up blank. Cole fit her just right. So right.
Cole pulled almost all the way out and then plunged himself inside her again. She hadn’t thought he could go any deeper, and then . . . Bam. She gasped and he chuckled, close to her ear. “And we’ve only just begun. You need to idle a little longer or should we open it up to full throttle?”
Briony took a breath. “If you have to ask a question like that, you’re not half the man I thought you were.”
“Really?” He pulled out and thrust back into her, pushing her flat against the wall so the front of her pussy ground against the shower wall. “I might not own a Harley, but that doesn’t mean I don’t know how to drive a finely honed machine. If a woman can’t trust me to give her the ride of her life in the bedroom,” he chuckled, “or bathroom, then I’ve failed myself as much as I’ve failed her.” He gave her a long thrust, and ground his hips against her butt for good measure.
Briony didn’t respond; the words were ripped from her mind and throat. If this was him idling, then full throttle might destroy her.
“No smart-ass response. I’ll take that as a yes, please.”
She tried to dig her fingers into the shower tiles before raising her leg higher up the wall. As he thrust into her again she let herself rock in time with his rhythm, opening herself up to him, willing him take her harder, faster, deeper. Cole kept one hand on her butt, holding her up against the wall while the other moved between her waist and her breast. She arched her back, pushing herself against him to meet his passion. Gritting her teeth she managed a retort. “That’s a lot of words, Slick. I’ll believe ’em when I see follow-through.”
He growled and met her with a new rhythm that sent her pulse racing, her blood pumping hard and fast enough that she could hear it in her ears above the shower. Soon they were rocking together in a steady, glorious tempo, Briony guiding his thrusts with the arch of her back, letting him into her innermost center, relishing the grinding thrill of the base of his cock every time he delved deep. “I’m going to make you come so hard that your last orgasm is going to seem like something you bought on sale at Target. This one is going to make you wish”—he thrust into her—“you’d met me”—and again—“sooner.” Another thrust. “And then . . .” This time he nipped at the soft lobe of her ear in between words. “You’re going to beg me for more.”
There were no more words, no more thoughts. Instead, there was only the two of them. Their bodies melded together, their minds set on one purpose. Briony’s breath huffed out of her as his thrusts increased their pace as if he’d read her thoughts. He pulled her back from the wall after one mighty thrust and let his hand seek out the swollen nub of her ready clit.
“Now?” he growled and she nodded, feeling him already swelling, already almost at the edge. He circled her with one, then two fingers, keeping time with his rock-hard cock and keeping up the grinding, intense rhythm from behind. “Now?” This time she didn’t even bother to nod, letting out a moan that held her need, her want, her everything.
“Open up for me, baby.”
“Yes. Oh my. Oh, Cole. God.” He pulsed into her, filling her with his seed in a searing, shattering orgasm. Briony could do little more than hold on for dear life as his hand stroked her climax from her at the same time as he pumped his last into her.
For a moment there was nothing but the ear-ringing hum of their combined obliteration. Briony saw stars. Brilliant, white stars and when she opened her eyes they remained at the edges of her vision. Slowly, slowly, Cole withdrew and let her gently back onto her feet. Casually, he ran his hand down her front and brushed at the front of her pussy. “Lucky we’re still in the shower. You, sweet thing, are gloriously wet.”
Briony pushed back her sodden hair and turned to face her fiancé. “If you were hoping to turn me all pruney, you succeeded.” She held up her hands, and after such a long time in the shower, they looked swollen and wrinkled like a collection of fat raisins.
He laughed, and for a moment it was like it had been when they were going through her plans together. Resting his chin on her head, Cole sighed. “Guess we better get out of the shower then.”
“Guess so. You’ve got an empire to build, literally, and I promised Marnz I’d go for a ride with him. He knows some retro furniture restorer he wants to show me.”
At the mention of Martinez, Cole’s entire body stiffened. He stepped back. “I’ll leave you to it then. I gotta go, I’m going to be late.”
He turned and headed out of the shower, grabbing a towel as he went.
“Hey.” She took hold of his arm. “I didn’t make you take a shower with me.”
His viper eyes flashed and if they could have, she was sure they would have hissed. “No? You stand around naked when everyone comes knocking at your door? Actually . . .” He held up a hand. “Don’t answer that. I don’t want to know.”
“I was hardly standing around naked.”
He looked her up and down. “Whatever you say.”
Briony’s shoulders hunched. She turned the water off and grabbed a towel, wrapping herself up. It was hard to stand up for yourself when dripping wet and naked. She clenched her teeth. “You are not the boss of me.”
“I was just now.”
She shuddered, the warm thrill of him taking her in the shower still buzzing through her body. “Only ’cause I let you.”
He smirked. “That right? Do I need to remind you what just happened?”
“Do I need to remind you that we’re only in this situation because of a certain sex tape?” No. Idiot. As the words came out of her mouth, Briony willed them back in as his expression went from flat to hard. Say something. Take it back.
Too late.
“No need to remind me of why I’m here, oh future wife. Not sure what came over me. The first time I was drunk. This time must have something to do with the company, makes me lower my usual standards. I wouldn’t want to hold you and your biker boy up. Like I said earlier, I have meetings all day. Don’t wait up.” He stalked out of the bathroom.
Briony’s heart contracted. All that intimacy had been in her imagination. They had a connection on a physical level, sure, and he was here because she’d made him, but otherwise . . . Since when do you care? She followed him out into the bedroom, unwilling to let him have the last word. “Fine. Don’t expect an
other round.”
“Wouldn’t dream of it.”
She couldn’t help herself. Even though she’d decided to keep it to herself she needed something to lash back with. Something to hurt him, and she grabbed the closest thing that came to mind. “Your dad warned me you were a bitch when you weren’t getting your way.”
Cole bristled. She was sure she saw the goose bumps appearing on his skin. “What did you say?”
“Just that your pop likes to share embarrassing stories with me.”
“He what? How is that even possible?”
“We talk. Occasionally.” She knew she was taunting him, but she couldn’t help herself. The words just tumbled out of her mouth unbidden. “He emailed me. Then he called. He wanted to hear more about the engagement.”
His eyes widened and his nostrils flared. “I must have heard you wrong. He knows about our engagement? You told him?”
“Not me. Maybe your brother?” She shrugged as if it really was no big deal. “Don’t fret. He’s happy for us.”
“You don’t get to talk to my father.”
She pursed her lips. “Not my fault he’s bored. All that time on his hands, and little old me on the other end of the phone. You should hear the stuff he’s got saved up to share about when you were four.”
“Fuck. Off.” But even as he said it, his eyes flickered down and she realized her towel had dropped.
“Haven’t seen enough, Slick?” She opened the towel completely, but wasn’t quite prepared for the thrill having his eyes back on her sent over her skin. Goose bumps? Try petrol flames of heat. Holy. Hot. Damn. The guy had the ability to do things to her with his eyes she’d never encountered before.
Burning to Ride Page 19
