Her phone was on the ground outside. No one knew she was in trouble, and it had become obvious that Cole wasn’t coming home anytime soon.
She was going to die in his apartment.
Crawling to the end of the cabinets, she scrambled back and faced the door, clutching the knife in both hands.
...
Cole felt his pockets. Shit. “Let me get my phone. I left it in the car.”
Deke waited while he unlocked the door. His phone sat on the passenger seat, light flashing, alerting him to either a missed call or message.
He checked the screen.
Piper.
Thank God. Maybe she hadn’t written him off completely. Punching in the code he held it to his ear.
It was quiet for a few seconds, and he thought for a moment she’d decided against leaving him a message, until he heard a loud sound, like something smashing. Like smashing glass? There was a pause, rustling, then, “Ohgodohgodohgod.” Piper’s panicked chant echoed down the line with a lot of static like the phone was rubbing against something.
Then she screamed, high and full of fear.
Cole stumbled forward, bracing himself against the car. He’d gotten to her. The fucker had gotten to her.
“What do you want? God, p-please don’t hurt me.” Her voice was clear but distorted with terror.
“Fuck. No.”
Deke was at his side in an instant, and he forced himself to hold it together long enough to tell him what was going on. They jumped in the car, and Deke drove while Cole called 911.
Jesus. He’d left her there all on her own. She’d had a prowler a few nights ago, and he’d been so wrapped up in himself, in his own shit, he’d left her unprotected. “Fuck.” He pounded the dashboard.
If anything happened to her…
She had to be all right. She had to be. He couldn’t lose her as well.
Not Piper.
They arrived at Axle Alley before the police, and Cole was out of the car before it fully came to a stop. He used his key and raced inside, Deke right behind him. Cole went straight to her room. Everything looked the same. The same as when he’d left that morning. Fuck, he could still smell her strawberry scent.
Deke walked in behind him, breathing ragged. “Window’s smashed. There’s blood. Jesus, Cole, there’s blood.”
Cole picked up the lamp beside the bed and threw it against the wall.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Piper had no idea how long she’d been sitting on the floor, waiting for that door to come crashing in. The silence was deafening, her labored breaths the only sound she could hear. No dark face hovered at the window anymore, but still she couldn’t move, couldn’t let go of the knife. Her fingers ached from gripping it so tightly.
Voices broke through the silence suddenly, drifted up from the parking lot below. She thought she’d heard a car earlier, but she’d been too afraid to move.
Crawling toward the bench, she climbed up slowly and peered out. He was gone. And then she saw Cole’s car was parked outside her house. Cole and Deke were on her front lawn.
Her knees went weak with relief, and she almost crumpled back to the floor.
They must have scared him off when they pulled up.
Limbs still shaky with fear, she moved to the door, unlocked it, and, wrenching it open, started down the stairs.
It was still dark, but they’d turned on the outside lights, and she could see Cole clearly. Her breath got stuck in her throat. He looked devastated. There was no other way to describe it.
Oh God.
She opened her mouth to say something, to let them know she was okay, but the words wouldn’t come. Her legs shook, knees threatening to give out again with every step.
She reached the circle of light beaming from her small cottage, and Cole spun, his pale gaze landing on her.
Then he was moving.
A sob broke free when he reached her and gently wrapped his fingers around her wrist. “Drop the knife, sweetheart. No one’s going to hurt you now. I promise.”
She released it, letting it clatter to the ground, and he scooped her up in his arms, burying his face against her throat.
“Thank God,” he rasped, voice rougher and deeper than she’d ever heard it. He pulled back, lifting his hands to each side of her face, gaze searching hers. “Are you hurt? Did he hurt you? There’s blood.”
“I’m fine. It’s not mine. I got away. I used Alex’s spare key again and locked myself in your apartment. But I dropped my phone. And I was…I was too afraid to open the door.” She wanted to be brave, but her lower lip started trembling uncontrollably.
He wrapped his arms around her again, lips against her hair. “You did good, baby. You did the right thing.”
Two patrol cars came flying down the street, coming to a stop beside them. Then her view was cut off because Deke pulled her from Cole’s arms and wrapped her in an unforgiving bear hug. “Fuck, Piper. You scared the shit out of me.” He held her so tight the oxygen was forced out of her lungs.
As soon as Deke released her, Cole pulled her back against him again. His big body shook, his relief palpable. “Come on, sweetheart, the police need to talk to you.”
She slipped her hand in his and squeezed. “Will you stay with me?”
“I’m not going anywhere.” The way he said it made it impossible to believe anything else.
They started across the lawn to the cottage when Cole’s head twisted toward the road. His face transformed before her eyes.
“What is it?”
“What the fuck? Isn’t that the guy you went out with?”
She followed Cole’s steely gaze to a beige Chevy Malibu parked a little way up the street. Gerald was sitting inside. She could see his shadowy form in the front seat. He was trying to covertly watch the action but was doing a crappy job, obvious as hell.
Cole growled and dropped her hand, heading straight for him. He wrenched the guy’s door open and dragged him out by his shirt, getting in his face. “What the fuck are you doing here?”
The cops swarmed, dragging Cole off.
Brian came up beside her. “Talk to me, Piper. Who is that guy?”
She took a good look at him, his size, the way he moved, and shivered, thinking about the man in the ski mask watching her, chasing her. “I…I went out with him once, his name’s Gerald. He phoned a few nights ago. He called me a bitch because I wouldn’t go out with him again.”
“Right.” Brian strode across the street.
“I didn’t do anything,” Gerald said as Brian interceded, shoving him against his car.
“What are you doing here in the middle of the night, Gerald?”
“I was just…” His mouth flapped.
“Answer me.”
“I was just driving past, and I…I saw the police cars. I wanted to make sure Piper was okay. We’re in a relationship, you see.” The guy was flushed. Face shiny with sweat.
Piper suddenly felt ill, but then Cole was back, arm wrapped protectively around her.
One of the other officers pulled something out of the car and tossed it to Brian. “That’s not what she says.” Brian grabbed Gerald’s arm and held up the offending item. “What’s this? I wouldn’t think you’d have much use for a ski mask midsummer.”
The guy gasped and winced, trying to pull his arms out of Brian’s hold. “I-I didn’t do anything wrong.”
Brian pulled his sleeve back and revealed a deep gash in his arm. Blood still oozing out of it. “How did you get this?”
The guy crumpled, folded under the slightest bit of pressure. His confession flowed from his lips. Piper barely heard it, in shock that mild-mannered, boring Gerald was the Peeping Tom who had chased her, terrorized her.
Cole led her into the cottage, and one of the officers joined them. While she was making her statem
ent, Alex, Rusty, and Reid arrived and, after giving her their own bruising hugs, hovered at the living room door with Deke.
Finally, after going through her ordeal several times, the police moved out.
Cole had stayed beside her through the whole thing, his hand wrapped around hers. She’d felt him stiffen beside her as she’d told them how he’d chased her across the parking lot, then continued to terrorize her by staring through the window. His fingers had tightened when she’d told them how she’d sat on the floor clutching a kitchen knife waiting for him to break in.
Now her sister and Alex were in the kitchen making drinks for everyone, and her brother and Reid, still looking pissed as hell and ready to do Gerald some serious damage, stood like a couple of vicious guard dogs by the door.
Suddenly having people who loved her, who looked out for her all the time, didn’t feel so suffocating anymore. She wouldn’t be without any one of them. Not even her overprotective big brother.
Rusty put a hot chocolate down in front of her and squeezed her hand.
“Thanks, Rust.”
Cole still sat stiff, body coiled tight, like he could explode out of his seat any moment. She turned to him. “Cole, I’m—”
“Piper needs her rest,” he said suddenly.
And to her utter surprise no one argued. After another round of bruising hugs, they filed quickly out the front door.
Cole had been quiet the whole time. Well, except for kicking her family out, and she had no idea what was going on in his head.
But before she could open her mouth to ask, he grabbed her around the waist and hauled her into his lap. Lifting his hands to her face, firm and unyielding, he stared down at her.
What she saw in his eyes stole her breath.
“I know I messed everything up. After Adam died…I thought, I thought if I allowed myself to give in to my emotions, allowed myself to let go, even just a little…fuck, I thought I’d shatter into a million pieces.”
She started to shake her head, to let him know it was okay, that he didn’t need to talk about this if it was too painful, but he didn’t stop. He kept talking.
“You forced me to let go, baby, to feel again. And I’m still here, Pipe. I didn’t fall apart. That’s all you. You don’t even know it, but you did that for me. Fuck, you’ve become my reason to wake up every morning. If you tell me you don’t want this, that you don’t feel the same way I do…” He stopped himself and shook his head. “No, fuck that. If you tell me you don’t feel the same way, I’ll do whatever it takes to change your mind. I know I’ve done it all wrong. I’ve hurt you. Made you think you didn’t matter to me. But, baby, you do. More than anyone. Fuck…I love you, Piper. I love you so damn much. I’ve loved you since you were seventeen years old.”
A choked sob surprised her, bursting past her lips. The hot tears that followed, streaming down her face, even more so. “You love me?” She shook her head. “I can’t…Cole, I can’t…”
Agony transformed his expression. “Piper, please. Give me a chance to make this right. I meant what I said. I’m not going anywhere. I’ll do everything in my power—”
She pressed her fingers against his lips and shook her head again. He swallowed, throat working as pain spiked through his gaze. How could he believe she’d turn her back on him? That she didn’t feel the same way? “I can’t believe you finally said it.” She smiled a watery smile at him. “I knew you felt it. I could see it in your eyes when you looked at me, but I never thought you’d say it, own it. I thought you’d let me slip through your fingers, keep on punishing yourself, denying yourself the happiness you deserve.”
“I can’t be without you, Piper.” Eyes bright, he leaned in and kissed her, slow and deep.
When he pulled back, she cupped his whiskered jaw. “And I can’t be without you. I love you, Cole. Always have.”
He lifted her to her feet, took her hand, and without a word led her down the hall.
“Where are we going?”
“You love me,” he rasped in a low, rough voice.
She squeezed his hand still wrapped around hers. “Cole…”
“I thought I’d lost you.” He tugged her into the bedroom, slamming the door behind him, and pressed her back into the cool wooden surface. “There was blood. You were gone.” His gaze was hard and hot, and she realized that although he’d appeared relatively cool, calm, and collected, he’d been anything but. “I thought I’d lost you. There was a moment there where I thought I’d never see you again.”
She wrapped her arms around his shoulders and pressed into him. “I’m okay now. It’s all over.”
He shook his head, expression fierce. “I can’t lose you, Piper. I can’t ever lose you.”
Jesus, he was killing her, the pain in his voice, the undisguised emotion shining from his eyes. “I’m not going anywhere. I promise.”
He came in close, his mouth only an inch away, forehead resting against hers. “I’ve waited so long for you.”
Tears stung the back of her eyes, and she bit her lip.
“I need you.”
“You have me,” she whispered back.
He kissed her fiercely, hands moving over her body, tearing at her clothes. “I need to feel your skin against mine.”
His gruff voice sent delicious tingles across her flesh, made her burn for him.
When he had her naked, he backed her toward the bed. “Lie down, baby.”
She scooted up the mattress and rested on her elbows, watching as he stripped. He stood at the foot of the bed, his beautiful, scarred body completely bare—and to her, utterly perfect. Climbing onto the bed, he moved over her, and she dropped her head back to the pillow. He rested on top of her, and she wrapped her legs around his waist, her arms circling his neck. He stared down at her for the longest time, not moving, just tracing every inch of her face with his intense gaze. His hands were in her hair on either side of her head, and she could feel him rubbing the strands between his fingers. “So beautiful.” He kissed her lightly, almost reverently. “Mine.”
“Yours,” she whispered back.
Then, without another word, he tilted his hips and pushed inside her, filling her in one smooth thrust of his hips. She gasped, neck arching, arms tightening around his shoulders, muscles clamping helplessly around his heavy cock. He moved on top of her, eyes never leaving her face. His expression told her again without words that she was his, that he was never letting her go. It was the most beautiful thing she’d ever seen.
His body rolled against hers, faster, harder. Oh God. She moaned, their breath mingling together. Perfect. So good. His hips kept her thighs spread wide, opening her up, exposing her clit to his thrusting cock, each glide taking her closer to release. “Cole,” she whimpered.
“That’s it. Let me feel it.”
One of his hands skimmed down her side, grabbing her ass. He tilted her hips, sliding deep, grinding his hips into hers. She gasped his name, and a second later she cried out, screaming it over and over.
He continued to move on top of her, and she forced her eyes open to watch him. He lifted to his knees, hands sliding to the back of hers so he could hold her legs up and open. His gaze drifted down between her thighs, watching the way he filled her. His nostrils flared before his eyes came back to hers. Then, taking one of her hands, he brought it down between her legs. She could feel him sliding in and out of her body.
She moaned, still sensitive, but with his eyes on her, the feel of his cock sliding through her fingers each time he pushed inside, she was already building a second orgasm. He moved her hand up a little, so her fingers were sliding over her clit with every thrust, and her inner muscles clenched and spasmed.
“Cole…” He applied more pressure, and she moaned, straining and gasping as she came a second time.
“Fuck, baby.” He took her wrists and lifted her hands above her he
ad, and slammed up into her wildly, once, twice, and shot hot and hard inside her. He collapsed, his face buried against her neck, groaning her name the whole time. He shook from the force of his release, and she wrapped her arms around him, closing her eyes and cradling him with her body while he came down.
That was how they fell asleep.
When she woke again, the sun was shining through the curtains.
Cole rolled her to her back, lifted up, and stared at her, a grin tugging the corner of his mouth. “You’re mine.”
She grinned back. “So I hear.” Then the question rose that had been in the back of her mind for the longest time, especially since the night he stormed into her bathroom and changed everything between them. She traced his dark brow, his scar, across his lower lip, then met his gaze. “I waited, you know. Every night for a week, I waited for you to come to me, or at least to acknowledge the message I left that night I drunk-dialed you. You never did. I’m not trying to give you a hard time, I just want to know, why didn’t you at least call?”
She watched the smile slip from his face. Goddammit. Why had she brought it up? His reasons for ignoring her call were obvious. He’d been grieving, dealing with so much. “I’m sorry. Forget I asked. That was selfish of me.”
He closed his eyes and stayed like that for several seconds. “That call was for me?” he rasped.
She frowned. “Who else would it be for?”
“I thought…” He buried his face against her throat. “I thought you called me by mistake.” He lifted up and stared down at her. “I tortured myself thinking about the asshole that call was meant for. Was fucking thrilled he never got it.”
She shook her head. “Oh, he got it all right.”
“Jesus.” Then he smiled, full-on, wide enough it reached his eyes and lit up his face. The sight made her belly flip. “It was meant for me, huh? You were out with your girls, drunk and turned on, and it was me you thought of?”
“You’re always the one I think of, always have been.” She watched his wide chest expand with his sharp indrawn breath, his gaze darken. God, she loved him. “Maybe I should have kept my mouth shut. You’re going to get a fat head.”
Wrecked (Axle Alley Vipers) Page 20
