Page 108 of Tempted Hearts
And then he let it go.
He roared my name. His gorgeous face full of pleasure, mouth open, probably looking like I did—a combination of sensation and awe.
After a few minutes, he pulled out and reached out to untie my hands. I immediately used them to pull him back to me. I wanted to feel us pressing close together for some reason.
Neither of us moved for a bit until Cole leaned back, looked at me, and then kissed me on the nose.
“And now, my sweetmonella, you know what edging is.”
Yeah, I did. “Bringing me to the edge and then stopping? That was downright cruel.”
He smiled.
“You seemed to like it well enough a few minutes ago.”
I did. “It felt amazing, but also really frustrating. Like pleasure mixed with pain. But not pain-pain. Does that make sense?”
He chuckled. “It does.”
“Next time you do that, I want my hands untied. At least give me a fighting chance.”
Next time.
The second those words were out of my mouth, I could feel him tense. He tried to mask it, but couldn’t.
I wanted to lie here in his arms, keep talking about our past and get to know each other. But every minute that went by, I was falling deeper into whatever we were.
“Hungry?”
“Very. Also wishing I had a cigarette or a cigar right about now. Even though I don’t smoke.”
Cole hopped up from the bed as effortlessly as he carried me up the stairs. He held out his hand and pulled me with him.
“I can’t help you on the cigar front, but I think we can find a place to grab some dinner if you want.”
I did want. Very much.
And that was the problem.
41
COLE
There was a breast under my hand.
My second thought, as I slowly woke from as deep a sleep as I could remember having, was that I was rock-solid hard. Just a few inches closer, Juliette would be waking up to an early-morning surprise she hadn’t bargained for.
I slowly extricated my arm, moving away. Juliette reached for the covers and pulled them to her chin, curling into a ball. By the time I was off the bed, looking down at her, she was once again fast asleep.
I wasn’t sure how long I stood there, as if memorizing every feature. Eventually, I pulled myself out of the dreamlike state and began the day. I’d gone back for some things, so I brought that duffel bag into her bathroom.
Last night was pretty much a repeat of the cottage. Hot, exploratory, fun… Most alarming of all, the second part of our night mirrored the one we’d spent in the same room in Monterosso.
As I got dressed, I thought about all the things she had shared. Her big dream of living three months out of the year in different locations. How scared she was to release a book. She’d been writing for more than ten years. Her softly spoken admission that, yes, she wanted a husband and a family, and sooner rather than later.
I shared more than usual as well. Eventually, we’d drifted into a deep sleep, and it wasn’t any surprise to me that it was now after eight o’clock. I barely ever slept that late.
Trying to remember if she had any appointments this morning, I got back to one of our conversations. She had an article due today, and tutoring. But if I was correct, that wasn’t until this afternoon.
