Page 62 of Wrecked (Axle Alley Vipers)

He didn’t know who moved first. All he knew was that suddenly Piper was pressed against his bare skin, the silk of her nightie sliding over his stomach and chest. Curling his arm around her, he pulled her in, tucking her head under his chin, and just held her in his arms.

Where she belonged.

They lay like that for a long time, so many words, so much he wanted to say swirling around in his mind.

He kissed the top of her head. “I can’t stop thinking…what if I hadn’t been here, what if I didn’t get your call?” He was shaking but didn’t give a shit. “Fuck, baby.”

She smoothed a hand along his side, up and back, soothing him until he relaxed into her, until the tension left his muscles. “I should have told you, but I never expected…I never thought…” She clung tighter.

He did his best to comfort her, moving his hand in circles on her back. “How long has this guy been hanging around?”

“A few months.” She tilted her head back, and her silky hair slid over his bicep. The simple contact lifted goose bumps across his skin. “Do you think it was him? What if it was someone else?” He felt a shiver move through her.

Fuck. “I’m not going anywhere. I won’t let anything happen to you. You believe that, right?”

She held his gaze. “Yes.”

“Seeing you afraid like that… I felt…”

“What?”

He needed to shut up. Now.

“Please, Cole. Talk to me?”

He could deny her nothing. Not now, not after everything that’d happened. Not when she was wrapped around him, small hands warm against his skin. Not when she was looking at him like that.

He released a shuddery breath. “I felt powerless, Pipe. I don’t… I can’t…” He held her tighter, like she could hold him together, stop him from shattering, from dissolving into nothing. Like she alone could prevent him from reverting back to the hollow shell he’d been without her. “I don’t know what to do with that, how to deal with it. Not after what happened in New York. But I’m trying. I’m fucking trying.”

“I know, baby,” she whispered. “I know.” Then she cupped the side of his face. “I’m not going anywhere, either. I’m here as long as you need me.” Leaning in, she pressed her lips to his, giving him the sweetest kiss of his life before tucking back into his side.

He held her in his arms, threaded his fingers through her hair, and tried to keep his shit together.

There was no way to stop this now, this thing between them. And he realized he didn’t want to.

It was out of his control.

And maybe for once—that was okay.

...

Sun lit the backs of Cole’s lids. He’d been awake for several minutes but hadn’t opened his eyes yet. He hadn’t felt this rested, hadn’t slept that deeply, in months. Piper lay beside him, body pressed against his, driving him crazy with the way she was lazily tracing his abs with the tip of her finger.

He smiled to himself and grabbed her wrist, tugging her forward. She squeaked, falling over him, tits smashing into his chest.

Nice.

“You gave me a fright.” She playfully slapped his shoulder.

The breathless way she’d said it was sexy as hell. He cracked his lids and grinned up at her. “You were asking for trouble, and you know it.”

She gave him that shy, sexy smile he loved so damn much. “Maybe.”

“No maybe about it. My girl needs me, and I’m more than happy to help her out.” He slid his hands down her back and cupped her ass, giving it a light slap. “Up.”

She blushed but didn’t deny it, looking cute and a little unsure, until he fisted the green satin still covering her body and tugged it higher over her belly. She lifted her arms so he could pull it over her head. His breathing grew choppy at the sight of her bare breasts, smooth and heavy, her nipples pink and puckered. He dragged her over him, and sliding his hands behind her knees, pulled them up so her thighs straddled his. He smoothed his fingers higher, where she had that sexy rose tattoo on her upper thigh and hip. Skin hot and silky. Beautiful.

“Ride me,” he rasped.