Chapter Six
In the kitchen, Cole tapped through the menu until he found Leah’s number and hit connect. “Hey sis, how are you?”
“Fine, how ‘bout you, Linc?” Leah’s pet name drove him crazy and he’d pay her back in kind.
“You know I’m always good, Snake.”
“Forgot about that one. You never call me, so who died?”
“No one. Have a question.”
“Shoot.”
“I need you to interview and hire a team of private investigators and send all the bills to me. Here’s the clincher, they need to believe in black magic or at least a possibility there is some truth to the matter.”
“Where are you?” His sister’s demeanor changed.
“At Jilly’s and something is happening to Peyton. And it’s not good.”
“I know.”
“How?”
“Another topic for a different day.” Leah’s exhausted tone created a coil of worry that tightened around his head and radiated down his body.
“You don’t sound good. I can have someone else―”
“NO.” Leah cleared her throat and whispered, “I need to do this.”
“What aren’t you telling me?” He should’ve video conferenced this call to observe Leah’s physical reactions as opposed to identifying and understanding her masked inflections which she was damn good at hiding.
“Just watch over Peyton.”
The background noise changed to a cruel silence. With Leah in New Orleans and Peyton here, how could he safeguard his loved ones? He rubbed the back of his neck with his hand and massaged the taut muscles.
“You bet I will. Sis, be careful.”
“Always.”
He fingered end, phoned Kevin, asked him to check on a few things and called in a favor. Kevin would have Leah followed for protection. Maybe he’d have some answers after Christmas and Leah would be okay, for now.
He strode to the living room. While he repositioned the blankets, Peyton slept soundly. He kissed her forehead and went to the kitchen and began supper.
****
“Hey you’re up. How ya’ feeling?” Cole cautiously studied Peyton.
“Much better. Let me help.” Peyton’s color was back and she smiled.
“Sounds like a plan.” Seeing his bright-shining star stronger and happier, he whistled a jovial Christmas song. Imagine that. His contentment came from Peyton and she seemed to be the one healing him.
After they ate, both of them cleaned the kitchen. Peyton turned from the sink. “Cole?”
“Yeah?” He hung the tea towel over the top handle of the double oven.
“I need a hug.”
He clasped Peyton’s arms bringing her within his embrace and gently squeezed. When he released his hold, her hooded eyes shouted desire. He lowered kissing her soft lips. She opened and he delved his tongue into her mouth. The sweet flavor of a power drink burst across his taste buds. He angled for deeper access and she granted it to him.
Her hips undulated. His hard-on strained the boundaries of his denims. He grasped each side of her shoulders and eased her back several inches. What he saw he’d gladly give to her. “Are you sure?”
When she nodded, he gripped the hem of her sweatshirt along with her camisole and whisked the clothing over her head, letting them drop to the floor. All the while, she’d been divesting her pants and started on his. Now, both lay in a pool at their feet.
He wanted to make this joining special for his bright-shining star, give her joy and if he couldn’t sway her to stay with him, he’d always have something to remember her by. His hands curved around her rear, lifting her until her pelvic bone met his groin. She wrapped her legs around his waist, locking her ankles. As he walked to the dining table, her essence flowed over him and he moaned. “You’re ready for me.”
He snatched several thick towels from a drawer. “Use these. On your knees baby, with your back to me.” Once positioned, he gently lowered her shoulders. With her sassy ass in the air, he palmed the fleshy globes. Her satin skin was smooth and she called his name. His finger followed the crevice finding her slick folds. Her juices flowed over the three fingers he had inserted. He licked his lips wanting to taste her, but he would wait.
He withdrew then separated the cheeks of her butt, sliding his forefinger through the tight ring. She mewled and relaxed. He added another, gliding to the next knuckle. With his other hand, angling from the front side, he slipped into her wet core, he added pressure to her bud with his palm. The thin skin between the channels allowed him to feel his movement along with her muscle responses. She shifted her hips in the air. He sensed she wanted more sensations. He released his left hand and guided his shaft through the slick folds, swirling the honeyed nectar over him. She answered him with a purr and he couldn’t wait any longer.
In one movement, he seated his entire length in her. Her warm folds clamped down. “Cole.”
****
Peyton’s skin pebbled under Cole’s touch. This was what she wanted. His undivided attention and the pure bliss of the one place Cole took her. She would never let him stay with her. This was the last time they’d be together so she accepted the ecstasy only he could give her.
Cole’s hoarse voice echoed in her ear while his fingertips found her nub. She slid one hand to cup his balls while the other twisted her nipple. Her pulse hammered, her blood pumped, and her hair clung to her sweat-ridden temples. She voraciously milked him, loving his hard-on reaching the remote depths of her core, the lonely depths of her interior that she had kept in isolation, until now.
Cole lightly slapped the bundle of nerves, electricity shot through her system, responding to the pleasure he gave her. He remembered. Automatically, her hands released him. Her knees widened, slanting her hips toward him for more.
He chuckled. “Hmm, you still like it.” He popped her again.
Between hearing his erotic inflection, the sensation of his metered thrusts, her apex neared. “Harder.”
“Whatever you want.”
Cole grasped her hips and plunged. His retreats and advances stoked her passion. The sound of skin cracking through the air fed her like an aphrodisiac. “I’m so close.”
His hand snaked around to the bundle of nerves. “Here’s your launch baby.” He tweaked the swollen nub then swatted.
Her body tensed then released. Blinded by sheer rapture, her orgasm projected her into the skies of a heavenly snowstorm. She floated down like the icy crystals outside, landing softly in his embrace.
Cole’s chest met her back, one arm wrapped across her breasts, the other her waist. “I thought you were going to collapse.”
Drugged by the love potion only he could give to her, she shook her head.
The next thing she knew, his fingers and thumbs tweaked both of her nipples at the same time, pulling them taut, releasing, and repeating. One hand traveled to her folds, opening her, he caressed the tiny pearl.
Surprised by her already ardent need, she moaned, “Please.”
Cole whispered near her ear. “What do you want, my bright-shining star?”
“Don’t stop.”
“This is just the start, sweetheart.”
He withdrew. “As much as I like this position, I want to watch you come.” Lifting her off the table, her feet found the floor, but her knees buckled under her weight. Luckily, he kept her from falling.
“Enough of this.” He gathered her legs with his forearm and the other cradled her back, he easily picked her up and carried her to the bedroom.
He placed her on the edge of the high country bed, stacking pillows under her rear until her back and shoulders flattened against the mattress.
The passion in his gaze encouraged her to be more brazen. She spread her knees apart.
“How beautiful.” Cole’s pupils dilated revealing his need. He grasped the base of his shaft and stroked. There was nothing more erotic than to watch Cole pleasure himself.
He closed the distance between them and with the tip, he massaged her nub, applying just the right amount of pressure as he slid between her folds. Her juices coated his engorged shaft, her nerve endings kicked into high gear. A paradise she’d never forget.
She gazed at Cole as his hips thrust then retreated. His sinewy abdomen flexed with every advance and withdrawal. She shivered in anticipation of what was next. Cole’s eyes were closed and his jaw locked as though exercising restraint with every movement. He never lost control, even when he was angry.
He opened his eyes. The fire raging from them consumed her like dry kindling. She massaged her breasts while her fingers clenched the hardened tips. “Cole.”
“Hmm.” The strangled sound seemed incongruous to the virile man who stood before her.
“Inside me.”
“I’m pleasuring you.” A rumble deep from his lungs escaped.
“Please.”
A second later, the angle of his thrust raked across her sweet-spot and she gasped.
He groaned, which filled her with satisfaction. The muscles she used to excite him awarded her just as much enjoyment. She clamped hard. Intense hunger dominated his expression.
Cole raised one eyebrow while the ends of his lips curled in a grin. With his fingertips, he opened her folds, curving his palm, he gently slapped her bundle of nerves. Her hands freed her breasts. She snaked them above her head and clasped the covers. She wouldn’t relinquish her gaze either. “Again.”
The stimulating jolt of arousal led her to the threshold once more. This time she offered him everything she had, she grasped and squeezed his shaft. In return, his hips gyrated with power and pumped. Cole incited her to the peak of pure rapture and inside, he rasped all of her pleasure points.
He changed position. Guiding her legs up in the air, leaning them close together against his chest, her feet pointing toward the ceiling, then he slowly entered. His hands journeyed to her hips and his metered movements increased.
The sensation of him leaving a wet path between her feminine lips and thighs, her breasts joining the motion of his movement, titillated her to the brink of madness. “I’m going to climax.”
“Baby, I can tell. Keep your eyes open.” He hammered harder and faster. “Go, I want to feel your spasms around me when you come.”
She released a scream. Cole held onto her gaze. Tears welled in her eyes and he’d become a fuzzy outline. When she landed, she focused on Cole not moving a muscle.
“So sweet, baby.” He withdrew to the tip of his velvet hard-on. At an agonizingly slow pace, he entered her core.
Once fully seated, he growled, “I. Can’t. Hold. Back.” His muscles tightened. With one last thrust, he arched his back. “Oh, baby.” He ground out through clenched teeth.
With her inner muscles, she squeezed him feeling his warm essence fill her.
His eyelids closed then opened. His hands glided from her hips up to her knees. Gently, he withdrew, holding her legs, he slowly lowered them, and placed her feet on the floor. Scooping up the wash cloth he’d used earlier, he solicitously wiped her clean then himself. He tossed the pillows at the headboard. As he rolled onto the mattress, he brought her with him. A heavy sigh discharged from his lungs, cradling her in his arms.
This was one of her favorite times, cuddled against Cole’s frame after post-coital bliss. Damn, she missed the many things they did together, too many to count, but there were also too many tears shed to think about. When they broke up, she had expended an enormous amount of energy crying, missing Cole’s humor and finally accepting the inevitable.
She draped one leg over his hips and squeezed, letting him know, she appreciated his attention. He had said things would be different, but she knew this was just sex. It had to be.
Within minutes, their steady breaths were in unison. Gradually, she cooled down and drifted to sleep.
Peyton awoke and blinked. Cole lay on top of her, his teeth nipping her breast and his hips nestled between her thighs, they had both loved morning sex. Her palms curled around his head, her fingers slid through his thick hair, keeping his tender affection there. Her back arched for more and he delivered, suckling while his tongue flicked over the hardened tip.
Spreading her thighs further, Cole opened her folds and directed his thick tumescent shaft into her core. Her breath hitched as he seated himself completely. The feeling of warmth, fullness and an emotion she wanted to hold on to consumed her.
Where did that thought come from? With her horrifying visions, she could never give any man her entangled life. What in the hell was she thinking? All she wanted was to take what Cole was willing to give…right? No entanglements, no relationship.
When he withdrew, she had the sensation of abandonment. Her first reaction was to follow, but he returned. He chuckled. “Patience.” His husky voice bathed her in promise.
He plunged forward. Her hands followed the linear line of his spine and cupped his tightened buttocks. The motion shifted, increasing in speed, accelerating into an intense rhythm until her fevered core begged for more.
The sound of them joining harmonized to their thrusts. Cole rested his weight on one elbow while his hand snaked down and rubbed the pearl between her folds. “You ready? Keep your eyes open.”
When she nodded, he tweaked the bundle of nerves between his finger and thumb. She launched like a rocket heading to the starry Milky Way galaxy. The next cognizant moment, Cole’s lopsided grin held her focus. The darkened desire in his eyes shot shivers scurrying across her heated skin. Still seated inside her, his shaft jerked. A delicious throb generated once more, and she hungered for his climax.
His mirth vibrated from his chest and tickled her breasts. With every word, he plunged and retreated. “You’re perfect in every way, ready for one more?” He stilled and kissed her forehead. “Then I’m going to treat you to one of my special omelets.”
“Sounds wonderful. The omelet too.”
He pulled out and in a single bound, his feet hit the floor. “Come here, baby.”
She scooted across the bed. His hands at each side of her hips, he flipped her and placed her feet to meet his on the throw rug. Her belly flat on the bed, he widened her legs. She heard rustling behind her, then the crinkle of foil, latex snapping and a squirt.
Both lubed palms spread her butt cheeks. He fingered the dark channel readying her for him. She breathed deep, relaxing the tight ring.
“That’s it, baby, let me in.”
His finger slipped out, then the crown slid past the tight circle. Inching down the chamber, the pain changed to pleasure as he seated himself fully. Cole’s gentle rhythm accelerated a craving for more. As if he sensed she needed her appetite sated, his cadence changed to a faster pace. His sacs pelted against her bared folds, she cupped his fleshy treasure in her hand desiring them to slap her tiny bundle of nerves until her climax.
Cole eased back and forth ever so slow. He purposely took his sweet time.
“Faster.”
Beads of moisture dropped on her spine and gathered in the indentation. “Cole, please.”
He drove in then out. More sweat trickled down her back. The dynamic of his penetration was delectable, the friction titillated her clit. She wanted more stimulation. “Harder.”
Cole plunged.
Fire burned from her belly to the depths of her core. The room spun with each advance and withdrawal. Her climax approached as he sank deeper eliciting a fiery blaze from within.
He swatted her rear and carnal satisfaction shot through her entire body. The vibration of his balls slapping her folds, his groin pelting her rear and his groans of gratification echoed in the room. “Cole.”
“Go baby, I’m right behind you.”
That was a pun if she ever heard one. Was it seconds later or minutes, she couldn’t tell. When she came down from the ecstasy of her climax, he shuddered with his release. His semi-rigid shaft twitched inside her. Without losing their connection, his knees found the bed, and lay on top of her. Cocooned between the bed and Cole’s chest, the weight taken by his forearms, she reveled in the heat emanating from him. His breaths tickled her neck. She would treasure these memories forever in her isolated future.