The kiss was different than his other kisses. No warm-up, no soft coaxing, no preamble, nothing but tongue and teeth and desperation.

And it felt more real than any kiss she’d ever had. But something was wrong. “What is it, Cole? What’s happened?”

Again he shook his head, his eyes stark. Hollow. He pulled something from his pocket and slapped it down on the coffee table.

A condom.

She stared at it and then met his gaze.

He closed his eyes. “I shouldn’t be here. I shouldn’t need you. But I do.”

He was strong of body and mind. He was self-sufficient, independent, and a stubborn male to boot. He didn’t do the need thing; she knew this. And even if he did, he had family. He had incredibly close friends that might as well be his brothers. In other words, he had options.

And he’d come to her.

“It’s just in case,” he said about the condom. “It’s your call.”

“Yes,” she said, and enveloped him in her arms.

Cole waited a beat as if giving her time to kick his ass out. When she didn’t, he slid his hands beneath her tank top and lifted it up and over her head.

And then it was gone.

Next his thumbs hooked into the sides of the red satin boxers and tugged. He looked down at what he’d revealed and growled.

“There,” he said roughly. “Finally. You. Just you.”

For a minute she thought he was going to skip all the preliminaries and sink right into her body. But then he kissed his way down her throat to a breast. He took his time, drawing out a response that had her arching up into him.

With a groan, he kissed his way to her other breast, his big body trembling with the effort to hold back.

“It’s okay,” she said, threading her fingers in his hair. “Whatever it is, I’m here, right here. And I want you.”

At that, he closed his eyes and dropped his forehead to hers. “So fucking sweet,” he murmured.

She wasn’t. Sweet. Not even close.

But then again, he didn’t know the real her. If he did, he wouldn’t be here. Not wanting to go there, not wanting to imagine being without him, she tugged up his shirt. “Off.”

He rose to his feet and began to strip, kicking off his shoes, tearing off his shirt and then his cargoes, his eyes on her the whole time.

She reached out and grabbed the condom, but with a shake of his head, he dropped back to his knees, manacled her wrists at her sides with his hands, and bent his head to kiss an inner thigh.

And then the other.

And then…in between.

She bit her lip hard as she rocked up into him, and when his tongue flicked over her, she cried out.

He slid his hands beneath her. “Watch,” he said, and lifted her to his mouth.

She watched. She watched his broad shoulders wedge her legs open, watched the muscles in his sleek back flex and ripple with every movement, watched his eyes drift shut in pleasure as he moaned at the taste of her.

And then she couldn’t watch because he sucked her into his mouth and her eyes rolled back in her head as she came.

Hard.

And then, because he didn’t let her go, again.

When she was boneless, he took the condom from her limp fingers. Her breath was still coming out in erratic gasps when he used his hips to nudge her legs farther apart and thrust inside her.

They both stilled with wondrous pleasure, and then she dug her nails into his back as he rocked her through two more orgasms before he reset his grip on her hips and let himself go, his head falling back as he hit his own release.

Eventually, their sensuous movements slowed and their heart rates reduced from stroke level to something resembling normal. She felt the touch of his mouth brushing against her damp temple.

“You okay?” he asked, his voice a barely there rasp.

She nodded; it was all she had. After another year or so, she tried to speak. “I’m starting to think that’s how it’s going to feel every time.”

“And how does it feel?”

Like the best thing to ever happen to her. Like something she wanted to have happen again, and again. “Like I was just hit by a Mack truck.”

He lifted his face from where he’d planted it in her throat and searched her expression. “I hurt you?”

“Yes,” she said, and pulled him back to her. “In the very best possible way.”

He relaxed and nuzzled at her for a moment, then rolled off her and onto his back on the couch, bringing her with him. He gathered her in and she draped herself across his magnificent abs, linking her leg through his.

“So,” she said on a satisfied sigh. “To what do I owe this pleasure?”

He didn’t answer, and she lifted her head to search his gaze.

He blew out a sigh and covered his eyes with his arm. “Had a rough night, that’s all.”

And he’d come here, to her…“Weren’t you with Sam and Tanner?”

His pause was so brief she was sure she imagined it before he possessively cupped her butt with two hands, squeezing, rocking his hips to hers.

He was hard again, making her moan. “Okay,” she said shakily. “You don’t want to talk.”

Chapter 25

Half an hour later, Cole found himself flat on the floor. Olivia was at his side, sprawled out like she didn’t have a bone left in her body, her chest rising and falling as fast as his.

“Holy cow,” she gasped.

That about covered it, Cole thought.

“You’re pretty lethal when you’re avoiding talking,” she said.