CHAPTER 16
Cole and Savannah were enjoying a lazy Saturday afternoon when a loud buzzing from the intercom system grabbed their attention. “Are you expecting someone?” Savannah asked.
Cole shook his head. He didn’t like the idea of anyone interrupting the private bubble he and Savannah had created the past several weeks. He punched the button on the wall. “Yeah?”
Static crackled through the speaker. “Uh, yes, my name is Dillon James. I’m looking for Savannah.”
Cole whipped around to face Savannah. Her face had gone pale and her hands were shaking. She slowly shook her head, bringing her finger to her lips.
How the hell had Dillon tracked Savannah here? Cole gave a tight nod and pressed the talk button to reply. “Sorry, no one named Savannah lives here.”
It took everything in him not to go rushing down the stairs and into the lobby to face this a*shole. He turned to Savannah instead. “You okay?”
Her eyes remained locked on his, full of intensity.
“He can’t hear us, Savannah.”
She drew a shaky breath. “I just…it’s probably stupid of me, I just don’t want to see him right now. He won’t like me living here with you. I don’t want to deal with him.”
Cole went to her side, placing a hand on her shoulder. “It’s not stupid. You don’t have to face him. You’re safe here. Okay?” Her shoulders shook and his hand automatically rubbed out the tension. It didn’t escape his notice that Savannah was in a near panic at both seeing Dillon and fear that he’d snap seeing Savannah with another man. The thought did not sit well with him. He hadn’t been in a proper fist fight over a girl since sixth grade, but he wouldn’t hesitate now if the occasion called.
She nodded. “Thank you, Cole. For everything.”
Cole folded her into his arms, unsure of how to comfort her. He hated that Savannah had a history with that creep, and that she had grown up around men with screwed up belief systems. He wished he could shield her from it all, but he’d settle for holding her, and for her part, Savannah clung to him like he was the last tree standing in a thunderstorm. It broke his heart, and renewed his decision to protect her all at once.
***
That evening, as Cole dressed in dark jeans and a light blue button down shirt, he knew he needed to tell Savannah about his date with Sali. He sprayed a squirt of his seldom-worn cologne onto his neck, and ran his hands through his hair in an attempt to tame it. He hadn’t thought much of going out with the girl when Marissa approached him about the idea. And even though only a few weeks had passed since he agreed to the date, somehow he felt closer to Savannah. Perhaps it was seeing her with Levi, or that he no longer fought off her cuddling at night, or because the other night felt like a date between them, but whatever the reason, he felt strange telling her.
He found her in the living room, her knees drawn to her chest on the couch. “Hey Savannah.” She turned to face him, cradling Cuddles in her arms. “I’ll be going out later. You don’t need to cook dinner tonight.” He wondered what Savannah would make of him going on a date . And if he was going to have the balls to tell her.
“Oh. Okay. I can eat some of the leftover pizza from last night. And Cuddles and I will probably just watch a movie.”
“Okay. Remember to keep the door locked.”
“I will,” she promised. “Cole?”
“Yes?”
“Where are you going?”
He hesitated only a second. He wouldn’t lie to Savannah. Besides he was free to go on dates. “My sister set me up on a blind date.”
“Oh.” Her bottom lip jutted out just slightly. “But I’ll see you later, when you get home?”
“Yes,” he reassured her. “I’ll be back later tonight.”
It remained unspoken between them, but both knew they’d be sleeping together in his bed later.
***
He set off to meet Sali at the pub. He’d have preferred to pick her up, but as Marissa reminded him, girls don’t let men they don’t know pick them up. He could be some creepy stalker, and then he’d have her address. He assured her he wasn’t going to begin stalking her friend from yoga, but that had only started Marissa on a whole other rant that he obviously didn’t date enough if he didn’t know the simplest of rules.
When Cole entered the pub he searched out Liam first. A lot of times he could be found behind the bar, providing a second set of hands for the bartender rather than sit alone in his office in the back. And tonight proved no different. Liam nodded once, spotting Cole across the room. Liam was his last single friend, but he certainly didn’t lack for female companionship being the owner of a popular bar. It was meeting quality girls that he found difficult. Cole knew that if Liam met the right girl, he wouldn’t be opposed to settling down. He and Liam had been friends for over twenty years. In college, they had often tricked girls into thinking they were brothers. They were both a few inches over six feet, with dark hair and when neither had shaved for a few days, which Liam often neglected to do, they took on an uncanny resemblance.
Cole took a frustrated breath. He wasn’t sure how he was going to find her. He saw two single women at either end of the bar. One was a knockout blonde, beautiful with legs up to her tits. His sister didn’t love him that much. The other woman was plain brunette, a few pounds overweight and glasses so big, they belonged in another decade. He shook his head, wondering if he could just slip out before she noticed him. Damn Marissa. She’d roped him into shit like this before, always using the phrase, ‘Well I thought she was cute,’ to clear her conscience.
He took a deep breath. One drink. He could do this. One stiff as f*ck drink. He took one last wistful look at the gorgeous blonde and approached the brunette instead. “Hi, you must be Sali.”
Her face pinched in confusion. “No, sorry.”
His head swung around and he met the blonde’s eyes as a slow grin spread across his face. Marissa loved him after all.
He left the brunette staring after him and approached the blonde. “Please tell me you’re Sali.”
She smiled. “Cole, I presume?”
Dear God, she had an Australian accent. His sister really loved him.
He slid in next to her and they each ordered a drink. Sali knew his sister from yoga, but Marissa hadn’t mentioned that Sali was the instructor. They shared some laughs about Marissa’s clumsy mishaps in yoga, talked about where she grew up in Australia, and he made her laugh with his poor attempt at an Aussie accent.
One drink turned into two, and then three. She was easygoing, flirty and sexy as hell. That accent had him half hard all night. At first he felt guilty about leaving Savannah alone, but as the alcohol softened his mood, he figured perhaps some time apart may do them both good. She needed to gain some independence from him, and Lord knew he needed to get her off his mind.
When Sali excused herself for the restroom, Cole took stock of how the night was going. They were getting along well, and she’d begun leaning in towards him, placing her hand on his thigh as she laughed, or finding other ways to brush up against him, like pressing her breast into his arm when she reached across the bar for her drink. Cole wondered if she’d be game for continuing things back at her place.
Sali returned with a fresh coat of pink gloss on her lips and a seductive smile. Finding that his patience and manners had disappeared along with that last drink, Cole stood and pulled her against him. “Let’s go somewhere,” he whispered low, near her ear.
She smiled a little, her eyes dancing on his. “What did you have in mind?” A playful smirk tugged on her mouth.
“Somewhere we can be alone.” Without waiting for her to answer, Cole took her hand and pulled her outside of the club. They waited on the sidewalk, Sali’s arms wrapped around his middle.
“And here I thought you were a nice guy. Your sister had you pegged to be some saint. I thought tonight was going to be totally dull.”
“It doesn’t have to be.” He leaned over and pressed a soft kiss on her mouth, testing her. She wrapped her hands around his neck, pulling him even closer. F*ck he needed this, needed the distraction before he did something with Savannah he’d regret.
“I have roommates. We can’t go my place,” she whispered.
“It’s okay, we’ll be quiet,” he said between kisses. Well he would, he couldn’t say the same for her, since he was hoping to make her scream.
She pressed a hand against his chest. “I can’t, sexy. I share a room with Jenny. She’ll kill me if I bring a guy home again.”
Again? He wondered how often she did this, but let it go. Cole supposed he had a roommate too, though he had no idea how to explain Savannah.
“Let’s go to your place,” Sali suggested, placing a hand over the already hard budge in his jeans and gave him a squeeze.
Cole reluctantly agreed. Well, not all that reluctantly. The thought of getting laid and pushing Savannah into the back corner of his mind, if only for thirty minutes or so, sounded too good to pass up. He only hopped Savannah wasn’t in his bed. He’d do a sweep of the apartment first, and hell if necessary, he’d f*ck Sali in his truck.
Cole realized he was in no shape to drive. “Okay, come on We’ll grab a cab.”
Sali spent the ride in the cab licking his neck and gripping the hard ridge in his jeans. He knew he had a freaky girl on his hands. The thought made him both deliriously happy and nervous since the last thing he wanted to do was hurt Savannah. He warned Sali that he had someone staying with him right now, and they’d have to be extra quiet. In between nibbling on his earlobe, and licking his neck, she said no problem.
They staggered from the cab into the stairwell, kissing and groping each other as they went.
“Remember, extra quiet,” he reminded her when he unlocked the door.
Rather than answering, Sali worked her hand into the front of his jeans and gave him a gentle squeeze. He closed his eyes, imaging briefly it was Savannah’s hand around him. His eyes shot open. Where had that thought come from? He would never be with Savannah. Not like this. He pulled Sali’s hand from his pants and asked her to wait in the kitchen.
The living room was empty, which meant Savannah was in bed — but he had no idea if that meant his bed or hers. The door to the guest room was closed. He continued past it and into his own bedroom. It was empty. He breathed a little sigh of relief. God, he was so on edge about Savannah finding out about this, he wondered if he should just usher Sali out before this blew up in his face. But when he turned, Sali was already standing on the threshold of his bedroom.
“Weren’t going to get started without me, were you?” She grinned and stalked towards him.
He swallowed and watched her lean, lithe body cross the room. He’d be lying if he said he didn’t want this. His dick was already straining against his jeans, only he didn’t know if it was because of the thought of Savannah discovering them or because of Sali’s long legs wrapped around his waist.
She closed the door behind her, flipped off the lights and shoved him down onto the bed. His back hit the mattress with a thud. Sali straddled him and pulled off her shirt. Maybe he could just make this quick and get her out of the apartment. Cole moved through the foreplay faster than he liked to. “Are you ready for me?” he asked, nuzzling her neck with kisses.
He usually liked to make sure the girl got off at least once, and was nice and wet before he sunk into her. But something told him Sali wouldn’t mind moving onto the main event. She pulled her panties aside and pleasured herself while he watched, then brought her fingers to his mouth. He opened obediently. “See I’m already wet,” she whispered.
Good. Let’s get on with it. Listening to his inner dialogue was like having an angel on one shoulder, a devil on the other. Half of him wanted to f*ck her senseless, to lose himself in the pleasure, and the other half wished he’d never brought her home so he could be curled up next to Savannah. But God, it wasn’t like he and Savannah were in a relationship. He should be dating other women. But sleeping with them in the apartment he shared with Savannah? That part was questionable.
Cole grabbed a condom from the drawer in his nightstand and handed it to Sali. “Put it on me,” he growled.
Sali obliged, tearing the package open with her teeth, and planting a kiss on the head of his dick before rolling the condom down to the base of his shaft. He picked her up under her arms and lifted her on top of him so she was straddling his lap. Then he folded his arms behind his head and grinned up at her in a challenging smirk. He had a feeling he could bend her into a pretzel, with her being a yoga instructor and all, but somehow the idea held no appeal. He could tell that Sali was the type of girl who liked to be in charge, who’d be happy to ride him until they both came.
She lowered herself down slowly on his shaft, throwing her head back in ecstasy as he disappeared inside her. Sali increased her speed, alternating between rolling her hips and bouncing against him. She let out little breathy moans and grunts each time he hit the right spot. As her speed increased, so did her volume. “Yeah…rightthere…rightthere…” she moaned.
Cole planted his palm across her mouth. “Shh.” He kept his hand secured across her lips as she moved against him. She was oblivious to his hand, and continued riding him.
After a few minutes, Cole opened to eyes to see if Sali was getting closer to finishing. He sure as hell wasn’t. He didn’t know why, but something felt off. He just couldn’t get into it. Cole noticed the room wasn’t quite as dark as it was before, and his eyes flashed around Sali’s writhing form to his bedroom door, which was now partially opened. How the hell had that happened? Light from the hallway flooded the entrance to his room. Lifting his head from the pillow, he saw Savannah standing in the doorway watching them.
Holy shit.
Her eyes were locked on his, blazing with curiosity. His dick jerked inside Sali.
“Oh yeah. Just like that,” she moaned. He clamped his hand tighter over her mouth. Sali was completely in her own world, not even noticing that they weren’t alone, or that all of Cole’s attention was on Savannah.
Savannah’s gaze flickered to Sali’s back, her ass lifting up and down on Cole.
Savannah was dressed in just a pair of panties and a tank top. She looked so innocent, yet completely f*cking sexy, it made him even harder. Her lips were parted, pulling in shallow breaths and her eyes were dark with desire.
Savannah just stood watching them for several minutes, her eyes never wavering from his, until Sali gave a little shout and then climbed off of him. Savannah turned and ran for her bedroom.
“Did you finish?” Sali asked.
“Yeah,” he choked out. He doubted she’d check the condom for evidence. He peeled it off and wrapped it in tissue, hoping to keep up the ruse that it was full, and threw it in the waste basket beside his bed. There was no way he was going to be able to come with Sali. Unless he replaced the image of Sali with Savannah, but God he couldn’t think like that. It wasn’t right.
“Hey, I hope you don’t mind.” Sali threw her top on over her head. “But I don’t like to stick around after, so I already texted my roommate to come get me and she’s here.” She held up her phone, the flashing blue light indicating a new message.
Cole didn’t plan on trying to talk her into staying. “Yeah okay. Well, thanks.”
“No problem, sexy. That was fun, yeah?” Sali slipped on the rest of her clothes, while Cole stepped into a pair of jeans.
After seeing Sali out, Cole stood in the dark entryway completely bewildered and out of sorts. He cursed and fought the urge to punch the wall. He caught his reflection in the hallway mirror, and the pale, haunted man staring back at him was almost unrecognizable. He didn’t know why he had thought it had been okay to bring Sali home, because it most certainly was not f*cking okay. Not at all. He had sobered up the instant Savannah’s eyes met his.
He took a deep breath and approached her bedroom door, which was left cracked open. He found Savannah sitting in the center of her bed, still dressed in just a pair of panties and white tank. Her gaze was cast down, and the sadness in her pose, the limp slump of her shoulders hit him like a physical pain in the chest. “Savannah.” His voice broke and the ache in his chest made it difficult to breathe. Not getting any response from her, he approached the bed.
Savannah’s eyes followed his feet across the carpet, until he was standing at the end of her bed. She looked up at him, chewing on her bottom lip. She watched him like he was some wild creature. Her lips were parted, her eyes wide, and her breathing shallow.
“Are you okay?” he asked.
Wide green eyes studied his. She nodded slowly. Her gaze lowered, lingering across his bare chest and stomach and stopping at the waist band of his jeans, which he’d left unbuttoned in his haste to get Sali out the door.
Her hands toyed with the edge of her tank top, and Cole’s lungs tightened. What was she… She lifted the top, exposing the soft skin of her belly and continued raising it slowly until her breasts came into view. Cole couldn’t help but follow her movements. He bit his lip and looked down at her. Soft milky skin and pale pink nipples, tightening in the cool air. F*ck, she was perfect, better than his imagination. He swallowed roughly.
“You can’t do that, Savannah.” He reached for the discarded shirt and handed it back to her.
She accepted the shirt from him, only to throw it across the room. Damn, she was severely overestimating his self-control. He’d give his next breath just to taste her beautiful tits.
“Savannah,” he ground out through clenched teeth. “Get dressed.” His command sounded weak even to his own ears.
She sucked her lip into her mouth rolled over with a huff, lying on her stomach and burying her face in the pillow.
Why did she seem hurt? He curled his hands into fists, then straightened them and sat next to her on the bed.
Her fine little ass was on full display in the barely there pink panties that made appearances in his dreams. His breath caught as he took in the sight of the shapely, round globes of her ass, just begging for his attention.
He placed his hand on her bare back, rubbing the skin between her shoulder blades with his thumb. She turned her head to the side, resting one cheek against the pillow so she could look up at him. “I’m sorry you had to see that. I shouldn’t have brought her home.”
“Then why did you?” she challenged.
Because he’d been thinking with his dick. But he couldn’t say that to Savannah, so he didn’t say anything, and she didn’t press him. He continued running his palm along her back.
“Are you going to do that to me — what you did to her?” she asked.
“No,” his voice came out impossibly tight. “You’re safe with me, Savannah. I won’t hurt you.”
She chewed on her lip. “It didn’t look like you were hurting her.” She batted her eyelashes.
“Savannah stop,” he pleaded.
“Unless she was hurting you…” her brow creased. He remembered the way Sali had ridden him — hard and fast, just the balls of her feet on the bed, her hands pressed onto his pecs as she bounced against him.
“No,” he choked out. God, she really didn’t know anything about sex.
He couldn’t resist running his fingertips down her back, over her spine and up to her neck again. It was a touch meant to sooth her, so why the hell was it turning him on?
He wanted to ask why she’d watched them, but held back, not sure he could handle the answer. “Savannah? Tell me what’s wrong,” he coaxed, carefully rubbing her bare back, but she remained still and quiet. He trailed his fingertips up to her shoulders, then back down to where her lower back dipped in. He let his hands venture farther, just to the edge of her panties, before sweeping his fingers up her spine again. He felt her breathing shallow out and grow faster.
God, how badly he wanted to touch her ass. To grip it in his palms and maybe even rain little smacks across it. She had a perfect ass, after all.
He continued massaging her back, and felt her slowly begin to relax into the mattress. But then she did something she shouldn’t have. She moaned and wiggled that little ass as she got more comfortable. Damn. Unable to resist her any longer, Cole brought both hands to her backside and cupped it in his palms needing to touch, to massage every part of her. Savannah let out another breathy moan and he thought his heart stopped. She lifted her bottom just slightly, as if to meet his hands. The skin was so soft, so smooth, and tempting as f*ck. He wanted to pull her panties down and touch her bare ass, but he didn’t dare. Instead he continued rubbing her back, and letting his hands spend more and more time squeezing and cupping her ass as his hands wandered lower. Savannah’s breathing had quickened and she turned her head, no longer burying it in the pillow so she could fully watch him. The agony in her expression had disappeared and was replaced by desire and that burning curiosity he’d seen when she’d watched him with Sali.
“Cole,” she whispered.
Somehow he knew it wasn’t a command to stop, but an encouragement to go farther. He knew he shouldn’t, but f*ck, he was so turned on. Just a little farther, he wouldn’t let himself do anything he shouldn’t, but he so badly wanted to taste her sweet skin, and feel her writhe against his mouth. He trailed his hands down the backs of her thighs, tickling the sensitive skin behind her knees, and when he brought both hands up over her ass, he let his fingers slip just inside the elastic so he could feel her bare skin, uninterrupted by the fabric. It was as far as he’d go without some signal from her that she wanted more. He continued kneading and massaging her plump flesh, his fingers working closer and closer to her little p-ssy. He wanted to know if she was wet, because he was hard as a rock and she hadn’t even touched him yet. She wouldn’t even need to touch him; he could probably come just thinking about her ass.
Savannah’s breathing became more erratic, and she lifted her hips just slightly, as if giving his hands better access to touch her down below, if he wanted to. With both hands now under the fabric of her panties, he bent and kissed the back of one thigh, then the other, planting open-mouthed kisses along her tender flesh. When his tongue lavished the skin at the back of her knee, her hips shot of the bed.
“Ah,” she gasped.
“Shh, I’ll make it better,” he promised. He kissed his way up her legs, and rained tender kisses over her backside, fighting the urge to nuzzle his face in between her cheeks. He didn’t want to scare her, but he did love her ass. With one hand pushing aside the fabric of her panties, his other found her slick heat. F*ck, she was soaking wet. His dick twitched against the confines of his jeans.
Savannah pushed back against his hand. He reveled in the soft feel of her little p-ssy, her plump lips, and the slick heat emanating from her. He swirled one finger at her opening, gathering the moisture he found there and swept his finger over the little swollen bud.
“Cole!” Savannah’s voice was insistent and sure. He knew he couldn’t leave her like this, he wanted to make her come more than he wanted his next breath. He slid her panties down her legs, still leaving her lying on her stomach so her ass was on display. His hands massaged the silken flesh, gripping her cheeks and spreading them so he could see the delicate pink puckered flesh there and then further down, to the slick dampness between her legs. It was insanely hot. His dick was harder than it’d ever been. His thumbs brushed against her backside, drawing over the tender flesh at her center and Savannah’s breathing hitched. He placed a kiss on her lower back and then urged her to roll over.She lay facing him against the pillow, her breasts rising and falling with each ragged breath she drew.
She was perfect. Her skin was taunt across her stomach and hips, her tits perky with pink nipples that were begging to be licked. He placed a sweet, damp kiss against her cheek, just at the corner of her mouth, and then moved down, nibbling the tender flesh of her neck, planting kisses along her collarbone, over her heart, before kissing each breast. His tongue lavished attention on her swollen nipples, suckling each one deep into his mouth while his tongue flicked back and forth. Savannah moaned loudly and thrashed against the pillow.
He shifted so he was lying beside her, his face level with her belly. With his eyes on hers, he parted her legs, and lowered his mouth to taste her. Savannah’s head dropped back to the pillow and her eyes rolled closed. He was too turned on to go slow and flicked his tongue ruthlessly against her, sucking her into his mouth until she was moaning, and writhing and calling his name. A few seconds later, he felt when she came, her little p-ssy spasming like it was clutching for something to fill it. But that would not be happening. He’d ice down his dick if he had to. Savannah wasn’t ready, and besides he wasn’t meant to be her first.
He kissed her thighs and belly until the aftershocks of her orgasm subsided, and then shifted on the bed to sit next to her.
“Colby…” she moaned. “I’m dizzy.” She clutched at the bed sheets, attempting to ground herself.
He smiled as pride swelled inside him. That must have been one powerful orgasm. He smoothed her hair back from her face, enjoying the look of bliss he put there.
She looked up at him with cloudy unfocused eyes. “Make the room stop spinning…” she groaned.
Wait a second… His stomach dropped. What the f*ck? “Are you drunk?”
She let out a giggle. “Just a little.”
“Christ, Savannah.” He stood, and pulled her panties up her legs. This sooo should not have happened. Cole stepped away from her on shaky legs and adjusted the huge erection tugging against his zipper. Her wide eyes followed his movements. A twinge of disappointment colored her features, but Cole ignored it. He stalked out to the kitchen and found a bottle of vodka and the orange juice sitting on the island. Savannah had broken into his liquor cabinet like a damn rebellious teenager. Is this what her therapist had warned him about? She’d gotten drunk, and apparently horny, and he’d fallen for it, hook, line and sinker.
With the scent of her still clinging to his lips and fingers, Cole fled to the master bathroom. He dragged his jeans down just enough to free his erection and pumped a squirt of hand lotion into his palm. He rubbed it against his cock, pumping and thrusting his hips in time to match his hand’s frenzied movements. Only a few strokes later, he came with a breathy moan, emptying himself into the palm of his other hand.
After washing up, he returned to his bedroom and found Savannah sitting in the center of his bed.
Their eyes locked on each other’s, and he read hers for signs that she regretted what they’d done moments ago, but found none.
“It smells like her in here.” Savannah wrinkled her nose.
Cole began working to change the sheets and pillow cases. If she wasn’t going to bring up what he’d just done to her, neither was he. He gathered a clean set of sheets and tossed them on the mattress. He wouldn’t make Savannah sleep where he’d just bed another woman, but he also wouldn’t turn her away now. She’d been too vulnerable, let her guard down with him completely. And if this is where she wanted to be, he wouldn’t deny her. Couldn’t. Not now. Maybe not ever.
“Cole?” Her voice had a pleading quality, like she needed reassurance about where they now stood.
“Get in bed, Savannah.”
She turned for the door. His hand on her elbow stopped her. “No, in my bed. With me.”
She smiled and crawled in beside him, laying her head on his chest once they were settled in the darkness.
“I don’t want you drinking, Savannah.”
“I, I’m sorry. Are you mad at me?”
“No, I’m not mad at you.” Mad at himself was more like it. He shouldn’t have touched her. But now that he had, he wanted nothing more than to do it again and again. “Are you still drunk?”
“I’m not drunk. I only had a little bit while I waited for you to get home. I just wanted to see what it was like.”
He couldn’t be upset with Savannah. He’d left her alone tonight to go out with another woman. Savannah had gotten bored. She’d done what a lot of nineteen-almost-twenty-year-olds did on the weekends.
“How are you feeling now?” he asked, needing some indication of what was going on inside her head.
“Fine.”
“Just fine?” He smirked, turning to look at her.
She smiled against his skin, then yawned. “I’m sleepy. You stayed out late.”
He didn’t point out that she was most likely drained from the combination of the alcohol and the powerful orgasm he’d given her, rather than the late hour. “Was that okay, what happened in your room?”
“Yes. It’s just…”
“Just what?” he prompted, his heart kicking up speed. He didn’t want to hear her say she regretted it. He sure as hell didn’t.
“You didn’t kiss me. And you didn’t let me touch you.”
“You wanted that?”
She nodded, her face still turned down.
“Are you a virgin?” he whispered.
The muscles in her back tensed, and his hand stilled against her skin.
“Yes.”
Relief flooded his system. “Good. You’re going to stay that way.”
“But Cole…”
“No. Don’t say anything else right now. We’re not talking about that. Especially not when you’ve been drinking.”
She let out a deep sigh. “Can I just say one thing?”
He clenched his fist at his side, knowing it’d be futile to refuse her request. “One.”
She took a deep breath as if preparing to give a speech. “When I’m with Dr. White, or Marissa, they see me as a normal girl, with normal wants and needs — to be loved, to have physical affection—but sometimes I don’t think you see me like that. You still look at me like I’m the scared, crying girl you pulled out of that compound. I just want you to know — I want more.”
He took a second to let her words sink in. It had only been a few weeks. Did she really know what she wanted? Was she even capable of more right now? He didn’t want to think about her dating. In fact, the idea scared the shit out of him. But she was a bright, pretty girl. He couldn’t just keep her hidden away, no matter how much he might want to. Perhaps the alcohol had loosened her tongue some, but it was true, she didn’t sound drunk. Not at all. She sounded confident and sure. “That’s good Savannah. I want you to have those things too. You deserve all of that and more.” But he knew he was not the man for her. He could come up with a list of a thousand reasons why: he was too old for her; she needed more time to heal; he was married to his job; he wasn’t looking for a relationship; and the list went on and on. But tell that to his body. He wanted her, even though he knew it was impossible.
“Savannah?” he whispered in the darkness, unable to stop himself from following up on her comment about kissing him.
“Yes?”
“Have you been kissed before?”
“No.”
He closed his eyes. Just like he thought. “Okay. One goodnight kiss.” He knew it was a bad idea, that it would irrevocably change things between them, but damn he wanted to taste her lips, to be her first. He needed it like he needed his next breath.
He shifted and she lifted her head from his chest, allowing him to move over top of her. He hovered over her, lowering himself slowly until their bodies lay flush — his hips aligned with hers, his chest just brushing her hardened nipples and their mouths millimeters from touching. He held himself up on his elbows, and cradled her head in his hands, brushing strands of hair back from her face. Her breath came in fast little puffs against his lips. He took his time, unwilling to rush this. Angling her jaw to his, he lowered down to meet her waiting mouth.
Her lips were full and soft, and he pressed against her, deepening the kiss. Even if part of him knew he shouldn’t do this, she deserved to be kissed properly for her first kiss. Cole parted her lips, and when her tongue met his, eager and wet as it swirled against his, his dick went instantly hard again. She didn’t kiss like a beginner. He pressed himself into the crook between her legs, and Savannah automatically wrapped her legs around his waist and let out a ragged breath. The heat at her center cradled him and he ground his hips in closer, biting back a moan from the friction. His restraint was dangling by a thread. As f*cking amazing as it felt, Cole broke the kiss, knowing he wouldn’t be able to stop himself if they kept going. He pressed a chaste kiss to her forehead. “There, now you’ve been properly kissed.”
She smiled up at him, her eyes blinking open lazily.
He chuckled at how damn cute she looked, sated and sleepy. “Just get some rest, okay?”
“Okay.” She rolled to her side, and nuzzled into the pillow.