His for the Taking

Fourteen



In her own room, Maddie unzipped her sparkly red dress and stepped out of it. Naked, she stood in the moonlight, a strange restlessness consuming her. Burning for Cole despite her better judgment, she willed him to come to her. Even as her heart thundered, the house remained silent. Finally, she grew tired of standing all by herself in the silvery light and lay down.

Cole was everything she shouldn’t want. He was part of the miserable past she wanted to forget. He was arrogant and determined to force her to agree to his terms. How could a marriage to such a man succeed once their physical attraction died?

Slowly, her eyelids fluttered and she drifted uneasily to sleep. At some point she began to dream.

She was a little girl again, riding horses, happy she could roam far from the trailer and her mother. The trees were emerald-green, the sky a vivid blue. But no matter how glorious her ride, eventually she had to go home, and when she did, the faceless monster was there, barring the door when she entered, grabbing her wrists when she tried to run. She knew that if she didn’t get away, he would do the same horrible things to her he’d done before, so she clawed and kicked, but as always he bore her to the ground, and she began to scream.

Her own ear-splitting cries dragged her unhappily to consciousness. When she opened her eyes, moonlight and shadow played tricks on her imagination, causing her to sense a presence in her house even before she heard heavy footsteps in the hall.

Vernon? Was he here?

A mind-numbing fear gripped her. Scrambling across her bed toward the window, she searched for the lock while screaming for all she was worth.

* * *

Cole leaped to his feet at Maddie’s first piercing scream and was sprinting down the dark hall before her second. When he opened her door, she threw herself behind her bed, where she crouched in the moonlight.

“Vernon?”

Cole’s heart shredded. “No! It’s just me—Cole.”

“Cole?” Her dull, glazed eyes stared at him uncomprehendingly.

“I was with Noah, asleep down the hall,” he said. “You’re safe. There’s nothing to be afraid of.”

“You don’t know him. You don’t know what he’s capable of!”

As Cole crossed the room and sank down beside her, he was afraid he did. A terrible understanding took hold even before he pulled her shaking body into his arms. Had that bastard raped her?

“There, there,” he murmured.

“Hold me!” she whispered, her intake of breath sharp as she clutched handfuls of his shirt to draw him closer.

“Hey, hey, everything’s okay.” But it wasn’t. Not if his worst fears were correct. He wasn’t blameless if what he feared had happened. Far from it.

“No…”

He brushed her hair out of her face. “You’ve had a bad dream. That’s all.” He continued to murmur to her soothingly even as he cradled her in his arms, stroking her face and neck while his own conscience attacked him.

Instead of being so hell-bent on protecting his own reputation, he should have protected her.

“Just hold me, please,” she breathed, sensing none of his inner conflict. She hung on to him with a desperation that made him ache for what she must have suffered at Vernon’s hands.

Why hadn’t he seen that he should have done more to protect her? Why hadn’t the town seen that she was young and vulnerable and living in a dangerous situation? Suddenly he hated Yella, hated every individual who lived there who’d played a part in this, himself most of all. They’d sat in judgment of her and thus had left her defenseless. She’d hardly been more than a child.

“When…I heard you, I thought Vernon was really here. My dream was so real…I could almost smell him.” She began to shudder uncontrollably.

Cole caressed the nape of her neck. “He’s in prison, right?”

“Huntsville,” she murmured thankfully.

“So, it’s okay. You’re safe. You’re with me. I swear I won’t let him or anybody else hurt you ever again.”

“You promise?”

“Promise.” And he meant it. With every fiber of his being, he meant it. If only she’d give him a second chance, he wouldn’t let her down again.

His brow grazed hers affectionately. Then he pressed his nose to her nose, but somehow when he did it, their lips clumsily touched. His blood flamed. And because he felt so guilty, he hated the lust that drove him. But when he tried to pull away, she clutched him even closer.

She was so damn sexy with her huge eyes, her voluptuous breasts crushed against his chest. He inhaled the mingled scents of her shampoo and perfume and grew even harder. She was so soft and feminine, so ripe. When he felt her nipples tighten against his chest, he caught his breath.

It would be easy to slide her nightgown up and strip off his slacks, easy to take her when she was so open to him like this. But he hated himself too much for what he’d let happen, for what he’d willingly ignored. He didn’t deserve her trust or her love. He had to process what had happened and deal with his guilt. Somehow he had to get it all straight in his mind.

But when he would have withdrawn his mouth from hers, she clung, kissing him desperately.

“Stay with me?” she begged in such a seductive tone that his whole body jerked with fresh need.

“Not tonight,” he said hoarsely.

“Please….”

“Not after your nightmare about Vernon.”

Not after he’d bullied her all day, not when she was scared and vulnerable. “You go back to sleep,” he murmured gently. “I’ll be right down the hall—if you need me.”

Even as his heart pounded, he forced himself to push her away and stand up.

“Cole?” Her quick, sharp breaths sounded truly panicked at the thought of being alone.

“I’ll be on the couch,” he rasped.

* * *

Unable to sleep without Cole holding her close, Maddie counted sheep. Then she counted her rushing heartbeats. When she still couldn’t sleep, she got up, paced awhile and then went to the bathroom where she filled a glass with water. Not that any of it helped still her clamoring senses. More restless than ever, she lay back down in the dark.

She remembered Cole’s flushed cheeks, the heavy glint of desire in his eyes. He’d wanted her, too; she was sure of it. But he’d been conflicted.

Curious, and feeling shamelessly needy, she arose and padded down the hall to her living room where she found him sprawled on the couch, his dark eyes wide and glued to the ceiling.

“Can’t sleep?” she teased.

“Out!” he growled huskily.

“Don’t make me beg.”

“Can’t a guy ever say no?”

Bending over him, she slid her hands under his shirt, feathering her fingertips through the crisp, dark curls that covered the broad expanse of his chest. At his quick gasp of excitement, she seized her advantage, tracing her hands blindly down the muscular length of him, kneading him until she worked her way to the huge bulge of denim between his muscular thighs.

“I thought so,” she murmured, closing her fingers over him and stroking purposefully. “I want you naked,” she growled into his ear.

He groaned savagely in protest. “Maddie!”

“I want you,” she whispered. “But not here.” She waited a beat. “My room.” She shot him a flirtatious wink and then bolted, flying down the hall, only to be terrified when he did not follow her immediately. She needn’t have worried. Two seconds later, they were naked on her bed with her door locked. He had her flat on her back underneath him while he kissed her lips with hot, urgent passion that tore her soul. In an equal frenzy, she kissed him back.

“We’ve got to slow it down,” he whispered.

“No! I need you! Everything you have to give me! Quick. Fast. Hard. I don’t want to wait. I need it. I want to erase all the ugliness.” She had to erase Vernon for good.

“Then we’re at cross-purposes.”

With softer kisses and featherlight touches, he slowed the pace and changed the mood. With each tender kiss that he placed on her mouth, on her throat, on each of her nipples and in the center of that damp nest of dark curls between her legs, he made love to her with a reverence she’d never imagined possible.

“Next time I’ll protect you,” he promised.

“I know.”

She wanted him to take her so she could feel his strength and possessive power in every cell of her being, to know that she was safe in his arms. But he lingered over her, loving her slowly, which caused her passion to build to a frenzy.

He placed his lips between her thighs and caressed her with his tongue until her whole body felt on fire.

“My turn,” she teased when he would have taken her, “to torture you with my lips and tongue.”

She took him into her mouth, sucking gently, teasing him at first and then adoring him. In the blaze of his building rapture, the last vestiges of her nightmare were consumed. There was only Cole and the exquisite, mind-numbing delight she found in his arms.

Suddenly there was a ferocity in them both as he tore free of her mouth and pulled her underneath him and slid inside her.

“Yes,” she whispered. “Yes!”

He thrust and she arched, their bodies moving in perfect accord as the world tipped like a crazy top and spun faster. Then they tensed as passion washed over them.

After the explosion, she lay in his arms and wondered if two people like them, from such different worlds, had a chance together.

* * *

She awoke to a rosy dawn and noisy grackles, to Cole’s hard arms wrapping her with a fierce possessiveness. She felt new and different and yet unable to trust her emotions.

“You look like a little girl when you sleep—a little girl who’s every bit as innocent as Noah.”

“Not Yella’s wanton, wicked bad girl?”

“Don’t ever call yourself that again,” he muttered fiercely, pulling her closer. “You’re the mother of my child. You’re going to be my wife.”

“Oh, really? What’s got you so cocky this morning?”

“How quickly we forget,” he said.

“I don’t remember accepting any of your arrogant proposals.”

“Do you remember the great sex?”

“And that gave you all sorts of ideas about our relationship?”

“If the sex didn’t put you in the mood to accept my proposal, maybe I’ll have to give you a repeat performance.”

“That would be lovely, under different circumstances, but I’ve got work.”

“It’s early yet.”

“Noah’s going to wake up any minute. I don’t want to have to explain you.”

Instead of arguing, he got up and strode into the bathroom while she lay back and admired his muscular body. After he turned on the shower, he stuck his dark, sleep-tousled head out the door and shot her a grin. “Water’s warm. Feels good. I could use some company.”

“I really shouldn’t. I’m tender as all get-out.”

“And we took it so slowly…”

“But we did it so many times.”

“We did, didn’t we? No wonder I woke up in such a cocky mood. What if I promise to be gentle?”

When she joined him, she kissed him so fiercely he grabbed her hands and held them over her head. Pushing her back against the slick, wet tile he took her hard and fast as the steaming water blasted her. When it was over, she clung to him breathlessly, thinking herself a worse wanton than her mother.

The man didn’t love her. He probably never would. And still she wanted him.

Stepping out of the shower, he left her to ponder all the reasons he was wrong for her.

While she dressed, he scrambled eggs and made coffee for them in her kitchen.

“I’m impressed. I didn’t know you could cook,” she said when she entered the kitchen.

“It’s called survival. I can do eggs. I can do toast, bacon, burgers, steaks. I’m afraid that’s about it.”

She laughed.

After they finished eating, she cleared the plates. “I can’t believe Noah’s sleeping this late. What did you do to wear him out?”

“Worrying about that witch in his closet wore him out.” He paused. “About your nightmare—”

She whitened. “I don’t want to talk about it.”

“I know.” His hand closed over her wrist. “But I need you to sit down and tell me all about Vernon.” Something dark in his voice made her suspect he’d already guessed the worst.

The last thing she wanted was to mar the beauty of their first shared morning together by reliving what Vernon had done to her.

“I’ve got to go to work,” she pleaded. “Lots of threads are hanging loose after the fundraiser. I still have checks in my purse, including yours.”

“Sit down, Maddie.”

At his fierce expression, she slowly sank back into her chair.

“What did he do to you? I want the truth, the whole truth, and if you don’t tell me, I’ll find your mother and so help me, I’ll force it out of her. If that doesn’t work I’ll go to Huntsville…”

“No.”

“Then why don’t you make it easy for me?” He paused. “I don’t believe you ever intended to leave me for him. He hurt you, didn’t he? You weren’t ever in love with him. You left because he hurt you? And because I wasn’t there for you when you tried to call me?”

Barely able to breathe because of the fist clamped around her heart, she looked away.

He leaned closer. “Tell me, damn it. Did he do what I think?”

When hot tears of shame leaked out of her eyes, she brushed at them frantically. “I told myself I’d never cry because of him again.”

“Just tell me!”

“My mother didn’t believe me, so why should you?”

“Did that bastard rape you?”

A desperate sob rose in her throat. She wanted to deny it. If only she could reclaim her innocence somehow, but he saw; he knew.

“My mother said it was all my fault.”

“The hell it was.”

“I—I tried to stop him. I really did.”

“I know, sweetheart. I believe you,” he whispered, his voice as agonized as hers. “Go on….”

“But he was so strong. Even though I had a black eye and a cut lip, my mother refused to believe me. She said I seduced him to be mean to her. When she threw me out, I didn’t know who to turn to or where to go, so I called you…and got your mother, who told me how cheap I was.”

He shuddered. After an endless pause, he managed, “And then you went to Miss Jennie?”

“Yes. She was wonderful.”

“Thank God.” He reached across the table and took her hand, pressing her slim fingers hard. “I should have guessed the truth.”

“How could you?”

“I don’t know, but I shouldn’t have been so wrapped up in my own damn ego and pain, so furious and hurt that you could leave me for Vernon that I didn’t question your mother or the gossip. I drove you away. I was as bad as everybody else in Yella—worse, because I should have known better since I really knew you.”

“I felt so ashamed…”

“I’m the one who should be ashamed. It’s a good thing he’s locked up, or I’d have to find him and make him pay.”

“No.” She began to shake. “Then they’d lock you in a cage, too. I don’t want that.” She paused. “When Noah was around one, Vernon came to Austin. He told me that if I ever went to the police and told them the truth, he’d kill me. You see, he was on parole at the time. He said any infraction could put him away for good. He put his hands around my neck and squeezed so tightly I couldn’t breathe…just for a few seconds, just to give me a taste of what it would be like to die, he said. He said Noah would be raised by foster mothers who’d be worse than my mother. After that, I was scared of everything, of my own shadow. Even after he went back to prison for raping another girl, I was still scared. That’s when the nightmares started.”

“If only you’d called me.”

“I did,” she reminded him. “You hung up on me because you’d just married Lizzie.”

“Oh, God. My sorry treatment of you…”

“It doesn’t matter.”

“The hell it doesn’t! It will always matter. In my own way I was worse than Vernon. If I’d claimed you as my girlfriend from the beginning, maybe he would have been afraid to touch you because of the high-and-mighty Coleman name. Did I ever go to your home once? Take an interest in what you had to deal with there? Warn him to leave you alone or he’d have to deal with me? No, I left you powerless, defenseless. Oh, it matters. It damn sure matters.”

She looked into his eyes and saw everything she needed to see. He believed her.

“You were in college.”

“I was old enough to know better,” he said, his low tone filled with self-loathing.

“I blamed myself, too. My mother said I’d been asking for it for weeks, dressing sexily to put her down and make her feel old…but I’d only been trying to be pretty for you. I should have been more aware of how I affected Vernon.”

“It wasn’t your fault. Get that through your head.”

“It wasn’t yours either,” she said, rising from her chair because she wanted to touch him and to be held.

Slowly she slid her hands across his broad chest and laid her head against his shoulder. When his lips brushed her forehead and he pulled her even closer, happiness filled her. His dark head bent over hers. Then he lifted her chin and kissed her gently on the lips. Wrapping her arms around his neck, she inhaled his scent and savored the muscular texture of his body.

She was sighing when the door behind them banged, and Noah hurled himself into the kitchen.

“Can I have pancakes for break—” When he saw his mother wrapped in Cole’s arms, his eyes widened and his bottom lip stuck out.

Stunned, she sprang free of Cole and rushed to her son. Kneeling beside him, she said, “Darling. Mommy’s late for work, so we need to get you dressed and ready for school.”

Noah stared at Cole. “What’s he still doing here? Why was he kissing you?”

“I said we have to get you dressed and ready for—”

“How come you let him sleep over and you never let Greg?”

“Honey, Greg and I broke up yesterday.”

“Because of him?” Noah waited. Then he tore free of her and crossed his arms over his thin chest.

“We’ll…we’ll have to talk about all this later.”

“I don’t want to talk about it. I don’t want to go to school.” Noah turned and marched huffily back to his room.

“Do you want me to try to talk to him?” Cole asked.

She shook her head. “I’m afraid everything’s happened too fast. I should have prepared him. I think you’d better go,” she whispered. “He and I need some time, just the two of us, to work this out. I’ll call you.”

“No. We’ve got to tell him who I am—now.”

“Not this morning!”

“The sooner we tell him the less confused he’ll be.”

“You never stop.”

“Not when I know what has to be done.” He turned and walked down the hall after Noah.

“Cole—no!” By the time she caught him, he was already inside Noah’s room.

“I know how you feel,” he was saying to their son, “because this is all happening so fast.”

“I—I don’t understand,” Noah said sulkily.

“I’m here because I’m your father. I know it’s a shock because I just learned that fact myself.”

When Noah’s huge eyes glanced at her for confirmation, she nodded.

“I want to take care of you and your mother. I want to marry your mother. I want us to be a family.”

When Noah stared at him, Maddie wondered what was going on in his head.

“You could have waited,” she said when Cole came back out of Noah’s room.

“No. I couldn’t. I’ve already lost six years, and so has he. I want to go to bed with you every night knowing he’s in the house and to wake up beside you every morning like we did today.”

At the memory of how sweet he’d been last night and this morning, she let out a long sigh. In spite of his pushing so hard, a part of her wanted those things, too.

“So, I’ve made a little progress?”

“Maybe a little,” she admitted.

“Good.” Cole pulled her into his arms and gave her a quick kiss. “Go see Noah in case he’s more upset than he seemed,” he whispered. “I’ll see myself out.”

Noah, however, was dressed and ready for school. He’d taken the news in stride and was willing to talk to Cole when he called later that night. And because he was, her own objections and doubts lessened.

Maybe Cole was right. Maybe their marriage could work.