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“No more war. Wave your white flag.”
“I am. Can you see it?”
I take his hand from my cheek and put it on my wrist as I sway my hand back and forth. He laughs, and then he tugs free of my grip and comes over me, his heaviness like a blanket on top of me. His hips pin mine down as he falls forward, his hands on the pillow beside my head.
“Tell me the truth once and for all,” he demands.
I can smell his minty breath. His mouth is so close to mine now.
“What do you want to know?”
“Am I alone in this?”
I shake my head, but he can’t see it. It’s not answer enough.
“Say it, please,” he begs. “Say it and I’ll believe you. Say it and we can be done.” His mouth drops even closer. “No more pretending, I swear it.”
When I go quiet, he leans down farther. His lips brush my temple, my cheek. I don’t think he has a plan in mind except to tempt me out of my shell. Just when his mouth creeps toward mine and I think he’ll kiss me—my excitement growing—he pulls away, and it’s the fear of his departure that finally provokes me to speak the truth.
“I love you,” I say as I grab for him, worried he’ll leave. “God, more than that,I like you. I like you so much. This year, since I met you, it feels like you’re the only one who gets me, like you’re my very best friend but also ... I feel so ... so—”
“Scared?”
“Petrified.”
He takes my hand then and brings it to his chest, pressing it hard against his heartbeat. He’s showing me his fear too.
He’s answering my worries.
“Paige, I . . .”
He stalls like the words are stuck in his throat. I’m not surprised he’s having trouble expressing himself. Cole isn’t the type to throw around casual endearments.
“You...,” I say, goading him with a smile.
“I love you.” His words are a whisper. Even now, even in this, he’s shy.
Then he lifts my hand to his lips, and he presses a kiss to my palm, my wrist, the crook of my elbow, my shoulder ... on he goes to my neck, chin. Then his mouth finds mine, and it’s like we’ve just cut our chains and freed ourselves. My arms loop around his neck as he falls down onto me, kissing me with a fierceness I’ve never felt. It’s overwhelming, but that little voice of worry in my head doesn’t get centerstage. Lust wins out. The need to let him continue however he likes, to do with me whatever he wishes.
I would love to see him, but I can’t be bothered to push him off me and turn on a lamp, so I feel him instead. I run my hands down his muscular back until I reach the dip at his hips. I press my body up against his, and he responds by pushing me down hard into the bed, rolling his hips, making me gasp.
When we started to kiss, I seemed too aware of everything. How I positioned my hands. How I moved my lips. Slowly, he coaxes me into just feeling the passion, letting go of all the insecurities swirling in my head. Soon it’s only him. His touch. His kiss. His pleasure melding with mine.
He works my shirt up over my stomach, and his mouth falls there. He kisses my navel and travels up, pushing my shirt higher until cool air caresses my chest. Warmth replaces it as his hands cup my breasts, palming the taut flesh as he teases me. He lowers his mouth there, sweeping his tongue over each tip, making my back arch off the bed.
I’m adrift in pleasure when he suddenly pushes up and turns on the lamp. I blink, adjusting to the shallow light.
Then I see him there, his dark hair mussed up from my hands, his gaze wicked, his lips dark red.
He doesn’t ask; he simply tugs my shirt off the rest of the way, up and over my head. Then it falls to the floor, an afterthought now.
He admires me without a word as I lie on the bed in nothing more than my panties. My cheeks are warm, and despite my efforts to remain still, I fidget under his intense gaze.
How did we get here?
How is he so calm?
Words don’t tumble out of him the way I want them to. Beautiful, irresistible,sexy beyond belief—these are all good. I would accept any of them. Cole just seems ... entranced. And while he might not say any of those words aloud, I feel them in his soft caress, the way his handssqueeze my waist, the way he wets his bottom lip and then blinks as if forcing himself back to the task at hand: giving me sweet,sweetpleasure.
