Page 82 of L.O.V.E

Cole shivered.

My back hit the wall. He slapped a hand above my head and rolled his hips, grinding against me, adding fuel to the flame and,oh, God,I was lit. Fire in my belly. Skin fevered. Heart burned to ash.

“Jesus. Fuck,” he mumbled into my mouth.

A grunt, and he was on his knees. My panties were gone, and my skirt was bunched around my waist. Rushed kisses peppered my abdomen before he moved lower, digging fingers into my thighs and going straight for the kill, sucking my clit like his life depended on making me come. Like he didn’t have time for any other nonsense, his sole purpose to kneel at my feet and worship my body. He sucked and licked and sucked again before plunging a finger between my folds. I came hard, grinding against his face, my back scraping against the brick wall.

Before I could recover, he rushed me to the bed. A mad scramble to remove our clothes. A frantic rush to roll on a condom.

Too damn long before he filled me, hot, hard, perfect. Sweet Lord, the man was everything.

He moved, I moaned. He kissed, I cried. He pounded me into the mattress, and I clung tight, absorbing his anger, his pain, his grief, his feral energy.

He growled his release into my neck, then collapsed at my side, caging me with heavy limbs.

My body was spent. My heart demandedmore,more,more.

We fucked again in the shower.

By the third time, my body ached and my heart bled. We hadn’t made love. Cole had purged while I had comforted.

Sad thing? I wasn’t upset. He needed release. I needed…him. Any broken, bloody part he offered.

Cole tucked a leg between mine and buried his face in my hair, his arm draping over my ribs, his cock thickening against my backside.

“Don’t leave, Natalie.”

“I’ll be back for Thanksgiving.”

“Tell me where you live.” He laced our fingers and squeezed. “I’ll visit on the weekends.”

“Cole. Listen.”

“Don’t.” He rolled to his back, leaving me cold. “Don’t give me the fucking speech.”

I stared at the empty brick wall, hating what came next. “You’re grieving. You’re unsettled. I’ve just started a new job in a different state.”

“I’ve lost you, haven’t I?” Such venom in his voice.

I rolled over but didn’t touch. I couldn’t touch and hold my ground. “I don’t want that. I don’t want us to be strangers, but I don’t see how we can be more than… God, I don’t even know what we are.”

“A hot fucking mess.” Cole shoved the sheet off his body and sat up, dropping his feet to the floor. “Doomed from day one.”

Our time had come to an end. I slid out of bed, hunted for my clothes. “I’ll be home for the holidays. Can I see you then?” Bra and panties. Check. Dress. Check.

“I hate that idea.” He stood, came toe to toe, then spun me around, closing my zipper. He kissed my shoulder. “That’s months away.”

“I know.”

And then he broke me, growling, “You’ll be fucking other men by then.”

I turned and slapped the sneer off his face. “That was cruel.”

He didn’t flinch.

He wanted me to hurt him. He wanted me to hurt.

I snatched my shoes off the floor. Found my handbag by the front door.

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