Second Chance (12 page)

She shifted slightly, and before Cole could pull away from her, she felt him. Her body stiffened for just an instant. He fully expected her to jerk out of his arms
and tell him to leave. But then she released a trembling sigh that seemed to go through her entire body as she relaxed against him again.

Cole closed his eyes. Hell no, this was not an invitation. She probably thought his arousal was a normal male reaction to a beautiful female body pressed against his. There was no reason to tell her that he hadn’t felt this kind of physical reaction in a very long time. She didn’t need to know that it wasn’t just her beautiful body he found alluring but everything about her. He ground his teeth, determined to endure.

A soft mouth pressed against his neck. Cole stopped breathing. Just an accidental caress … nothing more. At the feel of her hot, moist tongue in the hollow of his throat, denial was no longer possible.

“Keeley?”

She backed away a little so she could look up at him. He didn’t know what to expect. Didn’t know what she would say. Her eyes searched his face for several seconds, and Cole allowed her to see everything. Want. Need. Compassion. It was all there for her. Whatever she wanted … whatever she needed. He waited for her response.

All she said was “Please.”

With a growl that began deep within his soul, Cole lowered his head and covered her mouth with his. She was soft, warm … delicious. When he pressed deeper, she opened her mouth and let him in.

And Cole lost his mind.

Pushing her back against the bed, he came over her and devoured her sweet mouth, eating at her lips, surging, retreating, thrusting inside the hot, sweet cavern. She moaned, opened wider and offered her tongue. Propping his arms on either side of her, Cole held her head in his hands and concentrated his total focus on her mouth. Licking at and dueling with her tongue, he
then angled his mouth fully over hers for maximum penetration, maximum pleasure.

Oh, sweet mercy
. Keeley felt as if her entire body was ablaze. Never in her life had she felt anything close to this feeling, this unbelievable, overwhelming need to connect with someone. She undulated beneath Cole’s big body, wanting, needing with an intensity she’d never even imagined. Nothing about this encounter made sense but she refused to question its rightness. This man had brought life back to a body that had felt dead and undesirable for so long.

Cole raised his head slightly; beautiful masculine perfection stared down at her. Those amazing eyes glittered with a desire she’d never seen in anyone’s eyes … and it was all for her. Body throbbing in response to that heated look; her entire being felt drenched in sensual need.

Warm breath bathed her face as he asked softly, “What do you want, sweetheart?”

“I want … I need …” She stopped on a sobbing breath, unable to articulate the words. How do you ask a man you barely know to devour you until you forget to breathe, to think, to be? How do you ask him to consume you until your very being is changed, cleansed, renewed? How do you ask someone to make you forget for just a few moments that your life is a living hell?

Keeley said the only thing that made sense. “Make me forget, for just a little while, make me forget.”

Groaning, Cole lowered his head and reignited the fire; in seconds he returned her body to a full blaze of searing heat. Large, calloused hands glided under her nightgown, moving over her legs slowly, caressing, stroking, and then they were between her thighs, headed for a destination that desperately needed to be filled.

With a sob, Keeley spread her legs open in welcome. Long fingers, at first tentative and then more sure,
explored her tenderly, separating the folds. Using the moisture he found there, he gently, slowly penetrated her.

Another soft sob escaped her … she had to have more, not just tenderness … she wanted it all, everything. Following those needs, her hands went to the hard erection pressing against her leg. Cole shifted slightly. A desperate urgency taking over, Keeley quickly unzipped his pants and delved between the layer of clothing to find him … hard, hot, and ready. Coherent thought vanished, consumed by desire. Using both her hands, she brought his hard length to her, opened herself wider and surged upward.

With one powerful thrust, Cole buried himself to the hilt inside her. With a welcoming, gasping “Yes,” Keeley wrapped her legs around him, grabbed his hips in her hands, and pressed him harder, deeper into her.

Holding her close, Cole rolled onto his back without breaking their connection. His eyes shimmering with a hot light, he whispered, “Take what you need, sweetheart.”

Bracing her knees on either side of his hips, she sat up … directly on him, impaled by his shaft. A powerful flush of erotic heat flooded through her. With a cry of need, intermingled with a desperate gratitude, Keeley balanced her hands on the hard planes of his stomach and began to ride, setting a wild but steady rhythm.

Cole’s hands were at her hips, but he allowed her full control—how much she wanted and how fast she wanted it. She was well aware that he could take over anytime he wanted; the fact that he was allowing her to take what she needed only added to the intense sensuality of the moment. Those amazing eyes gleamed up at her as he watched her take her pleasure … she drew on him and he gave her everything.

Soon it was too much. The rhythm became erratic,
the incredible aching pleasure became wilder, more intense. Cole made one slight adjustment by pressing his pelvis against the very top of her sex, allowing her to grind against him in the exact spot she needed him most. Keeley’s eyes widened as the entire universe became one long, glorious, throbbing, explosive moment of ecstasy. Her mouth opened to scream and Cole pulled her down to him, covering her mouth with his to muffle the sound.

An eternity later, Keeley came back to earth and realized the man inside her was still rock hard, his big body shaking with the volcanic need to let go. His face was buried against her neck as harsh breaths rasped from his lungs.

“Cole?”

“Keeley.” Her name was a mutilated, tortured sound.

She sat up so she could see him, and he let out a long, low groan at her movement. Self-denial was etched on his handsome face. Why? Why would he give her the most unbelievable physical pleasure she’d ever known and deny himself?

“Cole, let go,” she whispered.

“I can’t … I …”

Unwilling to take and not give, Keeley’s hands moved down to where they were still joined. Her fingers wrapping around the hot, hard length, she said softly, quietly, “Please … I need this, too.”

Whether it was her hands or the words, she didn’t know. She heard a low, feral growl as he rolled her over onto her back, buried himself deep, and began a hard, relentless rhythm of thrusts. Unbelievably, Keeley felt the resurgence of desire deep within her. Gasping with new need, she locked her legs around his hips and closed her eyes; glorious explosions went off inside her and she reveled in the beauty of sheer physical satiation.

Harsh breaths grating against his lungs, Cole pulled
from the luscious body beneath him and rolled over on his back. When Keeley snuggled against him, he held her tighter. His mind was blurred with pleasure and the deeply intense feeling that something monumental had just occurred. For just a few moments, he closed his eyes and savored a rare sense of peacefulness.

Regret would come … but not yet. Though his memory was sketchy in many things, he knew he’d never experienced this kind of sexual, intimate connection in his life. It was more than just physical … they had shared something he didn’t even know existed.

Even before Rosemount got his drugs in him and tortured the humanity from him, Cole had never been one to delve deeply into his emotions. He loved and was loved, but accepted that emotion without exploring the feeling. Here, with Keeley in his arms, he recognized a joining, a connection, that could never be broken. No matter what happened in the future, this was a bond they would always share.

She moved her head against his chest to peek up at him through her lashes. “I’ve never experienced anything like that in my life.”

He wanted to say the words … wanted to agree with her, but he couldn’t. What they had shared was incredible, but could never happen again. He’d tried to comfort her and it had become an extraordinary event beyond his comprehension. Most important, for one brief moment in time, she’d forgotten that her life was a hell. He had to remember that was all it had been … all it could be.

“Keeley, I—”

Soft fingertips pressed against his mouth. “No, don’t say anything.” As if she’d read his mind, she raised up on her elbow and whispered, “I know what just happened was crazy and irresponsible. It wasn’t like me at all … and I don’t think it was like you either.” She took
a breath and added, “For the record, I’m not on birth control, but I’m as regular as clockwork and the timing isn’t right. And I haven’t, um …” She stumbled and then started again. “I haven’t been sexually active in a long while, so you don’t have to worry about that either.”

When she paused, obviously waiting for his health report, Cole provided it. “Neither have I.” He didn’t bother with details.

She put her head on his chest and he heard her swallow hard before she added, “I don’t want to regret it.”

Tightening his arms around her again, he said quietly, “Then let’s not.”

“Thank you.”

Seconds later her soft, even breaths told him she was in a deep, restful sleep. At last.

Cole stared at the ceiling, refusing to allow himself the same relief. For this one night, he could ensure that her sleep would be unencumbered by nightmares. In the morning, before she woke, he would leave her. Then he would think and he would regret. But for right now, Cole held this beautiful woman in his arms and let himself wish for the impossible.

The devil’s face hovered over him, leering. Shrill laughter, hideous and wicked, echoed around him. He was tied spread-eagle to the ground with ropes so tight they sawed into his skin every time he moved. The sun blazed above him, while insects stung and gnawed at his sizzling skin, feasting on the thousands of oozing cuts all over his body
.

Cole struggled against the bonds. If he could free just one hand, the devil would die. Pain speared through him and he fought against its overpowering deadly embrace. If he let go … if he gave up … all was lost
.

Agony seared deeper and the devil whispered his
enticement. High and whiny, his voice pierced Cole’s skull like a branding rod. “You can’t fight. You’ll never escape. I’m your master. You’re weak, everything you loved is gone…. Let go and all the pain will go away.”

Temptation lured. How easy it would be … how wonderful to put all the pain behind him. How easy to just … let … go …

A scream penetrated his nightmare. Cole was on his feet and out the door before the agonizing sound stopped. As if a guide other than his senses led him, he found himself at the door of the children’s bedroom.

Keeley was on her knees in the middle of the room. Sobs tore through her and the anguish radiating from her crumpled figure cut him to the core. There was his answer. The reason he couldn’t let go. Why he’d never let the devil win. He was here for a purpose: to return Hannah and Hailey to their mother.

A slight breeze stirred behind him. Eden passed by, kneeled beside Keeley, and wrapped her arms around the weeping woman.

Cursing himself, Cole stepped back into the hallway. He’d left Keeley’s bed just before dawn and returned to his own, telling himself he would lie down for a little while and doze. Instead not only had he endured another nightmare, Keeley had woken up to one also. If she’d still been in his arms, he could have prevented that.

Hell, what was he thinking? That wasn’t the reason he was here. Comforting Keeley was best left to someone more qualified. Humanity, even in its most basic form, had been stripped from him. There were only a few things he felt qualified to do any longer. None of them involved the compassion this woman needed. Just because he’d been able to give her sexual pleasure sure as hell didn’t qualify him for anything else.

Cole stalked back to his room. A quick glance at the
bedside clock told him he might as well shower and start his day. It was just before six, and if he did manage to go back to sleep, the nightmares would return. No point in inviting them.

Under the hot, hard spray, Cole fought for focus, but his mind battled images: Keeley’s beautiful face as she rode him, the way she bit her lip as she sought her pleasure, then her expression of ecstasy when she climaxed; clinching and clasping, her inner muscles had pulsed around him. Leaning his head against the cool, wet wall, he ground his teeth together as he struggled to control the arousal from the imagery.

In an instant, those images were obliterated as he remembered the ravaged expression he’d just witnessed. Hell, that and nothing more had to be his total focus. He had to put an end to the pain she continued to suffer. Nothing else mattered.

After all that had happened to her, she probably felt as though God had turned His back on her, and was trying to figure out what the hell she’d done to incur His wrath.

Cole had endured his own battle with questioning God’s vengeance and had never come up with an answer other than to question His existence. Horrendous things happened in random chaos, and to look for reasons or try to make sense of it could only invite insanity.

Slamming the shower door, Cole dried off, wrapped the towel around his waist, and headed into the bedroom. One of the many nice things about staying in a mansion was that each bedroom had its own bath. He rifled through the closet as he thought about the meeting he planned to have today. What did one wear to interview a she-devil?

At the knock on the door, he called out “Come in” without much thought.

The soft gasp behind him had him turning around.
Keeley stood in the doorway. She was still too pale, but the shadows under her eyes seemed less pronounced than they had been yesterday. Perhaps those few hours of sleep had helped after all. Finally her expression snagged his attention—horrified and compassionate. What was that about?