SEDUCTIVE SUPERNATURALS: 12 Tales of Shapeshifters, Vampires & Sexy Spirits (230 page)

“Yeah.” And Cole meant it. Despite all the shit he’d lived through, despite the pain and sorrow, being with Kayla was a high nothing else could duplicate. So instead of fighting it, he was just trying to soak it in.

These were memories he had to store in the back of his mind to take out later, when he was still alone and couldn’t bear another moment knowing he was never going to have her. Kayla peered over his shoulder, and tapped her plastic spoon on her lip. “I’ve never been on the Great Wheel. Can we try that?”

“Anything you’d like.”

A devious light sparkled in her eyes as she grabbed hold of his arm and brushed her hand over his bicep. “Anything?”

“You know the rules.”

She shook her head. “Military to the core, aren’t you? Always follow the rules.”

“They have them for a reason. In this case to keep you safe.”

“Are you keeping me safe, or are you keeping yourself safe?” she said as she slipped her hands off of his arm, stood and took his trash and hers walked over to throw it away in a waste bin.

When she came back he held his hand out to her and she took it and gave him a warm smile.

“See. Is that so hard? I won’t bite you—not yet.”

He chuckled. It wasn’t her bite he was worried about.

“You want a peppermint?” he offered.

She nodded and he pulled one of the little red and white swirled candies from his pocket and gave it to her, then unwrapped one for himself and popped it in his mouth. They walked hand in hand up the waterfront, passed the restaurants, boat tours and tourist shops toward the bright neon lights of the Great Wheel. Dusk was falling. A warm breeze brushed over the waters of the sound enhancing the sparkle of reflected lights of the city.

The moment would have been perfect, if not for the faint hint of angel food cake teasing his preternatural sense of smell, even over the strength of the peppermint in his mouth. It could be from a restaurant along the waterfront. But that scent, coupled with Crawford’s warning and the weird vibe he was getting that they were being watched from a distance, put all his senses on high alert.

Kayla tugged on his hand. “What’s wrong?” She glanced back behind them.

“I think somebody’s watching us.”

She laughed softly. “Everybody’s watching us. We make a cute couple.”

“We’re not a couple, Kayla. Not really.”

“But we could be,” she said, her voice light and hopeful.

He smiled at her.
Let her have this moment.
“Yeah. We could.”

It didn’t take long to walk down to the end of the pier where the Giant Wheel was positioned near the water. Cole paid for their tickets and they went to get in line. Tourist traffic was light on the giant Ferris wheel and they were lucky enough to score an enclosed glass gondola all to themselves. Somehow it seemed safer being in the little glass bubble, than exposed out in the open.

They sat back in the formed plastic seats, as the wheel went into motion. Kayla cuddled up close to him, her head resting on his shoulder. Inside the gondola the light citrus and warm female scent of her infused the air until he was surrounded by it. He couldn’t breathe without tasting her on his tongue. Despite the rule he’d laid down about no sex for her own protection, Cole wished to hell he were surrounded by her, buried in her.

He rejected the thought, even though his libido eagerly embraced it. His dick grew hard at just the thought of touching her intimately. This wasn’t, couldn’t, be about him. He’d come to set the past right. To make sure Kayla was safe and going to be all right in her future without Jack, and then he would go back to being a weapon under the control of Vector Force.

Hell, he wasn’t entitled to a life of his own. He’d given that up when he’d signed permission to let them experiment on him. At the time his life hadn't meant much. He didn’t want to live anyway. But now, with Kayla’s silky sweet hair tickling his chin and the warm weight of her pressed against him, he wished he could take the decision back.

For the first time regret took root. He’d always thought there’d never be another opportunity for him and Kayla when she married Jack. Now the whole situation with him being committed to Vector Force seemed like the most perverse practical joke the universe could play. He had a second chance at what he’d always wanted and he couldn’t take it.

“The lights are incredible from up here. Who knew Seattle could be so beautiful after dark?” They were half-way up and already the view was spectacular, both in and out of the gondola.

“Yeah, beautiful.” He said the words to match hers, but they didn’t refer to the lights at all but to the woman beside him. The city lights grew more diffused as they rose higher giving Kayla an almost ethereal glow. God, she was perfect, maybe not by everyone standards, but certainly by his. She stood up and walked to the edge of the gondola, looking out the glass to the world below, her body bathed in light, outlining every curve to perfection.

Almost as if she sensed his thoughts she turned glanced back at him, her gaze locking with his. A soft inviting smile curved her mouth.

“This is the most romantic thing I’ve done in years.”

God help him, because he sure as hell couldn’t help himself.

With deliberate slowness, he stood, moving to stand just behind her. They were close enough that heat radiated off her body, beckoning him even closer. All day long, she’d had her hair wrapped up in a messy bun on her head, exposing the sensual length of her silky neck.

He could hear the elevated beat of her heart and the rush of blood pumping through her veins, could see the pulse of it move the creamy surface of her skin. Pressure built both in his groin and behind his gums. But he held both in check. But the sweetness of her skin was too big a temptation to forego altogether.

* * *

Kayla felt his big, broad hands cupping her waist, followed quickly by the skin of his warm mouth skimming a trail of sensual, hot kisses down her neck. She titled her head to give him better access and leaned back into him. The rough pad of his thumb traced upward past the edge of her shorts seeking and finding bare skin.

“More,” the word came out sultry and low. She wasn’t shy about asking for what she wanted.

Cole’s hand crept upward in response, his fingers tracing the edge of each rib before moving up higher beneath her shirt. His hands were strong and big, but skilled, knowing just how to caress her to make her breath short, her head spin, and her breasts ache.

Meanwhile his mouth kept kissing along her neck. Gently his teeth rasped against the edge of her collar bone, driving her mad. His thumb brushed back and forth along the underside of her breast, then upward, over the hardened tip, shooting sparks of pleasure radiating outward. Kayla moaned. She had to kiss him.

“Cole?”

“Yeah?”

“It’s my turn.” Twisting in his arms, she rose up on her toes, pressing herself against him from breast to public bone then laid a lip lock on him.

He tasted of peppermint, cool and sweet, but his kiss was hot. All the images she’d had flitting through her head the last twenty-four hours of what kissing him again would be like, were a pale comparison to the real thing. This was no timid kiss. He locked his arms around her waist lifting her so that her feet barely grazed the floor, and her belly cradled the hard length of his erection. They were both hungry for this, the pressure of his mouth demanding and the slide of his tongue against hers intimate. But it still wasn’t enough. She craved more.

She bit his lip, and Cole abruptly pulled back, setting her down on her feet, his breathing hard. A flair of pure potent male need lit him up from within, but he waited. Wanted a signal from her how far they would take this. Kayla cupped his nape, her fingers stroking the soft bristled texture of his short-cropped hair and she drew him back down into the kiss.

She was done waiting for him to figure out where the lines were when they all blurred together in a sensual haze. That had been the problem in high school. It had always seemed like he was holding back, waiting for something, her permission perhaps, before he’d go to the next level with her. Jack had been all bravado. He hadn’t hesitated. Neither would she. Not now that she knew what she wanted: Cole.

Her hands ran over him, exploring the sleek smoothness and rigid contours of his hard body. From hard, rounded shoulders to the sculpted stretch of his chest, Cole was far from the boy he’d been in high school. He was a man, a wall of heated muscle and strength that caused a throbbing ache to build between her thighs. Even with a T-shirt between them she could feel the hard ridges of his abs, and the even harder line of his erection, straining against his jeans. She rubbed her palm over him, and he pulsed. That was all the invitation she needed.

Cole groaned. “You’re killing me.”

Kayla gave a throaty laugh. “Not yet.” She kissed him as her fingers found the waistband of his jeans and delved beneath stroking the smooth hard heat of him. The tip was damp and slick and she used it, circling him with her fingers, until he pulsed hard again. Her body responded, the throb growing more intense.

“You’re playing with fire, Kayla.” His massive body shuddered.

“You said no sex. You didn’t say I couldn’t feel you.” She pressed her palm against him, cupping him, squeezing, kneading him.

Cole growled, his big arm wrapping around her waist and lifting her up off the floor. Kayla wrapped her legs around his hips, straddling him as he pressed her back against the glass of the gondola and rocked against him, to relive the pressure building in her body.

The Ferris wheel stopped, suspending them above the sparkling lights of Seattle. The dark waters of the sound lapped at the lit edge of the city. But it was lost on them. All that she could sense was the hot, hard heat of him holding her, kissing her as if she were the only thing on earth that mattered.

With his one arm holding her, his other hand slid over the curve of her thigh angled around his hips, then glided upward, until his fingers inched past the edge of her shorts. He moved, just enough to give himself room to stroke her with his fingers through the damp fabric of her panties. Sparks exploded in her veins and the ache to have him touch her doubled.

“God you’re wet.”

“You don’t know the half of it,” she said, panting.

He gave her a wicked grin. “Not yet.”

His clever fingers found the elastic edge of her underwear, and moved it aside. The touch of his blunt-tipped fingers against her slick heat, as he rubbed, and spiraled, her tender flesh, made her arch and pant.

“More,” she rasped.

He pressed his fingers into her, her body clamping hard around him, as he slipped them deeper.

Pressed against the coolness of the glass, she opened her eyes and saw stars. Cole gripped the metal frame of the gondola, the tendons and veins in his arms standing in stark relief. More. She needed just a little more. Kayla rocked against his hand, the heel of his palm rubbing her clit, the pressure building until she thought she might explode from the inside out. The Ferris wheel jerked, and began moving again, sending them downward as his touch drove her over the edge, making her whole body tighten as she came.

He held her steady as a cool stream of air brushed over her moist skin. Kayla panted, her head resting back against the smooth cool surface of the glass. Then she opened her eyes and gazed into his.

“If that wasn’t sex, can we do it again sometime?” she said softly.

Cole chuckled and nuzzled her neck then took her mouth in a sensual kiss, which left her throbbing all over again. “I think I could arrange that.”

The gondola seemed to be moving faster on the downhill side. Kayla glanced at the ground getting closer. “I think we better get back in our seats.”

She unwrapped her legs from around him and Cole gently let her slide down the length of him, until her toes touched the bottom of the gondola. “You good?”

“Mister, I’m better than good. . .that was. . .mind blowing. Never let it be said you don’t know how to show a girl a good time.”

He gently kissed her forehead, then sat back in the seats and pulled her into his lap. “You still want to see more sights in the city.”

“Hell no. I’m ready to go home—with you.”

He gave her a sidelong glance. “No sex, Kayla.”

She shrugged. “Fine no sex. But you better believe I’m not the only one who’s going to come next time.”

They made quick work of getting back to where they’d parked earlier in the day by grabbing a ride on the city bus.

All the way home her grip was slick on the steering wheel, and she squirmed in her seat, anticipating what it would be like to see Cole naked, and to touch him again.

But through the sensual need, thoughts began to intrude. Why did she want him so badly?

She glanced at him through her lashes. Hell, what red-blooded American woman wouldn’t want a guy as gorgeous Cole who could rock her world with just his hands?

No.
Insisted her inner thoughts.
Why him?

Kayla had to admit to herself that there was something about Cole she’d never forgotten. Not just that was her first, but that he held onto a little piece of her heart no one else did—not even Jack.

But did she want to be a military wife again? Was it worth it?

She shook her head. That was just silly. He hadn’t even indicated he was sticking around or coming back after his furlough was over.

“Something wrong?” Cole asked, as the back of his finger stroked along her arm.

“No. Just thinking about what you look like under those clothes,” she teased.

Cole grabbed the edge of his shirt, and pulled it up, exposing his glorious abs. “I can start taking it off right now if you’d like.”

The car wobbled out of the lane. “No. Not yet. I’ve got to keep my eyes on the road. And when you take it off, I want to be able to look at nothing but you.”

Cole laughed and let his shirt drop. “How long until we get there?”

“Five minutes.”

“Longest five minutes of my life.”

They pulled into the driveway of her little house less than five minutes later. Surely there were acceptable reasons for people to speed, Kayla thought. She hopped out of the car, and speed-walked to the door.