Assured (Soul Serenade #2)(42)

Closing my eyes, I try to hide from the intensity of his stare.

“Open your eyes, Stacy. I want to watch you. I want you to watch me. I want you to remember this moment, remember who’s inside of you.”

I should have known that I couldn’t hide from him. Cole doesn’t hide he’s a “what you see is what you get” kind of guy.

“There you are,” he murmurs. Leaning down his lips softly caress mine.

“Cole.” His name is but a whisper on my lips.

“I can feel it,” he rocks his hips. “You’re close,” he sways his hips in a move that causes my entire body to tremble.

“Close,” I pant.

Cole doesn’t say anything. His eyes remain locked on mine. Resting all of his weight on one elbow the other hand cups my cheek. His eyes darken as I bite my lip; his hips jolt forward, his thrust growing faster, a constant steady rhythm that is pushing me toward the edge.

Just as my eyes are about to roll back in my head, he thrust deep and slams his lips over mine. He swallows my cries as we both fall into the abyss of pleasure that we have created.

He kisses me, his lips fused with mine until the last tremor has left our bodies, slowly he pulls his lips from mine. His eyes watch me searching my expression, looking for I don’t know what.

“Regrets?” he asks softly.

“No,” I murmur. “You?”

Leaning down, he kisses my forehead. “Could never regret you, baby.”

Five words. Those five words have a direct line to my heart. The one this man kicks into overdrive whenever he’s near. The one that just melted into a puddle of goo at five little words. Those five words mean more to me than any declaration of love or feelings. Cole is a man who doesn’t hold back; he’s always blunt and honest to a fault. He knows I want more than just a fling, knows how I feel about it. He also knows I was willing to set that aside to be with him. Those five words tell me that this really does mean more to him.

We’re in this together.

That both excites me and scares the hell out of me. This isn’t his thing, being attached to someone. Although, I’ve yet to see his attention anywhere but on me. I agreed to try, and that’s what I’m going to do.

“Where did you go?” he asks, smoothing hair out of my eyes.

“Just taking it all in.” I smile.

“Don’t move.”

He climbs off the bed and I instantly miss him, the warmth of him pressed against me. I close my eyes, running it all through my mind on repeat. We’ve been dancing around this for months, and I’ve imagined it more times than I care to admit, but I never, not once, thought it would be like this. With Cole saying he wants there to be an us.

My eyes pop open when I feel a warm cloth between my legs.

“Sorry, sweets. Didn’t mean to startle you,” he says, tossing the towel back toward the bathroom. He stretches out beside me on the bed, pulling me against his chest. Reaching down, he grabs the covers and tugs them over us.

My head resting on his chest, I can feel the thunderous beat of his heart. Neither one of us says a word as our breathing syncs and we both relax.

Cole has one arm holding me tight against him, and with the other he runs his fingers through my hair. “I’ve never done this before,” he admits.

“Changing your mind?” I ask hesitantly.

“Never.” He tightens both arms around me and holds me tight. He gives me a gentle squeeze. “I’ve never . . . cuddled after sex.”

Noted. I try to pull away, but his hold is like a vise.

“Stop.”

I do what he says.

“I didn’t say I didn’t want to do it, Stacy. I said I’d never. I’ve never wanted to. I’ve never had the desire to stick around, to bask in the feel of a naked body against mine. I’ve never cared enough to make sure she’s comfortable.”

It’s a bit awkward hearing about his time with other women, but that’s Cole. He doesn’t hold any punches, and I know his history.

“Fuck, sweets, I never want to let you go. This feeling—your skin against mine, your head on my chest. It’s one I never want to let go of.”

Me either. I want to tell him that I’m onboard, that my thoughts are in line with his, but I hold back. This is still so new, and I admit that I’m still scared as hell. If I let sweet Cole in, will he break me?

“This is more, Stacy,” he states firmly, as if he can read my mind.

“Not just sex,” I say, snuggling closer. I’m going to soak up as much of him as I can. I’m going to take my clues from him and let the chips fall where they may. I want to believe he’s changed, that he changed for me, but my heart is hesitant. It’s his simple “this is more” that has me going all in I’m not going to let my fear of a broken heart keep me from enjoying every second that he claims to be mine.

“No, not just sex. Look at me,” he commands.

Taking a deep breath, I lift my head from what I like to think of as my spot on his chest and look at him.

His face is serious, more serious than I’ve ever seen. Those chocolate eyes bore into mine. “We made love, Stacy. I could never just f*ck the woman who owns me. We’ll f*ck, that’s a given, but there will always be emotion involved—there’s no other way with you. However, what we just shared, that was more than sex.”