Rescue Me(34)

They finished eating and he took her mug from her hands then swept her up in his arms, the sudden change taking her by surprise. "Let's go check out that shower again."

The sheet fell away from her shoulder as he carried her, and he bent his head to nip at it before setting her back on her feet. In no time flat, he had his shorts off and they were standing under the stream of hot water.

Cole lathered her up with soap, taking his time to clean every inch of her body, then it was her turn. When her hands dropped below his waist, wrapping around his thick erection, she couldn't stop herself from running her fist up and down his length. He groaned and let his head drop back.

Before she knew what she was doing, she had dropped to her knees in front of him and licked him from base to tip. Well, this was new. She'd never wanted to please a man as much as she wanted to please Cole. She wanted him to feel as good as he'd made her feel over and over again through the night.

Taking him into her mouth, she tightened her grasp. He gripped her shoulders and moaned her name. She felt a renewed sense of desire at causing him such pleasure.

Grabbing her by the arms, he lifted her effortlessly and turned her around to where her palms were splayed across the shower wall. He ripped open the condom she'd not seen him bring in and grabbed her by the hips, pulling her toward him and thrusting into her from behind until he was in her so deeply she felt that she would come right then and there. Several furious strokes later, she was going over the edge, and he came right behind her.

Euphoric and exhausted at the same time, she turned to him and placed a soft kiss on his chest, his neck and finally his lips. "I knew this shower would be good for something," she whispered. Then with a laugh, she grabbed a towel and stepped from the shower, leaving him staring after her.

***





Meredith walked into the dance studio just as Katrina was finishing up her yoga class, so she stood quietly at the back of the room until it was over. She couldn't wait to talk to her about her idea. It had been simmering for a couple days and she was eager to see what Katrina thought.

Some of the students greeted her as they packed up and left, and Meredith was pleased to hear some of them say they were attending her ballroom class at the end of the week. They were genuinely excited and it pleased her that they seemed to enjoy her so much. It was very reassuring to know that her passion had a channel and that people were receptive to it.

"Morning," Katrina said as the last of the students left the studio. She had a gleam in her eye. "You look like you've had a good morning. You have a certain glow about you."

Meredith couldn't keep the grin from her face. "You could say that." Even though she hadn't spent much of the night sleeping, she felt surprisingly refreshed. After their somewhat awkward breakfast, things had returned to an even keel between Cole and her.

"Lucky you. I can't say I'm not a little jealous. I haven't had a good romp in quite a while."

"Me neither," Meredith admitted. "It's been pretty fun so far."

"Okay, so I have something to talk to you about too, but you go first."

Meredith grabbed her water bottle from her gym bag and carried it over to sit with Katrina. She hoped she was receptive to the idea.

"I've taken quite a few of the classes since I've been here, and while I've enjoyed them all, I have an idea. One I think you'll like."

Katrina leaned forward eagerly. "Do tell."

"It seems like most of the classes are geared toward fitness, with the exception of the ballroom class. But I've had an excellent response from people who want to take it." Katrina nodded and she continued.

"What if we developed a few more dance classes? They can be fitness based, but with a definite dance angle. I think it would be worth a shot to see what the response would be."

She waited for Katrina to tell her what she thought, and was surprised when she looked down and shook her head. "What? You don't like the idea?"

"No, it's not that. I love the idea. In fact, I've been thinking something along those same lines already. But it's not going to fly."

"What do you mean? Why not?"

"I went to talk to Brandon yesterday and pitched an idea that was similar, but he was pretty adamantly against it."

"Why? Why would he not want to at least try something new out?" She had another thought. "Wait. Did you happen to mention me at all in this conversation?"

Katrina looked at her earnestly and nodded. "I did because I thought if it was something you might be on board with then he'd be more likely to go for it."

Meredith's heart sank. "I think that may be exactly why he won't go for it."

"What do you mean? I don't understand."

"Brandon has it stuck in his head that he knows what's best for me. And if anything interferes with his idea of what that is, he won't even listen."

"Not even to you?"

"Especially not to me."

Katrina frowned, creases marring her forehead. "That doesn't even make sense. You know what's best for you. He should listen to you. I think you should present the idea to him."

"What exactly did you say to him?"

"That I wanted to work with you while you were here to develop some new classes, try out some new formats. That you had knowledge and expertise that could really help the program."