Till Death(78)

I had a feeling that if I said yes, it wouldn’t end well, and the truth was, it wasn’t just because of Myers. “Do you think it was a mistake that I came home?”

“Hell no.” Not a moment of hesitation.

I smiled as I placed my hands on his chest. “Mom said something like that. She meant it from a good place and a bad one—a bad one full of worry. She’s scared for me.”

“Sasha . . .”

Fear trickled into my blood like drops of ice. “What if me coming home caused this?”

“Babe.” He grasped my cheeks as his eyes came to mine. “Nothing you’ve done has caused this. You aren’t responsible for what is happening.”

I gripped his shoulders. “I get what you’re saying, but indirectly—”

“Indirectly or directly, you’re not responsible.” He slid his hands back and his fingers gathered my hair back from my face. “You’ve already given up ten years of your life to that bastard.”

“I—”

“You know you did,” he stated firmly, and damn it, he was right. “And you’re not going to give up more of life to some nameless, faceless monster. No more.”

God, what he said was so damn true.

“I can’t . . . I can’t help but feel like we’re on the verge of repeating history,” I whispered, giving words to the fear that had been building inside me. “That it’s going to happen all over again.”

“It’s not,” he was quick to respond. “The past is not going to repeat itself. There is no way I’m going to let that happen.”

I wanted to ask how he thought he could stop it, but there wasn’t going to be an answer. There couldn’t be.

“You belong home,” he said, guiding my head toward his. “You belong here, with me, like you should’ve been this whole time.”

Some of the pressure in my chest eased off. “Yeah,” I whispered as I sifted my fingers through the short, soft strands of hair at the base of his neck.

“Sleepy?” he asked.

“No.” I lifted my chin. “I’m thinking about the whole get-creative part you mentioned earlier? I’m really interested in that.”

His eyes took on a hooded, heavy quality. “I’m always interested in that.”

I pressed my forehead against his. “What exactly would those things entail?”

“I could tell you.” His hands dropped to my hips and then suddenly I was in the air. Cole lifted me up as he rose, and my legs circled his waist out of instinct. “But I prefer to show you.”

Holding on, I laughed softly. “I think I like the idea of you showing me.”

“Good, because that’s what you’re going to get.”

Cole’s mouth was on mine as he walked us back to the bedroom, one arm securing me to him, the other hand at the back of my head. The strength he had was unbelievable as he lowered me to the bed without breaking contact. I by no means was a small woman, and I was surprised he didn’t drop me.

Then I wasn’t really thinking about any of that, because his mouth and hands were everywhere, shucking off my cardigan, and easing down the straps of my nightie, exposing my breasts to the cool, night air. The tips of my breasts beaded under his hot breath and then his mouth. The skirt of my nightie came up, the flannel bottoms he wore came off, and then he was between my thighs, and my knees were pressed into his sides.

The way he rocked his hips, the way each thrust hit the right spot each time with startling precision, took me farther and farther away from everything that had kept me awake and haunted me during the day.

Muscles started tightening in the most delicious way and Cole braced his weight on one arm. His lips glided over mine, and it was such a soft kiss, a sweet one, and it broke me.

I cried out, calling his name, and he was right behind me, his powerful body shuddering before half his weight hit me. He was heavy, but I didn’t care. I wanted him there.

Kissing his bare chest, I slid my hand down his back as my pulse slowed. “Guess what?”

“Hmm?” His head was buried against my neck.

“That was an amazing sleeping aid,” I told him. “I’d like one of them every evening, please.”

Cole chuckled against my throat. “I can do that for you and then some.”



My car was finally ready for pickup on Tuesday. Since Cole had to head into Baltimore and someone needed to be at the inn, Jason picked me up during lunch and took me to the body shop down the road.

“Thank you for doing this,” I said as we coasted down the street.

Jason smiled as he straightened his glasses. “It’s really no problem. I own my own agency, so I can pretty much come and go as I please.”

“Still awesome of you.” Snow-covered lawns blurred. “Especially yesterday.”

“Got to admit, I hope I don’t get a call from you in the future to watch the inn because of something like that again.”

I glanced over at him. “Me too.”

Jason slowed as we neared a red light. “Have you seen the newspaper this morning?”

Shaking my head, I said, “Do I want to?”

His lips quirked. “No.”

I sighed. “What does it say?”