The Birthday List(73)

His mouth came back to my skin and began exploring. His tongue licked the swells under each of my breasts before his lips tickled down my ribs on one side. Cole sucked and nipped at the soft curve of my hip. He kissed the inside of my thigh, down to the bend in my knee. Then he moved back up my body to do the whole thing again, this time on the side he’d neglected.

He was on a quest to devour every inch of my skin just to see if one part tasted differently than the rest. By the time he reached my center, dragging his tongue through my slit in one long, euphoric lick, every nerve in my body was pulsing, desperate for release.

Cole stepped off the foot of the bed and shoved down his pants. When he stood, my eyes dropped straight to his thick, hard cock. My heartbeat kicked up another notch as I took in his size. It had been so long since I’d had sex and Cole was big.

Crawling back into bed, Cole covered me with his body, wrapping one arm around my back while the other threaded in my hair. He pressed a soft kiss to my lips, erasing my worries with that one sweet caress.

As his tongue stroked my bottom lip, his hand abandoned my hair and came between us to fist his cock. He pulled it through my slit, spreading my wetness up to my clit. My hips arched when he did it again and again—my body begging for more.

Finally, he positioned the tip at my entrance and brought his hand back to my face. Then with one smooth glide, Cole filled me completely. He stayed still for a moment, giving me a chance to stretch around him, but then he began stroking. His deep, deliberate rhythm brought me higher and higher until my legs were trembling and my skin was on fire.

I couldn’t last. As much as I wanted to drag out this incredible feeling, my body was leading the way. So I closed my eyes, blocking out everything but the feel of Cole inside me. And I let go. I moaned as my orgasm ripped through me in waves, my inner walls clenching hard around Cole until I was boneless beneath him.

“God, you are perfect.” Cole kissed me again, then started stroking faster.

I’d expected him to find his own release soon, but he just kept going. Over and over he moved, building me back up. Showing me that, even exhausted, he had the stamina to go for hours. He kept thrusting, his hips setting an erratic rhythm I couldn’t predict, until I was shaking underneath him, ready to come all over again.

“Come, beautiful,” he panted. “I’m there.”

With his gravelly voice in my ear and his hot mouth on my neck, I gasped his name just before my second orgasm broke hard.

I pulsed around him, my hips bucking against his. He tipped his head back and let out a loud groan as he came, hot and wet inside me. I was still coming down but forced my eyes open, wanting to see his face—his breathtaking face.

His dark lashes squeezed together. The cords of his neck flexed tight. His stubbled jaw clamped shut.

Breathtaking.

So much had happened since the day Cole had come back into my life. The highs and lows of my emotional roller coaster had been almost too much to handle. But I couldn’t regret a second of that ride—not if this is where I got to step off. Here, in the arms of this incredible man.

Cole collapsed on top of me, holding me close, as we panted for air. I pressed my hands flat onto his back, not wanting to let him go quite yet, until, finally, we’d regained our breaths and the room had stopped spinning. He slid out and fell onto the bed at my side. Then with a fast tug, he pulled me onto his chest.

“Now, I’m wiped.”

I giggled into his neck. Between the hike and the sex, I bet he’d be dead to the world in less than five minutes. “I’m going to clean up. Be right back.” With a peck on his cheek, I rolled out of bed and went to the bathroom. I hurried to clean up, wanting to make it back into his arms before he fell asleep.

Cole was waiting when I slipped under the blankets he’d turned down. He pulled me into his side and nuzzled his nose into my hair. Then he took my hand and laced our fingers together. “Are you okay? Being with me?”

Since I’d completely broken down after our first kiss, his question didn’t surprise me. He was probably waiting for me to have another crying jag. But there was nothing about sex with Cole to cause anything other than tears of joy.

“I’m better than okay.” I kissed his chest. “I’m wonderful. And you’re the only one I want to be with.”

“Good.” He blew out a relieved breath. “Do you want to talk about why your rings are gone?”

I should have known he wouldn’t miss that. “It was time.”

“You can always talk to me about him. About how you’re feeling. Promise you’ll tell me if it ever gets to be too much.”

“I promise, just not here. This bed, it’s a place that’s just for us, okay? This is only ours.”

He kissed my hair. “Okay.”

I closed my eyes and snuggled closer, glad that he liked to cuddle. “Good night.”

He yawned. “Night, my pretty Poppy.”

Then I fell asleep next to the second man I’d ever had sex with. The man who had set out to win my damaged heart. The man who had been healing it ever since.

The man I saw when I dreamed of the future.




The next morning, Cole and I were slow to start the day.

Since I didn’t have boots, we couldn’t take the morning hike I’d originally planned, so instead, we lazed in bed. After he’d made me come—twice—and shared my shower, we forced ourselves apart and left the lodge, making a stop at Lake McDonald.