Sweet Addiction (Sweet #6)(41)

When the men had finished unpacking the boxes to Cole’s satisfaction, he waved them away and then gently shook Ren awake.

Her eyes came open and she looked disoriented for the briefest of moments before she smiled and snuggled a little deeper into his arms.

“I have plans for us this afternoon if you’re up for going out.”

She raised her head and pushed away the heavy silk of her hair. “Of course. I’ve been lazy the entire day.”

He smiled and touched her cheek. “If you have then so have I. I quite enjoyed our day together so far. But you have need of clothing and I thought we could enjoy dinner with friends. I’d like you to meet them in a more relaxed setting.”

Her eyebrows scrunched together. “Cole, I have more clothes than I know what to do with. Unless …Did Lucas not send anything over with my writing stuff?”

Cole took a measured breath. “He did. I sent them back.”

She cocked her head, obviously confused, but she didn’t question him. An action he approved of.

“You’re mine now, Ren,” he said in a soft voice. “It’s my responsibility to provide for you. To care for you. To ensure all your needs are met while you’re in my keeping. I won’t have another man do those things for you.”

She nodded her understanding.

“So I thought perhaps we could go shopping. I have a distinct desire to outfit you in clothing that complements your natural beauty. Then we’ll meet two couples that I’m friends with for dinner. You’ve met Damon and Serena already but you haven’t yet met Micah and his wife, Angelina.”

She pursed her lips and her eyes grew thoughtful for a moment. He could see the question hovering but she made no effort to voice it.

“Ask your question, Ren.”

“It’s really none of my business,” she said ruefully. “Just a thought that occurred and I’m not even certain why I want to know.”

“Ask it.”

“These women. Serena and Angelina. You spoke of being attracted to and of being …intimate …with women that belonged to other men. Are they …” She took a deep breath. “Are they the women you spoke of?”

Cole went soft at how small her voice sounded. She was trying so hard to pretend only a passing interest but he remembered what Lucas had told him of her previous relationship and the promise he’d exacted from Cole about having other women. As if he could even bring himself to look at another woman with Ren at his side.

“Look at me,” he said in a tender voice. “First, you’re it for me, Ren. All I want. The only woman I need. I have no desire—feel no desire—for another woman when I have perfection staring me in the face.”

“Oh,” she breathed, her eyes rounding and then sparkling with delight.

“Now to answer your question because I’ll never be anything but honest with you. I have touched Serena. Intimately. But not in the way you’d think. Damon is very, very possessive of her. He doesn’t share. He trusts me and I spend a lot of time at his club, and so he would often have me prepare Serena. For him. For his attentions. It was part of his process. He’s very methodical in all things. That’s as far as things ever went with Serena. And I never had any desire to take things further. They are dear friends. She and Damon both.”

Ren nodded her understanding, relief lightening her eyes.

He touched her and then shifted so he could sit up to hold her because he considered that the next might not be as easy to hear.

“Angelina …she was different and in order to tell you the difference, I need to go back and tell you of my role at The House. A role that I basically made for myself and one I was content with.”

She nodded again but the frown was back.

Unable to resist, he leaned forward and pulled her down into a long, heated kiss. She melted instantly, so sweet and unresisting. He could honestly spend all day doing nothing more than touching her. The next two weeks were going to be hard because all he wanted to do was lock himself in a room with her and make love to her until neither of them could take anymore.

But what he had to do was show her his life. How her life with him could be. He couldn’t afford a single misstep. Not when his entire future rode on convincing her that he could be the man she needed.

“Now, about Angelina. She belongs to Micah. Completely and utterly belongs to him. He’s so crazy in love with her. He’d do anything and everything to make her happy.”

Ren sighed. “That so wonderful.”

He could hear the wistful note in her voice and he wanted so badly to tell her that she could have that. She could have it and more because if she stayed with him, not a day would go by that he wouldn’t show her how very precious she was to him. Had always been.

“Micah is also …hard. Darker I guess you could say. Angelina fits him well because her desires and needs are every bit as dark as his. He’s fierce and demanding but he loves her so damn much.”

“He likes her to be with other men,” Ren guessed.

“Yes and no. You see, it’s kind of complicated, his and Angelina’s past, which is why he fought her for so long. He was once married to a woman he loved very much but he shared her with Angelina’s brother, his best friend. They both loved her. She was with them both.”

Ren frowned and cocked her head. “Then how?”