But, instead of hurtling towards the finishing line, Cole just looked at her, taking in her curly hair, her breasts—smaller than she liked—and her too-long legs. His eyes passed over her panties and moved up again, stopping to inspect the small tattoo she had on her right hip. Three, each an inch high, adult elephants encircled two, tiny baby elephants. He paused, and Lex knew he was curious about the artwork.
It wasn’t the time for questions and, needing to touch him, to feel connected, Lex reached for his jersey, gently pulling it and the T-shirt he wore underneath up his torso, revealing his wide chest and ridged stomach. After dropping his garments to the floor, she skimmed her hand down his shoulder, down his muscled arms. Her fingers drifted over the back of his hand, slipped between his fingers and he lifted her knuckles to his mouth. His eyes, containing flames of yellow and gold, collided with hers.
‘Are you sure about this?’ he quietly asked.
She could no more have said no than stop the clouds from releasing snow. ‘I’m sure.’
Cole’s fingers fluttered over her lips, her cheekbone, the sweep of her jaw. His gentle touch was unanticipated, as sexy as his take-me-away, lust-drenched kisses. She hadn’t imagined that such a remote, emotionally unavailable and mentally tough man could be so tender. Cole held her head in his hands, his thumbs sliding over her eyebrows and across her cheekbones.
‘I adore your dots, Lex,’ he told her, his voice rough with desire.
‘Kiss me, Cole,’ Lex whispered, raw need in her voice. He lowered his head and his mouth skimmed hers, once, twice, before he covered her lips, feeding her kisses and keeping the tempo sexy and slow.
As they kissed, Lex revelled in the freedom to touch his long, hard body. She trailed her fingers over his chest, down his sides, and walked them across those hard abs. She explored the long length of his sexy hip muscles and ran her finger under the band of his jeans, relishing his groans of appreciation. A slap of power hit her. She could make this man want. She had the ability to make his big body quiver with anticipation. She stroked the tip of her finger along his erection from base to tip and was rewarded by the sound of him sucking in a harsh breath.
‘Lex...’
Cole cupped her breasts in his hands, groaning as he buried his face in her neck, sucking on that spot where her neck and shoulder met.
‘I need you now,’ Cole told her as he hooked his thumbs into her panties and pulled them down. He stared at her thin strip of soft hair, and she gasped as he ran his finger over it. ‘So pretty.’
Lex, unable to help herself, widened her legs and heard his harsh gasp as he slid his hand between her legs and his index finger brushed ever so gently over her super-sensitive bundle of nerves. Stars and fireworks exploded on her skin, sensitising her from tip to toe. Her thoughts fled, and she forgot to breathe as his hot finger slipped inside her, followed by another. His thumb swept over her again and Lex felt sexual pressure building. It had been years since she’d been with a man, but she didn’t recall sex being this out-of-the-world experience, this exhilarating.
‘Cole...’
He’d never in all his life seen anything as sexy as Lex standing in front of the fire, about to orgasm, with snow falling outside. A part of him wanted to watch her as she fell apart, see how her face changed when pleasure hit her, see the wonder in her eyes, watch her skin flush pink under her freckles. But a bigger part of him wanted to be fully and wholly connected with her this first time.
Scooping her up, he laid her on the couch, taking a moment to appreciate her. She looked like femininity distilled: long hair, wild eyes and smooth skin. It took all he had not to rip off his jeans and sink into her, to discover her. Her eyes slammed into his and she lifted her hips in a silent plea to be taken, to be completed. For him to give her what she craved. Before Lex, with those women whose faces and names she’d obliterated from his memory, he’d never taken the time to savour. To discover slopes and valleys, dips and curves. What made a woman scream and what made her sigh.
He couldn’t wait to see her fall apart but, first, protection... Digging into his back pocket, he yanked out his wallet, dug around in it and pulled out a condom. Dropping his jeans and underwear, Cole rolled on the condom and placed one hand on the back of the couch, the other on the cushion next to Lex’s head, and lowered himself down, keeping his eyes locked on hers. He took a calming breath, knowing that he needed control. But in Lex’s eyes he saw impatience, passion, and heard her unspoken plea to be taken on her lips. Her legs fell open and he brushed her entrance, pushing in just a little. Man, she felt amazing.
She whimpered and then sighed his name.
The tips of her long and elegant fingers meandered over the stubble on his jaw. She painted fire on his skin as her fingers skimmed down his neck and danced across his shoulder blades, down his spine and over his butt. Unbelievably, he hardened even further. Unable to wait, Cole lowered his weight and pushed into her with a long, controlled slide.
He covered her mouth with his and the world faded away, entirely focused on where their bodies met. She met him stroke for stroke, her breath deep and sexy in his ear. He held himself rigid, knowing that if he didn’t stop she’d be left unsatisfied.Not acceptable.
But heat and demand roared through him and his control was on a knife-edge. This was original sin mating, wild, basic, organic, the way it was meant to be. He couldn’t wait. He had to move, take, plunder...harder, faster, higher. His breathing increased and his heart threatened to explode...
He heard a whimper, then her groan. Lex clenched around him and his orgasm rocketed through him, chasing hers up, around, through that star, hopping across the moon and sliding down that meteor shower.
When his tour of the galaxy ended, Cole buried his face in Lex’s sweet-smelling neck, trying to make sense of their intense physical connection. She, the sex they’d shared, was the best he’d ever had. Why here? Why now? And why, when it was so very inconvenient?
CHAPTER EIGHT
THISPLACELOOKSso familiar.
Thinking back to what he said earlier, Lex dressed in Cole’s jersey, swung her legs across his thighs, the backs of her bare legs rubbing against his jeans. Much to her dismay, he’d pulled on his T-shirt.
But, since he’d found a bottle of excellent red wine and two glasses, she was prepared to forgive him.
Lex turned to look behind her and smiled when she saw that it was still snowing. A layer of white covered the brown grass and the patio and she was tempted to get up, get dressed and go and play in the snow. Maybe she could persuade Cole to have a snowball fight with her. Or to make a snowman.
Cole took one look at her face and shook his head. ‘I would rather suck my eyeballs out with a straw than go outside,’ he told her. Snow wasn’t the novelty to him that it was to her.
Lex pouted but Cole remained unmoved.
‘I checked the weather forecast earlier and they are predicting more snow tonight. I’m hoping for a few feet so that I can test out some of the slopes.’