Page 125 of Shelter
I was glad to be lying down. The only part of me I had to keep under control was my expression. My knees could go as weak as they liked. My breath could stop. And then start again in a haphazard rhythm.
I watched as Cole slid under the covers. The bed shifted with his weight. and then I was in his arms.
It. Felt. Heavenly.
He held me close, our bodies pressed together, my cheek against his chest as we lay on our sides. One of his hands swept long strokes up and down my back. I filled and emptied my lungs, and my body sunk against his.
“That’s better,” he murmured. “That’s the answer.”
I frowned, tilting my head up to face him, a sudden and welcome drowsiness settling over me. “What is?”
One corner of his mouth curved upward, his face relaxed and open. “When you’re freaking out, I just need to pull you in my arms,” he said, shrugging at the simplicity of it. “Preferably in bed.”
The day must have been catching up with me, because as he held me close, and sleep made its stealthy advance, I heard myself mutter, “That’s a really good plan…”
* * *
I awokehours later to a darkened room and an empty bed.
A quick scan of the room revealed no sign of Cole, but one of his French doors stood open, a shaft of moonlight spilling onto the floor. The gentle sound of splashing met my ears. Even though I was still blinking away sleep, I could guess what it was.
The bedside clock showed the hour was half-past two. Why was Cole swimming in the middle of the night?
I slipped out of bed and padded across the floor. One look out the doorway confirmed my guess. Cole was gliding across the length of his lap pool in smooth, measured strokes. With silent steps, I crossed the patio that skirted his house, tense but determined.
Had he not been able to sleep beside me? Did I snore?
Oh, God. I really hope I don’t snore.
Did he wake up, find me in his bed, and wonder what the hell he’d done? I braced myself to confront the worst when I reached the pool’s edge and found a folded towel and Cole’s discarded broadcloth shorts.
My breath caught. And without my permission, my gaze darted to the water. Moonlight danced across its rippling surface, glinting off Cole’s wet-darkened hair, and falling in sluices over his sun-kissed back and the pale globes of his buttocks. Without blinking, I watched as his powerful thighs propelled him to the far end where he executed an underwater flip. He was a third of the way back when he broke the water’s surface for a breath.
I, on the other hand, was completely breathless. I had never seen anything so beautiful. So arresting.
I expected Cole to swim all the way across the length of the pool, gliding just underneath me, but he spread his arms wide and halted right in front of me. He looked up and brushed water out of his eyes.
My God, he was gorgeous.
“Did I wake you?” he asked, a curious, playful smile shaping his mouth.
I shook my head. “I… I don’t know,” I croaked. “I just woke up, and you were gone.”
Remorse tinted his smile. “I’m sorry. I couldn’t sleep.”
I frowned. “Oh? Because of me?” I was suddenly aware of the uncomfortable beat of my heart. Was this when he would tell me thanks, but he’d made a mistake?
Cole leaned forward in the water and floated up to the ledge. He hooked his elbows onto the cement and tucked his chin over his crossed arms.
“Entirely.” The scorching look he gave me then was nothing short of fiendish, and my heart thumped out of tempo for a completely different reason. “I awoke beside you as hard as a sixteen-year-old boy. I figured this was better than a cold shower.”
My brows climbed toward my hairline and heat licked my cheeks. “Why not just wake me up?”
Cole chuckled and shook his head. “I’ve already attacked you like an animal once tonight. I don’t know what you’d think of me if I lost control again.”
Now I felt a fiendish grin claimmymouth. He’d lost control? I mean, I knew I had, but hearing he’d felt the same abandon was… well…liberating.
Cole reached forward with the index finger of his right hand and grazed it along my ankle. The cool, intimate touch sent a shiver through me.
