Edible (33 page)

Resting one hand on the curve of her hip with the other in her thick hair, Cole squeezed gently and pressed his lips to her head. “Let me in, Rachel. Let down that final wall.”

“Ben, please don’t do this,” Rachel pleaded as she stood, shaking, in the corner of their bedroom.

Her tank top and denim cutoffs that she had worn to her mother’s house made her feel practically naked as he moved toward her. She could feel her right eyelid starting to close from the swelling, and she was sure the cool liquid running down her chin was blood from her own lip. The worst part was that she was sure this wasn’t over, not by a long shot.

Ben had come home drunk. This was a new thing he had started.

It had been bad enough when he hit her sober, but when he would get in a mood like this with the bottle behind it, it would usually be days before she could go outside.

As he rolled up his sleeves, his face blurred in front of her. Rachel was hoping she would pass out. Somehow though, she knew she wouldn’t be that lucky. He’d always made sure to never give her a reprieve like that.

“I asked you a fucking question, so answer me!” he shouted as he stepped closer to her.

Rachel swallowed and wrapped an arm around her waist as she licked her upper lip. She winced from the sting it caused in her bottom one. “I was over at Mom and Dad’s until three. I was helping Mom plant her tulips up the main path to the hou…house,” she stuttered the final word as she watched him unbuckle his belt.

“I expected you to be here when I got home,” he told her, his voice seemingly coming from far, far away now.

Or maybe she was just wishing that were the case as she swayed back into the wall.

“I expected dinner, and I expected
you
!”

As his saliva hit her face, a shiver ran through her entire body at the venom he directed her way.

“I’m sor…sorry. I didn’t think—”

“You never fucking think of anyone but yourself!” he spat at her as he snapped the leather in his hand.

Rachel knew what he was going to do. Really, she had known it would only be a matter of time before things progressed from his fists to other objects, but as her eyes kept shifting to the leather in his hand, she couldn’t actually bring herself to believe he would use it.

“That’s not true, Ben. I…I was thinking about you. Tha…that’s why I hurried home.”

“You hurried home, so I wouldn’t catch you, but you were too fucking late. I was here, and you weren’t, and you know how that makes me feel.”

She did know. Over and over, he had told her how he hated to come home to an empty house. It made him feel neglected and unloved, like his hard day at work meant nothing to her.

Oh god, when will I stop putting up with this?

As the thought entered her mind, she watched Ben’s hand rise up above her, and with whiplike precision, he cracked the leather belt down hard across her bare upper thigh.

Screaming out in agony from the painful burn, Rachel had nowhere to go as he whipped his hand up a second time and brought it down across her other thigh.

Pulling back into the corner, Rachel closed her eyes tight, knowing there was nowhere to go. He was too big, too powerful, and he had her cornered. The best she could hope for would be the peace of blackness, whether that be from passing out or death. At this point, she would take either.

Closing her eyes, she made herself float away, letting her mind drift, as she numbed herself to the cuts that were forming over the raised welts on her thighs. If she survived this night and recovered in one piece, this was it. She would no longer do this to herself. She would no longer let him do this to her, and she would never, ever let a man control her or tie her down—ever again.

Rachel placed a palm to Cole’s muscular chest and pushed up, so she was looking down at him lying beneath her in the moonlight. Serious eyes peered back at her with so much intensity that they made her shiver as she tried to find the words she was desperately searching for.

However, “Can we go for that swim?” was what she blurted out instead.

“You want to go for a swim? Now?” he asked, double-checking, as she started to wriggle and make her way off his lap.

This was the only way she could think of to put some much-needed space between them. If he wanted answers, he wasn’t going to get them while they were this close. She needed distance. She needed the ability to move and breathe, and here, on the floor of his bedroom, he was too close, and she was too vulnerable.

“Yes,” she confirmed.

She moved to kneel beside him where he was now leaning up on his arm, staring at her with an incredulous look on his face.

“Okay,” he told her slowly. He sat up, so they were now nose-to-nose. “But we go as is.”

Rachel looked down at his naked body before raising her eyes to his. “I don’t see a problem with that.”

“Okay then, let’s do this.”

Cole stared at the woman kneeling beside him. She was covered only by a small pair of pink panties, and her crazy red-highlighted hair was flirting with her hard nipples. He had to remind his cock not to get excited. He had meant it when he told her he wanted to talk, and he had a feeling she was going to, but she just needed space. He hoped she didn’t expect too much of it because her being nearly naked in a body of water was not going to be a great deterrent for him.

Pushing up to get to his feet, he watched her smoothly rise before she walked around him to the end of the bed.

“What are you doing?” he inquired as she picked up her shirt.

“I’m going to get dressed before we go upstairs. Unlike you, I don’t fancy parading my naked ass up your corridor or for the camera in the elevator.”

Cole had to try extremely hard not to smile at her smart-ass mouth. “I have robes. Want one?”

Cocking her head to the side, Rachel asked, “How many do you have?”

“Enough for us.”

“His and hers?” she quipped.

“Try, mine and mine.”

He strode over to where she stood beside his bed, the bed they had just tumbled out of. She never took her eyes away from his face, and as he got closer, she turned and moved a step back until her ass hit the edge of the mattress. Cole kept walking until he pressed his naked body up against hers, and then he placed his hands on each side of her on the bed, effectively caging her in.

“I haven’t forgotten why we are going up there, so it’s best you don’t either. Okay?” he reminded her.

Rachel tipped up her chin and locked eyes with him. “This seems to be your favorite position.”

Cole let his top lip curl this time while his eyes traveled down to where her breasts were heaving with each deep breath she took.

“This is definitely not a bad position,” he agreed as he raised a hand and ran a finger over her nipple. “It’s close, but it’s definitely not my favorite.”

Her eyes clouded over as her lips parted around two words, “What is?”

Rising to his full height, Cole turned and walked over to his closet. When he returned, she was still where he had left her waiting for an answer.

“Some other time, perhaps? Okay, let’s go. The pool, it is.”

Rachel took the robe from his outstretched hand, shrugged into it, and wrapped the tie around her waist. She watched Cole from out of the corner of her eye as he did the same, and just as she was about to walk by him and make her way out, he shocked her yet again. He held his hand out to her. Rachel looked at the large palm extended to her before she raised cautious eyes to his.

How does he do it? How has he made me feel so safe in just a few days? And nights. Don’t forget the nights.

She reminded herself that she was here to move forward, to let go, and to find out who she really was. Taking a leap of faith, she reached out and slid her palm into his.

“Trust me?” he asked as he wrapped his warm fingers around hers and tugged her hand gently.

As she moved up beside him, Rachel whispered softly, “I do.”

Not ten minutes later, Cole watched as Rachel dropped the robe she had worn up to the pool. She strutted to the edge and dived straight in. He had to give her props. She had great form as she glided through the water in a sleek freestyle up the length of the pool.

As he moved to the edge, his mind started to jump all over the place.
How can I keep her? How am I going to convince her to stay? Does she want to stay? Fuck asking.
Make
her want to.
That was what it came down to—making her
want
to.

As she came to a stop where his toes were kissing the end of the pool, the woman—who he was shuffling around all his plans for—looked up at him with large blue eyes and lashes sparkling with water droplets. As she moved effortlessly to her back, the smile that crossed her face was a combination of shy and sexy. Slowly, she pushed away from the wall, displaying her wet naked breasts to him.

Cole undid his robe and dropped it to his feet. Naked as the day he was born, he raised a brow. “Talk first, remember?”

She moved her arms out beside her, like she was making snow angels in the water, but with her fiery-highlighted hair and pink panties, Cole knew no angelic thoughts were going on in this room. From where she was, he watched her eyes drop to what he knew was throbbing proof that his cock wanted to do a hell of a lot more than talk.