Edible (40 page)

“Your heart is beating so fast.”

Raising his head, he placed a hand over hers as he walked her back toward the bed. “For the first time in my life, I find that I’m nervous.”

As the back of her bare thighs hit the high mattress, Rachel slid her hands up to Cole’s bow tie and tugged it free. “Nervous?”

“Yes,” he confirmed, lifting her up onto the bed. “I’m only human, Rachel.”

“Are you sure?” she flirted with a sassy smile.

“I’m positive, and tonight, I don’t want anything to go wrong.”

As she sat there, he reached up to the top button of his shirt and began undoing each one. Once he reached the spot where his shirt disappeared into his pants, he stopped and looked her over.

“Lie back,” he requested in a low voice.

She had no hope of resisting him. Very slowly, Rachel pulled herself further up the bed and lounged across the ivory comforter as she watched him toe off his shoes and then remove his socks. Once they were gone, he straightened and started to pull the dress shirt from his pants.

Rachel couldn’t help the way her mouth parted from the pleasure of watching Cole undress in front of her. Once all the buttons were open, he shrugged out of the shirt and dropped it to the floor. She had thought he was magnificent earlier, but that was nothing compared to him standing naked from the waist up in only tuxedo pants. Now, he was her every fantasy.

Cole examined the naked seductress who was looking up at him from under her lashes. Her mouth was slightly open, and as he moved his hands to the button of his pants, he felt a sense of pride as she licked those sensual lips.

This woman, this woman is mine.

Quickly, he released the zipper and pushed his pants and boxers free. When he stood back up, he moved to the edge of the bed. Placing a hand on her knee, he gently pushed, and he felt a smile cross his lips as she parted for him.

Cole stepped closer and moved up onto the bed. He lowered himself over her until his entire body was pressed against hers. Placing his palms by her head, he kissed her hard.

“Wrap your legs around me.”

She did as requested, and he rolled them both over until she was lying up on top of him. Smoothing his hands down her back to her curvaceous ass, he pulled her against his body as he arched up and rubbed his cock against her.

She placed her hands by his head on the plush bed and pushed herself up a little. “I like this.”

“I thought you might.” He continued rubbing himself against her, and then he placed his hands behind his head, giving himself over to her.

She ground down on him and spread her legs wide, so they were on each side of his hips. With one hand on his chest, she sat up until she was straddling his thighs, and his stiff shaft became a very obvious sign of how much he wanted her.

With his right hand, Cole stroked his fingers between her spread thighs, and as she pushed against them, he confessed, “You’re the best fucking thing my eyes have ever seen.”

As he moved his hand away from her to fist his raging hard-on, he watched Rachel smooth her hands up and over her stomach to cup her breasts.

“Rachel,” he growled out as he watched her tongue swipe against her bottom lip while she writhed atop him.

“Still nervous, Cole?”

Nervous? Fuck no
.

He was totally enamored by the woman blowing his mind with her version of a lap dance.
Hell yes
, he thought, fisting his cock a little faster.

As she pinched her nipples, he tugged the piercing at the tip of his cock and groaned, pushing his head back into the pillow against the hand he kept secured there.

“Nervous is not the reason my heart is beating so hard right now.”

“No?” she questioned, running her palms back down her body. “Hmm, do that again. So sexy when you play with yourself. Finger the—
yeah
, just like that.”

Following her movements with a sharp eye, Cole was convinced he might die of sexual frustration as her flirty fingers dipped down and started to finger her own piercing.

“No, not nervous at all,” he finally answered. “God, no.”

Sliding her fingers lower, she gave him a scorching look as she moaned. “Then, what?”

“Rachel,” he warned or maybe pleaded as she arched her back, pushing her breasts out to him.

“What?” she managed to say.

When she brought that damn hand out from between her legs, he reached his limit.

Quick as a lightning bolt, his hand whipped down from behind his head and gripped her waist as he tumbled her across the bed, her black hair fanning out behind her. He crawled up over her and wedged himself between her thighs. Cole entered her body in one smooth, powerful stroke. With his arms resting by her head, he looked down into big beautiful blue eyes.

“It’s beating hard because it wants the one it loves to feel it.”

No words
, Rachel thought as she wrapped her legs around Cole’s waist.
He’s left me with no words.

As he began to move, she gripped his powerful biceps, and she continued to look into eyes that were telling her with every stroke of his body just how much he loved her.

“I had no idea,” she finally said.

He brought one hand to her hip and trailed it up over her waist and rib cage to cup her breast. Lowering his mouth, he took one of her nipples between his lips and sucked before he let it go and came back to her mouth. All the while, he continued thrusting inside her greedy body.

“You had no idea about what?”

As his hips moved, she felt him pull slowly from her before deliciously sliding back inside, which was where she was now convinced he belonged.

“I had no idea it would be you,” she admitted as she started to touch his face.

She felt him grip the pillow under her head as his hips picked up the pace.

“And I knew it
had
to be you.”

Arching up into him, Rachel wrapped her arms around his neck and parted her lips to his tongue as he made love to her in a way no other man ever had before.

As she held on tight, he sent her spiraling into her second climax of the night, and from beneath him, she watched as he fell apart above her.

Yet, as powerful as that sight was, it wasn’t until he nuzzled his mouth and nose in her hair and whispered once more, “I love you,” that the moment felt complete.

Rachel rolled to her side and placed her hands under her cheek as she stared at the man lying beside her. He was resting on his back, and the sheet was pulled up over their waists. As he lay there, staring at the ceiling, Rachel couldn’t help but wonder what he was thinking about.

“Now. How do I keep you?” He turned his head on the pillow, so their eyes met.

Rachel couldn’t help the silly grin that came to her lips.

“Keep me?” Laughing, she scooted in close, and flippantly, she joked, “Well, you could always marry me.”

Without a word, Cole rolled to his side, so they were the mirror image of each other. Rachel couldn’t help the fit of giggles that started to overwhelm her at the serious look crossing his face
. He can’t actually be considering—

“So, marry me, tomorrow.”

Oh shit, he is!

Like a life-sized jack-in-the-box, Rachel sat up quickly and brought a hand to her mouth to try and stop any more ridiculous things from flying out of it.

“Are you insane?”
Yeah, obviously
that
didn’t work.

“No, I’m quite sane.”

Uncaring of her nudity, she dropped her hands to her sides and shook her head. “You’re nuts. I think you’ve had too much happen tonight. You’re overly emotional.”

Propping himself up on his elbow, he gave her a small shrug. “I’m very aware of what I just said, Rachel. No one made me say it. In fact,
you
suggested it.”

“As a joke!” She laughed incredulously.

“Well, I’m serious,” he pointed out in a tone that did indeed sound serious.

Still unbelieving of what this
usually
sane man was saying, Rachel continued to open and shut her mouth in the hopes that something intelligent would come out at any minute.

“I know what I want, Rachel, and you’re it.”

“You’re insane!” she scoffed. “Off-your-rocker, certifiably mad.”

“You already mentioned that.”

Rachel saw a mischievous grin, unlike any she’d seen on him before, spread across his lips as he moved to sit up in the bed, the same bed she was currently scrambling from.

“Running away from me?” he questioned with a faux frown. “Now, I’m kind of insulted.”

Standing between the bed and the wall, Rachel continued staring at Cole like he had lost his mind. “Well, you’re acting a little crazy, don’t you think?”

“No,” he stated in a voice that was incredibly sane.

Grr. He’s making
me
sound like the crazy person.

“So, you’re telling me that you want to get married? To
me
?” Rachel asked, completely flabbergasted.

Cole made a show of looking around the empty hotel room. “Is there anyone else in the room that I don’t know about?”

“Would you stop being so…so…” At this stage, Rachel knew she must look absolutely ridiculous, flapping her arms around and stuttering
.

But none of this is making any sense! Especially the fact that I want to say yes.

“So smart? So intelligent? So sexy?” he offered arrogantly as his eyes twinkled at her.

“Calm!” she finally got out. “So damn calm!”

“You don’t think I’m smart and sexy?”

“I think this is an outrageous conversation, and I am very naked!”

“Yes,” he muttered, letting his eyes wander down over her, “I had noticed that. So, say yes, agree to marry me, and come back to bed.”

“You don’t even know me!”

“I know you better than you think,” he replied quicker than she had expected. “I know that you are the little sister of Mason Langley, you run Exquisite with him, and he looks out for you whether you like it or not. You’re an incredible pastry chef, yet I haven’t had the pleasure of sampling any of your creations, except for the sinful caramel sauce that needs to be a permanent staple in my life.”

Throwing the sheet off his body, he climbed out of the bed and made his way toward her, like a wolf on the hunt. As Rachel stumbled back to the wall, he continued, naked like she was.

“You had an
insane
girlie crush on my friend and business partner throughout, I can only assume, all your high school years. And because you have the biggest heart in the world, you both are still as close as any brother and sister could ever be. You’ve lost both your parents, and you now run your mother’s flower shop even though your first passion is cooking.”

He paused as she stood there, rooted to the spot. Staring up at him, she felt completely gobsmacked.

“How am I doing so far?”

Grudgingly, she had to admit,
So far
,
he is spot-on.