Edible (47 page)

“Come, Mrs. Madison.”

And just like that, her knees tightened, her ass cheeks flexed in his hands, and her eyes squeezed shut as she came silently all over his tongue.

I think I’m dead
, was all Rachel could manage to think.

Her fingers remained around the ladder rung above her, and her legs relaxed over Cole’s shoulders. He had destroyed her.

Abso-fucking-lutely destroyed me.

With his nimble tongue, strong hands, and filthy mouth, he had reduced her to a silent, greedy sex addict. He was still kneeling between her thighs, kissing and petting them, as he gently placed first her right and then her left foot back on the floor.

She was about to release her hold on the ladder when he stood—all six foot four inches of naked, tattooed, and pierced Cole—and wagged his finger back and forth.

“Not yet. Now, it’s my turn,” he informed.

He stepped up close to her, raising his hands to cover hers on the rung. Leaning in, he took her mouth and as she parted her lips and he pushed his tongue between her lips, Rachel couldn’t help the high keening moan that finally left her throat.

He ground his hips up against hers, and as he moved his hips in time with his tongue, she felt his cock and piercing brush against her. Wrenching his mouth from hers, she cried out as he reached and gripped her chin, tilting up her face, so her eyes could meet his. As hazel met blue, the fire started to spark again deep inside her stomach before it spread slowly up to her breasts, heating her entire body.

“This time…” He paused, lowering his hand down her chest to the pearl clasp of her bra. Unsnapping it, he gave her an unholy grin as her breasts spilled free. “You can make as much noise as you fucking like.”

Taking both his hands away from her, he gripped her hips and warned, “Just don’t let go.”

With that, he jerked her feet off the floor until her legs were wrapped around his hips, and he took a step back, stretching her body out and slightly away from the ladder. When he was at the right distance, he widened his stance, and without any more talk, he thrust his cock deep inside her body.

She screamed out in sheer ecstasy as his throbbing length finally pushed into her needy pussy and staked its claim. Rachel made sure to keep her eyes open, and for the moment, she focused on the tense muscles of Cole’s arms as he held her hips in place, thrust after hard thrust.

His pierced nipples had hardened and were begging to be licked, bitten, or pinched, but that would have to happen some other time. Right now, she was too busy hanging on to a ladder—
a fucking ladder
—and getting pounded by her sexy-as-fuck husband.

Cole’s eyes were focused on her naked breasts that were now moving with each forward punch of his hips, and she could tell he wanted to touch them and was pissed that he couldn’t. He clenched his jaw in annoyance as his hips sped up with his race toward completion.

Tilting her hips at a certain angle, he dragged his thick cock out of her, causing his piercing to hit that secretive spot deep inside, and Rachel screamed so long and loud she was surprised the neighbors didn’t call 911.

“Oh yeah, just like that, huh?” he asked as he did it over and over.

She panted as he pounded into her. “Fuck.”

“Oh, we’re fucking, wife. We are fucking
real
hard.”

With that, his fingers tightened against her flesh as his hips rolled and pummeled into hers. As Cole tensed and let his head drop back, he groaned out her name as she felt his warmth flood her deep inside.

At that moment, Rachel knew she would never find a connection like this with anyone ever again. He had set her free, and now, she felt like she was finally home.

“You and I need to talk.”

Rachel lifted her eyes from the computer and turned to look down the hall of the small flower shop. She had known Mason wouldn’t leave what had happened last night alone for long, but the fact that he was here at seven in the morning the next day showed her how much it had been on his mind.

“Well, I was ready to talk last night,” she pointed out.

As her brother moved farther down the narrow hall toward her, Rachel straightened her spine, getting ready for a battle. Lately, it had seemed like she was arguing with him much more than usual, and right now, as he got closer, she felt as though the air in the shop was becoming tense.

“No, you weren’t. You were there to shock us all and hope no one said anything.”

“Believe what you like, Mase. I knew there was no way you would understand. I just figured—”

“Safety in numbers?” he interrupted as he moved to sit on one of the stools behind the counter.

His black hair was pushed back from his face, and now that he was sitting down, Rachel could look directly at him. His blue eyes were just like hers, but the laugh lines that were usually there when he smiled were missing right now. Instead, he had a frown, one that was becoming more permanent with every conversation they had recently.

“Maybe,” she muttered, deciding to choose the easy option.

“Maybe?”

Yep, Mason isn’t letting me get away with that.

“Come on, Rach. Did you really think I was going to be okay with what happened last night? What brother who cares about his sister would be?”

God, no one can guilt me as well as Mason.

“Why do you dislike Cole so much?” she asked, trying to divert his attention.

“I don’t,” he answered quickly before adding, “I don’t know enough about him. It’s not so much a matter of disliking him. It’s more that I’m worried about you.”

“You don’t need to—”

“Don’t tell me not to worry, okay?” Mason interjected with a deep sigh. “You’re my little sister.”

“Mase, I’m hardly little.”

“You will
always
be my little sister, and I don’t care if you’re dating—or in this case, marrying—Josh, Cole, or a stranger. I will worry until I know you are happy.”

Rachel leaned against the counter, and for a minute, she had to look away from his probing gaze. He was doing that thing where he managed to say everything right, and it was really annoying her that she found herself feeling bad for yelling at him last night.

He deserved it! Didn’t he?

“You just haven’t been the same since Mom passed away. I know I dealt with my—”

“Stupid phase?” Rachel replied sarcastically, looking back to him.

“I was going to say I know I dealt with my grief in a less than mature way, but I’m not sure you ever dealt with it.”

Mason stood and took a step closer to her. When she crossed her arms in front of herself, he didn’t even hesitate to wrap his arms around her.

“I just don’t want Cole to be a convenient distraction from other feelings,” he whispered into the empty shop.

Despite wanting to stay annoyed, Rachel felt a laugh escape her at those words. “You might be right about me not dealing with everything, but trust me, there is nothing convenient about Cole Madison.”

Mason pulled away from Rachel and sat back down, giving her the space she seemed to need more and more of lately. Today though, she seemed different, calmer than usual. It was almost as if she was a relaxed version of herself, standing there in her leather pants and a bright pink shirt with black polka dots.

“Tell me,” he prodded as he kept his eyes on her.

“Tell you? Tell you what?”

“Talk to me, Rach. We used to do that all the time, remember?”

“Yeah, when we were kids,” she pointed out.

“And that has to change now, why? You seemed fine when Mom…” Immediately, he trailed off, recalling a conversation he’d recently had with Josh. Josh had told Mason that he thought something was up with Rachel as far back as the wedding, maybe even a little bit before that. When Josh had told him, Mason had felt like shit for not even noticing.

Well, Mom always said that love made you stupid and blind.

He just hadn’t realized it would make him blind to the only other woman in his life that he loved with all his heart.

“It’s okay. You can say it,” Rachel urged, breaking through his thoughts. “You’re right. I was fine when Mom was still alive…because
she
made it all okay, Mase. Having her here was like having an anchor to cling to. Losing Dad…god, I didn’t think I’d ever be the same. He took all my secrets with him, and I had no one left to talk to about it.”

“Secrets?” Mason questioned.

What the hell is she talking about? What secrets?

“Sit with me,” her father said as he sat down at her kitchen counter.

Pressing the ice pack she had handed him to his eye, he pinned her with the one that was still open. Rachel sat down beside him with her own makeshift ice pack, frozen peas
,
placed against her cheek
.

“You are going to sit here with me until you are ready to talk,” he told her in a voice that signaled he had all day.

Hesitantly, Rachel peered up into the face that made her feel safe, loved, and cherished. “What if I’m not ready yet?”

“Then, we sit here some more,” he told her, proving that it was as simple as that.

Rachel closed her eyes and tried to ignore the insistent ringing in her ears. She wanted to finally unburden herself of this mess. The only problem was that she was so ashamed of how it had begun and how long it had occurred, so she was finding it hard to form the right words.

Opening her eyes, she looked at the man beside her and wondered how she had gotten so lucky. She had wonderful parents—two people who loved one another and who had raised their children in a home full of love.

But for Rachel, it was always her dad who was her pillar of strength. He was the one person she knew who could chase away everything that was bad. Whether it was consoling her in a strong embrace or dancing in the kitchen to a song from her childhood, her dad was the person who always made her feel safe.

As she sat beside him, she found that she didn’t know how to tell him everything Ben had done to her, but she had to start somewhere, and he was waiting.

“He’s been doing this for a while now,” Rachel blurted out. She ceased talking to brave a glance at her dad.