Chapter 11
Chapter
Eleven
July 26 th
9:59 A.M.
Never in his life had Cole wanted to scream as badly as he did right now.
Susanna had jumped too late.
He knew it for certain.
As he’d been rolling away from the vehicle, he’d caught a glimpse of her just throwing herself out her door.
Too close.
The cliff had been too close to her when she jumped, and he was terrified that, unskilled as she was, she hadn't been able to stop herself from going over.
Even with all the skills, years of training and experience, he still had only just narrowly avoided joining the car on the ground seventy feet below.
If Susanna had gone over …
There was no hope for her.
It wasn't a survivable fall. While he’d seen some amazing things in his years as a Green Beret and then with Prey, seeing people pulled back from the brink, seeing them survive the impossible, this wouldn't be one of those times.
Either Susanna was up there or he’d already lost her.
An ache formed in his chest at the thought of her being gone. An ache that had nothing to do with the various pains littering his body from slamming into the ground and rolling like a bowling ball until he’d managed to slow himself down.
There was more than just guilt fueling his change of heart toward his pretty neighbor. There was plenty of guilt as well, but it was so much more. Not only was he attracted to her body, but he was attracted to her soul as well. Her good heart, her ability to forgive, and her determination to help him despite their bad history.
He saw the pain lurking in those stunning green eyes of hers and he wanted to be the one to soothe it away. To show her how worthy of love and affection she was, make sure she understood it and could never doubt it again.
Which was why the ache in his chest only grew as he continued to creep through the woods in search of Susanna. He had to keep believing that she was okay because if she wasn't … Cole couldn’t even allow himself to go there.
Already, he’d managed to dodge the attention of the men who had driven him off the road. He’d spotted them almost immediately after he’d rolled to a stop, and he’d hidden behind a tree as they whooped and cheered and congratulated themselves for sending the car over the edge.
Doing his best to memorize their voices in case he got a chance to come upon them again, as soon as they had gone, he’d begun his search.
It was still going.
And he was starting to lose hope.
Not that he was giving up.
Cole would keep searching until he found her, even if all there was left to find was her body.
After another ten minutes or so of searching, he caught sight of something.
Something purple wafting in the breeze.
A strip of material.
Caught on a branch right at the very edge of the cliff.
Susanna had been wearing a purple T-shirt.
Heart in his throat, he dashed toward the small piece of cloth floating so innocently like it wasn't one step away from a grave marker.
When he reached it, Cole found himself unable to do it.
Unable to look over the edge to confirm if Susanna’s body was visible below.
He didn't want to see her like that. All broken and still. Wanted to keep alive the moments he’d shared with her the past few days. Not that they’d been wonderful moments, but Susanna had been so vibrant, so strong, so determined. That’s how he wanted to remember her. He didn't want anything else to mar that picture he held of her.
But he had to do it.
There was no one else there.
So, with excruciating slowness, Cole leaned over and then dropped to his knees in shock.
She was there. Below him. But she wasn't lying still in death. She was standing on the edge of a medium-sized ledge, a hand on a tree branch, looking down at the remains of what had once been his SUV.
Alive.
By some miracle, she had survived.
Never again would he write anything off as impossible. Never again.
“Sprinkles,” he called out, keeping his voice soft. The men had finally left after confirming they’d achieved their goal, but that didn't mean they weren't somewhere close by. He had no idea if their orders had included body retrieval or at least confirmation of death, so he had to be careful.
At the sound of his voice, her head whipped up and she swayed, once again sending his heart into his throat.
She was so close to the edge.
Even now, one wrong move could send her over.
“Cole.” His name fell from her lips in an almost reverent whisper. “I thought you were dead.”
“Ditto,” he told her, already trying to figure out a plan to get her up.
He had a full survival kit in his vehicle, never went anywhere without it, but it was utterly useless. There was a chance if he was the one on the ledge he might be able to climb up, but he wasn't sure that Susanna could manage it. Going down wasn't an option, it was too far and if she slipped, it would all be over. So, he had to figure out how he was going to get her up there.
“We survived,” Susanna whispered, clearly in awe. “Both of us. That’s a …”
“Miracle for sure,” he finished for her.
Looking up at him, she shot him a brilliant smile and his heart stuttered in his chest. She was gorgeous, no doubt about it, and when she relaxed and smiled like that, there was something almost otherworldly about her, she was just so beautiful. Like a vision he could hardly tear his gaze away from.
But he had to.
Had to focus.
“Can you climb up do you think?” he asked. For all he knew, rock climbing was one of Susanna’s hobbies, it wasn't like he knew virtually anything about her.
“Umm, I don’t think … maybe if I had help … a rope or something,” she said hesitantly, but even from there he could see fine tremors rocketing through her body.
“Then I’ll help.”
“But you're up there.”
“Yeah, but I've been rock climbing dozens of times before, I know what foot and finger holds should work, and it’s not a sheet cliff. You can do this, sprinkles.”
Her eyes narrowed. “I still need a stupid nickname for you.”
“Coal,” he said immediately. It was what he’d been going to tell her right before he realized they were being followed.
“Yeah, I know your name, I meant an annoying nickname that you’ll hate as much as I hate sprinkles.”
“No not Cole, coal,” he repeated.
“What on earth are you talking about? That’s the same name. The same word.”
“Nope it’s not,” he corrected. “Cole is my name, but when we were kids, we thought that coal, as in a lump of coal like Santa Claus leaves for naughty kids in their stockings, was a hilarious nickname for me.”
Susanna surprised him by laughing. A real laugh. Free and genuine, and this time his heart swelled until it made his chest feel too tight. Good idea or not, he was catching feelings for his pretty neighbor.
“That is pretty hilarious,” Susanna agreed. Then she sobered and eyed the cliff before her. “Okay, I can do this. If you help me.”
“It’ll be like I'm right there beside you,” he promised.
It took a solid thirty minutes, maybe closer to an hour, but one direction at a time, one agonizingly slow inch at a time Susanna made her way up the side of the cliff.
As soon as she was close enough to reach, Cole got down on his stomach, reached out his arms, and wrapped his fingers around her wrists. Then he shimmied himself backward, bringing Susanna’s weight along with him.
And then he had her.
Rolling onto his back he pulled her into his arms, holding her tight against him as he let the fear he’d felt watching her climb, being powerless to do anything about it, melt from his body. She was there. She was safe. He hadn't lost her.
That was too close, though.
Way too close.
When he got her home, he would have her moved someplace safe. She wasn't going to play his partner in crime any longer, not when he’d almost lost her several times over in the last few days.
Just as he stood, bringing Susanna with him, he saw it.
Movement down the bottom of the cliff.
A black car driving through the trees toward the wreck of his own car.
They’d been run off the road by a black truck and he had no doubt this was the very same one wanting to ensure they’d achieved what they’d been sent to do.
As soon as they looked inside his vehicle they’d know. Know that he and Susanna must have jumped. That they were likely still alive.
They might have survived, but neither of them was safe. They were trapped alone on a mountain, with no vehicle, no phone, and no weapon.
They were sitting ducks.
July 26 th
8:34 P.M.
Some weird kind of energy was buzzing through her veins.
Susanna felt like she could conquer the world.
The entire world.
There was nothing she couldn’t do.
It didn't matter that her body ached or exhaustion had become her constant companion, she was still riding the high of knowing she was alive, and she hadn't been passive in saving herself.
For once, she hadn't let anything hold her back from saving herself. It hadn't mattered how scared she’d been climbing up the side of that cliff, or how easy it would have been to insist that she couldn’t do it and just sit there and wait for Cole to figure out another way to get her up.
But she hadn't done that.
She’d fought through her fear and got herself out of that mess.
All these years, she’d been depressed, believing she hadn't fought hard enough for herself and her freedom because she’d given up after being called a liar twice in her attempts to escape her father’s clutches.
Now she was looking at her past all wrong.
Maybe she hadn't tried to escape again, and maybe she’d withdrawn from people and refused to allow anyone to get too close. But the reality was, she was doing the best she could with the tools she had at the time.
After today, Susanna felt like she had a new tool in her toolbox.
One that could change her life, and it felt amazing.
“You're doing it again,” Cole’s amused voice cut through the forest sounds.
“Humming?” They were supposed to be quiet. They knew whoever had run them off the road had gone to the car and seen they weren't in it. Cole was also sure that those men would scour the forest in search of them, so they were supposed to make as little noise as possible. While Cole was able to be virtually silent even as they walked over the debris littering the ground, her humming didn't really add much additional sound, she was already way too loud.
“Yep.”
“Oops. Sorry.”
Cole stopped in front of her, his body close enough that she could feel the brush of it against her own. It ignited something inside her. A fiery desire, burning her from the inside out.
“Don’t be sorry,” Cole said, his voice deep and low, it washed over her like a soothing balm, calming the fire, and Susanna wanted more of it.
Wanted all of it.
“I like seeing you happy,” he murmured. Lifting one of his hands, he brushed his knuckles across her cheek. The contact was too brief, and Susanna found her head tilting, chasing more.
Needing more.
“Cole,” she whispered, pushing up onto her tiptoes—ignoring the protest in her legs after hours of walking—she feathered her lips over his.
The kiss wasn't enough.
She needed more.
Didn't want him to hold anything back.
When he went to pull back, she didn't let him. Her fingers curled into the material of his T-shirt, and her lips found his again.
This time it was no featherlight kiss.
This time, she unleashed years of pent-up emotion, desperately needing the release.
Needing it with this man.
No one else.
Just Cole.
After a moment, Cole growled and took control of the kiss, lifting her off the ground and angling her head so he could deepen it. His tongue swept into her mouth, and Susanna wrapped her legs around his hips, pressing her aching center against the hard ridge in his pants.
Whimpering needily because it wasn't enough.
More.
She needed more.
Needed Cole to rewrite her body so it didn't fear touch after what had happened to her.
As though snapping out of a dream, Cole abruptly pulled back. He was breathing hard, as was she, and in the fading light she could see the desire dancing in his warm brown eyes, but she could also see restraint.
“Sprinkles … we can't,” he said as he went to set her back on her feet.
Susanna didn't let him. “Yes, we can. I’m clean and on birth control so it doesn’t matter that we don’t have a condom unless you're not clean. We can do this, coal Cole.”
One side of his mouth quirked up at her teasing. “It’s not that I don’t find you attractive, sprinkles. I do. I always did. But you were … and it’s only been a few days … and I can't …”
Respect that he was doing his best to respect her had her smiling up at him, and she brushed her lips across his. “I don’t care about that. Right now, I don’t care about anything else. Today, I tried to save myself, and it worked. This time it worked,” she added, almost in wonder. It was such a magical and empowering feeling, and she wanted to capture and bottle it. Wanted it to last forever.
Just for tonight, she wanted to live in the moment and take what she wanted.
No more being scared.
No more letting the past dictate her future.
Today she was grabbing hold of her present and allowing the future to worry about itself. “Please, Cole. Please don’t tell me no,” she whispered. “Maybe I shouldn’t want this. It’s too soon. I know that. I get it. I didn't think I would ever want a man to touch me again, I would have sworn I couldn’t even if somehow, I did. But you're not a man, Cole, you're … you.”
Again, she was aware that made no sense, but she couldn’t change how she felt.
Cole groaned, but his fingers dug into her hips, and she already knew she’d won even before he nodded.
“There’s a cave right up ahead. It’s where I was heading. We have to spend the night out here since we had to hike deeper into the forest to get to a different road that will lead us out. If you still feel the same when we get there, I won't tell you no.”
There was no way she’d feel differently.
But she didn't say that.
As Cole started walking again, keeping her in his arms, carrying her weight as though it were nothing, like he was strong enough to carry the world on his broad shoulders, Susanna stroked her fingers along his jaw. It was rough with stubble, and there were dirt smudges and bruises forming, specks of blood as well, although they’d both tried to wash off as best they could in a stream they’d crossed.
This man wasn't just handsome he was a warrior, and she so badly needed someone to fight alongside her instead of always being alone.
No thoughts of the future tonight, though.
Tonight was just for the here and now.
They reached the cave Cole had mentioned maybe five minutes later. Nowhere near enough time for her to have changed her mind. Not that she thought such a period of time existed.
Wanting Cole felt imperative to whatever happened next in her life.
“Sprinkles?” Cole asked as he set her on her feet.
In answer, her hands went to the hem of her ruined T-shirt and pulled it over her head, tossing it aside. Her bra came off next, and then she was shimmying out of her jeans and panties, leaving herself bared before a man for the first time in a decade.
The look on Cole’s face made her laugh, a bright, carefree sound. Had she ever made that sound before? Susanna wasn't sure, but seeing Cole look at her like he could devour her felt good and light and stoked the fire inside her.
“So beautiful,” Cole said, taking a step closer to palm one of her breasts. The roughness of his hand against her nipple made her moan and thrust her chest forward. Cole chuckled. “Not so fast, sprinkles, I want to take my time with you.”
The way he said that made her shiver, but not in a bad way.
There was no bad in this moment.
Only good.
Only freedom.
“I want you,” she said, surprised by the whiny need in her tone. Susanna had never sounded like that before. Never felt like that before.
Another chuckle that seemed to arrow straight between her legs leaving her whimpering and pressing her thighs together. “You’ll have me, sprinkles, but not before I have a little fun first.”
Without warning, Cole was on her, picking her up and laying her down on the cold, hard ground. This wasn't going to be soft, sweet lovemaking, it was rough, real, raw, and absolutely everything that she needed.
Taking into his mouth the same breast he’d palmed earlier, he sucked hard, his teeth scraping lightly over her pebbled nipple, making her moan. It felt so good. Better than she thought a man’s mouth could feel, and she didn't want him to stop, while at the same time desperate for him to move lower.
Put that hot mouth where her body wept for him.
With torturously slow progress, Cole kissed and nipped his way down her body. Each time his teeth would scrape against her skin his tongue would follow, soothing away the slight sting.
When his broad shoulders settled between her spread legs, there was a second where Susanna doubted herself and wondered what the heck she was thinking. But she shoved those thoughts away. They had no place in her mind tonight.
For once, she had to seek pleasure, step outside her comfort zone, and want more for herself than just safety.
Her hips flew upward the second Cole’s mouth made contact with her needy little bud. A chuckle rumbled through his lips adding to the quickly growing sensations. He licked, he suckled, he nipped, and those feelings grew.
Just when stars were about to burst behind her eyes in a display to rival any fireworks show, Cole was suddenly gone.
A mewed protest fell from her lips as she found him kissing his way back up her body.
He was going to leave her hanging?
“Cole,” she grumbled, shooting him a frown as her hips moved restlessly, so close to release but so far away.
“Patience, sprinkles,” Cole said, pressing his lips to hers and she could taste herself on them. It felt weird but not bad.
“I need?—”
“I know exactly what you need,” he said, cutting her off. “You need to let go, stop holding everything so tightly together. Be free with me tonight, babe, I promise you won't regret it.”
While he continued to kiss her, his hand found its way between her legs, stroking softly, lightly, not nearly with enough pressure to push her over the edge she continued to hover close to.
Susanna wanted to fall.
Needed to even.
Earlier tonight she had been so sure she was falling to her death, but she hadn't. She’d survived and found a strength she didn't know she had in her. Now she needed to fall in a whole different way.
Soft as they were, Cole’s lazy strokes, circling her pulsing bundle of nerves and teasing her entrance, pushed her ever closer to an explosive finale, but right when she thought she was going to hit her peak and explode, Cole’s hand disappeared.
Tears of frustration burned her eyes. She needed this. Didn't he get that? “Cole,” she whimpered, trying and failing to keep the desperation from her voice.
“I got you, babe, have a little faith.” There was a promise to his voice that sounded like he was promising her more than a single earth-shattering orgasm.
But faith was just another word for trust and she and trust had a bad history.
Shoving down his pants as he shifted so he was poised above her, he met her gaze and somehow his eyes became magnets, holding hers tight as he positioned himself.
That first inch was a little painful.
The second she could already feel that sting easing.
By the third, she had already determined he was going far too slow for her liking. Lifting her legs she hooked them around Cole’s hips and drew him deeper inside her until he was fully buried.
“Give me everything, Cole, don’t hold back. I just need to fall,” she whispered as he began to thrust into her.
Balancing his weight with one hand, his lips captured hers again, while his other hand slipped between them, finding her bud and working it mercilessly.
Half expecting him to pull back again right when she was about to come, this time he didn't.
His thrusts became harder, his fingers worked faster, and his kisses became more desperate as an orgasm came hurtling toward her like a fiery comet.
“Fall, babe, I’ll be there to catch you,” Cole murmured against her lips before his fingers pinched her bundle of nerves and she came on a scream that was swallowed by Cole’s kisses.
She did it.
She fell.
Letting go of everything else, Susanna allowed herself the freedom to fall.
The only problem was, she had no idea if her landing would be soft and safe, or hard and lonely.