Chapter 17
Chapter Seventeen
ADELE
Stronger than scars
I want to make you come.
I tried to breathe through the rush of sensation inside. I tried to think over the pounding beat of my heart. But all I knew was how much I wanted to give in. I was already chasing my release, straddling him and rocking over his hard length.
I felt his fingertips teasing along the waistband of my pants. I bit my bottom lip, my hips rocking slightly of their own accord. Because maybe my mind wanted to argue the point, but my body knew what it wanted. Cole and release right now.
“Please…” I whispered.
His hand dipped under the edge of that waistband. I felt his touch sliding down, quickly finding the edge of my panties and dipping into those.
I loved the way his palm felt on my skin. His touch dry. His palm calloused. His fingers glanced over my swollen clit, and I couldn’t hold back my whimper.
He delved into my folds. I was slippery wet with arousal.
“Oh, sweetheart,” he murmured. His fingers teased into the wetness, his thumb deftly sliding up to glance over my plump clit. “How close are you?” he asked.
All I could do was gasp, letting out another whimper on the heels of it. With my legs spread as I straddled him, I was already open wide for him.
“Stay with me,” he ordered as my eyelids began to drop.
I dragged my eyes open, my lips parting with a ragged sigh as he sank two fingers inside of me. With slow deliberation, he began to slide them in and out. I was already so close to the edge, I was restlessly, shamelessly rocking into his touch.
His thumb teased over my clit as he pumped in once more.
My climax that was waiting like lightning about to strike sizzled.
Everything pulled tight inside. When he pumped his fingers in once more just as he pressed his thumb over my clit, pleasure detonated inside as my release broke through me.
I felt like the eye of a storm with pleasure spinning in intense rays through my body.
I was shuddering and crying out and could feel my channel clenching around his fingers.
Trembling, I felt limp and could barely think when I curled against him. He slowly withdrew and tucked my panties into place.
His eyes stayed locked to mine as he lifted his fingers to his mouth and tasted them. My channel clenched again. He slid his other hand up my back, slowly bringing my mouth closer to his with a nudge just at the nape of my neck. We tumbled into yet another lingering kiss.
A moment later he drew back, his hand smoothing through my hair, almost as if he were comforting me. His palm sifted through my messy locks before sliding down my back to rest on the curve of my hip.
We stared at each other. Although Cole could make me forget myself in the heat of the moment, that had passed. Uncertainty rose like a noisy racket in my thoughts. But I didn’t know what to do with it.
As I held his gaze, after the storm abated in my body, he lifted a hand, his fingertips landing where my shirt came to a V above my breasts.
He lightly traced his fingertips over where my scar peeked out before dipping his head and pressing a kiss there.
My heart felt that touch. I had to clear my throat, overwhelmed at the sensation.
My response to Cole was the cause of it, and yet, he was the person who grounded me in this moment.
“Now don’t go freaking out on me, Adele,” he said.
I didn’t know how he somehow sensed the panic had started to churn inside. I rolled my eyes. I needed the clash of this sarcasm.
I lifted my chin. “I’m not going to freak out.”
“Good then,” he murmured.
Somehow, I gracefully clambered off his lap and stood, resting a hand on my hip. “It’s time for you to go.”
He chuckled as he stood. He didn’t even try to hide his arousal, which was very evident through the denim of his jeans. “I’ll see you in the morning.”
“Maybe,” I returned.
He held my gaze long enough that my pulse started to kick up again. Finally, he turned toward the door.
It was all I could do not to reach for his hand and yank him back for another kiss as I walked him to the door. But I managed, barely, not to do that.
After the door closed, I locked it behind him. Which seemed silly, but it was probably the metaphor for what I needed to do. For my sanity. For my hormones. And, I was afraid, for my heart.
Because it wasn’t just that we had this crazy hot chemistry. But I liked Cole, and I knew it. And, shockingly, he made me feel safe. Feeling safe was something so rare in my life it was like finding gold in a creek where it wasn’t expected.
I busied myself with a brief walk around my small apartment.
One of the bedrooms appeared to be serving as a storage space with boxes against the walls, and another had gear piled on the bed.
I was grateful Maggie had sent over towels and bedding.
There was a large fluffy comforter in the closet.
The sheets smelled as if they’d been dried out in the sun. Knowing Maggie, they probably had.
A little while later, I stared up in the darkness. My lips curled in a smile as I saw the constellations glowing on the ceiling. I’d had those stick-on stars in my bedroom when I was little. I took a quick breath, letting it out slowly and trying to settle myself inside.
Cole filled my thoughts. My fingertips traced over my scars. When I was younger, I used to trace them out of fear—fear that somehow the scar itself could break open. Even then, I’d known that wasn’t rational. But reactions to medical stuff weren’t particularly rational.
The scars were older now, strong and knitted together so thoroughly, over years.
I used to tell myself what the cardiac surgeon had told me.
He’d been such a nice man. He told me over and over again, “Don’t forget.
The scar is stronger than the skin was before the scar.
You have superpowers now. Your heart, on the inside, is the same way. ”
My heart kept on beating, and intellectually, I knew I was fine. I was healthy. I was strong. I would be okay.
I was physically strong. Except, what about the emotional part? That was the dicey question.
I knew I had to talk to Cole. We couldn’t do this. I couldn’t do this.