28. Bridget
Bridget
The automatic garage door activated, and I turned toward the sound. No less than a few minutes later, the mudroom door opened and shut, and footsteps grew closer on the hardwood.
As soon as Cole came into view, I rose from my chair, crossing the room to pull him into a kiss.
He groaned into my mouth as my tongue swept past his parted lips, sparking the insane chemistry between us. Never breaking contact, I grabbed his hands, placing them on my body, giving him permission to touch me as we made out like the teenagers we used to be.
I nipped at his lower lip, and he whimpered. “Fuck, I missed you.”
“Not more than I missed you,” I panted as he pressed open-mouth kisses along my jaw.
Wanting to share my news before we got too carried away, I pushed on his shoulders, and instantly, he withdrew, chest heaving.
Forehead creased with concern, he asked, “You okay?”
I nodded. “More than okay.”
The wrinkle between his brows disappeared. “Then why’d you stop?”
“There’s something I want to tell you.”
“Okay . . .” His tone was cautious.
Grabbing his hand to set him at ease, I gave it a squeeze. “I had some time to think on my little trip to the desert. And I decided I want to live free, without fear.”
“That’s great! But how—”
“I’m going to file a restraining order against Aiden.
I’ve done my research, and there’s a chance he might contest the order, but I don’t think he will.
Not when the department will have to be informed, and taking it to court would risk having proof of him being an abuser brought to light.
And if he violates the order that’s issued on grounds of domestic violence, he’ll be facing a fine, jail time, and would almost certainly lose his job in law enforcement. As far as I see it, this is checkmate.”
For a minute, all he did was stare at me. There was so much love in his eyes that it warmed me from the inside out.
Gently, he cupped my cheek, his thumb stroking over my skin. “You are so fucking brave, and I’ve never been prouder of you than I am in this moment.”
Having voiced my plan aloud, it became more real. And knowing I was about to take back control of my own life, I felt alive, powerful even, and I needed to expend the energy bubbling up within me before I combusted.
Without warning, I leapt into Cole’s arms, and he caught me effortlessly, as if I were as light as a feather. I kissed him hungrily, barely aware that we were moving until my back met with the softness of a mattress, with Cole hovering above me.
“How do you want me, beautiful?” The question came out husky as he began to pull away, but I stopped him by wrapping both my legs around his waist.
“Just like this.”
His eyebrows shot sky-high. “Are you sure?”
To this point, every time we’d had sex, it was with me on top or, at the very least, in a position—spooning, for example—where I could easily withdraw if I felt triggered.
Cole had gone out of his way to ensure I never felt trapped or held down.
But I was done letting Aiden control how I was intimate with the man I loved.
He didn’t belong here, and it was time to banish him from our bedroom, once and for all.
Pressing a palm to Cole’s chest, where I could feel his racing heart, I said, “You are my safe space, my home. I know you would never hurt me. I trust you with all my heart.”
His eyes slammed shut, and he released a shuddering breath. “Bridget, I love you.”
While he’d alluded to it multiple times in the months I’d spent under his roof, he had never said the words directly. Hearing them now, it was like the final puzzle piece locking into place, making everything right in the world again.
I shifted my touch from his sternum, grazing the side of his neck and stopping when I reached his face. Holding his gaze, I rasped, “I love you, too. Always have. Always will.”
“Fuck.” The air punched out of his lungs, and his lips were on mine in a flash.
We became a frenzied mess after that, tearing at each other’s clothes until we were both naked.
Cole trailed a path of kisses down my neck. “You are so beautiful,” he murmured reverently against my skin. “I want to worship every inch before I claim you for all time.”
“I’m already yours,” I panted, a moan spilling from my lips when the hot suction of his mouth sealed around my nipple.
He hummed, the vibrations of it shooting a path straight to my throbbing clit.
When he pulled off with a pop, there was a feral gleam in his eye, and he growled, “Mine.”
I melted into the mattress when he drifted lower, his tongue swiping through my slit.
God, it should be illegal how good he was at this.
He knew exactly how to stoke the fire beneath my skin into a full-blown inferno, and damn if I didn’t want it to consume me, to turn me to ash so I could be reborn.
Long, slow licks transitioned to quick flicks over my sensitive clit, just as he pushed two fingers inside me.
My back arched off the mattress, my hand gripping a fistful of his hair and urging him on. I was fairly certain I would die if he stopped now. I needed release more than I needed my next breath.
Shamelessly, I humped his face. “More.”
On command, he speared me with a third finger, and the cry that drifted toward the ceiling was born from both pain and pleasure. The stretch was intense, almost too much, but when he began rhythmically fucking me with his hand, it dissolved into the sweetest burn.
Cole groaned against my slick flesh, pausing his oral assault long enough to say, “You taste like everything good in my life,” before getting right back to work, eating me out with the voraciousness of a starving man.
I tugged on his hair so violently that I half expected to come away with a clump of it clutched in my fist when all was said and done, but I couldn’t make myself let go.
Every muscle in my body coiled tighter; I was teetering right on the edge when Cole closed his lips around my clit, sucking on it while flicking his tongue furiously over that swollen bud.
That’s all it took to send me shooting into the stratosphere, the orgasm shattering me into a million pieces and scattering across the universe.
Cole slowed his pace, easing me down as the final tremors rolled through me.
When the pleasure ebbed from sharp waves to tiny ripples, I relaxed with a sigh, boneless against the mattress.
My eyes had fallen shut, but I felt Cole crawling over me. His lips descended on mine, his tongue pushing inside, forcing me to taste myself. I moaned when the flavor burst across my taste buds. It was filthy, yet erotic at the same time, and I fucking loved it.
Cool air rushed over my heated skin as he withdrew, and I whined, my arms reaching for him.
“Condom.” One word explained his absence.
Swear to God, as soon as that restraining order was filed, I was getting tested. There was nothing I wanted more than to feel him skin to skin and have his cum leak out of me after I’d been thoroughly fucked.
There was the ripping of foil and the sharp snap of latex, then Cole was back.
My heavy eyelids lifted, and I peered up at him. He held his weight on his elbows, our only point of contact where his hips nestled in the cradle of mine.
Harsh breaths sawed past his lips as he searched my eyes. “Are you ready for this?”
I reached up to push back the dark lock of hair that had fallen over his forehead. “Feels like I’ve been waiting for this moment my entire life.”
With a roll of his hips, he slid inside me, both of us groaning when he bottomed out.
Forehead pressed to mine, he asked, “Still with me?”
“From now until forever,” I vowed.
Though his thrusts started off slow, they weren’t lacking in force. Each time our bodies crashed together, it rattled my teeth, forcing me further up the mattress.
“Fuck,” Cole gritted out, pounding into me with measured precision. “You feel like heaven.”
“Mmm.” I was past the point of words, overwhelmed by the rush of pleasure working its way through my bloodstream.
Sparks gathered between my thighs as Cole’s pelvis grazed my clit with each pass. But it wasn’t enough to throw me over, and I whined, making my frustration known.
Reading my vocal cue, he pulled back enough to prop one of my legs on his shoulder before pressing deep again. The change in angle was enough to make me see stars, the head of his cock hitting the perfect spot.
“Yesssssssss” was pulled from me on a low, drawn-out hiss.
Each thrust was punctuated by a sharp grunt as Cole pummeled my pussy, the crack of skin meeting skin deafening.
In the ultimate twist of irony, now I was the one gripping the headboard, hanging on for dear life as he threatened to destroy me, body and soul.
“Not gonna last much longer,” he forced out through gritted teeth, sweat coating his forehead. “Tell me you’re close.”
My neck arched as I lifted my hips to meet each thrust, clenching around him in response.
“So goddamn tight it fries my brain.” His pace faltered, his dick swelling inside me.
I reached between us, rubbing my clit. That, combined with Cole’s cock acting as a battering ram on my G-spot, sent me soaring, my sharp cry of completion splitting the air.
“That’s it. Come all over my fucking cock.” Three more strong slams, and he stilled, head thrown back, every tendon in his neck pronounced as a guttural groan signaled his release.
Sweaty and sated, we lay together in silence for a long time afterward. Almost everything we needed to say to each other, we’d said with our bodies.
But there were some things that deserved to be said out loud.
Turning in Cole’s arms, I pressed a kiss over his beating heart. “I love you.”
His hold on me tightened—not in a restrictive way—almost as if he were cherishing this moment.
Against the top of my head, he murmured, “I love you more than the moon and the stars and everything in between.”
I hummed. “That’s a lot of love.”
“You deserve it. You deserve the whole world.”
If there was ever a pinch-me moment, this was it.
Never in my wildest dreams could I have imagined that Cole and I would find our way back together, but here we were, tangled up in each other’s arms, just as much in love as we were a decade ago.
It was enough to believe that miracles truly did happen.