Chapter 34
Cole wasn’t a man who’d ever thought much about how other men looked.
Sure, he’d noticed that Jensen Ackles was an unusually…
aesthetically pleasing dude when he’d caught the occasional Supernatural episode.
Anyone with eyes could see that. But otherwise, he’d never looked at another man and thought about his attractiveness.
He’d certainly never felt at all bad about his own appearance in comparison.
Until today.
The man Tenley brought in to flirt with Reuben was, without a doubt, the prettiest man Cole had ever seen in his life. Not unmanly in any way. Just unnaturally attractive. If someone told Cole this guy was a vampire, he’d buy it.
He was tall. Maybe only a half inch shorter than Cole. Muscled but lean. Moved like he could handle himself in a fight. Features that looked like they’d been carved with precision rather than hacked out with a hatchet like Cole’s.
And he obviously didn’t have a single fucking fear in the world, because this dude? He was married to Tenley. And anyone who had willingly married Tenley was not a man who should be underestimated.
Tenley bounced out the door when her husband—Knox Wilder, as Cole had been told—pulled up in his beat-up Land Rover.
And after stepping out and giving his wife a kiss that made it look like he’d been off fighting for his country instead of just chilling in his mansion one state over, Tenley looped her arm through his and led him into the house while Cole watched through the living room window, eyes narrowed.
What right did any motherfucker on the planet have to be that attractive? It was rude, frankly. Fucking disrespectful.
They’d just made it into the house when Hadley came back from the bathroom. Tenley walked Mr. Fucking Perfect up to her and smugly said, “Hadley, this is my husband Knox.”
Hadley blinked up at him for a split second before blurting, “Jesus Christ!”
Tenley giggled and said, “I know, right?”
Knox sighed in a way that suggested this reaction wasn’t at all new to him. “It’s nice to meet you, Hadley.”
She didn’t respond, just nodded and blushed a little. Now Cole really wanted to rearrange the guy’s face. Because that was something he was sure he was better at than Knox.
Tenley turned in his direction. “And this guy with the extremely tense jaw is Cole.”
“Hey, man,” Knox said, extending his hand.
Cole wanted to deploy the most bone-crunching handshake he could muster, but he resisted the urge. After all, Knox was here to help, and he had no control over the face he’d been born with. “I appreciate you coming out to help,” he grumbled.
Knox ran a hand through his ridiculously luxurious black hair and chuckled. “Happy wife, happy life, you know?”
He glanced over at Hadley knowing full well that if she needed him to, he’d flirt with every man in Langley. “I get it,” he answered quietly.
That’s when Hadley seemed to shake off her Knox-induced stupor and gestured to the sofa. “I’m really sorry. Forgot my manners for a minute there. Have a seat, please.”
Tenley sat next to him and gave him a quick rundown on what they needed from him. To his credit, he showed not one flicker of surprise, annoyance, or concern. Just a bemused sigh of resignation and a, “When?”
Cole’s opinion of the guy shot up a bit. But only a little bit, because that face really was just obnoxious.
“The guy’s social media suggests he’s at this fancy gay bar every Friday, so…tonight would be good,” Tenley said.
Knox blew out an exhausted breath. “Fine. What should I wear? Not sure I brought anything appropriate for flirting with men at fancy bars.”
Tenley snorted. “Your clothes won’t matter.”
Hadley frowned. “Is it safe to send him into a bar?” She glanced at Cole. “Do you think someone like him can go to a bar on a Friday night without getting mobbed?”
Cole shrugged. “I mean, I wouldn’t if I was him. But I don’t know. I’m guessing lots of dudes will be intimidated by his looks and won’t approach.”
“I can run interference for him if necessary,” Tenley said. “He’ll be fine.”
Hadley cocked her head to one side. “I mean, there’s a male loneliness epidemic, though. I heard about it on the news. This feels like sending a bunny into a wolf den.”
“Love how everyone is talking about me like I’m not even here,” Knox grumbled.
Tenley leaned into his side. “Aw, it’s so hard being stupidly hot, isn’t it, baby?”
“You tell me,” he growled down at her.
The conversation went on from there for about an hour.
By the time it was all done, the plan was sketched out, all the players had their roles, and Tenley and Knox had adjourned to the guest room to get ready for the mission.
Or to fuck. Probably the latter, Cole thought, based on how they’d been looking at each other.
“You were especially quiet down there,” Hadley said.
He sighed. Admitting this wasn’t going to be fun, but what the hell?
He hadn’t lied to Hadley yet. He didn’t see any reason to start now.
“I don’t want to sound ungrateful, because I’m glad Knox was able to step up and help us out.
But…would it sound petty if I said I wish he was a little less attractive? ”
“Welcome to exactly how I felt when I met Tenley,” Hadley admitted. “Being around supernaturally attractive people is always a little hard on the self-esteem.”
Not many things surprised Cole, but that certainly did. “You’re stunning. I can’t imagine why you’d ever feel insecure.”
Her breath caught audibly and her gaze dropped to his mouth. “I could say the same. Especially since I prefer my men big, muscly, and trained in espionage.”
Most of his blood dropped to his dick at that point.
But the few drops that were left in his brain felt compelled to say, “Speaking of espionage…I think you should sit out the rest of this mission. I want you in hiding before we get any deeper into this. Ren can get you a new identity and you can run if anything goes wrong.”
Every trace of playfulness bled out of her eyes as she seemed to take his words like blows. “You want me…to leave?”
Shit, when she put it that way, he’d rather lose a leg or an organ or two than watch her leave him. But that didn’t change the fact that their simple mission was about to get way more complicated.
And way more likely to end with him either dead or in solitary confinement for the rest of his life.
“I want you safe,” he finally said.
“This whole thing was never safe. Hell, no one is ever really safe. A plane could crash through the ceiling and kill us both tomorrow. Why would I walk away now?”
There was a time when he wouldn’t have even discussed this with her. He would’ve drugged her, smuggled her out of the city, and stashed her somewhere safe without her consent. But Cole wasn’t that man anymore. He just didn’t have it in him to send her away like that without an explanation.
Her statement still annoyed the shit out of him, though.
“The odds of a plane taking you out aren’t significant,” he said through gritted teeth. “And the mission is about to get more dangerous than it’s ever been. There are too many moving parts. I can’t guarantee your safety.”
Her eyes narrowed. “You make it sound like you’ve been doing all the work around here. You never would’ve got this far without me.”
“I know that. You’ve been great. I’ve seen seasoned operatives who couldn’t handle this mission any better than you did. That’s not the point.”
She threw her hands up. “Well, what is the point, then? Because I thought we were going through all this so that we didn’t have to give up our lives and run away. If you just wanted to send me away anyway, what’s even the point of this whole thing?”
Holy fuck, his teeth were in danger, because every word she said just made him clench his jaw tighter. “I don’t want to send you away. I want to get you somewhere safe.”
“In my experience, the safest place I’ve ever been is right behind you.” She leveled him with a glare that would’ve wounded him if he wasn’t so frustrated. “So, I’m not going anywhere. You’re stuck with me.”
He leapt to his feet. She did the same. He stepped in close enough that she had to crane her neck back to keep glaring up at him. “Why the hell are you acting like a stubborn toddler about this? I just want to keep you safe!”
She looked like she wanted to tear him apart. Good. Now she knew how he felt. “Are you calling me a child?”
“No. I said you’re being stubborn like a child. There’s a difference. Why can’t you just trust me on this and do what I say?”
“This has nothing to do with trust,” she practically hissed at him. “And I’m not a fucking dog. I’ll probably never just blindly follow your orders.”
He shoved a hand through his hair and laughed without a trace of humor. “Sure. Why the fuck not? Walk straight into danger. That’s much better than doing what I tell you to do.”
She shoved him back a step with a surprising amount of strength for someone her size. “I don’t fucking appreciate your sarcasm. And I’ve been in danger this whole time! Why is it such a problem now?”
He leaned down until they were nose to nose. “Because now I know that if anything happens to you, I’ll burn the entire fucking CIA to the ground! Because without you, I’d go back to having nothing to lose, and I’d make that everyone’s fucking problem. Is that a good enough reason for you?”
Her chest heaved with her angry breaths. Her cheeks flushed. “Well…”
“Well?” he prompted.
“Well……I forgot what I was going to say because that was so fucking hot.”
Cole wasn’t sure who moved first. It might’ve been him, but he couldn’t swear to it.
All he knew was that one minute, he was reconsidering the merits of throwing her over his shoulder like a caveman and hauling her to safety against her will, and the next, they were kissing like their lives depended on it, almost violently passionate.
How they got upstairs and naked was a blur. He imagined torn fabric was involved. But they could deal with that later.
Hadley wrapped her legs around his waist as he slammed her back against the bedroom door.
“Let me keep you safe,” he growled, nipping her bottom lip. “Leave before we get in any further.”
“I’m not leaving you,” she snarled, reaching between them to grab his balls. Hard.
Her mouth fell open on a guttural moan as he lowered her onto his cock, not giving her even a second to adjust to his size. “Why are you so ready to run into danger?” he asked, punctuating every word with a hard thrust.
She pressed her heels into the small of his back, pulling him in tighter. “I’m your person, you asshole. Where you go, I go.”
With an angry growl, he drove into her hard and fast, desperate. She pushed back with equal ferocity. It was animalistic, like they were at war and only the one who fucked the hardest could get out alive.
“Come now,” he snarled.
“I’ll come when I’m damn good and ready!”
He shifted his hands to her ass and yanked her tighter against him, slamming into her so hard he was surprised the door was holding up under that kind of punishment. Maybe the construction here wasn’t as bad as he’d thought.
She wasn’t taking it easy on him, either. She was slamming her hips against his with all her strength, and he was going to look like he’d done battle with a bobcat when she was done shredding his back with her fingernails.
“I can’t lose you,” he hissed.
“I’m not going anywhere,” she hissed right back.
“I.” Hard thrust. “Can’t.” Hard thrust. “Lose.” Hard thrust. “You.”
Her head dropped to his shoulder as she came, screaming his name, her body tightening and pulsing around him.
That’s when he finally let go and roared his own release, buried as deep inside her as he could get, still somehow not close enough.
He wasn’t sure how long they stayed that way, clinging to each other, sweat cooling on their skin. All he knew was that he’d lost this battle. He couldn’t talk her—or fuck her—into leaving for her own safety, and he couldn’t force her to leave.
He was doomed.
“I’m sorry,” she eventually whispered. “I didn’t mean to pick a fight. I know you’re just worried about me. But as much as you want me to leave, I want to stay.”
He let out an exhausted sigh. “I know.”
“So, is it settled? Are we good?”
She squealed when he tossed her back onto the bed, crawled up her body, and knelt between her legs, then moaned long and loud when he caught her clit between his teeth and gave it a sharp nip. “Not just yet.”