Chapter Thirteen
Two days later, Emily felt more human. “I want to take a shower.”
“I don’t think you’re well enough yet.” He said as he tucked his shirt into his faded jeans, a ranch hand had brought him.
“It’s been two days. Yesterday my fever broke in the morning, and you made me stay in bed the rest of the day anyway. I feel better now, and I’d feel wonderful if I could get the stench off me.” He stood, narrowed-eyed, staring at her with his hands on his hips.
“Okay, but you have to agree to have me in there or have the door open, so I can hear you if you get dizzy or need me.”
Emily stood in another pair of her summer pajamas, with long silky pants and short sleeves, and crossed her arms. “Now wai—”
Cole took the two steps he needed to crowd her and placed both of his hands on her shoulders.
“No, those are the terms. I can see you starting to tremble a bit at this very moment.”
Emily growled. “I don’t know why you think you can boss me around—”
Cole bent over, so his nose was close to hers. His mouth quirked to the side. “Because I’m bigger than you.” He raised one eyebrow when she opened her mouth.
She growled under her breath and twisted away from him and went to the dresser, pulling out underwear, jeans, and a shirt. She ignored him as she walked by him on the way to the bathroom and closed the door halfway.
“Nope. All the way open.”
Emily turned and scowled at him but opened it all the way and let it bang slightly against the wall.
She laid her clean clothes on the counter and threw a towel over the shower rod before getting in the shower still wearing her clothes.
She closed the curtain and undressed, throwing her clothes out onto the bathroom floor.
She peeked around the curtain to find him standing with his arms crossed and his back against the bathroom door jamb, his gaze toward the bedroom, away from her, trying to give her a measure of privacy.
Emily relaxed and turned on the shower, waiting until the water was nearly hot. She caught the moan that wanted to slip from her lips when the hot water cascaded down her back, loosening up the tight muscles from lying in bed so long.
Neither said anything while she bathed. She washed her hair twice before applying conditioner and scrubbed her body until it tingled.
Nothing had felt this good for days, except Cole's arms around her.
She rinsed the conditioner from her hair before turning off the water.
She pulled the towel down, wiped the moisture from her body, then wrapped it around her and tucked a corner in to keep it secure.
She twisted her hair to get as much water out before opening the shower curtain.
She gasped as she came face to chest with Cole.
“Here, baby. Let me help you.” He took hold of her arm and helped her balance as she stepped over the side of the tub, out of the shower. He led her to the counter and lifted her on top of it.
Emily gasped as the back of her legs came in contact with the cold stone counter. She watched in fascination as he used another towel to squeeze more water out of her hair.
“What are you doing?”
“I’ve wanted my hands in your hair since the first day I saw you,” he murmured softly and tossed the towel aside before picking up the comb sitting with her other things in the corner of the counter.
He worked his way up from the ends, making sure he didn’t pull as he untangled the knots.
“I never got to help a daughter with her hair. I only had my son Cain.”
They talked while he combed her hair. She told him about her childhood and absent parents.
They talked about their marriages, children, and future plans.
Cole told her about the foal they had lost the previous night, and her heart broke for him.
She could clearly see the emotion of the loss in his eyes.
Emily had heard a little about his son but wanted to know more. “Tell me more about him.”
“Well, I already told you he’s twenty-seven and lives in Dallas. He’s some kind of day trader. He seems to be good at it. He makes a great living.”
“Do you think he’ll ever move back to the ranch?”
Cole concentrated on an especially nasty knot. “He’s talked about it a few times, but he’s having a great time in the city right now.”
“You would like him to, though, right?” she asked.
“Yeah. He grew up here. I grew up here. My dad grew up here. This is all I’ve ever known except for the four years I went to college, and I couldn’t wait to get back.
I hope he’ll be ready to take over my share of the ranch when I’m ready to retire.
Daisy and her husband Neil will take over my brother’s half. ”
“You’ve not talked about him a lot.”
Cole smirked. “He's never really come up. We would start to, and you’d get bored and fall asleep.” He grunted when she jabbed her elbow into his stomach.
“Stop teasing and tell me.”
Cole chuckled. “His name is Thomas, and he’s great. You’ll really like him. He’s a lawyer in town but helps out here a lot.”
“And he’s Daisy’s father?”
“Yeah, he and his wife Mindy’s. She’s a sweetheart.”
“And they only had the one daughter?”
“Yes. They kept trying for more, but it didn’t happen.”
“Did you want more children?”
A stony silence fell. He continued to comb her hair, but his body was tight.
Emily instantly regretted asking when a look of sorrow crossed his face. “I’m sorry. It’s none of my business.”
Cole cupped her chin and raised it. “Actually, it is. I want us to know everything about each other. Even the things that make us sad.” He set the comb aside but stayed in front of her.
His hips pressed against her legs as she sat on the cabinet.
“My ex-wife Lisa didn’t want kids at all, but I didn’t know it until after Cain was born, and she tried to get the doctor to tie her tubes without talking to me about it.
The doctor demanded that we both attend counseling before he agreed.
By that time, it didn’t matter. I was never going to touch her again.
So, I was dealing with the men and drugs, and then she really messed up.
We divorced shortly after Cain’s birth when I caught her being rough with him one day when she was high on something.
I never let her touch him again. Her parting words were, ‘I never wanted the brat to begin with.’”
Emily gasped, and her hand went to her mouth in shock. What mother could think that way about a precious baby, much less their own child?
“My husband was a little like that. He was disappointed when I had just girls. He wanted a son so bad. He didn’t abuse them, but he pretty much ignored them their whole lives. He never went to any of their functions, and I can’t remember him giving them any affection or praise.”
Another silence descended until Cole tipped her head back and placed his lips over hers.
They both groaned at the contact. He deepened the kiss until her arms were wrapped around his neck and his hands held her tightly against him.
One of his hands slid over her side and up to cup her breast through the towel.
Her head tilted to the side to give him deeper access as a fireball of need raced through her as his touch got bolder. Emily pressed her legs together as a throbbing unlike any she’d ever felt before began deep inside her and spread throughout her whole body.
Cole pulled back, tearing his mouth from hers and gasping for breath.
“We really shouldn’t mess around like this. You just got over the flu.”
She didn’t know the exact time she accepted his attention, his touches, or the fact she let him stay with her these last few days, but he’d gotten past all her walls and made her start to believe in herself and believe in him.
Emily used her legs to pull him back to her.
“I haven’t felt this rested in months. I was over the flu a day and a half ago.
You just made me rest more than I normally would have. ”
Cole groaned, and his mouth dropped, and he took her mouth hungrily. His tongue swiped in, moving in a way that made her cunt spasm.
She blinked a few times when he lifted his head.
“If you don’t want this to go farther, you need to tell me now because I’m a second away from laying you on the bed and tasting every part of you before I take you.”
Her hands gripped his biceps as she opened her eyes. Her tongue came out and tasted him on her lips, and she moaned low in the back of her throat. She made an incoherent sound of need and tried to pull him back.
He groaned. “I need you to answer me.”
Emily’s gaze locked on his as she nodded her head. “I want that ... want you very much.”
He had her swept up into his arms and spread on the bed before she took a full breath. Her hands covered her breasts when she saw the towel had been lost somewhere, and she was totally naked.
Cole stood and whipped the shirt off his back before unsnapping the button on his jeans and pulling the zipper down as his eyes swept over her.
“Don’t. Don’t hide from me. Not ever,” he crooned.
Emily took a deep breath, slid her hands to her sides, and straightened her legs. She only got a glimpse of his whole body before he lay over her, and what she saw both terrified her and pushed her passion higher.
He came over her, using his hips to make a place between her legs. He used his arms to lever himself up enough to take most of his weight. He lowered his head and took her mouth in another drugging kiss that left them both breathless.
Cole raised his head, and his eyes slid leisurely over her face. “You are so beautiful...”
Tears burned her eyes, and she turned her face to the side. “Don’t. You don’t have to tell me that. I know what I look like. I don’t want there to be any lies between us.”
Cole was quiet for a second before he framed her face, turning it until he could see her eyes. “Don’t you ever, and I mean ever, say that shit again. I don’t know where you got that from, but I could guess.” He pulled her face back when she tried to turn from him. “No, look at me.”
Emily sniffed and gazed at him, willing the tears and heartache away.
He racked his brain for a way to make her understand, make her believe him. “Remember the first time we saw each other?”
She nodded.
“What did I do?” he asked.
A frown puckered her brow. “I don’t know what you mean.”
“What was my reaction to you?”
“You stared.”
“That’s right. What did you do?”
“S-s-stared.”
“Why?”
She swallowed and kept her eyes glued to his. “Because I thought you were the most handsome man I’d ever seen.” Her voice came out low and husky as she remembered the first time she laid eyes on him.
The heat from his body and the hardness he had pressed against her core were rapidly overtaking any control she had over her body or mind. She twisted under him to get the friction she needed. Her hands clutched at his back, and she arched to get closer.