Page 19 of Refuge

Just thinking of Cole in that way had her pussy clenching tightly and her nipples hardening. Rubbing her legs together while the water teased her nipples, had her closing her eyes and moaning. She wanted him like she had never wanted anything else, but still, she held him at bay. But one thing was for sure, if Cole was here right now, this very second, she would open her legs and welcome him without a second thought.

“Enjoying yourself?” Cole’s voice reached her ears, scaring her to death. In her scramble to right herself, she went under, swallowing a mouthful of water.

Breaking the surface, she coughed and sputtered, then eyed Ari, who was watching her then looking at Cole. “Thanks for the warning, Ari,” she whispered under her breath, embarrassed, and praying in mortification that he hadn’t heard her moaning.

Chapter 10

Cole followed Leeza’s tracks easily and was relieved that nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Eric was right. She was probably fine, yet he couldn’t settle until he made sure and for some reason those tracks were bugging him. Why would someone leave the road, go to the edge of the woods at the sanctuary property and then backtrack to the road again?

Leeza and Ari’s tracks seemed to end at some thick brush. Glancing around, he saw a small opening big enough for two wolves to fit through. Heading that way, he bent down and peered through, and what he saw almost knocked him on his ass.

Ari lay next to a pond appearing to be sleeping, but he realized that the wolf-dog’s eyes were open, watching his every move. Searching for Leeza, Cole spotted her in the water, floating on her back. The water lapped at her large breasts, her nipples hard and pointing toward the sky. His mouth went completely dry and his cock hardened painfully in his jeans. Relief and lust slammed into him.

Her long black hair surrounded her head like a halo in the water. He had never seen anything more beautiful in his life. He just knelt there staring; he couldn’t do anything else at that moment other than realize he was one lucky son of a bitch, because that naked woman floating so beautifully was his, all his.

He’d never seen her shift as she always did it away from watchful eyes. The first time he had ever seen her naked was after the attack when they found her and Sherry. With his rage so great at seeing the trauma on her delicate body, the beginnings of bruising and the blood he had been blind to anything else. No, he had not paid attention to her body at that time as he was now. So in truth this was his first glimpse at her body and what he saw he liked… a whole fucking lot. Clothed, she gave him a hard-on. Naked, she about gave him a heart attack. He actually placed his hand on his chest to feel his heart pounding against it, all but moving his shirt. “Jesus.”

Ari’s head popped up, his eyes still on Cole. Knowing his time staring at her perfection was about to end, he climbed through the narrow entrance. He stood and adjusted his jeans, but not so she wouldn’t notice how much he wanted her. No, he didn’t care about that. But he was so damn hard his jeans were cutting off circulation. He also gave himself a hard rub, just because, and about shot his load in his pants when he heard her moan as her legs moved restlessly. Holy hell, he’d give his left nut to know what she was thinking about, and it better be him because if it wasn’t, he’d find the bastard she was thinking about and kill him.

“Enjoying yourself?” Cole knew his voice was husky, but he didn’t care. He almost dove in when he realized he startled her so bad that she went under and took in water. She came up coughing and spluttering.

“What are you doing here?” she finally choked out as she frantically wiped water from her eyes.

“Looking for you.” Cole walked to the edge of the water. He thanked God for clear pond water because he could see her gorgeous body from his vantage point.

“Oh.” She frowned, using her arms to keep herself afloat. “Well, you found me.”

A grin lit his face. “Yes, I did.”

“Okay, you can go now.” Leeza looked around nervously. “Tell Eric and Gemma I’ll be there with Ari in just a minute. I lost track of time.”

“You’re beautiful,” Cole said, and meant it. Her hair floated in the water around her, the water droplets on her face shimmered in the dying sunlight, and her features were pure perfection.

“Thank you,” she whispered after an uncomfortable minute. Well, it seemed uncomfortable for her as she continued to look anywhere but at him. He wasn’t uncomfortable at all; in fact, he was enjoying every single minute of looking at her.

The sound of footsteps had Ari standing up and Cole turning, ready to protect. He heard Leeza curse but held his hand up to her, indicating her to stay put.

“Leeza!” Kile’s voice rang out, and Cole’s guard instantly went down as did Ari’s.

“I’ll be right there,” Leeza called back, then cursed again. “Dammit. What time is it?”

“Eric wanted me to come find you guys,” Kile shouted back. Then the thick brush was moving as if he was going to come through. “And I know you’re there Cole, I smell you.”

Cole rolled his eyes then turned to make sure he was in front of Leeza, who looked panicked. “Kile, stay where you are. I’m sending Ari out. If you can take him back, I’ll make sure Leeza gets back safely.”

A snort and laugh came through the brush. “I’m sure you will, bro,” Kile murmured, but Cole heard him just fine. “All right, send out Ari.”

Cole snapped his fingers, and the wolf-dog obeyed without hesitation. He walked up to Cole, who ushered him through the hole where Kile was waiting.

“You sure you don’t need my help?” Kile said loud enough for Cole to hear him.

“No, I don’t need your fucking help. At least not here, but when you get Ari back, I want you to check out the tracks at the edge of the woods. It leads from the road to the edge of the property, then back to the road again. After you check that out, let Eric know,” Cole informed him. After what had just happened with Foster, he didn’t want to take any chances. They knew very little about the bastard and if someone was out for revenge, they needed to be ready. This was unfortunately their way of life.

“So I get to do this shit and you get the girl?” Kile gave an exaggerated snort. “Seems like a lot of bullshit to me. Why don’t you do that and I’ll…?”

Get the hell out of here,” Cole growled, before turning toward Leeza, who was still in the middle of the pond. He made his way back to the edge.

“Why did you do that?” Leeza threw her hands up, sending a shower of water over her head. “Now Gemma and Eric are going to think I can’t handle Ari on my own.”

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