Page 25 of Stunts and Sparks

She disagreed. She thought she probably did have at least some idea of how much he wanted her. The way her entire body was pressed against his, she could feel how hard he was for her. And if she was honest, she would admit she was feeling some kind of way for him, too.

“I want to forget everything that happened today,” she said, and she meant it. “Take me somewhere far away, where all that nastiness feels like a bad nightmare, and the only thing I can really feel, is you. Do what it takes to make me forget.”

“It will be my pleasure,” he said.

The way he looked down at her, his fingers curling around the back of her neck, had the heat pooling in her stomach. If ever there was a good time to use sex as a distraction, it was now.

He pushed her down onto the bed, and pulled her to the edge, his fingers digging into her thighs. She still wore the short dress she had on for their date, and he quickly made his way under it. Everything about him was heat and desire. She unbuttoned his shirt while he pushed up her skirt and pulled down her panties. They were still dangling from her foot as he pulled her dress further up and licked her until she was begging for him.

She needed him, and she wrapped her legs around him to let him know, to beg for him. He teased her for a few seconds before he finally gave her what she wanted. Neither one of them was completely undressed, and it didn’t matter.

He moaned into her ear and murmured, “I’m not going to last, sweetheart. You’ve been teasing me since the day we met.”

She answered with an audible gasp and he thrust deeper into her. It didn’t matter how long he lasted because she was already so close. She tried to hold back, but then he brought his mouth to her nipple, and that was as much as she could stand. She couldn’t keep herself from screaming his name, as she felt his weight press harder onto her. He was giving into his basest instincts, and as his pace increased, she knew it was seconds from over. Nothing else mattered. Her mind was empty, her muscles tensed, readying her entire body for what she knew was coming.

When he came, he brought her with him, and for some reason, he sank his teeth into her shoulder. It was more intense than anyother experience she had ever had. All the tension fled her body the second she felt his teeth on her skin. Even though they were both finished, he took his time pulling away from her, and she was glad for it. The weight of his body made her feel safe.

“I don’t think I’ve ever been this relaxed in my life,” Heather murmured.

Cole laughed and squeezed her tighter. “Any time.” He kissed her shoulder where he had bitten her, and his lips were warm and gentle. “And thank you.”

That night she slept better than she would have thought possible, without a single nightmare, a single worry. For one night, he was her world, and nothing else could touch her.

Heather woke the next morning, feeling more refreshed than she ever had first thing in the morning. It was so strange. Just yesterday, she’d been thrown into the back of a van, a bag put over her head, and her hands taped together. Just yesterday, she’d been convinced she was going to die. She would have expected to be shaking in her boots all night, to have nightmares and wake up screaming. But she hadn’t. Instead, she’d slept like a baby in Cole’s arms. The room was dark, but a sliver of sunlight filtered in through the split in the drapes where they hadn’t been closed completely. It was surreal, watching the dust floating around in the morning light. It felt peaceful. Then again, maybe it was all just Cole.

She tried to get out of bed without waking him, but it was no use. He slept light, apparently. He shifted in the dark and half sat up,leaning on one elbow. “Good morning,” he said, his voice a low purr. “You’re my new favorite person.”

“Am I now?” She nuzzled into his bare chest and kissed his still warm skin.

“How could you not be? You drove me crazy last night.”

Heather smiled to herself in the dark, trying not to let him see how much his compliment raised her mood but probably failing all the same.

He kissed her once and got up to use the bathroom, while she opened the light-blocking curtains so that only the sheer privacy curtains were closed and then crawled back into bed. She wasn’t ready to get up just yet.

From the bathroom, Cole called to her. “Do you want to take a shower?”

“Yeah, but you can go first,” she answered. “I’m still feeling lazy.”

Heather could hardly imagine going back to what her life was just twenty-four hours ago. It all seemed so far away now, and for some reason, Cole felt so comfortable. Just listening to him take his shower, while he loudly complained about the lack of water pressure, felt as much like home as her own apartment. She had to wonder why. Surely she wasn’t in love with him, not this early on anyway. She was a careful person, who planned her whole life out years in advance, and falling in love was not part of her plans, at least not yet. She refused to believe it.

Cole got out of the shower and walked around the hotel room in only a towel like he had no shame at all, and Heather couldn’t have been happier about it. In fact, she was a little disappointed he didn’t drop the towel. From what she remembered last night,he was well built, beautiful even, and she wanted to see him in the daylight — all of him.

Offhandedly, she said, “I’m thinking of calling my mom this morning. I know the police probably called her last night, but she must be worried sick. I never go this long without talking to her. She must be going crazy with worry.”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Cole said. Then he dropped his towel to get dressed, and Heather was momentarily hypnotized by him. “We need to be super careful about not giving away our location — where we are or where we’re going. We don’t know how they’ve been tracking us.”

“Surely one phone call couldn’t hurt.” Heather was disappointed, both because she wouldn’t be able to talk to her mom and because Cole was currently zipping up his pants and putting on an undershirt. “Just one call?” she added, knowing what his answer was going to be, and knowing that he was probably right.

“Trust me,” he said, “your mom would rather have you safe and not hear from you. I’m sure of it after the way you talk about her. Anyway, right now, they might not know who your family is. We shouldn’t give them any ammunition against us that they may not have. That includes who our loved ones are and where they are.”

Heather sat at the foot of the bed and slouched. “You’re right. I really wish I could talk to her, though.”

“You will.” Cole stood beside her and ruffled her hair a bit. “I promise you’ll talk to her soon. We’ll find a safe way to contact her if the cops take too long. But until then, let’s just trust them to do their jobs.”

CHAPTER 13

HEATHER

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