Page 79 of Skin In the Game (The BlackWater)

When they got back to her apartment, Cole fucked her harder, more aggressively than he had in a long time. He practically ripped her clothes off her from the moment the door was shut and after the weekend she’d endured at his hands she was seriously starting to hurt.

After he came the second time she rolled off him and went to get a shower. She was exhausted, not just from him but from everything, from the case, from her god damn sister, from the fact that her dad now knew where she lived, to all of it.

She stood under the cool water letting it pour onto her and she hung her head. It felt good, it felt healing almost. She washed her face, washed her hair because she couldn’t face getting up in the morning to do it and then she turned seeing Cole there watching her.

He was naked but that in itself wasn’t remarkable. He often walked around naked in her apartment now and she half felt it was some sort of statement of ownership, that this space, her space was his to stake his claim on like he was some kind on neanderthal man claiming his cave.

“Please don’t tell me you want to fuck me again.” She said quietly and he frowned.

He knew he’d been over the top, he knew he’d been pushing her, proving a point but it wasn’t meant to be to her, it was meant to be to himself. He’d lost control, maybe only momentarily, but he had back in his office and he needed to get it back, to show himself that he had it back and that she wasn’t effecting him, that he could fuck her, that he could possess all of her and that she wasn’t changing him.

But now he realised he’d been too much, that his need for control had gone too far and he had hurt her, actually hurt her.

He stepped into the shower and she stepped back further into it and away from him. He watched her moving, watched the water dripping over her body.

He moved his hand to stroke her face and she frowned. Suddenly he was being gentle, she realised and she wasn’t sure why. He wasn’t gentle. This was Cole. He was aggressive, domineering, controlling, complete alpha arsehole but he was not gentle. He stepped right up to her, turned her around and then to her surprise started massaging her neck, and she groaned.

“You’re really tense.” He said quietly but she didn’t say anything back.

He pushed his thumbs into her shoulders easing out the knots he could feel in her muscles and then he ran his hands down to her lower back, slowly easing out the muscles there too.

She didn’t make a sound then, didn’t really move, just let him do what he wanted because she felt in that moment too tired to fight him.

He turned her back around and she stared at him again and then he leant in and kissed her and she gasped, feeling that intensity, feeling that stomach jolting, chest fluttering emotion she always did when his mouth was against hers.

He broke away and pulled her in wrapping his arms around her and she leant her head against him as the cold water continued to splash over them both.

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