Force of Attraction Read online

  Hugo looked up at Scott then turned and went inside. Great. Even Cole’s dog was giving him the cold shoulder.

  Scott rubbed his brow. It wasn’t like Cole to be irresponsible. It wasn’t like her to disappear. It wasn’t like— Oh, hell.

  Yardley was right. He didn’t know what Cole was like two years down the road. She must have changed. Everyone changed. She was a seasoned law officer. Still, he didn’t like to think of her wandering around in the dark. She could have gotten turned around, lost. Or, she could be sitting in a roadside café somewhere sulking.

  That thought soured his bad mood even more. If she was waiting for him to turn himself inside out and go chasing after her, she would be waiting until hell froze over.

  Scott turned back toward the door as the distant rumble of a motorcycle reverberated through the hills. For a moment every muscle in his body tensed as he listened intently. This wasn’t a Harley. It was the rumbling purr of a well-muffled engine. Sighing, he opened the door. “Izzy. Geh rein.”

  Izzy climbed to her feet and shuffled through the door.

  When the Lab was inside, Hugo emerged at a trot. “Nein, Hugo. Geh rein.”

  Ignoring him, Hugo stood on the porch a moment longer listening, Scott supposed, to the motorcycle. Irritated, he repeated his command more sharply. “Hugo. Geh rein.”

  Hugo turned his big head in Scott’s direction. That’s when Scott noticed he held something in his mouth. “My watch.”

  Hugo put it down. Then with a huff that sounded all too human, the Bouvier went back indoors.

  Great. Everyone was giving him attitude tonight.

  He picked up his watch and then rubbed the back of his neck. It felt gritty. He needed a shower. If Cole wasn’t back by the time he got out, he supposed he’d have to go looking for her.

  * * *

  The sound of the shower curtain being pulled back was his first clue that he was no longer alone.

  “What the fuck?” Scott scowled as he turned to face his intruder.

  Cole stood there staring, taking in every wet inch of him.

  She looked wild. No longer long and straight, her hair was chopped off above her collarbone, the ends wild and uneven, and whipped in all directions. Her cheeks were bright red and in her eyes was a frank “do me” invitation.

  The impact of her wide-open gaze connected him instantly to every primitive impluse in him. Nothing rational about the sudden desire to take, conquer, seduce, and possess the woman before him.

  Mercifully, just enough of his self-command remained to take control of his mouth.

  “Cole?” His control didn’t have much breath to operate with.

  She cocked her head to one side, eyes sliding down from his face, past his soapy chest and navel to where rivulets of water snaked into dangerous territory. “Who’s Cole?”

  She sounded annoyed, yet there was also mischief and definitely heat in her expression. His dick understood that before his brain did, rising proudly to the occasion he wasn’t yet certain he was being invited to.

  Smiling, he braced a hand flat against the tile beside the shower head and propped the other in a fist on his hip.

  “Shut up.”

  He hadn’t said anything.

  She undressed quickly. First one boot and then the other kicked off in opposite directions. Then she was unsnapping her jeans. He watched her hand slide her zipper down as if she were reenacting his favorite wet dream. The glide of denim over her hips had him drawing in breath through his open mouth. He must be dreaming. It couldn’t be happening this fast, this easy. Her jeans slipped down legs that were slim and smooth yet well muscled enough to pass the physical endurance required in the police academy. She stepped out, kicked them aside, and reached for the hem of her tee.

  Scott licked his lips. Breathing no longer seemed to be a necessity.

  Then she stood in only her bra and panties. He smiled. He’d been right. She still wore lacy little nothings. Pale blue scraps that hugged all his favorite parts of her.

  She came forward slowly, a seductive invitation in her eyes. The heat was all his. He half expected steam to rise from his skin where the shower rained on him.

  She ran a finger down his chest, streaming with water. “Like what you see, Sam?”

  Sam? Who the hell— Oh yeah.

  “I like.”

  “It could get better.”

  The hand he’d braced on the tile wall clenched as Scott struggled for air. Don’t touch. The two words were scrolling across his mind’s eye like a news alert. Somehow he knew if he touched her too soon he’d break the spell. But oh how he wanted to touch and hold and squeeze and stroke until he made her purr.

  She stepped one foot over the rim into the shower. He moved back to give her space. Water splashed across her shoulders, soaking her hair and lacy bra as she joined him and closed the curtain behind her.

  They were just inches apart. He could feel the heat rising off her skin while his own seemed to sizzle under the assault of the water’s warm cascade.

  He glanced down. The telltale dark buds of her nipples had appeared and pushed against the damp lace of her bra. Definitely, a world-class dream. Only much, much better. She was here.

  She lifted a hand and pressed it palm flat against the middle of his chest. “Did you miss me, Sam?”

  “Uh-huh.” Geesh. Where was his brain? Oh yeah.

  “It’s been a while.” She added her other hand to the first, brushing her palms in outward circles over his dark flat nipples.

  He sucked in a breath as the flesh-on-flesh contact sent whatever remained of the blood flowing through his brain surging south to his groin. This was her game, for now. He was letting her take the lead but, damn, his balls felt about to burst and he hadn’t even touched her.

  “You look good. No more Hulk.” She ran a finger around one of his nipples and smiled as it beaded up. “All this lean smooth muscle is very tempting. But you know that, don’t you?”

  “Whatever you say, Noel.” He let out his breath when she smiled. He’d guessed right. She was trying to find a way into her alter ego. He liked this way just fine.

  She moved in on him until they touched from chest to knee. She pressed a knee hard between his, wiggling it until he widened his stance. Her thigh slipped between his, nudging them farther apart until her hip pressed against his erection. Then she did a little hip wiggle that wrung an involuntary sound of lust out of him.

  “Now that I’ve got your attention, I need to know that I can trust you, Sam.” She reached up and traced her finger across his damp lips. “Can I trust you?”

  “With your life.”

  She looked up into his face, her gaze narrowing as she assessed the truth of his reply.

  He gazed back steadily at her, letting her in a little more than he was comfortable with doing. He owed her that. But only that. He still loved her but he had begun to realize he no longer had the right to burden her with it.

  After a moment she tossed her head and smiled to herself, as if she had captured some secret he didn’t know he had given up.

  She eased up off him and raked a hand down his chest. She took her time, letting her nails graze the shallow ridges of his ribs, tickle his belly, and finally lower until her fingers touched his cock.

  “You like me to touch you?”

  “I do.” Scott felt his blood scorching though his body. But this could be a really bad idea.

  “Really bad.” Her whispered reply came as a shock. Had he spoken?

  “Shut up, Sam.” She squeezed his erection, pumping it a little with her hand.

  His laugh came out a bit strangled. “Question is, can I trust you?”

  “I suppose we’ll find out. If you want to.”

  “Hell yes.” He leaned forward and kissed her, his tongue slipping through to entangle with hers.

  She grabbed his neck to hold his mouth to hers as she began a sinuous caress of his tongue with her own. Not content with that, she drew his tongue into her mou
th and tugged, imitating the motions of sex until she heard him moan.

  He moved quickly, backing her against one wall of the shower. Leaning his weight on her, he fit his body to hers in every possible way from shoulder to knee. Without breaking the kiss, he urgently pumped his body on hers until she turned her head away.

  “Hey. No fair.” She grabbed his biceps and pushed.

  Scott lifted his head. “What’s wrong?”

  She placed both hands in the middle of his chest and pushed harder. “Get off.”

  Surprise raced through him but he moved back from her. Breathing hoarsely he mentally stomped on his disappointment. He hadn’t expected any of this but—damn.

  He spread his arms wide. “Look, I don’t know what you—”

  She moved quickly to press a finger to his lips. “My way. Okay?”

  A slow smile of understanding spread across his face, stretching his lips taut beneath her finger. “Lady’s choice.”

  She pushed him until his back was against the wall. “When I was in the eighth grade my friend Evy told me that sucking dick was technically not having sex. I always thought she was a liar.”

  Scott watched her through half-lidded eyes. “And now?”

  “I’ll let you know.”

  Once more she reached for him, sliding her hand up to where she could thread her fingers into the rough silky hair at the base of his cock. Leaning up on tiptoe, she put her lips against his ear. “I love these curls, Sam. Will you give me one to carry in my wallet?”

  “You can have the whole damn bush.”

  She turned her head and he felt her smile stretch against the damp skin of his neck. “I think it’s time you kissed me again, don’t you?”

  Her mouth was wet, and hot, and delicious. He’d forgotten how good it was to kiss her. He cupped her head with one hand and reached to turn off the shower with the other.

  “No. Leave it.” She whispered the words against his mouth. “I like you slippery and wet.”

  His whole body jerked at her words. His wife had always been a bit reluctant to talk dirty to him. Always a bit shy, Cole had seemed like a wallflower to his friends, who teased him about being the hellion who married a nun. That wasn’t the case tonight.

  Cole’s low suggestive laugh tugged directly on his dick. She was hugely enjoying the role of aggressor.

  In amazement, he watched her lower herself to her knees on the tile. Lust roared in the same direction, stretching him to his fullest until his dick throbbed with each heartbeat.

  She grasped his cock with one hand, the pulsing heat of it rigid proof of his virility, and cupped his balls, full and weighty, in her other hand. “You’re a lot of man, Sam.”

  “I’m all yours.” He pumped his hips against her hand.

  “In a hurry?”

  “What do you think?”

  He was breathing harder now and, despite the cooling water jetting from the nozzle, beginning to sweat. He wasn’t touching her but he knew she was as excited as he was. He could see it in the wicked gleam of her gaze between her water-spiked lashes. There was still a connection between them. It was sexier than ever.

  She ran her thumb over the smooth dome that topped his shaft, catching a pearl of liquid on her nail tip. He jumped in her hand, his breath sucked in sharply as she squeezed the tip.

  “What do you want, Sam?” Her voice was so low he wasn’t certain he heard her.

  His answer was no more than a gust of desire. “I want you to suck me.”

  “How?”

  “Hard.”

  “How long?”

  “Till I cum.”

  “Cum where?”

  “Shit.” He flung back his head, gave a heaving breath, struggling to control himself. “In your sweet mouth, Noel Jenkins.”

  She braced herself by gripping his bare hip with a hand, and then leaned forward, stretched her mouth wide, and extended her tongue to taste the drop of moisture from his cock.

  She licked him a second time and his cock jumped from her hand. Smiling, she gripped him more firmly, opened wider and took as much of him as she could into her mouth.

  Scott squeezed his eyes shut and moaned low in his throat. He also braced his legs wider apart to give her better access.

  Using her hand, she worked the full length of his cock, sliding the skin back and forth, lips crimped to hold him tight. In and out, pumping hard and harder, she used her tongue to increase his sensation, licking the bottom of his shaft, tonguing the eye of it, and then swirling it around the length of his cock.

  Unable to help himself, he began moving his hips in time to her rhythm, the thrusts growing strong and harder, his harsh breathing the only sound in his ears.

  Finally he leaned forward, bracing himself with a hand on her shoulder while the other cradled her head. “Yes, yes, take it all.” He was whispering very low but his voice seemed loud in his own ears. “That’s it, Nikki. Yeah!”

  He came in jetting streams that flooded her mouth and throat, all but choking her. But she hung on until his hips stopped pumping and his cock stopped jumping and wilted a little on her tongue.

  He felt her swallow several times, trying to hold on as tears flooded her cheeks.

  After a few seconds, Cole opened her mouth a little reluctantly, sorry to break the contact. She felt overwhelmed by the emotion of his climax, and her own. That had never happened before. Without touching her, his responses had roused her to reach in simple reaction to his own fulfillment.

  Did this happen to other women? Or was she romanticizing something that people took for granted every day? What would he say if she asked him? Would his answer hurt her feelings?

  He reached down for her, lifting her to her feet before he pulled her close and wrapped his arms about her. “Damn, Cole—Noel.”

  Cole stiffened, her face pressed to his chest. “Was it good?”

  “Hell yeah.” He kissed the top of her head and then he lifted her chin and kissed her full on her cum-drenched mouth. He’d never done that before.

  He kissed her a long time, touching her and caressing her until she knew what he intended and reached out to stop his hands. “I’m okay.”

  “But you didn’t come.”

  She pushed against his chest and said softly, “Yes, I did.”

  He snagged her arm as she tried to turn away and pulled her back.

  “Not so fast.”

  CHAPTER TEN

  “Turnabout is fair play.”

  Scott had pulled her in against his chest, hugging her to him so hard she couldn’t catch her breath. When he turned her around, his kiss this time wasn’t slow and seductive. It was a Red Bull jolt that electrified all her senses.

  The blood began to pound in her temples, her stomach, and her womb. Her nipples budded, eager for his hands. He hadn’t touched them yet tonight. She arched her back in invitation and whispered against his lips. “What do you want, Sam?”

  His voice above her head in the dark sounded almost strangled by his full arousal. “Everything you got.”

  His hands found and unhooked her bra and then moved lower to shove down her panties.

  Freed from the barrier of her clothing, her body became his playground. He found and teased her breasts with his fingers while his tongue explored her mouth. And then he bent his head and sucked a nipple into his mouth.

  Cole caught her breath as he tugged and tongued it to full peak. It felt as if her nipple was attached directly to her sex, each tug sending a tiny electrical shock wave to her womb. As long as she had been in control she’d felt safe, even from her feelings about him. But now he was overwhelming her power and the feeling was both exhilarating and terrifying. But he didn’t need to know either of those things.

  She grabbed his shoulders to try to control her body’s response.

  Scott took her by the wrists and placed her arms down at her sides. “My turn.” Leaning in, he kissed her quickly and then backed her up to the end of the shower stall where the spray ran fully over.
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  “This is for you.” Bracing a hand on the wall above her head, he pressed his body firmly against hers for a moment, as if he were absorbing her through his own skin.

  His chin rested in her hair. “I like your hair, all wild and messy.” He slipped a hand behind her head and slowly massaged her neck. “Just relax. Close your eyes and enjoy the water sluicing over your skin. Think of this as your personal Sam Spa.”

  Cole did as he suggested though she would rather have watched him. Curiosity made her open an eye when he lifted himself off her.

  He placed a hand over her eyes. “Close. Just feel.”

  He dragged a soapy cloth over her face then trailed it slowly down her body, fingers spread wide so that his thumb and pinkie brushed her nipples as the cloth moved down between her breasts. When he reached her navel his forefinger began a slow circling as the cloth trailed over her belly. It was such a simple touch but the heat pooling in her belly began to chase the movement of his fingers until she was trembling. At last the tip of one finger dipped into her navel. Her vagina tightened as if he had pushed in a finger there instead. It didn’t linger. The drag of his fingers and the cloth moved lower, causing a fluttering in her lower belly.

  He combed fingers through her mons. “I’m glad you don’t go Brazilian.” He nudged her with his hand. “I like how your curls tangle around my fingers, welcoming me to this place. Are you happy to have me here?”

  “Yes.” Her voice sounded far away.

  The cloth abandoned, his fingers slipped lower, parting her curls. The lips of her sex parted for his fingers but he was careful not to touch her clit. He chuckled as his fingers slipped into the slick wetness. “Oh yes. You feel very happy to have me here.”

  He just rubbed his finger back and forth along the edges until she began to wiggle. “I like it that you’re wet for me here, Noel. I want to kiss you here. May I kiss you?”

  “Oh yes.” Cole felt as if she was floating, like she would simply skim away if not for the anchor of his hands. No one else had ever handled her this way, made her feel as if her body was something special and precious and appreciated.

  He knelt before her and lifted one of her legs over his shoulder and behind his back so that she had to balance on one foot. He nuzzled her mound. “You smell like sex, Noel. Like a woman. And it makes me hard as a rock.”