Big Girls Don't Cry (26 page)

“Have you ever made out in the back of a dark theater?” he said with a wicked gleam in his eyes.

He was wearing jeans, but tonight he’d teamed them with a crisp white shirt, the sleeves rolled up to reveal his muscular forearms. But it wasn’t just his great looks that got to her. He had the kind of magnetic sex appeal that would capture any woman’s attention. He also had a talent for making her feel as if she were the only person in the entire universe that mattered. Powerful stuff.

She looked at him and just knew. “Tonight’s the night.”

“Yeah, it is.” He smiled with just a hint of a sexy dimple. “A special night.”

“A
very
special night.”

“Yeah?”

She licked her lips. “Oh yeah.”

“I can hardly wait.”

“Me either.”

He gave her a look. One of those smoky, erotic I-want-you-naked-now looks. “Are we talking about what I think we’re talking about?”

“Making out in the back of the theater? No, something even better.”

“Really?” He trailed his fingers down her cheek.

“Yes, really.”

“If I’m dreaming, don’t wake me up. You’ve already caused me plenty of sleepless nights.”

“Same here.”

“So we’re going to make up for that tonight?”

Leena nodded and nervously ran her tongue over her bottom lip. “That’s the plan.”

Cole slowly brushed his thumb over the curve of her mouth. “You always have a plan.”

“I try to.”

“One of the many things I like about you. How soon can we leave this party?”

“Right now.”

“Then let’s do it.”

In that moment
doing it
all night with Cole seemed like the most brilliant idea she’d come up with in her entire life, more important than all the commonsense reasons why caution would be a safer path.

Leena was tired of playing it safe. Just this once, she wanted to give in to the needs storming through her body.

“Where to?” Cole asked.

“My place.”

Chapter Sixteen

Leena watched the headlights of Cole’s Ford truck in her rearview mirror and prayed she didn’t get cold feet. The drive wasn’t long, but it gave her enough time to be logical if she wanted to be. She didn’t.

They’d made their escape through an exit in the theater near the stage. Sue Ellen wouldn’t be pleased. Leena had left without eating one of Butch’s crab puffs. Without kissing up to any of her sister’s prospective realtor clients.

Kissing naturally led her thoughts back to Cole. He was right behind her, and he jumped out of his truck the instant they arrived at her mobile home. He had his lips on hers before she got both feet out of her Sebring, tugging her into his arms and running his hands up and down her back.

“Inside,” she whispered or gasped, she wasn’t sure which. She couldn’t think straight.

He took the keys from her hand and unlocked the front door while stringing kisses across her face.

This continued all the way down the hallway to her bedroom.

He nuzzled against her neck as he freed her hair, sending it tumbling down. “Mmm, you smell good.”

“Happy,” she murmured.

“Yeah, me too.”

“No. My perfume. It’s called Happy.”

“I like it. And I like this.” He braced his hands on either side of her face, threading his fingers through her hair to rest behind her ears. His thumbs rested near the corner of her mouth. “I like kissing you and touching you.”

He barely brushed his lips over hers while he slid his hand to her breast, down to her waist and around to the small of her back and then her bottom.

The last time she’d made love with a guy he’d ended up calling her thunder thighs the next day. The sudden awareness of that fact sent a chill through her as panic replaced passion. Cole instantly sensed the change in her.

“It’s okay.” He used that incredible voice of his, the one that made her believe whatever he said. Believing was a powerful thing.

Great sex was more than just physical. It involved the body
and
the mind. Not that Leena was an expert in the great-sex department. Mediocre-to-okay had been her limited experience. She could count the number of men she’d been intimate with on one hand.

But none of them got to her the way Cole did.

“It’s okay.” He kissed the tip of her nose. “We’ll go slow. I don’t want to rush this. I want you to enjoy every single second. And if you don’t, then just tell me.”

Yeah, right. Like that was going to happen. She adored everything he was doing to her. She might be scared, but she still wanted more. She told him so in the way she kissed him, her lips parted, her tongue slickly tangling with his. He tasted like the icing on her cake. Heaven, sheer heaven.

She ran her palm along his jaw. He’d shaved recently and his skin was smooth and warm. He looked great when he had that sexy stubble thing going on, but when it came to practical matters she wasn’t a fan of stubble burn.

Lowering her hand, she fumbled with the buttons on his shirt. His body radiated heat through the thin cotton. She shoved the material off his shoulders and stood back to admire him.

That meant breaking off the kiss for a moment, but it was worth it. She no longer had to fight the urge to touch him. Now she could indulge to her heart’s content. Crisp hair spread out from the center of his chest, arrowing down over his muscled abs to disappear into the waistband of his jeans. He wasn’t overly hairy. He was just right. She trailed her fingernail down the dark swirl to the button on his jeans. Leaning forward, she licked his tanned shoulder, then the coppery circle of his nipple.

She could feel him swell beneath her fingers as she lowered his zipper.

She liked focusing on him. It prevented her from worrying about her own body and what he might think of it. She wanted to come to him as an all-powerful Goddess of Love, but the reality was that confidence was still something she faked sometimes. Like now. He sure helped matters by being so irresistible.

What woman could turn away? Which got her thinking about the other women who’d seen him naked and whom he’d seen naked. All of them probably skinnier than she was.

She took a step back. He followed her, backstepping her toward her bed. She stopped when she felt the mattress at the back of her knees. Instead of shoving her onto the bed, he started kissing her again, building her pleasure. She didn’t even notice that he’d undone her dress until it fell down around her waist and she felt the cool air against her skin.

At least this time she was wearing her favorite underwear set. No pink polka dots tonight. Her bra and panties were matching mocha silk. Fabulous. Surely a confidence booster. Definitely a breast booster. Her cleavage was awesome.

Cole clearly agreed. He stared down at her with awe and appreciation. He wasn’t even touching her there yet and already her nipples were pebbled.

When he lowered his head, she wondered if he planned on ripping off her bra with his teeth. But he had a better plan. He licked her skin, right where the silk met flesh, along that lacy edge. His actions drove her closer to the brink. As promised, he took his time, and didn’t miss one inch. Only when that territory had been completely explored did he move on.

Surely now he meant to remove her bra. She braced herself. The silk might not provide much protection, but it stood between her and nudity.

But Cole didn’t reach for the front fastener of her lingerie. Instead he shifted his attention to her nipples, brushing them through the material. The ensuing friction was incredibly arousing.

She arched her back, thrusting her breasts against him. He responded by taking her into his mouth and tonguing her nipples through the silk and then blowing on the damp material.

Leena had never experienced this kind of pleasure before. And she was still mostly clothed. But that wouldn’t last forever. When he eventually did reach for the fastener of her bra, she reached behind her for the bedside table lamp and turned it off.

The room was plunged into darkness.

“I can’t see what I’m doing,” Cole said.

Leena pressed his hands against her breasts. “Feel your way.”

He did, removing her bra and seducing her with his mouth and devilish tongue. Torturing her with such pleasure that she almost came.

His hand moved up her thigh beneath the hem of her silken underwear, caressing the swollen nub hidden there until she did come. Hard and fast. Flying to the moon and back, again and again.

She dropped her head to his shoulder, embarrassed by how quickly she’d reached an orgasm. He refused to let her retreat. He slid her dress down her body and shoved his jeans out of the way, toeing his shoes off before peeling all his remaining clothing onto the floor. And all the while he was telling her how she turned him on, how ready she was for him, and what that did to him.

Since she was now totally naked she wasn’t really paying attention to his exact words. She quickly slid beneath her five-hundred-thread-count top sheet. He slid right after her, leaning over her. She tugged him down to her, running her hands over his body. They fit together so well.

Ducking his head, he once again took her breast into his mouth, his teeth nibbling around the edge of her nipple. She was totally breathless when he moved on. He’d disappeared under the sheet. Where was he going? And what was he going to do when he got there?

She soon found out. The pleasure was so intense she had to grab hold of something. She dug her heels into the mattress. He dipped his tongue into her.

She moaned and flew apart.

He popped out from under the sheets to reach down, grab a condom from the pocket of his jeans, and roll it on.

The sheet was shoved aside as he slid into her with one sure thrust, filling her completely. She was still vibrating from her last orgasm as he rocked against her, each move taking him deeper until the inner walls of her vagina convulsed around him.

He stiffened in her arms as he reached his own climax then collapsed against her.

Some time later, when they could actually form words, she spoke first. “I had sex with you
before
our first date. What does that make me?”

“Smart?”

“Not the first word that comes to mind about me.”

“It should be.” He brushed his knuckles over her cheek. “You’re smart, empathetic, funny, creative, and sexy, sexy, sexy.”

“In the dark.”

“Your choice, not mine. I say we do it again, this time with the light on.”

“Wait.” She grabbed hold of his arm as he reached for the lamp. “I’m not ready.”

“I can fix that.” He cupped her bare breast in his big hand.

“
I
need to fix it.”

“Uh, okay, if that’s your thing.”

“I don’t mean . . .” She shoved him aside and sat up in bed, hunching forward to hug her bent knees. This position left her back bare. “I’m not talking about sexual arousal.”

He trailed his fingers down her spine with gentle reassurance. “Talk to me. What’s wrong?”

“I fake it till I make it.”

He paused mid caress to take hold of her shoulder and turn her to face him. “You’re telling me you just faked your orgasm?”

“No. I’m talking about confidence and self-esteem. I fake a lot of that.”

“Is this because of the man who hurt you back in Chicago?”

“Let’s just say he wasn’t a confidence booster and leave it at that.”

She heard the slide of his body against the sheets as he got out of bed. He was leaving. She couldn’t really blame him. Who wanted to hear her whining? She should never have opened up to him emotionally the way she had.

Leena was so engrossed in her own thoughts that it took her a moment or two to realize Cole wasn’t grabbing his clothes and making a run for it. Instead he lit the pair of thick vanilla candles she had on her table.

“My sister almost set herself on fire tonight.”

“Yeah?” The flickering light rippled over his body as he rejoined her in bed. “I’m not interested in your sister. I’m only interested in you.”

“What are you doing?” This as he slowly but surely tugged the sheet away from her. She tightened her grip.

“If you have to ask, then I must be doing something wrong.” His voice was husky. “Let me clarify things.” He kissed her. Unlike last time when he was slow and seductive, this time he was hot and hungry.

His caressing hands roamed all over her body as his words and actions told her how beautiful he found her. Every curve, every dip, every inch was treated to his undivided attention and raw appreciation. He nibbled, licked, kissed, sucked, erotically bit her from the curve of her ear down to the soles of her feet and every erogenous zone in between.

He made her believe she was a goddess. And he made her come more than once. Rolling on another condom, he surged into her, growling her name as he did so.

She could see him in the candlelight. His face was etched with passion and his blue eyes burned as he stared down at her, watching her as she moved from one plateau of almost unbearable bliss to the next. Everything else was stripped away. All fear, all questions. Nothing mattered but this. Only this. Only him. Only her.

Her climax totally consumed her. When she finally came back to earth, it was in time to hear his shout of satisfaction as he came.

As she cuddled against him afterward, she couldn’t remember ever feeling happier.

Cole turned her face up to his, gently tucked her tousled hair behind her ear, and announced, “Next time I’m not only turning you on, I’m turning the light on.”

Twirling her index finger in his chest chair, Leena gave him a naughty look. “How about next time
I
turn
you
and the light on?”

His smile was wickedly appreciative. “Deal!”

 
“I’m so glad you were able to drop by,” Sue Ellen told Russ. She was determined to think of him as Russ. Maybe they hadn’t been able to move forward because of her thoughts of him as the coach.