Edible (37 page)

This is where the search stopped. This is the woman.

His heart was now in complete agreement with his head.

“I take it you like my dress?” she inquired in a tone that told him she already knew the answer.

Sliding his fingers over her waist, he let the silky fabric brush under his palms as he caressed the material covering her hips before moving to rest his hands against her lower abdomen. Cole gave himself a moment to enjoy her, and then it hit him. He couldn’t feel any kind of panty line.

“What are you wearing under this, Rachel?”

Turning in his arms, she looked him square in the eye, courtesy of her heels, and gave him a sexy wink. “Two silver studs. Why?”

He knew it.

Fuck. This night is going to take forever.

Approximately an hour and a half earlier, they had walked into the reception room at the Shedd Aquarium fashionably late. The fact that they had made it out of the car and into the reception at all was a testament to Cole’s control, certainly not hers.

Rachel had wanted to ditch the function the minute she had stepped off the elevator and seen him standing in her dingy little foyer, looking like a runway model from a
GQ
magazine. She’d known Cole would look amazing in a tuxedo, but to see him in person in the black-and-white ensemble…
well, shit, that is a moment I will never forget
.

She wanted to undress him one immaculate piece at a time.

Yes, starting with the little black bow tie.

That would have to happen later though. Right now, she was seated in one of the most impressive function rooms she had ever been in. The tables were surrounded by large glass windows that looked into the stunning aquarium. The setup was simply breathtaking, and Rachel found herself smiling as she followed the colorful fish swimming over and under the coral before bringing her eyes back to her date.

Cole was currently standing across the room with a shorter bald-headed man, who Rachel assumed was a business associate. Although he was engaged in conversation with the man, his eyes hadn’t left her where she was seated at their table.

“So, Rachel, how long have you known Cole?”

Rachel swiveled on her seat, reluctantly tearing her eyes away from their purchase. Seated beside her was a woman who had to be close to her fifties. She was smiling so warmly that Rachel couldn’t help but return her smile.

“Oh, just a little while.”

“Ahh, I see.”

Probably not
, Rachel thought. She decided against mentioning,
We decided to sleep together last week, and it seems to have turned into one of the deepest connections I’ve ever had. Please tell me what to do because I have no idea what I am doing.

“He’s a lovely man. Quiet and very serious, but always so charming,” the woman told her as she stared across the room to the man in question.

Rachel wasn’t quite sure what to say to that, so she moved on from there.

“Is that your husband with him?”

“Yes, that’s Byron. They’ve been doing business together for years. He won’t work with anyone but Mr. Madison. He trusts him one hundred percent.”

Well, Rachel liked that answer
. Hell, that’s a lie
. She loved it. She knew it was rare to hear in advance that the man she was falling for was completely trustworthy. Looking back at the two men, Rachel felt her heart start to thump as they moved back to the table.

The shorter man walked in front of Cole, but that by no means detracted from his approach. His broad shoulders and commanding stride made him stand out as if he owned the room, and the exhilarating part was he was looking directly at her. Not once did he look away as he drew closer, and not once did Rachel drop the connection. When he stopped in front of her and held out his hand, Rachel rose without any words and took it, moving in close to him.

“I don’t know about you, but I’d like to take a look around,” he suggested as he wrapped his fingers around hers.

Rachel nodded, wanting to leave the function area to be alone with him.

He smiled at the lady who had been seated beside them all evening. “You don’t mind if I steal her away, do you?”

Byron, the man Cole had been talking to, clapped him on the shoulder and chuckled. “Of course not. You go and show this beautiful young lady around. We’ve taken up enough of your time already, and all the boring talk and ceremony is over for the evening.”

Rachel felt a smile spread across her lips as Byron reached out to take her free hand. He brought it to his lips and kissed it gently.

“It’s been a pleasure, Rachel, and a first, eh, Cole?”

“Oh, Byron!” his wife admonished, hitting his thigh gently.

Cole merely tightened his grip on Rachel’s hand and gave them both a perfect smile before he looked back to her.

“Let’s go and look around then, shall we?”

As they made their way through the first and second exhibit, Cole had let go of her hand, allowing her a moment to look around. He admired the view as she strutted in her slinky dress and high heels. And then, she reminded him of a kid in a candy store while she traced her finger along the clear surface to follow the fish, giggling when they wriggled and came closer.

She was unlike anyone he had met before. One minute, she was fearless and sexy, and the next, she was almost childlike in her joy and exuberance. In that moment, Cole knew without a doubt that he loved her.

“Have you ever been here before?” he asked. He was merely reaching for something,
anything
to grasp on to as he stood several feet behind her, blown away by his own realization.

“Oh, yes!” she responded, tracking a bright yellow fish along the aquarium tank. “Yes, I have. When we were little, my father would bring Mase and me down here on the last Sunday of every month. I think that was a ‘Mom’ day, but we loved it.” She paused and seemed to think back on the memories she had just mentioned. “I miss him.”

Standing up, she turned and locked heartbroken eyes on his. “I miss them, my mom and dad.”

As she walked back to him, Cole watched her closely, feeling his own emotions swelling at the thought of his mother and how he, too, missed her. He noticed her eyes move down over him, and when they finally came back up to rest on his, he felt as though she had touched him even though she was still an arm’s length from him.

“Byron’s wife had lovely things to say about you,” she informed him.

Cole was grateful for the topic change as Rachel finally stopped close enough to touch him.

“Did she?”

“Yes, but I disagree with most of them.”

Unable to help himself, Cole reached out and placed his hands on her hips, urging her closer. She came without hesitation and smoothed her palms up his tuxedo jacket to his shoulders where she lopped them around his neck.

“And what, pray tell, did she say that you disagreed with?”

“She told me you were quiet, serious, and charming.”

Cole nodded. “And which point did you disagree with?”

“All of them.” She sighed in a breathy tone as her lips parted in pleasure. “I think you are smart, cunning, demanding, arrogant, and most definitely, the sexiest man I have ever met.”

Her mouth split into a devious grin, and Cole watched her perfect teeth bite into her bottom lip as she titled her head.

“I like this,” she informed.

“You like what?” he probed as he studied her carefully.

“I like being almost eye-level with you. I don’t have to look up as much, and our bodies,” she whispered, moving in as close as they could be with clothes on, “are perfectly aligned.”

Finally hitting the wall of his patience and control, Cole wrapped his arms fully around her and walked them slowly backward in the exhibit room until they hit one of the walls. In the dark corner, they were shielded from anyone who might walk in, and only their faces were illuminated from the aquarium lights.

Without a word, Rachel turned her head, offering him access to the smooth skin that had been calling to him all night, and he waited no longer. Lowering his mouth, he pressed hungry lips to the junction where her shoulder met her neck while his hands moved down the silk dress from her hips to her thighs.

As he pushed in close to her body, nibbling and kissing his way up her neck, he bunched the silky fabric in his fists and drew it up her gloriously long legs, all the while loving the sexy-as-hell sounds that were coming from her throat. She gripped his jacket lapels and pulled at them frantically as if trying to get closer. When he reached her jaw, Cole bit it lightly and thrust his hips against hers.

“Oh god,” she moaned. As her head rolled against the back wall, she arched out against him. “I want…want my dress gone.”

She was breathing heavily, and Cole felt a shiver of desire snake up his spine as her eyes dilated.

She sighed. “I want
more
.”

Bringing one hand up, he gripped her chin lightly with his thumb and index finger and tugged it gently. “Open your mouth, Rachel.”

As her lips parted, he moved in close and traced the top one with his tongue. Keeping his eyes connected with hers, he almost lost it when she let her tongue come out to touch his. Instead of sealing their mouths together, he continued to flirt with her, tangling his tongue with hers until he couldn’t stand it any longer. Finally, he lowered his lips to hers in a scorching possessive kiss.

As a throaty moan bubbled up from deep inside her, he felt her legs part, and she started to rub herself against the black material barely containing his engorged length. Pulling his mouth from hers, he stared into lust-crazed eyes and groaned.

“Jesus Christ, Rachel. We can’t, not here.”

Straining her hips against him, she ran her hands over his shoulders and down his arms. “Then, just use this,” she suggested, taking his free hand in hers and entwining their fingers. She was obviously past the point of rational thinking.

In a clenched fist, his other hand was still holding the fabric of her dress halfway up her leg, and he knew exactly what she was suggesting. Looking around behind them, Cole decided,
Why the fuck not?
No one had walked in, and the place was closed, except for the function.

Turning back to her, he inclined his head in affirmation. “Okay. We can play this your way. But, Rachel?”

As her heavy eyes focused on him, he gave her a stern look and warned, “Don’t you dare scream. I do not want to end up as tonight’s gossip. But I do want to end up with some part of me inside you.” Lowering his mouth to hers, he ended with, “It’s just a shame it will be my fingers and not my throbbing fucking cock.”

Rachel was so turned on she was ready to pull up her dress and ask him to just take her here in public. Instead, as usual, Cole’s self-control prevailed, and he was currently trailing his fingers up between her thighs. Biting down on her lip, she made sure to keep direct eye contact with him as she felt the tips of his fingers finally stroke against her piercing.

“Ahh, there it is,” he murmured against her mouth. “Warm, wet, and mine. This little piercing is so fucking sexy that I could spend days playing with it.”

Rachel was slowly melting from the inside out as Cole continued to finger the little stud adorned on her aching mound.