Heaven Inside You (3 page)

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“Olivia…it’s me, Cole. Did you not recognize me? I kept calling your name, but you didn’t hear me.”

She almost jumped.

This was it then. After spending every single night during the last three weeks working her vibrator and giving free reign to visions of wild, steamy sex with Cole Evans, it was finally time to put a face and body to the subject of her highly charged sensual bondage fantasies. If she could ever find her voice, that is. And after she managed to pick up her jaw from the ground and stop her traitorous pulse from pounding Beethoven’s Ninth in her head.

Last night she had lain in her bed, her skin still damp from her shower, her mind racing with thoughts of Cole; she could barely take the feeling of anticipation any more. She was so wet and turned on that she couldn’t even wait to switch her vibrator on.
Running her hands all over her upper body, she slid her palms over her breasts and let herself moan in pleasure while she lightly pinched her nipples. She writhed at the contact, arched her back and thrust her breasts out, the hardened tips stabbing at the cool air of the bedroom and sending urgent messages to Command Central—her soaking wet core…

She envisioned Cole there with her, teasing her, his tongue swirling around the peaks, wetting them first, then sucking hard just the way she liked it. As he moved between her thighs, she’d run her hands down his back to his buttocks, squeezing the firm, muscular globes and opening herself to the thrusts of his thick,
long, beautiful cock. She bit her bottom lip at the thought and brought her hand down to her curls, finding and exploring the source of her pleasure.

Th
at swollen bit of throbbing flesh responded, loud and clear. Damn, she was ready to come. She flicked her thumb on her clit and slid two fingers—hard and fast—in her drenched pussy. That was all it took to make her close her eyes tight, throw her head back and cry out in the night. She was racked with an orgasm so strong that she slept straight through the night—without waking as she customarily did at four AM—until she sensed the first rays of the sun hailing a new day outside her window.

“Hey there.”
Mortified at her thoughts, she tamped them down. “Sorry about that. Been having a lot on my mind lately.”
Yes, him.
Had she gone hoarse all of a sudden? Taking a firm hold on herself, she returned his smile.

“No problem.”

He held out his hand and grabbed hers in a warm, solid grip. He squeezed lightly, and then slowly, perhaps a little too slowly, he let go, briefly trailing his fingers over her palm.

The simple contact of skin against skin was devastating to her senses. A sharp jolt started in the pit of her belly and traveled all the way around her body, then made a beeline straight to her sex. She tightened her muscles and closed her legs in a tight vise, trying to appear composed while her clit throbbed furiously and her
nipples felt tight and swollen and the skin chafed against the lace of her bra.

Why was she acting
so hormonal?

She had no clue how she was going to spend two hours sitting in such close proximity to the man without suffering the jitters. She wondered what she had gotten herself into. Where was the gin and tonic? Lord help her….

His eyes were brilliant as he looked directly into hers, and what she saw in them compelled her to avert her gaze. Her skin felt hot and clammy, and she found herself at a loss for words. Something was happening between them, yeah, just that fast—like a quick woven spell in real time—and she wasn’t sure how to handle it. It was almost as if his manner had turned predatory, or perhaps that was just the way he was and he was merely starting to show his stripes. He looked like a sleek, hungry panther ready to pounce on its prey.

This was too much. How could anybody look like that and be…well, darn! It should be against the law for him to be able to wreak such havoc on her senses.
… But no, she must surely be imagining things. The very idea was ludicrous; she barely knew the guy, for Chrissakes!

His lips twitched almost imperceptibly, as if he had sensed her discomfort and was secretly relishing it. He slid his hands in his pocket and, when she found the courage to look back up at him, he caught her eye and curved his mouth again in that sexy, sensual smile. She wasn’t going to back away this time. Their eyes locked for a few seconds, and she couldn’t summon a coherent thought as the world stopped on its axis. She felt herself flush to the roots of her hair and had to make a conscious effort to turn around and look towards the e-ticketing counter. It would be a miracle if she could finally manage to utter a word.
Frustrated, a string of curses slipped like a marquee through the forefront of her thoughts.

“So…uh, shall we check in?”

To her eternal relief and disappointment, the strange moment was over.

“Aisle seat by the exit door, if you don’t mind.”

He smiled ruefully, looked down apologetically at his impossibly long legs, then up again at her, flashing a knock-me-senseless grin.

“Sure.” She grinned back. If nothing else, this was going to be interesting.

The woman was a goddess. Six whole months he had waited. Six months during which the demands of his job had cost him his private life.

No more.

He had big plans for his future, and they included three-hundred-and-sixty-degree changes. Since the day he got his first glimpse of her at Chad and Fiona’s engagement party, he knew that she would one day be his. She looked like an Amazon, tall, luscious, almost regal in countenance, a perfectly proportioned hourglass figure and legs that wouldn’t quit. Her presence and her smile had filled the room; he could still hear her laughter as if it were yesterday. Her lush body, ripe and rounded, had no hint of rough edges, only softness, just like a real woman’s body should be. He never did like skinny women. He wanted to feel a woman’s soft touch, a soft, thick body he could sink into and ride hard to completion without the fear of breaking her into tiny little pieces. In short, if she didn’t have some meat on her bones, he wouldn’t spare her a second glance.

Olivia was perfect. Her body just screamed sensuality, and she exuded allure with a mere glance. The way she swayed her wide hips when she walked made him want to tear her pants to shreds, push her
down to her knees and ride her well and hard right there in the middle of the airport, without a care to who was watching. And those eyes—a deeper, richer hue than the emerald waters in the Caribbean—he could drown in their depths and stay locked in them forever. Her slanted, exotic features gave her a feline sort of look, her high cheekbones perfectly aligned, a mouth so full and wide it was made for loving.

His dick got instantly hard at the image of her on her knees at his feet, pleasuring him. He would run his hands through her magnificent mane of dark curly hair, twisting it tightly around his fingers and trapping it in his fist,
while she wrapped those juicy lips around him, taking his whole length in her mouth, licking and sucking... driving him to mind-bending release as he finally exploded and flooded her throat with his seed.

His groin tightened to a point where he felt uncomfortable walking. If he didn’t have her soon, he’d go nuts. He was tired of masturbating in the shower, visions of taking her frenziedly in a whirlwind of unadulterated, animal sex filling his mind.

There was only one way to get himself out of this predicament…

C
apture her and make her his. Possess her. Brand her as his own, once and for all. Olivia belonged to him and no one else. She just didn’t know it yet.

Chad was never one to balk at opportunity. As a successful corporate lawyer, he knew all about the importance of acting at the right time, in the right place. He wasn’t a saint and never claimed to be. A woman always seemed to be there, at arm’s reach, but vapid sex didn’t move him anymore. He wanted mind-blowing sex. He wanted a true mate who would grow with him and mean more to him than a night of meaningless copulation.

So he was a man who knew what he wanted and went for it—and he wanted this woman. Wanted her fiercely, like a thirsting tiger that has been denied water too long. Something about her called to his basest instincts. He wanted her bound and blindfolded, lying spread-eagled on his bed, her body flushed and warm from his touch, mouth and breasts plump from his kisses, while she begged him to thrust his hard cock in her moist, welcoming heat, crying for the ultimate release. The things he was going to do to her…

He had been planning this for months. A few hours alone in Atlanta was all he needed to convince her that he was the man for her, to have her open up to the possibility of a relationship between them. He had reserved two adjoining rooms in a small Victorian Bed & Breakfast in the heart of the city, just for show, of course. If things worked out as he intended, they would only need the one room
until it was time to head to the wedding.

His colleague David had recommended the place after he had taken his wife there for their tenth wedding anniversary. He came back looking well sated, claiming they had shacked themselves up in their room for three full days, surfacing only for occasional meals. David had gone on and on about the place. Did wonders for his sex life, indeed. Which was exactly what Cole needed to happen. One thing he knew was that he wasn’t taking any chances. He had planned a full scale seduction, a sensual takeover that was meant to leave them both right where they should be—breathless and panting in the throes of passion.

He knew that with a woman like Olivia, he had his job cut out for him. It wasn’t that she was difficult, but he needed to reassure her that he wasn’t out to hurt her. He knew a lot about her already. Maybe more than she knew about herself. After countless conversations with Chad, Fiona and her parents, he was left in no doubt as to how extraordinary she was. He sought out snippets of information about her like the most avid collector. He knew of the persistence and aggressiveness she displayed on her job, how the authors she worked with looked up to her, how her hard work and talent drove her to success in a field that she loved. He also knew how some men in her past had acted like jerks and hurt her feelings. The fools. She was way too good for them. A born optimist, she always bounced right back on her feet and moved on with her life. Honest to a fault, caring, gentle and compassionate. The one person everybody turned to when they were in trouble.

When he thought of her and her sister, it was hard to imagine how two such polar opposites could have even a drop of the same blood. Fiona was as tart and superficial as her sister was warm and delightful. It had taken him no time to see through Fiona’s sophisticated appearance to uncover the nasty piece of work she truly was—but then, he was sure Chad could handle her. As his brother rose to new heights in the corporate world, he was in need of a trophy wife to act the part of the perfect hostess and dangle prettily from his arm in society affairs. In return, he’d pacify her for his ignoring her in favor of his job by gifting her with a constant stream of expensive trinkets and paying exorbitant amounts of money to cover her trips to the designer stores and exclusive beauty salons. Perhaps he did love her in his own twisted way, but Cole knew his brother too well to hold much hope for a more deep-rooted connection between Chad and Fiona.

Their father had always made sure that his sons would know how to face life’s challenges. He had had a deprived childhood in his day and wanted his children to have the best, to be the best, even at the cost of brotherly affection. To this end, he went out of his way to create competition between the brothers, almost to the point of obsession.

Chad, being the younger of the two by one year, took this competition very seriously and followed through on his aspiration to make serious waves in the business world. In physical looks, Chad took after his mother’s side of the family. He was of a rather short stature and lean build, but he more than made up for his lack of height in temperament.
An extrovert to the extreme—never let it be said that he wasn’t the life of the party. When they were in college, people would most certainly know when Chad was close by because they’d hear his voice booming from a mile away. He liked to gesticulate when he spoke, and women had always seemed attracted to his particular brand of charm. His choice to go to business school had suited him very well; ever since he could remember, his brother had always been a natural when it came to making deals happen.

Cole was as different from his brother as ambrosia is from cod liver oil. Unlike Chad, he was
the more reserved type. Although he enjoyed his share of partying, he wasn’t indiscriminate when it came to women. He managed well with juggling law school and his college football career and excelled at both. He always had a feeling that Chad was jealous of the way Cole hardly had to make an effort to be well liked by everyone around him. But Cole never paid much attention to his brother’s taunts and pretty much moved on with his life the way he wanted. He was aware how his father had played a significant role in creating the rift between the boys, and he wasn’t about to make it any wider.

After graduating at the top of the class from law school, Cole was hired as a junior associate in one of N
ew York City’s top corporate law firms. The money was good and the prospects were great. After seven years of hard work, he had finally made partner and enjoyed an upward change in status, which came complete with attendant superior perks and bonuses. All he had to give back was a pound of his flesh and his wish for a private life.