Edible

15

Toward the end of her shift that night, Rachel moved up to the service window to hand one of the waitresses the dessert for table twenty-three, and that was when she caught a glimpse of Cole out of the corner of her eye.

Sitting by himself in the same seat he had been in the night before, he was looking up at Meredith the youngest server on staff, smiling at her as she scribbled notes down on her pad. Rachel noticed that Meredith was paying a little too much attention to the lone man at the table, but Cole…well, he seemed to be just ordering.

Rachel rested her hip against the stainless steel counter and continued watching, not out of jealousy but more curiosity. She supposed she was watching to see if Cole had the same effect on others that he did on her.

And God knows, he has the ability to reduce me to someone with one thing on my mind: sex. Hot, sticky, kitchen floor sex.

As Meredith tipped back her bleach-blonde head and laughed—louder than one would think was necessary—Rachel had her answer.

Rolling her eyes at the sheer absurdity of a man wielding so much power over the opposite sex, Rachel pushed off the counter and moved to turn, only to come face-to-face with Wendy, who was looking in the same direction she had been.

With a smirk on her face, the restaurant manager made her way toward Rachel. When Wendy stopped on the other side of the window, Rachel waited, knowing what was coming.

“Two nights in a row? Since Meredith wasn’t on shift last night, I guess she missed the memo on which staff member he belongs to. By the way, he must really like the food.”

Rachel almost choked on the laugh she held back at the thought of Cole belonging to anyone, let alone her. Placing her hands on her hips, she tried to glare at the petite blonde with the sleek ponytail, but she knew she was failing.

“Really? I hadn’t noticed,” Rachel said nonchalantly.

Wendy laughed and leaned over the window as she whispered, “Well, honey, you better because every other single woman on staff has, not to mention the female customers sitting at the bar.”

Rachel frowned and turned back to look in Cole’s direction again, and this time, she found his smoldering gaze focused on her. Swallowing slowly, she felt her palms begin to itch as a smile so decadently sexual spread across his lips.

I’m going to melt into the floor.

It wasn’t until Wendy spoke up again that Rachel realized the manager was still standing there.

“Yes, I can see you are completely unaffected.”

Without breaking the heated stare she now held with Cole, Rachel responded absently, “Huh?”

When Wendy chuckled, Rachel finally pulled her eyes away from Cole’s to look at the snickering manager. It also happened to be the moment Meredith reached them with a little extra pep in her step.

“Oh, Rachel, hey. You’re just who I need.”

“Oh?” Rachel responded without giving anything away.

“Yup. See the guy in the suit at table twenty?”

Rachel made a show of looking over at Meredith’s table to where Cole was seated. He inclined his head slightly, just enough for her to notice but not enough to draw attention.

Turning her attention back to Meredith, Rachel nodded. “Yes, I see. What about him?”

“Well, first, look at him! Damn, that man is hot.” Meredith turned around to get another look, but she quickly spun back when she realized Cole was looking in their direction. “Oh shit. He’s looking over here.” She giggled.

As Rachel noticed the waitress’s cheeks flush, she had to try and hold back her own laughter. Wendy was obviously having the same issue because she couldn’t even bring herself to say anything.

When did we turn into teenage girls?

“Yes, he is, isn’t he?” Rachel replied, not actually knowing which statement—him being hot or him looking at them—she was answering. “You want to tell me what he wants?”

Meredith sighed dramatically and placed a palm over her heart. “I wish it was me.”

“Oh my god. Rach?” Wendy finally busted up with uncontrollable laughter. “Please put the poor girl out of her misery before she goes on.”

“Huh?” Meredith questioned, looking between the two of them.

“Shut it, Wendy,” Rachel told her friend and manager with a fake grin. “Now, what does he want, Meredith?”

“Well, he said he knows it’s not on the menu, but if he asked nicely, could you serve your caramel sauce a little different for him?”

Rachel felt her lips part and her thighs twitch as she thought about the things they had done with her caramel sauce just the night before.

Oh, the places I had my tongue and the places he had his fingers.

“He’d like a scoop of vanilla ice cream with the sauce served warm over it.” Meredith stopped talking when she realized Rachel’s attention had moved to the man across the room. Then, she prodded, “I told him that would be okay. Is it?”

Rachel grinned as she looked back to Meredith. “You can tell him it will be right out, and he can have my caramel sauce anytime and anyway he wants it.”

Meredith’s eyes widened before Rachel turned away, and then she heard Wendy hiss at the unsuspecting waitress, “They’re dating, you idiot.”

Rachel shrugged. What the hell? He wants everyone to know. Well, now, they know.

An hour and a half after he had arrived, it was closing time. Cole waited patiently for Rachel, and when she finally stepped out into the empty dining room, he felt something he never had before.

His heart started to beat erratically…with nerves.

The woman walking toward him with her black hair and red highlights was looking him over like she was on a mission, and that mission was him. When she stopped in front of him, she showed no hesitation in reaching out and placing a hand against his chest. Cole wondered for a brief moment if she could feel just how hard his heart was thumping. As she raised her head and lifted her thick lashes, he had no clue how he had stayed away from her for so long. Then, he was struck with the realization that he couldn’t imagine not seeing her every day.

Wait, what? Well, that had snuck up out of nowhere.

“I think I like you waiting out here for me every night,” she told him, almost mirroring his thoughts.

Cole pushed a piece of dark hair behind her ear. “Do you? If I remember correctly, you didn’t want me in your restaurant.”

She gave him a sassy shrug and raised her brow. “Things change. I’m a woman; it’s my prerogative.”

“Oh, I see,” he murmured as her hand smoothed across his jacket lapel to his tie. “So, now, I have permission to stalk you?”

He kept his eyes on hers as she wound his tie around her hand, the way she had done only a couple days earlier.

Has it really been only a couple of days?

Gently, she tugged on the narrow strip of material, and there was nothing Cole could do to stop himself from giving in to her at that moment.

Lowering his head, he closed his eyes as she pressed her lips gently to his. As her tongue came out to flirt with the seam of his lips, he reached forward and gripped her hips, tugging her in close, and that was when all the lights turned off in the dining room.

Pulling her mouth from his, she whispered against his lips, “You have permission to be anywhere I am.”

He wasn’t sure she knew exactly what she was saying, and as his eyes adjusted to the shadows, he wondered if she realized how much she had just revealed.

“I’ll have to remember that,” he told her as he released his grip on her. “Let’s get going.”

“Back to your place?”

Cole took her hand and entwined their fingers. “Yes. Back to my place.”

He felt her fingers squeeze his as they made their way to the front door. When they stepped out into the cool night, another realization hit him.

This crazy, spirited, bright-haired woman needed to be his permanently.

He was starting to think he would do whatever he needed to make it so.

“Swimming? It’s one in the morning,” Rachel pointed out.

Cole opened the top drawer in his bureau and pulled out the small black swim shorts he had worn the other day.

Yes, it was late, and she was tired, but if she got to see him in those again—

Hell, who am I kidding? Of course my ass is going up to that pool.

Calmly and methodically, Cole started to remove his clothing, one item at a time. First, he undid his black belt, sounds of metal clinking against metal filling her ears, and then he pulled the thin strip of leather through his belt loops, creating a whoosh noise. Second, he sat down on the wooden trunk, the one she had stood on only days before, to remove his shoes and socks. Then, he stood back up and pulled his shirt from his pants.

That was when Rachel moved across the space between them and reached up to loosen his tie. Removing his hands, he let them fall to his sides.

In his voice that stroked her in all the right places, he asked, “What are you doing?”

Raising her eyes to his, she didn’t smile or give him any kind of sassy response. She just held his inquiring gaze. “I’m undressing you, but unlike the time in my store, I want to take off all your clothes. May I?”

She watched him intently, her hand still holding the tie, as he moved his hands behind his back, like he had once before.

“You may,” he confirmed, granting her the permission she requested.

Methodically, Rachel undid his tie, slid it from around his neck, and dropped the material to the floor. When she raised her eyes to his, she didn’t falter once as she placed her hands on the sides of his abdomen. She smoothed her fingertips up over his chest to the top button where, one by one, she started to undo them. When all the buttons were free, she parted the crisp material. Slipping her palms inside, she moved her hands across warm tight skin. “How did you do it?”

Narrowing his eyes on her, he coerced gently, “How did I do what?”

“I was determined not to know you, yet here I am. How did you slip past all the walls I put up?” Rachel asked him curiously, almost like she didn’t really expect an answer.

“Is that what I did?”

Pushing his shirt apart to his shoulders, Rachel leaned in to press a kiss on the wolf. From there, she confessed, “Yes.”

Then, she felt one of his hands come up to cup her cheek, urging her to look at him. “I just went where you allowed.”

For some unexplainable reason, Rachel felt tears welling in her eyes. What the hell is going on? He was making her think about things she had long left behind. He was making her want things she had decided weren’t for her. As he stood before her, showing her an even softer side to a man she wasn’t sure she fully understood, she took a chance. She gave herself completely over to him.

“I’m scared.”

“Of me?” he questioned cautiously.

Shaking her head, she closed her eyes as she admitted, “I’m scared of how you make me feel.”

As her confession left her lips, he reached out both hands to cup her face, and he leaned down to press a firm kiss to her mouth. There were no tongues and no open mouths involved, but the emotion behind the move rocked her to her soul.

When he pulled back from her, he told her, “Take off your clothes, Rachel. I want you in my bed.”

Rachel ran her eyes over his face. “But I thought you wanted to swim?”

Shrugging out of his shirt, he threw it over the trunk. “Like you, I’m capable of changing my mind. I want you naked and in my bed, and I want it in the next two minutes.”

“Or?” she pushed.

“Rachel?”

“Yes?”

“There is no or,” he informed her as his serious eyes met hers. “Just do it.”

Cole followed her movements as he undid his pants and took them off.

There was no way he was letting this opportunity slip through his hands. She was finally opening up to him, allowing herself to admit to things she might not have acknowledged only days earlier.

This is the right time. I can feel it.

She’d taken off her shirt, bra, and pants, and she was about to remove the sexy scrap of pink lace covering his favorite secret when he stepped toward her. He caught her hand as her fingers slipped into the top of her panties.

Her eyes came up to his in question. “I thought you wanted me naked?”

“So did I,” he mused.

He pressed the pads of his fingers against the lace and pushed them down between her thighs. Her mouth parted, and she sighed as he slid his fingers back and forth over the wet material covering her.

“But I really like these, especially the color.”

As a soft whimper escaped her lips, she managed to ask, “You like pink?”

Cole touched her again through the damp material. “Yes, Rachel, especially your sweet pink pussy.”

He watched her eyes close as her whimper turned to a moan, and she grasped onto his wrist, holding it where it was, as she pushed her hips against his teasing fingers. Cole allowed her a moment of self-pleasure before he pulled his hand away from her and brought it to his mouth.

He licked his fingers and then firmly told her, “My bed. Get in it.”

Her lust-glazed eyes moved down over his body to where his cock was pointing at her.

“Now, Rachel,” he demanded.

Quickly, she moved around him and climbed up onto his bed. When Cole felt somewhat in control of his body, not to mention his emotions, he turned to see her waiting for him exactly where he wanted her.

Walking around to the side of the bed, he got in and positioned himself next to her and turned her over to her side. She rolled to face him willingly, and as he moved in closer, her eyes looked down his body. He could tell she had different ideas as to where this would go, and he had a feeling his intentions were going to piss her off.

Reaching out to her, he ran the backs of his fingers over the curve of her breast, and then quietly, he urged, “Talk to me.”

Huh? What? Talk? Is he insane? He has to be because talking is definitely not on my mind right now.

“Talk?” Rachel finally pushed out of her head and mouth.

Cole tweaked her nipple and nodded. “Yes, talk. I want to know about you.”

Rachel tried to get her brain to catch up, but with all of him…well, naked and hard in front of her, she was finding it really damn difficult. “You want to talk?”

She watched as an amused look crossed his facial features.

“Yes, talk. You know, it’s where you open your mouth and let words fall from your tongue. Are you familiar with that activity?”

Rachel felt her spine stiffen at the smart-ass remark. She was about to push herself up and out of his bed, but her face obviously gave her away because his hand whipped out and firmly gripped her hip.

“Uh-uh, no, you don’t.”

“Let me go, Cole.”

She let out a shocked gasp as he pushed against her hip, and she found herself flat on her back. He followed her over and wedged his body between her thighs, propping himself up above her with his elbows by her head. She turned her head away from him, already feeling too vulnerable tonight, but the all-too-knowing jerk flexed his hips and brushed that delicious cock against her sensitive mound. After that, she couldn’t help but look up at him as she arched to meet him.

“Talk to me,” he cajoled.

Rachel shook her head on the plush pillow. “I don’t want to talk.”

His eyes dropped down her body to her heaving breasts and then came back up to hers. “That’s a shame because talking is all that’s available to you right now.”

Rachel’s eyes widened as she glared up at him. “That’s not true. You’re ready to—”

“Ready to what?” he questioned.

As he pushed against her again, she lost her train of thought.

When he seemed to realize nothing would come out of her mouth, he answered for her. “Ready to fuck?”

“Yes!” she whined.

“I am ready, Rachel. I’m more than ready to slide between your thighs, but first, I want to talk.”

Shifting underneath him, Rachel was about to reach down and take what she wanted, but then he pressed his body flush against hers. All of a sudden, she could feel every inch of his hot skin as he effectively trapped her hands between their stomachs.

“Cole! Please,” she pleaded, deciding she wasn’t too proud to beg.

“Talk. To. Me,” he demanded in that infuriatingly calm tone of his.

Pressing her head back into the pillow, Rachel glowered at him, and she had to admit that the sheer strength in his arms, holding the top part of his body away from her, was fucking sexy. His tight abdomen and erection were twitching and throbbing against her aroused skin, and as his focus remained solely on her, Rachel found it hard to think, let alone talk.

But she managed through as she said, “You’re a jerk.”

He chuckled and nodded once. “That might be accurate, but I’m the jerk you want, so talk.”

Gritting her teeth, Rachel finally relented, seeing it as the only way to get him inside her anytime soon. “Fine. What do you want to talk about? The weather?”

“No. I want you to tell me about Ben.”

As that name left Cole’s lips, it ricocheted like a gunshot through the silent dark room, and he felt Rachel stiffen right before her body kicked into flight. With more strength than he thought she possessed, she pulled her hands from between their bodies and pushed up to shove against his shoulders.

“Get off me,” she demanded.

Cole had known she would flip out when he told her what he wanted to talk about, so being obstinate as ever, he braced himself and remained where he was.

“No. Talk to me.”

“Cole,” she warned.

He looked down at her with one thought: I’m not moving, so if you want me to get off, make me. Just as it entered his mind, she maneuvered herself, so her thighs were parted and wrapped up tight around his hips. Before he knew it, she pushed and rolled as she slapped at one of his arms, making him lose his balance.

He fell down on top of her with a grunt before he gripped her shoulders. He rolled with her until they tumbled across the sheets and fell off the edge of the bed, landing with a loud thump on the floor.

Jesus, that’s going to leave a fucking mark.

She landed on top of him with an oomph before she began squirming all over him as she tried in vain to get away, but Cole wasn’t letting her go anywhere. He just hoped her knees didn’t connect with anything that would leave permanent damage. Holding her wrists, he struggled with her as he pulled her arms around behind her back and twisted his legs over hers, pinning her in place, flush against him.

“Let me go!” she spat at him as if she were a trapped animal.

“No,” he growled, holding her tight against him.

Ignoring the throbbing in his ass, back, and head, Cole leaned up, so he was nose-to-nose with her. Again, he demanded, “Who is Ben?”

Her blue eyes narrowed on his with as much heat as the center of a flame as she tried to glare him to death. “Why? Are you jealous?”

If he hadn’t been so worked up, he might have found some humor in her accusation, but as it was, he found himself losing the control he relied on to keep him in check. “Do I seem jealous, Rachel? I’m fucking pissed off that I am lying on this hard fucking floor! But I’m not jealous.”

Tightening his grip on her wrists, he continued in a softer tone, “I want to know why you yell his name out at night right before you wake up. You scream like the devil is chasing you.”

He noticed she took a quick breath before she turned her head away.

“Was he the one who hurt you?” Cole pressed cautiously. “Was he the one that made you afraid to be touched?”

The silence in the room was deafening as he made himself wait. Give her time, man. Give her some fucking space.

But on the heels of that thought came, Fuck that! I’m in her space now, and she is not getting rid of me.

Cole waited for her to say something, anything, but it turned out that no words were needed. As she turned her face back to him, he could see tears in her eyes, and he felt his chest tighten.

Releasing her hands slowly, Cole wrapped his arms around her shoulders and pulled her down until her cheek was resting against his chest. He felt her back shake beneath his palms as she silently sobbed against him.

“Shh,” he coaxed against her dark hair where he pressed a kiss. “It’s okay.”

He let his legs relax from around hers as she snuggled in closer to him and rested her palms against his chest. He could hear every deep breath she took, and before he knew it, his hands were gently smoothing down her back to try and soothe her.

“Talk to me,” he encouraged again. He couldn’t quite understand why it was so important to him, but somehow, he knew it was vital.

“I don’t know what to say,” she finally replied.

Cole continued to stroke her naked back, running his fingertips over her mantra—Pride, Strength, Hope, Love—and for the second time tonight, he thought that this woman needed to be his permanently.

“Just start at the beginning and tell me what happened. Nothing you say will make me think any less of you, and nothing you did will make me look at you any differently. But maybe if you tell me what he did to you, you will see me differently and realize that you are safe here. I am not him, and you do not need to be scared when you close your eyes at night.”

Resting one hand on the curve of her hip with the other in her thick hair, Cole squeezed gently and pressed his lips to her head. “Let me in, Rachel. Let down that final wall.”

“Ben, please don’t do this,” Rachel pleaded as she stood, shaking, in the corner of their bedroom.

Her tank top and denim cutoffs that she had worn to her mother’s house made her feel practically naked as he moved toward her. She could feel her right eyelid starting to close from the swelling, and she was sure the cool liquid running down her chin was blood from her own lip. The worst part was that she was sure this wasn’t over, not by a long shot.

Ben had come home drunk. This was a new thing he had started.

It had been bad enough when he hit her sober, but when he would get in a mood like this with the bottle behind it, it would usually be days before she could go outside.

As he rolled up his sleeves, his face blurred in front of her. Rachel was hoping she would pass out. Somehow though, she knew she wouldn’t be that lucky. He’d always made sure to never give her a reprieve like that.

“I asked you a fucking question, so answer me!” he shouted as he stepped closer to her.

Rachel swallowed and wrapped an arm around her waist as she licked her upper lip. She winced from the sting it caused in her bottom one. “I was over at Mom and Dad’s until three. I was helping Mom plant her tulips up the main path to the hou…house,” she stuttered the final word as she watched him unbuckle his belt.

“I expected you to be here when I got home,” he told her, his voice seemingly coming from far, far away now.

Or maybe she was just wishing that were the case as she swayed back into the wall.

“I expected dinner, and I expected you!”

As his saliva hit her face, a shiver ran through her entire body at the venom he directed her way.

“I’m sor…sorry. I didn’t think—”

“You never fucking think of anyone but yourself!” he spat at her as he snapped the leather in his hand.

Rachel knew what he was going to do. Really, she had known it would only be a matter of time before things progressed from his fists to other objects, but as her eyes kept shifting to the leather in his hand, she couldn’t actually bring herself to believe he would use it.

“That’s not true, Ben. I…I was thinking about you. Tha…that’s why I hurried home.”

“You hurried home, so I wouldn’t catch you, but you were too fucking late. I was here, and you weren’t, and you know how that makes me feel.”

She did know. Over and over, he had told her how he hated to come home to an empty house. It made him feel neglected and unloved, like his hard day at work meant nothing to her.

Oh god, when will I stop putting up with this?

As the thought entered her mind, she watched Ben’s hand rise up above her, and with whiplike precision, he cracked the leather belt down hard across her bare upper thigh.

Screaming out in agony from the painful burn, Rachel had nowhere to go as he whipped his hand up a second time and brought it down across her other thigh.

Pulling back into the corner, Rachel closed her eyes tight, knowing there was nowhere to go. He was too big, too powerful, and he had her cornered. The best she could hope for would be the peace of blackness, whether that be from passing out or death. At this point, she would take either.

Closing her eyes, she made herself float away, letting her mind drift, as she numbed herself to the cuts that were forming over the raised welts on her thighs. If she survived this night and recovered in one piece, this was it. She would no longer do this to herself. She would no longer let him do this to her, and she would never, ever let a man control her or tie her down—ever again.