Edible

4

He’s not insane. I am, Rachel thought as she stood with an arm wrapped around the pole in the center aisle of the train. I’ve lost what is left of my mind. The dye has finally seeped through my thick skull and penetrated my brain.

She hadn’t even bothered with the earbuds as she made her way downtown with the rest of the rush hour crowd. She was too busy trying to decipher exactly what had happened this afternoon. Cole Madison had happened, and he had happened to make her want him between her thighs. She thought back to his words that had seductively stroked over her.

“Is that what you want? To control me?”

Hell, I am insane. Nothing could control a man like that, let alone her. But what’s the alternative? Let him hold the power? No way.

She had this. Just get it over with, and then he’ll be out of my life. Itch scratched.

Plus, it wouldn’t be a hardship for her to rub all over him. Maybe she could ask him to keep the suit on. She found it hard to believe that anything could top that look, but apparently, she was willing to risk her sanity to find out.

The train pulled up to her stop, and as she stepped onto the platform, she was immediately reminded of her run-in with Cole yesterday. She thought back to when he’d accused her of playing a part. Deep down, she knew he was right. The problem was she wasn’t sure which part was truly her, or maybe it was more that she just hadn’t found out yet.

Ugh, the jerk is already in my head. Shaking it like it would clear away all the confusion, she wrapped her arms around the coat tied at her waist as she pushed her way through the evening crowd. Maybe if she tried really hard, she could block out the wall of a man she had stupidly dared to challenge.

Cole had just made it back to his office when Jane popped her head around the corner.

“So, did you get those flowers?”

Cole looked over his shoulder at his paralegal. “I did actually. They have nice stems,” he told her without missing a beat.

Jane smiled back at him with a look of pure mischief. “I’m sure they do, Mr. Madison.”

“Cole,” he reminded as she walked out of sight.

Cole shrugged out of his coat and draped it over his arm as he walked around his desk, looking at the notes Jane had put there.

God, Becky called again.

Placing his coat over the back of his chair, he looked down at his watch. There was no point in calling now. First thing tomorrow morning, he would call and let her know that he would arrive in the evening.

Incompetence at its finest. Yeah, well, that shit is not going to fly anymore.

Besides trying to distract himself, he couldn’t do anything about it tonight.

Cole sat down and looked at the papers in front of him. God, I need a vacation. How long has it been since I truly took one? Years? It has to be years.

Glancing up at the clock, he noticed it was now approaching six thirty.

“Mr. Madison? Will that be all today?” Jane’s voice drifted into his office.

Turning to face her, he gave her a nod. “Yes, Jane, that is all. Please go home to Gary.”

“Only if you promise you will go home soon. You work far too hard.”

Picking up the paper in front of him, he waved it once. “I need to look this over for tomorrow, and then I promise to leave.”

“You promise?”

“Promise.”

She gave him a warm smile and bid him good night. “See you tomorrow, sir.”

“Jane,” he warned with a low voice.

She moved away from his desk with a wave. “Night, Cole.”

At her departing two words, he chuckled.

Closing time rolled around much quicker than Rachel had expected, especially considering she had spent every minute of the last several hours thinking, panicking, and collectively freaking out about what she had gotten herself into this evening.

Shit, I’m stupid!

No, I’m not. I’m strong. I can be in control. Just remember, Rachel, he chased you.

“Rachel!”

Spinning around with a piping bag midair, she came face-to-face with Mason. He was standing at the entryway to the kitchen, looking at her with a frown on his face. He moved between the two large stainless steel tables and made his way toward her.

Rachel looked around and saw that most of the kitchen had emptied out. A few people were at the sinks, and a couple more were out in the dining room, but essentially, it was her and her perceptive brother.

“I’ve been calling your name for nearly five minutes.” He stopped in front of her and leaned against the table.

“You have?” she asked, trying to appear clueless.

“Yes, I have. What’s going on with you lately?”

“Nothing.”

“You’re lying.”

“Am not,” Rachel fired back. Yeah, real mature.

“Rach, if something’s wrong, you can talk to me.” Mason reached out to squeeze her shoulder.

She looked up into eyes that mirrored her own and replicated their father’s. Those eyes made her heart ache at times, and this was one of them. Looking away from the confusion and compassion in Mason’s eyes, Rachel tried to pull herself together.

What else can I do? Tell him I’m going crazy, and the best way to forget how lonely I am is to lose myself in sex? Oh, and I could mention that I don’t like men to control me, so I make sure they don’t touch me. Yeah, that would go over well.

“I’m fine, Mason, really. I’ve just been a bit stressed out lately with working at Precious Petals in the morning and then coming here at night.”

“Well, let’s do something about it,” he suggested, a frown still present between his brows.

“Stop worrying about me, would you? I already placed an ad for part-time help. You have a wife to worry about now. I’m good.”

Cocking his head to the side, he gave her a thorough look over. “Okay, I’ll let it go for now.”

“Gee, thanks,” Rachel sassed, turning away from him.

He moved around her, heading toward the fridge. She watched him disappear inside, and then she closed her eyes, exhaling a deep breath. Between Mason, Lena, Josh and Shelly, she had a hard time hiding anything, but she wasn’t ready to talk. Honestly, she had no idea what she would say anyway.

Cole made his way down the dark street with his hands burrowed inside his pockets. The wind was whipping around tonight, and the bite from the cold air was harsh. He was glad the cab had dropped him only a few feet away from the small flower shop’s front door.

Stepping up to the entryway, he knocked twice and waited. He was surprised she had left on the small light overhead. It was currently illuminating the snowflakes falling silently to the ground.

Reminding himself of the promise he’d made, he bit back a curse. No touching was going to be difficult. The door to the shop opened with the sound of bells, and when Rachel appeared, covered in leather, he thought difficult was the wrong fucking word.

“Right on time,” she announced as she stepped aside, inviting him in.

Brave woman. “I try to be.”

“So, you’re never late? What else do you try never to be?”

Standing right beside her, he took a moment to take in the full impact of her outfit. “Something I’m not.”

Annoyance flashed across her face at his not-too-subtle jab.

What the hell? I told her I don’t lie, and I’m not going to start sugarcoating shit for her benefit.

Taking several steps into the dimly lit shop, he noticed only the lamp by the cash register was on. Makes sense really. She doesn’t want anyone to know she’s here at one in the morning.

Hearing the door shut with a lot more force than when it had opened, he turned to face her.

Fucking hell. She sure is something to look at right now. He let his eyes wander over every inch of soft black leather that seemed to mold to her body. She was wearing a pair of pants that were held together only by the crisscross of black satin ties running down the outside length of each leg from her hip to her ankle. It showed off smooth skin he wanted to lick. With that thought, his cock started to throb inside his pants, and that was before he took the time to admire the black strapless corset that perfectly completed the ensemble.

Oh yes. Here was the woman who had intrigued him ever since the first time he had seen her.

He reached up and loosened the gray scarf he had wrapped around his neck as he kept his eyes on her, daring her. She accepted the challenge by taking a couple of steps toward him in heels that screamed, don’t fuck with me.

It was such a shame really, because fucking with her was exactly what he wanted to do.

Rachel could feel her blood starting to boil. She had known this was a mistake the minute she had opened the door and seen him looking up at the snow. For a moment, she had almost forgotten what an insufferable jerk he was, and then he had opened his mouth, giving her a much-needed reminder.

Stepping forward, she placed her hands on her hips. She felt her breath catch as Cole slid the gray scarf away from around his neck.

I can do this.

I. Can. Do. This.

He’s just taking off his scarf for God’s sake. How can that be so fucking sexy?

He turned and placed the scarf between the lamp and the cash register on the counter. When he looked back at her, Rachel took great satisfaction in the way he couldn’t seem to take his eyes away from her.

This is your chance. Take it.

“So, are you trying to say I’m fake? Is that it? That’s kind of insulting, considering what you want from me.”

Rachel concentrated on his large hands as they unbuttoned his coat, just as they had done earlier in the day. Once the buttons were undone, he shrugged out of his coat, and she allowed herself to look up into his eyes. He was assessing her with a shrewd stare that was filled with so much fire she was surprised Precious Petals hadn’t burst into flames.

His short dirty-blond hair was sticking up in the front. Rachel couldn’t be sure, but she figured, as pedantic as he was, he had probably styled it that way.

“I don’t think you’re fake.” He threw the wool coat over the counter without turning away from her. “I think you are hiding.”

That pissed her off. She wasn’t hiding jack shit. She just didn’t want some control freak trying to hold her down—literally. That was why her ex, Charlie, had been such a great choice. There was a mellow guy if she had ever met one.

Now, the man currently in front of me? Anything but mellow. More like a dormant volcano waiting to erupt.

Raising her chin, she tilted her head to the side. “I’m not the one who wears five layers of clothing everywhere.”

“This is an image. That,” he told her, looking over her leather-clad body, “is a costume.”

Shaking her head, Rachel asked incredulously, “Are you really stupid enough to think that I would remove any of my clothes after this conversation?”

Calm and so annoyingly casual, he went about undoing his suit jacket without hesitation. His remaining ensemble—gray pinstripe pants, a perfect white shirt, and a matching pinstripe vest—was all neat and precise, positioned exactly where they should be.

The damn man even has cuff links.

So busy caught up in her inspection of him, Rachel hadn’t even noticed he had taken a step toward her until his voice cut through the air.

“As far as I was aware, you’re not supposed to remove your clothes. You’re supposed to be removing mine.”

For the first time this evening—and she was sure it certainly wouldn’t be the last—Rachel lost her footing. She couldn’t seem to formulate the words to tell him to get out even though that was exactly what she should say.

At every turn, the man had been rude and insulting. Begrudgingly, she had to admit that he had also been more honest than she had been.

Suck it up. Come on, show him he’s wrong.

“You’re right. I am,” she agreed.

“That’s what I said.”

“Do you always have to have the last word, Cole?”

Fuck, there it is—my name on her tongue. Finally.

“Say it again,” he demanded softly, taking the final step he needed to put them only inches apart.

“Say what?”

Angling his face down toward her, he repeated, “My name. Say it again.”

That was when she realized she possessed a new weapon in her arsenal, and Cole found it fascinating to see the wicked calculation flash in her eyes. He tracked her gaze when she deliberately dropped it to his mouth as she considered the request as if it were a life-or-death decision.

“Make me,” she challenged, raising her eyes back to his.

You have no idea what you just invited, Cole thought as he let a devious smile finally spread across his lips. Then again, when his teeth appeared, the look that crossed her face seemingly showed that perhaps she did realize what she had gotten herself into.

Yes, teeth. Get a good look at them. I am going to eat you up.

“Remember this moment, Rachel, because I don’t plan to forget it until you’re screaming my name so loudly that every single person within a ten-mile radius knows what it fucking is.”

Her painted lips parted as she bravely raised a hand, laying it on the left side of his chest.

“You know, for a man so immaculately dressed, your mouth is filthy, and your manners are terrible.”

Looking down at her hand, Cole watched as it moved to the buttons of his vest. “I don’t really think it’s my manners that you’re interested in.”

“Well, obviously not since you lack even the basic ones,” she fired right back, flicking the first button out of its hole. “You promised you wouldn’t touch me,” she stated, looking up at him. “Will you keep that promise?”

Cole acknowledged her question with a slight nod as he placed his arms behind his back. “I will. But are you ready for what is about to happen here?”

Her eyes narrowed as she freed the second button. “And what exactly is that? I get you out of your suit and do what I like. It’s not rocket science, is it?”

Opening the final button, she boldly placed both hands against his stomach and spread the vest apart.

That was when Cole cautioned her for the last time. “No, it’s not rocket science, but be careful, Rachel. Everything isn’t always as it appears.”

Solid—that’s what he is. Solid, tight muscle under this perfect white shirt. Huh, who knew?

“Stop talking in circles. What are you saying? You aren’t as you appear?” Rachel quipped as she moved around behind him. “You aren’t the man in a three-piece suit and shiny shoes?”

“I am,” he admitted, turning his head to follow her as she removed the vest down his left arm. When their eyes met, in a voice so seductive it set off alarm bells, he added, “But I’m also so much more.”

What the hell is that supposed to mean? Rachel thought when she finally removed the vest and placed it with his coat on the counter. Coming back to stand before him, Rachel cocked her head to the side with more attitude than was probably wise. “You want to back out?” she asked undaunted.

“Not even a little bit. I’m just trying to play fair,” he informed.

His expression made Rachel nervous. The man was so confusing. Maybe he was trying to tell her he didn’t believe he could keep his hands off her.

“Are you sure about this? Because if you touch me, I’m out of here.”

“I told you, Rachel. I will not touch you until you ask.”

Satisfied, she smoothed her hands across his tight abdomen again as she inched toward the buttons of his shirt. Looking at him from beneath her lashes, she tugged the material, freeing it from his pants, and she smiled when she heard him take in a breath.

“Nervous?” she asked.

“No, but would you like to remove my tie? It makes taking off my shirt that much easier.”

Rachel released the shirt and gripped the end of the tie. Wrapping it around her hand, she pulled on it until he was leaning down, just an inch away from her, and then she decided to tell him exactly what she was thinking. “I like the tie. I’ve never fucked a man in a tie.”

Cole observed her as she stood perilously close to him with his tie secured around her palm. It was amusing that she believed she held the control in this scenario.

“And you aren’t going to tonight either.”

“No?” she asked, licking her bottom lip that was now very close to his.

“No. I said you could take off my clothes, not fuck me. What kind of man do you think I am, Rachel?”

Her sultry eyes connected with his as she moved in even closer. Finally, she pressed her lips right beside his. “Bet I can change your mind,” she murmured.

He turned his head, so their lips were now aligned, and he could smell her sweet breath and cherries. “I bet you can’t.”

Annoyed with him and possibly herself, she pushed him away, releasing his tie.

“So, why are you here then?”

Cole reached up and loosened his now mangled tie. “I told you that I would come back here, so you could get me out of my suit.”

She let out a frustrated sound as Cole added the tie to the pile.

“Would you like me to leave? I didn’t misunderstand the whole point of this meeting, did I?”

“You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?” she accused.

Shrugging his shoulders, he started to undo his shirt buttons one at a time.

“You came all the way down here at one in the morning to strip for me and not put out? Oh, now that’s a laugh. Do you get off on this?” She spun around and marched to the other side of the shop in her click-clacking heels.

“On what?” he asked calmly as she continued to fume. He was now halfway through with undoing his shirt buttons.

“Playing with women? Teasing them? ‘Oh, I’ll be there at one, and then you can take off my suit,’” she mocked, throwing her hands up in the air. “What else was I supposed to think? I mean, forgive a woman for jumping to conclusions.” She finally turned around to face him.

That was when her mouth snapped shut, and her eyes widened.

“I haven’t even begun to play with you, Rachel. Want me to start?” Cole asked as he lifted his arm and threw his shirt on the pile of clothes behind him.

He was now naked from the waist up.

Oh my fucking god.

Yes, Rachel admitted, that kind of language was not usually her style. But as she stood across from Cole, who was now minus every last scrap of material covering his upper half, Rachel felt justified in her choice of words.

The man is a fucking god.

If she thought he had been dangerous with clothes, removing them had just made him lethal. Underneath that carefully put together suit was a whole new beast, a beast covered in tattoos and—Are his nipples pierced? Fuck!

Suddenly, her mouth was dry, and her palms were sweaty as she was confronted with something she had definitely not seen coming.

Okay, okay. I can do this. He is still the same man he was five minutes ago.

The problem was she had been having enough issues dealing with this man. Throw in all of this, and she was…yep, fucked.

“I asked you something,” he said.

His voice penetrated her insane thoughts, and finally, it brought her out of her stupor as she stood in what she could only guess was shock. Running her eyes all over him, Rachel couldn’t find any words. She was too busy looking at everything he had just uncovered.

“Rachel?” he queried again, taking a step toward her.

Brain, kick in, run. Brain?

“Are they both pierced?” she blurted out before she could help herself.

“Would you like to take a closer look at them?”

Shaking her head back and forth, she knew that answer. For her sanity, the only logical response came out of her mouth. “No.”

He chuckled deeply as he continued forward.

Nowhere to go. I have nowhere to go. Damn wall.

“I think you do,” he told her. “You even want to touch them, maybe even lick them.”

Rachel could feel her clit throbbing incessantly between her thighs as her brain continued thoughts all on its own. A wolf! That’s a goddamn wolf on his right pec.

Closing her eyes, she tried to block out everything, but all she could see were tight, hard rippling muscles, tattoos, and silver.

The tattoo of a wolf on his chest smacked her between the eyes, but there was so much more. He also had some writing on his forearms and down his left ribs. Not to mention, he had what looked like a sterling silver bar through each nipple.

Had not seen those coming.

“Rachel?”

Looking up at him, she finally found her tongue. “I’m fine. You’re, uh…”

As she trailed off, she watched a very—yes, she was always going to think it now—wolfish grin appear across his mouth.

“Not as I appear to be?”

Suddenly, everything fell into place, all his clues and frustrating riddles. Before she could say anything, the wall was flush against her back, and he was close to being against her front.

“You promised no touching,” she reminded him, feeling more panicked than ever before.

This man, this stranger, who was now directly in front of her, was definitely a man she had no chance or hope of ever controlling.

“I’m not going to touch you,” he promised, leaning forward. “But I am going to kiss you.”

And before she could protest, his mouth was pushing hotly against hers.

Yes, Cole thought as he pressed his lips to hers. Gotcha.

Swiping his tongue against her bottom lip, he felt a scorching jolt of arousal as she immediately parted for him. Instead of pushing his tongue straight in to tangle with hers, he took a moment to trace her ripe, succulent mouth. He could feel her shaking as she stood with her back pressed against the wall, but she wasn’t backing down either. She wanted him, but she was stubbornly clinging to her resolve.

Nipping her bottom lip, he soothed it once more with his tongue, teasing her, playing with her. When a small moan escaped her, Cole couldn’t help his own groan. Keeping his arms firmly behind his back, he lifted his mouth from hers and moved it to her ear.

“I can’t touch you, Rachel, and god, I want to. I want to undo these sexy leather pants and slide my hand inside. Or maybe, I could lick the skin that’s peeking out between the laces, but I can’t. You said no.”

Flicking her right lobe with his tongue, he bit it gently, causing a second shudder to rack through her body.

“You like how I look, don’t you? Unexpected at first, but now that it’s sunk in, now that you know, I bet you’re wet from just thinking about playing with my piercings.”

Nibbling his way along her jaw back to her mouth, Cole looked directly into her eyes. “They aren’t the only piercings I have either.”

As her eyes glazed over and her breathing accelerated, he lowered his mouth to hers, making another promise. “Maybe if you let me touch you, I’ll let you see the other one, too.”

From the words that were coming from his mouth, she was panting now, and he could see her breasts rising and falling rapidly. He wanted to fuck her so badly, and he was positive his cock had never been harder.

Obstinate as ever though, she shook her head.

“No? Okay then.” He crushed his mouth down onto hers.

Pushing his tongue deep into the warmth of her mouth, he felt her suck on it immediately, and he almost lost his own footing. Like a piece of his candy, she sucked him in deep as she tilted her head to the side, angling their mouths, so he could get even deeper inside her.

Growling in the back of his throat, he fisted his hands behind him as she continued to take what he was willingly giving for now. As he kept his hands away from her, he felt her arms reach down between their lower bodies.

At first, he was certain she was about to touch him, and he just hoped he could rein in his reaction. But as she moaned against his lips, he realized he didn’t feel her hands on him. He leaned back to glance down between them, and what he saw made him feel as though she had cut him at the knees. The little minx had one of her hands grinding down hard between her thighs while she looked him over as though he were her latest dirty magazine.

“Stubborn, stubborn woman. Just say the word,” he muttered, lowering his head. Pressing his mouth to hers, he promised, “Say the word, and I will make you come with my hands and my mouth.”

“No. No touching.” She panted desperately as her hand rubbed against herself.

“Fine then. Show is over.” He abruptly removed his mouth from hers and turned, making his way back to the pile of clothes.

He quickly got dressed, and when he turned to face her, he was shocked to find her in the exact same spot with her hand burrowed between her thighs. As he headed toward the door, he took a good look at her and arched a brow.

“I suggest you lock the door after I leave. It’s late, and you wouldn’t want anyone to come in and find you with your pants around your ankles and your fingers deep inside yourself.” Gripping the handle of the door, he nodded once. “Have a good evening, Rachel. It’s been interesting.”

With that, he walked out into the night.