Everyone Loves a Hero Read online

  “I don’t know. Does it?”

  He shook his head. “Never before, so I understand what you’re feeling.”

  “You think so?” she asked, her expression skeptical.

  “You’re here with me now because you’re as curious as I am about the instant connection between us, but your head is telling you to run as far and as fast as you can.”

  Her eyes widened with amazement. “How do you know that?”

  Laughing softly, he nuzzled her cheek. “Because my head is telling me the same thing, but somehow I can’t seem to make myself listen. As I got on the plane to come here today I was asking myself, ‘What’re you doing?’ Do you know why I came when my better judgment was telling me to run?”

  She shook her head.

  “Because I meant it when I said I couldn’t wait to see you. I thought of you constantly this week, and I needed to see you again to find out if what happened the other times I was with you would happen again.”

  “And did it?”

  Nodding, he trailed his lips up her neck. “Even more so than before.” Her skin was soft, so soft, and the scent of her shampoo lingered in her hair. He couldn’t get enough of her. “Do you think you could try, just try to take that leap with me? I don’t know about you, but I really want to see where we’ll land.”

  “I’m scared,” she confessed.

  “I won’t hurt you. I promise.”

  As she studied him he could almost see the thoughts—and the fears—spiraling through her mind. He had to remind himself to breathe as he waited and hoped.

  “I want to take the leap. I do.”

  “Then let’s take it together.”

  He wasn’t sure who moved first, but suddenly she was in his arms kissing him without reservation, without fear, and the impact almost knocked him off his feet. He lifted her and groaned when she wrapped her legs around him.

  “Olivia,” he sighed as he held her tight against him. “I like the way you leap.”

  For once her laughter was free and easy. “And I like the way you catch me when I land.” She kissed him again, a sweet brush of her lips over his.

  His breath got caught in his throat. The feelings she stirred in him were almost painful.

  “Cole? What is it?”

  He shook it off. “Nothing,” he said with a smile, letting her slide back down to her feet. “Want to get a movie?”

  A hint of disappointment clouded her eyes. “If you want.”

  “Don’t look at me like that, honey,” he said as he tried to remember his vow to go slow, to keep it easy—for now. “You’re taking the leap, and I’m so glad—and so relieved. But that doesn’t mean we have to also leap right into bed, does it?”

  “No,” she said, fiddling with his hair. “We don’t have to.”

  “But you want to?”

  She looked up at him, her heart in her eyes. “Don’t you?”

  “What do you think? But I don’t want to rush you—”

  “How about we watch a movie… in bed?”

  “Do you consider that a compromise?” he asked, contemplating her impish expression.

  “Of sorts.”

  He smiled, delighted by her bravery in the face of so many fears. “You’re on.” Pulling the sweater over his head, he tossed it onto a chair and reached for the button to his jeans. Olivia, who had been watching him with interest, blushed and went to turn down the bed.

  They took turns in the bathroom, and when he finally slid into bed wearing only a pair of gym shorts, he reached for her. “Did you find something you want to watch?” he asked, guiding her head to his chest.

  “Yep.” She flipped to the movie channel and chose what could only be called a chick flick.

  “For real?”

  “You can pick the next one,” she said, giggling at his distress.

  “I’ll make sure there’s lots of stuff blowing up to get back at you for this.”

  “Shh. I can’t hear it over all the noise you’re making.”

  Cole had good intentions. Really, he did. But the movie wasn’t half as interesting to him as she was. That pale-pink tank top had been driving him crazy since she first appeared in it after her shower. He slid a hand under it and ran a finger slowly down her backbone.

  Her short inhale was the only sign she gave that she was aware of him. Then her lips moved on his chest, and Cole’s heart skipped a beat. When her tongue flicked his nipple, the last of his good intentions was overtaken by desire that blazed through him like wildfire.

  “Watch your movie,” he said, his voice hoarse.

  “I don’t want to.”

  “I’m trying to watch it, but you’re bothering me.”

  She laughed softly against his chest. “Liar.”

  “Olivia…”

  She propped herself up so she could reach his chest. “What?”

  “The movie.”

  With her lips pressed to his belly, she glanced up at him, her eyes alight with amusement. “I’ve seen it before.” She held the remote behind her back to turn off the TV.

  “You tricked me into bed?”

  “I had to do something. You asked me to leap, and then when I did, you wanted to watch a movie.”

  He laughed so hard he had tears in his eyes. “You little witch. Here I am trying to be a good guy and not rush you. Turns out you’re manipulating me.”

  “It sounds so sordid when you put it that way,” she said, hovering over him.

  He combed his fingers through her hair. “I feel used.”

  Laughing, she leaned down to kiss him. “I have a feeling you’ll get over it.”

  With his arms tight around her, he held her still and kissed her. He came up for air, breathless with longing.

  “I want you,” he whispered. “I want you like I’ve never wanted anything. Ever.”

  “I want you just as much.”

  “We should wait.”

  “Probably. But if we didn’t want to… wait, that is… do you have a condom?”

  He swallowed hard. “If I say yes, it’ll look like I was expecting this, and I told you I wasn’t.”

  “Please say yes!”

  “Yes,” he said, laughing. “Yes!”

  Chapter 9

  They fell together in an explosive burst of passion that made Olivia’s head swim. His hands were everywhere, and his tongue plunged into the depths of her mouth like he wouldn’t be able to get enough if he had a lifetime to try.

  As he turned them so he was on top, her every sense went on full alert. His cologne, her shampoo, the bristle of his whiskers against her face, the soft mattress below her, the cool sheet that covered them, the weight of his leg between hers.

  He finally broke the kiss and buried his face in her neck.

  She cradled his head in one hand while using the other to caress the huge, fading bruise under his right shoulder.

  “Oh, Cole, your shoulder. It must’ve hurt so much.”

  “It did. Worse than the face, if you can believe that.”

  Being careful not to hurt him further, she gently smoothed her hand over the area around the bruise.

  He released a contented sigh. “Feels good. Where were you when I needed a nurse?”

  “I was right here, wondering how you were doing and wishing I could see you again.”

  Raising his head, he found her eyes in the candlelight. “Did you really wish for that?”

  She held his gaze while her hands continued to stroke his back. “There was a jolt.”

  “Right,” he whispered. “The jolt.” He kissed her again, this time softly, his lips moving over hers in an easy rhythm that seduced and inflamed.

  With her fingers buried in his hair, she held him right there as one endless kiss faded into another, neither of them in any rush to move on.

  “God, I could kiss you all night,” he said.

  “Luckily, we have all night.”

  “So we do.” Holding himself up on one elbow, he put his other hand flat against her bel
ly under her shirt. “You have the softest skin. It’s like silk.” He pushed the shirt out of the way and replaced his hand with his lips.

  Olivia gasped. “Cole…”

  “Do you think we could get rid of this?” he asked, tugging on the tank top.

  With only the briefest of hesitations, she sat up and pulled the top over her head. When she glanced at his face, she discovered cool blue eyes gone hot with desire.

  He reached for her. His chest hair tickled her breasts, and he trembled.

  Knowing he was as affected by her as she was by him infused her with tenderness and desire and love. Yes, there was love. To deny that would be foolish, and Olivia wasn’t foolish. At least she hadn’t been before this, before him.

  He relaxed his hold on her just enough to cup her breasts and run his thumbs over her nipples. Then he dipped his head and sucked hard on one of them.

  Olivia cried out, which startled him.

  “Don’t stop,” she pleaded.

  “I think I’ve found something else I could kiss all night,” he murmured against her breast.

  That she could laugh just then came as a total shock until he went back for more, and her laughter faded into a moan. The firm weight of him on top of her gave her no choice but to lie there and feel—his lips, his tongue, the warmth of his mouth. She squirmed under him until she had worked her legs free. Arching her back, she pressed against his erection.

  He responded by closing his lips tight around her nipple.

  She clutched fistfuls of his hair.

  His wince got her attention, and she relaxed her grip.

  “Cole.”

  “What, honey?”

  “I feel like I’m burning up,” she panted.

  “Maybe if we got rid of the rest of these clothes, you’d cool off.”

  “Somehow I doubt that’s going to help,” she said, lifting her hips so he could get rid of her pajama bottoms and the scrap of lace she wore beneath them.

  He sat back and gazed at her. “When I was stuck at home for two weeks, I had all these fantasies about the girl in the airport,” he said softly as he crawled back up to her. “But nothing I imagined could’ve prepared me for the reality of the woman—the beautiful, smart, funny, incredibly talented, and amazingly sexy woman she turned out to be.”

  Moved beyond words, she kissed him and hooked her fingers into the waistband of his shorts to push them down.

  Kicking them the rest of the way off, he shifted to his side and brought her with him.

  She wanted to touch him everywhere she could reach. His skin was smooth, his chest hair dark and soft. She liked that he was muscular but not bulky. Her fingers trailed over rippling abs and then lower until her hand closed around his pulsing erection.

  His eyes fluttered shut. He exhaled a long, deep breath and seemed to be working hard to stay still so she could satisfy her curiosity.

  And she was really, really curious as she stroked him, touched him, felt him.

  “Liv,” he sighed.

  The sound of her nickname coming so naturally from him, especially just then, went straight to her heart.

  The more she stroked him, the harder he seemed to get. “Does it hurt?” she whispered.

  “No. It aches.” He lifted her leg over his hip. “For you.”

  Olivia was breathless with anticipation as his fingers danced lightly over her leg and inner thigh. Without realizing what she was doing, she tightened her hand around him, drawing a deep groan from him.

  His fingers slid through the slick heat between her legs, teasing, touching, rubbing.

  She was teetering on the edge when he pushed two fingers into her and sent her hurtling over.

  “Oh God, Cole.” Her body was completely out of her control as sensation after sensation pounded through her. Gulping for air, she clung to him and slowly returned to earth.

  “Wow,” he whispered, his expression awestruck. “Is it always like that?”

  “No,” she managed to say. “Never.”

  Brushing the damp hair off her forehead, he pressed a soft, lingering kiss to her lips.

  “Let me get a condom.”

  Reluctantly, she let him go, but only because she knew he would be right back. She lay on the bed waiting for him, her body alive with aftershocks that reverberated from the soles of her feet to the palms of her hands, to her lips, to her breasts, and between her legs.

  He sat on the edge of the bed to roll on the condom. When he turned to her, she wrapped her arms around him, and he started all over with kisses that, on their own, were almost enough to send her flying again. By the time he perched over her, Olivia thought she would go mad if she had to wait another minute.

  “Please, Cole,” she said between deep breaths. “Now.”

  As he began to push into her, he cradled her face in his hands and dropped soft, damp kisses on her cheeks, her nose, her forehead, and then her lips. His tongue traced a path from her bottom lip to her top. He thrust his hips again, and when he met with resistance, he froze and looked down at her, shocked.

  “Don’t stop.” She looked up at him. “Please, don’t stop.”

  The realization seemed to knock the wind out of him for a minute, but then he rallied. Moving slowly, so slowly, he worked his way past the barrier.

  Olivia waited for pain that never came. There was only pleasure unlike anything she had ever imagined. Her hands slid down to cup his backside, pulling him tight against her. For a long, breathless moment they stayed just like that, joined but still.

  “Are you okay?” he whispered, gazing down at her with concern all over his handsome face.

  “So much better than okay.”

  His smile was a relief.

  “You won’t hurt me if you want to, you know, move a little,” she said, her eyes widening as her encouragement caused him to throb inside her.

  A nerve in his cheek twitched with tension. “Are you sure?”

  She nodded.

  He moved slowly at first and then faster when she met each of his thrusts with the lift of her hips. Reaching beneath her, he gripped her bottom to better angle her. The new position put the focus on just the right place, and before long she was climbing toward another release. He lowered his head to tug her nipple into his mouth, and that was all it took. She cried out, tightened her legs around his hips, and held onto him as he came with a cry of his own.

  He pushed hard against her one last time before he collapsed on top of her, his forehead and back damp with sweat.

  Olivia held him close, so close she could feel the pounding cadence of his heart, and was filled with satisfaction, knowing she had done that to him.

  ***

  His head spun with questions. Where to even begin? What to say? Why didn’t she tell me?

  Her fingers made lazy circles on his back.

  How does a woman get to be twenty-seven in this day and age without ever—

  “Are you mad I didn’t tell you?” she asked in a small voice that tugged at his heart.

  “Of course not. I’m a lot of other things, but mad is definitely not one of them.”

  “What kind of other things?”

  He lifted his head and pressed his lips to hers. “I’m surprised and full of questions, but mostly I’m honored.”

  “You are?”

  Nodding, he kissed her again. “Very much so. But why didn’t you tell me? I would’ve been more careful—”

  She stopped him with a kiss. “You were perfect. I’m sure it was no good for you, but next time—”

  “What’re you talking about? No good? That was best sex I’ve ever had in my life.”

  “You don’t have to say that.”

  “Olivia,” he said, exasperated. “I’m not just saying that. It’s true.” He withdrew from her and sat up to pull the covers over her. “I’ll be right back. Don’t go anywhere.”

  Her face lifted into a tentative smile. “I won’t.”

  Cole went to the bathroom, got rid of the condom, and sp
lashed cold water on his face. He looked in the mirror for signs of the changes he felt occurring inside but saw nothing new on the outside. How was it possible to feel so much and not have it show? His face should have been lit up like a Broadway marquee.

  He reached for a bottle of her lotion and breathed in the scent that was so uniquely hers. The smell was enough on its own to turn him on. Returning the lotion to the counter, he took a couple of deep breaths and stared at his reflection.

  “Tread lightly,” he whispered. “Don’t screw this up.”

  He went back to the bedroom to find her turned away from him, looking out at the darkness through the window they had left uncovered. Her hair flowed freely on the pillow, and the sheet had dipped to her waist, leaving the curve of her back exposed. Just looking at her made him want her again. Making an effort to keep his own needs in check, he got back in bed and snuggled up to her.

  “What’re you thinking about?”

  “Dessert.”

  He laughed. “I would’ve guessed a hundred other possibilities.”

  “I’m kind of a sucker for chocolate.”

  “I figured you might be. Do you want it now?”

  “Uh-huh.”

  “Coming right up.” He brought the wine and cake back to bed.

  Olivia rested against the pile of pillows and held the sheet over her breasts.

  Cole fed her the first bite.

  “Oh, that’s good,” she said, wincing as she shifted into a more comfortable position.

  “Does something hurt?” he asked, alarmed.

  “Not really.”

  “Why don’t I believe you?” He took a bite and fed her another one. “Are you sore, honey?”

  “A little.”

  “I’ll draw you a hot bath. That’ll help.”

  “Only if you join me.”

  “Twist my arm.”

  They ate the cake in companionable silence, but all the while Cole’s mind raced with things he wanted to ask her if only he could find the right words.

  Pouring wine into the glass he had put on the table next to her, she took a sip and studied him. “What do you want to know?”