Page 37 of Echoes of Us

T he cold wall against Ashley's back disappeared into insignificance compared to the heat of Cole's body pressed against hers.

Her dress hitched higher as he lifted her, and her legs wrapped instinctively around his waist. Her fingers twisted in his hair as his mouth found that spot beneath her ear, the one that made her whole body tremble.

A sob caught in her throat - not from pleasure but from how perfectly he remembered her, even here, even now.

Her heart felt like it might shatter from the weight of everything she'd finally understood.

Cole's hands gripped her thighs, steadying her against the wall as his mouth traced fire down her throat.

His touch was desperate, claiming, making her forget everything but the feel of him.

This was her Cole - not the man he would become, not his brother's echo, but purely, wildly himself.

The realization made tears slip from her eyes even as desire coursed through her veins.

She would have him, even if it's only once, as the real man that he was. She had to, couldn't breathe, thinking that all she had until now were mere fragments.

Cole's hands slid higher, taking her dress with them until she was laid bare to his hungry gaze.

Her back pressed harder against the wall as his mouth traced lower, his kisses burning against her sensitive skin.

His hands, usually so controlled, trembled as they explored her body, drawing gasps and sighs that echoed in the empty lab.

"Need you," he breathed against her collarbone, and she arched into him in response. He took the invitation, his mouth hot and demanding as it moved lower. One hand braced her against the wall while the other teased and stroked until she was gasping his name.

"The table," he growled, and she nodded frantically.

He carried her there without breaking contact, papers scattering as he laid her down.

The polished wood was cool against her heated skin, but she barely noticed.

All she could focus on was Cole's mouth as it continued its devastating path down her body, his hands holding her steady as she writhed beneath him.

When his mouth found her center, her cry echoed off the walls.

His fingers joined his tongue, working her higher and higher until she could barely breathe.

This was Cole unleashed - wild and desperate and so utterly himself.

Every stroke was perfect, precise in its desperation, pushing her toward an edge she'd been aching to fall from.

"Come for me." His voice was rough against her skin, and she shattered at the command. Pleasure crashed through her in waves as she cried out his name, her fingers tangling in his hair.

He rose above her, fumbling with his belt, his movements urgent but uncertain. She reached between them, guiding him where she needed him to be. For a heartbeat, he hesitated, his eyes searching hers.

"Please," she breathed, and whatever restraint he had left vanished.

He surged forward, joining them completely in one devastating thrust. The perfect fullness had her crying out, clutching his shoulders as he buried his face in her neck. They stayed frozen for a moment, both overwhelmed by the intensity of their connection.

"Ashley." Her name was a prayer on his lips before he claimed her mouth again. Each thrust after that was a claim, a promise, a desperate plea. The lab filled with their shared breaths, skin against skin, the sound of coming home.

His movements grew more intense, more demanding.

One hand pinned her wrists above her head while the other found exactly where she needed him most. She guided his fingers with breathless words until everything narrowed to this moment - his scent surrounding her, his weight above her, the perfect rhythm they created together.

When she fell again, she took him with her. Their cries mingled in the moonlight as pleasure crashed through them both, leaving them trembling and spent.

Cole collapsed against her, his weight anchoring her to reality as their hearts thundered together. For one perfect moment, nothing existed but this - their shared breaths, their tangled limbs, the lingering echoes of pleasure.

Then footsteps echoed in the hallway.

"Ashley?" Sarah's voice carried through the door. "Dale said you were-"

They froze. Ashley's heart, already racing, nearly stopped. The sound of the doorknob turning galvanized them into frantic motion - Cole pulling away, Ashley scrambling for her clothes, both of them desperate to erase the evidence of what had just happened.

But it was too late.

Sarah stood in the doorway, her expression shifting from concern to shock as she took in the scene - scattered papers, disheveled clothes, Ashley's flushed face and Cole's torn shirt.

"Oh," Sarah said softly. Then, " Oh. "

Ashley darted after Sarah through empty hallways, her heels clicking against the tile in an accusatory rhythm. Her dress clung wrong, hastily pulled on with trembling fingers. The ghost of Cole's touch still burned on her skin, making each step a reminder of what she'd just done, what they'd done.

Marie. Oh God, Marie.

The cool night air hit her face as she burst outside, but it couldn't wash away the shame that crept up her throat like bile. Her friend's boyfriend. She'd just... with her friend's...

"Sarah, wait!" Ashley's voice carried across the empty courtyard. She stumbled slightly in her haste, her legs still unsteady from moments before. "Please, let me explain!"

Sarah spun around, her expression unreadable in the darkness. "Explain what, exactly? How did you just slept with Cole? After everything that happened, everything we talked about?"

The crude directness made Ashley flinch. "I..." But what could she say? That she'd known him first, in another life? That he'd been hers before he was Marie's? That for one perfect moment, nothing else had existed but them?

"I don't even know what to say to you right now," Sarah's voice cut through the darkness. "Marie is our friend. Your friend, Ashley."

"I know." The words came out small, broken.

"Do you? Because I just walked in on you and her boyfriend-" Sarah stopped, running a hand through her hair in frustration. "What were you thinking?"

I wasn't thinking, Ashley wanted to say. All I could think about was him. About having him one last time before... But she couldn't explain that. Couldn't explain any of it.

"I just want to go back to the dorm," she whispered instead. "Please."

Something in her voice must have reached Sarah because her friend's expression softened slightly. "Fine. But we're going to deal with this later."

They walked in silence, the campus eerily still in these pre-dawn hours.

Ashley kept glancing back toward the physics building, part of her hoping, dreading that Cole would follow.

But the path behind them remained empty.

Of course, he wouldn't come after her. What had just happened between them - that desperate, perfect moment - must’ve meant nothing to him and was already fading like a dream.

The dorm room was dark when they arrived. Ashley curled into her bed, fully dressed, pulling covers around herself like armor. She could feel Sarah watching her from across the room.

"Was it worth it?" Sarah asked finally, her voice quiet in the darkness. "Whatever that was back there - was it worth screwing yourself over?"

Ashley pressed her face into her pillow, breathing in the familiar scent of home. Was it worth it?

“Yes.” She confessed. The memory of Cole's hands on her skin, his voice rough with need, the way he'd looked at her like she was everything - God help her, but yes. Yes, it had been worth it. And that realization made her feel worse than anything else.

That night, Ashley didn’t sleep. The first rays of dawn began creeping through her window, painting accusatory patterns across her blanket.

She'd been here before - waiting for sunrise after a sleepless night.

But this felt different. The light revealed something new settling in her chest: a strange mix of completeness and emptiness as if she'd finally found what she'd been missing, only to realize she couldn't keep it.

"I need to leave," she whispered, the words surprising her even as they left her lips.

"What?" Sarah murmured, still half asleep.

"I can't..." Ashley sat up slowly, certainty crystallizing with the growing light. "I need to go home for a few days."

Sarah was quiet for a long moment. "You're running away."

"Yes." The admission felt like a relief. "I need to."

The sun rose fully, washing the room in golden light that felt too bright, too exposing.

But as Ashley sat there, her dress wrinkled and her heart raw, she felt something else beneath the guilt and shame - a clarity she hadn't expected.

She couldn't stay and watch Cole become someone else.

Couldn't stay and face Marie's heartbreak.

Couldn't stay and pretend she hadn't just had everything she wanted, even if only for a moment.

"I'll help you pack," Sarah said finally, and Ashley felt tears slip down her cheeks at the simple acceptance in her friend's voice.

It was time to go home.