Page 41 of Stay (Stay #1)

CASSIDY

“ W ake up, babe.” Cole kisses his way across my naked shoulder. “We’ve got class in an hour.”

Still sleepy, I stretch against the firm length of his body. “Not yet,” I mumble, “we don’t have to get up just yet.”

Have I mentioned just how amazingly hard and cut he is?

Hours spent on the ice and lifting in the gym have made him into the chiseled god that he is. A few heartbeats later and my hand is delving into his boxer briefs before gliding over the rigid length of his morning wood.

Well, hello there.

“Looks like we won’t be making it out of bed on time after all,” he growls, warm breath feathering across the outer shell of my ear as he rolls me onto my back.

Before I can offer up a response, his lips crash down on mine as my fingers caress his thick erection before sliding further down to play with the only soft part of him .

Squeezing, petting, and teasing.

God, I love the feel of him.

The barely harnessed power that hums beneath the surface of flesh, bone, and muscle. It’s something that used to make me nervous. But I know Cole would never use that well-honed strength against me. After what happened last year, being touched or manhandled can send me spiraling into a panic.

I hate when the icy tendrils of anxiety flood through every cell of my being before wrapping around me. My heart jackhammers a painful tattoo against my chest. Nerves careen and skitter across my flesh. Nausea churns in the pit of my gut...

Until I can’t breathe.

I.

Can’t.

Breathe .

But I’ve been working on that with a psychologist and it’s getting better.

I’m getting better.

The attacks don’t happen as frequently as they used to. I’m controlling it instead of being controlled by it.

Cole is always so careful and patient with me. Right from the start, he was gentle and kind. It’s probably the reason I fell so easily for him.

Well, maybe not easily, because in the beginning, I fought against the attraction. Fought against getting to know him. I tried to shut him down at every turn. But the guy is seriously persistent.

After my life imploded last year, it was important I get myself back on track. And a boyfriend, or even a hookup situation, wasn’t part of the plan.

No distractions.

That was my mantra.

What I’ve found is that the best laid plans never turn out the way you expect them to.

If you’d asked me a year and a half ago, I would have told you that I’d be dominating on the ice at Dartmouth.

Succeeding academically, because that’s what I’d always done.

I had worked hard my entire life to get to a Division I school.

I’d sacrificed friendships and a social life to make that dream come true.

Instead of taking Dartmouth by storm, I’d crashed and burned spectacularly.

Too much pressure and stress.

I ended up losing everything.

Including my family.

It’s the way Cole’s tongue tangles with my own that pulls me from those dark thoughts.

Instead of allowing me to get stuck inside my head, he forces me to be present by hovering over my body and caging me in beneath him.

I love the way it feels to be surrounded by him.

We’ve spent hours in bed, exploring one another.

Learning what the other likes and doesn’t like.

I curl my fingers around him, stroking his hard length in a way that drives him to distraction. I may be new to this, but I’ve caught on quickly. With a groan, he slips his fingers into my dampened panties.

“You’re so damn wet.” He sucks my lower lip into his mouth before nipping at it. “So fucking hot,” he groans.

A whimper escapes from me when his fingers drift over my heated flesh before sinking inside me. His tongue and fingers move in tandem, driving me higher. And then higher still.

My hand tightens around him, pumping harder.

Faster.

Cole tugs my pink tank top over my head before tossing it to the floor.

His heated gaze holds mine for a heartbeat before kissing his way down my body until he can suck my nipple into his mouth.

He continues the onslaught until I’m shifting beneath him, needy for more.

With a soft pop, he gives the other one the same attention.

I love the feel of his hot mouth as it roves over my naked body, and the way he makes me feel when we’re wrapped up in each other. It’s as if the world around us shrinks down until everything else ceases to exist.

Releasing the other stiffened bud, he sinks lower until he’s nipping at my navel.

His lips ghost over my belly before reaching my hip bones and peppering me with kisses.

Anticipation spirals through me as he reached the elastic band of my panties.

Instead of stripping off the cotton material, he presses his lips against my throbbing heat.

I shift restlessly beneath him, desperate for the thin barrier to be ripped away. All I want is to feel the heat of his mouth as he brands me. It drives me crazy when he teases me like this, and he knows it.

But that’s just part of the fun.

When he presses another kiss against my damp panties, I groan and arch toward him. I’m precariously close to begging for it.

For him.

The chuckle that escapes from him is deep and low as if he knows exactly what he’s doing to me right before his finger slips beneath the edge to brush over my slick heat.

He yanks the panties aside until the material stretches across my exposed flesh.

A moment later, his mouth descends, warm breath feathering against me until I’m aching with need.

It’s always like this between us.

Hot and explosive.

There are times when it’s slow and gentle, and others when it’s fast and hard. With anyone else, that would scare me.

But not with Cole.

Never with Cole.

He’s like a drug careening through my system and I crave only what he can give me. Every thought swirling through my head disappears as he laps at my pussy until my entire body trembles with the need he’s ignited to life.

A month ago, this kind of intimacy would have freaked me out. It would have unleashed the anxiety I keep tightly under wraps. That’s no longer the case. I love surrendering to him. I love the way he makes my body throb and pulse.

Most of all, I love that Cole Mathews is mine.

And I’m his.

“You like that, baby?”

“You know I do,” I whisper as he strokes his tongue over me, playing my body like a fine instrument. I arch, wanting to feel him buried deep inside my body, filling me to the brim. The ache within is growing. Pulsing and throbbing until it feels like it could consume me.

I’ve never felt anything like this before.

“Cole, please…” Desperation bleeds from me.

“Please, what?”

His voice is raw, scraped low with just as much pent-up desire as mine. His tongue dances over me before plunging deep inside and making me moan. The velvety softness disappears before swirling around my clit and sucking it gently into his mouth.

That’s all it takes for me to teeter at the edge. My hips move restlessly against him as need floods through every cell of my body. I’m panting and pleading for him to push me over the edge and into oblivion.

I’m.

So.

Close.

So close to shattering into a million little jagged pieces.

With an orgasm poised to crash over my body, his mouth disappears. I gasp, my eyelids flying open as his warm breath ghosts over my pulsing flesh.

“Cole,” I ground out. “I’m so close.” Desperation threads its way through my voice. My neediness should embarrass me, but I don’t give a damn. I want to scream in frustration.

I can’t but arch toward him, trying to close the distance. Even though he’s intent on teasing me, I know how affected he is by my body. He tells me all the time how much he loves being buried deep inside me.

And I love his hard length filling me up, and how perfectly we fit together.

None of my drunken hookups ever came close to feeling like this. What we have is special.

A hungry look fills his eyes as he stares down at me. “One more taste. ”

He thrusts his tongue deep inside me. As a whimper falls from my lips, he pulls away for a second time.

“Stop teasing!” I growl.

With a soft chuckle, he crawls up my body before pressing a kiss against my mouth. “Delicious.” There is so much intensity filling his eyes. “And I love teasing you. It’s my new favorite pastime.”

As soon as those husky words escape from him, he flips me over onto my belly before dragging my body to the edge of the mattress.

My underwear is quickly stripped away. His hands sink into my hips as he pulls my backside into the air.

I groan as his fingers glide over me, swirling around my entrance before sinking deep inside.

He keeps up a steady rhythm until I’m pushing against him, the orgasm once again beginning to build.

Whimpers fall from my lips as he forces me closer to the edge.

Just when a wave of pleasure crests inside me, his touch vanishes.

“Cole,” I groan as tears of frustration prick my eyes. “Please, I need you!”

The sound that escapes from him is strained around the edges as he moves behind me.

The blunt head of his cock teases my slick heat, stroking against my lips, caressing them gently.

I can just imagine what he looks like, holding his thick erection in his hand as it glides across my flesh.

That picture is branded onto my brain forever.

When he finally sinks inside me, my eyelids feather closed as I strain against him.

He’s buried so deep.

And it feels so good.

But then again, it always does.

Hovering over me, he wraps his hard body around mine.

His hands drift across my ribcage until he’s able to palm my breasts.

He toys with my nipples all the while thrusting inside me.

After a few moments, one hand trails down my body until he’s able to play with my clit.

I whimper as an orgasm builds with each flick of his fingers and stroke of his cock.

We stand at the precipice before careening over the edge.

I have to bite down on my lower lip in order to keep the screams locked deep inside as pleasure streaks through my body.

It’s so tempting to let go and release the intensity.

Instead, I resist the urge. I refuse to suffer through the shit-eating grins, sly looks, and obnoxious comments from a houseful of his hockey teammates over a bowl of cereal at the kitchen table.

Been there, done that.

As the last aftershocks reverberate through me, exhaustion takes hold. Cole relaxes against me, his bigger body curving around mine.

“I love you, Cassidy,” he whispers before pressing a kiss to my back.

“I love you, too.”