“I need you,” I pant, pulling away from her lips. Pride is no longer a concern when it comes to my love for this woman.
Her eyes search my face before they land on mine. “Whatever you want, Cole. I’m yours.”
I hate how willingly she gives herself to me. I’ve made this gorgeous woman bleed for me, and she forgives me. Just like that. See, I told you love equals madness. Because she is just as mad as I am.
I grab her right arm and slowly kiss the scar from where I took a knife to her flawless skin. She yanks it back from me and cups my face with both of her hands, forcing me to look at her. “Stop!” she demands. “Every love story demands a sacrifice.”
“Don’t say that.” My voice is pained.
She gives me a soft smile, trying to reassure me, but it’s not working. “Then let it go, Cole. I have.”
I wish it were that easy. She’ll forever have a reminder that I hurt her. That I thought of her as nothing other than a toy. Something to fuck with and destroy.
“I can’t.” My hands grip her narrow hips, and I dig my fingers into her skin. She doesn’t flinch. She’s always been able to take what I dish out. That’s one of the things I love about her.
“Kiss me.”
“Austin, I …”
“Fucking kiss me, Cole!” she growls as her hand falls beneath the water and finds its way into my shorts, seeking out my hard cock.
We’ve only made love since Kellan tried to kill her. I’ve tried to be slow and gentle with her, but I can tell she’s bored with it. She wants more. She’s been an outlet for my rage ever since I met her, and she knows it. But I’ve held back from giving it to her, wanting her to heal.
“I can take it, Cole.” She presses her lips to mine and gently kisses me. I don’t respond. “I dare you to fuck me, Cole, like I know you can.” Smiling up at me, she strokes me with her hand, but still, I do nothing. “Show me that I belong to you.” She stops stroking me long enough to push my board shorts down my legs. Then she leans in, running her tongue along my upper lip. My cock jerks in her hand, and she moans against my lips. “Like you fucking own me.”
“I can’t …”
She slaps me across the face. Hard. It surprises me and turns me on even more.
My breathing picks up, and her eyes glare into mine.
“You like a little pain, Cole. I do too,” she says as she drags her nails down my chest, breaking the skin. The chlorine from the water makes it sting. “Stop treating me like I’m gonna break and give me what I want.” Her lips slowly lift at the corners, giving me an evil smile that makes my heart beat faster. I love when her mind goes to a dark place. “You once told me that you wanted to make me a beautiful broken doll, Cole. All yours to play with. All yours to fuck. All yours to destroy.” She licks her lips. “Don’t go soft on me now.” She leans forward and runs her tongue along my lower lip, and I shudder. “Cole Reynolds is a fucking shark. You …”
My hands tighten in her hair, and she whimpers. “Is this what you want?” I growl, hating how right she is. That this is what we need. I hold her head in place and lower mine to where our lips almost touch. “I might hurt you.” Austin Lowes challenges my sanity and my patience. But fuck, I can’t deny that she was made for me. And I for her.
She gives me a sadistic smile as her arms wrap around my waist. “I dare you to do your best.”
“You know what those words mean to me,” I growl.
She closes her eyes. “I do.”
“You’re gonna regret that.”
Her lips part, and she begins to pant. “I hope so.”
I press my lips to hers. Within a second, I’m inside her, fucking her up against the wall of the pool as I swallow her moans and cries. Her back is up against the side of the pool, so I’m sure she’ll have marks. I can’t wait to see them while I fuck her from behind when we wake up in the morning.
I pull my lips from hers, and her head falls back, exposing her delicate neck to me as she cries out. Water splashes around us, and I hold her to me like she’s going to vanish any second.
This may be the last time you ever see her. My mind thinks of this shit every second of every day.
It’s fucking exhausting.
“Cole …” She pants.
I pick up the pace. This may be the last time she says your name. Or can touch you. I wrap my hand in her hair again and lift her head so she has to look up at me. Her eyes are now heavy, and her lips parted. She’s so close. I bury my face in her neck and nip at her skin, tasting the chlorine on her.
“Fuck, you feel so goddamn good, sweetheart,” I growl, never wanting to be without this. Without her.
Her nails dig into my sides as she pulls me into her, wanting more. Needing more. Her pussy tightens around me, and she cries out into the darkness. I follow right after her.
“I love you,” I tell her breathlessly.
“I love you too, Cole Reynolds,” she says in a soft voice.
I take her left hand in mine and look at her engagement ring. I proposed the other day here in the kitchen. Becky had come over to have breakfast with her before she went shopping with her mother and sister for the day. It wasn’t a big fancy show of affection, but that doesn’t matter to Austin. She’s not that kind of girl, and we’ve never had that type of relationship. She knows I’d kill for her, so me spouting some stupid fucking words about forever isn’t what she wants to hear.
I kiss her ring and then her lips again. When she pulls away, she gives me that smile. The one that makes me feel like the luckiest guy in the world.
“Let’s go to bed, baby. I’m tired.”
I carry her over to the steps. “Go on in. I’ll be right there.”
I watch her get out, water dripping off her body like a downpour. I’d willingly drown in it. Grabbing the towel I had for myself, she looks over her shoulder and winks at me. I smile at her. Once she is inside, the smile drops off my face, and I let out a long breath. I tilt my head back and lower myself into the water, sinking to the bottom. I sit there for as long as I can. My lungs burning for air. This isn’t the first time I’ve done this, and it won’t be the last. The need to kill is gone, but the rage is still there. When Austin looks at my fisted hands or narrowed eyes, and she hugs me or kisses me, she makes it better for the time being. But the moment she walks out of my sight, it’s back.
I get out of the pool and wring out my shorts before putting them back on. Then I do the same with my shirt I took off her and grab my phone. Walking into the house, I make my way to the kitchen for a bottle of water. I find Deke in the kitchen with a girl he brought over from the club. He hasn’t mentioned anything about the car wreck or Becky since that night before we left Collins. And for once, I can’t tell if he’s putting on a front like everything is okay, or if he has truly forgiven me and moved on. I hate it. I want to ask him, but Deke’s like me. He’ll come to me when he wants to discuss it. And it’s not like he’ll have to go far. He ended up moving in with us when Becky decided not to.
“Late night swim?” he asks, looking over my wet shorts with a chuckle. My wet shirt hangs from my right hand.
I nod. “Like every night.”