“What are you doing here?” he asks, coming over to me.
“I had to make sure she got on the plane,” I answer, unable to take my eyes from it.
“She was pissed.” He sighs. “So was Demi. She hates me.” He hangs his head.
“At least they’ll be alive to do so.” It’s the only thing I can keep telling myself. This will keep her breathing. Too many times she has been close to death just since I met her.
“We’ll see them again,” he assures.
“Maybe.” They may be getting away to a safe place, but that doesn’t assure our safety. I’d die for her without a thought. I’ll make sure we all die as long as it means we get our guy.
“Come on.” He slaps my shoulder. “Come over to my place, and we’ll talk strategy.”
I turn my back to the plane as it picks up speed at the end of the runway and pull on my door handle when a loud boom has us both ducking.
I spin around to see the very plane our wives were on engulfed in flames and plummeting to the ground. “AUSTIN …”
COLE
Sitting straight up, I gasp for air. My heart pounds, and I’m soaking wet. It’s dark. Pitch black. I blink, hoping my eyes will adjust, but they don’t.
I reach over and search for my cell. I knock it off, hearing it hit the floor. I find the lamp and switch the light on.
I’m back at home. In bed. Our bed. “Austin?” I reach over to find her asleep beside me.
I run my hands through my wet hair. It was a dream. A nightmare.
Sucking in a deep breath, I try to calm my racing heart. It felt so real. The argument we had. She was wearing her wedding dress. The drive to the airport to make sure she left. The explosion. There was no way the girls would have survived that.
I get out of bed and pick up my cell. I go to call Deke but pause. It’s a little after three in the morning, so he’s not going to be awake. He needs his sleep, unlike me. I place it back and exit our room. I make my way downstairs and open Lilly’s door to check on her. Why wasn’t she in my dream? Where was she? Had we already lost her? Was my main focus Austin? Maybe it’s because Lilly is so innocent to the world we live in. To the things that the sharks and I have done? Austin knows everything—most everything—and she still loves me.
Entering her room, I kiss her on her forehead and pull her covers up to her neck before quietly exiting. I stop by the kitchen to grab a drink of water, then return upstairs. I go straight to the bathroom, needing a shower. A second to think and calm my nerves.
My heart pounds, and my pulse still races.
The nightmares have returned. They had gone away, but for some reason, they’ve crept back into my mind. Either I’m losing it or they’re a warning.
Getting undressed, I step into the shower and get under the sprayer. I keep the water cold to help wake me up.
“AUSTIN!” I scream, running toward the flames of what’s left of the plane, but they seem to appear farther and farther away.
I shake my head, growling to myself. “Stop!”
I close my eyes, and the time she lay dead in my arms in her father’s kitchen returns.
“Cole, what happened? Did you shoot this woman?” His eyes fall to my gun that sits in the pool of her blood … “Cole!” Derek growls my name, grabbing my shoulders and pulling me back.
This time when my eyes meet his, they narrow. “I love her. I was trying to save her.”
I fist my hands and place my head under the sprayer. Opening my mouth, I try to breathe. This isn’t happening. Not again. Things have been going well. I think about what happened to her daily. When Kellan shot her, and then again when I found her tied up in her bedroom because of Becky. Those aren’t memories. Life events that I witnessed, and she lived through. But the plane? What significance does it hold? What the fuck does it mean?
I finish in the shower and get out. Wrapping a towel around my waist, I walk into the bedroom. But I stop when I see she has moved from where I left her. She’s lying in our bed, facing away from me. The covers kicked down to the footboard. She wears an oversized white tank top with black boy shorts, and that’s it. Her dark hair fans over the red pillowcase.
“Austin!” I can hear the popping of the fire. The flames heat my skin, but I’m not getting any closer. Blood rushes in my ears, and I’m gasping for breath.
Crawling onto our bed, I roll onto my side and run my hand down her back and into her underwear. I squeeze her ass.
She rolls over onto her back. One hand rests above her head, the other on her chest. I slide my hand to the front of her underwear and run my fingers over her smooth pussy.
I want her. I need to see her eyes as reassurance she’s alive.
I spread her pussy with my fingers and run them over her clit.
“Cole.” She moans quietly.
“Wake up, sweetheart,” I say and kiss her parted lips. “I need you.”
“Cole, it’s late,” she mumbles.
Getting up, I situate myself between her legs. I slide my hands under her shirt and push it up her stomach and chest. Placing my hand on her chest, I feel the slow rhythm of her heart thumping.
I let out a long breath. My eyes go to the scar from the gunshot wound. We never talk about it. She never brings it up, but I know she catches me looking. To her, Kellan is dead, so all is well. But I’m not.
I pull her underwear down her legs and toss them to the floor before dropping my hand once again between them. I lower my face to her neck and kiss her soft skin while I slide a finger into her. She’s not nearly wet enough, but I’ll get her there. She’ll be soaking wet and begging for it.
I pull my finger out and kneel between her legs. I open her up and run my tongue over her pussy, tasting her. Closing my eyes, I do it again. And then again. My hands grip her thighs tightly, and I yank her closer toward me.
I begin to fuck her with my tongue, and her hips start to move with me.
“Cole.” I hear her say my name before her hand finds its way to my hair, and she grips it tightly. “Oh, God, Cole.” She arches her back.
I don’t let up. I continue, trying to fill my mind with her voice. Her panting and her pleas. I’ve always loved the water because of the silence it offers. Austin is my ocean. I want to drown in her.
I pull away and lick my wet lips. She lies on the bed, panting with her eyes closed. I take my hard cock in my hand and press into her, throwing her right leg over my shoulder.
“Cole.” She cries out, still sensitive.
I press my hand over her mouth, silencing her. Lilly is a light sleeper, and I don’t plan on stopping for any reason.
Her heavy, green eyes stare up into mine, and I start to move. Fucking her like it’s her fault I had a dream about her dying. Again. She places her hands above her head, flat on the headboard to keep her head from hitting it.
“Fuck!” I growl, feeling her pussy tighten around me. She’s going to come again.
She breathes heavily through her nose. Her eyes fall closed, and she arches her back. My hand is still over her mouth, quieting her this time.
I slow down, and watch my slick dick slide in and out, covered in her cum. “Fuck, sweetheart,” I say, breathing hard. My eyes look back up at her. Her arms have fallen to the sides of her head, and her eyes are still closed.