Black Silk Page 13

  Five-thirty couldn’t come soon enough for me and I got more and more nervous as the afternoon wore on. I started closing the store at a quarter past. I wanted to be able to leave as soon as Cole arrived.

  At exactly half past five, I was startled to see Cole walking out of the back room with my coat over his arm and my purse in his hand. I was ready to leave and slipped on my coat when he held it out for me. I grabbed the bouquet of flowers from the bucket of water I’d used to keep them fresh, wrapped some newspaper around the stems and held my hand out for my purse.

  Cole stopped at the front door and removed a folded piece of cardstock and a roll of sticky tape out of his jacket pocket. I watched with curiosity as he tore off some tape, opened the card and stuck the sign on the inside of the door. I opened the door to read the message from the other side of the window. ‘Due to unforeseen circumstances Hudson's Books will be closed on Saturday. We apologize for the inconvenience.’

  The gossips were going to have a field day with that notice but I had no argument with it. I needed a day off. He flicked on the alarm and I locked the door behind us. “Do you mind if we go in your car?” Cole held out his hand palm upwards. “And I’d like to drive, if that’s okay with you?”

  I nodded, and handed over my keys. He gathered up my hand in his large one and we walked to my car.

  The drive was silent until I realized where we were heading. “We’re going to your house?”

  “Yes. I’ve been cooking.”

  I fell silent again wondering what he had planned for the evening. I was even more nervous than I’d been earlier. I knew this was probably going to be the most important evening of my life. I was going to give Cole my answer and I hoped I’d come to the right decision.

  Cole pulled up in front of his house and I waited in the car for him to open my door and help me out. I loved his rather old fashioned manners and I hoped he never succumbed to more modern ones. We entered the house and the first thing I noticed was that there were flowers everywhere. It was like a greenhouse. There were flowers on every surface and, dotted in-between, were candles ready to be lit. A new sofa took pride of place in the living room and there was a computer desk with a brand new computer set up in one corner. He led me into the kitchen and the table was set for two.

  He stood behind me and put his hands on my shoulders, silently asking for my coat. I slipped it off and he hung it over the back of one of the chairs, holding out another for me to sit in. He opened the fridge and removed a bottle of white wine and poured some into two glasses.

  I accepted one of the glasses as he handed it to me. “You’ve gone to a lot of trouble.”

  “This evening is special, Vic. I want it to be memorable.”

  “Are you so sure of me?”

  “No. But I’m hoping to woo you.”

  I laughed, my nervousness dissipating in the face of his fake insecurity. And just like that, things returned to the way they had been before Tuesday evening, except now I was sure of my feelings.

  “Deputy Garvin called today. From what he said I guessed you’d been successful in retrieving the bullet.”

  “Yeah, not a lot of people around at three in the morning.” He winked at me.

  We made very little small talk as Cole served homemade vegetable soup which was delicious and then salmon en croûte. “Did you make this pastry yourself?”

  “No, I’m not that brave. I bought the pastry frozen, but I made everything else, including dessert.”

  I finished eating and sat back in my chair. “I saw you’ve got a computer set up, do you have an internet connection yet?”

  “The line is supposed to be laid early next week. I’ll believe it when I see it.” He obviously didn’t have much faith in the local phone company. “Why don’t you take your wine into the living room and I’ll bring in dessert.”

  He followed me into the other room with a plate and a tiny spoon. When he handed me the plate, I raised my eyebrows in surprise. “Chocolate mousse?”

  “I hope it’s okay, I obviously couldn’t do a taste test.” He sat down next to me and watched me with an eagerness which was just a little disconcerting.

  I could only scoop up a tiny amount of the dessert with the little spoon he’d given me, but when I tasted the mousse, I forgave him the small spoon. I closed my eyes as the heavenly smooth taste of chocolate melted over my tongue. I took another mouthful and another. “Cole, this is the best chocolate mousse I’ve ever had.” I put my spoon in the soft cream again and hit something hard. I frowned as I extracted something metallic from the dessert. I put the plate down on the floor at my feet and examined what I’d found.

  I realized then why he’d given me such a small spoon to eat with. I rubbed some of the mousse off the object with a finger and looked up at Cole. He looked back at me hopefully. Slowly, I rose and went into the kitchen. He followed me to the sink and watched me rinse the chocolate off under running water. I put the object in Cole’s palm and held onto his hand. “Ask me,” I whispered.

  “Will you, Mouse? Will you marry me?”

  “Yes.” I was surprised that it was that easy to accept. He slipped the white gold band with a solitaire diamond onto my ring finger. “I love you, Cole.” I reached up with my now diamond adorned hand and pulled his head down to mine. “I’m going to kiss you now, are you going to try and bite me?”

  “I might nip you a little.” He grinned suggestively at me. “But that was going to be my next question.”

  “It can wait until I’ve finished kissing you.” I kissed him then. We stood in the kitchen and kissed like we were pledging ourselves to each other. Which, in a way, we were. I pulled back and led him back into the living room but I didn’t stop there, I continued to the stairs and he followed me up to his bedroom. I stood by his bed and slowly unbuttoned my shirt. I held his gaze as I slipped out of my top; I unzipped my jeans, toeing out of my shoes before pulling my pants off. He watched me with fire in his eyes as I unhooked my bra and pulled off my panties. Naked, I whispered. “Ask me.”

  Cole didn’t say anything immediately. He slowly undressed as I had done, watching me the whole time. He came and stood in front of me, close but without touching me. I lifted my face and arched my body back, inviting his embrace. He lowered his lips to mine in the softest of kisses, just a whisper of a touch. His fingers grazed my cheeks and he moved them down my neck, over my shoulders and down to my back. With agonizing slowness, he pulled me closer until we were touching from lips to knee.

  In silence his lips left mine and traveled down to my breasts fastening on first one then the other, suckling gently. His journey did not end there; he knelt on the floor at my feet and kissed my navel before finding his goal amongst the curls at the apex of my thighs. He began to kiss and suck my center, continuing until my legs began to quiver and I had to hold onto his shoulders for support.

  With a soft chuckle, he stood up and pushed me gently down onto the bed. He settled next to me caressing my skin with feather-like touches, his erection nudging at my hip.

  “Will you, Vic? Will you commit to me? Will you mark me and let me mark you, so all will know that we belong only to each other for as long as we both live?”

  “Yes, Cole. For as long as we both live.”

  He rose up and covered my body with his. I spread my legs to invite him into me and I felt his erection rub against my core, smoothing moisture over my folds. My hips surged up almost of their own volition and he entered me. He pulled out and entered me again and again until he was fully encased inside me. We stilled, savoring the wonder that our joining had produced.

  I held on to his shoulders and pulled him toward me for a kiss. This kiss was no feather touch like before. This was a joining like we were joined elsewhere. Cole started to thrust with both his hips and his tongue; I met each and every one with a thrust of my own. I felt the sharpness of his canine teeth on my tongue and I wondered how I was going to mark him with my own dull ones. He broke off the kiss and looked down at
me with wide eyes. “Vic. Your teeth.”

  I frowned, wondering what he meant. A dull ache registered in my brain, the pain coming from my upper jaw. For a moment I thought he’d nicked me with his canines until I felt the sharpness of my own teeth against my tongue. Genetics and instinct had taken over. I smiled and my new look had an obvious effect on Cole as he thrust even harder. I arched turning my head slightly, offering my neck to him and he bit down. There was no pain because as soon as his teeth punctured my skin I came hard, so hard I could hardly breathe. I opened my eyes to see his shoulder a breath away from my lips. I kissed the skin then opened my mouth wide and bit down. I felt him shudder as he climaxed but he didn’t remove his mouth from my neck.

  The taste of his blood as it flowed into my mouth was salty and sweet at the same time. I drank. It seemed the most natural thing in the world. After a minute or two my teeth slowly retracted and I licked the wounds I’d made and I felt Cole licking my neck at the same time. We lay quiet for a moment or two, our breathing slowing and regulating. He was getting heavy so I pushed on his chest and we rolled over and I sat up, still impaled on his body.

  He reached up and smoothed his hands over my breasts and down to my midriff, finally settling on my hips, holding me still as I sat on him. I glanced over at the still unopened box of condoms on the nightstand. Stretching I picked it up and held it up for Cole to see. “Do you think you can lob this into that waste basket next to the dresser?”

  Cole grinned and took the offending item from me. “I probably could but I wouldn’t want to dislodge you. Can I assume we’ll not be needing these in the future?”

  “You assume right.” I grew serious. The diamond on my hand flashed in the moonlight streaming in through the window as I reached out to touch the tiny wounds on his shoulder. “Did it hurt?”

  “No. It felt right.”

  “Yes. It did. I love you, Cole.” I lay back down on him and he held me close. I had found my spiritual home and it was in my mate’s arms. I relaxed in his hold and let sleep take me.

  Fin