Black Silk Page 5

  The one subject that I couldn’t get him to talk about however, was himself. He was surprisingly tight-lipped about his past. Although he did let one thing slip; he mentioned Europe and the Far East a couple of times and from the context it sounded like he’d spent quite some time travelling.

  I found out one more fact about him over dessert. He was seriously allergic to chocolate. How sad is that? Imagine having to go through life without chocolate.

  It was about ten-thirty by the time we drew up outside my house. Cole switched the engine off and got out of the vehicle first. I’d learned by now that he liked holding doors and chairs for me, and I felt inclined to let him have his chivalry. After opening my door, he held my hand to help me out of the truck and continued to hold it while he locked the doors with the remote. We walked, hand-in-hand to the front porch, but when we stepped up onto it I stopped and pointed at the front door. It wasn’t latched properly. I was absolutely certain that I’d locked it; in fact I’d double locked it when we’d left earlier.

  Cole turned his head to me and whispered so close to my ear that his breath moved my hair. “Go back to the truck, get in and lock the doors.” He pressed his keys into my hand.

  “Be careful, Cole.” I plucked at his sleeve. “It might be Kincaid, the guy from the gas station, and he had a gun that night.”

  He nodded and gave me a gentle push in the direction of his truck. I went, but I didn’t get in. I stood next to it nervously fingering the keys and remote instead. I watched as Cole cautiously opened the door and crept into the darkness. I strained my ears to hear any sound from inside the house; I’d almost made up my mind to follow Cole when I heard a noise. A noise I’d heard before. It was the screech-like growl that I’d heard at the gas station. A man’s voice screamed and then I heard a door slam. Sure that it had been the back door that had slammed, I ran to the side of the house in time to see a dark shadow of a man vault the fence between my yard and my neighbor’s. A smaller shadow, the size and shape of a very large dog followed the man over the boundary.

  I was unsure whether I should stay where I was, follow the shadows or go into the house. Deciding the house was probably safe as whoever had been in there had obviously run out, and knowing that Cole was in there, I climbed onto the porch and flipped the hall light on as soon as I entered through the front door.

  “Cole? Where are you? Are you all right?” The house was silent and I began to worry. I checked the living room, the downstairs bathroom, even the closet in the hall, but there was no sign of him. Finally I entered the kitchen and that was where I found the blood. There were splatters on the floor by the back door. Panic began to replace any rational thought. I ran to the back door and opened it. Peering out into the darkness I called for Cole. Running out into the backyard I called again. Nothing. Silence. Suddenly, I heard movement from the direction of my neighbor’s yard and I quietly made my way over to the fence, arriving in time to see Cole climbing back over it.

  I threw myself against him and he wrapped his arms around me, burying his face in my neck. “Cole, I’ve never been so scared in all my life. There’s blood on the floor of my kitchen. Are you hurt?” I disengaged myself from him and pulled him toward the house and into the light of the kitchen. Frantically I checked him over for any sign of a wound.

  “I’m fine, the blood’s not mine.” He caught my hands and pulled them away from their search. I looked down at our joined hands and something caught my eye. Holding his hands in mine, I ran a finger over his finger tips. There was what looked suspiciously like blood under the nails of his right hand. I looked up at him and he snatched his hands away. “I said, it’s not mine.” His tone was rough, almost angry, as he turned to wash his hands at the sink.

  The panic was ebbing away leaving me feeling as angry as he’d sounded. I couldn’t understand why I felt angry, but I was. Oh, I know, my home had been violated, but I was fairly sure that wasn’t why I was angry. My gaze was fixed on Cole’s back as he washed his hands at the sink, and suddenly I knew why. It was Cole’s reaction to my concern that had caused my emotional upheaval. Surely it had been a natural reaction on my part when I saw the blood?

  Cole finished cleaning his hands and tore some paper towel off the roll on the counter to dry them. Strangely, he kept his back turned to me even after he dried his hands.

  “Cole, how did the blood get on your hands?” He didn’t answer me immediately, and I went to stand next to him, my back against the counter. I reached out and touched him on the arm, he flinched, and I asked, as gently as I could, “If it wasn’t your blood, how did it get under your nails?”

  He kept his face averted when he answered. “He... he was already wounded, and when I grabbed at him I guess my fingers dug into the wound. That’s when he... er... screamed. The noise startled me for a second or two and he managed to run off. I gave chase, but I lost him.”

  “You were very brave but you could have been seriously hurt, especially if he’d been armed.”

  Cole looked at me for a second before quickly turning his face away again. But a second was all it took for me to see his eyes, and I drew in a sharp breath of surprise. The pupils had been elongated to points at the top and bottom, more like Mister’s than a human’s. I grabbed at Cole’s arm and pulled him around to face me; I wanted to make sure I’d seen what I thought I had. I looked into his eyes and they were as normal as mine. I gave myself a mental shake, I must have been mistaken. Probably the adrenaline playing tricks on my brain.

  “Don’t know about brave, brainless perhaps. My only thought was getting him out of your house. A saner person would have just let him run off, not chased after him.” He closed his eyes for a second and ran his hands through his hair. “It was the guy from the gas station.”

  “You sure? It was dark in here, how could you have gotten a good look at him?”

  “I’ve got very good night vision, and there was some light from the clock on the microwave and the lights on the phone and refrigerator.” He grinned at me. “Sure he looked a little green in that light, but I’m sure.”

  “Wait a minute. You didn’t see him without his ski mask the other night. You only got back to me after he took off.” I knew exactly when Cole had arrived back to where I’d been standing; I remembered hearing his breathing, and thinking that he sounded like he’d been running.

  “I’d been on the other side of the building when he drove out. I saw him through the windshield of his truck. Then I ran around the back to where you were.”

  There he was reading my thoughts again. But I guess I could believe his explanation. But a lot had happened tonight that I needed to think about. I wasn’t sure what to do next. Ask him if he wanted coffee? That was so prosaic after what had just happened. Say goodnight and send him home? I didn’t want that. What I really wanted to do was sit on the sofa with him and kiss him until morning. And if he wanted to do more than kiss, well, I think I might be very tempted to let him.

  I was still thinking how tempted I would be when Cole threaded his fingers through my hair and cradled the side of my head. I looked up at him and smiled. As soon as his lips touched mine I parted my lips and slipped my tongue out to meet his and sighed. This was what I wanted. This and so much more. I reached up and linked my hands behind his neck and pressed my body against his. My reaction elicited a growl from him and he deepened the kiss. He moved his hand away from my head and down the side of my body to my waist only to move it up again this time under my jacket to cup my breast.

  I moaned a little into his mouth as I felt his thumb brush my nipple which was already hard and aching with need. I could feel my own arousal between my legs and his was making its presence known against my hip. Cole broke the kiss and starting nuzzling and sucking on my neck, working his way down to where it joined my shoulder. “Aagh,” I gasped and arched into him.

  “My little mouse, I should go. If I don’t, I won’t be able to stop.” He whispered into my neck.

  “Wha... what if I don’t
want you to go?” I was almost beyond coherent thought, but Cole wasn’t.

  “Vic, I want to make love to you. I’ve wanted to since the first time I saw you, wide eyed and frightened. I wanted to comfort you, protect you and then make you moan in passion as I loved your body over and over.” He kissed my mouth again and brought his hands up to cradle my face. “But right now we’re both high on adrenaline. When we do this we’ll do it right, without the excitement of danger.” He set me away from him and moved so that the kitchen table was between us.

  I felt lost without his arms around me and I collapsed into a chair. Quietly, so quietly that I was almost saying it to myself, I repeated, “I don’t want you to go.”

  He came back around the table and crouched down in front of me. I looked down at his beautiful green eyes and put out a hand to stroke his cheek. He turned his head and pressed a kiss into my palm. “Are you ready to take such a big step, Mouse?”

  “I don’t know, Cole. Is anyone ever ready to step off into the unknown?” Somewhere in the back of my mind I registered that he’d called me ‘Mouse’ but decided that was a battle for another day. I leaned forward and kissed him lightly. “Stay with me, please. If only because Kincaid might come back and I’ll need you to protect me again.” I smiled.

  He looked at me thoughtfully for a moment or two before standing up and going over to lock the kitchen door. I understood from his action that he intended to stay and I held out my hand to him. Taking it gently in his, he brought it to his lips for a soft kiss. “I’ll stay, but I won’t sleep with you, Vic.”

  What the..? Didn’t he really mean it when he said he wanted to make love to me? Did I do something wrong to make him change his mind? Immediately my thoughts flew back to David, my one and only lover, and the vicious things he’d said when he broke up with me. “You don’t want to?” I could feel the sting of tears at the back of my throat. Was I so unattractive to the opposite sex?

  “Not want to? Of course I want to...”

  “Then why?”

  He took a lock of my hair and twirled it around his fingers before tucking it behind my ear. “Because we would be doing it for all the wrong reasons. Danger makes people do things they wouldn’t normally do and the flip side, when you come down from that rush, can make you even more reckless. When we make love, and it will be ‘when’ and not ‘if’, it will be because the timing will be perfect and it will feel like the right thing to do.”

  His words were a balm to my self-esteem which recovered somewhat from the imagined knock it had received. I couldn’t think of anything to say that wouldn’t sound trite, so I turned, led the way out of the kitchen and up the stairs, pausing briefly by the front door to lock it. I showed him where the guest bathroom was and told him where to find my stock of new toothbrushes and toothpaste before continuing across the landing to my bedroom and into my sinfully ornate bathroom.

  It only took me a few minutes to wash my face and brush my teeth. I didn’t have any sexy nightwear; I’d never needed any before. Shrugging, I donned the oversized T-shirt that I’d taken from my bureau and put my dirty clothes in the hamper. I came to an abrupt halt as soon as I returned to the bedroom. Cole was reclining on my bed, he was still wearing his pants but he was barefoot and shirtless. I’d known that he was lean from when I’d held him earlier, but seeing him, literally in the flesh, was a whole other ball game. I was pretty sure I could count the individual muscles on his torso and arms. His skin was tanned and there was a light dusting of dark hair on his chest. Even in a semi-sitting position his abs were defined as if sculpted from stone and more dark hair formed a thin line that disappeared below the waistband of his pants. I knew I was staring and I felt myself flushing when I saw him lift an eyebrow.

  He held out his hand and I moved over to stand by the bed. Tentatively, I put my hand in his. “Vic, get into bed and let me hold you. There’s no need to be nervous. I said ‘when the time is right’ and I meant it. Now is not that time.”

  Even though I had been the one to want this earlier, now I was scared. I trusted him to keep his word, but could I trust myself? He scooted over and I climbed under the covers while he lay on top of them. I reached over, turned out the bedside light and we were plunged into darkness. I felt his warmth through the blankets as he maneuvered himself to spoon behind me, one heavy arm resting on my waist, his big hand holding the blankets flat against my stomach.

  He kissed me gently on the sensitive spot of my neck, just below my ear. “Sleep well, Vic.”

  The adrenaline had drained away and left me exhausted. I wriggled a little to snuggle closer to him; feeling safe and protected in his arms, I let sleep claim me.

  Chapter Six

  I woke up sometime during the night to find that Cole had found his way under the covers. He was still spooned up against me and after a little careful investigation with my foot, I discovered that he’d taken his pants off at some point. Drowsily, I thought I really should move away from him, but sleep overtook me again before I could do anything about it.

  The next time I awoke it was light. I could feel Cole’s breath on my neck and by the way his fingers were playing up and down my arm, it was pretty obvious he was awake. I turned to face him. “Good morning.” I smiled at him. He looked incredibly sexy, he was in serious need of a shave and his hair was all mussed. I lifted my hand and ran my fingers through his hair, smoothing it down a little. Silk, black silk, that was my first thought when I touched it. His face was just inches away from mine and if I moved just a little...

  He had obviously had the same thought only a second earlier than I, because he moved first and kissed me. “Good morning, Mouse.” His voice was deep and gravelly. Hey wait a minute, he called me ‘Mouse’ again, I couldn’t let that pass again, I had to say something.

  “I didn’t give you permission to call me that.” I said, but softened my words with a smile.

  “I know. Will you? I think it suits you, but not for the reasons I think the girls at your high school used the name.” He kissed me again, this time a little longer. “It suits you because you’re brown and gray and quick-witted and bright. You’re incredibly sexy as well but that’s got nothing to do with mice.” Another kiss, this one a lot longer.

  “Okay, but only when we’re alone.” I returned the kiss in spades and thought that Lucifer must be getting measured for furs about now, because surely Hell had frozen over. “Wha... what time is it?” I could barely get the question out because Cole had moved on to kissing my neck and was lightly circling my nipple with a finger. Even through the material of my T-shirt the sensation was intense.

  “Who cares? It’s Sunday. The sign on the door of your store says you don’t open on Sundays.” His last words were muffled because he had his mouth full of T-shirt and breast. His teeth latched onto the hard nub and pulled. I felt an answering pull deep in my abdomen and dug my nails into his shoulders. More than anything I wanted to get naked. I brought my hands down from his shoulders and wriggled them under the blankets trying to get to the hem of my shirt, but Cole was quicker. He already had the shirt bunched up in his hands and all I had to do was help him pull it over my head. He threw the shirt in the direction of the bureau.

  He hardly missed a beat before setting his mouth back at my breast, this time taking the other breast in his hand and rolling the nipple between his thumb and finger. Every time his teeth gently bit or pulled at my breast I felt a pulse deep inside. My mouth went dry and my breathing became erratic. I jerked when I felt his fingers on my mound under my panties. Cole played with the curls he found there before parting my folds and dipping a finger into the wetness that had pooled around my center. I arched as he slipped one long finger inside and curled it around to stroke my walls, and with his thumb he alternately stroked and pressed on my nub.

  Something was building inside me. I could feel tendrils of tension weaving around his fingers and my flesh when, without warning, the dam broke and I pulsated and quivered. My fingers and toes curled as
if they were clawed as the tension reached them; and it hit me full on, my first orgasm. At least the first that hadn’t been self induced. I’d never managed to climax with David.

  I lay on the bed, with Cole’s fingers stroking my most intimate place, gentling me, bring me back down slowly. I put my hands on either side of his face and pulled him away from my breast. His eyes were dark with passion, the pupils dilated so much the irises were barely visible. I kissed him, hard. “Thank you.”

  “My pleasure.” He smirked as he pulled away and hooked his fingers in my panties taking them down off my legs and throwing them in the same general direction as my shirt. I ran my hands down his chest and around to his back. Continuing my path of discovery, I realized then that he wasn’t wearing any underwear. Had he been completely naked all this time – even during the night? I’d already admired his butt when encased in jeans, but the feel of the reality was heaven. It felt tight and muscled to my touch. Keeping one hand on his ass cheek I brought the other around to investigate what my romance books called his ‘manhood.’ Oh boy. My hand felt tiny on his penis as I stroked it lightly with my finger tips. Moving my hand down to the base I held his balls in the palm of my hand, well I tried to, Cole was definitely not a small guy.

  I could feel my arousal building again as I thought of how it would feel to have him inside me. I looked up at him and he was watching me with hooded eyes. “Is the timing perfect now?” I asked breathlessly between kissing his mouth and any other part of his face that came near me.

  “Yeah, and it’s the right thing to do.”

  Oh yes, definitely the right thing. It felt so incredibly right. He pushed into me and I took him all the way to the hilt. I felt stretched, filled and totally taken. We started to move to a beat we could both hear, perhaps it was our hearts or something more surreal but we found our rhythm and it was perfect.