His for the Taking - By Ann Major Page 0,26

the bad girl of Yella, Texas?”

“I expect wild, wanton sex,” he murmured as he kicked the bedroom door shut. “Lots of it.”

Seven

She was lying under Cole in his dark bedroom writhing against his hot, hard, naked length. She was in his arms again after six years of abstinence, and he was doing all the wickedly delicious things she’d dreamed of for years. He was skimming his fingers over her everywhere, loving her with his lips and his exploring tongue.

Then, in the next moment, the horror of the past intruded on the sweetness of their fragile present.

She was a frightened, young girl again, trapped beneath another man, a vicious man she hated, whose rough hands and foul-smelling mouth tore at her body.

Suddenly, all the dark memories she’d worked so hard to suppress overpowered her.

With her hair still damp from a final afternoon swim and her heart full of love for Cole, she’d rushed home to the trailer fresh from having made love to him on the grassy bank beside the pool. Thinking herself alone, she’d let herself in, only to find her mother’s boyfriend, Vernon, sprawled on the sofa in dirty, ripped jeans and a T-shirt. With his huge, tattooed arms, he’d seemed like a spider waiting for her in that tangled web of darkness as he’d squashed out his cigarette.

He’d come on to her before, and she was usually able to avoid being alone with him. “Why aren’t you at work?” she’d asked.

An ugly, drunken snarl had distorted his scarred face as he lunged toward her. “What’s it to you if I got fired? Bet I know who you’ve been with. The whole town knows about Prince Coleman Charming.” When she’d tried to squeeze out the door again, he’d grabbed her arm, wrenching it behind her and dragging her back inside, locking the door.

“I know where you spend your time. You won’t let me touch you because I’m not good enough. Then you chase Coleman like a bitch in heat. Who do you think you are, girl? Well, I’ll tell you! You’re Jesse Ray’s girl, that’s who! You’re nobody! Worse! You’re trailer trash, just like me! Hell, you’re lucky to get me!”

Vernon had reeked of beer and cigarettes and worse as he’d slammed her against the wall and pressed his pelvis against her as she’d fought desperately to escape. How she’d reeked of those things, too, later, when he’d finished with her.

Afterward she’d felt so dirty and scared and ashamed. Most of all she’d felt powerless. Sore and battered, she’d cried and cried, but what good had her tears been? Vernon had laughed and said nobody would believe her if she ratted on him, not even her mother. And he’d been right.

When her mother had thrown them both out, Maddie had known she couldn’t tell the authorities. If her mother hadn’t believed her, there was no way the cold-eyed sheriff would. Nor would anyone else. Hadn’t they always thought the worst of her?

Even before Vernon had hurt her, she’d always been afraid Cole thought he was too good for her. Still, she’d gathered her courage and called him. Only that was when his mother had answered. In Maddie’s broken emotional state, Mrs. Coleman’s harsh words had compounded Vernon’s injuries tenfold. She had crushed Maddie’s spirit and her sweetest hope of love and happiness.

Don’t think about the past! Don’t!

Cole shifted his weight beside her, staring at her in the dark. Gently, his hands brushed her cheeks. “Your eyes are glassy and wild, and you’re shivering and crying. Why?”

“Am I?” In shock, she traced her cheeks with her fingertips and realized they were wet. Thinking about Vernon could do this to her.

“No reason,” she lied. All the secrets that had driven her from Yella still lay like a stone on her heart.

Cole drew her closer and bent his head to nuzzle her hair. “I’ve dreamed of this,” he whispered. “All through my marriage to Lizzie, you were there between us. I wanted you even then. And I felt horrible about it.”

“I know. I’m sorry,” she said, empathizing more than was wise. His breath against her ear made her tremble.

“I felt so guilty. But I would lie in bed, with her beside me, thinking about you—about your lips, about how your nipples used to peak when I kissed them, about your silky black hair and how I loved to play with it. I think I hated you for that…more even than I hated you for Vernon.”

At the mention of Vernon, Maddie sobbed hoarsely.