works its way up my chest. A hungry rumble. All my senses are firing at full speed, all my desires are living close to the edge of my skin as I lower my hand, sliding it down her arm. “You’re going to love it, Sage. Do you know why?”
“Why, Cole?”
I stroke her forearm, savoring the soft feel of her skin as my fingertips graze her. “Because of everything I said to Daniel at the bar. You love to be touched. Everywhere. All at once. You love to be so blissed out you can’t think. You can only feel.”
She trembles as I tell her this, then nods. “That sounds true.”
“And I think I know why.”
“You do?”
“I do,” I say, threading my hand through her hair again, letting her lean back, seeking out the contact she craves.
“Tell me.” It’s a needy plea from her. Perhaps a desire to understand herself.
And it’s far easier to focus on her than on me.
I meet her eyes again as the limo cruises slowly down the Strip, past the flashing lights of skyscrapers and billboards flickering beyond the tinted windows. “You spend all day taking care of people. You work hard for your employees, for your hotel, for your family name. You care about the city; you care about giving back. You care deeply and immensely for your sister and friends, and your parents’ legacy.”
“I do. That’s all true. And so?” She seems eager to hear what I have to say. She’s on the edge of her seat even as she’s in my arms.
“And at night, you want to be taken care of. Everywhere,” I say, running my fingertips down her chest, through the valley of her breasts, along her belly. “And in every way. You want so much pleasure it blots out all the things you store up here all day long,” I say, returning to the side of her face, tracing her temple. “You want to let go of your need to care about everything and everyone. Including your legacy. Including the ones you love most—your family,” I say, and her eyes widen, her lips flatten. But not with annoyance—more with wonder. Maybe even with an awareness that perhaps she’s been understood. “And you can let it all fade from your mind. Fall away from this big, beautiful brain of yours.” I lean in close and whisper in her ear, my voice going low, harsh, even. “And you like it when I can fuck it all away.”
Lifting her chin, she pulls back, locking her eyes with mine. “Stop reading my mind,” she says, a little curve on her lips.
I drop a kiss to her sweet, sexy mouth, consuming her kiss, her sighs, her murmurs.
She breaks the kiss and sets both hands firmly on my chest. “And is it my turn to analyze you?”
I laugh, then shrug. “Sure.”
“Were you trying to get out of answering the question, Cole?”
“No. I wasn’t,” I say, though that’s not completely true. Perhaps I was. “So tell me. Why do I want you the way I do?”
She slides her hand down my chest, resting it on my stomach. I brace myself for her to mention the last woman I cared for. For her to delve into how it felt to lose someone I was falling in love with.
“Because you want to prove you’re worthy.”
My eyebrows shoot up. Her answer came out of left field. “What do you mean?”
“You said your father told you that you weren’t good enough.”
“Yes, he did.”
“And I think you do everything you do to show that you are more than good enough. That you can build and create and make things happen. Now, pleasure is one of those things. I believe it’s part of how you see yourself. As a man who can give the most incredible pleasure to a woman.”
That’s interesting.
Perhaps surprising too.
I hadn’t thought of it like that. I suppose the sharing was always a game, even a bond, I shared with Daniel. Then it turned into something more after Georgia. A need. A craving.
An excessive desire to feel good and wipe away the hurt.
But was it always something else all along?
And if so, what of that?
Is this part of how I show I’m good enough?
There’s only one way to find out. I curl a hand around her head, a sly grin tugging at my lips. “Let’s see if you’re right, Sage. Let’s see if I’m that man who can give incredible pleasure to one woman. To you,” I say, then I lay her down