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Chapter 121

last update Last Updated: 2023-04-24 01:46:07

"N-nothing.”

He drew back, but it was only to stand and pull Cole from the swing and into the crook of his arm. He didn’t usually hold her like this, so there was a brief moment when he almost felt like a stranger.

But his cologne swept over her like homecoming and Cole melted. Snuggled. Pressed her cheek into the soft, body-warmed cashmere of his jumper. And then burst into tears.

“What did I do?” he asked, sounding kind of stricken.

Cole made a grotesque gurgling noise. And finally managed, “You were missed. You were missed way too much.”

“I missed you too. Enough to chase you to the ends of the earth, my Cole.”

“Only on a technicality.”

“It still counts and I’m taking it.”

She sort of laughed and sort of sobbed. “You’re not going to lose me unless you push me away. Can’t you trust, just a little bit, that I like you?”

“It’s hard to believe.”

“Why? Haven’t you seen yourself?”

“Yes, and you’re e
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    And Cole watched Aiden, who was both nothing like she had thought he would be and yet still, somehow, everything she wanted. He was stern and sweet, rough and gentle, invincible and vulnerable, wickedly sexy and unexpectedly kind. He missed his father, didn’t understand his sister, resented his own desires, and, occasionally, made Cole the center of his goddamn universe. Cole knew herself well enough to recognize that she was well and truly fished. All it would take was a twitch upon the line, and she would be arse-over-elbows in love with him. Once they had taken the edge off their hunger, conversation flowed pretty naturally. Cole noticed early on that Aiden was doing his thing again, asking lots of questions, discovering where someone’s passions lay and letting them talk. But he had already been way more forthcoming than he had to be—all that stuff about chess and his family—so Cole left him to it. She simply enjoyed the way he had of making people feel listened to and importan

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    By the time Cole had dealt with everything and shown him how to find the bathroom, being alone with Aiden felt incredibly significant somehow. Almost too much. Cole had always loved her mom’s room. It had been storage space when they first arrived, but her mother had done it up. It was right at the back of the house, in the pointy bit. The bed was tucked under the eaves, and her mother had strung up a bunch of fairy lights so it felt like lying under a canopy of electric stars. It was Cole’s favorite place to read, tucked under the handmade quilt and propped up on the jewel-colored throw pillows, the sea whispering to her just on the edge of hearing. It had seemed pretty magical at the time, but with Aiden standing there – hunching a little to avoid banging his head on the ceiling and looking as if he’d been airbrushed in from an issue of GQ – it seemed more kind of…shabby. Quaint, if one were feeling generous. And then he pulled his jumper over his head, and Cole stopped worrying

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    Laughing, Cole kicked out playfully with her foot, which made him laugh, too, and drag her down the bed. They tussled as quietly as they could, muffling giggles in each other’s skin, until they were just embracing, tangled up together. Aiden’s hands swept up her spine, bringing heat and a hint of possession. And Cole gasped, shamelessly eager to be touched and claimed. Full of this unexpected gratitude. She hadn’t realized just how empty he’d left her. How much she’d ached for roughness and for tenderness and for him. “Cole,” he whispered. “My Cole.” He brushed the back of her neck. She didn’t even know she was sensitive there but she half thought she could feel the whorls in his fingertips. Sensation spilled over her skin like a river breaking its banks, pretty much dissolving her into squirms and whimpers. “Please, oh please.” She hardly knew what she was begging for. But Aiden did, sitting up and gathering her into his lap, before covering her mouth with his. Such a good

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    Cole glanced up. “I'm not. I mean, it wasn’t fun. But I trusts you. With the worst of me, as well as the best, and all the squishy ambiguous bits in between.” “Thank you,” he said, unexpectedly grave. “I hope to always honor that trust.” “As I will for you.” He didn’t respond. “So, y’know”—Cole nudged him gently—“your turn.” It took a long time, but he did eventually speak. The words coming slowly and painfully, like razor blades from his lips. “If I tell you, you’ll know what Eleanor said about me is right. That I’m sick and twisted and I ruin everything that’s good.” “She only said that because she was angry.” He shook his head. “No, she said it because it’s true. You see, she learned who she was when she was fourteen years old.” “What happened when—wait. When your father died?” “After that. When she seduced his business partner. His best friend.” Cole genuinely had no idea what to say. To

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    Cole pulled off a truly Ellery-worthy eye roll. “One cigarette a month is hardly going to kill him,” she said. “Is that what he told you? And you believed him?” Natasha asked. Now that she thought about it… he did tend to reach for his cigarettes once they’d sexed. And he’d smoked after dinner. And during Star Wars. And just now in the gCole. Oh fuck. Fuuuuuck.Natasha shook her head at her. “You poor, sweet girl. You don’t know him at all, do you?” “I… I’m in love with him,” she said, her voice barely audible. “I can see why you’d believe that. Aiden can be quite dazzling when he chooses. But you don’t understand anything about who he is. Or the damage you’re doing to him.” She tried to reply, to protest, to defend herself. Defend him. Defend them. But she had nothing. Aiden had de-clawed her with his secrets. Left her powerless and alone. “You deserve better,” Natasha went on softly. “He’s using you like his cigarettes. You

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    “I love it when you hurt me. I love everything you do. And everything you are,” Cole said. And that was when Aiden turned and drew her into his mouth. It was the teeniest bit awkward—he even nicked her slightly with the edge of his teeth, suggesting maybe he didn’t do this all that often. He certainly hadn’t with her before. Not that she’d minded. He made her come just fine. But…wow. He could have been actively terrible and she wouldn’t have cared: Aiden Crux was sucking her pussy. No teasing. Only his tongue sliding tight round her, his mouth soft and hot and perfect.Ohfuckohfuckohfuck. She was…Aiden was… Cole turned her head into her shoulder in an effort to muffle her noises. Which were at least as loud as when he’d been torturing her nipples, and probably even less dignified. Pain was one thing. She could take pain. But she was pleasure’s bitch. Hone

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    His fingers closed around her through her dress and squeezed until she bucked and moaned. Some of the anguish faded from her face, the tight lines of her brow and mouth yielding to desire, and something tender she might have called hope. “Don’t move,” he whispered, as he stepped away. “Okay.” Her heart thumped as eagerly as a puppy’s tail. She loved the anticipation that came with his commands. And she loved pleasing him. Of course, her nose started itching almost immediately. But she was determined and ignored it and held still as he had told her to. Aiden circled the pillar, leaving her standing there like Andromeda. Well, Andromeda if she had a massive erection. Then he drew her hands behind her and she felt the cool brush of silk against her skin.It encircled her wrists. Pulled taut. Oh my God. His bowtie. He was bondaging her with his own bowtie. She made a noise of surprise and exciteme

  • Miss Goody Two Shoes    Chapter 181

    He didn’t quite flinch but he got that look: the closed down, I am a million miles away from you look I knew all too well. “I’ll leave you to enjoy it.” And, with that, he…went away. Again. Cole bit down on a gasp of frustration. She wanted to kick him in the shins. He couldn’t just fix what was probably years of hurt and misunderstanding with a single, and very small, gesture. Also, the fucker had barely spent five minutes with her. But she pushed all that aside and turned her very best and sparkliest smile on Ellery. “So what happens next? Do we all die of the plague?” Ellery sneered at the room. “Mm, here’s hoping.” “Wow, that’s the last time I RSVP to an invitation from you.” “I don’t mean it.” She sighed and with the air of a small child being forced to eat Brussels sprouts added, “Thank you for coming.” “I didn’t know you played the violin.” Ellery shrugged. “I’m brilliant. When I’m not rusty.” “

  • Miss Goody Two Shoes    Chapter 180

    “What do you look for?” Cole asked. “The thing nobody else sees,” He replied, propping his hip casually against a piece of furniture she didn’t have a name for—something ornate and impressive, probably a credenza or vitrine or whatever. “Society photography comes down to one very simple principle. Anyone can take pictures of Kate Middleton and Lady Gaga. The trick is getting a picture of Kate Middleton with Lady Gaga.” “And have you?” “Not yet. But she’s a long way from dead, and hopefully so are they.” Cole laughed. In a strange way, the woman reminded her a little bit of Aiden. The same conviction, the same merciless drive, although focused and expressed very differently. She guessed it was becoming pretty apparent she had a type.But mainly Cole was grateful. Now, when she looked across the room, she met smiles. Flashes of recognition in other people’s eyes. She knew faces and names. She could have joined some of the conversations. Instead of drifting around pathetically. Stil

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