“It’s fine. They’re fine. I’m used to it. There is nothing they can say or do that I haven’t encountered before. I’m a grownup, Echo.”

  “Right.” I shifted my weight from foot to foot. “Um, also, there’s going to be a party,” I blurted. “Next weekend, after the qualifiers are finished. It’s not just for me. My youngest brother Gage has finally settled on a school, so it’ll be a lot of family friends and some business associates. You’re invited, of course.”

  “Me?” My brows snapped down. “I’m pretty sure I’m not on the guest list.”

  I frowned at him. “You’re my coach. Why wouldn’t you be invited? Regardless, I think you should come. I can introduce you around to some people who might prove useful to you down the line, when you need a new runner to coach.”

  “Going to go for it with designing?” he asked with a smile.

  I sighed. “We’ll have to see how things work out.” I needed to go before I jumped him. Seriously, I might lick him soon if I stayed. I inched toward the door. “I should go. I told my parents that I was going to celebrate with Jen tonight. Please promise me you’ll come to the party. I want you to be there.” Damn, I sounded desperate. Get out of Dodge before you say anything stupid.

  His gaze locked on mine and rooted me to the spot. Why was it so hot in here? I swallowed hard. Getting out of the building and into the fresh air would help clear my head. I hoped he couldn’t hear the pounding of my heart from where he stood, which was a bit closer than a second ago.

  “You know, we didn’t get to celebrate your qualifiers. You want a protein shake to celebrate?” he asked. His voice was quiet and low like mine.

  I peeked up at him and his gaze was trained on my lips. I licked them briefly before agreeing. “Got any hot chocolate? My trainer is a bit of a food Nazi, and I deserve hot chocolate.”

  His bark of laughter cut through the tension. “I think that can be arranged.” He backed up a few steps and disappeared into his microscopic kitchen.

  “I might even surprise you with Kahlúa and marshmallows,” he called.

  I laughed. “Okay. Just don’t tell my trainer.” I waited a moment before following him. He had one of the cabinets open, and had set two mugs on the counter. He poured milk into a pot on the stove, and added chunks of dark chocolate to the heating liquid.

  I watched in awe. “Seriously, you don’t have to go to any trouble.” It was just a drink, nothing more…no matter how my stomach fluttered at the mere thought. I glanced around the kitchen as he stirred the pot.

  “If you’re gonna cheat, go big. Make it worth it,” he chuckled. “Besides. I’m not a coach right now. I don’t have my whistle.”

  Even as I laughed, my gaze landed on a piece of paper in a small wooden frame hanging on the wall, and my breath caught. “You held on to it?” I asked. “Why?”

  He shrugged as he stirred. “I like it,” he confessed. “You’re…talented. In more ways than one. I’d still like to see some of your more professional sketches.”

  I blinked back tears. “I’d need a model, first,” I teased, leaning against the kitchen counter.

  I watched Cole’s throat work as he turned off the stove. He poured the hot drink into our mugs and inched closer. The heat of his body warmed the space around me. My heart thundered, and the blood rushed in my skull. Why couldn’t I think around him?

  “When did you say you were supposed to be meeting Jen?”

  “I didn’t. I told my family that’s where I was headed, but Jen…well, she’s used to me showing up on her doorstep, unannounced,” I whispered. “Or not showing up at all…” my voice trailed away.

  In one swift move, Cole pulled me close, and pressed me against the counter with his body. With a groan, I arched into him. His hips pushed against mine and he dipped his head. Cole teased me with a glide of his lips on mine, and I moaned. Taking advantage of my parted lips, he slid his tongue in to taste me.

  As our lips and tongues played with one another, I slipped my hands around his waist so I could pull him tighter. With a low growl, Cole slipped a knee between my legs, easing them open. The press of his erection against me was enough to make my knees wobble. Even as I whimpered, he cursed low.

  I slid my hands up, teasing my fingers into his hair and gently tugging. His hand caressed my hips as he kissed along the column of my throat.

  “Jesus. Fuck, you taste so good.” Dragging up the layers of my skirt, he hissed when he reached my panties. I parted my legs as he pulled them down off my hips. I gasped as his hand found my slick center and he used his fingers to part my slippery flesh, teasing me.

  One of my thighs slid up his until his free hand hooked beneath my knee and lifted it higher and wider onto the counter. Oh God. I needed him inside me. “Cole, please. I need—”

  But he kissed me again, swallowing my request. He pulled back and dropped his forehead to mine. “You feel fucking amazing. Do you know how many times I’ve thought about that day in the bathroom? Single-handedly, the hottest moment of my entire life.” He breathed against my cheek. “Maybe I can repay the favor? Hmm?” When he slid his fingers over my clit, I shuddered. “Why don’t you show me how to do this like I showed you?”

  He wanted me to show him? Oh, God. Despite my nervousness, I lay my hand over his, intertwining our fingers. Could I do this?

  “I want to know. Show me how you like to touch yourself.” His eyes were hooded as he spoke, as if he were entranced in the spell he wove around us.

  Biting my lip, I widened my thighs. He licked his lips again as he watched, his harsh breathing the only noise in the room. Heat spread through me as he watched. I was so aware of every breath, every movement, every sound. All my senses heightened.

  With Cole providing an assist, I slid my finger up and down my cleft over the slickness. Back and forth, up and down. My fingers stayed intertwined with his. The rough callouses on his hands and fingertips only served to heighten the aching need. He so easily took me to the edge it scared me. I paused, unsure of myself.

  “God, princess, please don’t stop. I’m begging you.”

  With my gaze locked on his, I widened my thighs even further, to give him the view he wanted. When I dipped a finger inside, one of his followed and he cursed low. “What are you doing to me?”

  “Cole, I need you to help me.”

  “Oh, princess, I am helping you.” He tugged off my top and tossed it over my shoulder.

  I reached for the top button of his jeans, popping the metallic disc through the loop. “Not what I meant.”

  His brows rose when dawning hit. “You want to use something else to play with, instead of my finger?”

  I bit my lip, even as I nodded.

  Happy to oblige, Cole worked his jeans and boxers down, freeing his straining dick. He guided himself to me, and I hissed on contact. Yes. God, I needed this so much. When Cole smoothed the tip of himself from cleft to clit, I threw my head back, moaning.

  I slid my fingers over my clit while he teased me with his cock, driving me to the brink of madness. “Some days, this, with you, is all I can think about.”

  I reached for him as he drew back. But he tugged on the zipper of my skirt and helped me work it over my hips.

  He didn’t say anything as he watched me step out of the skirt, but the way he was looking at me, and the way one hand dropped and began to absentmindedly rub his cock, reassured me as I stood naked before him.

  “The couch?” I suggested.

  Cole picked me up, and I wrapped my legs around his waist. He sat us back on the couch. Reaching into his pocket, he dragged out his wallet and grabbed a condom. Sheathing himself quickly, he pulled me to him. I smiled down at him. I felt beautiful when he looked at me. Strong. Capable. Sexy. I took hold of him, looking down to guide his cock. He watched as he guided himself into me and we both groaned as we settled into each other. I looped my hands around Cole’s with a groan, his arms locked at the small of my back.

  Riding him, I used my thighs as I rose over him and sank back down. Cole’s grip tightened on my hips, and his head fell back as he thrust up and into me. Our rhythm was uneven at first, but after a minute the initial desperation—to touch and be touched, to give and take—settled into the slow but steady push and pull as we clung to one another.

  Cole’s muttered sexy words echoed mine. He rocked his hips over mine faster, and I took him deeper as I chased a thread of ecstasy. All the sensations were too much.

  The thrum of my blood was too loud in my ears. I would have missed Cole’s hushed chanting of, “Echo, Echo, Echo. God, you feel so good. Want to come so bad,” if not for the tightening of his hands on my hips.

  He buried his face in my chest, his tongue seeking out my nipple. When he latched on, I cried out, the tug of need hitting me deep. I bowed my back, as he moved one of his hands from my waist to my clit, pressing his knuckle to the swollen button that craved more friction. I arched my body toward bliss, as I shifted my position just enough to rock against his knuckle, my breath coming out in moans. I shuddered with each stroke of his knuckle until the muscles in my abdomen and legs seized and spasms wracked my body, clenching and releasing Cole’s cock. With a low moan, he dug his hands into my hair and tugged. With deep strokes he filled me. And then he groaned, his body going stiff as he kissed me deep.

  Too tired to move, I whispered against his shoulder. “So you’re going to come?”

  “I think we both already did,” he laughed, tilting his head to kiss my jaw, his laughter rippling through the both of us.

  I shook my head slowly. “I meant the party. I want you to be there.”

  “You want me there?” he asked. “As what?”

  I frowned, uncertain. “This…whatever this is…” Shit. I had no idea how to do this.

  He kissed my nose. “Relax, I don’t know, either, but I know I want to keep touching you. It’s been torture to not touch you all this time,” he said. “I’m sure I’m crossing a boundary, but I don't give a shit.”

  “Cole, I didn’t come here to confuse things.”

  He nodded even as he pulsed inside me. “I know.” He kissed me softly. “Right now I just want to hold you, okay? We’ll figure it out later, yeah?”

  I nodded and my inner walls clamped around him. “Okay. Maybe. Until we figure it out…let’s keep it to ourselves.”

  His voice was impassive. “So as your coach then, nothing more,” he confirmed. “As your coach I will be at this party.” He nuzzled my neck. “But maybe after, I can be more than your coach.”

  I nodded. “Thank you,” I whispered before kissing his shoulder.

  We grabbed our mugs of hot cocoa and our clothes, and headed for the bedroom. Cole now stood in the small open area between the bed and his bathroom, his hands fisted on his hips and his chest puffed out like some sort of superhero.

  I was having a hell of a time sketching a suit onto his naked form. For one thing, the faces he was making were making me laugh too hard to draw a straight line. And for another, I would much rather let the tip of my pencil trace the lines and contours of his nakedness. So I took the sketch in another direction, holding the pad of paper over my chest to keep him from seeing the finished product when he crossed the room to investigate.

  “What the hell? What am I? You drew me as a superhero? Who am I supposed to be?” He squinted at the picture.

  “Superheroes always wear spandex,” I told him.

  “It’s a bit revealing, don’t you think?”

  “Not for Cock-Man,” I giggled. My phone rang on the bedside table, but I ignored it.

  He tickled me mercilessly. “If I’m Cock-Man, what does that make you?” He laughed and slipped his hand between my legs. My phone rang again, and I groaned. Holding up a hand, I reached for it, my body going cold when I looked at the caller ID.

  “Gramps,” I answered, sitting up in bed and pulling a sheet over myself as if he could see. “What—why are you calling me so late?” There was only one reason I could think of to explain such a call. Fear ripped through my chest as I struggled to keep my voice calm. “Is everything all right at home? Dad… Mom… Everyone’s all right?”

  “Of course. Everyone’s fine,” he answered gruffly. “I’m calling because I want to talk to you about this week’s races. Your father said you were out. But I think we should strike while the iron is hot. You did well, and I’m proud of you. You’ve shown what great things you’re capable of accomplishing.”

  “Well… Thanks, Gramps. But maybe we can talk tomorrow when I’m home?”

  He ignored me. “Which is why I think you should reconsider—”

  Hell. This wasn’t about me at all. It was about him. “I’m not reconsidering anything.” I was firm, but he wasn’t deterred.

  “The half-marathon, then,” he pressed. “It won’t be as strenuous as training for the full marathon, and you did so well in Boston it would be a shame to just give up. Worse, to never even bother trying. If Cole won’t allow it, we’ll get you someone else.”

  “I’m not changing my mind on this one, Gramps. And I’m not changing coaches,” I pushed back.

  “Where’s Jen? I want to talk to her. She’ll understand and be able to talk some sense into you.”

  I hung up and tossed the phone onto the bed beside me, rather than throw it across the room the way I wanted to. I reached for one of Cole’s pillows and flopped backwards onto the bed, screaming into it then letting my arms drop to my sides, the pillow still covering my face. “Just…put me out of my misery, please,” I jokingly begged Cole. “I cannot stand it anymore.”

  “Well,” Cole said, lifting the pillow from my face and setting it back at the head of the bed, “I think hanging up on him like that was a good first step.” He took the notepad I’d been drawing on and went to put it back on his desk in the corner.

  “I’m going to do it,” I insisted. “I’m going to put my foot down after the Olympics and just stop letting them push me where they want me to go. You know, my mom’s already started downloading applications for MBA programs for me. Now that they know where Gage’s going, it’s like they need the next project to focus on, and they keep coming back to me.”

  I squealed as Cole grabbed me by the ankles and pulled me to the edge of the bed, his torso smooth against the soft skin of my inner thighs. He slid his hands up to grab me beneath the knees, a thumb skimming over the red carpet burns on my kneecaps, left by what we’d done earlier on the floor, and eased open my legs.

  “I have the cure for your frustration. I know just what you need to focus on right now.” He kissed my inner thighs. “I believe you dubbed me Cock-Man. If I’m Cock-Man—” He made quick work of another condom, then used the tip of his cock to slide along my slick opening, while I arched on the bed and dug my fingers into his blankets. “—then I think that makes you, Wet Woman.”

  I sighed as he pushed himself the rest of the way into me and hissed something unintelligible. He was right. He knew just what I needed. I would focus on the now.

  I laughed but the sound quickly turned into gasps as he changed angles to hit my G-spot just right. Oh, God. I swallowed, my hands loosening their grip on the bed sheets and traveling to tease my breasts as he moved faster. “Cole. Oh God. Please—”

  “Right there, Echo? Is that what you wanted?”

  “Yes, God, yes. More…please,” I panted, his hold on my legs pulling them farther and farther apart as he stroked me deep. Touching me in places I didn’t know existed. The first wave crashed into me and I screamed, my inner walls clenching him between my thighs, keeping him within me, holding him still until the pulsing brought him over the edge, too.

  “Fuck,” he ground out through clenched teeth.

  This was what I needed so desperately. Freedom, release. From the stress of training, the pressure to win. Being with Cole like this was the longest I’d gone without worrying about any of it. All I wanted to do was stay here forever.

  22

  Cole

  Keep your shit together.

  That may have been what I told myself, but the next morning, as I watched her approach the practice track, I grinned like an idiot. She’d left my bed not an hour before, but we’d come to practice separately, because there was no doubt Rory would be there to yell at the both of us.

  She met my grin with one of her own. “Morning, Coach.”

  I couldn’t help but laugh. “Morning, Princess. You’re in a good mood. Wonder why.”

  “Maybe it’s because this guy I’m seeing has the most interesting way to wake me up. I mean, it was pretty awesome. He does this thing with his tongue, and then there was this thing with his fingers. It was quite unexpected. Makes a girl blush, just by thinking about it.”

  “Woman, you keep talking like that, and your grandfather is going to get a hell of a show, because I will carry you over to those bleachers and show you my special moves again.”

  “Seriously, he beat me here?”

  “Yeah. Beat me here, too. Maybe he wanted to see if we arrived together. Dunno. He hasn’t approached me, though.”

  She shook her head and her brows furrowed. I hated to see that look on her face. Unfortunately, I saw it too often. It was her I’ll-buckle-down-and-deal-with-it face. Except I didn’t want her to buckle down and deal. I wanted her to be free with her feelings.

  “Echo, you don’t have to talk to him.”

  She threw up her hands. “Yes, I do. I was rude last night, so I’m awaiting that particular piece of ass-handing fun. I really can’t take pressure today. I can’t even be happy for a whole two hours in the day before someone else shoves something on my damn shoulder.”

  No, I could not afford to have her spinning. Not after all the work we’d already done. That part was coach-think. Guy-who-gets-to-see-her-naked-think wanted to protect her. Luckily, I had a way to merge both parts of my brain and give Rory Coulter a big ‘fuck you’ in the process. “Listen, you’ve worked really hard. How about we take a fun run?”

 

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