Cole(45)

I couldn’t even process this switch, so I held on to Cole’s hand. That was it. I focused on him, and a moment later, he ducked inside another room. It was a private box, directly above the DJ’s booth, which was three floors below us.

Cole spoke to the three men before he shut the door behind us. I was relieved.

He noticed me watching the door as he came over, his hand touching the small of my back. “What?”

I didn’t ask who they were. Gut instinct told me he wouldn’t answer. “I thought they were coming in with us.”

“No.” His hand tightened its hold on my back, his fingers pressing in. “But two of them will stay out there. It’s just typical security measures.”

I held his gaze. “Really?”

He stared back, not blinking, no reaction, until his hand fell away. “They’re a part of the stuff I can’t tell you about.”

That was what I thought. “Don’t bullshit me, okay?”

One corner of his mouth curved up, and his hand came back to my waist. “I won’t.” His finger tucked into a part of my dress where there was an opening, and he tugged me back until I came into full contact with him. He pressed right up against me, and his arms came around, holding on to the box’s wall as he dipped his head down to rest on my shoulder. He spoke right next to my ear. “I’m sorry.”

I closed my eyes, not caring about the hundreds of people beneath us. The entire club was dark. The lights had been flashing over the dance floor, but I knew no one could see us from below. I leaned back, winding my arms up around his neck. My back arched, pushing my breasts forward. My dress had a low V-neck, so I knew he could see. I wanted him to see. I wanted him to touch, to caress. I wanted all of it.

“Addison,” he murmured into my ear.

I could hear his desire, and an almost drugged smile crossed my face. The security guards were gone from my mind. The feeling of sex that penetrated the club’s atmosphere had slipped past my walls, and I wanted what I’d wanted back in the room. I wanted Cole to kiss me.

I wanted more, as well, but until then… I turned around, my arms looping around his neck. I leaned back so I could see him. The club was now our backdrop.

The same primal want stared back at me. I touched the side of his face. “I’m going to go back to my life tomorrow.”

His eyes grew hooded.

“But this night, being here, this isn’t normal for me. I don’t do this kind of stuff. Thank you.”

He frowned. “For what?”

“For pulling me out of that life, at least for a bit.” For waking me up.

His hand gripped my hip, and he moved in, pressing against me. I felt him grind into me, and a drunk feeling coursed through me, though I’d had nothing to drink. He dropped his head down, brushing a kiss to my naked shoulder.

He murmured against my ear again, “It should be me thanking you. You have no idea.”

I stilled. His tone wasn’t normal. He wasn’t guarded, and he wasn’t teasing.

Then he said, with an eerie seriousness, “My life I can’t talk about, but this—you coming to me—is like a breath of oxygen. I can breathe again.” He dropped his mouth, lingering on my shoulder. “Something pure among so much tainted.”

I closed my eyes. I wasn’t going to ask what he meant. He wouldn’t tell me, but I reached back, took hold of the wall, and used it to push myself forward, even closer to him. I caused a small opening behind us, and Cole wound his arm around me, lifting me in the air.

I gazed down at him, half-laughing, my arms around his neck. “What are you doing?”

He grinned back, his eyes so dark and wanting as he turned me to sit on top of the bar in our box. I thanked goodness we had no bartender, and then Cole stepped between my legs. He touched my face again, tilting it as he came in. His lips pressed to mine, and right there, another tingle went down my spine. He was where he was supposed to be—with me, touching me, being with me.

I pulled him in, and I didn’t care who could see us. As he deepened our kiss, I let go of everything. There was only this moment. I was only with him. Tomorrow I would think about the future. Tomorrow I would think about Sia, about my life back in Chicago, but right now, for this moment, it was only Cole.

It was only Cole and the sensations he had unearthed inside of me.





We stayed in that box for half the night, just making out. And when we couldn’t hold back any longer, we went back to my hotel room.

Cole woke me early in the morning with more kisses and touches, but he had to leave around six. He had more business to attend to, and the plane was waiting for me when I woke again later.