“And why are you calling her Super Domme?”

Okay, no, he didn’t miss it.

“Mason, I think you need to calm down,” Lena advised as she reached across to where his palm was clenched on the table.

“I think someone needs to start fucking talking!” Mason shouted as he turned his eyes to where Rachel sat silently, watching everything swirl around them.

Cole was going to let her answer. He was sure of it, but then the look on her face told him she had no idea what she wanted to say, and he hated that she felt so cornered. So, he stepped in.

“I think you should calm down, Mason. If and when Rachel wants to talk to you about it, I’m sure she will.”

“Cole, I think you should probably let them talk.”

The low warning came from Joshua, and as Cole zoomed in on him, he asked, “Is that the advice of my friend or from a man who once kissed my wife?”

“What?” Shelly sputtered, her mouth falling open.

“Oh, that’s really mature, Cole,” Joshua pointed out.

“I don’t particularly think anyone is acting very mature at this table, so why should I?”

“What does he mean you kissed Rachel?” Shelly asked again, looking back and forth between Rachel and her fiancé. Then her face split into a grin as it dawned on her. “Oh, you mean when you were teenagers? I think it’s sweet.”

“Oh. My. God! Would you all just shut up?” Rachel finally yelled as she stood and glared at everyone.

Cole sat in silent admiration as she turned on Mason.

“You owe Cole an apology.”

“I will not—”

“What?” she demanded, interrupting him. “Act like an adult? Right now, you are acting like a teenager who wants to beat up my boyfriend you disapprove of. And if I remember correctly, you never did that to him,” she accused, pointing at Josh, who was now sitting back in his chair with his arm slung over the back of Shelly’s chair.

“You dated Josh?”

This question came from Lena, who looked like she was trying to hold back a grin. Cole noticed the side of her mouth twitching, and he knew she was struggling.

“No, I didn’t date Josh. I had a crush on him in high school.”

“A huge one,” Shelly added with a smile.

“Awww.” Lena finally lost the battle, and the grin broke free. “That’s very sweet. I bet he was a real sweetheart in high school.”

“He was her first kiss,” Shelly interjected, receiving a frosty glare from Rachel. “What?” Shelly feigned innocence. “It is sweet. And I have it on good authority that he is an excellent kisser.”

Cole could tell Rachel was close to losing her cool as she let her eyes move over everyone sitting at the table.

“This must be so much fun for you all, and I get it. I used to give you all shit when you brought someone new in. I don’t have any issue with that, but you…” She paused, turning to her brother. “I expected so much more from you.”

Cole saw the way that comment hit Mason. His eyes clouded, and Cole could sense the anger draining from him, but Rachel wasn’t finished. She leaned down until she was nose-to-nose with her brother.

“You haven’t only embarrassed me, which I expected and probably deserved, but you have hurt and humiliated me tonight. I never thought you would ever do that.”

Pushing the chair back, Rachel threw her napkin on the table and looked across to where Josh was silently staring up at her.

“Nothing to say? I’m surprised. I figured since you and Shelly must have had a fantastic laugh about me behind my back that you would be full of comments right now.”

“Rach, it’s not like that.”

“Save it, Josh. I thought at least you would be on my side.”

Cole glanced over to his friend, who was now frowning.

“I would like to leave,” Rachel requested softly.

Standing, Cole buttoned his jacket and nodded to the table. “It’s been…interesting.”

And with that, he took Rachel’s hand, and they left the table, heading out the same way they had come in.

* * *

The entire drive home, Rachel had been running through everything that had just happened, and she felt numb. Going in, she had known that Mason would be annoyed, but she had at least expected him to calm down enough to listen. His reaction had been unlike anything she had seen before. It was like he was a powder keg, and someone had lit the fuse. Rachel was still blown away by the ferocity of his anger.

“Hey,” Cole said, his voice sliding through the interior of the car.

“Hey.”

“Mason will come around,” he tried to reassure.

“Honestly, I’m so angry at him right now that I don’t care if he does.”

“Yes, you do.”

“You’re right,” she admitted begrudgingly as she stared out the window. “I do care. I just don’t understand why he is so mad.”

There was a long pause, and then she felt Cole’s large palm on her thigh.

“Strange emotions can take over when a person no longer feels needed.”

Rachel placed her hand over Cole’s and looked at his profile in the dark confines of the vehicle. “Huh. You think that’s what was going on tonight?”

Cole shrugged a little before he responded softly, “Perhaps. I get angry about my mother’s situation, and it’s usually because I feel unable to do anything about it. It’s like I am suddenly no longer necessary.”

As they pulled into the parking garage at his condo, Rachel turned in the seat to face him. “But that’s not true. By you going there, you help her. You give her moments of happiness.”

“I guess. Maybe Mason feels like he’s lost you.”

“Well that’s ridiculous, and it doesn’t excuse his moronic behavior.”

“No, it doesn’t,” he agreed.

He unlocked the doors, and they climbed out to head inside.

Making their way through the lobby, they got into the elevator silently and Rachel leaned back against the far wall, staring at the numbers lighting up in front of her.

4, 5, 6, 7…

Cole remained beside her but touched her in no way. For a moment, she worried that he had changed his mind after witnessing the chaos that was her family.

11, 12, 13, 14…

“Don’t change your mind,” she blurted out into the silent space.

There was a second of silence.

“Look at me.”

Turning her head against the back wall, Rachel found Cole facing her.

“I’m not going anywhere.”

Blinking once, Rachel looked away and closed her eyes on a sigh. As the elevator climbed, she heard nothing, except for the whisper in her ear.

“Tell me what you need.”

She knew the whisper was real, and she knew he could give her the one thing she wanted more than anything right now—to feel. When she opened her eyes, the elevator dinged and lit up number 26. Rachel pushed away from the back wall and turned to face her husband.

“I need you to make me forget about tonight. Take me someplace new.”

Stepping up close to him, she placed her hands on his chest. As the doors swished open, Rachel felt Cole’s fingers trace her cheek.

“That, I can do. Let me show you my office.”

His office?

It must have been behind one of those shut doors she hadn’t been in yet.

Silently, she took his hand and trusted him to make good on his word.

23

Cole followed Rachel into his condo, and he was shocked to find he was excited that they would soon call this our home. It amused him on some level that when he had left this place last Thursday, he had been heading out on his first date with her, and now, here they were, walking back inside his—scratch that, our—home as a married couple.

As she stopped by the table in the foyer, she looked over her shoulder, letting her eyes run down him where he stood just inside the door.

“Which door?”

Cole unbuttoned his jacket and shrugged out of it. Placing it on the coatrack, he undid his left cuff and began rolling it up his arm as he made his way toward her. “Second to the left. It’s my office and library.”

When he stopped behind her, he let his eyes travel over her elegant back to her tight ass that was encased in those black leggings. Quickly, he undid the right cuff and rolled it up and out of his way. Without touching her, he leaned down and placed his mouth by her ear. “Let’s go.”

Placing a hand on her lower back, Cole heard her breath hitch, and he saw her shoulders shift as she started to move forward. Following her closely, he took a deep breath and reminded himself that tonight was about making her forget. It was about making her feel again, and he had the perfect idea in mind.

When they stopped by the door, he reached around her and grasped the handle. He felt her lean back into him, and Cole took the moment to breathe her in. The shampoo she used was mixed with the lingering scent of her hair dye, and it was one hundred percent Rachel.

Pushing the door open, Cole stood back and gently nudged her inside. She moved into his office and stopped in front of his desk, running a finger along the mahogany wood. Leaning his shoulder against the doorjamb, Cole watched her as she silently looked around the space.

There was a large window that overlooked the lake, and on the far side of the room were bookshelves that spanned the entire length of the wall and ran from the floor to the high ceiling.

Over the years, Cole had collected hundreds of hardbacks, both fiction and non, and he had stored many of them here in his private office. He loved to read, and as Rachel moved toward them, he realized they had yet another thing in common.

Looking over to him, she gave a small smile as she pointed to the books. “I didn’t know you were such an avid reader.”

Cole raised a brow as he reached up and undid his top button. “I’m sure there are many things you don’t know about me yet.”

Turning back to the books, she nodded, obviously giving that statement some thought. “Yes, I suppose you’re right.” Reaching out in front of her, she ran a finger down the spine of one of his books. “I love to read also. This is an amazing collection.”

Keeping his eyes locked on her, he watched her walk down along the wall, trailing her fingers over the books as she went. When she reached the ladder he had installed so he could reach the books on the top shelves, Cole had a stunning vision. Immediately, he felt all the blood in his head drain south as Rachel stopped in front of the ladder and looked up.

“Wow, I love this.” When she tugged the side of the ladder, it started to roll to the right. Laughing, she did it again, and the ladder smoothly rolled along the brass bars it was attached to.

Cole felt his breathing speed up as she pulled on the ladder once more, bringing it farther into the center of the wall.

“Rachel?” he managed to say as X-rated images continued to flash through his mind.

Her name didn’t come out as a statement. It came out as a question, and as she looked back at him with her hand still resting on the smooth polished wood, she froze in place. He knew she could see it. She could sense the need that was suddenly clawing at him like a caged beast.

“Yes,” she whispered.

Cole pushed off the doorjamb and walked over to the desk. Leaning his backside against it, he let his eyes finally drop from hers to the tight sweater molded to her magnificent breasts. He saw them rise and fall with every breath she took, and he found it difficult to pull his eyes from them.

“I want you to take off your clothes slowly.”

Her breathing quickened at his suggestion, and he could see the lust as it entered her eyes. It was the same desire he was now feeling. Opening her mouth, she was about to speak until Cole lifted a hand and raised an index finger to his lips.

“Shh, no talking.”

Instantly, Rachel closed her mouth.

Cole added, “You aren’t to make a sound, or you will wait until tomorrow morning to come.”

As her eyes narrowed on him, he felt his lips twitch, but he didn’t let the grin appear. Instead, he stood and moved around to the leather chair behind his desk. He sat down, barring her from any view of him from the waist down.

Lifting his chin slightly, he raised a brow in a gesture that shouted, Begin. Leaning back in the chair, Cole settled in to enjoy the show.

* * *

What is he doing? Rachel thought as she kept her eyes on him.

He looked so incredibly attractive right now as he sat behind his desk with his shirt rolled up his arms, baring his tattoos to the naked eye. Add in the way he had undone the top two buttons of his shirt, and the man looking back at her, her husband, was the sexiest man she had ever seen. His eyes were focused on her, and his mouth was pulled taut into a neutral expression.