Nicole Edwards - Temptation

Her body opened to him, taking him in until she wasn’t sure where she ended and he began; an all too familiar cliché she hadn’t fully understood until that moment when their bodies joined in the most elemental of ways.

“You feel so good.” Sierra moaned, unable to hold herself back.

He lifted her knee, holding it close to his side, changing the angle as he slid slowly in, before retreating. Over and over he filled her. Sierra wanted the moment to last forever, wanted to remember the way it felt in Cole’s arms, making love to him, giving him her very soul. Because when it was over, she knew she would have to walk away.

She couldn’t possibly love two men. And how could she ever believe she and Cole weren’t settling?

“So tight, baby.” Cole groaned.

Sierra lost herself to the sensations, Cole’s impressive body above her, his seductive mouth doing wicked things to hers. When he slid his rough, strong hands down her arms until their palms touched, fingers intertwining together, then lifting them above her head, Sierra knew she was a goner. There was too much emotion involved. She wasn’t going to survive with her heart intact if he kept doing what he was doing.

“Faster.” She pleaded, trying to pull him closer, trying to buck beneath him, needing to ratchet the heat up a notch so he wouldn’t look at her like that. Like she was all he ever wanted. Pressing her mouth to his, she closed her eyes, needing to put some distance between them, even if only in her mind.

“Look at me, Sierra.” Cole stated once more, breaking the kiss. “Look at me.”

The demand was unexpected, but she stared back into his eyes, hoping he’d see everything he wanted to find.

“I love you, Sierra.” He whispered the words, but Sierra’s heart heard them like they had been shouted through a canyon, the meaning ricocheting through her until… she shattered.

Cole groaned, his body tensing as he held still above her, his release filling her body while his words filled all of the dark spaces inside of her. For the life of her, Sierra couldn’t say the words out loud, but she knew…

She definitely knew she would never be the same.

Cole couldn’t have moved if he wanted to. Lying in the darkened room, Sierra’s soft body pressed up against his side, he accepted that he’d died and gone to heaven. That was the only explanation for what had just happened. He had made love to Sierra. And what they had just done couldn’t be categorized any other way.

He’d taken his chances coming to her house that morning. After spending the last two months sitting on the sidelines, waiting for Luke to make up his mind, to figure out what the hell it was he wanted other than mind blowing sex, Cole had somehow managed to fall in love with this one small woman. But that’s where normal ended, and unusual picked up, because what Cole was feeling couldn’t be described any other way.

Being pulled in two different directions was not uncommon for Cole, but when it came to his emotions, this situation couldn’t have been more outrageous if he’d dreamed it up himself. The night before, he’d wanted nothing more than to pull up to Luke’s house, barge in and demand the man wake the fuck up and take notice. Instead, he’d talked some sense into himself and gone home to an empty house. Too much had been at stake, and thankfully, Cole had come to his senses before he made the biggest mistake of his life.

Second biggest, actually. The first had been coming to Sierra’s that morning and giving in to the temptation that had eaten away at him for weeks.

Lying beside her, Cole recognized the mistake, knowing he’d never be able to just walk away from her again. It didn’t matter how he felt about Luke, there was a part of himself that was reserved solely for this woman.

Maybe he should have remained on the sidelines, played the third like he’d been doing for years. That would have been the easy way out. Unfortunately, he couldn’t sit back any longer. He did what was expected of him, he walked away from Sierra although it tore him apart to do so. He sat back and waited for Luke to figure out what he wanted and where did that leave him? It left him wondering just what the fuck he was doing.

Coming to see Sierra hadn’t been a calculated move. According to Sam, Sierra was leaving, and Cole couldn’t bring himself to sit back and let her just walk away without showing her – no, telling her – exactly what he felt for her.

Sierra stirred in his arms and he pulled her closer. Her slim thigh slid over his while her hand drifted over his chest, and Cole wished like hell that they never had to leave the bed.

Luke felt the tension in his shoulders the second he pulled into Sierra’s driveway, taking note of the all too familiar truck parked on the street in front of the house. There was no mistaking the huge black Silverado and that could only mean one thing. Cole had found another place to go the night before.

After last night, Luke wasn’t prepared to face Sierra or Cole, let alone both of them together. And he wasn’t sure he could explain the emotions churning through him. His brilliant idea to show up at Sierra’s house, pray that she would let him through the door, now seemed like a rash decision. What had he been thinking?

And wasn’t that the fucking question of the hour. Luke had done nothing but think for the last two hours. Ever since he woke up in his bed alone, he’d contemplated the result of his actions. The way he’d purposely pushed Sierra away, the way he’d denied whatever it was he had begun to feel for Cole, although, for the life of him, he didn’t understand it.

Explaining it away didn’t make things any easier. The fact of it was, Luke was so totally screwed. He’d gone and fallen in love with Sierra. That wasn’t all that surprising. The woman was incredible. In every single possible way. So sweet, so sensual, and so damn beautiful his eyes hurt to look at her. Those glowing blue eyes penetrated his very soul, and she saw so much more than anyone else had ever bothered to.

On top of that, he’d somehow let himself feel something for Cole. Sure, he’d been shocked by the way he had reacted to the man that night at his house so many months ago. When Cole had gone to his knees… fuck .

The top of Luke’s head had damn near come right off when Cole had gone to his knees and sucked him into the deep, hot recesses of his mouth. Until that moment, Luke had never known anything like it. He had only known his own need to possess the man, to own him. He needed Cole’s total surrender and he had received it. Cole’s rough touch had assuaged an ache Luke had thought would never be soothed. An ache that had taken up residence inside of him and longed to be sated.

Shutting off the truck, Luke opened his door and stepped down. His heart was beating like he’d just run a mile. What was he about to walk into?

No, he wasn’t naïve enough to believe Cole and Sierra hadn’t found solace in one another. Hell, he’d pushed them away. Both of them. And neither of them had done anything except try to be what Luke needed.

He hadn’t thought about Cole’s declaration from last night until he stepped out of his front door that morning. Cole had said, or more accurately, threatened, that he was coming by. Unless Luke had been too damn drunk, which was quite possible, but highly doubtful, Cole had never made it to his house. And seeing his black Chevy in front of Sierra’s house told him why.

With resigned steps, Luke managed to make it to the front door. He hesitated briefly before he pounded his fist on the wood, his heart suddenly lodged in his throat. What was he going to say to her? Would she even listen to him?