Maid for Him.

Chapter Twenty-One

Once Marigold was out of sight and Tess was sure they were alone, she whipped around so fast she nearly gave herself whiplash. She stared at Cole through narrowed eyes causing him to shift uneasily in his seat. "What?" He asked finally.

"How could you just bring a woman that looks like that to meet me when I look like this?" She indicated to herself.

"Well in my defence, I wasn't to know you would look like that." His eyes widened. "That didn't come out right. I meant—"

"Shoving her hands on her hips she said. "How would you expect me to look with only three hours of broken sleep?"

He got up and walked around into the kitchen. He reached out to her and dragged her into his arms and she let him. The firmness of his chest and the warmth radiating from him, had her wanting to curl up, right there in the kitchen and have a nap. He slid his hand up into her hair and held her head against him. The thumping of his heart sped up slightly, thump, thump, thump it beat into her ear.

Butterflies flitted around in her stomach, bashing against the lining, trying to escape. She gulped back the lump that seemed to have appeared from nowhere and lodged itself in her throat. He slid his hands up her spine, under her blouse, her skin tingled under his touch.

She peered up at him and he reached out and pushed the hair from her eyes. He smiled a closed mouth, half-smile but his eyes twinkled. Cole. The old Cole was back. In truth, maybe he never went anywhere in the first place. She was the one that couldn't seem to think straight. Her mind wandering off here and there.

He traced a line with his finger up her arm, to her neck and then under her chin where he lifted it so she looked directly into his eyes. They held each other's gaze for a moment before he stooped down and whispered in her ear, "I got you."

The warmth of his breath brushing against her ear sent goosebumps charging up and down her arms.

"We'll sort this out. You'll be fine. I'll make sure of it," he continued to whisper.

One hand crept down to her ass, where he pushed her against him. He looked at her, and there was a question in his eyes. She smiled and stretched up to kiss him. He leaned down and met her half way. His lips firm against hers, they kissed, his mouth devoured hers until she lost all time and place. Unsure if it was due to the fogginess of exhaustion of some sort of clouded Euphoria. She began to sway and he swayed with her.

Her hands yanked at his shirt, willing him to remove it. He got the hint and slid it from his body and threw it on the floor, before taking the bottom of hers and whipping it off over her head. Her hands went to cover her stomach. She wasn't used to it like it was, soft and pudgy. She'd hoped to go straight back to her pre-baby body.

"Don't." He growled.

So she didn't. She enjoyed the moment. Maybe a little too much, she reached for the button of his jeans and popped them open. Sliding his jeans to his ankles, where he kicked them off. He reached his hand out and placed his hands just slightly inside the elastic of her tracksuit pants. He paused. "Can we do this yet?" He asked.

"Yes." She whispered. Probably a week too early but nothing was going to stop her this time.

He pushed them to the floor and she stepped out of them. Standing naked other than socks, in the kitchen with the morning sun streaming in through the windows she noticed for the first time, the scars across his body. They weren't there when they dated before and she realized they must have been from his accident. From the look of them, the accident was even more serious than she'd thought.

Reaching out a hand she traced the scars with her fingertip until Cole grabbed her wrists and pushed her arms up above her head. He held them there with one hand, while he trailed kisses up and down her neck. When he trusted she'd stay there, he let her hands go and kissed his way down to her breasts where he circled her nipple with his tongue, before dropping kisses gently down along her breastbone to her stomach. He paused briefly, reaching a hand out to touch her stretched skin, before continuing on and kissing her belly.

They stood, clinging to each other. The feeling of being this close to him sent her skin prickling with heat. She wanted him so badly, not just now, not just in her bed, but for keeps. She loved him. He reached down and scooped her up into his arms and carried her to the bedroom. Kissing her all the way. She wrapped her arms around his neck where his pulse hammered against her arm.

Laying her back on the bed he lay next to her. "Tess... I... I know things have been difficult but... but... I need you to know. I love you. Everything else can be worked out," he said, his voice gruff.

She placed her finger on his lip hushing him. "And I love you."