All She Ever Wanted - Barbara Freethy [64]
"Just when I think you're down, you get up swinging," Cole murmured, admiration in his voice. "You're amazing, Natalie."
"I'm pissed off."
"True. And I don't think we should let all that passion go to waste."
Before she could ask him what he meant, his mouth was on hers, hot, demanding, insisting on a response, and her body gave it willingly. Anger mixed with desire, and all the emotions she'd been trying to control exploded in one colossal, spectacular kiss that completely swept her away. She gave herself up to the moment, to the need that told her she'd always wanted this man, and she probably always would.
Wrapping her arms around his neck, she pulled him even closer, and when his hands cupped her breasts, she moaned into his mouth. She wanted his hands on her. She wanted to take off her clothes, and then take off his. She wanted nothing between them ... not even a memory. Her mind started to drift, and she yanked it back, thrusting her tongue into Cole's mouth, taking him by surprise this time. His tongue danced with hers as they battled for the lead. He wouldn't give it up willingly. Neither would she. She wanted him, but she couldn't lose herself in him. That would be disastrous.
"Damn, you can kiss," he muttered against her mouth a moment later, as they both took a badly needed breath.
"Don't stop," she murmured, the words bursting from her mouth.
"I sure as hell don't want to. There must be something about you and me and cars. I can't seem to keep my hands off of you."
Those hands ran through her hair now. He held her head in place as he pulled back to look at her. His eyes were dark with desire, his mouth full, tinged with the shade of her lipstick. She loved that small mark of possession. Maybe this man would never be hers entirely, but for a few seconds she'd had him right where she wanted him.
"You don't know how much I want to climb into the backseat with you. Just like we did before," he said.
She felt a wave of heat flood her cheeks, and she closed her eyes. But it didn't matter. She still saw him in her mind. He'd been wearing a tuxedo that night. She'd had on a short red cocktail dress that had cost her a fortune. They'd started kissing on the way to the family Christmas party at the Fairmont Hotel. They'd made out at every stoplight, stolen kisses at every stop sign. And when they'd pulled into a parking space a block away from the hotel, they'd scrambled over the backseat like two teenagers at a drive-in movie.
It had been awkward and clumsy. They'd laughed until they'd kissed and then the sparks between them had burst into passion. It had been unbelievably intense. But that was Cole. His energy, his fire had always made her want to break the rules, throw off the restraints of her life, be someone wild and free, so different from the usually careful and cautious person that she was. She, Natalie Bishop, had given it up in the backseat of Cole's father's Mercedes. And she didn't care. Being with Cole had felt perfectly right. She'd been waiting for him her whole life, and that night she hadn't wanted to wait one second more.
Her breath stuck in her chest as she tried to breathe through the idea that she could have it all again, that passion, that intensity, that fire. She could be that young, reckless girl again.
"Look at me," Cole said.
She didn't want to look, didn't want to be dragged back to reality, but finally she opened her eyes and saw that he, too, remembered.
"It was good," he murmured.
"It was spectacular."
"We finally agree on something. That's a start."
"A start to what?"
Cole hesitated a second too long, a second that revealed more than he could ever say.
"Forget it," she said quickly, anticipating