The wind rushed over the building, pounding the rain harder against the windows. Safely inside, isolated, they were warm and dry.
Asher and Sophie had probably gone for their absurdly early morning run, then the urgent against-the-door. It was their wedding day, of course they were hot for each other.
“Hey, Trace?” Cole asked as the next timer ended.
She stopped, dropping her knees to the ground. “What’s up?” she asked, breathless from the workout, her pulse raging and ready for the cool down that was still at least ten minutes away.
“About last night—“
“No. Don’t,” she said, shifting her attention back to the video, prepping for the next move. “That one was my fault.”
Out of the corner of her eye, she watched as his shoulders subtly slumped, and he shifted into position. Was he not about to apologize? It seemed like every time she turned around, he was apologizing for something, when he hadn’t done anything wrong. She’d been the one who kept messing up, getting close and then…
Shit. Trace wanted to kick herself in the butt, but butt-kicks weren’t on today’s workout plan. The way Cole looked at her, the sweet, steamy curiosity that seemed to grow more intense every day?
Maybe he still saw her as the woman he imagined her to be.
Maybe he needed more time to figure himself out.
Maybe then he’d stop apologizing for making her feel challenged. Sexy. Appreciated. Human.
The timer buzzed, and in the brief rest, she switched to all fours for bear crawls.
On hands and knees, Cole focused hard as he lifted his knees off the ground. Carefully, gritting his teeth as he braced himself, he pushed forward one step at a time, hands perfectly under shoulders. Pushing, sweat beading at his temples, he moved forward, paused, then reversed.
A nag in her belly. A tug in her chest. A catch in her breath. Trace adjusted her crawl and veered off her mat, moving close to him. Spinning, she dropped to her butt next to his mat. She pulled one leg up and rested her forearm on her knee, watching him.
Cole pushed back to his heels, quickly correcting the movement to ease the pressure on his ankle and lowering to sit in front of her. Close, but not so close that he would cross a line.
“About last night,” she said softly. The music from the workout pumped behind her, timers beeping. The wind rushed against the windows, rattled the door. Daylight was rising.
Breath shallow, he looked at her more intensely, the question raging in his mind that raged in hers, his gray eyes swimming, and she knew she’d unsettled him.
Trace held his look, searching, quietly letting him know she wasn’t going to run away this time.
Reaching, she leaned close and grasped her hand at the back of his neck. No pause, no hesitation, she closed the distance between them and touched her lips to his.
Fearless, he melted away every doubt she had allowed to consume her.
Fully in the moment, he angled and kissed her thoroughly. Lips soft and curious, he drew her in without urgency.
She shifted to get closer, moving her leg over his and sharing his mat.
Mouth hot against hers, he groaned and wrapped his hand around her thigh.
Breathless, she indulged more, mating her tongue with his. She spun into a dizzying, invigorating dance as she let go. Rising, desire surged from deep in her belly, flowing and filling her, the sensation so foreign, but with Cole, she wasn’t afraid to pour herself into the moment.
With her every stroke, Cole kissed with intensity. Yearning beyond reason that made her want him more. Passion and attention. The ambient scent of sea and sand flowed between them, the scent of his sweat, damp on his skin.
It wasn’t enough, one spontaneous kiss. She needed all of him, and she selfishly wanted him now. The line between them had shattered, and she refused to look forward or back. “Let’s go to the room,” she murmured against his mouth.
“Fuck yes,” he growled, kissing her deeper, neither moving and she wasn’t sure how to break away long enough to get somewhere they could get naked and finish this.
Fists pounded against the doors, catcalls and “woo-hoos” bringing her back to the present. Very familiar voices.
Cole stopped and bit his bottom lip, a mirthless laugh resonating up his throat as he slowly opened his eyes.
Trace knocked her forehead into his, groaning playfully before tipping to look past him at the interruption.
