The habitual evening thunderstorm rolled in from the sea before they pulled into the drive. Rain had just begun to splatter the windshield and Leena lost courage to ask him in, sensing he was anxious to get back to his own place. Still, she really didn’t want to be alone. Not yet.

Fate intervened.

“Did you leave your door unlocked?” he asked, shifting the truck to park.

She followed his gaze to the cottage. The door thumped against the outer wall with a sudden gust of wind.

“I don’t remember.”

Cole was out and across the yard before she had time to consider the implication. She raced after him. He had already made a quick exploration of the property when she got inside. “It’s okay,” he said, thumbing the casing. “This hinge has worked loose, is all.” He pulled the door shut with a mighty jerk and gave the casing a rap. “I’ll fix this better in the morning.”

A red light on the phone blinked.

Leena drifted over, her finger lingering over the ‘play message’ button. Who else would call her except Colin? There were three messages.

“Hey baby. Are you there? Pick up.” During the pause she was certain she heard a woman’s muffled voice in the background. Leena was, after all, adept a picking up voices that drifted through the background. “Right, well, I’m calling to let you know I’m gonna be a bit longer than I first thought. Long story. I’ll try again later.”

She stared at the phone.

“You still out?” There was more than a hint of annoyance in the tone of this second message. “Fine.” He hung up with a loud slam.

The third and last message was harsher. “I don’t have time to play fucking games, Leena.  If you’re mad, you’re mad. I can’t help that. I have a real job, you know.” Before he hung up, he swore again.

It was precisely at this moment that Leena felt the few strings that held her to Colin snap. She was tired of his moods; she was tired of him, and she wasn’t going to be an emotional punching bag any longer. She gazed down at the small diamond he had bought her, twisted it, and then took it off her finger.

Cole had moved up behind her. Slowly, he reached one arm across her stomach; the other folded up over her breasts, palm on her throat.  He simply held her in the soothing embrace, neither moving, or speaking. He just held her.

The hurt melted away.

In its place, her heart thrashed in excitement. His embrace was saturated with foreplay, prelude to freedom, release, and pleasure. And as she lifted her hand to touch his, she knew he would understand that her gesture denoted acceptance.

She wanted him.

“You okay?” he whispered.

Leena nodded.

He shifted so gently she barely noticed. A feathered touch of his mouth against her hair, his breath moist on her skin. “Leena,” he said softly and she tilted her head to absorb his deep voice through her flesh. “Do you want me… to stay?”

She hugged the forearm across her breast. “Yes,” she said softly. Air caught in her throat and she trembled from the gravity of the confession.

Still, he hadn’t moved, except for a gentle sway. The tip of one finger caressed a short length of skin beneath her ear. A shiver of arousal had pooled between her legs. She was conscious of her body and its reactions to his seduction. Nerves tingled, this was what she wanted, had fantasized about, and now he was holding her, carefully, as though giving her one last chance to refuse him while he still had the strength to withdraw.

She couldn’t refuse him. She wouldn’t.

“Am I in you, Leena?” he said slowly.

The rapidity of her commitment was extraordinary. She had been alone, as he had been alone, and together, like this, they were one. The fulfillment of realization carried with it an ecstasy that imploded within her breast.

“Yes. You are in me.”

There would be obstacles– so many– but not this night.