The house had gone still.
Maddie stood barefoot at the threshold of Cole’s wing, her white robe barely tied at the waist, skin still dewy from her bath. The moonlight from the window cast pale ribbons across the floor, but even in the dark, she could feel it—the energy pulsing from behind that door.
She hesitated.
Not from fear.
But because of what she wanted.
What she needed.
And because, somehow, she knew—he was already waiting.
She raised her hand.
Knocked once.
The door opened almost immediately.
Cole filled the frame.
Shirtless. Low-slung jeans. Broad chest rising and falling like he’d been pacing. His eyes found her robe, then her legs, then her face.
He didn’t smile.
“Took you long enough.”
Maddie swallowed. “You said—”
“I know what I said.”
Then, suddenly, his hand shot out.
Gripped her by the wrist.
And pulled her inside.
The door slammed.
She didn’t get another word out before he pressed her against the wall, mouth hot and insistent against hers. He kissed her like a punishment. Like he’d been thinking about it all day and couldn’t take another second of silence.
His hands roamed—rough, possessive.
The belt of her robe slipped. He yanked it open.
Maddie gasped.
Cole leaned down, voice a growl against her ear.
“Did you think I wouldn’t find out?”
She trembled.
“Did you think I wouldn’t see?”
His mouth found her neck, dragging his teeth along her pulse. One hand around her throat—not tight, just enough to remind her who was in control.
She shuddered.
“You wanted me jealous.”
“I—”
“You got it.”
Then he spun her around.
Bent her forward against the bedframe.
The metal was cold beneath her hands.
Her robe slipped entirely to the floor.
Cole stood behind her for a moment. Silent.
Then she felt his hands at her hips.
His voice, lower now.
“This is what you came for, isn’t it?”
Maddie didn’t answer.
She couldn’t.
But her legs parted instinctively.
Her back arched.
She offered herself.
What followed wasn’t gentle.
Cole wasn’t cruel, but he was dominant—driven, aching, and hungry in a way that stripped Maddie of her words. He manhandled her, lifted her, pushed her onto the mattress and straddled her hips. There was no slow teasing tonight. No whispered poetry. Only the burn of friction, the harsh sound of breath and skin, and the sting of his grip on her thighs.
He took her like a storm—furious and focused and needing to feel her submission.
Not to humiliate her.
But to claim her.
To show her what she’d stirred in him.
And Maddie… loved it.
She gave in, every arch and cry and gasp a confession. Not just of desire, but of surrender.
He didn’t just move against her—he moved with her, every motion demanding a reaction. Every thrust a reminder of the power between them. He pinned her wrists above her head, forehead pressed to hers, sweat dripping from his chest to hers, both of them wrecked and panting, yet needing more.
“Say it,” he rasped.
“Say what?” she whispered, lips swollen.
“That this is mine.”
She didn’t hesitate.
“It’s yours.”
He kissed her hard—teeth, tongue, breath—and pulled her into his lap, letting her ride the edge, his hands firm on her hips, guiding her exactly how he needed her.
They moved together in a rhythm that felt inevitable.
Feral.
Sacred.
When they finally collapsed, the room was silent again.
Except for the sound of their hearts.
And their breath.
Maddie lay tangled with him on the sheets, chest pressed to his, her fingers drawing lazy lines over his shoulder.
Cole stared at the ceiling.
Finally, he spoke.
“I didn’t just watch the tapes.”
She stilled.
He looked at her now.
“I felt them.”
She swallowed.
“What do you mean?”
“Every sound you made with him. Every touch. I could feel it in my bones. I wanted to break something.”
She bit her lip.
“So you broke me instead?”
He grabbed her chin.
“You’re not broken. You’re just… finally mine.”
She met his gaze.
“And if I’m not?”
Cole exhaled slowly.
“Then I’ll just have to keep reminding you until you are.”
Maddie didn’t answer.
She didn’t need to.
Because the way she curled into him…
The way her fingers laced with his beneath the sheets…
Said enough.
But even in the stillness, one thought echoed in her mind:
This is only getting more dangerous.
And she wasn’t sure she wanted it to stop.
XOXO
Maddie’s Page