Nicole Edwards - Temptation

Should he have consulted Cole before he proposed to Sierra? Probably. Was the man going to be pissed? More than likely. Did Luke actually give a shit? The answer should be a resounding no, but it wasn’t. Luke did care. He cared about Cole. Hell, he loved the man.

Yes. Love.

Not a feeling he thought he would ever feel for another man. At least not that way. But he did. Since the day he met Cole all those years ago when he waltzed into the club, fully intending to make it his own, Luke had been fascinated by Cole. Then over the years they’d become friends, sharing women.

Then that one October night… Logan’s bright idea to shock some sense into Sam had turned out to be Luke’s nightmare. He had been so taken with Cole that night, the intensity of being close to him, having Cole touch him, put his mouth on him, surrendering to him in every way. It had been too much. So much that Luke had lost all common sense and had fucked Cole three ways to Sunday. Rightfully so, that had been the most erotic night of Luke’s life. Which was saying something because Luke had done some crazy things before then.

And somehow being with Cole had changed him. The two of them, when they took Sierra for the first time - that had altered him as well. And now, here he was, engaged to the one and only woman he had ever loved, and feeling as though he had just betrayed Cole. Hell, he had betrayed Cole.

Even with all of that, Luke still wanted the man. Desperately. They had yet to be together, just the two of them. Except for that morning in the shower in Vegas. That was the closest the two of them had ever been. Yet Luke wanted more. He wanted Cole to give himself completely. And Luke wanted to give back.

And maybe that’s what bothered him the most about Cole being with Lucie. He said they were just friends, and he had no reason to believe otherwise. Was it his way of pushing Cole away? Still?

Pushing to his feet, Luke looked around. Sierra was still in the shower. Knowing he couldn’t leave, nor did he want to, Luke resigned himself to figuring out the next step. It was time the three of them hashed this out. Cole would probably be pissed, but that couldn’t be helped. Come hell or high water, they were going to make this permanent. Tonight.

Twenty minutes later, when Cole walked through the front door, Luke was sitting on the couch, and Sierra was in the kitchen. Making tea.

Seriously. Tea.

Luke had turned down her offer. He’d prefer a shot of whiskey, but since she didn’t have it, he opted for nothing.

Keeping his eyes on Cole as he shut the door behind him, Luke felt his muscles tense, gearing up for a fight. He’d told himself they wouldn’t do this. They could talk this out like rational adults and figure out what they were going to do next. Sierra didn’t think it would be that simple. Or so she said while they waited for Cole to show up.

Luke had been surprised when she didn’t take the ring off of her finger. That little gesture lifted four tons of bricks from Luke’s chest. She wasn’t going to hide it. That said more than words ever could, although they both knew it could very well be the final shove in pushing Cole away. At the moment, thinking about where the man had just come from, Luke didn’t know if that was necessarily a bad thing.

“Where have you been?” Sierra asked when she walked in the room carrying a coffee mug.

Cole glanced at Luke, then back to Sierra. “I had to go talk to a friend. Sorry I missed your call earlier. Is everything ok?”

“No.” She said honestly.

“What’s the matter?” Once again Cole was looking back and forth between the two of them, but Luke didn’t say anything. He didn’t know what to say.

“I had a run in with Susan Toulmin – sorry, you know her as Susie Mackendrick. The woman had the audacity to blackmail me. She told me I had to quit, or she was going to sue me for misrepresentation.” Sierra rambled quickly. “But the thing is, she wasn’t worried about my professional abilities. She was pissed off that I’m in a relationship with the two of you.”

Sierra sat her mug on the table before sitting in the chair opposite of Luke. He wanted her to come over beside him, but he didn’t move from where he was. He was waiting for Cole to elaborate on just what the hell he had been doing at Lucie’s.

“Is your friend alright?” Sierra asked.

“She will be.” Cole said before taking a seat on the couch beside Luke. It was the only other place to sit after all.

“She? Do I know her?”

Luke didn’t have to say a word; apparently Sierra’s curiosity was going to get him the answers he wanted.

“Lucie Werner. She’s a bartender at Club Destiny.”

“Oh. The one who was caught stealing?”

“Yes.”

~~  **  ~~  **  ~~  **  ~~

For a moment the room was silent, no one was looking in any one direction and the tension was slowly increasing. This was the awkwardness that Luke tried to avoid. It was so much easier to sleep with a woman, or participate in a hot, steamy ménage, and disappear in the middle of the night. Instead, they had to work out their differences, after figuring out what they even were. When it finally got too uncomfortable for Luke, he turned his attention to Cole.

“Why were you at Lucie’s?”

“I told you. She needed to talk.” Cole said, his tone reflecting his sudden irritation.

“About what?”

“If that was your business, she would have called you.”

Luke had to hold back his anger. His first instinct was to walk out the front door and not look back. He’d gotten so used to avoiding confrontation that it was second nature just to walk away. He couldn’t this time. He had something to prove. And not so much to Sierra and Cole, but to himself. This was what he wanted. These two people. Relationships weren’t always wine and roses and Luke had to figure out a way to cope with it.

He couldn’t sit still though, so he stood and paced toward the front door. Before he reached it, Cole’s voice resounded from the other side of the room. “Don’t you dare walk away.”

That brought Luke up short. He wasn’t planning to walk away, but obviously that was Cole’s first assumption. Apparently Luke had burned the man one too many times. And if that thought didn’t just piss him the fuck off.

“Or what?” Luke retorted, turning toward the man. “What the fuck do you care?”

Great. Now he was going to taunt him. So much for acting like a rational adult.

“See. That’s what you’ve never seemed to understand, Luke.” Cole’s voice was calm, and he remained sitting which only pissed Luke off more. “I do care. I’ve always cared. It’s you who doesn’t seem to give a shit about anyone but yourself.”

“Is that right?” Luke asked, taking a step closer to Cole.

Obviously feeling the need to get on a level playing field, Cole stood; his large body now only inches away.

“I’ve never heard you say it.” Cole stated, his dark blue eyes glimmering with anger.

“Say what?”

“How you feel. You’ve insisted that I say it, but you’ve never been man enough to tell me how you feel.”

Luke took another step closer, bringing them almost nose to nose. “You don’t need me to say it.”

Cole’s eyes were suddenly somber. “That’s where you’re wrong.”

And if that wasn’t a punch to the gut. Luke faltered for a moment, his eyes glancing down at Cole’s mouth, then back up to his eyes. He’d never told Cole how he felt, but he had expected him to figure it out.

“Tell me, Luke.” Cole said, moving closer, their chests touching, and a fire sparked in Luke’s gut. Damn this man could make him feel things he’d never imagined he’d feel. “Tell me how you feel.”

Luke reached up and slid his hand into Cole’s hair, pulling firmly, his mouth hovering a breath away.

“Tell me.”

Luke wanted to say the words that would assure Cole this was more than just chemistry between them, more than just explosive sex, more than just… “I love you.” Holy fuck! The words slipped out and the heat he saw in Cole’s eyes fanned the flame that had sparked seconds before. Before Luke could move, Cole crushed his mouth down on his and Luke was lost for a moment.

Cole gripped his hair, pulling him closer as their mouths ate at one another, Cole’s firm, warm lips gliding against his until Luke was damn close to ripping his clothes from his body.

“Easy.” Cole’s voice broke through the maelstrom of emotion churning inside of him, his lips pulling back, gently brushing against Luke’s. Damn it felt good. Too good.

And then Sierra was behind him, her slender arms wrapping around his waist, her lips pressing against his back, sending a chill down his spine. He wouldn’t survive this. He needed the heat, the flames, not this sweet seduction. Luke didn’t do sweet. His need was too strong.

Cole’s fingers went to the waistband of Luke’s jeans and his stomach muscles tightened. Those rough fingers scraped his lower stomach as they eased open the button, then slid down the zipper with practiced movements. When Cole trailed his mouth down Luke’s neck, across his pectoral muscle, and then further down the center of his stomach, lowering himself to his knees in the process, Luke thought he would explode. Sierra was behind him, but she wasn’t doing anything more than kissing his back, sending tingling sensations over his skin.

Somehow Luke ended up on the couch, sitting with Sierra behind him. He didn’t want to crush her, so he tried to move forward, only to have her pull him back against her. His jeans were around his ankles, and Cole was kneeling between his legs, his big fist wrapped firmly around his iron hard cock. Luke wanted rough. He wanted hard and fast, but he knew by the look in Cole’s eyes that he wasn’t going to get it. Not tonight.