She didn't bother to hold in her bitterness. Why should she? It wasn't like she had anything left to lose.
Except for her heart.
Anna shoved the mute button down on the stupid little voice in her head. She could feel Cole's eyes on her, just by the way her skin was heating up.
"I know it's strange, but you get used to the fame after a while."
But Anna wasn't sure she would. Hopefully the pictures and the short statement Cole had given the paparazzi about Anna making him "the happiest man on earth" would be enough.
"Damn it. I expected them to figure out where you lived, but not this fast."
Anna realized a crowd of journalists were on the sidewalk in front of her apartment.
"Why would they care about me? I'm a nobody. I'm not important."
He was in her face in an instant, gripping her shoulders in his strong hands. "You're beautiful. And sweet. And intelligent. You're very special, Anna."
Looking into his eyes as the rough tone of his words pummeled her, she realized he was angry. Because of what she'd said...about herself.
He rapped on the shaded window that separated them from James. "Keep going. We'll head straight to my house."
"But I need to go home." She poked a finger into Cole's chest. "And don't you dare say you'll send someone for my things again." His eyebrows rose at her no-nonsense tone of voice.
"Please park outside my apartment, James."
James made a U-turn. "We'll be there in just a moment, Anna."
She straightened her shoulders, ran a hand over her hair, then opened the door and stepped onto the sidewalk. "Hello. Good afternoon. Excuse me."
She carefully walked past the camera-laden strangers, keeping her smile firmly on her face. She could feel Cole a step behind her, knew without looking that he was barely keeping a lid on it. She refused to let her hand shake as she put her key in the door.
She had barely closed--and bolted--her front door when Cole spun her around and pressed her against it. He hunkered over her, his eyes flaming.
"Damn it, you'll listen to me next time."
She could feel his thick erection pressing into her body and even though he had no right to treat her with such disrespect, her body instantly responded with a flood of arousal, her br**sts peaking beneath her bra and shirt.
"No, next time you'll ask me what I want to do before making a unilateral decision. And you'll heed my answer."
His dark, sinful eyes moved from her eyes to her mouth, then back up again. "Are you talking back to me, sweet Anna?"
She couldn't stop staring at his mouth. "Get used to it." The throbbing between her thighs had turned into a deep ache.
"What happened to my good girl?" His mouth was now so close to hers that she could smell the mint from his toothpaste.
"Don't you remember?" she asked in a voice that was barely more than a whisper. "You tied her up and played with her."
Cole's mouth found hers on a desperate groan, his tongue pushing past her lips as he took her kiss. "I need you. Now." His hands were already on the button of her pants, his hands pushing down past her panties to the wet warmth that waited for his touch. Always. But he wasn't the only one ripping at clothes, because her hands were on his jeans, shoving down the zipper and then the waistband of his boxers.
She gripped his penis, thick and hard, thrilled at the feel of him in her hands, more aroused than she could believe simply at the knowledge that someone wanted her this much.
No, not just someone.
Cole.
Cole could have anyone, the most beautiful women in the world. But he wanted her.
She didn't know what possessed her to do it, but suddenly it was the most natural thing in the world to drop to her knees and put her mouth over him.
"What the hell are you doing now, Anna?"
His words were hard, but his fingers had already threaded through her hair. Who would have thought that she had it in her to turn a man like Cole inside out? Certainly not her. And, judging by his response to the slow swirl of her tongue under the rim of his head, the way he groaned like a man who couldn't believe he was giving in rather than leading their dance, definitely not him.
She would have smiled around his shaft if she'd been able to, but he was more than a mouthful and her jaw was opened as wide as it could go, her lips completely stretched around his beautiful penis.
She suctioned him deeply before letting him go with a loud pop. Licking her lips, she looked up at him mischievously.
"Just what it looks like. I'm sucking my husband's cock. And enjoying myself immensely."
His large hands came under her so fast she didn't have time to react. "Bedroom."
"Through the kitchen."
Her drapes were closed, but they were fairly sheer and she knew someone might see Cole carrying her through the house, their pants partially undone.
But as he held her against his chest, and she pressed her palm to the strong, steady beat of his heart, she simply didn't care. The only thing she cared about was making love to her husband. The fact that it was only a temporary marriage made her even hungrier for him, made her want to squeeze every second of pleasure out of being with him.
"Don't forget our deal."
"Which one?"
She pressed a kiss to his Adam's apple. "The one where you make me come so hard I black out."
He dropped her onto her bed. "Get those clothes off before I rip them off."
She tried her best, but it wasn't easy to focus on herself when he was revealing his perfect, muscular body as one piece of clothing after another fell to the floor. She was still trying to get her jeans off when he came at her and yanked them off. Her shirt was next, the rending of the thin silk the only sound in the room apart from their heavy panting.
"So damn gorgeous." His mouth came down over her belly, his tongue dipping against the small indentation. "So damn soft." One quick yank and her panties were gone. "So damn sweet."
And then his tongue was there, licking, tasting, teasing, swirling, and she was arching into his mouth, already so aroused that it took nothing more than the pressure of his lips around her clit and the smallest suction to send her flying over the edge.
She was still flying when he came over her and pressed her thighs further apart with his knees.
But her orgasm hadn't taken the edge off her need. It had only made her hungrier, more desperate for Cole.
Not to mention slightly disappointed that he hadn't let her finish what she'd started, on her knees, with her mouth and hands on him.
"I wanted you to come in my mouth, Cole."