Free The Ex Trials (Falling for Autumn #3) by Heather Topham Wood Page A

door.
    “Ugh, you really need to move. We need more privacy. I’m really tired of having to muffle my screams during sex,” I complained.
    My words were an obvious invitation. Cole palmed my naked breast, before moving his lips to cover mine. My heart went instantly into overdrive. His kiss was teasing and playful. I thought we were both spent from the sex we just had, but he was gearing me up for round two. The intensity never subsided when we were together, I only wanted more and more. Between slow, sensual kisses, he said, “Maybe we should move somewhere together. Then you can scream as much as you want.”
    I gasped at his words as well as how his fingertips brushed over my sensitive nipples. My back arched as he applied just the right amount of pressure. I managed, “Wouldn’t that be crazy fast?”
    His scruff nuzzled my neck as he spoke. “We’re not exactly strangers, Casey. And I’m not saying right away, but you’ll be graduating after next semester and will need an off-campus apartment for grad school. I see us together then and for a long time after then.”
    “You can?” I whispered, my deepest desires so delicate at the moment.
    “Yes. I want you as my future. My mom told my brothers and me this story once…” He trailed off and as he pulled away I saw uncertainty creep into his expression. I took his hand in mine to encourage him to continue. Cole struggled to be expressive. His steelworker dad was a hardened man who had kept everything bottled inside. No one in his family knew he'd struggled with depression until it was too late.
    He smiled down at our hands although his voice sounded strained. “Anyway, she told us that there was one sure way to discover if we found our tesoro.” At my unspoken question, he elaborated, “ Tesoro means a treasure in Italian. She said we should kiss a girl for one minute without stopping. No touching, groping, or other funny business as she called it. After that minute, you’ll know for sure if she’s the one. Because if we were looking for more or felt like we were just going through the motions, then she wasn’t right for us.”
    “And…?”
    “And you’re my tesoro ,” he said softly.
    I brushed my thumb across his soft and smooth lips. “I think that’s the sweetest thing anyone has ever said to me before,” I said, feeling choked up. “You were my undiscovered treasure for so long. I thought I knew who you were and what you were after, but I was so wrong. And I regret every time I told you no. Because I missed out on having this with you.”
    Evan started knocking again, but Cole ignored him. He had me on my back and rained down kisses all over my face and neck. As his fingers slipped below the covers and found my opening, I understood we were both going to be late for our evening plans.
    But I didn’t have a care in the world. I had him and I was finally ready to give him all of me. Not only my body, but also my heart. My body I’d been all to ready to hand over from the second we kissed, but my heart had been a different story. My heart was safely guarded with what I thought was impenetrable security measures. Little did I know that Cole had the combo in his back pocket from the moment we'd met.
     
    ***
     
    “Hey, what are you lost in thought about?”
    Cole’s tone from my memories was much different. The old version of Cole had a soft hypnotizing lilt to his voice. Cole’s voice had changed: harder with a distrustful quality. My heart hurt to think of what type of irreparable damage I had inflicted upon him. If only he could look inside of my heart and know that if I could go back to change things, I would in a heartbeat. My intentions were never to ruin us, but because of who I was, I had anyway.
    “Nothing just tired. Guess all the traveling has finally caught up with me,” I said quietly. After returning to the ship and setting sail for the next island, we had decided on a group dinner with the men. After dinner, we headed to