"... sometimes all a woman needs from a man

is affection..."

There is something beautiful about rain. I am not sure how to describe it but it has a a lot to do with the feeling of being indoors, listening to it pelt against the windows. It's a comfortable sound. I'm sitting by a bay window, holding a hot cup of tea and looking out at the raindrops. It helps to have a beautiful view of the abandoned streets. I can't help but sigh at how peaceful I feel. I haven't felt this way in a very long time. It is as though my tragic life has been paused and I am opening a brief new chapter of nothing but roses. I don't feel anything but a calmness.

It has a lot to do with the man I'm with. The calm that comes with being around him is addictive. It's hard not be comfortable around Cole Michael. He has an easy going warm personality. He gets me before I even speak. We are definitely on the same wavelength.

A feathery kiss on my cheek tore my attention away from the beautiful rainy morning. Cole enveloped me in his arms. He rested his back on the wall and pulled me to settle against his body. He wrapped his legs around me. "Just making sure you won't escape me like you did last night."

Last night he must have intended to get intimate. His body language suggested so. I feigned fatigue and slept in a different bedroom here at his town house. "I am sorry about that but I was tired."

"Or scared." He gazed down at me fondly. I looked into the baby blue eyes full of affection. He had a delicate frown on his handsome face. "I would only touch you with your consent. I want you to know that. It would have pleased me to make love to you. I imagine you must be addictive."

Cole got straight to the point when we were having dinner. He expressed interest in me and not that he wants to be my friend. He wants a relationship.

"I would not know that." I chuckled. "But this feels good. I feel safe in your arms."

"I feel content with you. I don't know why but as much as we are strangers this feels right. It is one of those things that fits without a fuss."

"Like two pieces of a puzzle." I looked up at him.

I did not expect it when he kissed me. I moved away suddenly.

"I'm sorry." He apologized.

I touched my lips. They feel charged with need. The two times Nick and I have kissed have been aggressive. There's strong hunger between us when we kiss. But Cole's is comforting. I like it. I want to be kissed like this but I don't want to encourage him.

"Cole, it's okay. But I hope you understand that I can't give you anything."

He took my hands. "How about we start with it just being a kiss. Don't make much out of it and I won't expect anything. It feels horrible to let this moment pass."

Is it wrong to want to feel loved like this? Is it wrong to wish for a man who is sensitive and gentle with my body and my feelings? Cole knows what I am feeling without me saying a word just as I am aware that his heart needs to handled with nothing but love. He is hurt just as I am and we both need someone gentle.

"Okay." I agreed.

He started slow, his arms drawing me close. I don't think I have ever been kissed like this, so gently. His lips grew hot and intense. I moaned softly as he pulled away. "I bet we can fit even better naked in bed making slow deep love with the soft pelting of the rain against the windows."

"Cole Michael!" I chided him trying to break free from his arms but he pushed me down on my tummy pressing his weight against me. His deep laugh got to me and I couldn't help but laugh even more so when he tickled me to the point I feared I would pee on myself. 'Stop! Stop! I will pee on myself!"

"Really? I won't even utter the naughty thought in my mind." He spoke softly. He pushed my dark hair out of the way kissing the back of my neck. He tagged at the neckline of my sweater kissing the upper part of my back. I felt his weight lifting off me but I am also losing my sweater. He is pushing it up my waist and I stayed still with my eyes closed. By the time it was over my head, I knew he had seen the scars and bruises. I stayed very still listening to his breathing growing rough. I would never let Nick see my bruises but I am comfortable with Cole seeing them. Why?

He didn't say anything. Instead I felt his lips on my back gently caressing each bruise and scar. It is as though he is giving me an assurance that it is okay. My body grew hotter and hotter as the feathery kisses came all the way to my neck. When he pressed his weight on me again, I felt his bare skin. He is warm. He lifted me to get rid of my sweater. He filled his hands with my breasts and he lay still on top of me. I sighed as he rested his cheek on top of mine. We watched the rain falling in absolute silence.

This is perfect.

Cole is different from Nick. I'm torn. Who is better? Who should I choose?

"I am sorry I did not meet you when you were single. I know I wouldn't have passed off the chance to marry you. Who knows, we would have a daughter. A beautiful little girl with your beautiful sapphire eyes. We would be living in Posatino waking up to the beautiful scenic view of the Mediterranean"

"What would we have named her?"

"I'm certain about Nora. There's this tradition in my family for the sons to take up the name 'Michael' as a middle name and the giros to take up the name 'Nora'." He told me. "The three of us would have been happy together. It's not too late." He rolled of me lying on his side as I stayed on my tummy. He ran the back of his hand over my arm.

"How would you know that?"

"I know because of this moment right here." He reached out to move the back of his hand over my cheek. "Are t you comfortable?"

"I am."

"Same here. Comfortable is not a bad thing, is it?"

"No it isn't."

"I have had my share of pain. I understand what you feel. I want to make it better for you and hopefully you can do that for me. Give me the green light and I will handle your divorce. I will have all the lawyers money can buy on it. Your husband won't have a choice but to let you go."

"Jason would rather kill me than let me go."

"He's hurting you. Those scars and bruises... he's hurting you."

"I don't talk about it."

"How can you? Domestic violence is intimate. No one openly talks about it. I'm not asking for details or swearing revenge. I just want you to know I'm here and I understand and I will take care of you if you allow me to."

My eyes flooded with tears. He reached out to wipe them when they fell.

"You're a sweetheart Cole Michael."

"You're the sweetheart Kei. You don't have to go home. Stay hidden here in London and let me free you. I will have you divorced in a few weeks. I will come back to London and marry you. I will give you my name. I will be your protector and provider. You just have to let me."

I smiled at him and I had no control over the tears that spilled from my eyes. He reached out to wipe them away. Without caring that he would see me half naked I sat up. He kept his eyes on mine. "It's okay to look." I smiled halfway. His eyes dropped to my breasts. He clenched his jaw shifting slightly.

"You are beautiful even more so with the bruises. You are beautiful because you are strong. Living with a man as brutal should have made you sad and dull but you smile everyday, staying hopeful and soldiering on. I admire you." He reached out to cup my breast. His touch made me clasp my knees tightly together. He bent his head and kissed the swell of it. I ran my fingers through his soft dark hair.

I sighed in deep pleasure when he lay me back down. Just a moment to forget about my pain and get lost in his affection is worth it. His lips left my nipples trailing down my stomach to the waist band of my sweat pants. He gently tugged it down looking at me for my opinion but I honestly want to feel something other than pain. When I nodded he pulled it down to my knees leaving me with my underwear. He kissed thighs while his hands cupped my bottom. I kept my eyes facing outside and just when he was slipping my underwear off, a flash from a camera caught my eye. I sat up suddenly cupping my breasts.

"Cole! Camera!" I pointed to a man on the street'

"Damn paparazzi." He cursed throwing on his sweater. He ran out of the penthouse. As soon as the man saw him he started running. Cole chased after him until I lost sight of them.

As though I had just fallen from the clouds I realized how bad the situation is. If Jason gets his hands on the pictures then I am as good as dead. Cole is too. I put on my sweater in time for my phone to ring.

"Hello."

"Where are you?" Nick asked me.

"At home." I lied.

"I miss you. Come out I want to see you."

"I can't."

"Stand at a window then. Let me get a glimpse of you."

I can't do that either because I am all the way in London. "I am sorry but I can't."

I had no choice but to hang up when Cole came back. He is struggling to catch his breath but he is holding a camera. "I caught the bastard, took his camera but he said it's done. He sent the photos already. Kei I am so sorry."

I gripped a handful of my hair. "Who did he send them to?"

"He didn't say."

"This is bad. This is really really bad. What was I thinking letting you undress me? In front of a window? There is no curtain! I wasn't thinking!"

"Calm down Kei." He pleaded with me. "Everything will be all right."

"No it won't. We will end up in tabloids. What if Jason sees? What if Ni-" I stopped myself wondering if it was a coincidence that he called me at the same time Cole was chasing after the photographer. Was it Nick? Is he having me followed?

"Who?" Cole frowned at me.

"It doesn't matter."

"I will have my people on this. They will track down the photographs and I will pay anything to get them back just to protect you."

I have never really thought about it but for the first time I am worried about Nick finding out I am in London with another man. "This was a mistake. I am so sorry I agreed and gave you false hopes but I can't be here."

"Slow down sweetheart. You are spiraling. You are scared. You don't have to be. I will take care of it." He tried to hold me but I pulled away. He looked hurt by my actions. "Is it your husband you are scared of or is it the other man?"

"I don't know what you mean."

"There's another man, isn't there?"

"Yes and he is a scary man."

"The other man?"

"Yes."

"Is it just me or is there a pattern here?" Cole frowned at me. "You seem to be attracted to dangerous men. What I don't understand is why you would suffer in one man's arms and give yourself to a copy of him."

"He is not like Jason."

"But he is. Maybe it is my imagination but you are more scared of this other man than your own husband. Why is that? Who is he?"

"Cole, I am so sorry but I can't drag you into my mess. Take me home, please and let's just forget this ever happened."