“Please, Cooper.”
“Come for me, baby.” He curled a finger, teasing that most sensitive spot inside her, and his efforts were rewarded when her hips bucked, and she gasped.
He grunted in pure male satisfaction when her body tensed, and she cried out his name again. He wrapped his arms around her waist and pressed his face against her stomach, holding her as her body shuddered through her climax. A fierce sense of possessiveness and protectiveness swelled inside him. He never wanted to let her go.
Once her breaths had calmed, he crawled up her body. Staring into her eyes, he cupped his hand over her sex, and said, “Just so you know. I licked it, so it’s mine.”
She stared back at him for a moment before a big grin appeared on her face. “I want to play that game, too.”
He sure as hell wasn’t going to say no to that.
Chapter 20
Kendall listened to the soft, even breaths from the man asleep beside her. She’d never dreamed Cooper would come back into her life, never dared to hope for it. Yet, here she was, in his bed. He’d made love to her as if she were the most special woman in the world.
With the warmth of his body next to hers, she closed her eyes and tried to sleep, but it was impossible. Her mind was full of thoughts of him. He’d said he wanted to be in Livie’s life, and she was beyond happy for that, but what about her? Did he want her or was this just a temporary thing between them?
Her life was in Decatur and his here in Myrtle Beach. He was deeply entrenched in The Phoenix Three, so he wouldn’t want to move. And he shouldn’t. He and his two friends were doing great things by rescuing and saving children. What they did was something that was close to her heart.
Was she willing to move to Myrtle Beach? She liked it here, liked his friends… Well, she’d yet to meet Liam’s wife, but she didn’t doubt she’d like Quinn. Her job, her father, her life was in Decatur. That was all true, but if Cooper was willing to commit to a relationship, she’d seriously consider moving. Livie would love to live near or with her daddy.
Her mind was all over the place, and she wasn’t going to fall asleep. She eased out of bed, slipped on her panties, then stole the T-shirt he’d been wearing earlier. It smelled like him, andshe inhaled deeply, savoring the spicy scent of him. She quietly padded out of the room.
It was too late to call and see how Livie was doing, but Harlow would have called if there was a problem, so she wasn’t going to worry. She was too sated and happy to worry anyway. They’d left all the dirty dishes on the dining room table when Cooper had carried her to his bed, and she set about cleaning up the dishes and kitchen.
She was loading the last plate in the dishwasher when she sensed she was being watched, and she glanced over her shoulder to see Cooper leaning against the wall, his gaze on her. “I didn’t mean to wake you.” He wore only his boxer briefs, and his hair was tousled from sleep. The man was absurdly sexy. She wanted to drag him right back to bed.
He prowled toward her. “You didn’t. I reached for you, and you weren’t there.”
She smiled at how grumpy he sounded.
He stopped behind her and wrapped his arms around her chest. “Couldn’t sleep?”
The feel of his body aligned along the back of hers sent a shiver down her spine. She leaned back into his embrace, loving the warmth and strength of his body. “I was just finishing up here. Didn’t want to leave a mess for tomorrow.”
He pressed a kiss to the nape of her neck. “This mess could’ve waited until morning.” His hands moved gently down her arms, sending tingles of warmth through her. “I can think of a much better way to spend our time than cleaning up the kitchen.”
She turned in his arms. “Yeah? Like what?”
“Like an encore performance of earlier.”
Yes, please.She slipped her hand in his. “Lead the way.”
The next morning, it was her turn to wake up to find Cooper gone. She found him sitting at the kitchen counter, a cup of coffee next to him, and his laptop open. She hadn’t taken two steps—silent ones because she was barefoot—when he turned on the barstool and smiled at her.
“Good morning, beautiful. There’s K-Cups if you want coffee.”
“I didn’t make any sound. How did you even know I was here?” She padded to the coffeepot.
“For one, I grew up in a house where it paid to be alert to a change in the air. Second, the military trained me to sense when there were eyes on me. Awareness was a matter of life or death. Bring your cup over here.”
“Did you like being in the Army?” She poured a cup, then sat on the barstool next to his.
“There were things I liked about it and things I didn’t. I learned much that is invaluable to what I do now, so it was worth every minute of my time in the military.” He turned the laptop’s screen toward her. “Gray, Liam and I have been working on a response this morning for you to send to our bad man.”
“Bad man. Good name for him.” She read the words on the monitor.
Devoted fan,