Cooper (6 page)

“W…what are you doing?” she asked, taking a step backward.

“I’m going to have to get tough, sweetheart. You and that smart mouth of yours don’t leave me any choice.”

“Cooper…really…this is getting ridiculous. Is it because I’m a challenge? Because you’ve never had another woman tell you no before?”

“Sweetheart, I distinctly remember you telling me yes several times. But we’ll get back to that. I’ve wanted you for a long time, Claire. I was lying to myself by denying the attraction. And I owe you an apology for the things I said to you last week. It was a defense mechanism, pure and simple. I was terrified because I knew you were the one person who could change the way I’ve been living. Come with me,” he said, holding out a hand. “Please.”

Her eyes were wet with tears, but they didn’t fall. She looked at his hand warily and shook her head in denial of the things he’d told her.

Her stubbornness would have been a thing of beauty at any other time. They’d be butting heads for sure in the future, but enough was enough. He grabbed her around the waist and threw her over his shoulder to the delight of the crowd.

Cat laughed as he passed by her and said. “Give him hell, Claire.”

“Thanks a lot,” Cooper said.

“Look on the bright side, Cooper. You’re brothers are going to give you grief for the rest of your life over this. Thanks for inviting me to see the show.”

Cooper put a squirming Claire into the front seat of his truck and fastened her seatbelt for her. She stared at him mutinously, and he couldn’t help but grin. He’d never had another woman challenge him like she did.

They drove in stony silence until he turned on the road that led to her place.

“Why are we going to my house? How are you going to chain me in your dungeon and use all your whips and chains to bend me to your will from there?”

The land her house was on was small, but it was heavily treed and private. The one-story house was white clapboard that had recently had a fresh coat of paint. A big wrap-around-porch surrounded it on all sides, and big ferns hung from baskets at even intervals.

When he opened her door and moved to carry her inside, she stilled him by putting her hand to his cheek. Her eyes were both pleading and apologetic.

“Please don’t do this, Cooper. If you have an ounce of kindness left inside you then don’t do this to me. You don’t have the ability to break my heart. You have the ability to crush it to dust. I realize now how naïve I probably seemed to you that night. I’ll readily admit that I weaved dreams as a girl about you. About being a part of something special with you. It was foolish to try to be what you wanted and expect to fulfill my own made up fantasies at the same time.”

Cooper closed his eyes against the pain of her words. He’d hurt her deeply, maybe deeper than he would be able to repair. He knew better than anyone that the dissolution of dreams in the adolescent years could shape a person—whether for good or for bad—for the rest of their life.

“Claire…”

He couldn’t help but lean in and rub his lips across hers—slow and soft and gentle—how their first kiss should have been. Her eyes fluttered closed and she deepened the pressure, and he felt like he’d been given the biggest gift in the world. He brought his hands to the clasp at the back of her neck and turned the key in the lock. The collar fell from her neck into her lap.

“I’ll only have you come to me because you want to,” he whispered. “Never because you think it’s what I might want or need. I’ll never own you, but I’ll always be a part of you. Just as you’re a part of me. The very best part of me.”

“Cooper,” she sighed and kissed him again. “Take me inside. Take all of me.”

He picked her up in his arms and cradled her against his chest as he made his way inside the house. The entryway was small and the house was open and roomy. The floors were wood and scarred but covered with rugs of vibrant colors. The whole house was vibrant—just as she was.

“I’m so sorry, Claire. I’ve wanted you for so long, but I have no excuse for treating something that could have been beautiful between us as if it were meaningless. I hope you can forgive me. Because this does matter. Every sigh that escapes from your lips will be treasured. You’ll know that every memory we make or experience we share will be something that has the ability to break through the walls I’ve built over the years. And if we build on the past we’ve had and nurture the future, I think we’ll have something very, very precious.”

The tears she’d been holding back fell from the corners of her eyes. “You are the most wonderfully confusing man I’ve ever met in my life. Now please take me to bed. I’ve waited a long time for you.”

“With pleasure, sweetheart.”

He tasted her lips and drew her tongue into his mouth, stroking and coaxing and building the flame that had existed between them from the first. Hands lingered and sighs were soft. They left their shoes in the entryway, and he circled her towards the bedrooms at the back of the house, a slow dance that made them dizzy with desire.

Her skirt was unzipped and fell to her ankles, but he just lifted her over it and kept up his slow descent to her room. Her shirt came next, and his blood spiked as he saw her in just a black bra and panties and the silk of her stockings.

“Because I wanted to give you nothing but myself. No enhancements. Just me making love to you.” The panic that normally accompanied the thought of making love was non-existent. Because with Claire that was exactly what he wanted it to be.

She brought her lips to his chest and kissed each nipple, swirling her tongue around the sensitive nerves until his head was thrown back in ecstasy and he was gritting his teeth to fight the need to throw caution to the wind and take her against the wall.

“I’ll gladly take you as you are, Cooper. And I’ll always find pleasure in every facet of your body.” She gave him a seductive grin and her dark eyes sparkled with mischief. “But don’t throw away your jewelry just yet. I like them. A lot.”

He kissed her harder then, his body primed and almost past the point of the gentle seduction he’d wanted to give her. He lifted her in his arms and carried her the rest of the way to her bedroom. A large Queen bed dominated the room, and it was covered with a white down comforter and a mound of pillows.

Cooper folded down the covers while she watched him, her hands twisting nervously in front of her. Seeing her nerves calmed his own, and made him focus on making everything as pleasurable as possible for her. He kissed her lids and worked his way down to her lips as he flicked open the back catch of her bra. It fell to the floor and the feel of her against him—the cool touch of the gold from her nipples—had him moaning with pleasure.

He laid her back on the bed and rid himself of his jeans and briefs. His cock strained with the anticipation of release and his sac tightened as he saw her lying before him, her dark eyes feverish with need. He came over her slowly, enjoying the different textures as their bodies touched fully for the first time.

“Mmm, you feel so good against me. Heavy,” she said as she roamed her fingers over him with shy curiosity.

“You’re killing me, Claire.” He took her roving hands and pressed them to the bed, and then he kissed away her protest by moving down her body, his mouth paying homage to every dip and swell until he reached the panties that covered the very core of her.

He traced his finger along the outside edge and felt the dampness that had already gathered there. His lips followed the trail of his finger and the scent of her desire was the greatest aphrodisiac he’d ever known. He pulled the panties down slowly, wanting to savor the sight of the gift she was giving him.

“Jesus Christ, Claire.” His heart stuttered in his chest and his cock jumped in reaction to the tiny gold hoop that decorated her clit. She was waxed completely bare and the petals of her folds were open and slick with her honey.

“Do you like it?” she asked.

“Oh, yeah. I love it.”

He lowered his head to the swollen nub and flicked the ring with his tongue, testing her level of sensitivity. Her hips lifted toward him and her head thrashed from side to side. She was very sensitive.
Perfect
. He lifted her to his mouth and feasted as if she were the sweetest banquet. He knew just where to touch. Just where to taste. And it didn’t take long at all for her body to begin quivering beneath his touch and whimpers of pleasure to escape her lips.

“Cooper,” she shouted as an orgasm racked her body. She stiffened against him as he felt the rapid pulses of her release against his tongue.

He moved up her body until his cock touched the quivering lips of her pussy. She was more than ready for him.

“Look at me, Claire. This is one of our memories.” Her eyes fluttered open, dazed with desire and already heating again for what was still to come—her lips swollen and her heartbeat thudding against his chest. He’d remember her just like this. Always.

He pushed against her opening and the feel of her moist heat surrounding him was almost his undoing. He’d never been with a woman without that thin layer of latex between them. Her arms came around him and she bit her lip as he worked his way back out, spreading her juices, and then pushed in another inch or so. Her eyes widened the farther the penetrated, and it wasn’t until he reached the barrier of her innocence that he understood why.

“God, Claire,” he said, dropping his head to her shoulder. His body was quivering uncontrollably with the need to take possession. To be the only one who’d ever take possession. He thought back to how wild her natural responses to his touch had been—how unrestrained and almost violent they’d been in their passion the last time. He thanked God he hadn’t taken her virginity that way, sitting in a chair in a room made for sex.

Why the hell hadn’t she told him?

“Dammit, Claire. You came to me at that club as a virgin? Do you know how badly I might have hurt you? Just the thought sickens me. Why didn’t you tell me?”

“You make me forget,” she said, soothing his temper by running her fingers along his spine. “Could you maybe yell at me later? I’m trying to make a memory here.”

His body shook with laughter at her impertinence, but the movement shifted him inside her and the laugh turned to a moan. He kissed her softly and fed her hunger until her hips were jerking against him, looking for completion.

“Thank you for what you’re giving me,” he said, moving his hand between them so his fingers rubbed against her clit. Her breath caught as he moved his finger faster.

“It was always yours to begin with,” she said.

She clamped around him, and he felt the gush of moisture around his cock and the spasms that sucked him farther inside. He took advantage of her pleasure and impaled himself to the hilt, breaking through her innocence and shattering his control with one motion.

He kissed her deeply and stroked once…twice…three times before he was coming with her. He swelled inside of her and spurt his seed to the deepest part of her. He’d never experienced anything like it before in his life. He’d been as much of a virgin as she had.

When Cooper got his breath back, he pulled out of her slowly, watching as their bodies separated. He went to the bathroom and cleaned her blood from his body, and then wetted a warm rag. He knelt beside her and wiped away the evidence of his pleasure and hers, cherishing her with every touch.

He lay down beside her and pulled her into his arms, and he didn’t know if they stay that way for minutes or hours, just touching and kissing.

“You’re the first woman I’ve ever felt flesh to flesh, Claire. And you’re the only woman I ever want to feel that way. I don’t think there are many people in this world who have the feelings between them that we do. I know my brothers have it with their wives, and I understand the possessiveness they have around them. Knowing I’ve been the only man to ever slip inside your body gives me unspeakable pride. You once asked me to let you keep your pride, but I want you to know that you have mine. Because I belong to you, Claire. You’ve claimed me completely.”

“I love you, Cooper MacKenzie. Now stop teasing me and put your money where your mouth is.”

He rolled her to her back and slipped silkily inside of her. “Your wish is my command, sweetheart.”

Epilogue

One Year Later…

Cooper tipped his beer to his lips and smiled off-handedly at a story his brother Riley was telling, while watching his other two brothers, Dane and Thomas, argue over the best way to light a charcoal grill.

It was good to have the family all together. The MacKenzie house hadn’t been this full in a long time. Dane and Charlie’s son, Jayden was kicking a soccer ball back and forth with one of his friends, Charlie was teaching her one-year-old son how to play peek-a-boo, and Cat was in one of the porch rockers nursing her infant daughter.

Riley caught his wife, Maggie, as she walked by and spun her into his arms, kissing her to the catcalls of the rest of the family. Even Cade and his two brothers were enjoying the sunny spring afternoon, though Cade sat by himself, quietly observing rather than participating.