Cooper (13 page)

"Didn't you see what I just did? I used my legs to push myself up here. I moved my legs! I can feel my legs. It's bloody excruciating, but its
feeling
. My legs have been dead for fifteen
years
and now there's
feeling
in them."

The fog of incomprehension started to clear, and with it went her fear. He wasn't angry or insane; he was excited, overwhelmed, and a little scared.
He had feeling in his legs!

Coop's mind was racing. He couldn't seem to keep up with the lightning fast observations and hypotheses that were falling over each other, vying for his attention. Even the exquisite pleasure he'd experienced, from Amy's bite and his orgasm, paled into insignificance next to this latest discovery
. He could feel his legs!

Why? How?
It had happened during the bite. He shouldn't have felt those sharp teeth penetrate his butt, because normally that part of him was numb. But he had. And the pleasure from that bite had surged through him like an electrical current, igniting every nerve-ending in his body, even the dead ones.

But at the time he didn't register any of that, caught as he was in the throes of an instant, volcanic ejaculation. All he could do was let it surge through him, giving it voice as it reached his throat. His body hadn't felt like his. It had felt feral and dangerous, all instinct and no mind. And the pleasure had rolled on and on until he couldn't hold his body up any longer. He’d collapsed onto the bed, still aware of Amy attached to him, clinging on with all her might.

Was that when he noticed he could feel her hands gripping his hips so tightly? That he could feel her silky hair brushing against the hairs and skin of his legs? That he could feel her warm naked skin pressed into his upper thigh on his left side?
How was that even possible?

The impossibility was what sent him into panic. The rational part of his brain told him this was an amazing discovery, the healing he'd dreamed of for fifteen years. But the other part, the feral part, reacted to the new sensations like they were an unknown threat. All he could do was try to escape.

And he'd used his legs to make good that escape, even as the agony of waking flesh threatened to overwhelm him in a different way. But he fought back the darkness and panic. This was a
good
thing. This was an
amazingly wonderful
thing that was happening to him.

Was it permanent? How much use of his limbs did he have? Yes, he could push himself along using his legs, but did that mean those same legs could hold him up? Could he walk?

But how had this happened? It had to be Amy who'd wrought this miracle. Her bite must have pressed down on nerves and somehow released them. Was it like acupuncture?

She was a mate! Had it only been a week ago that Connor had been healed of a bullet wound by
his
mate? Hadn't he been curious to explore that phenomenon, to see how it might be used by all the Sons? Why hadn't it even entered his head when he found Amy that she might be able to heal him too?

Because the only healings, up to this point, had been from bleeding wounds. The saliva acted as a binding or coagulating agent, bringing about healing much faster than was normally possible. But this? This was not caused by saliva. This felt like an electrical shock that had reactivated his limbs in the way electrical paddles could reanimate a heart. It was unbelievable!

As his mind bounced from one idea to another like a pinball, he suddenly became aware of Amy, cowering like a wounded animal at the end of the bed. Even after he explained to her what had happened, she seemed more bemused than happy. What must he look like to her, a madman, yelling at her and rubbing at the pins and needles in his legs?

He pulled himself together and held out a hand to her. "Amy, it's okay. This is amazing. You did this. You did this
amazing
thing. Thank you."

She slowly took his hand and allowed him to draw her up the bed and to his side. Once there, he wrapped an arm around her shaking shoulders and rested her head under his chin. Now with her at his side, his cat finally began to quieten. The spikes of adrenalin eased and he was able to relax a little.

"How could I have done this?" she asked, her voice wobbly. Only a short time ago she'd been a confident, sensual woman taking control of their sexual explorations. Now she was back to being the shy, insecure Amy he'd met only the night before. She was like a tortoise poking her head out, revealing the powerful being she really was, and then withdrawing again as soon as there was a change in the environment she didn't understand.

"The mates seem to have a capacity for healing. I assumed it only worked on open wounds. But clearly not. Something in your bite did this. Why did you bite me just there at the base of my spine? From what I've been told, most bites occur on the shoulder.

"I…I don't know. I didn't even know I was going to do it. The cat took over. All I could do was hang on to the scrap of awareness she allowed me while she did what she did. I felt like a driver who'd just had the wheel of her car wrestled from her grip. All I could do was hold on and hope… hope she'd give the wheel back to me eventually."

He chuckled at her description, even though it wasn't meant as a joke. "Well, I'm glad she took the wheel, otherwise we might never have discovered what she can do."

"How are the pins and needles?"

"Easing off a bit now. In a moment or two I'm going to see exactly what I can do. Will you help me?"

"Of course, of course. Anything. Do…Do you think you might be able to walk?" her words were breathless as she leaned away from his chest so she could gaze up at him.

He shook his head. "Maybe not right away. I'll probably have to do plenty of physio. But maybe some time soon. If it lasts. I have to be realistic. It might simply be the residue of the electrical charge you gave me that has temporarily given me back sensation. When the last of that charge dissipates, so might sensation and mobility. We can't get ahead of ourselves. This may not be the miracle cure it appears to be."

"I hope it is. For your sake, I hope it is."

The pain had receded enough that he could straighten his legs out on the bed. Experimentally, he tried sending a message to his toes to wriggle. They did. Fighting back the excited smile that was trying to pry his lips apart, he tried wriggling both feet around from side to side. They were in perfect co-ordination, doing exactly what he mentally told them to do.

He released Amy, and shifted to the edge of the bed. His mate slid over to his side of the bed, so she too had her feet on the floor.

"Will you stand up? I'll try to use you to keep my feet under me when I get up."

She jumped to her feet, completely oblivious to the fact that she was naked except for her lacy underwear, or that her beautiful hair was strewn around her shoulders like feathered seaweed. He hardly noticed the cruel bruises on her skin now, even though he never forgot how they got there.

There had been many moments when he'd been caught by the pure glory of her in the last day, but this one would remain with him forever. Amy looked so excited and expectant, nibbling at her plump bottom lip like it was a ripe plum, her large green eyes sparkling as she watched him carefully.

What he wouldn't give to be whole, just so that he could be the man she deserved. Not that Amy would see it that way. For her, he was good enough just the way he was: a cripple in a wheelchair. Up until he'd met her, Coop hadn't realised just how
not enough
that was for
him
.

He used his arms to push off the bed, finding his centre of gravity so that his newly working legs could perfectly carry the weight of his body. Every minute that passed reduced the tingling. But he still felt every sensation his previously uncommunicative legs were sending him.

Amy held out her hands, and he grabbed onto both of them with one of his, as he transferred his weight from the bed to his newly animated legs. Slowly, painfully slowly, he eased off the bed and gave more weight to his legs. Amy's strength became his anchor, holding him vertical.

When he transferred both hands to hers, he straightened his spine. When he was straight enough, he let go of her hands and moved his hands to her shoulders, gripping them tightly, just to help with his balance.

When he was full erect, his spine straight, his legs solid beneath him, he looked down into her upturned face with wonder.

"All those bloody exercises were more than cosmetic, after all," he commented brusquely, fighting back tears.

"Don't knock the cosmetic benefits. I for one appreciate looking at a good pair of legs on a man." She grinned up at him, her eyes gleaming with unshed tears

He laughed as the tears tried to choke him. "I love you, Amy Hays. Thank God I found you."

Her sudden stiffness made him realise what he'd said. It was too soon for declarations of love, he knew. They barely knew each other. But that observation didn't feel like the truth. He'd come to know a lot about this girl in the last intense day. More than most people would find out about a partner from a dozen polite dates. She was sweet and kind; brave without knowing it; unpretentious and insightful. In fact, she was so far from Hays’ description of her as
ugly and stupid
as anyone could be. How she could have fed into that belief so intensely and for so long he didn't know.

"Y…You love me?" she murmured, her lovely lips opening in a surprised 'oh'.

He wanted to backtrack to cover his stupid, impetuous declaration, but he knew that was the coward’s path. Even if Amy wasn't in love with him, Coop wanted her to know that, for him, this was way more than two cats forming an instinctual mating-bond. The man in him had fallen, almost literally, head-over-heels in love with her.

He leaned in, cautiously using her to balance him, and tenderly kissed her lips. "Yes, Amy, I do. I know it's fast. I know you might think it's just my excitement over having my legs back that provoked the declaration, but it's not. And I do love you; more than I thought it possible to love anyone."

"Oh," she said on a soft exhalation of breath. "Well, I'm glad it's not just me, then."

He frowned, unsure of her meaning. Was she saying that she'd suspected he loved her but wasn't sure? Or was she saying something entirely and excitingly different?

"What's not just you?"

"Not just me in love. I'm glad I'm not the only one. I thought you might take some time to decide, being a scientist and needing to analyse everything. Test it as a hypothesis first and gather evidence –"

He kissed her to shut her up. He wasn't sure if she was teasing him or if she was serious. What mattered was that Amy had said she was in love with him. His heart wanted to explode in his chest.

When they finally broke apart, she smiled up at him shyly. "How're your legs?"

"Oh, yeah, them. I'd almost forgotten I was standing on them. Um… yeah, they're fine. They're a bit shaky, carrying my weight, but otherwise…they feel like legs." He gave a laugh of pure, idiotic pleasure.

"Do you want to try walking?"

That shouldn't be possible this soon. He should require weeks, if not months of physio, and then only be able to walk with crutches or a walking frame for another few months after that. But right now he felt like he could do anything. So he nodded.

She took a step back away from him, heading backwards in the direction of the door. His hands left her shoulders and took her outstretched hands as she stepped back again, each move done slowly, making sure his legs continued to hold him upright.

When they were two steps apart, she nodded. Holding tight to her hands, putting way too much pressure on them, he tottered forwards on one leg. When he had that foot firmly planted again, he brought its partner into alignment with it.

Looking up at Amy, he couldn't keep the joy from his face. His first step since he was ten years old. This was more monumental than his first step as a baby. But a baby was exactly how he felt right now. Pathetically weak and scared shitless.

Amy took another step back, widening the gap between them again, but never letting go of his hands. Coop took another hesitant step forward, and followed it with another, much faster one so he could wrap his arms around his mate.

For a moment, he held her tight, breathing in the sweet scent of roses that was uniquely her own. It felt so good to be standing tall, so that she was shorter than he was by six inches. It felt like they were the perfect height, the top of her head just reaching the tip of his nose. It meant his lips were perfectly placed to drop a kiss on her smooth forehead. Which he did now.

"Cooper Adams, you can walk. How are you going to explain this to your team in the lab? I mean, your brothers will understand because of the mates' abilities, but other people can't know that. Can they? What about your parents? How will they take it?"

"Slow down, Amy. I've taken three steps, I'm not running the marathon any time soon. This is all about baby steps right now. Literally. This could all be temporary."

"You can't believe that! Not now after you've walked. My God, Cooper this is huge. You have to tell Chase. You have to tell Colt, Connor and Caleb."

Laughingly, he put a hand over her mouth to cut off her excited prattle.

"For now I'm going to collapse on the bed. One small step for Cooper, one giant leap for the Sons, and all that. I'm…bloody beat."

With her help he got his stiff legs to carry him back to the bed. Then he fell onto it like a kid on a trampoline. It felt wonderful to be off his feet and yet to know he could climb back onto them again any time he felt like it.

"Call Chase," Amy pleaded, rummaging around in his pants on the floor to find his mobile.