He moans, staring up at me. “How—”
I cut him off, swiveling my hips, struggling to find the right delicious angle, and when I do, I lean into it.
“That’s it, baby, just like that,” Cooper grunts encouragingly.
This time we’re faster, more direct.Hungry.
I whimper, biting my lower lip, and as he thrusts up as the wave crashes, and as I ride it out, Cooper chases after me, squeezing my hips so tight I’m sure I’ll have bruises tomorrow.
I collapse onto his chest, resting my ear over his rapidly beating heart and focus on it as it slows, and we catch our breath.
“Damn, baby, are you okay?” Cooper croaks.
I nod against him, and gently lift myself off, both of us wincing in the process. He hops up and goes to the bathroom and comes back with a smile on his face.
He slips back under the sheets, pulling me into his arms, and I smile into his skin, kissing his chest.
“Are you sure I can’t get you something?” he asks.
“No, I’m fine, happy even,” I sigh.
“I’ll take the happy,” he chuckles.
I lift up on my elbow to look at him, and he grins widely. “Pretty proud of yourself, aren’t you?” I ask him with a raised brow.
He makes a face and shrugs. “I mean, can you blame me?”
I snort and shake my head, and he pushes my hair back. “I love your hair,” he says, staring at it.
“I don’t think a guy has ever told me that.”
“Well, I’ll be the first and the last,” he says seriously.
“I don’t know why, though. You can’t exactly run your fingers through it. They’ll get caught,” I mumble.
He hums and kisses my temple, taking a strand, winding the curl around his finger. I reach across him for the candle on my side table and the lighter in the drawer.
The flame creates a warm glow in the room as rain still pelts the windows. I laugh and Cooper frowns at me.
“What?”
I shake my head, trying to stop. “We had a tornado warning, and neither of us paid any attention to it.”
He shrugs with a grin. “I can’t think of better ways to go than being with my woman.”
My breath hitches, and I stare at him. The flame dances on the side of his mustached face, and I don’t know what to say.
He clears his throat and sits up with a serious expression as he reaches for my hand to hold it in both of his. “I’d marry you today in the middle of this storm, if you’d let me,” he says.
I gawk at him.
“But I recognize you’re probably not ready for that since you just decided to stay. I want to give you everything you thought you’d never have. But I want you to be sure, and I know you might need a little more time.”
I swallow thickly, wishing I had some water. “I’m not sure I have that kind of time,” I rasp.
Cooper sighs and rubs his mustache. “You have it with me, Mae. I’m not going anywhere. Okay?” he says.
I nod. There are things I want to say. But Cooper is definitely right about one thing. I’m not ready to say them. Call it fear or reluctance, but if something broke between us, I know without a shadow of a doubt it would be the greatest, most devastating heartbreak I’ve ever experienced. It would be something I don’t think I could ever recover from.
