I let that thought hang for a heartbeat, and then realized Icould. He wouldn’t stop me. He liked it.
This kiss was a little more on the demanding side. A hint of teeth scraping over his bottom lip, my fingers squeezing the back of his neck. A reminder that, the unsexy subject of my injury aside, I was still horny and I expected him to be, too.
“I want,” Cooper confirmed, breathless, when I let him have enough space to speak.
A smile tugged at my lips. “Come up here,” I said, shuffling back on the bed, beckoning him to follow me.
I led him right up to the headboard, letting him follow as I stretched myself out along the length of the bed, holding his gaze the entire time. His eyes glinted as he watched me, like he couldn’t decide where to look. The hunger in them made my skin prickle, warmth spreading wherever he glanced, trickling south.
This was different from last time. Last time had been desperate, needy. Greedy hands and panting breaths, the two of us in a rush.
This time, it was something heavier. More intense. This time, I didn’twantto rush. I wanted to take my time with Cooper. I wanted him to take me apart, piece by piece, with his callused, gentle, clever mechanic’s hands. I wanted to feel his weight on top of me, slow and deliberate.
I want you to make love to me, I didn’t say aloud, even as I stared up into his big, earnest brown eyes while the thought crossed my mind.
Instead, I reached out to him, curling a hand around the back of his neck to pull him down for another kiss. He chuckled as he gave in, moving at my lightest touch. Letting me have whatever I wanted.
He was going to ruin me for all other men if he kept this up.
I was going to let him.
I got my free hand under his sweater again, hitching it up as I kissed him, pushing up until I could brush my thumb over one of his nipples and make him gasp into my mouth. I smirked against his lips, circling until it peaked, feeling ripples of tension run through him.
“Off,” I said, tugging on the sweater before letting him go. “Show me what I’m getting myself into.”
I’d seen him naked before, of course, but watching him tug his sweater off, revealing his broad chest inch by inch for my benefit was different, too. I felt like one of the characters fromSwan LakeorThe NutcrackerorThe Magic Flute, under a spell as I looked up at him.
“You’re gorgeous,” I breathed, chest tight. He was. Completely unlike what I was used to, and all the more appealing for it.
Cooper looked away, a flush rising from his collarbones to the tips of his ears as usual. He was unbearably adorable.
“Come here.” I reached out for him, unable to resist his shyness. We weren’t going anywhere fast tonight, but that was fine—I wasn’t in a hurry to get off. I just wanted to be with Cooper, for as long as I could have him.
He shuffled on his knees to lean over me again, letting me pull him down for another lingering kiss. Then another, and another, the mattress creaking under us as he shifted his weight, let me have just a fraction of what I wanted as I nipped and sucked at his mouth, swiped my tongue over the inside of his lower lip, ran my fingers through his curls.
Cooper let me kiss him breathless, until we were both panting with it, without pushing for more. I wanted to tell him how new this all was for me, how I never got to make out with anyone other than just enough to get them hard, how…
… howdifferenthe was, and how much I liked it. How, if he let me, I’d just keep demanding more.
Luckily for both of us, I was onlyalmostsatisfied with kissing him. His breath hitched as I slipped my hand into the back of his jeans, melting into a low, happy sound as I worked my fingers into his underwear, splaying my fingers over the swell of his ass. He grunted as I gave it a firm squeeze, pulling him closer, dragging him down so we could grind together. I smirked as our hips met, the hard line of his cock hot even through the fabric.
“That for me?” I teased, rolling my hips against him. “Because I want it.”
Cooper chuckled, pulling back to look at me. “Anything you want,” he promised, eyes soft and earnest.
How had no one put a ring on this man?
“I want you to open me up on your fingers,” I murmured, heat rushing to my cheeks. I never talked like this, but Cooper made me feel like Icould. “And then I want you to fuck me. I want—” My voice broke, and I had to pause to swallow. “Slow. At first. I’ll probably get impatient after a while.”
Cooper laughed again, and the knot that had been tightening around my chest unraveled all at once. Iwasallowed to say this with him.
“Just let me know,” he said, voice low and rough and warm, the rumble of it trickling down to the pit of my stomach.
“Oh.” A smile I couldn’t have stopped if my life depended on it spread over my face. “Iwill.”
This time, when I pulled Cooper down for a kiss, the touch of his lips against mine arced in an electric line from my mouth to my cock. I wrapped my legs around him, ignoring the twinge in my thigh, using my good leg to hook him closer so I could grindagainst him. Slow. He’d agreed to slow, and I wanted to make the most of it.
We moved together for what might have been hours, his weight pressing me deliciously into the mattress, my hands roaming over his skin, touching everything I could. The smile that had spread over my face stayed right where it was, even when it made kissing difficult when Cooper matched it with one of his own.
