CHAPTER 10
COOPER
I’m in heaven. Nothing can change my mind about it.
Liam and I didn’t move around too much during the rest of our first day here since we were more tired than we thought, but we did spend our entire afternoon and evening checking out the gorgeous little villa we’re staying in and its surroundings.
The rooms are simple but elegant—cream tones, details in honey-colored and dark wood, and natural stone, the sunlight spilling across the polished floors through the wide glass doors that let in the sea breeze and the gentle sound of the waves.
The outside, shaded veranda leads directly onto the soft, white sand, a short path of rich greenery opening to a secluded stretch of beach and endless, turquoise blue.
The same turquoise blue Liam is clearly trying to drown us in the next morning while we paddleboard.
“You know, when I said I wanted us to come here when we die, I didn’t mean I wanted us to actually die here while we’re on our honeymoon.”
Liam shoots a glance at me over his shoulder, and my lips twitch.
I’m messing with him, of course. He’s been stirring us perfectly while I’ve only managed to make us go round and round in endless circles, or overturn the board and throw us into the water more times than I care to admit.
“Don’t worry. I have no intention of letting us die while we’re wearing watermelon and palm tree swim trunks.”
The gasp I gasp.
I poke his back, and he grins.
“You can’t convince me you didn’t like them. I saw the way you looked at me when I put them on.”
He stops paddling completely and turns towards me on the narrow surface.
He smells like saltwater and sunscreen, his sandy-blond hair now a dark gold, his normally dark-green eyes sparkling like jade jewels.
And I can’t look away from him.
“How did I look at you?” A sexy smirk curves his lips. “Like you were the prettiest and cutest thing I’d even seen?”
My mouth is suddenly very dry for some reason. It gets even drier when he lets go of the oar and wraps his arm around my waist.
“Because you are. The prettiest, cutest, hottest little thing I’ve ever seen in my life.”
God, he makes me burn without even trying.
Fuck it.
My arms go around his neck as I throw myself at him, kissing him hard.
Which, of course, lands us right back into the warm, crystalline waters in a mess of limbs, laughs, and salty kisses.
The water is calm and only chest-deep, so there’s no danger of us drowning despite me teasing Liam about it. But again, we’re both idiots, judging by how we gasp for air when we resurface because we took too long kissing underwater.
He goes back to holding me when he swipes the water out of his eyes.
“See what you’ve done now?” I click my tongue at him.
“Me?” he splutters incredulously, eyebrows halfway to his hairline.
“Yes, you. It’s obviously your fault we fell.”
“How exactly is it my fault?”
“You made me all tingly with your sexy talking, so I had to kiss you, and look where that got us.”
I realize what I’ve said only when scorching heat swirls into Liam’s eyes, his hands pulling me in even closer.
“I make you tingly?” he asks roughly, and my breath hitches when I feel one of his hands slide up to my nape while the other plays with the waistband of my trunks on my lower back.
I nod distractedly, my eyes fluttering when he dips under the waistband and cups my ass.
My dick twitches. Of course, it does. At this point, I’m pretty sure I have developed a Pavlovian response to anything Liam-related.
“So tingly.”
Despite how hot and possessive the hold he has on me is, the smile that tips his lips is soft.
“I like that.”
“That you make me tingly?”
“Mhm. You make me tingly, too.”
I don’t know what to say. I’m not sure there’s even anything I can say to express the enormity of everything I’m feeling.
But Liam knows that. He always knows.
That’s why he presses one last small kiss to my lips before he whispers, “I’ll race you to the villa,” and then throws me aside, taking off swimming, laughing while I stare after him.
I’m right behind him seconds later, though I probably swallow half the ocean grinning the way I do.
Liam wins, but it’s okay. We walk together the entire way back to fish out our paddleboard and oars.
He doesn’t let go of my hand once.
Not when we walk side by side while the sun beats down on us.
Not when we go back to our little beach haven to eat, and nap, and fool around.
Not even when it’s late in the afternoon, and we’re both lying on a hammock while a soft breeze makes me sleepy.
Sometimes, it feels like he’s afraid I’ll disappear if he lets go of my hand.
Eventually he’ll realize it will never happen.
My eyes are closed, my front tucked against his chest, my nose buried in his skin that somehow still smells like the sea, even after showering.
The shade of the palm trees feels divine, and the lapping sound of the waves mixed with Liam’s steady heartbeat under my ear makes me feel more relaxed than ever.
He’s relaxed, too. I can feel it in the way he never stops tracing my fingers with his, paying extra attention to my wedding band, or when he rubs the bridge of my nose and the skin of my cheeks, both already slightly sunburnt.
A hum slips out before I can contain it, and Liam’s touches pause.
“Sorry. Did I wake you?” he mutters.
I shake my head against his chest.
“I wasn’t sleeping. Keep touching. It feels good.”
A tiny chuckle shakes him and consequently me, my eyes cracking open to find forest-green staring back at me.
“Feels good, huh?”
“Very. It’s all so damn nice, Li. Such a good idea to come here.”
“I’m glad, baby,” he answers with a warm smile.
“Why here?” I ask him, suddenly needing to know. “Why did you think of a place like this?”
His gaze bores into mine for several seconds before he speaks.
“I had a feeling you would like to see something like this. And since I’d never travelled to a place like this before either, I thought it would be nice to see it with you.
I guess I—” He pauses, a hint of nervousness bleeding into his expression.
“I guess I wanted to have one more adventure with you. One more time I could watch you light up whenever you do something new or fun. One more time I could grumble while you drag me along with you to the crazy stuff you think of but that I can’t get enough of. ”
The back of my throat burns at the vulnerability behind his words.
There’s still a small part in him that hates the choice he made—keeping his distance from me, afraid of his feelings and what that would have meant for us.
A part that still can’t believe I would choose to leave all that behind us because nothing else matters than having him in my life.
A part that doesn’t realize I would make the same choice time and again.
Him. Always.
It’s a good thing we have the rest of our lives to get it through that gorgeous, blond head of his.
His pretty eyes widen when I climb on top of him, covering him completely with my body.
“Are you sure you want to do that? Admit you actually love being dragged along? Because I have a full itinerary planned for every day we spend here.”
His face splits into a smile that warms every corner of my soul, and his arms tighten around me.
“I’m sure.”
“Okay, then.” I bring my lips inches from his, and his breathing changes. “But, Li? You got one thing wrong. It’s not one more adventure. It’s just the first of many more. Yeah?”
My voice is small on the last word, my own hope peeking through.
Liam’s hands are instantly cupping my face.
“Yeah,” he whispers roughly. “Yeah, Coop.” He says nothing else, because I’m kissing him, and he’s kissing me.
I think minutes go by, or it could be eons. I’m not sure.
What I do know is that the sun has set when we break apart, and the sky is a bit darker, colored in pinks and purples.
“Do you know what would be really good right now? If you fed me some tropical fruit.”
Liam’s eyes sparkle in the fading sunlight.
“Any particular preferences?”
I pretend to think hard.
“I’m an easy man. Mangoes, papayas, pineapples—I’m happy with it all.”
His palm drifts to my nape, kneading the muscle there the way I love, and he smiles.
“I could go get some for you.”
“Mmm… You could, but you’d have to get up and I’m way too comfortable to let you do that,” I mutter, wiggling on him. My groin rubs against his, and my cock definitely stirs when I feel his soft dick twitch through the thin material of the simple joggers we changed into earlier.
“Yeah, you feel really comfortable,” he says, his voice deeper than before, his touch firmer. Heavier. Searing.
I lick my lips, and he zeroes in on the movement like a predator.
“Hey, Li?” There is an imperceptible tremble in my voice, and the dangerous glint in his gaze tells me he hears it. He hears it perfectly well.
“What?”
“Do you think this hammock will topple over if I slide down and slip your dick in my mouth?”
The smile that curls his lips is pure filth, and fuck if it doesn’t make my heart race.
The effect he has on me would be fucking embarrassing if both of us weren’t so damn here for it.
“I think you should try it and find out.”
We’re cracking up the entire time, wheezing as I try to shuffle down while he tries to pull himself further up, the hammock swaying precariously.
I feel oddly proud when I manage to settle with my head at the perfect height—so proud, in fact, that I completely forget we’re outside.
I mean, it’s almost dusk, and there don’t seem to be any people around on our side of the beach. Not to mention, the side flaps of the hammock’s canvas material shield me mostly from view.
Still, I peek over my shoulder for good measure, doing a quick swipe of our surroundings.
It’s the feel of Liam’s warm hand on my cheek that pulls my gaze to his once more.
“No one will see you. I’ll make sure of it,” he says softly, and I all but melt. “We’ll just have to be quiet.”
I’m practically lying on him as I pull his joggers down, exposing his dick to my greedy eyes.
“I don’t see how I’ll be able to be loud with my mouth full. You’re the one who will need to keep it down.”