Chapter 71
Seventy-One
C ooper
“I’m taking you home,” I tell Sybil the second we’re finished giving our statements to the police. She doesn’t protest, only nods numbly and lets me guide her outside to my car.
She must’ve taken a cab to get here, so at least I don’t have to worry about getting her car back to her place. She’s in no state to drive. Her tears have dried up, but a traumatized storm cloud hangs over her face.
Jonathan Vale is lucky the police showed up when they did. I was two seconds away from ending him. I’ve never taken a life before, but I wouldn’t hesitate to end that psychopath. Nobody hurts Sybil and gets away with it.
I help her into the front seat, then swing around to the driver’s side and get us the hell out of there, turning the radio on low and the air conditioning on high. It’s hot out today, and she’s still sweating from what happened.
“I can’t believe Lance is dead,” she whispers, her voice shaky.
I reach for her hand, relieved when she lets me thread my fingers through hers. “The guy made a lot of enemies over the years, and now you don’t have to worry about either of those men ever coming after you again.”
She swallows hard. “Wait, what about the sex tape? They had footage on us, and if the police get it?—”
I shake my head. “Don’t worry. I talked to my father on the way out. His people will make sure everything is deleted. Nobody will see that footage, but just in case, I’ll contact my hacker to get Jonathan’s computer wiped.”
Illegal, but shit if I care right now.
She visibly relaxes, closing her eyes and breathing in long and slow breaths until she falls asleep.
I take my time getting her home, going the long way and being careful not to wake her.
I want her to get a little extra rest. I’d carry her upstairs if she’d let me, but I know Sybil.
Maybe one day she’ll let me carry her over the threshold of our place after we get married, but I have to convince her of marriage first. As far as I know, she still wants space from me.
I almost lost her once today, and I can’t lose her again, not in any capacity of the word.
I pull up to her building, and when I stop, she startles.
“No,” she gasps, sitting up straight.
“Hey, it’s okay.” I take her hand again. “You’re home.”
She blinks rapidly as everything returns. She’s about to get out of the car, taking my heart with her, when she turns back. “Will you come upstairs?”
“Yes,” I reply immediately.
“I… don’t want to be alone right now.”
“I don’t want you to be alone right now, either.” I clear my throat. “And I’d very much like to be the one upstairs with you.”
She rolls her eyes. “I’m not talking about sex, Cooper. I’m talking about comfort. Friends?”
Friends . The word hollows my stomach and drops a big rock right in the middle.
“I’ll be whatever you want me to be.”
She directs me into her building’s parking garage and a vacant space set aside for her unit, then leads me upstairs.
I want to hold her, touch her, kiss her, make love to her—to tell her how much she means to me and then show her without words.
But she wants a friend right now.
We step inside, and she turns on me with a lost expression.
“Cooper, are we going to be okay?”
“I know I told you I’d be whatever you want me to be, but that was a lie. I only know how to be the man who’s desperately in love with you. That’s all I’ve ever been when it comes to you. Since we were kids, even then, I loved you.”
Her lips part, and her reply is featherlight. “I know.”
We stand there, silence stretching between us, and she looks me up and down like she’s still deciding what to do with me.
“Maybe… maybe we could take a bath?” she asks sweetly.
I smile at the idea of Sybil naked in the bathwater.
Friends don’t take baths together.
I follow her to the large clawfoot tub, thanking the interior-design gods for this win. A bathtub is hard to find in the city, let alone one that can fit two people.
She turns on the water, and with her back to me, slowly strips off her clothing.
Her shirt goes first, tossed to the side, then come the jeans that cling to her perfect ass.
She does her bra next, adding it onto the pile and shaking out her long hair as it flows down her pale body.
When she bends and slips her panties down her long legs, I nearly lose it.
She peers over her shoulder at me, a playful twinkle in her eye, and I feel like I’ve won.
“I’m tired of being sad,” she says at last. “I want you naked.”
I’m wearing my heart on my sleeve with this next question, but I have to ask it. “Do you want more than my body? Do you want me?”
She smiles. “Yes, I want you.”
“As more than friends?”
“As friends and more .”
Joy sweeps through me, and I waste no time removing my clothes.
In one long stride, I go to her, wrapping my arms around her waist and letting her sway into me.
Even with the damaged prosthetic, I hold her up.
I don’t care if my weight distribution feels off, or that it sends nerve pain through the right knee.
I’ll take all the pain for Sybil. Hell, I’ll take a bullet for this girl. Today proved that.
“I’m so sorry, Sybil. I messed up, and I almost lost you.”
“I almost lost you, too.” Her voice breaks, and my heart shatters, but she puts it right back together with her next confession. “I love you. I don’t ever want to be apart from you again. Love is more important than anything else, Cooper. And you’re the man I’m choosing to give my heart to.”
Heat flares low, and I clutch at her hips, bringing my mouth down on hers, kissing her like it’s our last kiss but secure in the knowledge that it’s not. She loves me. She doesn’t want to be apart from me. And loving me is more important than being angry.
She’s seen my shadows, my darkness, my pain and broken pieces—and she wants me, anyway.
Sybil Laurence is finally mine.
She loves me.
I work her knees wider with my thigh, and when I feel her slick heat rubbing against me, I consider taking her right here, right now.
She pulls away with a giggle. “I think the bath is ready now.”
Sure enough, the water is at the perfect height. How she was able to keep an eye on that while I was ravishing her simply won’t do. I need her so completely turned on she can’t think about anything else.
“Get in, baby,” I say, helping her in first and following quickly after I remove the prosthetic.
She maneuvers so she’s sitting on my lap, her ass pressing into my erection, and I bite down a groan while grazing on her neck.
“You’re killing me,” I whisper.
“Is that so?” She deliberately wiggles her ass, teasing my cock and driving me wild.
I need her desperately, but she wants to play games first, so I slip one hand around her waist, dipping my fingers between her folds. The other hand slides up to her breasts to pinch her wet nipples. My mouth closes over her tilted neck, nipping and sucking.
She lets out a breathy sigh that I match with my own needy growl.
“What do you want, baby? Let me take care of you.”
“I… I… want you inside of me.”
I plunge my finger into her core and hook it against her g-spot. “Like this?”
“No,” she breathes. “I want to ride your dick.”
I laugh, and then she arches seductively, and I’m not laughing anymore.
I flip her around, sliding her onto my cock inch by inch. We’re a perfect fit. My thoughts dim as she rides me. I snap my hips up to meet each thrust. The hot water rocks with us, some of it splashing over the edges of the tub.
She’s got her head thrown back, the sheen of water like condensation all over her body.
Her pink nipples are peaked, and the ends of her beautiful auburn hair clump together as it sways in the water.
She’s a goddess, and I’m a mere man, here to worship, and when I lean forward and swirl my tongue around the altar of her breasts, the moan she releases sounds like heaven.
Hooking my hand on her neck, I bring her lips to mine and kiss her deeply while she rocks, her inner walls gripping my cock. She’s tight and perfect, and it doesn’t take long before we climb the mountain together, about to fling ourselves over the edge.
To fall or fly? I think both.
“Please,” she begs against my mouth. “I need this. Harder. Please.”
I give my goddess what she needs and thrust upward. “I know, Valentine. I got you, baby.”
Thrust .
“And I know…”
Again .
“Exactly…”
Harder .
“What. You. Need.”
Again. Again. Again.
She groans my name, and we jump together, a rush of pleasure racing through our veins like pure adrenaline.
We burn for each other.
Burning hot.
Coming undone.
Our connection is soul-deep, and I don’t know if I believe in past lives or future ones, but I do know I never ever want to love another woman.
This is it for me. Sybil Laurence is the one, and I’ve always known that to be true.
She’s my past, my yesterday, my now, my tomorrow.
She’s my forever.