Chapter Thirty-two – Think I’m In Love With You
Chapter Thirty-two
Cooper
THINK I’M IN LOVE WITH YOU
Performed by Chris Stapleton
My blood pounded against skin and bone. A turbulent drumbeat.
My need for Andie was so strong and feral I wasn’t sure how to contain it before it would burst into an uncontrollable wave.
Hearing her gasp, feeling her shake and shiver around my fingers, only increased the wild yearning until it nearly devoured me right along with her.
And when she whispered those words, handed over that precious offering, the sound of it on her lips practically undid me.
I was helpless to answer with my voice. Helpless to stop the hunger that snapped and snarled and demanded to be fed.
I hoped I could show her with my touch exactly what it meant to hear them.
I was so overcome I nearly slid home, nearly pushed into her without protecting either of us, until sanity shattered through the animalistic drive pummeling me.
When I pushed my chest up and away from her body, she moaned in objection.
In the flashing light of the television screen, she was a stunning black-and-white photograph. Silky cheeks flushed with color, dark hair spread along the pillows like melted chocolate, and miles of creamy, bare skin demanding to be touched…claimed…inhaled. My already painfully hard dick throbbed.
I placed my hand around her neck, stroking her bottom lip.
“Hold on, baby. I gotta get a condom.”
She bit my thumb, and the situation turned desperate.
“Please, Cooper. Now. I need you now.”
“Condom,” I grunted.
“I haven’t had sex in nearly a decade. I think I’m clean.”
She was going to kill me. But we had to have this talk. I hated that it took the wild look from her eyes and brought back reality. Hated that the world came crashing into this moment when we’d been soaring. But I knew, firsthand, what happened when adults didn’t have this conversation.
“I’m clean,” I told her. “I was tested before I came to Rivers. But, sweetheart, we need protection.”
She shook her head. “I’m on the pill. Not because I expected to have sex, but because it regulates my otherwise very irregular periods.”
I stared at her for a long moment, realizing what she was offering. What she wanted. Me inside her—bare. Me letting go.
I leaned in and took her mouth as my hands stroked her body again, touching every soft curve, every solid line, every secret valley.
I could practically hear the sizzle leaping from our lips as I gave in to ruthless need, caressing and twisting and kissing until we were both right back at the summit we’d reached before I’d dragged us down to earth.
In that moment, nothing existed except me and her and the ancient urge that thundered through us.
Her legs wound around my waist. Her hips slammed against mine. And her throaty, sexy voice begged for the final leap.
“Cooper…honey…please.”
If there was someone who could deny that delightful plea, it wasn’t me. So, I drove into her in one harsh plunge that had us both gasping. Her eyes popped open, and I cursed silently, body going still. It had been so damn long for her. Too long for me not to have gone slower.
She shook her head. “Don’t you dare stop. Whatever you do, don’t stop.”
On her command, I let the beast go. Let him rage and pummel and take what we both wanted.
And she met each thrust with hunger and a savage force that was as deep and untamed as mine.
Until I felt every part of her tremble, felt her core begin to clench around me, and then, I flipped us over, giving the last bit of power and control to her.
I was hers to do with what she wished.
Her eyes, when they found mine in the dark, were full of the stormy love she’d let slip.
It took less than two thrusts before she threw her head back and cried out, exposing the long column of her neck as her breasts quivered with the strength of her climax.
The pure beauty of her, of this moment, where we chose each other, chose love instead of darkness, had me thrusting into her one last time and losing myself in the sweet haven she’d offered.
As our bodies rocked to a stop, she collapsed onto my chest. My arms banded her, squeezing tight. I placed a kiss on top of her head, wanting only to draw out this moment, to linger in the heady afterglow, as our pulses slowed and our breathing evened out.
She was the first to move, shifting so she could rest her chin on my chest and meet my gaze with hers. A relaxed, sated smile filled her face. It was so lovely, so perfect, that my body went semi-hard again. Feeling it, her smile grew.
“Did you feel the earth move?” she asked.
I fisted strands of her hair, tugging ever so gently and exposing the tempting pulse at her neck once more.
“Baby, the earth shook, stars collided, and the heavens rejoiced.” I leaned up, nipped her throat gentler than I had before but enough to still leave a sting, and then whispered in her ear, “Let’s do it again. ”
She laughed. It was carefree and tempestuous, a witch spinning in circles as she laid claim to the mountains and skies.
It gave me a glimpse of the woman she could have been before anyone had carved away pieces of her soul, and I promised myself I’d find each and every one and give them back to her.
I’d be the pedestal holding her up while she threw off her cloak and became everything she’d ever dreamed of being.
And maybe, by doing this, by giving her back her life, I’d find the parts of myself that life had carved away too.
We’d both become the best versions of ourselves. The ones we’d once dreamed of being.
We’d become them…together.
? ? ?
My damn phone woke me from a delightful dream.
One where I’d been lost completely in Andie.
In nothing but her scent and taste and touch.
When my eyes finally lifted, when I reached out to grab the annoying device from the bedside table, I realized it hadn’t been a dream at all.
I had spent the night adrift in her, making love two more miraculous times.
After the last time, my body had finally demanded sleep, and I’d gone into the abyss with her locked in my arms, legs tangled, bodies aligned.
Spiraling back to the real world was a painful jolt.
She mumbled something in her sleep as I answered the phone. “Wylee.”
“You’re going to want to see this.” Josh Cleaver’s voice sounded drained but steadfast.
“Where are you?”
“About a hundred yards behind my grandparents’ cabin, near the river. You’ll want to bring Sandy, but we may need to borrow a bigger crime scene team.”
I slid out from under Andie, and when I looked down at her, warm and flushed and smiling as she blinked up at me, I wanted nothing more than to toss the phone aside and rejoin her.
I didn’t want to deal with drugs and fucking assholes who plied kids with their wares, not caring if they died in the process. Not when I had this waiting for me.
I caressed her cheek, the early morning light showing off the bruise that had deepened overnight, hammering reality in even more.
“Is it a lab? Or bodies?” I demanded.
“A lab,” Cleaver said.
“Where’s Randy?”
“Hasn’t been back after he dropped off the bloody clothes. I texted him, but he hasn’t responded.”
“I’m on my way.”
I hung up and strode into the closet for my last clean uniform.
When I came out, tightening my belt, Andie was sitting with the sheet pulled up to her neck.
I’d liked her every way I’d ever seen her, especially dressed down in jeans with no makeup and that tight bun let loose, but seeing her like this, hair a mess from our lovemaking, eyes still sleepy, those soft lips curved upward, was my new favorite.
I made my way to the bed, planted my hands on either side of her, and kissed her.
A slow, enticing good morning. When I went to break it, she stopped me with one hand to the back of my head and the other grabbing hold of my shirt.
She took my mouth with the same ferocity she’d brought to our lovemaking.
She was the one to pull back this time, running her thumb along my bottom lip. “That uniform should be illegal, Sheriff.”
“I’ve never hated my job before. Not ever. Not until you,” I growled, and she smiled, wide and unabashedly happy. I shook my head. “Damn it, Havoc. I have to go. You can’t look at me like that.”
Her laugh was free and light. “I’ve got to get to work too. But at least we know what’s waiting for us at the end of the day. That’s something, right? Something good?”
“Good doesn’t even come close to it. I’m not sure there is a word. We’ll have to come up with our own.”
I backed away from the bed, and a wave of apprehension hit me.
I didn’t want to leave her. Not with Randy out there, feeling like he could threaten her and my kid.
Not with her unknown stalker having raised the stakes.
Andie should be the priority. Ending her years of hell was what mattered most to me personally.
And if I’d still been just one detective in a cog of them in the LAPD, I wouldn’t have hesitated to send someone else to the crime scene waiting for me.
But I had a responsibility to an entire town, our county, and my dad’s good name. If I could finish with Randy today, it would allow me to focus one-hundred-percent on her, well before the Friday deadline the asshole had given her.
Which reminded me to grab the goddamn note I’d stuffed with my weapon in the gun safe last night.
“I’m not asking this because I need to control where you are or where you go, but because I’ll worry until we find whoever’s been stalking you—you’re going straight to the ranch, right?”
Her smile dimmed ever so slightly, and I hated that almost as much as I hated my job this morning. She nodded. “I’d planned on spending the week there, actually. Thanksgiving is almost as busy as the Fourth of July at the resort. But I’d rather come ho—here, if that’s still okay.”
“Come home.” My eyes bored into her, trying to get across that I knew she’d corrected herself.
She nodded, and I pushed a bit more. “Speaking of Thanksgiving. It’s a family tradition for us to spend the day with my parents.
We take a long ride first thing in the morning before coming back for football and food.
I’m going to do my best to close out this mess before then, and I’d like you to be with us. ”
Her fingers tightened on the sheet. “I’d like that, but I just don’t know if I can swing it. I’ve always covered for some of the others who had families to spend the holiday with…”
My heart twisted. I wanted her with us. With my family.
But I also understood I couldn’t demand it.
She had a job to do, staff to cover for.
While I could have the emergency line redirected to my cell phone and allow my team to take the day off, she had an entire ranch and dozens of guests she couldn’t just skip out on.
I skimmed her hair with a gentle hand. “I understand, baby. Just think about it.”
I strode for the door and stopped when she called my name. I looked back to see her brows furrowed. “Be careful. Please. I just found you… I don’t know what I’d do…”
The tightness in my chest grew. “I’ll be careful. You do the same. Be aware. Call me if anything seems even slightly off.”
She nodded again, and I reluctantly headed down the hall.
I opened the safe, holstered my weapon, grabbed the paper bag I’d shoved the note in last night, and headed out, locking up behind me.
In my truck, I put the note in the glove box, backed out of the drive, and then sat idling for a moment as I watched for any movement in her house or anywhere along the block.
It was quiet. Smoke drifted from a few chimneys.
Beckett’s SUV was gone, meaning he was likely at the fire station.
Maisey’s vehicle had a thin layer of snow and ice on top of it, just like the street.
It wasn’t deep enough to need a plow, but the dark-gray skies promised more.
I needed to call José and make sure he was making the rounds to clear the roads and sand the deepest, darkest portions of the tight turns between Swift Rivers and Tulare before we were inundated with accidents.
The logical part of my brain was telling my foot to hit the gas.
Deputy Cleaver was expecting me, and I hadn’t even called Sandy yet to get her out to the cabin.
But something inside me was screaming not to go.
I wished I could bundle Andie up, stick her in the cab of my truck, and make sure she stayed at my side every moment of every day until we’d caught the bitch coming for her.
But that wasn’t our reality.
I had to drive away.
I had to do my job.
Finally, my foot pressed down on the gas pedal. As I drove through the quiet streets of Swift Rivers, I made the calls I needed to Sandy and José and forced myself not to turn around and head home.