Chapter Forty – Fate of Ophelia #2
And I didn’t hold back, telling them both how much I loved them.
While we waited for Cooper and Dale, we played a few hands of cards, watched television, and did our best to eat some of the homemade macaroni and cheese Lydia made, even though none of us really had the stomach for food.
When night fell and my eyes started to droop, Lydia showed me to Cooper’s childhood room. The full-sized bed was small, but the mattress was cloud-like, and since Cooper had spent the summer there before moving to the house on Meadow Lane, it still held his scent.
Slipping into his sheets, surrounding myself with his smell, comforted me almost as much as wearing his jacket. And catching glimpses into teen Cooper’s life gave me new pieces of him to adore.
The shelves were full of typical guy things, like football trophies and action figures, but also dozens of wood carvings. I hadn’t seen Cooper in action in his artist role yet, and I longed to do so. I wanted to know every single part of him. Every dream. Every memory.
The idea of being able to do that now, to have all his future moments, was enough to have more tears trailing down my cheeks. Happy ones. Relieved ones. Hopeful ones.
I wasn’t going to jail. I didn’t have to hide anymore. I could stay here in Swift Rivers. I could make a life with Cooper.
Even as tired as I was, I hadn’t thought I’d sleep. But after I’d washed up, put on a flannel nightgown Lydia loaned me, and settled in Cooper’s bed, I passed out almost immediately.
Until the mattress sinking woke me.
Backlit by the moon shining like a beacon across the glistening snow outside, Cooper’s face was a dark shadow as he eased into the bed.
I reached for him automatically, and he froze.
“I woke you. I’m sorry. I should have slept on the couch.” His voice held bone-weary exhaustion.
He was wearing nothing more than boxer briefs, and his body was warm from head to toe, drawing me to him automatically. I wrapped my arms around his neck and buried my face in the crook of his shoulder.
“I’m glad you’re here,” I whispered.
The tension in his back eased ever so slightly, as if he’d been expecting me to be upset with him and was relieved I wasn’t.
I pulled my face back enough to search his eyes in the darkness. They glistened in the moonlight. I brushed at his cheek, and when my fingers came away wet, fear curled back in.
“What’s wrong?” My heart clenched, waiting for his response.
“I failed you today, baby. I failed, and you and my son almost died because of it.”
Shock filled me. “What? How can you even say that?”
A tremor ran through his body. I pulled away, sitting up and flicking on the bedside lamp before turning back to him. He sat as well, the blankets falling away to reveal his sharply honed muscles and the smattering of dark hair that covered his chest. He was all man. Solid and honorable.
At first glance, Cooper appeared to be a cold, solid rock. An intense and focused cop. But I’d been lucky enough to see beyond what he showed the world to the open and caring man he was at his core. I’d witnessed the gift of love he gave his family completely and willingly.
But right now, the look on his face was the same one Luca had when I’d opened my front door to find out who’d broken my window, as if he were somehow to blame for what had happened to me today.
I untangled myself from the covers and straddled him, cupping his face and locking my eyes on his.
“Cooper, explain to me how you could possibly see anything that happened today as your failure.”
“I left the goddamn gun that nearly killed you and my son in an unlocked vehicle. Even worse, I left your side when I knew you were in danger.”
My heart bled. I didn’t want him to take this on. I didn’t want him to let what had shown up from my past cast a darkness over us that would linger for years.
I shook my head. “You dropped everything, racing to the ranch when you thought I was in danger from my dad. And nothing would have happened to Luca or me if I hadn’t stupidly left my phone uncharged. It was my past that put Luca in danger, not you or anything you did.”
“You saved his life,” Cooper grunted. “You saved my son’s life…” his voice cracked.
I kissed him. I couldn’t help it. I didn’t know how else to convey the strength of my emotions. To ease his pain. To tell him how much I loved him. How sorry I was. How much I hoped we’d be able to move beyond this to the dreams and the future we’d both seen blooming between us.
His mouth was stiff below mine at first, and then he relaxed, opening for me, matching the force of my devotion with his own. Passion and relief poured from us, growing in ferocity with each additional press of lips and tongue.
I wrapped my arms around his neck, pushed my core to his, needing to be as close as humanly possible. To somehow meld our bodies into one so we were no longer two scarred souls but one merged being.
He groaned, finally fully letting go and crushing me to him as if he was afraid I’d disappear. His tongue took control, lunging and swirling, claiming me. Stealing my breath away and making it his.
When he eased back, gaze locked on mine, his expression was a mix of hope and desire.