“I have nothing to hide,” he said softly, “but I don’t know where to start. I’ve been lost since the attack, moving through life on the wings of every minute without feeling anything beyond hurt and anger. Then Jackson got engaged, and I finally came out from under the numbness of it all, and all I wanted was you, Ceese.”
Oh God. The truth in his eyes and the honesty in his voice shattered any desire she had to hash out the details and spend all night working through the last four years. She couldn’t do that right now, when she could barely focus on anything but remembering to breathe. Not when his emotions were so raw that just hearing the ache in his voice nearly made her want to cry.
“This. Now. Being here with you.” His dark brows pulled together, and he reached up and caressed her cheek. “I can’t think when I’m this close to you.”
They’d always been so in sync. His confession didn’t surprise her, but it drew her further in to him despite knowing she needed to keep her distance.
“I want to touch you again,” he said with a heated gaze, “and I know I have no right—”
She didn’t think as she pressed her lips to his, her pulse racing as eager and erratic as a winter storm. His tongue swept over the seam of her lips, and she heard herself moan as she opened up to him. Her body went warm and soft against him. The memories of his kisses didn’t come close to the passion rushing through her veins as he deepened the kiss.
“Missed you so much,” he said against her lips. “Too long.”
Her mind fractured into a hundred pieces as he gripped her hips and pulled her closer. She tightened her thighs around his, trying to quell the ache between them, and when he tangled his hands in her hair and rose to his feet, taking her up with him, she finally—Lord, finally—felt his muscular chest press against hers.
“Missed your mouth. Your voice.” He sealed his lips over hers again.
Her mind spun away as he laced his fingers with hers and whispered, “Your touch.” He guided her hand around him as his mouth seared a path down her neck to the swell of her breast.
Yes, please. More. His gloriously large, strong hands moved beneath her shirt. They covered the span of her back as he held her close, kissing her neck and finally capturing her mouth with his again. He masterfully unhooked her bra, and in the next breath her shirt and bra were on the floor.
“So beautiful,” he said as he lowered his mouth to first one breast, then the other.
Her nipples hardened, aching for more as he sucked one into his mouth, groaning against her sensitive skin. She clawed at his back, wrapping one leg around his so he could grind his hard length against her. She could barely breathe as she succumbed to the sensations sweeping through her. The prickling of his beard against her skin, the heat of his palms moving down her ribs, over her back, then cupping her breasts again, drove her out of her blessed mind.
“Need to feel you,” he said as he removed his shirt, and it sailed to the floor.
They both moaned at the first touch of their chests. He captured her mouth again in a soul-searing kiss, then gripped her hair and abruptly tugged their mouths apart. The intensity of his stare bored through her.
“Ceese? Need me to stop?”
“I might hate you tomorrow, but I need you tonight.” She reached for his pants, and he gripped her wrist, holding her stare.
***
FUCK. FUCK, FUCK, fuck. Cooper hadn’t planned to make out with Cici, but who was he kidding? They’d never been able to resist each other. He searched her eyes, seeing the truth in her statement and the red-hot desire pushing it away.
“Not worth the risk,” he huffed out.
She cupped his hard length through his pants and narrowed her baby blues in the seductive, challenging stare he’d come to love in the week they’d shared four years ago. “I think you know it is.”
He gritted his teeth. “That’s not what I meant.” God, he still loved her so much. “I didn’t seek you out for a quick fuck.”
“Who said anything about quick?” She arched a finely manicured brow, and then her eyes narrowed and she pulled back. “You sought me out?”
“That’s why I’m here. I’ll do anything to win you back, Ceese. I’m finally ready to be whole again, and I can’t be without you.” He pressed his hand to the small of her back, bringing their bodies flush against each other. He kissed her neck, felt her body trembling against him. “I’m not even inside you yet and I know it’s where I belong, where we belong. But not tonight if there’s a chance you’ll hate me tomorrow.”
She walked across the room, and he felt his hope shatter anew. Please don’t tell me to leave. At least talk to me. She turned off the lights and closed the distance between them, shattering any chance he had at talking. He couldn’t concentrate on anything except how much he wanted her, needed her.
“Stop thinking,” she said as he put his arms around her. “Start winning me back.”