And I didn’t care.
I don’t know if Samantha came to me, or I went to her, but in a fraction of a second we came together, our bodies meshed as one, my mouth crashing against hers. I needed this woman, craved her.
By the urgency in her kiss, she was a slave to the same wave of desire.
Samantha pulled at my t-shirt, and I reached behind me to pull it over my head. Her fingernails raked down the front of my chest, and a low growl escaped my throat. In a tangle of grasping, clutching limbs, we became entangled in one another, unable to get close enough.
She tasted of a sweetness I’d never known, a taste I hadn’t realized was a personal weakness until I experienced it.
“Christ, Samantha,” I whispered against her lips. “I want you so goddamn bad.”
She sighed, letting her head fall back as I grazed my teeth along her throat. “You have me,” she breathed.
She brought her head up as I backed her up against the washing machine, her eyes smoldering with an intense heat as my hands dipped under the hem of her shirt.
I stopped, my body pressed against hers, and my fingertips tingling with the sensation of her bare skin under them.
“I want all of you, Samantha,” I admitted, though I knew the confession wasn’t needed. She could feel the rigid proof of my desperation against her hip. “I meant it when I said I’d wait—”
Samantha’s hands were on my belt, fumbling with the buckle. She stole a glance up at me. “And I meant what I said.” Her voice came out low and hoarse. “You have me, Cooper.”
She had my belt undone and my fly unzipped, pushing my jeans and boxers down over my hips before I could process the weight of her words. My body, however, was registering her intent clearly, and all I could do was groan as Samantha’s hand encircled the length of my erection.
“Samantha...” It was my turn to plead with her.
Coyly, she let go of me and, eyes locked with mine, tugged her t-shirt over her head. She tossed the shirt onto the floor with mine, and I barely had the wherewithal to step out of my own jeans and kick them over into the pile as well.
I couldn’t think of anything except her. Her gorgeous curves. Her taunting eyes. Her husky voice, thick with desire. “You are—”
Samantha’s hand instinctively came up to cover the dark linear marks on her lower abdomen. Just as quickly, I brought my hand down on hers, pushing it gently away. Then, I bent down onto one knee in front of her, kissing and licking across her hip bone, holding her gently but firmly in place.
“As I was saying,” I said between kisses, “You are absolutely beautiful, Samantha. Every fucking inch of you.”
A sigh met my ears, though I wasn’t sure it was in response to my comments, or the fact that I’d slid my fingers past the waistband of her shorts and panties. I tugged them down, and she let me. I kissed along her thigh, relishing in the warmth of her soft skin and the way her body trembled as my hands caressed across the contours of her hips. Heat radiated from between her thighs. I needed to taste that sweet heat, feel her come undone beneath my tongue. But as I kissed my way toward my goal, Samantha stopped me just shy, her hands fisting in my hair.
“Cooper, come here,” she begged breathlessly.
Obedient, I rose to stand in front of her, kissing my way up her body. I was aware of her instruction, but it did little to halt my kisses along the side of her throat, and my hands cupping her breasts in my palms. “What’s wrong?”
“I want you,” she groaned, gasping as I nipped at her collarbone. “Inside me. Not just your hands or your tongue.” Her eyes had sharpened when I pulled back to see her face. “Please, Cooper.”
Please, Cooper. Jesus fucking Christ, I almost came undone right there with the sound of that plea on her lips.
Without further thought, I lowered my head and found her mouth again, kissing her, devouring her. I reached down between us and teased her legs apart, finding her hot, wet, and so ready. A primal growl of satisfaction rose in my throat, knowing that slick heat was in response to me, but it was quickly extinguished somewhere within our kiss.
Perhaps I should’ve waited, or warned her. But the animalistic part of me now drowned out the gentleman, and all I could think of was how fucking bad I needed to bury myself within her.
So, I did. Slowly, I entered her, and the gasp the sensation elicited was stifled as my mouth covered hers. Samantha’s hands clutched my hips, her fingernails biting into my flesh. But she took everything I gave her, even arching her hips painstakingly slow, pushing me deeper into her.
Gasps, groans, and moans sounded softly between us as I began to move within her, but it was impossible to determine hers from mine, where she ended and I began.
I was lost, beyond control, taken over by the tsunami wave of absolute perfection that was Samantha Webb. The way her tongue danced so mesmerizingly with my own, the way her hard nipples felt as I rolled them between my fingertips, the beautifully erotic noises she made against my shoulder as I thrust into her, the way her body seemed to be made to fit mine.
“Oh God, Samantha.” I couldn’t get more coherent words out, too enthralled with her.
Samantha lifted one leg, hooking it around my hip. The movement allowed me to go deeper, and another curse word left my lips.
“Trust me,” I whispered, holding her against me tightly as I reached down and hooked her other leg around me, lifting her. I took two steps to the right, and pressed her back against the laundry room wall, barely falling out of rhythm as I buried myself inside her again.
This time, Samantha’s gasp was louder. I could feel her thighs tightening around my hips, but her walls clenched deliciously around my cock, too.
Only the animal within me remained, and I lost the last shred of chivalry. I wanted to own Samantha in that moment, needed her to succumb to me. Give herself over to me in the most intimate way she could.
Relentlessly, I thrust into her. She clutched herself around me, holding on to me as though I were a lifeline.
“Come for me, Samantha,” I demanded through gritted teeth.
A small whimper was her only vocal reply, but I could feel her trembling, trying to hold herself together, clenching tautly—
Samantha shattered beneath my fingertips. “Cooper, oh God!”
I thrust into her harder, sucking in a sharp breath as she dug her fingernails into my shoulders but unable to stop myself, overtaken by the violent shuddering of her body and how tight and rigid she became as her orgasm ripped through her. I held her in place with one hand, reaching up to press the other against the wall to steady myself.
But it was too late. My own release followed quickly, and Samantha’s name fell from my lips with the urgency of a plea for survival. I buried my face into the side of her neck, muffling each grunt and gasp.
We stayed that way, her back pressed against the wall under my weight, my hand on the wall with my head on her shoulder, inhaling her intoxicating scent until my heartbeat had slowed to some semblance of normal.
“Oh my God,” Samantha breathed.
I lifted my head to see if it was a good oh my God or a bad one, but the sleepy, dream-like grin on her face told me all I needed to know. “You okay?” I pecked her jaw lightly, then lowered her slowly onto her feet and reluctantly pulled away from her.
Samantha chuckled as her legs trembled beneath her own weight. “Jesus, I’m shaking like a leaf.”
I brought my hand up to help her steady herself, and she clutched it. “Who would have thought laundry could be so strenuous?” I smiled, leaning down to kiss her temple again.
“Maybe laundry isn’t so bad after all.” She bent down and reached for her t-shirt on the floor. “If you’re helping me with it, I mean.”
I pulled the shirt from her hands. There was no way in hell I was letting her cover up the masterpiece before me. “Samantha, I will do laundry with you anytime, anywhere.”
“Anywhere?” Her eyebrows shot up, curious.
A mischievous grin
tugged at my mouth. “Anywhere, pretty lady.” I leaned forward, pulling her to me again. “Besides, I’m pretty sure you could talk me into anything, if you wanted to.”
“Is that so?” She beamed up at me, wrapping her arms around my waist. “Anywhere, anything. You know, I’m kind of starting to like the sound of this.”
“You know what?” I kissed her again, this time with more warmth. “Me too.”
CHAPTER SEVEN
SAMANTHA
Every morning on the dot, Cooper saved the day. He arrived early enough that we could share a cup of coffee together and I could get ready without interruptions. Sliding the dark red shade of lipstick across my lips, I stared at my reflection and a grin pulled against my mouth.
Confidence had been reborn within me the very moment Cooper Henley told me in no uncertain terms that every fucking inch of me was beautiful. It wasn’t his words that made me believe it, but the way he proved it to me with the grip of his hands on my hips, the crash of his lips against mine, and the way our bodies entwined and became one.
Everything I thought I knew about being in love was destroyed in that laundry room. By the hands of Cooper Henley.
Cooper was everything Ethan wasn’t. He was attentive, not only to me, but to Levi as well. I knew Ethan loved our son, but his priorities were backwards. Levi felt more affection from Cooper in the short couple months that he’d been babysitting him than Ethan had shown him in ages.
And while it filled my heart with joy, the truth of that broke my heart at the same time.
I fluffed my hair on my shoulders, switching off the light in the bathroom and walking down the hall. Laughter from Cooper and Levi bounced off the walls and danced in my eardrums. I peeked around the corner of my son’s room. The boys were playing superheroes, as usual.
With a soft knock on the doorframe, Levi looked back at me while Cooper guided the Superman action figure through the air.
“Hi, Mommy!” Levi gave me a big, cheesy grin.
Cooper’s eyes drank me in from head to toe and he waggled his eyebrows. “Meow!” he purred. I couldn’t contain my laughter.
“We’re not playing cats, Cooper. You’re Superman, remember?” Levi sighed, exasperated. It only made Cooper and I laugh harder.
“I know, Spidey. I forgot for a second, that’s all.” He tried to hold back his amusement, forcing a serious expression onto his face.
I stepped into the bedroom, crouching down to pull Levi up into my arms. He wrapped his arms around my neck and grunted loudly as he gave in and hugged me tight. Then, he puckered his lips at me and gave me an exaggerated kiss. I set him down, noticing that I’d left a trace of lipstick on his lips, and I began to rub at it.
“I got your lip stuff on me again, huh?” Levi placed his hand on his hips and rolled his eyes. “Can’t you give me kisses before you put that yucky stuff on?”
“Next time, pal, I promise.” I held my pinky up to him, and he reached his hand up to curl his own around mine. I used my other hand to wipe the last remnants of the red smudge from his bottom lip, much to his distaste.
Cooper stood up. “Hey, Little Man, there’s been a bank robbery. Can Spider-Man take care of that while Superman takes a short break?”
“I’m on it!” Levi puffed out his chest before reaching for the action figure.
Cooper rose from the floor and came toward me, a light shining in his eyes and a mischievous grin on his face—a grin that made me want to head right back into that laundry room with him and wash every damn piece of clothing in my apartment.
I backed away from him slowly, heading further down the hall, pulling my bottom lip between my teeth to hide my amusement.
“You better watch what you’re doing, pretty lady, or you’ll be late for work.”
“I’m not doing anything.” I gave him a devilish grin as he stepped closer, towering over me, pressing his firm chest against mine. A gasp escaped my throat and my head tilted back as he inhaled the scent of perfume I’d dabbed on my neck.
“Just like I’m not doing anything either, right?” Cooper whispered just before nipping at the sensitive skin on my neck, a sensation that created a puddle of wetness between my legs.
Fuck.
“Okay, stop. You’re just being evil now. I have to go, and Levi is right there in his room,” I whispered, softly pushing on his chest to put space between us. But his hands grasped my lower back.
“Have a good day.” His gaze fluttered between my eyes and my lips. I stood on my tiptoes and pushed my lips against his. I felt his hand travel through my hair and rest at the back of my head.
I will have a good day, because all of my days since you’ve come into our lives have been good.
“You too.”
***
Dragging myself up the stairs of the apartment building, a tantalizing aroma danced into my nostrils, spreading through the hallway. The closer I got, it dawned on me that the delicious scent was coming from my own apartment.
Seriously, what did I do to deserve a man like this? It all seems too good to be true.
I unlocked the door and opened it slowly. The sound of something sizzling in a pan met my ears. I stepped in and locked the door behind me, then slid out of my uncomfortable high heels.
Cooper had a dish towel tucked in the back pocket of his jeans and his shirt was nowhere to be seen, his back muscles suggestively shadowed by the dim kitchen lighting. As I stepped closer, I could see faint pink scratch marks along his shoulder blades, and a faint smirk formed on my lips. Heat rose swiftly in my cheeks as I thought of how those marks had gotten there. I knocked two knuckles against the wall to let him know I was home.
“Oh, hey.” Cooper scooped shrimp, onions, and a colorful array of peppers onto a plate.
“Hey, yourself. Get a little hot in here or something?” I winked at him playfully.
“Actually, yeah.” He chuckled, scooping another helping of the gorgeous meal onto another plate, then pulled a few tortillas from the warmer. “I figured Levi probably wouldn’t like this kind of thing, so I already made him a grilled cheese sandwich. He’s in his room watching a movie. Hope you don’t mind?”
“Of course I don’t mind. I appreciate it, more than you know. You know you don’t have to do all of this?” I said, softly smiling.
“I know I don’t. I do it because I want to, Samantha.” Cooper turned away from the stove to face me, and my eyes focused on his chiseled abdomen. “You two have given me so much to look forward to. You know that, right?” He wiped his hand on the dish towel, watching me.
I stared back, appraising him with a crooked grin. “Well, like I said, we really appreciate it.”
I turned away from him and headed toward Levi’s room. Opening his door, I saw my little guy sitting in the middle of his room playing with his toy cars while he watched his favorite movie for probably the twentieth time this week. I snuck in behind him and wrapped my arms around his small frame.
“I gotcha!” I roared, laughing menacingly.
“Not for long!” Levi squealed as he began kicking his feet, trying to wriggle away from me. I set him down and he turned to face me, wrapping his arms around my waist for a big hug.
“Did you have a good day, buddy?” I asked him, leaning down to press my lips against his forehead. Luckily, my lipstick had worn off, otherwise I would have accidentally broken my promise to him from earlier this morning.
“Yeah! Cooper is the funnest! We played superheroes and trucks, we put together my big puzzle, and he even taught me a new game!” Levi squealed in excitement.
“Oh, yeah? What game is that?”
“Hot Lava! We put the pillows from the couch on the floor and a pillow from my bed, too, and he pulled the chairs from the table and put them in the living room too so we hopped on all of them trying not to fall on the carpet because the carpet was...hot lava!” he exclaimed, his hands waving excitedly as he spoke.
His animated story hit me hard, and tears stung my eyes. I’d never see
n my baby boy this excited about anything before. Pulling myself together, I straightened my posture and blinked back the tears, furrowing my eyebrows as I stared down at his big, brown eyes.
“You two hopped on the couch pillows? You know what that means...” I brought my hands up and curled my fingers, making them look like claws, just as Levi’s face had started to falter. “That means I’m gonna get you!” I growled.
“Uh oh!” Levi screamed and bolted around me to get out of his bedroom. “Cooper! Mommy is gonna get us for hopping on the couch pillows!” He ran and hid behind Cooper’s tall, broad frame.
“Don’t worry, Little Man. I can take care of this.” Cooper narrowed his piercing eyes at me and quickly came toward me, lifting me up as though I were weightless and hanging me over his shoulder.
Laughter from the three of us filled the apartment, and I didn’t even care if we were being too noisy. This was the most fun Levi and I’d had in a long time.
Cooper carried me to the couch and drop me down onto it, then turned back toward Levi and held his hand up for a high-five. “See, buddy? We make a great team, huh?”
“Duh!” Levi smacked his hand against Cooper’s. “Mommy?” His tone had changed as he turned towards me. It was sweet and innocent, and he batted his long lashes at me.
“Yeah?” I figured it was probably on the tip of his tongue to ask to stay up late tonight since it was Friday.
“Can Cooper spend the night with me?”
Oh my God. Can Cooper what? I can’t believe this child of mine just asked that.
“Uh...um...” I failed to find a proper response because I wasn’t quite sure how to go about it.
“Yeah, Samantha, can I spend the night tonight?” Cooper batted his lashes at me, playfully mocking Levi and exaggerating his pleading expression. His bottom lip puckered out and everything.
“Oh, good grief. I suppose. But, you two better go to bed when I say so.” I winked, then had to turn away from them, despite Levi’s exuberant cheers. I swallowed hard as the butterflies in my stomach began to flutter wildly.
Defensive Daddy: A Bad Boy Hockey Romance Page 6