by Nikki Ash
He backs up and sits in the reading chair. Without saying a word, he scrubs his hands up and down his stubble. Figuring he just needs a moment to catch up, I stay where I am.
Finally, after a good minute, he glances up at me and says, “I never thought anybody would ever call me Daddy. And when she asked if I could be her daddy, I thought it would scare me to death, but it didn’t. I just wanted to grab her and hug her and never let her go. I barely even know her and I already love her more than life itself. I felt it in the hospital when you said she was brought in, but hearing her calling me Daddy, my heart feels like it just grew ten times bigger. I just want to give her the world.”
“I know what you mean. When she was born, I held her in my arms and stared at her, refusing to believe she was mine. I guess it’s a parent’s love. You don’t have to know everything about her to feel that connection.”
His gaze locks with mine, and a single tear falls down his cheek. “I missed it all. I missed you being pregnant. I bet you were so beautiful carrying our little girl. I missed her birth, her first steps, and her first words. Damn it, Liz. I missed everything. All because I was a fucking idiot who thought I didn’t deserve any of this so I pushed you away. For four years, I had a daughter who had no father all because of the choices I made. I will never be able to get any of that back.”
I move closer to Cooper and put my hands into his. “You didn’t know, Coop. It wasn’t your fault. You had a crappy childhood and you made the choices you thought were best at the time. I was just going off to college. I didn’t try to give you my number either.”
“Yeah, that was cute the way you got into a twenty-one and older club and acted like you just graduated college,” he says with a smirk. “Any younger and you’d have been jail-bait.”
I smile big and stick my tongue out at him. Wait until he hears the other half of it. “Oh, well, you also didn’t realize that I was a virgin when we hooked up.”
His eyes bug out and he goes serious. “Liz, what the fuck. I took you in the shower our first time. Why didn’t you tell me? I would have been more gentle or caring…”
“No.” I shake my head. “You were perfect. My first time, and second time, and third time were all perfect. I don’t regret anything we did. I wasn’t lying when I said I was on the pill. The problem was I had only just started it a couple days before. I didn’t plan to have sex so I didn’t look into when it becomes effective. I had no clue birth control pills take a week to work. I was eighteen and stupid. I got to Las Vegas and four weeks later, after throwing up for days, went to the doctor where she confirmed I was pregnant.”
“I can’t even imagine how scared you were. I wish I could’ve been there for you. I’m so sorry, Liz.”
“It’s okay,” I say honestly. “Kayla was there every step of the way. We worked part time and took classes and graduated together. It wasn’t easy, but we did it.”
He lets out a loud sigh, shaking his head. Before he can respond, Bella comes running back into the room. “I got the movie!” She waves it in the air.
“Perfect! Go pick out a couple of stuffed animals and we’ll be there in two minutes to watch it.” She nods excitedly and runs back out.
“You’re the strongest woman I know,” Cooper says once she’s gone. “You’re raising a beautiful, sweet, little girl. Thank you for taking such good care of her. But I’m here now. Please give me the chance to take care of you.”
“I want to, Coop. I want to so badly. But you’re the one who told me several times you don’t want to be a father or a husband. I know I owe it to you to let you get to know Bella, but I’m scared for her and for me. I don’t know if I can handle you breaking my heart again. What if you wake up one day and decide you don’t really want a family after all? Then what? What would I say to Bella? How would I explain to her that her daddy doesn’t want her? You heard her. She’s been on this daddy kick for weeks. She hears at school from all the kids who have a daddy. In her movies and shows there’s a mommy and daddy, or in many cases like the Disney movies, there’s only a dad and no mom. She wants one so badly. What if I tell her you’re her daddy and then you change your mind…it’ll devastate her. And I’ll be left to pick up the pieces.”
I wipe away a traitor tear and Cooper frowns. “Baby girl, I know my words don’t hold any weight and I’ve confused the shit out of you with everything I’ve said. But I promise you, I’m not going anywhere. The fact is, you don’t owe me anything, but please just give me a chance to prove I’m in this for the long haul with you and Bella.”
It suddenly occurs to me that he isn’t playing a game. He isn’t keeping points and it doesn’t do any good for me to play games. Bella deserves for us to try. We deserve for us to try. This is what I wanted for so long and I’ll always regret it, if I don’t give us a shot. Sure, there’s a chance Bella and I end up hurt, but I want so badly for the other option, the one where we end up together as a family.
So, I give in and say, “Okay, one more chance. We’ll see how good of a fighter you really are.”
Cooper leans forward and, grabbing my waist, pulls me up into his lap so I’m straddling him, one leg on either side of him. “Thank you, baby,” he whispers. Then he kisses me like I just told him he’s won the lottery, his lips attacking mine. His hands roam all over my body—up my arms, over my breasts, down my back. I can feel him getting excited between my legs.
Instinctively, I grind against his hardness while lacing my fingers into his hair that’s just long enough to grab ahold of. We continue to kiss and his fingers tweak my nipples over my clothes. I need him. I need his body on mine without any clothes… and then suddenly I’m flying through the air, my butt hitting the couch. What the heck?
I shoot him a look that conveys he’s damn near lost his mind, but he shakes his head, quickly looking toward the doorway, and in the next second, in walks Bella. Holy. Shit. What kind of mother forgets her daughter is in the other damn room while trying to get laid?
“C’mon! Movie time!” Bella bounces up and down and then grabs one of my hands to pull me up.
Cooper starts to chuckle. Guessing what’s going on in my head, he leans over and whispers, “Tonight, baby girl. You’re all mine tonight.” And with that, my panties dampen.
Damn this man and his way with words.
Twenty-Two
Cooper
After Bella determines her bed isn’t big enough for all of us, we get situated in the living room, instead, to watch some movie called Frozen as Bella explains why she wants to watch this movie even though it came out a long time ago. It’s so hard to keep a straight face listening to my four-year-old explain why it’s okay to watch an old movie even though she has a lot of new ones.
“It’s not that I don’t want to watch Dolphin Tale. It’s still my favoritest ever. It’s just that I love Anna and Elsa and I want to be Elsa for Halloween. I can’t be a dolphin for Halloween because that would be so silly!” She says all this as she explodes into a fit of giggles at her own comment. I have no idea what she’s talking about, but she’s the cutest damn thing.
Liz obviously understands completely as they go back and forth about her Halloween costume.
“Mom, it’s so important to get my costume now. If I wait too long and they have no Elsa, I will die.” Holy shit. Apparently, costume shopping is a life or death situation to a kid.
“Bella, why don’t you wait to decide what you want to be for Halloween? We still have six weeks and you might change your mind.”
Bella huffs, clearly not happy with her mother’s answer, but chooses not to argue either. Oh man, I haven’t lived with a woman in years, and now I’m living with two. This should be interesting.
After popping some popcorn and ordering a pizza, we all get comfortable. Liz is snuggled up to me with her head resting just under my chin and Bella is spread out on the floor using the pillows from the couches as a makeshift bed. She looks so adorable lying on her belly with her hands under her chin. I should p
robably be focusing on the movie, but I can’t stop watching my girls. My girls. I had no idea I even wanted any of this, and now, sitting here with them, my heart feels so full.
The pizza arrives and we eat in front of the television still watching the movie. Bella gets up every time a song comes on and dances across the room belting out all the words. She has an awesome personality. When the guy kisses the girl, Bella looks back and gives her mom and me a knowing look. I laugh softly at that and give Liz a kiss on her forehead. She looks up at me and smiles contently.
The movie ends and Liz announces to Bella it’s time for bed. She groans and begs for ten more minutes, but Liz isn’t having it. I wonder if she’s thinking about what I mentioned earlier.
Bella says, “Fine,” then stomps up the stairs to her room, Liz following behind her. I’m not sure what my role in all this is, since we still haven’t told her I’m her dad, so I hang back and wait to see what Liz wants me to do. A few minutes later I hear Bella scream my name from upstairs and I head up there to make sure everything is okay.
“Hey princess, you okay?” I ask as I walk into her room. She’s wearing one of the nightgowns I picked out. It’s pink with ruffles and has a picture of a princess on the front. She’s rummaging through her bag, until she finds what she’s looking for.
“A-ha! Got it. I found my favorite book. Will you read it to me?” She hands me the book and climbs into bed.
I look at Liz to make sure it’s okay and she nods her head that it is. I walk over to the bed unsure of where to sit when Bella looks up at me smiling and pats her hand on the bed next to her. Damn, this little girl has officially stolen my heart.
Sitting awkwardly on the bed next to her, I read the title. “The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein.” I open to the first page and begin reading. At first, Bella is sitting up, her body not touching mine, but eventually she snuggles up next to me to see the pictures while I continue to read. The pages and images are in black and white but that doesn’t stop her from enjoying this book. Several times I hear her recite the words along with me. I don’t think she can read yet, but she must have heard this book so many times she has the words memorized.
About fifteen minutes later I hear a light snore and glance down to find her fast asleep. I look over at Liz smiling. “She sounds just like you the nights we spent together five years ago. You snore the same.”
She narrows her eyes at me, clearly not taking my comment as a compliment. I laugh as I set the book down and gently move Bella’s head off my side, slowly moving off the bed.
Liz kisses Bella on her forehead, then turns the light off. The night-light spreads a soft glow over the room, and I take a moment to watch my little girl sleep.
“C’mon, Coop,” Liz whispers. “It’s bedtime.”
Once we’re in my room, I jump in the shower to wash the day off me. Definitely not expecting her to join, I’m pleasantly surprised when she enters the bathroom right after me.
Twenty-Three
Liz
I swear my ovaries just about burst as I watched Cooper read our daughter a bedtime story. After she falls asleep and we head to our room. He goes straight to the bathroom and a few minutes later the water turns on. Flashbacks of our first time at the resort in Miami, up against the shower wall, surface, sending shivers down my spine.
I don’t know what’s come over me, but without even thinking, I brazenly enter the bathroom, remove my clothes, and join him in the shower. He turns around, his eyes slowly running down my body, assessing me. Feeling suddenly shy, I cast my eyes down, only to find his erection growing.
He grabs my hand and tugs me into him, putting us both under the water. His hands come up to my face, and with a soft smile, he wipes the wet tendrils of hair out of my eyes. “Baby girl, I want you so bad,” he says, his voice thick with emotion. “If you aren’t ready, you need to tell me now because having you in this shower, naked and wet… you’re making it hard as hell to control myself.”
I don’t respond. Instead, I squat down so that I’m face to face with his hard erection. Glancing up at him, I find his chest is rising and falling heavily, and his eyes are hooded over with lust. I love that I haven’t even touched him, yet he’s already completely turned on. He doesn’t say anything, so I take his dick in my hand and start stroking it from the root to tip. It’s thick with a few veins popping out as it points straight at me, only centimeters from my mouth. I can’t be this close to it and not taste it, so placing my hands on his thighs, I steady myself then take his full length into my mouth until it hits the back of my throat.
“Oh, fuck. Liz, that feels incredible,” he groans.
His words spur me on as I continue to lick and suck his dick like it’s a lollipop, before going deeper and taking more of him. I gaze upward and notice his back is against the wall and his fists are tightened at his sides. I don’t want him controlled, though. I want him to let go.
Steadying myself by putting my hands on his thighs, my head bobs up and down sucking his dick forcefully, swirling my tongue around the head every time my head comes up. This seems to do him in and, a few seconds later, his legs are trembling and he’s warning me that he’s about to come. I don’t stop, though. I want to taste him. I want him to come undone because of me.
If I’m honest with myself, remembering all those girls shouting his name at the UFC fight makes me feel like I need to remind him why he wants me and not them.
A few seconds later, his dick swells and he lets out a loud grunt. Then he’s coming down my throat. I taste his seed on my tongue before it coats the back of my throat. I take it all, every drop, until his dick starts to go soft in my mouth. His lips lazily stretch into a smile as he looks at me with awe and maybe something else. Could it be love? No, he’s just received good head, that’s all it is. But I can’t deny that it makes me happy I’m the one to put that look on his face.
We finish showering and make our way back into the bedroom to get dressed in comfortable silence. Before I can grab my clothes from the luggage, Cooper pulls me against him, my back hitting his front. Every time he touches me, I swear my body comes alive.
I glance up and can see him in the dresser mirror staring at me with lust-filled eyes. Taking both my breasts in his hands, he begins to massage them. I should be embarrassed that we’re both watching him touch me like this, but I’m not. Instead, I simply feel wanted… and seriously turned on. I squeeze my thighs together, failing to quell the ache, needing more.
He continues to palm my breast with one hand, but moves the other straight down to the area between my legs. Thank God!
“Spread your legs, baby,” he murmurs, and I do. He separates my pussy lips with his two fingers and then push one deep inside me. Simultaneously, he leans down and starts planting kisses along my neck, trailing his way up to the sensitive spot below my ear. He moves his lips up to my ear and gently bites down on my lobe, causing my body to shudder and tighten from sensory overload.
“Oh my God, Cooper. Please.” I can see him through his reflection in the mirror, silently laughing at my neediness, but my body is wound too tight to focus on anything but him giving me an orgasm.
“Please what, baby girl? What do you need?”
“I need you. Now. More. Now.” I know I’m not making any sense, but surely, he gets the damn point. Of course, his ass laughs at my incoherence, but at least while he’s laughing, he obeys by sticking another digit into me. He stops palming my breast and instead begins to tweak the nipple between his fingers. My head goes back against his chest, my eyes closing, as the pleasure from his fingers and mouth shoot straight to my core causing me to moan embarrassingly loud.
And then the feeling stops. My eyes fly open in time to see Cooper walk around to face me until he’s sandwiched between me and the dresser. Before I can ask what the heck he’s doing, he places my hands against the dresser on either side of him then drops to his knees. I have no idea where he’s going with this, but I’ll trust he knows.
; With him no longer standing in front of me, I see my reflection in the mirror. My hair is a mess and my cheeks are a light pink from being worked up and turned on. I look crazy, but at the same time, happy, carefree.
Something soft and wet hits my clit, and I jump slightly. Looking down, I have a bird’s eye view of Cooper’s tongue lapping at my pussy. Holy. Shit. That feels good. He taps my thigh to spread them wider, then puts two fingers back inside me while he gives my clit plenty of attention. Hot damn, this guy is an amazing multitasker.
While fucking me with his fingers, his mouth is feasting on my pussy. At first, he licks his way up my slit, then he sucks on my clit before he bits down on it, only to lick away the pain. I can hear the slurping sound coming from my pussy while he drinks up all my juices. I can’t stop watching him. I’ve never witnessed something so intimate and erotic in my life.
He continues to suck and lick while fingering me deep. His fingers start to hit that spot, the one that will have me coming in no time. Then his tongue hits my clit in just the right way and I know I’m about to experience the biggest orgasm to date.
He takes his mouth off me just long enough to say, “Look in the mirror. Watch yourself as you come all over my tongue and fingers.” And then his mouth is back on my clit. My body, wound up too tight, begins to spasm and shake, as waves of pleasure course through my body as I ride out my orgasm. His tongue and fingers never stop until I’ve completely come down from what I can only imagine heaven on earth feels like.
“Damn, baby, that was fucking hot, the way you just came all over my tongue. You taste damn good.” He stands and licks his fingers clean, leaving me wanting him all over again.
We both clean up in the bathroom then get dressed. As much as I want to lay naked with him, I can’t chance our four-year old running in here in the middle of the night or in the morning and seeing us without clothes on. He flicks the light off on the nightstand and spoons me from behind.