That summed it up, right?
She leaned her forearms on the table in front of her and gave him her full attention.
“You married someone who wanted you to be someone other than who you are.”
“Not intentionally. I mean, when we first met I thought I wanted to be a general practitioner, have my own private practice some day. We talked about moving to the suburb where my parents lived, having a family and sending the kids to private school. When I was a resident that all changed. I discovered I worked best when I had to think fast on my feet. Even if it’s just stitching up a bar fight, or comforting a lonely old man who thinks he’s having a heart attack when it’s just anxiety, I fit in the ER.”
Bree nodded. “I know what you mean.”
And she did, didn’t she? He knew of several times that she’d been approached by the heads of other departments about moving out of the ER and up to less hectic floors, but she always turned them down. And she’d clearly been panicked when she’d been faced with the prospect of being moved out of her department during the investigation.
Not that he was going to bring that up after she’d clearly forgiven him.
“Eventually she asked me to get my shit together and find an office, but I felt as if I already had my shit together. So…” He shrugged, but what he was about to say still stung. “So she went out and found herself a nine to five man and divorced me.”
She considered that for a long time, her doe eyes never leaving his. “What a bitch.”
He laughed in spite of himself. “She’s not a bitch. She was lonely and she did what she felt she needed to do to be happy.”
He had no idea why he was defending her to Bree. He took responsibility for his part in their marriage failing, but he’d been cut deep by what his ex-wife had done.
“If she cheated on you, she’s a bitch.” She said it with such finality that he laughed. “I don’t care if she donates half her salary to some heart-wrenching charity and hand-feeds the weak and helpless on weekends, if someone wants to leave a relationship, they leave both parties with a little of their dignity intact.”
Interesting. “Are you speaking from experience?”
She looked as if she felt she’d said too much.
“I shouldn’t get on my high horse,” she said, looking down at her arms. “I almost did the same thing to get myself out of a bad situation.”
The words bad situation set his teeth on edge. He wasn’t sure he wanted to know.
“How bad?” he asked anyway.
She sat back and unwound the elastic out of her ponytail, letting it fall into a sexy mess around her face. Cooper shifted in his seat as his dick reacted to the memory of the way it had spread out around her head as he’d made love to her the night before.
“He never hit me,” she said a little too flippantly, gathering her hair higher on her head. “He did eventually start to dictate my every move. Who I could see outside of the house and for how long. What I ate because he thought I was fat. What I wore because some of my clothes embarrassed him.”
She twisted first her hair and then the elastic around it and voilà, it was piled on top of her head.
“He never tried to limit how much time I spent with my family because they loved him, but he tried really hard to get between my friends and me.”
“That’s a laugh,” he said, then immediately realized his mistake.
“I reached a point where it became easier to go along with him than try to argue. Arguing only inspired him to make my life hell in other ways.” She topped off her coffee from the carafe on the table. “Someone else started paying attention to me about the same time I’d decided to leave and I was tempted to let him rescue me,” she said, bringing the conversation back around. “The best thing I ever did for myself was decide to tell him no thanks and get out without attaching myself to someone else first.”
“Did he make it hard to leave, your ex?”
“He tried, but once I told my brothers what he’d really been like, they had a little talk with him.” She gave him a little smile. “He moved out of state shortly after that.”
Cooper raised his eyebrows. “I’ll make sure I never piss off your brothers.”
Her smile morphed into a mischievous smirk. “That might be a good idea considering the two who live near me own a top of the line wood chipper.”
He stared at her blankly for a full heartbeat, then shivered.
“It doesn’t seem like your friendship with Petra suffered any permanent damage.”
“No, we’re closer than ever because of him,” she agreed. “She and Rachel were amazing, both of them answering my phone calls at all hours of the day and night when they weren’t working.”
“And yet you came here instead of calling one of them this morning.”
She considered that. “Yes I did. And you let me in.”
And he would do it again. “Yes I did.”
“Thank you for that.” She narrowed her eyes. “What do you have planned today?”
He narrowed his eyes back. “I have to pick up a couple of suits I had made and run because I’m participating in a ten K in three weeks. You?”
“I have a dinner date with RJ’s wife.” She pushed her chair back from the counter slowly. “Do you work tonight?”
He pushed his chair back as well, liking the look she had in her eyes. “No.”
“Neither do I. So we can go out later tonight?”
“Yes we can.”
“What are you doing for the next hour or so?”
“Taking you back to bed?” he asked as she took his hand.
“Yes you are.”
Chapter Eight
Cooper was fairly sure he was going to die.
Before he turned forty.
In peak physical condition.
At the mercy of a five foot tall woman with the most astonishing mouth.
He’d given up trying to watch what she was doing to him a few minutes earlier. He could no longer keep his eyes open. Between his racing heart, lungs laboring for air and the fact he could no longer move his arms or legs, he didn’t seem to have control over any part of his body anymore.
He was going to die. But holy shit, what a way to go.
Bree was doing an unbelievable job of showing him exactly what she’d told him would have happened if they’d been set up at Petra’s key party and then gone to his place afterward. With him lying on the bed—legs over the side and feet on the floor—and her naked and kneeling between his legs, the entirety of his genitals from his taint to tip of his cock had been treated to the indescribable pleasure of her mouth.
She had licked, flicked, sucked and swirled him to the brink of orgasm more times than he was able keep track of, pushing him farther than he thought he could be pushed without coming. She would back off just before the point of no return, let his body come down some, then push him even further. Her lips, tongue and even the way she used her teeth was a wonder. He didn’t ever want it to stop.
With her lips wrapped around the base of his cock and the head nudging the back of her throat, she sucked as she pulled her head back. Cooper made a really unmanly, high-pitched sound and she laughed. That was the end of that. He went off like the Fourth of July in her mouth, and the sound that rolled up out of his throat was louder and even more embarrassing than the first.
She stayed with him through the end, then carefully planted a kiss on the tip before she released him. He let go of the death grip he had on his comforter, wincing as blood rushed back into circulation through his cramped fingers. By the time she finished slowly kissing her way up his body to his neck he had partial use of his limbs again.
“Good lord,” he panted, chest still heaving, “ask me for anything.” He made a vague gesture. “Right now.” He groaned when she straddled his hips, pressed her warm body to his and kissed him. “Whatever you want. I’ll get it for you.”
He opened his eyes and was treated to the beautiful sight of her smile.
Oh man, he was in so much trouble.
Her hair was still pulled back in a long braid from work, but several curls had come loose. He smoothed them back and resisted the impulse to tell her he was pretty sure he was falling in love with her. And not just because she’d just blown his mind for what seemed like the hundredth time in the past few incredibly hot weeks.
“Seriously, anything,” he continued, tracing his fingertips around her hairline. She’d gotten almost as sweaty as he had. “Do you want the moon? Some stars to hang from what’s left of the tree in your backyard?”
She laughed again. “Maybe we should leave the moon where it is.”
“Stars it is,” he said with a definitive nod.
She kissed him—sweetly and deeply—and that feeling that he was in way over his head welled up inside him again.
That was the thing about her wasn’t it, that she was incredibly sweet and kind but there was nothing fragile or helpless about her. She gave with everything she had, both at work and at home. She was fiercely guarded when it came to her independence but deeply committed to her family and friends. She’d created a cozy life for herself with her stylish, tidy little house in the suburbs, close to her family.
And the more time they’d spent together in the weeks since his birthday, the more Cooper was starting to realize he wanted to be a permanent part of that life.
“I want you to be nicer at work the way you were tonight,” she answered quietly, the look in her eyes vulnerable.
“Is that what this was about?” He gestured to where she was covering his blissfully spent cock under her belly, surprised by the shift in her mood.
“No.” She flopped onto her back on the bed beside him. “This…” She shook her head and looked at the ceiling as if the words she was looking for were up there.
“Was the most incredible thing that’s ever happened to me,” he offered.
Her slightly flushed face became even more pink.
“This was about me not being able to keep my hands off you now that we’ve started something.” She looked at him and he saw the heat he felt for her reflected in her eyes.
He turned onto his side and propped his head on his hand. “It’s good to know it’s not just me, but what on earth made you think of how I am at work just now?”
She covered her eyes and groaned. “I don’t know. You asked what I wanted and that was the first thing that came to mind.”
He peeled one of her hands free and waited. He didn’t have to wait long.
“It was just…it was such a crazy, busy night, but we helped so many people. Then there was that baby we helped deliver first thing this morning.”
Early that morning a man had burst through the ER doors and announced his wife was about to give birth in their car. Cooper, Bree and another nurse had barely had time to get the woman into a room and put on gloves before she started pushing. The baby had arrived a couple of very short minutes later, and Cooper hadn’t missed the tears that had shone in Bree’s eyes when that baby cried for the first time.
“That woman’s husband was crying, kissing her and telling her how much he loved her after he was so strong for her during the birth.” She sighed. “What an amazing way to end a shift.” She closed her eyes a moment, then looked at him. “You were so good with everyone tonight, Cooper. And not just patients. Everyone.”
He raised an eyebrow. “So I just got the best blowjob of my life because I told you good job?”
She gave him an impatient look and swatted his shoulder with the back of her hand. “Pay attention, Dr. Bennett. I sucked your cock because I’ve been wanting to suck your cock since the night of your birthday.” Her eyes lowered so she was no longer looking directly at him. “Or maybe since the night of the storm.”
How did she pull it off, he wondered. How did she manage to be both the dirtiest, sexiest, hottest lover he’d ever known and still maintain that air of innocence?
“But you could be nicer at work the way you were tonight,” she added when he didn’t say anything right away. “You know, for the hell of it.”
“Am I really that bad?”
“I mean,” her eyes raised back up to his, “don’t go crazy and start patting everyone on the back all the time or anything. Someone would recommend you for a psych eval so fast your head would spin. But yeah, a ‘good job’ more than once in two years would be okay. But only if it’s deserved. Don’t go throwing them out there thinking I’m going to give you sexual favors in return every time you deign to be nice to someone.”
He nearly laughed. “Message received, Nurse Trenton.”
She slapped her hands over her face and groaned again. “I can’t believe I said anything. How embarrassing.”
Cooper reached down and stroked the inside of her thigh, taking his time making his way from her knee toward her pussy. Fuck, he didn’t even need to get very close before he could feel the heat pouring out of her.
“You know, one of the things I like about you is your mouth.”
She snorted a laugh and her arms fell to the mattress over her head. “I bet you do.”
“No, it’s not because you just about blew the top of my head off just now.” He loved the way she blushed so easily. He gave that delectable handful of soft flesh at the top of her thigh a squeeze. “So many people hold back saying what they think,” his fingertips stroked the crease where her leg met her body, “asking for what they want.”
Her mouth fell open when his fingers changed direction, parting the lips of her cunt and finding the source of that heat. She was so wet, her clit already so swollen.
Had sucking him off really gotten her that excited?
“Tell me what else you want,” he coaxed.
He slicked his fingers inside of her and felt her open for him.
“Keep touching me that way,” she whispered, eyelids dropped to half-mast.
“This way?” he asked, fucking her slowly with his middle finger. “Or this way?” He withdrew and fluttered the slippery tip of that same finger over her clit.
She sucked in a sharp breath through her teeth and her back arched. “Both,” she breathed, wrapping her arms around his neck. “Touch me ‘til I come, Cooper. And kiss me while you do it.”
Oh, gladly. But first…
He dipped his head and kissed first one then the other of her hard nipples.
“That’s a good place to start,” she told him, her voice low and a little husky for her.
She ran one hand through his hair and used the other to grip her breast in encouragement. His cock throbbed in response to such a bold gesture. He circled his tongue around her nipple at the same languorous pace his finger circled her clit and she moaned. When he sucked and rubbed the tight little nub between her leg with his thumb and forefinger her moan became more throaty, sexy. Her fingers tightened in his hair and her hips started to roll.
He slipped his finger inside of her once more, held her nipple between his teeth gently and flicked his tongue over the tip. The hand in his hair gripped and pulled.
“Cooper, kiss me,” she urged.
He fucked her faster with his finger, shifted his body higher and nipped at the tender spot where her neck curved into her shoulder. He kissed her throat and kept fucking her. Found a spot on her jaw to bite and kiss and fucked. Sucked at the tender spot behind her ear and touched her clit with enough pressure she nearly pulled out a handful of his hair.
“Cooper,” she bit out impatiently, and he covered her swollen, pouty mouth with his, taking what he now thought of as his and only his.
She opened wide, kissing him back with a hunger that made his head reel and his cock ache. She covered his hand and rocked her hips, showing him how deep she wanted the pressure. This time he was the one who moaned.
The way she let him know exactly what she wanted was so damn sexy.
She found his cock with her other hand and stroked him lightly. He wanted to warn her that between the feel of her hot, slick pussy in his hand and his coc
k in hers it wasn’t going to take long before he came all over the side of her hip. But he couldn’t stop kissing her. He couldn’t break away from the delicious pull of her mouth.
She broke the kiss first with a gasp. “I changed my mind,” she panted.
He lifted his head and stopped moving his hand.
“Make love to me, Cooper,” She let go of his dick and reached for one of the condoms he’d tossed on the bed earlier. “I want you inside me.”
He was already moving his body over her, resting his weight on both of his elbows, his knees on the mattress between her open legs, teeth grinding as she made quick work of rolling the condom onto him.
She wrapped her legs around his waist and buried her hands in his hair, bringing him down for a kiss. Heat rushed his system when he slipped inside her silky, slippery, fever-hot cunt. He had to turn his head and fight for air as he pushed to the hilt inside of her, making her grunt that sexy little sound she made when he did something that felt good. He kissed her neck and rallied his self-control, wanting to savor every moment of being inside of her that way.
She brought his mouth to hers again and he happily obliged her another deep pull, keeping the pace of their kiss and the movement of his hips leisurely. There was no hurry. They had all day to do this, and he wanted to draw it out as long as possible.
He wanted to make her come, and then he wanted to fuck her some more and make her come again. And maybe again. That was how she made him feel—as though he was better than human, that his body didn’t have faults or flaws or triggers that brought an end to the fun long before either of them was ready. When he was with her he was seventeen again. He could get hard for her as many times as she wanted and still run five miles after a couple of hours of sleep, no problem.
She turned her head and sighed. He could feel her body tensing, her thighs tightening around his waist and her pussy starting to squeeze his cock tight. He whispered her name and she looked up at him, mouth open and breath coming out in sharp, ragged bursts every time he seated himself within her body.
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