Brotherhood Protectors: Protecting Kiera (Kindle Worlds Novella) (SEAL of Protection Book 10)

by Susan Stoker

  Once again, all the kids giggled.

  Glancing at her watch and seeing it was time for recess, Kiera waved her hands and informed the kids it was time for break. They immediately stood and began to push their chairs back to their desks as they’d been taught. She watched as Frankie went up to Cooper and tugged on his shirt to get his attention.

  When he had it, Frankie signed, “I love you.”

  Her heart melted.

  Cooper crouched down on the balls of his feet and returned the sign, pulling Frankie into his arms for a hug.

  Just when she thought she couldn’t love the man any more, he blew her away with something like this.

  Love. Yes, she loved him. Two months was fast, but deep in her heart, she knew Cooper was the real deal.

  Frankie pulled away, smiled up at Cooper, then ran toward his cubby to grab his jacket before lining up behind the other kids.

  It was her turn to watch the kids at recess; the teachers took turns so they could all get a break during the day. Kiera didn’t have the time she wanted to tell, and show, Cooper how much she appreciated him, so she settled for a quick hug while the kids were busy with their jackets and lining up.

  She stood on her tiptoes and tugged his head down to put her lips next to his left ear so he’d be sure to hear her. “You are amazing, Cooper Nelson. I can’t wait to show you how amazing I think you are tonight.”

  He squeezed her hips and smiled down at her when she pulled back. “I’ll meet you at your place when you get home, sweetheart.”

  “Okay.”

  Then he leaned down and put his own lips at her ear. And he blew her mind. “I’d like to change the nature of our relationship tonight…if you’re receptive.”

  Kiera shivered at the promise she heard in his voice. Finally. “Oh, I’m receptive,” she told him breathlessly. “Very receptive.”

  They stood there grinning at each other until a tug on her shirt got Kiera’s attention. It was Jenny. “It’s time for recess,” she signed impatiently.

  Cooper immediately let go of Kiera and stepped back, putting a respectable distance between them. “I’ll see you later,” he signed, then winked at her.

  He walked to the front of the line of children, who were waiting patiently to be allowed to go outside. He said goodbye to each one, making sure to ruffle their hair or otherwise make them feel special. When he got to Frankie, Cooper lifted his chin in the way he’d taught the little boy the first day they’d met. When he got a chin lift in return, as well as an, “I think Ms. Kiera likes you,” signed in return, he chuckled.

  “I’m glad. Because I like her too,” he told the little boy. Then he put his big hand on the boy’s shoulder, gave it a squeeze and was gone.

  Kiera took a deep breath and led her class outside to get some fresh air. As was her routine, she walked around the schoolyard as the kids played, rather than standing against the building. She figured it was better to be on the lookout and accessible in case any of the kids needed anything, rather than huddled near the school.

  She took a deep breath, then another, and tried to remember what underwear she’d put on that morning. It looked like Cooper was finally making his move…and she couldn’t be more thrilled.

  Chapter 8

  Kiera was late getting home. It had been one thing after another at the end of the day. First, Frankie’s dad had wanted a word with her when he came to pick up his son to make sure she was aware that his ex was apparently causing trouble. She was harassing him and threatening to have Frankie taken away for good if he didn’t allow her to see him.

  He’d contacted the police, both here in Riverton and up in Los Angeles where his ex lived, but he wanted to make sure the school knew to be vigilant when it came to his son.

  Kiera reassured the man, letting him know how well Frankie had been doing, before another teacher asked for Kiera’s opinion about a lesson plan. Then the principal had come in to shoot the shit.

  So she’d been an hour and a half late in leaving for home. As she’d expected, Cooper was waiting when she pulled into the parking lot of her apartment. He was leaning against his car, knee bent, the toe of one boot resting on the concrete, his muscular arms crossed on his chest, sunglasses on, his dark hair shining in the late afternoon sun, and Kiera was aroused just by looking at him.

  He oozed masculinity and she knew without a doubt that if the boogie man popped out from behind a bush, Cooper would do whatever it took to keep her safe. It was her certainty that he’d do anything for her that made him so attractive. His good looks were merely a bonus.

  “Hey,” Kiera said as she climbed out of her car from the parking space next to his. “Sorry I’m late.”

  Without a word, he straightened and stalked toward her. He put his hands on either side of her neck, tilted her neck up, and kissed her. It wasn’t long, but it wasn’t short either. She gazed up at him and swallowed hard. Cooper was always intense, but tonight he seemed even more so.

  “The rest of your day go okay?” he asked softly.

  Kiera nodded. “Yours?”

  “Fine. You hungry?”

  “I could eat,” she told him.

  Cooper stared down at her for a long moment before saying, “I’ve waited my whole life for you, Kiera. I didn’t know it was you I was waiting for, but now that I’ve found you, I never want to let you go.”

  Her stomach doing summersaults, Kiera brought her hands up and rested them on his biceps. “I don’t want you to let me go.”

  “I’ll do stuff in the future that pisses you off, I know I will. I’ll say stupid shit, and do things that seem insensitive. But I swear to God, I’ll never purposely hurt you.”

  “I know you won’t,” Kiera said softly. And she did. As she’d gotten to know Cooper, she’d seen firsthand how careful he was with her.

  “But I need to say this…”

  He paused as if fortifying himself and Kiera tensed. She dug her fingernails into his arms unconsciously. She couldn’t imagine what in the world he had to say that had him so nervous.

  He looked her right in the eyes and said, “If you let me inside your body, I’m never letting you go. You need to understand that. Even if I piss you off and you tell me to fuck off, I won’t. I’ll fight with every molecule in my body to keep you. To make you forgive me. If you’re not ready for that level of commitment, tell me now and I’ll back off. We’ll go inside, have dinner, make out like we’ve been doing and I’ll go home. I do not take you giving me your body lightly, Kiera. If you give yourself to me, you’re giving yourself to me. Mind, body, and soul. Be sure, sweetheart. Be absolutely certain you want me in your life before we go any further.”

  “I love you,” Kiera blurted out—then closed her eyes in embarrassment.

  She hadn’t meant to just throw it out there like that. She had wanted to say it when they were in a romantic moment. Deciding that, now that it was out there, she’d go with it, her eyes opened and she started to say more, but she froze at the look on Cooper’s face.

  He was staring down at her in awe, but his jaw was ticking like it did when he was pissed about something. Losing her nerve, Kiera simply stared up at him.

  Several moments passed, which seemed like an eternity to her, and finally he spoke. “I love you too, Kiera. So much, some days I don’t think I can go five more minutes without talking to you, seeing you. So much that the thought of you leaving me makes my heart literally hurt.”

  She moved a hand to his chest, over his heart, and rubbed gently. “Then why do you look mad?”

  “I’m not mad,” he countered immediately. “Not in the least. I’m trying not to throw you over my shoulder, run to your apartment and break the door down so I can get you in bed faster.”

  Kiera smiled then, finally understanding why every muscle in his body seemed so tense. “Why don’t you?”

  At her words, if possible, his body hardened even more. “Because my woman has been working all day and is hungry. I need to feed her.”

&
nbsp; “Feed me after, Cooper,” she told him, moving her hands up his chest to clasp around the back of his neck. She stood on tiptoes and plastered her body to his. “I’ve been waiting to have you naked in my bed, to have you inside me, for way too long. Make love with me, Cooper. Put out the fire inside me that no one else but you can douse. Please. For the love of God, I need you.”

  “And you’re okay with what I said earlier? That once I sink into your hot little pussy, I’ll never let you go?”

  “I’m counting on it. I’m giving you my heart free and clear. I know you’ll take care of it. Even if you piss me off in the future, I’m not going anywhere. Just as when I do the same to you, I know you’ll never storm out of the house and leave me.”

  Without another word, Cooper moved one arm so it was around her waist and, keeping her plastered to his side, began to walk toward her apartment.

  Kiera smiled, knowing she’d gladly let him lead her wherever he wanted to go.

  He used her key to open her door and shut it with one foot once they were inside. He took the time to throw the deadbolt, but otherwise didn’t pause. He walked them straight to her bedroom and didn’t stop until they were both standing next to her bed.

  “Strip,” he said, not taking his eyes from hers.

  Instead of getting irritated at his order, Kiera did as he asked. She first reached back and removed the barrette from her hair, shaking her head as the blonde locks fell around her shoulders. Loving the gasp that came from Cooper’s mouth, she grinned.

  “God. I haven’t seen an inch of your naked skin yet and I’m so hard, I’m about ready to blow just by looking at your hair,” Cooper mumbled.

  Kiera didn’t stop at his words, even though they made her weak in the knees. She toed off her shoes and then unbuttoned and unzipped her slacks. She pushed them over her hips until they pooled at her feet. Somehow taking her pants off first didn’t seem as scary as whipping her shirt off over her head.

  Cooper had no such hang-ups. The first thing to go was his shirt, he grabbed a fistful of material at the back of his neck and wrenched it up and over his head with one quick jerk.

  Faltering at the hard expanse of his chest exposed in all its glory, Kiera paused to admire him.

  “Don’t stop,” Cooper ordered in a hoarse tone.

  Remembering what she’d been doing, and why, Kiera decided to get it over with quickly, like removing a Band-Aid. Crossing her hands at her waist, she gripped the material of her blouse and quickly brought it up and over her head.

  She stood awkwardly in front of Cooper in nothing but her underwear. Her non-matching cotton underwear. Her panties were leopard print and her bra was white. They weren’t anything fancy or seductive. She’d put them on that morning because they were comfortable, not with the thought she’d be wearing them in front of Cooper that night.

  Blushing, and trying not to feel self-conscious, Kiera jerked when she felt Cooper’s hands on her hips. He pulled her into his own nearly naked body and she shivered in delight when she felt his warm skin against hers.

  “You are beautiful,” he said reverently, using his thumbs to brush up and down on her sensitive skin.

  “My underwear isn’t fancy,” Kiera said, biting her lip.

  “It’s you. And I love it. I love you,” he said before dipping his head to kiss her.

  They kissed for a long time. Surprisingly, with no urgency. Just long, slow swipes of their tongues, lazily caressing and exploring. Kiera could feel Cooper’s erection against her stomach and it made her feel sexy and desired. More than anything he could’ve said, the evidence of his arousal reassured her.

  They both pulled back after several moments and Kiera felt Cooper’s hands move up her back. He stopped with his fingers on the clasp of her bra and asked, “Okay?”

  Everything he did made her fall that much more in love with him. “Yes, please,” she said.

  Cooper made quick work of releasing the clasp of her bra, and then she stood in front of him in nothing but her panties.

  His eyes went from her face to her chest, and Kiera could see his breathing speed up. He took a deep breath and slowly brought his hands up to her breasts. As if she were made of glass, he caressed her, moving his fingers lightly over each throbbing globe. She squirmed as his light touch tickled her.

  “Harder, Cooper,” she demanded, putting one of her own hands over his and pressing down with a firm touch. “I won’t break.”

  Following her lead, Cooper used more pressure to caress her. Seeing he had the hang of it, Kiera dropped her hands to his hips and pushed her fingers under the waistband of his boxer briefs. She didn’t push them down and off, simply enjoyed the intimacy of the moment.

  Cooper caressed her breasts and took both nipples between his fingers and rolled them, making them peak even harder than they’d been. Moving slowly, as if asking permission without words, his head lowered. Kiera arched her back, giving him the permission he sought, and sighed in ecstasy when his lips closed around her nipple.

  For several moments, he paid homage to her breasts. Licking, nipping, and even sucking on her. At one point, he sucked so hard on the inside curve of her right breast, Kiera wondered if it would leave a mark.

  When he lifted his head, examined the mark he’d left, ran a fingertip over it and smiled, Kiera figured he knew what he was doing the entire time and that he’d purposely given her a hickey.

  “Having fun?” she asked dryly.

  “Loads,” he told her.

  Deciding it was time to move the show along, Kiera moved her palms down the outside of his thighs, pushing his underwear with them. She kept going until she was kneeling at his feet and his erection was bobbing in her face.

  Taking hold of the almost angry-looking appendage, Kiera had a brief moment of worry that he wouldn’t fit. He was big…probably not any more so than other six-foot-two man, but she’d never dated anyone his size.

  “It’ll fit,” Cooper murmured, his hands fluttering around her as if he didn’t know where he should put them. He settled on placing them on her shoulders and rubbing her collarbone with his thumbs.

  Without a word, Kiera took hold of the base of his dick with one hand and braced herself on his thigh with the other. She lowered her head and licked from the bottom to the pulsing tip. He visibly twitched in her grasp, so she did it again.

  A drop of precome appeared at the tip of the purple head and she licked it off.

  He groaned and his hands tightened on her shoulders.

  She licked him again, then without warning, lowered her mouth over him, taking as much of his length in her mouth as she could.

  “Oh my God,” Cooper swore. “Fuck, that feels good.”

  Concentrating on making him feel half as good as he made her feel on a daily basis, she wasn’t prepared for him to suddenly hook her under her arms and haul her up so she was standing in front of him once again. She felt the wetness from her mouth and his excitement on her belly as he took several deep breaths.

  “Why did you stop me?” Kiera asked somewhat shyly. “Was I not doing it right?”

  “Not doing it right?” he asked, his eyebrows shooting up in disbelief. “If anything, you were doing it too right. The first time I come with you, I don’t want it to be in your mouth. I want to be deep inside you, feeling your own orgasm squeezing my cock as I explode.”

  “Oh.”

  “Yeah, oh.” Without another word, he stripped her of her undies and encouraged her to lie back on the mattress. He quickly joined her and knelt over her.

  “I love your blonde curls,” he said, his eyes glued between her legs.

  “You don’t want me to shave? It seems to be the current fashion.”

  “Absolutely not,” he said quickly, running a hand through the coarse hair between her legs, spreading the wetness from her center up to her clit. “I love you just the way you are.”

  Kiera spread her legs, giving him access to where she wanted him most, and couldn’t help the way her hips t
ilted up toward him when she felt his dick brush against her. Looking at the difference between her blonde hair and his dark, was the most erotic thing she’d ever seen.

  Without a word, he held up a condom he had between his fingers and asked, “You want to do the honors?”

  Kiera shook her head. “I’ve never done that for a man before. I don’t want to mess it up.”

  “There’s not much to mess up, sweetheart,” Cooper said with a broad grin on his face. “But I understand. I’ll teach you some other time. But you should know, now that you’re mine, I would really like to feel nothing between us in the future. You gonna be okay with that?”

  Kiera nodded. “Yeah. I’m on the pill. More to regulate my periods than for birth control. As long as we’re careful and I don’t get pregnant, I’d love to feel you inside me without a condom.”

  He closed his eyes as if her words alone were enough to send him over the edge, then opened them and said, “Just the thought of orgasming inside you and coating you with my come threatens my tightly held control. Spread your legs wider, sweetheart.”

  She did as he asked, watching as he quickly took care of covering himself. He gripped the base of his cock and shuffled forward on his knees. He ran his tip up and down her slit then said, “I want to lick and suck every inch of your beautiful pussy, but I’m holding on by a thread as it is. The second I taste you, I know I’ll lose all control, so I’ll have to save that for later. You ready for me, Kiera?”

  “Yes. Make me yours, Cooper.”

  He groaned and pressed into her slightly, the tip of his cock disappearing between her folds as he said, “Fuck.”

  Kiera could feel her body clenching at his size, trying to keep him out.

  “Relax, sweetheart,” he murmured, using his thumb to gently caress the bundle of nerves between her thighs.

  His touch on her clit made Kiera moan in delight and she opened her legs farther, wanting more of the pleasurable sensation. He pressed in as he continued to use his hand to distract her.

  “Cooper,” she said, not knowing if she was distressed or super turned on.