9781618850034TroubleHunter
Page 17
He smiled down at her. “I doubt it, but we’ll keep our eyes open.” Ky whistled for the dogs and they all bounded up to jump in the back of the truck. He had to help Fergus into the front of the truck, dachshunds can’t jump very high. Cooper held Fergus until Ky got in and then he let the little dog stand in his lap and drive. “Cooper, watch the faces of the approaching motorists as they get a good look at this little dog with his front paws on the top of the steering wheel.” It was moments like this that made Cooper aware of how lucky she was to be with a man like Ky. Richard would just as soon kick a dog as look at it.
“I have on my necklace, is that all right? I mean, did you intend for me to wear it every day or only on special occasions?” He met her eyes and could still see vestiges of uncertainty in her hesitant gaze.
“Cooper, I gave the necklace to you. Wear it when you want to. But if you want my opinion, I’d love for you to never take it off.” He took great pleasure in the possessive way she patted the necklace with one hand and tucked the other under his thigh. “Would you like to drive by my acreage where I raise timber?”
“Of course.” Cooper looked up at him, enjoying the view. He was truly, truly gorgeous. “You have a very full life, don’t you?”
Her question surprised Ky. “Yes, I suppose I do. Between the timber sales, the cattle, my leather work and the charities - my days are full.” She watched him with a quiet, level look. “I don’t see my brother as much as I would like, and my parents even less. Why? Are you feeling neglected, babe?”
Cooper looked flustered. “No. Of course not, I would never complain.”
He laughed at her consternation. “I’m just teasing you. I know you aren’t complaining, and I know I haven’t neglected you. In fact, I live my days counting the minutes until I’m with you again.” He looked up at the road ahead. “Holy shit!”
“That’s a lot of smoke, Ky.” Ky grabbed his cell phone and dialed 9-1-1. The closer they got, the more evident it became the woods were on fire. Beautiful stands of pine were being quickly consumed by a red hot blaze. Quickly giving dispatch directions, he called for the fire department.
“You stay here,” he instructed with an intent look. “I’m going to get closer and see if I can see the extent of the fire and the damage.” Cooper took Fergus and got in the back of the truck with the other dogs, reassuring them so they stayed in the truck and did not try to follow Ky. He was obviously upset. Cooper felt so bad for him. She knew this was a big part of his livelihood.
It wasn’t too long before she heard the sound of a siren. Ky met the tanker trucks and directed them to the easiest way into the flame-drenched area. It was hard to watch the magnificent pine trees go up in flames. Several more trucks arrived and in a couple of hours, the fire had been beat down to smoldering stumps and dampened smoking piles of debris.
When Ky returned, sooty and weary, Cooper met him with great concern. “I’m so sorry.”
“It was arson.”
He said it so flat and defeated it made Cooper want to cry for him. “Will there be an investigation?”
“Yeah, the fire investigator is on his way, along with the sheriff.” At his words, Cooper shivered. Immediately, Ky pulled her near. “We have a good sheriff, Cooper. He’s an honest, kind man.”
She let it go, her attention returning to him. “Will you lose a lot of money?”
“Not really. I have good insurance.” His words were meant to convey that all was well, but she didn’t miss the frustration and the despair. “Let’s go, I can’t do anymore here.”
Cooper and the dogs were subdued; they knew the man they loved was hurting. She didn’t expect it, but Ky headed out to his deer camp. “We might as well put out the corn.” His voice sounded so defeated.
Cooper held on to his arm. They rode in silence for the ten or so miles out to his property housing the deer stands. The road narrowed down to a tree-shadowed lane that was wide enough for only one car. Ky let out a long breath and wiped the sweat from his brow. Cooper couldn’t stand it; she had to offer him some type of comfort. “I would do anything for you, you know. If I could make this go away, I would.”
Ky pulled into a gated drive and stopped. He turned off the engine and laid his head on the steering wheel. Then he chuckled. With a sudden move, he turned to her and smoothly moved her from her seat to his lap. “That timber was worth a lot of money. Money, Cooper. Just money. And the insurance will cover most of that. But you and your precious concern for me - that’s worth more than all the trees in the world. Come on. Let’s put out the corn near the deer stand and then let me show you my hunting cabin.”
Chapter Nine
The hunting cabin was almost as large as her little house. When he let her in, she was stunned. “This is incredible, Ky. It looks like Martha Stewart decorated it.”
She was impressed, but he was taken aback. “Don’t say that, babe. You’ve just crushed my delicate macho sensibilities; I decorated this place. Is it too frou-frou?”
Cooper giggled. “No. No,” she hastily assured him. Although, the walls were painted a subtle green, and there were recessed ceilings, granite countertops, and a wainscoting that looked like it came from the pages of a Southern Living magazine. There were whitetail deer everywhere. Cooper walked around and noted the matching shower curtain, bath rugs, curtains, dishtowels; even the dishes had deer on them. She stifled her amusement. “You did a great job. There is definitely an outdoorsy, hard-body, manliness feel to the place.” In truth, he had done a marvelous job. She had assumed an interior decorator had wielded a hand in his main home, but now she saw he had probably done it himself. Inwardly, she was tickled. Her baby had good taste, even if he didn’t want to admit it.
Ky grabbed her with a snarl. That type of movement from Richard would have paralyzed her with fear, but with Ky she just erupted in a fit of giggles. “Are you making fun of me?” He held her up over his head, making it impossible for her to get away.
As if she wanted to.
“Never,” she sobered. “Everything about you is absolutely perfect.” And he was. But, right now he looked hot and tired. There was soot and grime on his clothes and she noticed a dark red spot on his neck where a cinder had landed, causing a slight burn. “Do you have any extra clothes here?”
“Yes,” he looked at her inquisitively. “What is going on in that steel-trap of yours?”
“I think you could use a shower.”
* * * *
Ky leaned back against the shower wall and exulted in the attention Cooper was giving him. She had led him into the bathroom and undressed him with great care. Even down to kneeling at his feet to remove his socks and boots. After she had him stripped down to his bare altogether, she had undressed herself and led him under the healing, warm spray. Taking a soft washcloth and a bar of soap, she had set about cleaning him of all evidence of the fire.
She tenderly washed his face, rising up on tiptoe to reach his forehead. “When we get home, I’ll make you a pot of gumbo and a German chocolate cake, does that sound good?” As she crooned to him, she washed his neck, his back, his shoulders, and his chest. Somehow, along the way, she lost the washcloth and was soaping and soothing just with the palms of her hands.
“That sounds wonderful.” Ky was beginning to feel wonderful, too. As Cooper knelt at his feet, rubbing her hands up and down his legs, he felt a part of himself recuperating at a rapid rate. Paying special attention to his feet, she was unaware what she had started, until she looked up and found herself face to face with a powerful erection.
“Well, hello there.” Glancing up at his face, she met his grin with a knowing smile. Without a moment’s hesitation, she took him into her mouth, cupping his balls, as she loved him into a mindless state of rapture.
“Up, up,” he ordered her. Pulling her to her feet, he backed her up against the wet wall. Covering her mouth with his own, he feverishly ran his hands over her body, seeking as much bodily contact as possible. Picking her up, he cupped her bottom. “Put your legs ar
ound my waist.” She complied. Sliding his mouth down her neck, he took one breast in his mouth, tenderly chewing at her nipple. “Coop, you taste so good.”
Cooper pressed her head back against the wall, as she ground her hot center hard into his groin. “I want you inside me, Ky,” she urged. She didn’t have to ask twice. He slipped into her, then quickly pulled out.
“Protection. Protection.” He knelt, with her still in his arms, reached out of the shower and dug in his jeans pocket, until he found a condom. Standing back up, he pressed into her. “Ah, Cooper. You make everything okay.” He loved her for all he was worth.
Wrapping her arms around his neck, she kissed his face, his throat, and his shoulders. “I bless the day I found you,” she whispered into his ear as they both shook with orgasmic release.
* * * *
Cooper vowed she would soon tell Ky she loved him. Not telling him was beginning to feel like deception. One week passed. Two weeks. Three weeks. Four. They eased into a routine of love and happiness, but she still couldn’t do it. She tried. Three times. The first time, they had been sitting on the couch watching TV. It had been a hard day. Ky had met with the insurance agent and they had settled the claim. He had received about seventy-five cents on the dollar, not as good as he had hoped. To make matters worse, someone had broke into the barn and put sugar in the gas tank of his John Deere tractor, causing thousands of dollars worth of damage. “I just don’t know where all the trouble is coming from,” Ky sighed as he lay with his head in her lap. “Cooper, if I didn’t have you to come home to, I don’t know what I’d do.” It was at that moment she opened her mouth to say those three elusive little words. I love you. But they stuck in her throat. She had never said them out loud, or otherwise, to anyone since her Mom.
The moment passed when he had turned and began nuzzling her in the stomach, his hand massaging her breast. Soon, her mouth and mind were otherwise occupied.
The second time was while they were sitting with the kittens on the porch. She watched Ky hold a ball of yarn while the tomcats danced around him in glee. “Jump! Jump!” He cracked up as two of them jumped and collided into one another in mid-air. Cooper couldn’t watch the antics of the kittens for watching the man she adored. “Go see Mama,” he encouraged the orange Monkey Boy. The pumpkin colored kitten turned on him instead, grabbing his hand in a mock war game. Ky laughed, “No, don’t attack Daddy, go get Mama.” At his playful words, Cooper’s heart overflowed.
Mama. Lord, she would love to be the mother of his children. But, he always insisted on a condom. Cooper had every intention of going to the doctor and getting a prescription for the pill. She wanted to feel his flesh against hers in the most intimate way. And even though she understood about his scare with Cicely all those years ago, and how he didn’t want an unwanted pregnancy with someone he wasn’t committed too—it hurt her to know that she might fall into that category.
“Ky…” she opened her mouth to say the words and he looked up at her with the most endearing expression on his face. But she froze. So much hung on his response. She knew in her heart she needed to hear the words. And if he couldn’t say them, she knew it would literally kill her. It felt like he loved her. He looked at her like he loved her. He touched her like he loved her. But he had never told her, and that made all the difference.
The third time had been in bed. Their bed. He lay a little lower than she did, his head resting on her shoulder, one large hand cupping and caressing her breast. They had made luscious love just minutes before, as he had given her the third orgasm of the night. She was absolutely satisfied and sated, but if he kept working her nipple between his fingers the way he was doing now, a fourth climax wouldn’t be out of the question. “Cooper?”
“What, love?” She loved feeling his weight pressing her down into the bedding. He was always careful not to crush her, but Cooper indulged herself with the feel of him on top as often as she could. The missionary position was her favorite, there was nothing like the feel of her beloved touching her from head to toe as he pumped his way to their mutual satisfaction.
“I love being here with you like this.” She answered him with a squeeze and a kiss to the top of his head. “I don’t know what’s going on. First, the fire, then the tractor incident, and today I found the barbwire fence around the cow pasture cut in four places. Everyday it’s some new trouble. You’re what’s keeping me going. If I didn’t have you to come home to, I don’t know what I’d do.”
“The authorities can’t give you any answers?” Cooper used her lips and hands to convey all the love she couldn’t bring herself to put into words. Ky rubbed his cheek up and down on the soft skin of her chest.
“Not a clue. It’s like the culprit is a ghost, he’s not even leaving footprints. My insurance agent would drop me if he wasn’t an old college buddy of mine.” Unable to help himself, even in the midst of his trouble, Ky lifted his head and fused their mouths.
“I wish I could do something to help,” she murmured between kisses.
“Oh, Cooper, my love, this is what you do to help. And you do it very well.” He rose over her, protected her, and then took her to paradise in his arms.
As she welcomed him into her body, the words stuck in her throat, but her mind chanted it in tandem with his thrusts.
I love you. I love you. I love you.
* * * *
Ky had gone to a cattle sale, so Cooper took the opportunity to put into writing what she could not bring herself to say out loud. Taking a sheet of rose-colored stationary, she went and sat on his side of the bed and held his pillow as she wrote. Her plan was to give him this note as he left after lunch, with the request he meet her at their special place—if he felt the same way. Nerves made her hand shake. Not being brave enough to offer an ultimatum, she was going to give him an out. She wasn’t ready to leave him, even if he didn’t love her enough to say so. As she began to write, she offered up a little prayer that Ky loved her as much as she loved him.
Dearest Ky:
I never dared to hope the day would come when I would be able to say these words to a man. Don’t be alarmed. This is a gift, a gift that does not have to be reciprocated to be real.
I love you.
There, I said it. I love you. I love you so much I ache with it.
I have no expectations, but if you feel the same way, meet me at our special place at six this evening. I’ll be waiting.
If you don’t feel the way I do, just wait for me at home. I will stay at the pond until seven, waiting for you. If you don’t love me, I understand. I will never mention it again; it’ll be like it never happened. I love you enough for both of us. This is not an ultimatum; I will stay with you, no matter what, as long as you want me. I would rather have you without love, than not have you at all.
I love you
Cooper
“Cooper! I’m home!” Ky bellowed as he came in for lunch. “Something sure smells good.” He quickly washed up in the half-bath off the kitchen, then followed his nose to the dining table. “Chicken fried steak? For lunch? Ah, Cooper. My favorite.” She brimmed with happiness as she offered him the gravy covered breaded steak and mashed potatoes with a side of baked beans. She loved cooking for Ky. “You’re gonna make me fat, baby.” There was no chance of that, not with the hard work and long hours of manual labor Ky put in everyday.
“Sit down and eat before it gets cold,” she instructed like a little mother hen, pouring him a glass of sweetened iced tea. Ky ate like there was no tomorrow, complimenting her repeatedly on her culinary skills. Cooper just picked at her food, however. For days, she had had little or no appetite. At first, she had attributed it to a virus, but no more symptoms had materialized.
“Not hungry, babe?” Ky asked as he watched her lay her fork down, leaving most of her food uneaten. As she shook her head, he prodded. “You’re not trying to diet or anything silly like that or you?” He had been adamant her body was perfect and she had no need to try and lose an ounce.
“If I didn’t have someplace to be, babe, I’d hold you to that sweet promise in your eyes.” The rest of the meal passed in light banter, but before he left, she summoned enough courage to hand him the carefully folded note. She pressed it into his palm.
“Don’t read it now. Read it later, when you’re alone.” Ky tucked the note in the pocket of his jacket. He leaned in and kissed her.
“I look forward to seeing what you have to say, sweetie. I bet it turns me on.”
With that, he was gone and Cooper was so nervous she could barely stand.
* * * *
The meeting with the new volunteers at the animal shelter went on a little longer than planned. It was almost six when he returned to the house. Before going in, Ky pulled to the side of the saddle shop to unload supplies he had picked up at the post office and to place a phone call to the jewelry store. After a few moments of conversation, he smiled and folded up his phone. The engagement ring would be ready within the week. He couldn't wait to tell her that he loved her and see her face when she accepted his ring.
Seeing the light on in the kitchen, he remembered the note. He would read it just as soon as he put these things away. His libido peaked a bit, anticipating what the note would say. When he went to unlock the door to the Saddlery, he was surprised to find it already open. Stepping inside, he was horrified to see the whole place trashed.
“Shit!” For a moment, he considered going to tell Cooper. She always made him feel better, but remembering she didn’t feel well, he decided to protect her from further worry. Walking around, he surveyed the damage. Nothing seemed to be missing; it was all simply turned upside down. Several bottles of oil were broken, but thankfully, he had not left any finished saddles, belts, or billfolds around. Everything he had been working on was completed and shipped to their respective owners.