“You may. I’ll have to tell my liason.”
“Um hum.” Riverton was staring at his notes. “Okay, then. How did you find the Brownlee’s address?”
“Like I said, from my Warrant Officer. He gave it to me.”
“I’ve never heard of a Team Guy—Dr. Brownlee has told me you are a SEAL, right?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Never heard of a SEAL doing this.”
“Well, you wouldn’t, sir. We don’t do this as a routine. But we study the past and have respect for the fallen. We have compassion for their families—even ones that don’t want or need it.” Coop looked into the dark eyes of Libby’s father.
Like he’d been slapped, Dr. Brownlee stood up straight and went to the kitchen, returning with a cup of coffee.
“So, why you? Why were you sent?”
Coop didn’t want to tell them. He inhaled deeply and then sighed. This was going to be tough. “Because, sir, all my kin back in Nebraska were killed recently in a tornado. My liason thought it would give me something else to focus on.” He shot Dr. Brownlee a glare, “Not that it has helped much.”
He needed all this complication like a hole in his head. Coop began to doubt the wisdom of being here at the Brownlee home. But the sweet-smelling lady at his side squeezed his hand, and then he remembered.
Yeah, I’m all in. God help me.
Cooper thought about the questioning—really, a low-level interrogation—while he drove Libby to the Babemobile. Here he’d decided he really shouldn’t see her any longer, and the first thing he did was come running over when she called, and now he was taking her to his place in her car.
Cooper had witnessed some skilled CIA techniques first-hand when he did the Tactical Surveillance Course in Virginia before his last deployment. Riverton was rough around the edges, but he managed to get a boatload of information out of Cooper. All things the cops could follow up on. One wrong answer and Coop would be in the spotlight, if he wasn’t already.
He tried not to worry about it as he silently piloted the little car. Libby let him think, which was a good thing right now. He had no secrets, just didn’t like revealing his private side. Or thinking he was a lab experiment, no matter how much it aided the locals. They were wasting time with every second they considered Cooper a suspect, and that irritated him. Not catching the perp could cause harm to Libby or her family.
He could recognize certain signs of battle stress, what it does to a man. This guy who left the letters and killed Libby’s cat, whoever the hell he was, had made close friends with Dr. Death. Almost like the cretin didn’t have anything left to lose.
Driving up and over the Coronado Bridge, he remembered back to the day he got his first tattoo. The artist at Daisy’s shop gleefully palmed his flesh, like Coop was a virgin canvas. Well, he had been. The owner sent Daisy over to shave Cooper’s leg before the old fart could begin. And that was a real nice treat. Coop knew next time he’d ask for her. She had the softest hands and biggest tits…
He glanced over at Libby and she smiled back at him. He felt like a heel. But he could see in her eyes she trusted him. Thing was, did he trust himself? Was he taking her home to protect her or for the fantastic sex?
The crusty old guy with rough hands had talked to Coop that day while drawing the Celtic ring around his baby-skin-smooth right calf. His hands were gnarly, but steady as a seaman’s.
He didn’t know the guy’s first name. Everyone called him Gladwell. He wouldn’t stop talking while he needled his way under Coop’s skin. It hurt like a son of a bitch.
“When do you go over? Or can you say?” Gladwell had asked him that afternoon.
“Four to six months.”
“Know where?”
Coop laughed inside as he recalled his answer. “Somewhere you wouldn’t go on a vacation.”
“Bring me back some ears and we’ll roast them and eat ‘em.”
“Excuse me?” Cooper wasn’t sure he’d heard right.
Gladwell put his fingers over his own ears, folding and wiggling them while he gave Coop the brown grin. Gladwell’s teeth were coated in chewing tobacco tar.
Cooper thought he was going to lose it right there all over the guy. He swore and hoped to God the man was kidding.
The artist whistled. “So you’re gonna get familiar with Dr. Death?”
When Coop looked up at him, he smiled again, showing off his brown grin. Gladwell continued, “He’s a sly one. Taken some of my best buds,” he said, as he bore into Cooper’s skin especially painfully.
Coop often thought back to the timing of that particular afternoon. The next day Gladwell had wrapped his Harley around a tree and had his own private party with Dr. Death.
May he rest in peace.
The old Marine had left the shop to Daisy, which was the subject of conversation all over the community. A few months later he found out Gladwell was actually Daisy’s father, but never told her until she read it in the will. Gunny told him not to grieve over the Marine. “He had some pretty fucking big demons,” Gunny had said. Cooper left it at that.
Everyone has a private war going on somewhere within them. His team leader had told him that one time while they were waiting on a rooftop, doing advance surveillance for a high-level meeting of locals. The waiting was the hardest part, always. Just like now. Waiting for something else to happen. Although he didn’t know about this kind of domestic bad guy, one thing was always for sure. You either took care of things or they got worse. Much worse. The foreboding was so strong it almost eclipsed his headache.
He couldn’t do anything for the family he’d lost back home, but he wanted to help Libby. He just wasn’t supposed to get involved in local law enforcement, and it was eating a hole in him.
“You hungry?” he turned and asked her as she snuggled against him in the front seat.
“Starved.”
He knew she meant something else, and his groin lurched. He still knew it was wrong to continue with Libby, but he just couldn’t help himself. A part of him wanted to help just because that was who he was. But he also knew his little brain was making plans and was alert and ready to party, despite his splitting headache.
No, he just couldn’t walk away while everything was so unresolved.
All during lunch he’d had an especially hard time eating his chowder with her foot inserted in his crotch, hidden under their table as she sat across from him.
“You’re not hungry now?” he asked her, and then loved the look on her face as she told him what she was hungry for. He knew it, of course, but liked to be reminded of it every fucking minute.
She took an ice cube and rubbed it over her bottom lip. He wanted to chew that lip. The cube slipped between her breasts and her mouth made the perfect “Oh”, her eyes wide and dancing. He thought about reaching across the table and snaking his forefinger into her shirt to retrieve it, without worrying who saw.
Whoa, boy.
Libby was the hottest thing he’d seen in a long time. Naughty and nice all wrapped up in a perfect package for him. Such a ridiculous and dangerous combination. He could spend the afternoon playing with her body, as long as he had a bucket of ice cubes and a big box of condoms.
When they were together, he didn’t miss his family as much. Bay accepted her well, but didn’t like that he had to continue to stay outside the door. When they returned from lunch, he gave Bay a bone he’d gotten from the cook, another ex-Team guy. The dog went to work on it right away.
“Welcome again to my humble abode, Miss,” he’d said as he picked her up by the waist and placed her inside the trailer. He closed and locked the metal door behind him. Libby was already removing his shirt.
They peeled their clothes off and left them on the ground where they fell. He watched the soft cheeks of her rear as she skipped down the hallway to his bed.
“I love the view from here,” he said to her backside.
Libby looked over her shoulder and broke into a devilish giggle. Then her eye
s lowered to the size of his erection. “Me too.”
He came up behind her before she could make it to the bed. He pulled her back against his chest as he massaged her breasts and pinched her nipples, sending a little squeal and shiver his way. Her smooth skin caused his dick to engorge so that he wondered if he’d be able to make it deep inside her before he exploded.
She arched back, kissing his neck. His hand slipped down over her mound and between her legs. She dipped herself, bending her knees, arching her back as he inserted his forefinger inside her, and listened to the delicious ripple of her ragged breath. He carefully slipped his thumb over her nub and she jerked with pleasure.
“Need this,” she said.
Hell, he needed it too. He bent her over the bed and slowly spread her knees to expose her peach, ripe and wet with her own arousal.
He remembered the condoms he’d recently bought. They were stuck in a brown drugstore bag in the saddlebags at the back of the scooter.
Damn.
“Honey, I don’t have anything. Do you?” he asked her.
She righted herself and ran to her jeans, extricating a foil packet from her pocket. She handed it up to him while she caressed his hardness. Cooper groaned with the pleasure her hands gave him.
She assumed the position on all fours on his bed, looking at him over the smooth mounds of flesh at her rear. With her tight little ass in the air, he sheathed himself in a ribbed condom, and then positioned his member between her supple lips, edging them aside as he penetrated just his crown. Then he plunged in all the way to the hilt.
Libby gasped, forcing herself against Cooper’s upper thighs. He leaned over her, pressing his chest against her back, nibbling on the soft skin under her right ear. She grabbed the back of his neck as she pushed her butt into his groin, pulling him deeper inside.
The gentle rhythm became more urgent as he pumped her. He’d been dreaming about this ever since yesterday, when they’d been interrupted in the garden shed. He watched sweat glisten on her back and shoulders, and the sweet, fleshy cheeks of her ass that drove his thighs crazy.
Her orgasm surprised him. She stopped touching him so that the only point of contact was his cock inside her. Deep inside her. Her muscles clamped as she squeezed her own breasts and threw her head back, sending her auburn hair onto her back. He entangled his fingers in her locks, pulling back her head gently. He grabbed her shoulder with the other hand, bracing himself against her and exploded. He released every drop he had.
They collapsed on the bed together. She was trying to keep him inside. They lay spooned and breathing heavily. She brought his hands to her breasts. She rubbed his fingers, his forearms, and the top of his thigh. He snuggled into her rear, burying his nose in the mass of hair at the nape of her neck, and kissed her there.
He raised his head up and whispered in her ear, “Libby, you’re incredible.”
She wanted him to say something else, he could tell. But she said, “Thank you,” and rubbed her sinfully smooth little butt against his groin. He’d be hard in another hour. He knew it. He liked the way the golden late afternoon sunlight played on the red and blonde strands of her auburn hair.
His family had gone Heaven ten days ago. Cooper knew he was there, too.
Chapter 15
Libby woke up in Coop’s motor home hearing the gentle roll of the waves in the distance. She could feel the SEAL was in a deep sleep. She remained nestled in his warm embrace; her body spooned in front of him, her back resting against his chest. Air whistled through his teeth. She turned to look at him over her shoulder. His deep rose-colored lips were smooth and just waiting to be kissed. She squirmed to roll over and face him and his arms tightened around her waist at first, then his hands lowered to the cheeks of her ass as he allowed her to turn in the bed. The sheets were musty, pulling up from Cooper’s corner, exposing the mattress underneath.
He pressed her to him, his large hands on the back side of her waist, pulling her toward him. She felt his hardness as she played with the hair around his ears and kissed him. Several kisses later, he adroitly encased himself in a condom, moved on top of her, on his hands and knees, making entry into her swollen sex. The pain of his thrust inside her was delicious. She needed his hard strength, the feel of his need. She loved how urgent he was. He dove deeper. Her insides began to explode.
“Need this,” she said.
“Yes,” he whispered as he bit the lobe of her right ear. His tongue followed up the tiny tug as if he he’d caused pain. It wasn’t pain. She wanted to be consumed by him. Powerful hips pressed into her as she accepted him deeper, as she clamped down on him in a long, rolling orgasm.
She’d been moaning, her head thrashing from side to side as he slid out, then rammed in again pushing her higher, bringing her along the long ragged trail of her need. Her body reacted in quivering jolts as she dug her fingers into his buttocks and pulled him inside deeper still. She felt him lurch and then relax in rhythmic spasms as he filled her.
Their lovemaking was always intense, but each time she was on the brink of something else. She was changing. Her world was changing as her body felt more alive. She was filled with possibility and hope. He was becoming one glorious addiction.
Afterwards, his forehead rested on top of hers as they gazed silently into each other’s eyes. Their breathing began to slow. She assessed the lines of his face, noticing a tiny thin scar on his chin. She touched it with her forefinger and followed it up with a long, healing kiss, luxuriating in a soft moan coming from deep inside his chest.
A door had opened to her soul. Wide and gaping, it longed for this tall muscular SEAL to step inside. She couldn’t get enough of him, and hoped to God he felt the same way.
Can you love me back, Cooper?
She knew it was love. More than hunger for the sexual liaison, it was a required element deeply implanted in her body. Removing it could be fatal.
I am not afraid when I am with you.
Except she was afraid to ever have to live without him. That was the only fear that remained. Would she have to endure that?
Please love me back, Cooper.
He smiled as if he’d heard her inner thoughts, gently massaged her lips with his own. “Libby, Libby, Libby. What am I going to do with you, hum?”
He arched back and looked at her face again, and gave her the crooked smile that snagged her heart every time. She could see he’d been a shy boy growing up. He was shy with her now. Big, powerful Cooper, was shy at heart.
“Anything you like, sir,” she said in a whisper. Her smile was returned and then punctuated by another gentle nuzzling kiss.
He laid his head against her chest and she splayed her fingers through his hair.
She could spend the rest of the afternoon and evening here, in his bed, in his arms.
They heard Bay scratch at the door and whine.
“Bay wants his breakfast,” Coop said, watching her face.
She nodded, but wasn’t going to let the SEAL go. The dog’s timing was pretty good. He’d waited for their lovemaking to subside before telling his master he was hungry. But Libby wasn’t ready to give Cooper up just yet.
Coop kissed the insides of her forearms as he peeled himself from their embrace.
He rose up, after giving her a respectful, quick kiss on the lips. He slipped on his shorts. “I’ve got to get him his food. What about you? You hungry?”
“Always,” she said while she put her hands under her head and let the sheet expose her full torso. Libby watched as her SEAL perused her body. Now, that just made her want him all over again, just the way he looked at her that way.
When he turned, she watched his lanky frame amble to the kitchen. Cooper scooped out some kibbles and added some heated meat from the microwave, stirring it up. He passed the silver bowl out to Bay and sat down on the stoop. Libby saw just the curve of his muscled back and a few pillow-fluffed wisps of sandy hair as the SEAL murmured a few words to Bay she couldn’t make out. She knew she was witne
ssing part of his daily routine.
She looked at the light-patterned ceiling of the home and dreamt what it would feel like to live here with Cooper. Perhaps this was the safest place for her. She was more concerned about her parents and where they should go. But she knew she’d be the safest here with her SEAL.
If he’d allow it.
She pulled the top sheet from the bed and wrapped her body in it. Walking down the hallway to his seated frame, she decided to broach the subject.
“Cooper, my parents are probably going to move out of the house.”
Cooper nodded. He leaned over and patted Bay’s head. The dog was getting his second meal: Cooper’s affection and praise. He raised his paw onto the SEAL’s knee and Cooper began to delicately unwrap the bandage, examining the red wound inside. His nimble fingers pressed and prodded the wound. Libby could see several thick stitches and a shaved area from Bay’s paw halfway up his foreleg. Coop looked like he was checking for signs of swelling or heightened temperature.
“He going to be okay?” she asked.
“He’s healing great, aren’t you, old boy?” Cooper said as he scratched the dog’s head. He had removed the bandage. He stood up, moving past Libby, to remove a roll of white gauze material and a small pair of silver surgical scissors from one of the upper cabinets. After he sat back down in the doorway, he re-wrapped the wound carefully and gave Bay another pat on the head.
As Cooper stood up and arched his back, Bay jumped into the motor home.
“Okay. You can come in for a bit,” Coop said as Bay came over to Libby and sniffed the sheet she was wearing. “No, Bay. Be nice,” he said.
Libby rubbed her fingers through the thick hair atop the dog’s head. She received a grateful brown gaze and lick in return. “You’re a good boy, Bay. So glad you’re getting well,” she said.
But Cooper hadn’t answered her. He was washing his hands in the sink.
“So, about my parents. They want me to go with them.”
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