Cooper's Charm

by Lori Foster

He tried to read her face, to see how upset she might be—or how pleased, but he couldn’t tell if the visit from her ex was a good or a bad thing.

  “Can we talk?” she asked.

  Since that was what he wanted, he smiled. “Sure.”

  She set Sugar back on her feet, then reached for a hand up.

  Coop easily hauled her upright. Once she was on her feet, she didn’t let go. In fact, she hugged his arm while urging him forward—away from the maintenance building.

  “Where are we going?”

  Her fingers teased over his left arm, mostly over his biceps. “Remember I said that I couldn’t take the afternoon off?”

  “Yeah.” He’d been relieved that she hadn’t wanted to spend more time with David.

  “I’ve changed my mind.” She paused, her brows drawn together as she looked up at him. “Unless you’re busy?”

  He’d had some errands to run, but he mentally canceled them without remorse. “Nothing that can’t wait.”

  “You’re sure?”

  “Positive.”

  Her slow smile was somehow naughty. “Good. Let’s go to your house.”

  The way she said that made his body tense—in all the best ways. “Are we going there to talk?” He had to make sure he was reading this right. So far, Phoenix had been beyond circumspect when it came to their relationship. To her, appearances mattered. He couldn’t just assume, because of a visit from the past, that she’d suddenly changed her outlook on that.

  “We can talk,” she said, still hurrying him along. “After.”

  “After?”

  They started up the hill, and she asked thoughtfully, “Will you think I’m taking special favors just because we’re sexually involved?”

  It was about more than the sex, but for once he didn’t focus on the distinction, asking instead, “Special favors?”

  Keeping her gaze straight ahead, she nodded. “Skipping work for an afternoon of sex.” She waved her free hand. “I promise I can make it up later. Today was going to be a light day anyway. But I really should be on the clock, right? Not sneaking away—”

  How the hell was it sneaking when anyone could see them?

  “—to your house, to indulge a craving.”

  “A craving?” Damn it, he was starting to sound like a parrot, repeating everything she said. As they reached his house, he scowled. “I’m starting to wonder if I should be insulted.”

  She flashed him a glance. “Insulted? Because I want you?”

  He unlocked the door and, once Sugar was inside, removed her leash. Then he turned to Phoenix. “Why now?”

  Color crept up her neck. “Am I presuming too much?”

  “No.” He backed her into the door, then caged her there with his hands flattened at either side of her head. “But you have to admit, the timing seems suspect.”

  Confusion filled her gaze. “How so?”

  “You get a visit from your ex, and suddenly you want me in the middle of the day.”

  Her eyes flared wide. “Oh, my God, you think I want you because of David?” She quickly shook her head. “Wait, I do—but probably not for the reasons you think.”

  “Why don’t you explain it to me then?”

  Instead, she said, “Maybe this was a bad idea.”

  “No.” He bent to nuzzle her throat. “Sex with you, anytime, any day, is never a bad idea.” He lifted his head. “David mentioned your special relationship.”

  “So you heard that?” She put a hand to his chest, lightly petting. “Just how long were you eavesdropping?

  “Long enough to wonder if you were having a reunion.”

  Her lips curled sweetly. “Cooper,” she whispered, her tone chastising. “How could you ever think that?”

  He was starting to feel like an ass—an ass who had badly bungled accepting a sweet offer. “What did he want?”

  “To tell me he’d moved on, and now that he’s happy, he hopes I’m happy, as well.”

  Fuck. So the guy was gracious, too.

  Phoenix held his face between her small hands and smiled up at him. “I didn’t want to hurt David again, so I agreed that our relationship was special to me. But the truth is, I didn’t know what special really meant—not until you.”

  Coop caught his breath. “Is that so?”

  She kissed his chin, then his throat. “I hope I don’t spook you.” Her lips touched the side of his neck. “I promise I’m not trying to push or make more of our relationship than there is.”

  Everywhere she touched, his skin burned. “I don’t spook easily.”

  “Awesome.” She lightly bit his shoulder. “Then please understand. I carried so much remorse for hurting David that it almost smothered me. Seeing him today, finding out that he’s happy, that we can be friends—only friends—was so liberating. It’s like I can finally take a deep breath, when before I was strangled.”

  He hated the idea of her feeling that way, and now he knew he owed David his gratitude. “Then I’m glad he came by.” And that he’d set her free. “Come on.”

  Sugar followed them down the hall, but then slipped into the closet to sleep. Cooper quietly closed the door.

  “Won’t that scare her?”

  He shook his head. “She lets me know when she wants out.”

  “All right.” She reached for the hem of his shirt, then had to struggle to get it over his head.

  The height difference was enough that Coop bent to help her.

  She murmured, “Thank you.” Then lowered to her knees.

  Damn. Staring down at the crooked part in her glossy black hair, he felt his body hardening. It took him a second to realize that she’d untied his sneakers and was urging him to lift his feet so she could get them off him.

  Wondering what else she had planned, he quickly helped with that. Barefoot now, he braced his legs apart and waited.

  After flashing him a smile, Phoenix straightened her glasses...and reached up for the snap to his shorts.

  Coop didn’t say a word. Hell, he barely breathed.

  She opened the snap, dragged down the zipper and leaned forward, her face against him as she inhaled. “I love how you smell.”

  His jaw clenched.

  With her hands on the front of his thighs, she rubbed her cheek against him. He felt her warm breath, and it was all he could do to stay still.

  Through his boxers, she grazed him with her teeth.

  “Phoenix—”

  “Let’s get these off you.” She tugged down his shorts and boxers together.

  He kicked them aside, then reached for her shirt, but she brushed his hands away. “Not yet.”

  Not yet? Tangling a hand in her hair, Coop tipped up her face. “You’re making me crazy.”

  “Good. You deserve to go a little crazy.” Her small hand wrapped around him. Holding him firm while she leaned in and pressed a kiss to the underside of the head.

  His cock swelled more, his breath laboring.

  The feel of her tongue, flattened against him, licking down his length made his body clench. He urged her upward again, relishing the wet, hot glide—she drew the head into her mouth, sucking softly.

  Coop groaned, both hands now in her hair. He didn’t want to steal her show, but he needed her to take more of him. He needed her to move.

  He needed to fuck her mouth.

  Almost against his will, he pressed forward, and Phoenix gave a small hum of acceptance, of pleasure. God, it was erotic and hot and it could only be better if she was naked, too. But for whatever reason, she seemed hell bent on driving him insane.

  He was already halfway there.

  Holding her still, he pressed into her warm mouth, loving how her lips closed around him, how she moved her tongue. Just as slowly he withdrew again.

  Her hands went to his backside, her
nails prickling his skin as she urged him in again.

  No problem.

  This time, when he was about to withdraw, she instead took him deeper, the suction so sweet that his balls tightened and he knew he was in danger of coming.

  As if she sensed it, one hand came around to his front, fondling his testicles while she went down again, not so slowly now.

  A river of heat rushed through his veins. His eyes went heavy—but he couldn’t look away from her. Wisps of dark hair came loose from her ponytail. Behind her glasses, her eyes were closed in a look of concentration. A flush stained her cheeks, hollowed from the suction. Her lips around his cock were wet.

  Feeling the pressure rise, Coop feathered his thumbs along her jaw. “I’m going to come.”

  She gave a humming reply, her nails contracting on his ass—and she didn’t stop.

  Permission then.

  The sensations, the visual, were both so sweet, he wanted it to last, his teeth clenched as he fought for control. She worked him as if she enjoyed it as much as he did.

  That thought was his undoing.

  He held her head, his hips moving, his body straining as release washed through him.

  Phoenix drained him, her hands now gentle as she petted, soothed. As she accepted.

  He was still semi-hard, his cock now glistening from her wet mouth, when she released him and looked up.

  He watched her lick her lips. A deep breath didn’t help, not when he realized the problem.

  He was falling in love.

  Odd that a blowjob would bring on the realization.

  * * *

  Phoenix watched the play of emotions on Cooper’s face and wondered what he was thinking. There was a languid sensuality to his golden eyes, to the heaviness of his eyelids and the softness of his mouth.

  Walking her fingers up his thighs, his hips and his abs, she offered her hands.

  The slightest smile curved his mouth as he caught her wrists and lifted her to her feet. She put her arms over his shoulders and rested her cheek against his chest, unable to find the words to explain how different she felt.

  David’s visit was like a warm, leisurely shower after a long, sweaty day. It had revived her, washing away all the grimy memories and crippling regret.

  She hadn’t realized just how badly she needed David’s forgiveness until he gave it to her.

  Against her temple, Cooper asked, “Any reason why that just happened?”

  She could understand his confusion. She was usually so insistent on maintaining her work schedule—as if that would keep people from knowing about their involvement. Cooper’s Charm was like a big family, a big nosy family. Everyone knew everyone else’s business.

  After happily servicing Cooper, she felt swollen with need, but also soft with affection. She burrowed closer, liking the downy prickle of his chest hair. “I felt like celebrating.”

  He choked on a laugh. “I love the way you celebrate.”

  “I loved it, too.”

  He went still, then groaned. “Don’t. Not yet.”

  Smiling against his shoulder, she asked, “Don’t what?”

  Sliding his hands down to her bottom, he pressed her closer. “Get me hard again so soon.”

  Phoenix wiggled, then sighed, “Ah, too late.”

  His laugh was rough and sexy and in two steps, he tumbled her to the bed. “Let’s get you naked.”

  She stretched luxuriously. “Let’s.”

  Taking his time, Cooper stripped her, and as he did so, his hands played over her skin—the insides of her thighs, her stomach, beneath her breasts, even the ticklish undersides of her arms. His mouth followed his fingertips, sometimes biting gently, other times licking.

  Sucking a time or two.

  It was heaven, indulging all her senses without the past weighing her down.

  With both of them naked now, Cooper lounged beside her, one big hand on her stomach as he blew warm breath over her nipple. “What were we celebrating, baby?”

  She smiled. “Starting over.”

  That made him rise up to see her face, his expression curious. “Are we?”

  “Yes.”

  He didn’t laugh or frown. Instead, he pressed a soft kiss to her lips and asked, “Why?”

  “Because now I’m more me.” She put her palms to his chest, urging him to his back so she could crawl over him. “That doesn’t sound right, does it?”

  “I think I get it.” Again, his hands settled on her bottom. “You’re back to yourself, the woman you were before your life got turned upside down.”

  “Yes. I feel whole again, flesh and blood instead of a shadow.”

  “You were never a shadow,” he chided.

  Of course he didn’t think so, because he didn’t know the real her. She laughed, straddling his lap and bracing her hands on his chest. “Thank you. Condom?”

  He studied her before reaching out one long arm, snagging the drawer on the nightstand and fishing out the protection. He started to hand it to her, then pulled it away, saying, “I have questions, but I think I’d rather wait to ask them.”

  “Okay.” He could ask her anything. She’d decided not to worry about impressions or misunderstandings. Going forward, she refused to waste a single day. A single minute.

  The past had imprisoned her long enough.

  Still, he withheld the condom. “Will you be running off after this?”

  Oh, he made it sound bad, the way she defected to her cabin each night. In so many ways, while trying to display independence she’d instead been a ’fraidy cat. But no more.

  Unfortunately, she did still have work to do, so she said, “For a while. But if you want, I’ll come back tonight.”

  His eyebrows knit together. “For dinner?”

  “Sure.” She spread her fingers over his upper chest, then slowly dragged them down over his flat brown nipples. “You’re an excellent cook.”

  Cooper clenched all over, drew a big breath, and said calmly, “For sex?”

  “If you’re able, then sure, I can be convinced.”

  “I’ll be able,” he growled, and finally gave over the little silver packet—but only so he could cup a hand around her neck and tug her down, face-to-face. His eyes were darker, like rum over ice. “To sleep?”

  It was such a wonderful invitation. She knew he was worried, that the unresolved situation with Harry and his cohorts left him feeling something bad would eventually happen. The offer wouldn’t always be there—she couldn’t make assumptions about the future, and didn’t want to anyway—but tonight was all hers, so she said, “If you and Sugar want me here.”

  There was an infinitesimal widening of his eyes before he caught her in a heated kiss, his tongue taking possession, ramping up her need.

  He wanted to take over. Coop was the type of leader that, even in sex, would be dominant. She liked that about him.

  This time, however, she’d lead the way.

  “Shh,” she whispered. “Lie back.”

  His nostrils flared and he asked with suspicion, “Why?”

  “Because I’m not done enjoying you.”

  It was slow to come, but his small, sexy smile told her that he wasn’t intimidated. In fact, he seemed to like the idea.

  “Now,” she said, and rolled the condom onto him. He was fully erect again, throbbing in her hand. She recalled the taste of him and her breathing deepened.

  Widening her thighs around his hips, she braced one hand against his body and with the other, she held him in place against her, moving the head against her own wetness, teasing herself and him with each glide against her swollen lips. Her breathing quickened. She wanted to make this last, but she wasn’t sure she could.

  Just as she nudged him a little inside her, he reached up to cup both her breasts, his rough thumbs drifting back and
forth over her nipples.

  No, she definitely wouldn’t last. He, on the other hand, had already gotten off once, and now seemed plenty patient.

  He caught her nipples, flattening them between a thumb and finger, tugging gently. She arched her back, her body flooded with sensation.

  “Nice,” he murmured, still tugging, twisting carefully. “Once you’re done torturing us both, lean forward so I can get my mouth on you.”

  That did it. Phoenix closed her eyes and, rocking her hips, took every wonderful inch of him. She felt full, a little stretched, and she loved it.

  Cooper gave a husky growl. “Come here.”

  Leaning forward only sent him deeper, stealing her breath. Groaning, she flattened her hands at either side of his head while pressing her hips to his, back and forth, back and forth, seeking, needing. When his mouth latched on to one puckered nipple, she knew she’d lost the game. “Cooper...”

  “Let me,” he whispered, and then his hands were on her hips and he took over, thrusting into her while working her nipple with his tongue. The position kept her open, her clitoris exposed to his every stroke. The relentless rhythm sent her glasses sliding down the bridge of her nose.

  She didn’t care.

  The pleasure coiled. Her hands clenched into the bedding. She tipped back her head, groaning, reaching, wanting—and finally, finally, the climax rushed through her.

  She heard Cooper’s answering murmur against her breast, felt the tensing of his body beneath her, the way he pressed hard into her with his release.

  God, it was so perfect, lasting until her thighs trembled and her arms refused to support her.

  He released her nipple, his hands now caressing her hips as she sank down against him, her glasses almost falling off. She adjusted them quickly before sliding to the side of him, her limbs weak.

  Cooper turned his head to see her. After several deep breaths, he said, “We should celebrate more often.”

  She huffed a laugh, not only happy, but also content. It felt good. She felt good.

  Ridley was going to be thrilled.

  12

  While they both caught their breath, Coop thought about Phoenix, her uniqueness, her sweetness blended with scorching sex appeal.