23. SKYE

COOPER

23

SKYE

I didn't want to ruin the moment.

Cooper and I were back in my bed—he was on his back with one arm wrapped around my body, which was half on top of his. We were both naked, and everything felt perfect.

This whole day had been nothing short of spectacular.

I had something I wanted to ask Cooper, but I was worried that by doing so, I'd wreck this. And that was the last thing I wanted to happen.

But I should have known that Cooper was on to me before I even had a chance to consider how to approach the situation. "I thought you liked what I gave you tonight," he said.

"I did," I assured him, lifted my head from his chest to look at him.

"So, why, after having multiple orgasms, are you so tense?" he questioned me.

I pressed my lips together. This man's ability to know when something wasn't right with me was as comforting as it was eerie. It was nice to know he paid enough attention to me that he could recognize when I was in distress, but if I ever thought I'd be able to hide anything from him, there was no question I'd be unsuccessful.

"There's something I wanted to ask you," I murmured.

Cooper lifted his hand to the side of my face, where he stroked his thumb along my cheek. "And that's making you nervous or worried?"

I pushed my cheek into his palm, loving the feel of his working hands on me. "Maybe a little bit."

"Ask me whatever you want to ask me, sweetheart," he urged me. "You have nothing to worry about, no matter what it is."

I closed my eyes and inhaled a deep breath, opening them only after I'd released it. Following a beat of silence, I asked, "Would you stay with me tonight?"'

The only way to describe the look on Cooper's face would be to say he seemed utterly dumbfounded by my question. "Why would asking me that question make you nervous?"

"I don't know. I guess I don't want you to think I'm suddenly going to start demanding all of your time or something like that," I explained, my voice trembling. "I promise that's not who I am."

Cooper's fingers shifted away from my face and sifted through my hair to the bare skin on my back. He flattened his palm to the middle of my back and asked, "Do you honestly believe I'd just fuck you and walk away like this meant nothing? Like you mean nothing?"

I swallowed hard at his admission. Granted, I didn't necessarily believe I meant nothing to him. Cooper had made it clear he had an appreciation for me and that there was something special happening between us that went beyond physical attraction. But there was something about hearing him say those words aloud that left me with an indescribable feeling of reassurance.

Shaking my head, I answered quietly, "No, I guess not. I was just really hoping you could spend the night with me."

He stroked his hand up and down my back. "Before you even mentioned it, I intended to do that."

Relief swept through me, a small smile spreading across my face. I was slightly embarrassed, so I dropped my head down against his body again. Cooper didn't hesitate to wrap his arms around me and shift his body, so we were both on our sides, facing one another.

"Can I talk to you about something?" he asked.

I pulled my head back from his chest, looked up at him, and countered, "About what?"

"When we were outside, you said something about not being able to sleep for months," he began. "I'm curious what that's about."

Evidently, I'd gotten myself caught up in all that I was feeling when I was sharing my fears with him earlier. I forgot that I'd said anything to him about that, but if I'd been paying attention and was more careful about it, I didn't think it was something I would have necessarily shared. Now, I had no choice but to discuss it.

"It started after I learned the truth about Simon and Maria," I admitted. "The first week or so was very rough. I barely got any sleep at all. Then it got to a point where I'd manage to fall asleep, but at some point in the middle of the night, I'd wake up, and no matter how hard I tried or how tired I actually felt, I couldn't fall back asleep. My mind wouldn't shut down; I was constantly thinking about what they did to me and how much it hurt to know they could betray me like that."

"And you're still having trouble sleeping?" he pressed.

I nodded.

"Every night?"

"I can't remember the last time I slept through the night," I shared.

The silence stretched between us, and I grew concerned that Cooper might be rethinking his decision to spend the night with me.

Maybe I was being selfish. He worked a physically demanding job and needed to go to work tomorrow. But he was too nice of a guy to go back on his word, so he'd simply deal with it. Perhaps I needed to give him an out.

"You know, I really wasn't thinking when I asked you to stay with me tonight," I said, breaking the silence. "I understand you need to be refreshed for work, so if you're regretting your decision to spend the night, you don't have to feel that way. I should have considered that before I asked you."

"What makes you think I don't want to spend the night with you?" Cooper questioned me.

I licked my lips and allowed my eyes to dart all over as I returned, "Well, once I revealed that I haven't slept through the night in so long, you didn't say anything. So, I started thinking that maybe you were concerned about how you'd be able to function properly at work."

Cooper captured my chin in his hand and tipped my head back, making it impossible for me to look anywhere but him. "I wasn't thinking anything of the sort," he insisted, his eyes boring into mine. "But I'd be lying if I said I wasn't thinking about something."

After swallowing hard, I rasped, "What is it?"

There was a long pause before Cooper spoke, which was enough to make me feel slightly more anxious than I already did about the situation. To top it off, there was a tortured look on his face when he finally did respond. "He's still on your mind."

I blinked my eyes in surprise. "What?"

"Your ex," Cooper clarified. "You still wake up thinking about what he did to you."

Suddenly, it all made sense. Cooper thought Simon was still at the forefront of my mind. "No. No, that's not true."

"But—"

"I stopped waking up at night thinking about Simon, Maria, and what they did when I met you," I shared, cutting him off.

"But you said you're continuing to wake up at night," he reminded me.

I offered a nod in return. "Yes. Because I've been waking up feeling so lonely and finding my thoughts immediately drift to you. For weeks now, you're all I can think about."

"Are you serious?"

"Yes."

There was a look of utter disbelief written all over him. But once my admission had a chance to sink in, that disbelief turned to determination. Cooper lifted his hand to the side of my head, pressed his fingers in firmly, and promised, "We're going to make sure you start sleeping, Skye. If I need to be here every night to make that happen, I'm going to do that for you. I love knowing that you've been thinking about me. Honest to God, it makes me so happy to know you've been into me as long as I've been into you. But we need to fix this for you. I want you sleeping through the night. I'd prefer you dream about me instead."

Tears filled my eyes.

The sheer determination Cooper had was enough to send me over the edge, but it was more than that. Maybe he didn't mean it the way I took it, but when he said he wanted me to dream about him, something clicked.

Perhaps he'd been referring to nightly dreams involving him. My mind went bigger than that. Could I start dreaming about Cooper in a way that had nothing to do with sleep?

Unsure I wouldn't make a fool of myself if I said that to him, I remained quiet and allowed the tear to fall to the pillow.

Cooper watched it go, and he gave me all of two or three seconds to see his features soften before he wrapped his arms around me again and kissed me. "Don't cry, sweetheart."

"You've made me so happy," I rasped.

"And I'm going to keep doing it," he assured me. "It's been happening for a while now, and tonight, we made it official. You're with me now. You are no longer alone. Do you hear me?"

I chewed on my lip to not burst into tears. It took me a moment to rein in my emotions, and I wasn't entirely successful, but I managed to hold back the rivers of tears threatening to fall. Finally, I answered, "I hear you."

Cooper kissed my forehead, allowing his lips to linger there for a while. "Good."

The next thing I knew, with the front of our bodies pressed tight to one another, Cooper kissed me for a long time. I didn't realize it would happen so soon afterward, but that kissing led to round two, which was much lazier than our first time, even if it was no less spectacular.

After we finished, cleaned ourselves up, and climbed back into the bed, Cooper turned out the light, draped his arm over my waist, and tucked my body close to his.

He spooned me, his hand curled up and holding my breast possessively. It was the best feeling in the world.

And for the first time in a long time, I fell asleep with a smile on my face, believing I'd just made the best decision of my life.

When I fell asleep, I did it thinking I'd wind up awake at some point in the middle of the night. If Skye woke up, I wasn't going to stay asleep. I intended to give her whatever she needed to make it possible to doze off again, whether that was with a reassuring conversation or something more physical that would lead to exhaustion.

But much to my surprise, I peeled my eyes open this morning and found Skye still sleeping and tucked tight to my body.

We'd shifted at some point throughout the night. And if what I was experiencing now was any indication of what to expect moving forward, it was clear I needed to prepare myself for Skye being a cuddler.

Technically, it felt understated to call her a cuddler. This was not cuddling. If it was possible for Skye to climb underneath my skin, I wasn't sure she would have declined the opportunity. She seemed to like having as many points of contact as possible. I wasn't the least bit upset about it, either.

Then again, I wasn't quite sure what there would be for me to be upset about when Skye and I had finally taken the step we did last night. I hadn't expected it—I knew she was coming around, and I was relieved to get the admission from her that she wanted us to explore something more than just friendship. Never did I think we were going to go where we had gone.

She'd been worth it, too. For a woman who'd been rather timid and reserved, she had far exceeded any expectations I could have had about what she'd be like in bed. She was hungry, greedy. She didn't hesitate to beg.

I loved it. I loved that she had it in her to give me both sides of her personality, and I liked knowing that the wild side of her was reserved just for me. The last thing I wanted to do was take the time to think about her with her ex, but if he had been lucky enough to have Skye in his bed the way she was with me last night and could still bring himself to cheat on her, he was an even bigger fool that I had originally thought.

Fortunately, for both Skye and me, he was an idiot. And now she was mine, and I didn't intend to screw things up with her ever.

I dropped my hand to her hip and allowed my fingertips to trace random, delicate patterns on her skin there. For weeks I'd been itching to touch her skin, to hold her hips and thighs and breasts in my hands. I'd done it repeatedly last night, and I still hadn't gotten enough.

So, in between the random patterns I drew on her hips, I gripped a handful of the flesh there. When I released it, my hand drifted back toward her ass and traced delicately over the skin.

Skye moaned and scooted herself even closer to me than she already was. I kept at her, loving the feel of her warm body pressed close and the softness of her skin beneath my fingertips.

Though she kept her body close, Skye pulled her head back slightly and tipped her chin up to bring her eyes to mine. She smiled at me, and the look in her eyes caught me by surprise. They were shining brightly, no doubt an indication of how happy she was.

"Good morning, sweetheart."

"Mmm. Good morning, Cooper."

I loved the way my name sounded coming past her lips first thing in the morning. I should have expected nothing less. "It looks like you had an excellent night of sleep," I pointed out.

"I'm just as shocked as you are."

"I think I wore you out last night. All you needed was a couple of orgasms," I reasoned.

Her body shivered. "I mean, I'm not going to say that wasn't a contributing factor, but I don't think that's the reason I slept well."

"What do you think it was, then? This was the first night you slept through the night in months, wasn't it?"

"It was. But I think the bigger reason I was able to sleep all night is because you spent the night with me. It's like my heart and mind finally realized I'm not lonely any longer."

My arms tightened around her gorgeous body. "Sweetheart, I don't know if it just clicked for you last night or what, but you haven't been alone ever since I came into your life. I've been trying to make you see that for a while now."

She nuzzled her face back against my chest. "I was afraid to trust you. I didn't want to believe you were the real deal, only to wind up hurt again."

Keeping one arm clamped around her body, I drove the other into her soft hair. "I know this might sound crazy, Skye, but I'm not going to do anything to screw this up with you, so I hope you're finally feeling confident in the man I am."

"I never expected you, but you are the best surprise of my entire life, Cooper." Her fingers started to creep down between our bodies. "I think it would be nice if I could show you how happy you've made me."

"I thought you had to work today."

"I do. And I'm opening today, so I can't be late. But are you suggesting I won't be able to get you worked up and taken care of before I have to leave? Am I that unappealing?"

I laughed. "Not at all. I get hard just thinking about you sometimes. If you're here with me, using your hands on me, there's not a chance you won't be able to accomplish what you're attempting. The problem is, I'm not the kind of guy who can receive without giving, so we're both going to have to make good use of our hands this morning."

Skye kissed my chest, her hand moving lower until she curled her fingers around my cock. Then she said, "It sounds like you've got our morning all planned out."

Without hesitating, she stroked me as my hand drifted down between her legs. And as it seemed was easy for both of us to do, we managed to give each other something that would make going to work and getting through the day a little more bearable.

Afterward, we'd gotten ourselves up and had some breakfast together. Since I needed to run home before I went to work, I couldn't stay around as long as I would have liked. But I didn't hesitate to solidify more time with Skye.

She was standing with me at her front door, her arms around me. "I hope you have a good day today."

"I will. And I want you to do the same. Would it help you to have a good day if you knew I intended to come back tonight and bring dinner with me?"

Her eyes lit up. "Really?"

Nodding, I confirmed, "Yeah, really. I intend to come and spend every night I can with you, because not only do I love spending time with you, but I don't want you to ever feel like you're alone."

Skye bit her lip, her features softening. "You're a dream come true, Cooper."

"The feeling is mutual, sweetheart."

"I love your plan. I love the idea. But instead of you bringing dinner, can I cook for you?"

I hadn't wanted Skye to have to do any extra work, but if she genuinely wanted to cook, I wasn't going to stop her. "If that's what you want to do, I'd love nothing more."

She was practically bouncing on her toes. "It's exactly what I want."

I tightened my arms around her. "This is not going to be good for me. I don't think I'm ever going to be able to deny you anything."

Skye giggled. "Would it help if I promised not to take advantage of that?"

I grinned back at her and kissed her. Then we said goodbye, and I drove home to get myself ready for work.

And unsurprisingly, it wasn't long before my workload took over and diminished my good mood slightly.

But I wasn't worried. With the prospect of seeing Skye later, it was difficult to get too upset about anything.