Chapter 10

Ijerk awake and sit up on the bed as panic hits me.

"Buttercup." Two warm hands cup my face as my eyes try to adjust to the dim light of the room.

"You left," I whisper. I felt his body move away from mine at some point and for a moment I thought it was all a dream.

"I got out of bed a little while ago. I wanted to order some food for when you woke up."

I smile as I turn my face in his hand and breathe him in and kiss his palm. "I told you, I'm not letting you go."

He leans in and touches his lips to mine and I settle into him. My speeding heart slows, knowing he's here and my panic fades away quickly. I don't know how he does it, but he always calms me.

"Let me get the door, buttercup. I'd take you with me, but you're naked and I'm the only one that sees this ass."

I smile against his neck before he lets go of me and gets up. I fall back into the bed and pull the covers over me. I snuggle down, smiling bigger as I listen to him talk to whoever is dropping off the food. A moment later the bedding is being pulled off and Cooper stands over the bed looking down at me.

"Better get it while it"s hot or I'm coming into bed to eat you instead."

I roll to my back and all thoughts of food are gone. My body buzzes thinking about the pleasure he gave me and I would be down for that over food. His eyes roam over my naked body as I spread my thighs in invitation.

"Fuck, buttercup. I need to feed you."

I watch an inner battle play across his face. He's not sure what to do and I think he's going to make me get up, but after a moment he places a knee on the bed. He grabs my ankle and pulls me down to him in one soft tug. I gasp as he comes down over me and I'm shocked by how fast he moves.

"I'll eat you first," he says before he kisses me.

I'm sure it's going to be hard and fast, but it's not. It is so sweet I close my eyes and sigh because the things this man does to me make me feel so special. I've gone from being his hostage to never wanting to be without him. I'm not sure how I've been living without him all this time. He settles something deep inside of me and when he says he feels it too, I know I'm not going crazy. This is all real and this need to be with him overrides everything else. Tears sting my eyes and I fight them back, not wanting to get caught up in that. I'm going to enjoy this and savor all I can of Cooper. I've finally found a good man and I don't want to waste a moment of it.

He moves down my body, true to his word, as he spreads my legs with his broad shoulders and kisses me until I climax. My body comes undone for him, and I lie there unable to move. I reach for him and he climbs up my body before kissing me again. I taste my pleasure on his mouth and I moan, wanting more. I try and wrap my legs around him, but Cooper pulls back. My eyes open to see him standing on the side of the bed again and I pretend to pout.

"I ate, now it's your turn." He tries to sound stern, but his eyes keep drifting back to my sex and I know he wants another round as much as I do. "Buttercup," he warns and I fight a laugh.

I sit up and Cooper"s eyes go to my breasts as they bounce a little at the motion. He lets out a groan and turns away.

"Let me feed you, Jules." He reaches down and picks something off the floor. When he tosses it at me I see it's his shirt. I pull it on over my head and a moment later Cooper turns to look at me. "That did not fucking help," he mutters as he pulls me from the bed.

"We have to change locations." He throws me over his shoulder, making me laugh. He gives my ass a smack before putting me down into a chair. "You in the bed is too tempting or I would have let you eat in there."

I look at the box on the table and the smell of pizza has my stomach growling. Cooper gives me an I told you so look at the sound. I blush that my stomach is so vocal. He grabs a plate and puts a piece of pizza on it for me.

"Thanks." I pick it up and take a giant bite, and Cooper sits down in the chair next to mine and grabs some for himself.

"We need to start looking for a place. I don't think you want to live in my office." It's like he's talking to himself. "You want to stay, right, or did you want to go back?" Cooper's eyes come to mine and I can see his mind already working.

"I don't want to go anywhere." At my admission his body relaxes.

Warren might have sent me running from home, but that place was never really my home. No place feels more like that then when I'm with Cooper. He makes me feel settled even though two men are still trying to find me and both probably want me dead.

"People are looking for me." I don't want to get back to reality, but I have to. Cooper is skipping over Warren and Monte and going straight to a happily ever after. If only.

"You don't worry about that," he tells me with a shrug. He doesn"t look worried in the least. He looked more worried when he thought I wanted to go back home than he is about Monte or Warren. I trust Cooper can handle Monte because he's already gunning for him. Warren is different and unpredictable. I don't understand why he won't leave me alone.

"Eat." He nods to the pizza. "We'll get some shut eye and handle shit tomorrow."

I take another bite and look toward the window. The sun is down and I think I slept most of the day away. Cooper is smiling while he eats his pizza and his eyes roam over me.

"Relax." He reaches out and tucks my hair behind my ear. "I'll work it out. You only need to worry about the mess on my desk. I was thinking you could help me handle that?"

"Yeah?" He really is on to the next, but I know he probably has some plan in his head to handle everything. Maybe I should just lie back and let him do his thing. He's taken care of me and no one has ever done that before.

I polish off another few pieces of pizza as Cooper talks about us finding a place. It makes it all sound so easy when he says it, like when he talks about me meeting his mom and our future after this is over.

"How you feeling?" He offers me his hand and pulls me from the chair, guiding us over to the bed. We fall back onto it and he pulls me against his side.

"I'm good." I snuggle into him as he wraps his arms around me.

I don't think he slept when I did because he looks tired. He flicks off the light next to the bed and I keep my head on his chest, listening to him breathe. I want a life with him so bad I ache for it. I wish it was as simple as Cooper made it sound.

I want to leave everything else behind and start fresh with him without baggage from my past. I need a few things from my place like my birth certificate and identification. I also want the necklace my grandpa gave me before he passed. I was only a little girl when he gave it to me, but it's the only thing I have left of him. He's been the only person to really care about me, and even though I was little I knew he loved me. I wore the necklace every day until Warren ripped it from my neck. I got it back but it's broken and I haven"t had the money or time to get it fixed. I kept it hidden with my identification and money and I can't leave it behind.

I slowly sit up and look down at Cooper, who's fast asleep. Who would have thought it would go from him pulling a knife on me to falling in love with him? That's what this has to be. I'm head over heels in love with Cooper Ross. I want to find a place for us to live together and meet his mom for dinner. I want all the normal things that couples do and I want a family someday.

My hand drifts to my stomach and I think about the fact that I could be pregnant right now. We took a risk having sex without protection, but maybe risk isn"t the right word. In the moment we both wanted it and I still do. Seeing Mags pregnant with her husband messed with my ovaries.

I lean down and kiss Cooper softly before getting up from the bed. I go for the bags of clothes and grab something black so I know it will help me stay hidden. I'm going to try and slip into my old place and get out as fast as I can. I won"t be gone long and I know I'm not falling asleep anytime soon.

This could be the one thing I take care of for us. Once I have my stuff I can let Cooper do whatever it is he has planned. I can tell he has something going on and no one will notice if I'm gone for a quick second.

I give him one last look and silently leave our room. It's not until I get to my old place that I realize the error of my decision.