Champion (Studs in Spurs) (12 page)

“Cooper. Please.”

Those two words, spoken from those lips he’d tasted and wanted more of, broke him. He closed the remaining distance and crashed his mouth against hers. Thrusting his tongue between her lips, he kissed Hannah with a feral need to finally claim her. To possess all of her.

She responded by angling her head and wrapping her arms around his waist.

Cooper rolled to the side just enough so that he could get his hand between them. He slid his fingers beneath the waistband of her scrubs. He traveled over the heat of the bare skin of her belly to slip his fingers beneath the edge of her panties, groaning when he felt her wet heat. How good it would feel to slide inside this woman who already wanted him. Was already ready for him.

She dragged in a shaky breath and her eyes lost all focus. It seemed a struggle for her to keep them open. She lost the battle and her lids drifted closed.

Damn, there was nothing more beautiful than a woman about to come. Hannah had that look about her now and he’d barely touched her. Her whole body braced for release from the sensations he’d caused with one touch of his hand.

He could have her coming apart in seconds—with his hand, with his mouth, with barely the whisper of a touch—but after all the years he’d resisted the attraction between them, he wasn’t about sit back and watch her enjoyment as an outside observer. Why waste her first orgasm with him on foreplay when he could be a bigger part of it?

Cooper gripped the waistband and yanked her pants down, all the way off her legs. They got caught on her shoes and he had to concentrate long enough to pull them off before he could finish the job of getting Hannah naked.

Her pants landed on the floor, followed shortly by her lacy underwear, but Cooper forced himself to not slide inside her the moment he bared her from the waist down. He wanted all of her soft warm skin against his.

Apparently, so did she. Hannah struggled to sit up and yanked her top over her head before she reached behind her for the clasp of her bra. He took that opportunity to get himself naked, flinging boots and clothes until there was nothing between them.

Hannah’s gaze dropped to his ready cock before she focused on his face. There was no hesitation in her expression, no doubt, nothing but pure need. Open desire.

Reaching for the drawer of the bedside table, Cooper grabbed a condom from the stash that was probably nearing its expiration date at this point. He tore into the packet and covered himself, all while very aware that Hannah was watching him from beneath lids heavy with desire.

His arms shook as he moved to brace over her. He wrote that off to the fact that he’d fought his need for this woman for too long. He’d made it a lifelong practice to take what he wanted, when he wanted it, whatever that happened to be. Anything and everything. Except for Hannah—until now. No more waiting.

Braced between her legs, Cooper hooked his hands beneath Hannah’s knees and plunged inside her. Sinking into her tight, wet heat stole his breath. Hell, the sensation was all encompassing, narrowing his world to only him and her and the place where they were joined.

The realization that she’d gasped as he’d plunged hard and fast into her crept through the haze clouding his brain. Reason returned and he forced himself back to reality long enough to make sure she was all right. One glance at her face gave him the answer. Hannah’s head was pressed back into the pillow, her mouth open and her eyes closed.

Barely thinking himself, he still had the presence of mind to know this was not the face of a woman in pain. This was the expression of a need long denied finally about to be sated, for both of them.

Drawing in a deep breath, he felt the enormity of this one act. It sent a flutter of mingled fear and anticipation through his chest, all the way down to his balls as his body tightened.

He’d regret this the moment he was finished. He knew that with complete certainty. But right now they’d reached the point of no return, so he might as well make sure they both enjoyed it.

Cooper pulled back and then pushed inside again, forcing another openmouthed gasp from Hannah.

She was so beautiful moving beneath him. Not a nurse. Not a waitress. Not a mother. Here and now, Hannah was simply a woman. He cupped her neck with one palm as he reared back and plunged forward again, rocking her beneath him. She took every stroke with a bowing of her spine, her body gripping his every time he withdrew, as if she wanted to hold on to him and never let him go.

He ran his hand from her throat to her chest, brushing his thumb over the pebbled peak of one breast before he traveled down the curve of her waist. There he gripped her hips with both hands, raised her off the bed and began to love her in earnest.

It always did take him much longer to come with a condom on than without one. For once, Cooper was grateful for the barrier and the delay, because he didn’t want this to end. Definitely not before he felt Hannah come around him.

She wrapped her legs around his waist as he moved over her, his hands beneath her ass putting her at the perfect angle while he thrust into her. Every downward stroke elicited a sound of pleasure from Hannah, making him want to repeat it again and again.

He might suck at everything else in his life, but this Cooper knew he was good at. He held her hips high and nudged her G-spot with every stroke before he changed the angle. The move had him pressing tightly against her as the friction rubbed her clit.

Her body tightened around his and her breaths quickened. She gripped his ass, digging her short nails into his flesh as she held him close. She was about to tip over the edge of orgasm, and it was going to be amazing, but all Cooper could think was that once wasn’t going to be enough.

What the fuck was he going to do about that?

Her cry as her body gripped his so tightly he could barely move broke through his fear. He couldn’t think beyond the feel of Hannah coming around him.

Cooper didn’t know whether it was the latex or his anxiety about what he’d feel after letting himself finally come with this woman, but he kept going. Kept thrusting into her, through her first climax, pushing her toward another. Her cries grew louder as he worked her into her second orgasm.

As her body convulsed around him, he knew he could easily get lost inside this woman forever. That word, forever, sent the tingle of fear down his spine even as he felt himself reach the point of no return. A few final thrusts and he was done.

The orgasm shook him to the core, bending his spine and dragging a loud uncontrollable sound from deep within him. It was as much a sound of his release as it was of his regret. Because even still buried inside Hannah, as her body clutched his and she gasped for breath beneath him, he was sorry he’d done this.

This couldn’t be a one-night stand. Not with her. She was too fragile. Too damn nice. And if he couldn’t fuck her once and then avoid seeing her, that meant only one thing. He was going to keep seeing her. He was going to have to be a man who was deserving of her.

The problem was that when he failed at that, just like he eventually failed at everything in his life, then what?

The thought was more than he could handle. He pulled out and rolled off her. Flat on his back, he stared at the ceiling.

With a satisfied sigh, she followed him to the other side of the bed, laying one arm over his stomach and her head on his chest.

How long he’d wanted her in his bed, and now, he felt as if he was going to crawl out of his skin with the need to get away from her. Not just away from her, away from himself too. From his certainty this was the biggest mistake he’d ever made in his life.

He fought the urge to get out of bed, get dressed, grab his keys and get into the old truck he’d owned for years. The truck that had left him stranded on the side of the road where Hannah had found him. The night all control had started to spiral away from him when it came to her.

Thoughts of that night led directly to memories of Glen, and all the shit that had gone down with him.

There had been a lot of blame flying around Cooper’s brain. A lot of guilt too. If Glen hadn’t done what he’d done, Cooper wouldn’t be where he was today. But Cooper had to think now maybe the blame worked both ways. The guilt too.

Now he could pile his guilt about having sex with Hannah right on top of his guilt about Glen until it felt like it would crush him. Until he could no longer breathe.

For the first time since he’d accepted that she’d come back into his life those few short days ago, Cooper needed Hannah to go away.

Chapter Twelve

“What’s up with you?” Jillian’s question brought Hannah out of the depth of her thoughts.

“Nothing.” Hannah glanced up and shrugged, before trying to focus again on the chart on the desk in front of her. The one she’d been staring at for what seemed like forever but had yet to actually read.

“Hannah. It’s not nothing. What’s wrong?”

Nursing was not the kind of job she could afford to be distracted during. Maybe if she got it off her chest, she could push all thoughts of Cooper aside. At last for the next few hours.

Giving in to Jillian’s persistence, Hannah sighed. “He hasn’t called.”

“The old flame?”

“Yeah.” She didn’t bother correcting Jillian that Cooper had never been Hannah’s in the past, so technically she didn’t think he could be considered her old flame now.

“Did you…you know.”

“Have sex with him? Oh yeah.” Hannah laughed at Jillian’s wide-eyed expression at her answer as well as at her own stupidity.

She should have known better. A man like Cooper was the love-’em-and-leave-’em type. He’d loved her all right, and now it was time for him to leave. She’d felt him distance himself that night. Still naked and sweaty from their sex, their breathing hadn’t even slowed back to normal when he’d rolled off her.

After that, there might as well have been a brick wall between them. There’d been an unmistakable, tangible change. He’d stiffened when she tried to cuddle afterward, his whole body tense as if he couldn’t wait for her to get out of his bed. So she’d left…and cried the whole drive home.

That had been two days ago. She’d obsessed over her cell phone the whole next day, and when it didn’t ring, she’d done what she’d promised herself she wouldn’t do. She’d called him. He didn’t answer. It went to voice mail and her certainty increased. She’d never see him again.

He’d told her once those many years ago that she needed to believe a man when he told her the truth about who he was. She’d never believed Cooper when he’d told her he wasn’t the one for her. Maybe she’d have to believe him now that he’d proved it.

“Hannah.”

She glanced up at Jillian. “Yeah?”

“There are good men out there.”

Hannah let out a short, bitter laugh. “Are there?”

“Yup.” Jillian nodded. “But finding one can be a lot like buying new jeans. You might have to try on a dozen pair that fit badly before you find the one perfect pair. Ones that make you feel good. That you’ll want to keep forever.”

“So one down, eleven more to go?” Two down if Hannah counted her disastrous marriage as well as her insane involvement with Cooper as part of her search for perfect number twelve. Even so, she didn’t think she had it in her to go through this pain again even once. Certainly not nine more times.

Jillian shrugged. “Maybe not. Because sometimes you might find a pair that pinch a little at first, but after you wear them a few times and break them in, you discover that they’re the perfect fit.”

Hannah laughed at the idea of breaking in Cooper. “Okay, Jillian.”

She wasn’t sure she believed that any man could be truly changed, especially not at Cooper’s age. What was deep inside would remain. The only question left was who’d been right all those years ago? Her, for seeing the good beneath the bad-boy exterior? Or him, warning her he really was as bad as he tried to act?

She supposed time would tell. She only hoped the wait for one of them to be proven right didn’t kill her. Hannah drew in a breath and went back to the file. When all else failed her in life, she could always turn to work.

In the car after the end of her eternally long and agonizing shift at the hospital, during which she wanted to do nothing but crawl home, curl in a ball and cry, Hannah’s cell phone rang.

Her heart leapt at the sound. A glutton for punishment, her first thought was that it had to be Cooper.

One glance at the caller ID had her hopes sinking. That feeling was quickly replaced by guilt. No mother should be disappointed that her son was calling. She pocketed that guilt along with all the other emotions she had locked away until she was alone and could let them out.

She pulled herself together, mustered a brighter mood she didn’t feel and answered the call. “Hey, my baby boy.”

“Hey, Mom.”

Hannah remembered it was the day of the touring pro competition. “How’d you do at the event today?”

“Good. Real good. I covered both my rides.” Hearing the happiness in her son’s voice helped to raise Hannah’s spirits.

“That’s great. Working with the guys at Riley’s is really helping then.”

“Yup, seems it is.” Skeeter paused before continuing. “So, uh, Cooper was at the competition today.”

Just the sound of his name blew her concentration out of the water. She gripped the steering wheel tighter.

“Was he?” Hannah put on her best innocent act and hoped it didn’t sound as obviously false to her son as it did to her own ears.

“Yup.”

“That’s nice that he came to see you ride.”

“Yeah, it was.”

Her mind spun with this new revelation. Cooper hadn’t called her or answered her call after they’d had sex, but he’d gone to see her son ride. What did that mean? Hannah realized Skeeter had gone suspiciously quiet on the other end of the call. She rushed to fill in the silence. “I guess since you rode so close to home, it shouldn’t be a surprise he came to see you.”

“Yup, I suppose. But when I asked how he knew I’d be there, he said you’d told him. Funny thing about it is, you never told me you two talked.” The suspicion was evident in Skeeter’s tone.

She could not get into this conversation with Skeeter about Cooper. He would hear in her voice that something was wrong, and the dead-last thing she intended to ever do was tell her son she’d had sex with his former teacher.

“Didn’t I mention it? It must have slipped my mind to tell you.”

“Mmm, hmm. Must have.” Skeeter sounded like he knew something more than he was saying.

Paranoia struck. She couldn’t continue to lie to her son if Cooper had gone and told him something that would contradict her. But what would he have said? That they’d seen each other? Shared meals—for four days straight?

Certainly not that they’d had what amounted to a one-night stand, even if that was never what she’d intended it to be. She wasn’t sure of much lately, but she was certain Cooper wouldn’t have told Skeeter that.

“What exactly did Cooper say?” She’d intended the question to sound light. Just run-of-the-mill curiosity. Unfortunately, she feared she’d failed at acting casual.

“Just that you’d talked. Strange though, you forgetting to tell me, since it sounded like you two talked quite a bit. He knew all about our training at Riley’s. Even about our yoga class. That must have been some conversation you had.”

“Not really. I’m sorry, did you not want anyone to know about the yoga?” Time to turn the tables on this conversation. “Are you embarrassed about that?”

“No, I’m not embarrassed.”

She heard the indignation in his voice and smiled. Hannah decided to change the subject rather than torture her son further. “So how’s Riley doing?”

“Better. I think it was good for her, getting out and seeing she could handle hauling the bulls to the event.”

“I’m sure it was.” How often had Hannah thrown herself into work to hide from things?

“Mom, I really like her…and I’m pretty sure she likes me too.”

Her son was talking to her about feelings and girls? She tried to keep the surprise out of her voice as she said, “That’s good, baby. I’m happy for you.”

“Thanks. But if I need to stay here for longer than I’d planned, you know, to help her run the place after the other guys leave, would you be okay?”

“Of course, I’d be okay. You’re a good boy and I love you and miss you when you’re gone. But I’ve told you before, I’ve taken care of myself for a very long time now.”

And the other night she’d had Cooper taking care of the parts she’d neglected…right before he didn’t get in touch and didn’t answer her call. So much for her hope the events of that night would be repeated real soon.

“I know that, Mom, but that’s because you had to be alone. But now that I’m not on the big tour anymore—”

“Steven Anderson, you listen to me. You do what you need to do for your career and your girl. Don’t you dare change your plans on account of me.”

He was quiet for a beat. “Okay, but I’m not that far away. I can drive home if you ever need me, or just to visit.”

“That’s fine. I’d like a visit once in a while.” Hannah recalled how many evenings she’d spent having dinner at Cooper’s, followed shortly by some pretty vivid, visceral memories of what he’d recently done to her body. There was a slim chance he could come around for a repeat one day, and the thought of Skeeter walking in on that scene horrified Hannah. “Just be sure to call first…you know, to make sure I’m not working.”

God help her, she was setting in place a plan in case Cooper came over for a booty call. One night with the man and she’d gone to shit, lowering her expectations for him—for them—to pretty much rock bottom. It was becoming apparent she’d take Cooper any way she could have him, accept as little as he was willing to give, even if it broke her heart.

He laughed. “Well, unless you changed the locks on me, if you’re working I can let myself in and wait on you.”

“Of course, you could. I just don’t want you to waste time waiting around when you could be doing other things.”

“Uh-huh.” He paused again.

She had a feeling he wasn’t buying her act and knew something was up. Hannah needed a change of subject. “So, tell me about you and Riley. Are you two officially dating yet?”

Maybe it wasn’t in the cards for her to be happy in a relationship, but she could at least hope her son was. She was no good with men, but she was a good mother and she could read her son like an open book. He liked Riley. If she wasn’t mistaken, Skeeter would soon admit to himself, to his girl, and to her and the world that he loved Riley.

That was fine with Hannah. Even if she did nothing else, she’d make sure her son, the only person who loved her, didn’t repeat her mistakes. She’d screwed up royally. By loving Cooper. By waiting ten years for him. By having sex with him. But Skeeter wouldn’t live a lifetime of loneliness like she had. She’d see to that if it was the last thing she did.

Then, after he was settled, what would she do with herself?

The emotions and the misery of having Cooper and then losing him were too fresh for her to think about that. She needed to move on one day, but not today. She’d cross that bridge when she came to it. If she ever did.