Dee, Lavada - Nothing to Lose [Blackhawk Brothers] (BookStrand Publishing Romance) (10 page)
Read Dee, Lavada - Nothing to Lose [Blackhawk Brothers] (BookStrand Publishing Romance) Online
Authors: Lavada Dee
His voice sounded gruff even to his ears. “I like to drive, and I—am—not—tired.” He strung the words out, trying to lighten up.
He heard her muffled laugh into his shirt. Picking her up, he laughed with her until she turned her face up to his, and he saw in her eyes what he knew was in his. “Are you sure?” He could hardly get the words out.
Galynn pulled his head down to hers and told him yes without words. She applied what she’d learned from him the other night and deepened the kiss. The sound he made gave her a feeling of power. Without fear, she felt free, and with the confidence of a woman who knew she was desired, she struggled out of his arms to stand in front of him. Without breaking the kiss, she ran her hands up under his sweater and played her thumbs across his nipples.
This was too much. He wasn’t going to make it to the bed, let alone inside her, if he didn’t get control. He stepped back and tried to quiet his rapid breathing. His gaze sought hers. “Be sure. If not, you’re going to have to help me stop.”
She nodded and again reached for him, but he stepped back so he had room to get out his clothes. The pants in particular were strangling him. “You want me to undress you?”
She didn’t break eye contact. “Do you want to?”
“I want…” He ground out the words. “I want everything. I want to be strong. I want to be gentle. I'm scared.” He closed his eyes. “I’m scared I won’t be able to give you even a little bit of what you’re bringing to me.”
Galynn held his gaze and quickly undressed. She sensed his urgency and wasn’t going to add a slow strip tease to the already unbearable emotional atmosphere of the room. She left a wisp of a bra and panties on. She’d read somewhere that they added more sexual tension than if she were naked.
With a groan, he reached for her.
* * * *
She told him she took birth control pills and that she never forgot. That was the last conscious thought he had before pure emotion took over.
She was ready for him, and he sensed she was beyond thinking as much as he was. Again, he thanked fate that he didn’t have to worry about protection. He wasn’t sure he would have been able to even find a condom in his pocket, let alone get it on.
Without breaking contact, he walked her backward to the bed. Never had a bed been so welcome. Stretching out beside her, he palmed her through the thin wisp of fabric. She arched up into his hand, and he felt the moist heat of her arousal. He trailed his mouth down her neck to her breast. Using his tongue, he traced through the material and around the extended nipple. When he felt her tremble, he looked down in time to see the wonder on her face. He’d bet anything that this was her first orgasm, and it made him feel, well, the only words he could dredge up from a mind that wasn’t working were
it made him feel.
In seconds, the remaining clothes were gone. Coop moved over her and slowly pushed into heaven. He’d always prided himself on his size, but now he had concerns. She was so tiny. What if…He’d hardly formed the thought when it turned into a moot point. She shifted, sheathing his full length. When he moved, she was with him. Opening up, she drew him deeper. He let his breath and voice mingle with hers. Just when he knew he couldn’t hang on another second, he felt the contractions and moisture of her release.
He rolled to the side, keeping her in his arms. Reaching up, he smoothed her hair away from her face and kissed her forehead. “I didn’t know it could be like this.” He smiled down at her. “You’re mine, and no matter what the future brings, you always will be.”
A tear slipped out of the corner of her eye, and he brushed it away with his fingertip. “Hey, what’s with this? Tears? ”
Galynn rose up and leaned over to kiss him gently on the lips. Their passion was spent, and in its place was a feeling of completeness and peace. “This is joy. It was so beautiful that only tears can express how I feel.”
“How we feel.”
With a sigh of contentment, Galynn snuggled up against his chest. Cooper tried to stay awake but, when he heard her even breathing, gave a sigh of contentment and gave up the day.
* * * *
Galynn slowly opened her eyes. The gray of early morning lit the room. Cooper was still asleep, and she shifted to see him better. His full lips were slightly parted. Long, dark lashes fanned his cheeks. He looked—there was no other word for it—beautiful.
The clock on the bedside table read seven o’clock. Cooper wanted to stop in Missoula on the way home to look at the property for his dad. Should she wake him up? He took the choice out of her hands when he slowly opened his eyes, seemingly as reluctant as she was to move out of this warm cocoon of intimacy.
His saucy wink had her smiling. “Did you sleep well, love?”
She answered him with a smile and quick kiss, but he was having none of that. He pulled her hard against him, deepening the kiss until she was again beyond thought. In seconds, they went from slow and lazy to touching and tasting, with an intensity that bordered on insanity. Cooper’s voice was more of a groan. “I can’t…” He lost the words and gave into pure emotion.
Galynn felt boneless. Was this how complete satisfaction felt? She didn’t need anything more, in like, maybe forever. Cooper lay beside her, and from the looks of him, he was in the same shape that she was. She traced the tips of her fingers over his full lips. “In movies and books, the hero and heroine don’t sleep the first night.” Her smiled teased her lips. “They…you know. All night.”
“Oh they do, do they? It’s too late for the night, but we could try for all day.”
She laughed and sat up. The sheet slipped down to her waist. Before she could pull it up, his mouth found her breast, gently suckling. Her hands twined into his hair, holding him against her. This time they took their time, with each of them exploring the other’s body. When he entered her, she was ready, and together they took themselves over the edge of passion.
* * * *
Cooper glanced at his watch as he pulled out of the lodge’s parking lot. It was almost noon, but he wouldn’t have given up a second of the morning for an earlier start.
They didn’t talk much on the ride back, each lost in their own thoughts and feelings. They were so perfectly tuned into each other that the silence wasn’t uncomfortable. Early into the ride, Cooper took her hand and rested it on his leg in a need to keep touching her and feeling her touching him.
Peace filled the car, and it wasn’t long before they were at the end of the lake. Galynn had been half-turned in her seat so she could sit toward Cooper. She pulled her hand back and stretched out her legs as far as she could. “It seemed like it took us less time to come back than it did going.”
“I agree. It always seems that way. But bet you could use a break. I know I could.” He pulled into the same little restaurant they’d stopped at going up. “How about a cup of coffee?”
When they walked in, the same waitress that had waited on them the way down greeted them. She asked them how the trip went, noting that they must have gotten out in the fresh air, as their color was so healthy. When she left to get their coffees, Galynn laughed over at Cooper. “Fresh air does this for you, too?”
“Not in this lifetime.” He laughed back.
He couldn’t keep from touching her, and reached across the table to take her hand. When the waitress came back, she smiled and said, “Let me guess. Newlyweds, right?”
Cooper’s laugh bounced around the room. “You’re almost right. I’m working on it.”
The look on the waitress’s face was one of astonishment when she spoke directly to Galynn. “Honey, you have got to be nuts. There are a million women out there that would be running for a preacher if they had a guy like this asking.” Shaking her head, she held her hands across her heart.
As soon as the waitress got out of hearing range, Galynn leaned over the table and whispered to Cooper. “A million women? You think?”
“Sure, but one million or two, I’m only interested in the one sitting across from me.” He picked up his cup and sipped at the hot coffee. “Umm, this tastes good. I guess it was time for a break.”
He again reached for her hand. “I know this isn’t the place but…” He closed his eyes and pressed a kiss into the palm of her hand. “I love you. I’ve never told this to anyone before. Hell, even if I had, it wouldn’t have been like this because I didn’t know there were feelings like this. I think I always knew something was missing in my life, but I had no idea what. I thought I was happy. I certainly wasn’t lonely. But now, without you, I know I’ll experience what loneliness is.” He stopped, trying to find words to let her know how he felt. “When we go home at night, it doesn’t matter if we walk down together, or if you’ve already left the office, the house feels warm and inviting. The other night when you got back late from the store, it felt…” He rubbed his hand down his face. His voice lowered, sounding husky. “I’m having a hard time here.” He took another drink of coffee, wishing for something stronger, and started over. “Galynn, without you the house, the office, and life is cold and empty. I want to marry you, make a family, grow old…”
A lone tear trickled down Galynn’s cheek. “Coop…I…” She pulled his hand to her lips and kissed across his fingers. “I love you so much, but don’t you see? It’s because I love you that I have to leave. What would we have if Mick finds me? What if I’m with your mother? Have you thought how dangerous a position it puts your family in?”
She shook her head and, with a shaky laugh, kissed his fingers again before releasing his hand. Swiping away the tears, she picked up her coffee cup. “Let’s talk about something else.”
“I don’t want to talk about anything else. I want to talk about us. I don’t want to have that sick, gut feeling in my stomach every time I walk in the office or house and don’t immediately see you. I don’t want to start looking for a neatly placed note. I don’t…”
Galynn held up her hand. Her voice, barely above a whisper, made Coop lean in to hear her. “I never thought, didn’t look at it from your side. I intended to do exactly what you said. Leave a note and let you get on with your life.”
Cooper almost growled out the next words. “
On with my life!
” He pushed back in his seat and looked over at her. The silence that followed was so dense it felt like she could cut it with a knife.
“I won’t…Coop? I won’t leave that way. I promise I’ll tell you before I go. You won’t have to guess when or even how.”
“How about you just forget about leaving all together? There are other options. We can hire security, or go back and confront him head-on. You’re not alone anymore. I want to protect you. Now that I know you’re not married to him, it gives us more leeway. We won’t have to go through legal channels to free you of him.”
She knew her smile didn’t reach her eyes. He’d see the front she put up, but she wanted this conversation to stop. She knew what Mick was capable of and what she had to do. “Okay, but let’s not talk or think about it anymore today. I want to go back to where we were and enjoy our time out together.” She motioned out the window. “I’ve never been out of Atlanta. I’ve only come close to places like this on the Discovery Channel. Seeing it, smelling it, and experiencing the clean, crisp beauty is breathtaking.”
Cooper hesitated. She could see him visibly fight for control. She sighed in relief when he finally gave it up and relaxed. His eyes shown with love, and his smile returned, saying more than his words. “I’m looking at something a whole lot more breathtaking than the scenery.”
Chapter 9
They left the lake and headed down toward Missoula. She loved hearing his deep voice as he told her about how the town was steeped in active politics and its economy was still based on retail trade. People from hundreds of miles around used the town for their base shopping and medical and professional services. “The University of Montana is here, so even though Blackhawk isn’t very big, we have all the amenities close in Missoula.”
“I think you have the best of both worlds.”
Cooper nodded his agreement. “The family has a number of properties in Missoula. With the university, there’s always a demand for housing. In addition, there’s some kind of research center being built up on the ridge. It’s estimated that they will be bringing in over a hundred staff members that will need housing.”
“Is that why your father wants to buy this property you’re going to look at?”
“Yeah, plus, he’s run out of projects and needs something. He’s supposed to be thinking retirement, and he did surprise Mom with a cruise last year, but he’s never going to be happy without some kind of project going. When we fuss, Mom uses the opportunity to tell us that if there were grandchildren…”
Just another reason she had to get out of Cooper’s life. To have a child would only give Mick more of a chance to get to her. If a child with Mick would be in danger, how much more would another man’s child be in? She could understand Coop’s underestimating Mick’s ability to find her. He thought she was safe. In a world this big, people had successfully disappeared without nearly the funds she had. But she knew different. Mick had an uncanny ability and the resources to track people. His mother had told her of some of the cases he’d worked on. The police department valued his success at what he did.
When she told Cooper this, he’d asked if that was the case, why Mick had been unable to find his ex-wife. At his words, hope had flared for a second. However, it was short-lived. For one thing, at first Mick hadn’t wanted to find her. He didn’t care about a girl child. If it had been a boy, that would have been different. By the time he needed to find her to get a divorce, she’d been gone too long. Another reason Galynn suspected was that his ex-wife had learned to block him with a sort of shield. Mick could read people. She knew because his ability to know what she thought or felt had resulted in numerous beatings. It seemed surreal, but she’d learned to shield her mind to some extent, too. Would it be enough so he couldn’t find her? She didn’t want to risk it.
Coop had turned on a country-western station. Galynn closed her eyes and willed away her thoughts. She wasn’t going to let Mick intrude in her life anymore than she had to. In a few weeks, she’d leave. Seattle should be big enough for her to lose herself in. She’d be careful not to develop any friendships. If he did find her, it would only be her that would be hurt. Dying couldn’t be any more painful than living with him had been.