Elijah (The Cooper Brothers Book 1)

by Nikki Ashton

  “And then you did that pathetic little throw of your shoe at my truck?” He grinned and pulled me against him, kissing the top of my head. “I guess we’ve got a lot to talk about.”

  I nodded. “Yes, we do, but first tell me, where were you going?”

  Elijah cleared his throat and I felt a little hint of fear grip me, wondering if he was going to see Mia.

  I waited, with tension filling my body, as he moved an arm from around me and reached behind him and produced a piece of soggy paper.

  “What is it?” I asked, as Elijah unfolded it and passed it to me. I read it and gasped. “You were going to the same hotel I was going to.”

  I looked up at him questioningly to see he had a huge grin.

  “Elijah?”

  He wrapped me in his arms again and whispered against my ear. “As if I’d let you go away for weekend with someone called Leon who was obsessed with Laurel & Hardy.”

  “How did you know?” I gasped, scrunching the paper in my hand.

  “Let’s just say a little bird called Claudia told me. Now,” he said, gently moving away from me. “Let’s get you inside and out of those wet knickers.”

  “And what about my wet clothes?” I asked, grinning up at him.

  “Goes without saying they’ll be gone too, but it’s the knickers I’m most interested in.”

  After another deep kiss, Elijah picked up my bag and then led me by the hand into his house, ready to start our new beginning.

  Amy

  aged 29

  As soon as my eyelids opened, I felt him. I felt his soft lips against the inside of my thigh, followed by the long, slow, slide of his tongue. An amazing, blissful way to be woken.

  “Morning,” I gasped, arching my back as Elijah’s tongue licked me again.

  “Good morning, gorgeous,” he rasped, snaking a hand up my body to cup my cheek. “I thought you might like to start the day with an orgasm.”

  His other hand then went between my legs and he inserted two fingers inside me. I was already so wet for him, they slid in smoothly and pumped gently as his thumb rubbed my clit.

  “Elijah.” My voice was breathy and needy as I pushed myself down the bed, desperately wanting more.

  Elijah chuckled. “I thought right, didn’t I?”

  “Oh god, Eli, yeeess,” I practically screamed as his tongue replaced his thumb.

  My hands grabbed at his hair, and pulled hard with every swipe against my nub.

  “Fuck,” Elijah groaned. “I need to be inside you.”

  “No, not yet. So close,” I whimpered.

  Ignoring me, Elijah pulled his head from between my legs, forcing me to untangle my fingers from the strands of his hair that he’d been wearing a little longer in the year that we’d been back together.

  Large, calloused hands moved up the inside of my legs and resting on my thighs, pushed them apart and then lifted my bottom from the bed. Hooking my legs over his arms, Elijah got onto his knees, his long, smooth, cock, standing hard and proud in front of him. As he looked down on me, with pure desire shining in his dark brown eyes, I took the time to admire him and his body. It was magnificent.

  His stomach was ridged with hard muscles, his chest wide and firm, his biceps bulged and his narrow waist tapered down to a sculpted V shape. He was an Adonis and he was all mine, and a day didn’t go by when I didn’t give thanks that we’d found our way back to each other.

  “You look so beautiful.” Elijah’s voice was soft and gentle, but the way he thrust into me was anything but.

  It was hard. It was powerful. It was perfect.

  “Eli.”

  I let my head drop back as the force of his thrust made sure he hit exactly the right spot inside of me. I let out a cry and felt the start of the fire in the pit of my belly.

  “I..love..you. So..fucking..much. So..glad..you’re…mine.”

  Each statement was made with a thrust, his tight, muscular backside, pumping hard to provide the strength and the power.

  “You’ve always been mine. You will always be mine. I will love you until my final breath.”

  More thrusts, each one harder than the last, our hips synchronised, my fingers dug deep into Elijah’s back as we kept up a punishing rhythm.

  “I love you, so much,” I panted as Elijah’s thrusting hit a faster pace. “I missed you so much. I’m so sorry.”

  He paused, it was only for a second, but I felt it. He hated talking about our time apart, but I would never stop apologising for it, not while my heart was still beating.

  “No more apologising to me,” Elijah growled, before dropping his mouth to my nipple and sucking on it hard.

  They were sensitive and feeling his tongue and lips around them, sent me into orbit.

  “Oh god, I’m going to come,” I cried, my fingers tightening their grip on him.

  “I can feel you tightening around my cock, Amy, fuck.”

  Knowing I was close, Elijah lifted my bum higher, allowing him to bury himself deeper inside me. His hand went between us and with two rubs of my clit, I came apart, screaming his name.

  I grabbed at the sheets and curled my toes against the mattress as the waves of pleasure rolled through my body, screaming their release. As they ebbed and flowed, Elijah increased his pace once more and with a long groan, came with full force inside of me.

  His chest heaving and sweat slicking his perfect body, he looked down on me and gave me a beautiful smile.

  “Marry me,” he said, running a finger down the side of my cheek.

  “W-what?” I leaned up on my elbows, my eyes wide with surprise.

  “You heard me. Marry me- again.”

  My heart started to beat faster as I took in Elijah’s words. I’d hoped that one day we might get married again, but I’d never pushed it – in fact I’d never even suggested it. We’d never discussed it. I’d been the one to end our marriage without even talking to him. Losing what we’d had had been my fault, so I wouldn’t dream of ever asking if it was a possibility.

  “You really want that?” I asked, feeling the prickle of tears in my eyes.

  “Of course I do. It’s what I’ve always wanted. I told you, Amy, you’re mine- you’ve always been mine, and you always will be mine.”

  Taking my hand, Elijah pulled me into a sitting position and then taking my legs, wrapped them around his waist. As his eyes searched my face, his fingers combed through the strands of my hair.

  “I love you with everything I have,” he whispered. “There will never be anyone else for me and you being my wife is all I’ve ever wanted since we were eighteen years of age and we went on that school trip where we had to climb trees and walk along rope bridges.”

  I looked at him quizzically. “Ape World? You knew then that that you wanted to marry me. Why?”

  “Because,” Elijah replied, kissing my jaw, “you were petrified of heights, but you told me you were more scared of being a coward than how high up you’d be.”

  “I think I screamed the whole time,” I said with a laugh.

  “Yeah you did, but you still did it. I knew then, you were it for me and that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with you. You were amazing and brave and I could never imagine spending my life with anyone but you.”

  I drew in a breath, hating that my stubbornness had almost ruined both of our lives.

  “No tears,” Elijah whispered, running a thumb over my damp cheek. “It’s done. We move forward and getting married again is part of us doing that.”

  My face crumpled into a watery smile as I sniffed and nodded.

  “Yes, of course I’ll marry you.”

  “You will?” Elijah’s face was full of excitement as he stared at my face. “Seriously.”

  “God yes.” I nodded and flung my arms around his neck. “When?”

  He shrugged. “I have no idea. Soon. A couple of weeks. A few months…actually no, that’s not a good idea. Tomorrow.”

  I laughed and ran a hand down his cheek. “We can’
t do it tomorrow.”

  “Why not? Actually, we should see if we can.”

  “I think we might have to wait a couple of weeks at least.”

  Elijah kissed me softly, cupping a hand at the back of my head, while the other pushed against the small of my back.

  “Hey,” I said, laughing and looking down between us. “Don’t squash junior.”

  Elijah grinned and followed my gaze to my swollen belly, gently rubbing a hand over it as pride and joyful excitement shone in his eyes. I was getting bigger every day. Our baby was growing and was healthy and with just over nine weeks to go, we were finally able to breathe a sigh of relief and look forward to our baby coming. We had no idea whether we were having a boy or girl, preferring to be surprised and to continue taking every day as it came. After all, the pregnancy hadn’t actually been planned. We hadn’t not been trying, but we hadn’t been careful either, and that relaxed vibe seemed to be working for us so far, so we were going with it, painting the nursery a pale lemon, with a whole wall painted in a woodland scene, with a beautiful old chestnut tree at its centre.

  “You know you’re amazing don’t you?” Elijah said, taking a deep breath.

  “No I’m not.” I shook my head, and placed my hands on Elijah’s; over our baby. “You are, for giving me a second chance. For never giving up on me.”

  “Nope, there’s nothing amazing about that. Never had a choice, you were always here.” Elijah placed a hand on my tattoo on his chest; the heart with a lock and key. “The words are true, Amy; when my heart met yours it definitely knew. My forever.”

  Leaning forward he kissed me again and as we clung to each other, I knew that I was the luckiest woman in the world to be given a second chance with the love of my life – my beginning, my middle, and my end. My Elijah.

  “The Prince was paralytic, so bad that he could barely stand and when the Princess and the Princes’ Footman put the Prince into bed, he fell straight to sleep.

  “He’d stayed fast asleep for over two hours, snoring loudly, and not moving from the position he’d been left in, on his side in case he was sick.

  “As the party started to get more raucous, the Princess decided she wanted to go home, so asked the footman if he’d help her get the Prince out of bed. The Footman said he would, but then went missing, no one knew where but a pretty young lady couldn’t be found either, so it was logical they were together. The Princess hung around waiting for the Footman, not sure she could manage the Prince by herself, but he was taking ages, so she decided to get the Prince out of bed on her own.

  “What she didn’t know was, the Wicked Witch had sneaked upstairs a few minutes before her. She hated the Princess and thought it would be the ideal opportunity to ruin her life, after all the Princess had ruined hers when she’d started going out with the Prince. The Wicked Witch had loved the Prince since he’d joined their sixth form, but he’d only had eyes for the Princess and her beautiful, dark auburn hair. Over the years the Wicked Witch had tried to take him away from the Princess, but the Prince was too much in love, no matter how hard the witch tried.

  “As the Wicked Witch heard the Princess coming up the stairs, she whipped off her clothes, just leaving her knickers on and pulling back the duvet, straddled the Prince, whose top she’d already taken off, leaving him in only his jeans. Once she was on top of him, the Wicked Witch pulled the duvet up to her waist, reached down and wrapped the Princes’ arms around her. As the door opened behind her, the Wicked Witch started to gyrate on top of the still blind drunk Prince, throwing a smirk over her shoulder at the distraught Princess, who was watching from the doorway.

  “The Prince lifted his head and groaned out the Princess’ name and the Wicked Witch thought he was going to spoil everything by pushing her off. He didn’t though, he was too drunk and flopped back against his pillow and passed out again.

  “When the Princess ran from the room, the Wicked Witch looked down at the Prince and thought about what she’d done. She thought that she’d feel some sort of elation at tricking the Princess, but she didn’t, it felt like an empty victory. The Prince would never want her after this, even if the Princess left him. She didn’t regret it though because the Princess needed to be taught a lesson that not everyone got their fairy tale ending.

  “With a sigh, the Wicked Witch got off the Prince and put her clothes back on before sneaking down the stairs and creeping out while everyone milled around, wondering why the Princess had gone running out of the house sobbing.

  “And that my little Bella,” Sam said, stroking his ten month old niece’s cheek, “is what the Wicked Witch told Uncle Sam had happened that night. She said she was sorry, and over the years had wished she’d come clean. But, as they say, Karma is a bitch and her husband just left her for someone else, so I think we can safely say she got hers.”

  Bella snuffled in Sam’s arms, her little hand coming up to rub her nose and Sam’s chest clenched with love for her. She was perfect, with dark hair the same colour as his and her daddy’s, but with the gorgeous whisky coloured eyes of her mummy. She was perfect and an absolute joy to be around, and Sam liked to be around her a lot. She made him forget.

  With a sigh and a kiss to her little button nose, Sam placed Bella gently into her cot and looked down at her, watching her sleep.

  “Night Bella, and let’s not tell Mummy and Daddy that Uncle Sam saw the Wicked Witch, or what she told him, they’ve been silly enough to last a lifetime. No point in dredging all of that up, now they’re happy again.”

  “Hey,” a voice whispered from the doorway. “Have you finished boring my daughter to sleep?”

  Sam rolled his eyes and pushed Elijah out of the room. “Whatever, you’re just jealous because you know we have a special bond that not even you can break.”

  “Hah, whatever dick head.” Elijah peeked into the nursery and grinned with pride. “What were you talking to her about anyway? Not your latest woman I hope.”

  Sam shook his head and smiled. “Nothing for you to worry about bro, just something me and Bella got going on. Now, is that damn curry ready yet or what?”

  The two brothers went back down the stairs, laughing and joking and groaning with pleasure when Amy placed two huge plates of food in front of them.

  As Sam watched his brother with his wife, he was happy for them, but felt a little envious too. He wanted what they had, but like an idiot had, he let it go and wasn’t sure he’d ever get over it.

  The End…for now

  Firstly Chloe Walsh. You are an amazing woman and your help and encouragement on this book has been invaluable. You kept me going when my confidence was low, you talked me down when I let other rubbish send me crazy and you fell in love with Elijah and constantly told me how hot and sweet he was. I love our crazy friendship, the looooonng telephone calls and the way we just know what the other is thinking. More greatness is coming your way my lovely and that karma bitch will kiss ass for us both.

  Donna Wright, you are awesome and I can’t thank you enough for everything you’ve done. You read every word when it was all raw and unedited and you still adored this story. As for the time and effort you put in creating the amazing playlist, it was above and beyond what I expected. Thank you for your time, your friendship and your bloody gorgeous lipsticks.

  My beta readers as usual, dropped everything and immersed themselves in my words. To say I was nervous about this one was an understatement, but thank goodness you loved the story and Elijah & Amy. I dread the day when one of you doesn’t like something I’ve written, but rest assured I know the news will be given with care and honesty, which is why Cal, Patsy, Laura and Sarah I now have confidence in this book.

  Suzy Cairney, as usual, you pulled out all the stops, even when I only gave you fifteen days notice of the release date. Your help is appreciated from here to the moon and back.

  Brooke Bowen Hebert, someone else who never flinches when I give her a tight deadline. Staying up all night is beyond the call of duty, Brooke and I
can’t thank you enough.

  Tammy Clarke, another gorgeous cover from you. I had no idea what I wanted, but as always you did and I think you made a lot of women very happy when you made Elijah so damn beautiful.

  Mr A. Thankfully, we’ve never needed a second chance, mainly because once I got my claws in I was never letting go. I’m pretty sure my heart knew when it met yours, but the twenty pounds you gave me for a taxi on our first date didn’t half help.

  Last, but definitely not least, thank you to you for reading this book. I hope you enjoy it and fall in love with Elijah as much as Amy did.

  Love always, Nikki xx

  Find It Here

  Heartles - Dermot Kennedy

  Between the Raindrops - Lifehouse ft Natasha Bedingfield

  Second Chances - Imagine Dragons

  Young & Free - Dermot Kennedy

  Room to Breathe - You Me At Six

  I Hate to Love You/This Town - Landon Austin/Morgan McCollum

  I Would - Lower Than Atlantis

  Gone - Red

  Through Glass - Stone Sour

  I’ll Be OK - Nothing More

  Here’s to the Heartache - Nothing More

  I Can’t Go On Without You - KALEO

  Arms - Christina Perri

  Unsteady – Erich Lee Gravity Remix - X Ambassadors/Erich Lee

  Hurts - Emilie Sande

  Don’t Go Away - Oasis

  Stay With Me - Sam Smith

  My Kind of Love – Radio Remix - Emilie Sande

  Moments Passed – Mike Dean Remix - Dermot Kennedy/Mike Dean

  Half-hearted - Hands Like Houses

  Hear Me Now - Bad Wolves ft DIAMANTE

  Grace (We All Try) - Rag’n’Bone Man

  Human (Accoustic) - Rag’n’Bone Man

  Something’s Gotta Give - Camila Cabellow