by Susanna Carr
He dipped his finger inside her and he watched her hungry response. She refused to close her eyes. She was going to give it all to him. Everything.
Almost everything, she decided as he gave her a slow, wet kiss. She loved this man. Had been slowly falling in love with him despite her best intentions. But that was one secret she needed to hold close. He could see her love, feel it, but she wouldn’t say it. It was her only protection left.
Cooper knew how to tease her with his mouth and hands. He took her to the edge and then dragged her back. Over and over.
“Hold on to me,” he ordered.
Serena grabbed his broad shoulders, clinging to him as he hooked her thighs over his lean hips. She felt the tip of his penis against her. She looked into his eyes and tried to shake the feeling that this moment was more than a gift. More than making love. It was a promise. A vow.
Cooper slowly entered her, refusing to hurry as she begged. She was twisting side to side and gulping for air by the time he filled her. The wild need inside her broke free. Serena closed her eyes and followed the ancient rhythms as she surrendered completely to Cooper.
And he gave everything he had in return.
CHAPTER TWELVE
SHE LAY ON TOP of Cooper, her head against his chest as he slept. Her wavy hair covered his shoulder and his arm was draped against her back. He held her close even in a deep sleep, she mused.
Serena looked at the ocean view through the window as the sun rose over the water. She watched the coral and lavender streaks fill the sky. It was a new day. The sunrise was a promise of a new beginning.
Serena took in a shaky breath. Today marked a new beginning for her. After she signed the paperwork and sent the file to Cooper, she would be free. The thought should fill her with joy but she felt lost and untethered. At the moment, the only place where she felt safe was in Cooper’s arms.
It felt strange. After all these years she had fallen in love with the enemy.
No, he wasn’t the enemy. She lifted her head and studied Cooper’s angular face and harsh features. She had spent so much time seeing Cooper Brock as her archenemy. And she found out it wasn’t true. It had never been true.
She had taken a decade to hunt down information on the Brocks and then she had waited too long to use it. Her days had been consumed about them and they had never heard of her. When she finally had the chance to destroy them, she had pulled back.
What had it all been about? She fought against the gloom that tried to shroud her and pull her down. Had she wasted her life on something that didn’t matter?
Tears pricked her eyes. She took in another shaky breath and she disentangled herself from Cooper’s loose embrace. Sitting up, she tried to push the troubling thoughts aside. She needed to think of something else but the questions crowded her mind.
She didn’t know why she wanted to cry. Tears were for the moments when she had been scared and alone. There had been too many of those moments in the past but she wasn’t frightened anymore. She was no longer alone. And maybe that was why she was feeling emotional. She rubbed her eyes, refusing to allow the tears to fall, and quietly got out of the bed so she didn’t wake Cooper.
Serena hurried to the bathroom and closed the door gently. She stepped into the glass shower stall and turned on the hot water. The multiple showerheads sprayed against her as steam fogged the glass. She tilted her head, allowing the water to cover her face, and took another deep breath.
What was wrong with her? She didn’t know how long she stood under the water as the tears streamed down her face. Was it because her time with Cooper had ended? Or was it because when she returned home, she would be faced with the emptiness of her life?
She jumped when she heard the shower door open. “Morning, sweetheart,” Cooper said with a yawn. “You’re up early.”
Serena didn’t turn around and she rubbed her hands over her face. “I didn’t mean to wake you.” She cringed when she heard the hitch in her voice.
“Is everything okay?”
“Yes,” she said brightly. Old habits died hard. She wasn’t used to admitting her uncertainty and doubts to others. “I’m just up early because...today’s my last day of vacation. I want to make the most of it.”
His hands cupped her shoulders and he gently turned her around. His eyes narrowed as the water flattened his hair and dripped down his face. “You look upset.”
“No, no,” she insisted as she tried to pull away. “I’m fine.”
Cooper curled his arms around her and flattened his big hands against her spine. He drew her close and held her, not saying a word. She gradually leaned against him, resting her head and hands against his chest.
“It’s just that...” Serena wasn’t sure how to explain what she was feeling. She didn’t even know why she was compelled to tell him. She was used to keeping her own counsel. “I want to get the file out of my life. You’re right. I’ve held on to it for too long.”
He continued to stroke her back. The water pulsed against her skin as the steam filled the air, creating an intimate cocoon around them.
“This need for revenge has consumed me for so long. Since I was just a child.” She squeezed her eyes shut. She had wasted her childhood on her need to destroy. “The feeling kept building and driving me to make money and gain power. By the time I was eighteen I had a plan and a purpose. And now I realize that I wasted my life on something that didn’t matter.”
“That’s not true.”
“Nothing I did made a difference.” Her breath became choppy as the emotions tore at her throat. “The file I spent almost a decade putting together? What will happen to it? It will be destroyed as if it hadn’t existed. As if the pain and struggle I went through didn’t happen...”
She started to cry in earnest. She sobbed for the confused and scared little girl she had been. The tears were for the teenager who struggled to make ends meet. She cried for the young woman who didn’t take the easiest path and who ignored what the world had to offer so she could get retaliation.
“You made a difference,” Cooper said softly against her ear. “Not only in your life but in mine.”
Serena didn’t believe it. She had only been a thorn in Cooper’s side until she gave up the idea of revenge. He was just trying to make her feel better.
“I knew what my father had done in the past and I tried to justify it. But you are right,” he insisted. “The punishments didn’t fit the crimes. I thought it was okay that I hid my father’s actions. As long as I was honest and legal in my dealings, it didn’t matter what my father did years ago.”
Her breath began to calm as she listened to Cooper.
He slid his hand under her chin and tilted her face. “But it matters,” he said earnestly. “You survived when your world came crashing down but that doesn’t mean it’s okay to ignore it.”
Serena bit her lip as her mouth trembled. It meant a lot to her that he recognized what she had been through. “So now what?” she asked.
Cooper stroked her face. “I’m not going to destroy the file. I’m going to use it.”
Serena lurched back and her feet slipped against the wet tile floor. Cooper grabbed her and held her against him. His hard erection pressed against her soft belly.
Why was he going to use the information she had gathered? That was the last thing she wanted him to do. She didn’t want his life to be tainted with destructive emotions. “What are you talking about?”
“I’m going to find the people my father hurt and I’m going to make amends.”
“How? Why?” She blinked and wiped the water from her eyes. That was something she hadn’t expected from Cooper. “Why would you do that?”
“Because you showed me that the pain and suffering didn’t end when my father gave the final blow. I have to fix this.”
She turne
d her head. Cooper was a man of honor but this was beyond the call of duty. “You shouldn’t try. It’s too late.”
“It’s never too late to make it right.”
She knew Cooper meant every word. He knew these people had suffered an injustice. Since he had the power to make things right, he was taking on the obligation. He saw a debt he had to pay. “Aaron is very lucky to have you,” she said.
“And I’m very grateful to have you in my life.”
Grateful? She turned and looked into his eyes. “Why is that?”
“You challenge me in every way. I thought that right was on my side,” Cooper said. “I honestly thought your mission was not worthwhile. I was wrong. It meant something.”
Serena wasn’t sure about that. “I don’t know where to go from here.”
“You will find something that is meaningful to you.” He clamped his hands on her hips and guided her backward. Her shoulders bumped against the corner of the shower stall.
She disagreed. She had nothing to share other than how to plan for revenge. And she hadn’t seen it through. “I’m not an expert on anything.”
“You have so much to give. You could help someone who has been in the same situation as you,” he murmured as his hands glided along her wet skin. “And while you’re thinking about your options, you can stay with me.”
Serena’s lips parted as hope and uncertainty clashed inside her. “I don’t understand.”
Cooper cupped her breast and a groan rumbled deep in his chest. “I’m going back to Texas tonight and you’re coming with me.”
She licked her lips as the desire sizzled through her. “Cooper, we made a deal. This was only going to last for a few days.”
“It doesn’t have to,” he said as he caressed her.
She closed her eyes as the pleasure darted through her body. She wanted this to continue and yet she wasn’t sure it could last. “Let me think about it.”
“Let me convince you,” he said roughly as he bent his head and captured the tip of her breast between his teeth.
* * *
Cooper took a sip of his coffee and paused when he noticed how peaceful it was sitting on his hotel balcony with Serena. He wanted to hold on to this feeling but he wasn’t sure how long it would last. It felt odd not having the restless energy coursing through his veins. He didn’t feel the need to jump into action or keep up with his frenetic schedule. Ideas for the next deal weren’t crowding his mind. Instead of rushing through breakfast, he leaned back in his chair and studied Serena.
Cooper liked seeing her curled up in the chair next to him. She wore a white terry-cloth bathrobe like him, but hers kept sliding off her shoulders. Her damp hair was a messy tangle of curls and she wore no makeup. She was so beautiful. He wanted to sit here for hours and bask in her attention.
“Cooper, can I ask you something?”
He frowned at the hesitancy in her voice. It wasn’t like Serena to ask permission. “Sure, what do you want to know?”
She bit her bottom lip before she rushed into speech. “I was thinking about your first deal. The one that John Harrington, Jr., can use against you.”
Cooper tensed as the restlessness came back with a vengeance. He wanted to bolt from the table and avoid the question. He didn’t like to revisit that time in his life. It took some effort to set down his coffee cup and remain still. “What about it?”
“Why did you do it?”
He shrugged and looked out onto the beach. He wished he were in the water right now, swimming against the current until his mind went quiet. “I was determined to be a success. I was a Brock and I needed to prove that I was worthy of the name. I didn’t care what was right or wrong as long as my first deal became legendary.”
“Cooper,” she said in a chiding tone, “I know there’s more to it than that. If you truly needed to prove that you were worthy of the Brock name, then you would have continued to do business like Aaron. You decided to act differently from that moment on.”
He reluctantly faced her. Why did she keep scratching at the surface? Why couldn’t she accept his answer and move on? “What do you mean? I learned how to do business from my father.”
“I don’t know what he taught you but you forged a different path. So, sorry—” Serena raised her hand as if she was stopping his explanation “—I don’t believe that’s the only reason you handled the deal that way. Something else drove you to go against your better judgment.”
Cooper realized that she saw right through him. He briefly closed his eyes as if that would shield him. He longed for this kind of intimacy but now he wasn’t sure if he liked it. What else did Serena see?
“I thought if my first solo deal was a big success I would gain my parents’...love,” he said through gritted teeth. “Their attention, at the very least. Remember, this was almost a decade ago.”
His need to feel noticed and loved by his parents had been pitiful, but at the time he couldn’t understand why they ignored him. It didn’t matter if he acted out or if he did everything perfectly. His parents had not been interested in him.
Cooper had never told anyone how he had felt. Not his nannies or his childhood friends. But he could tell Serena because she understood him. She could help him push past the old pain and find acceptance.
“You wanted to show that you were capable of taking over the company?” she guessed. “Why? Did you have competition?”
He reluctantly opened his eyes. “I was going to take over the company no matter what because I was the only heir. And I was treated as their heir, not their son.”
“What’s the difference?”
He shifted in his chair, wishing he hadn’t brought it up. “An heir is born out of a strategic business decision, not out of love. A son grows up as part of the family and an heir grows up to protect the family’s interests.”
“How could they act that way? You are part of them.”
“The only time I received any attention was when I had exceeded their expectations.” He still remembered seeing the pride in his mother’s eyes when he had first brought home an award from school. It was the most she had shown interest in what he was doing. “I quickly learned to be the best. But that strategy didn’t work for the long term. Eventually they expected perfection.”
Serena leaned forward and rested her arms against the table. “So you had to go big with your first solo deal. But you weren’t sure if you would succeed.”
“I couldn’t fail this time.” He remembered the relentless pressure he had placed on himself. “It was too close to when my father had to bail me out of the Hong Kong fiasco. I needed a big score and I was going to be successful no matter what. Even if it meant using insider information.”
“Did you get what you wanted?” she asked softly.
“I got the deal and it created the myth that I was invincible. To this day my colleagues think I can do the impossible.”
“No, I mean with your parents,” she explained. “You did this to earn their love and affection. How did they react when you landed the deal?”
“They congratulated me. And then they critiqued my strategy and told me how I could improve next time,” he said with a wry smile. He should have expected that from them. “They had no idea what I had risked to make the deal.”
“Then why are you saving them now? They don’t deserve it. They don’t deserve having a son like you,” Serena argued. “You’re sacrificing the Harrington shares and exposing yourself to danger in order to save your father’s lifelong work. Let him take the fall and save yourself.”
“No,” Cooper replied. “They are still my family and I protect what is mine.”
“Why would you? You are their family and they would not protect you like this,” she said angrily. “I think you’re still trying to prove something to your parents.”
&nb
sp; “No, I’m not trying to earn their love anymore. I know a lost cause when I see one.” Sometimes he felt a pang or a longing, but that was when he was alone and there was nothing to distract him.
“Then why do you work so hard? To protect the family business? Or to earn their love? It’s one deal after another with you. No one is that driven.”
The work filled a void. If he was crisscrossing the globe he didn’t have to stay in his quiet home. If he was working on the holidays, then he didn’t have to notice that he had no strong family ties.
“You need to pull back,” Serena declared.
Cooper raised one eyebrow. “You are telling me this? You, the woman who is so obsessed with work that she hasn’t had a vacation in years?”
“I’m offering the same advice you gave me. I was consumed with the need for revenge. It was my focus and it almost destroyed me. I was becoming a person I didn’t want to be.”
“My situation is different.”
“Is it?” she asked. “How do you feel after making a deal? Happy?”
“Restless,” he murmured. The last deal wasn’t enough. It was never enough. He always thought that the next deal would be better. The next deal would bring him the satisfaction he craved. But it hadn’t happened.
“I think you need to take some time off and really think about what you want in life,” Serena said gently. “No amount of deal making is going to get you what you want.”
He knew Serena spoke the truth but he didn’t want to accept it. He had built a fortune from making deals. It used to take all of his energy and distract him from the emptiness of his life but that was no longer true.
“What is it that you want?” she asked.
“You.”
Serena’s eyes widened and she darted her gaze away. “You already have me.”
No, he didn’t. Cooper clenched his teeth before he said another word. He had claimed her but she was still fighting it like a wild horse trying to buck off a saddle. He was running out of time and out of patience. Serena Dominguez was his woman and she wouldn’t walk away from him. After tonight, he was determined that she would follow him to the ends of the earth.
