9781618850034TroubleHunter

by Unknown

  “Yes. I would, that is, if we’re still hanging out after tonight.”

  Ky didn’t let it pass. “Hanging out? Babe, we’re going to do more than hang out. And there is nothing in the world you could tell me tonight that would make me not want to hang out with you. Why didn’t you stay in school and finish your degree?”

  “I got married.” There was no smile on her face. None. “After that, Richard…um…he wouldn’t let me get a job.”

  “Wouldn’t let you get a job? From everything you’ve told me, he doesn’t sound like someone I would care to get to know.”

  “You’ve got that right. When I realized I was fast losing options, I started sneaking behind his back and making jewelry in the attic. Through some college contacts, I’ve managed to sell my designs in several boutiques out West. I can support myself and the animals now.” She didn’t go into great detail.

  “Tell me, sweetheart. Whatever you need to. Just tell me.” She stilled in his embrace, sat up, and started to move away. He stopped her. “No way, babe. You’re not moving out of my arms.”

  She hid her face in his chest, seeming to hesitate. He picked up her hand and placed a soft kiss right into her sensitive palm. “Come on, sweetheart. It can’t be that bad.”

  Her voice was muffled. She began speaking before she raised her head. “First, I want to thank you for everything. You don’t know what it means to me, just to be close to you like this. I’ve never had this luxury before. To be held like this is something I’ve only experienced in my fantasies.” He started to speak, to protest, but she covered his mouth with her hand. He kissed the skin that touched his lips. “Before I begin, you’ve got to promise me something.”

  “What?” He didn’t know where she was coming from.

  “If what I tell you makes a difference in how you feel about me, you have to say so, immediately. Don’t try to hide your reaction to protect my feelings. It will be easier for me if we’re just honest with each other to begin with. All right?”

  “All right. I promise to be perfectly honest with you.” Ky was sincere. Unbelievably, this relationship was already too important to him to risk damaging it in anyway.

  Again, she tried to sit up. Again, he held her near. “What I’m about to say is so hard. And I’ve been complicating things, because I can’t seem to keep my hands and mouth off of you.” At her admission, he bent down to kiss her. Once. Twice.

  “The feelings are entirely mutual, babe.”

  “I told you that Richard and I did not kiss. When he first approached me, I was flattered. He acted old-fashioned and courtly. When I went off to Austin and UT, he asked me to be faithful to him, not to get involved with any college guys. I didn’t. He stayed after me; he didn’t want me to go to school. So finally, I gave in, came home, and we got married. I was beyond innocent. After we married, of course, the truth came out. I found out he didn’t exactly marry me for love. Oh, there’s so much I need to tell you, but I can’t do it all at once, it’s just too hard.” He had to lean in closer to hear her.

  “It doesn’t matter, baby. Tell me whatever you want to. I can wait for the rest.” Ky couldn’t imagine what was troubling her so. He longed to take away the hurt, but he didn’t know how.

  He watched her square her shoulders, strengthening herself to say whatever it was that haunted her. “Kissing wasn’t all we didn’t do. We didn’t do a lot of things. My husband and I didn’t make love.”

  “God, I’m sorry, Cooper. Was he sick or something?”

  “Yes. No. Some of it was his fault, but not all of it was. Some of it was mine.” She hid her face in her hands. “Ky, the reason I stopped you when you started to take it past kissing was I didn’t want you to realize the truth about me.”

  “And what do you think that truth is, Cooper? Why would you think Richard’s problem could have anything to do with you?”

  Again, she turned toward him and pressed her face into the muscles of his chest. “Ky, what I was trying to avoid telling you is this. I’m really, really bad in bed.”

  * * * *

  Cooper had envisioned many responses Ky might give to her announcement. But none of them even came close to the response she got. She had just informed him she was bad in bed, and he was laughing. Laughing! Cooper didn’t know whether to be hurt or furious. So, she decided to be both. Balling up her little fist, she punched him as hard as she could in the rock wall of his chest. “You’re laughing! Why are you laughing? I just told you the second most horrible secret of my life and you’re laughing?”

  Ky stilled both of her fists in his hands and held them. He swooped in and captured her lips with his own. After he had kissed her thoroughly, he rubbed his nose against her, giving her an Eskimo kiss. “Because that’s the most absurd thing I have ever heard. There is no way in hell you could be bad in bed, sweetheart. You kissed me tonight like a little wildcat. You are full of passion. I can’t wait to teach you just how good in bed you are.”

  “Ky. Listen to me. I failed Sex 101. Richard was, uh, popular with the women. Or, at least, he told me he was. He once said he could get it up for every woman in town but me. Besides, he told me why he couldn’t…” This was the worst part. The reason she had to stop their intimacy before it went any further.

  “Why? Cooper, men are impotent for many reasons. There was no way it was your fault.” Cooper sat up in his lap, put her arms around his neck, and held on tight.

  “Richard told me over and over again. He would undress me and then he would—he said he couldn’t make love to me because my body disgusted him. He said I was repulsive.”

  Ky pulled her arms from around his neck. At first, Cooper thought he was about to thrust her from him, push her out of his lap and be on his way. But he didn’t. He held her shoulders and met her gaze directly. “Tell me what he didn’t like about your body, Cooper. Tell me exactly.”

  “No, Ky.” Cooper squirmed in his lap. She couldn’t do this. “I’m too embarrassed. It’s one thing to have faults, it’s another to have to spell them out to a gorgeous man I’m attracted to.”

  “You’re attracted to me?” Again, with the smile that caused the sun to rise and the birds to sing.

  “You know I am.” She had a defeated tone to her voice Ky couldn’t stand to hear.

  “Tell me, Cooper. Tell me exactly what that ignorant man said to you.”

  Cooper closed her eyes and let out a long breath. “He said my hips were too wide. I’ve tried and tried to reduce them, but my hipbones are right here.” She touched the protruding bones to show him their width could not be reduced. Ky let go of one her hands, so he could grasp her butt and pull her closer to him.

  “Ridiculous. You have a perfect hourglass figure. Here, wrap your legs around my waist.” He turned her to face him. This new position opened her to him; her soft, hot center was pressed right up against his iron hard length. “Tell me what else he said.”

  “My waist is too thick.”

  Ky put both hands around her waist. “Wrong. Look, my fingers almost touch. Anything else?”

  “And my breasts are too big.”

  Those hands of his had come full circle. Once more, they were at the hem of her shirt, slowly lifting it. “Cooper, your breasts are not too big. Besides, that’s like saying you have too much money, or too much cheese. I like cheese, and I like money, but I love your breasts.” He had hoped to make her laugh, but she looked so sad.

  “Cooper, listen to me. I know what your husband’s problem was.” She looked up at him, anxious to hear what he had to say. “It’s simple. The only way a man could say the words you quoted were if he found all women’s bodies repulsive. Cooper, your husband couldn’t admit it to you, or probably to himself. But, I think he was gay.”

  “No,” she said emphatically. “Richard was a playboy. He slept with many women. He wasn’t gay. It was me. I’m heavy. My hips are too wide, and my breasts are too big. His friends and his brother told me the same thing. And I have a mirror, Ky. And eyes. I can
see myself.”

  * * * *

  “You see what you have been trained to see. Now, listen to me.” He stroked the velvety smoothness of her middle, not moving up, yet. “Cooper, I can’t wait to see you naked. I have had my hands all over you. Your body is beyond perfect. It is delectable. I haven’t been privileged to see the color of your nipples or feel the full weight of your breasts in my hands, but I can see their shape through this thin little shirt. And baby, they are out of this world. Breasts are my downfall, darling, and yours are magnificent. In a few minutes, I am going to take this shirt off you, and I’m going to pet them and suck on them for hours. Will you let me do that?”

  He felt her surrender, as the tenseness left her body. She nodded her head shyly in agreement to his request. Ky shifted her off his lap, thanking the Lord for the long sectional sofa that would provide an adequate playground for them. Before he began, he looked around for the animals. The cats were in a pile under the dining room table, fast asleep, and the two dogs had taken up guard duty by the back door, apparently waiting for the skunk to return. Cooper looked at him expectantly, seemingly waiting to see what he would do. To his surprise, she clasped the hem of her camisole, slowly pulled it over her head, revealing the lacy bra cupping her generous breasts.

  Ky groaned. “Lay down on the couch, baby.” He didn’t want to go too fast, but he hungered for skin on skin contact. Hastily, he removed his boots, socks, and shirt, before lying down beside her. He didn’t take off his jeans. They were both fully clothed from the waist down, and she still wore her bra. She was trembling, but so was he. He knelt down beside the couch, just looking at her.

  Cooper was so excited she couldn’t stand it. This magnificently beautiful man was about to lie down beside her and touch her body. “Oh, Ky. You are the one with the perfect body.” She ran her hands over his chest, which was dusted with crisp, brown hair. For a moment, Ky closed his eyes, savoring her touch. Her nipples were on full alert, Ky watched as they beaded in anticipation of what was about to happen. He knew she wanted it, craved it, but this was uncharted territory for her.

  The clock chimed eleven. Then quiet. There was no noise, except for their breathing.

  She scooted back against the couch, giving him as much room as possible. Stretching out beside her, Ky lay on his side, facing her. “Don’t be nervous, baby. This is going to feel so good for you, I promise. And you’re going to enjoy it as much as I will.” Pulling her close, he nudged one of his legs between hers, and clasped her behind the knee, guiding her leg up over his hip. When he had finished, their bodies were nestled intimately together.

  “Just last night, I lay in my bed so very lonely.” She touched his forehead, teasing a lock of his light brown hair. “I thought of you.” A small laugh escaped her throat. “Do you know that I watch for you when I drive by your house, hoping I will see you?”

  He held her close and feathered little kisses all over her face. Soft. Sweet. His breathing was coming a little faster. “Yeah. And I would watch you go by. I had worked out this whole fantasy in my mind about who you were and what you looked like…” He took her bottom lip in his mouth and nibbled on it, laving it with his tongue.

  “I used to imagine what we would do together. When you walked into my life, I was floored. You are the most beautiful woman I have ever known. I can’t tell you how hard it was to hold myself back. And when I found out you were my mystery woman, Cooper—you’ll never know what that did to me. Right from the start, it seemed as if I knew you—that we could skip the preliminaries. I guess you’ve noticed how I talk to you; the sweethearts, loves, babes. Cooper, I don’t talk like this. I have never spoken to another woman like this. But with you, I can’t help it.” All the time he was talking, he was stealing kisses, drawing designs on her skin with his fingers, getting her ready for his loving.

  Slowly, he slipped one hand to her back and released the clasp on her bra. Cooper’s breath hitched in her throat. “I love how you talk to me. It makes me feel safe.” Ky didn’t stop to analyze her statement, his eyes were on what he was unveiling. He scooted himself down on the couch, until his face was even with her breasts.

  “Oh, Cooper,” he breathed reverently. “You are so beautiful.” Ky couldn’t help himself; he enfolded her in his embrace and pressed his face to her breasts, kissing the side of one and then the side of the other then trailing his tongue down the tender valley. Her breasts were just right, probably a C cup. They were perfectly proportioned to her body; full, round and aching for his touch. Even though his attention was fully focused on the pleasurable task before him, Ky was aware her little hand was stroking his shoulder and his arm, wanting as much contact as he did. He looked up at her face to see her eyes were closed, but her lips were parted and the pink tip of her tongue was playing along her upper lip. He smiled. Cooper was getting into this.

  “Your nipples are like sweet, tight, little raspberries.” Ky hadn’t touched them with his lips yet, he was building up to that. Right now, he was delighting himself in cupping, molding, massaging, and teasing the tantalizing globes. Cooper arched her back, pushing the soft mounds deeper into his hands. “Does that feel good, love?”

  “Oh, yes,” she whispered. “It makes me want…it makes me want…”

  “It makes you want what, doll?” Gradually, he worked his way to her nipples. Softly, he circled one nipple, coming closer and closer to the center. He watched it pout and pucker as if reaching up for a kiss.

  “I want…” She moaned when he took both nipples between his fingers and began to rub and pull gently. “I want…” Cooper gasped for breath as he milked the tight buds and the fevered areola in a rhythmical motion that caused her hips to lift in supplication. “Oh, Ky, you don’t know—I can’t tell you—that feels…incredible.”

  “I bet I can make it feel even better.” He began kissing the upper swells of her breasts, still playing with her nipples. Cooper had wound her fingers in his hair and was kissing the top of his head while making little happy noises in her throat. Then he took them both to the next level. Opening his mouth, he sighed as he finally let himself feast on her nipples. He groaned at their sweetness. First one. Then the other.

  “God, Ky.” Cooper cried out at the sensual assault. “Open your mouth wider, baby. Take more of me in. Suck harder!” Ky couldn’t help but laugh. Cooper had lost her inhibitions. He lifted up a silent prayer of thanks as he obeyed her every command.

  * * * *

  Something was happening. Ky’s mouth was taking her to heights of ecstasy she had not even known existed. Tightness was building in her sex; desire was spiraling out beyond her control. Heat was spreading up from between her legs. Her nipples felt like they were on fire. She wanted to move, she wanted to push upward. She wanted to scream.

  So she did.

  A climax hit Cooper so hard every cell in her body sparked with electricity. Wave after wave of white-hot delight billowed outward from the molten core between her legs. She felt her hips jerk spasmodically, and Ky held her tight, his body moving against hers, as he continued to suckle at her breasts. “I never knew, Ky. I had no idea.”

  Cooper wasn’t the only one surprised at the pleasure. He had done something he had never done before.

  Kyler Landon had come in his skivvies.

  When Cooper had come apart in his arms, making those sexy little sounds, he had exploded in his shorts. Without a touch. Without any physical stimulation at all.

  Just Cooper.

  * * * *

  She scooted down on the couch until she found his mouth. She kissed him softly, solemnly, as if sealing a promise. “Thank you. Thank you.”

  “And you thought you were bad in bed.” Their faces were close. She watched as his jade green eyes crinkled with humor. “Babe, you came just from my mouth on your breasts. Do you know how rare that is?”

  He didn’t reveal his own over-excitability.

  “Another confession, Ky. I’ve never come at all, before. That was my first orgasm.” He
r voice was soft and low, creating an intimacy between them that nailed his heart to the wall.

  “Never? Not even by yourself?”

  “No, not even by myself. I’ve tried, I just couldn’t.” She spoke to him in low tones, as if sharing her most precious secret. Soon, she would tell him about the therapy, about everything.

  Ky wanted nothing more than to begin again and show her more of the wonders of lovemaking, but he didn’t want her to know he had completely lost control. He needed to ease out, before she became any the wiser.

  Cooper had other ideas, however. Coming out of the rapturous bliss of her first orgasmic experience, she was in the mood to share. For the first time, she wanted to place her hand on a man’s rock-hard penis. When she reached for him, the man in question evaded her exploring hand. “Cooper, wait,” he moaned.

  “Is it okay? Do you mind if I touch you?” Without waiting for his consent, Cooper’s hands were busy on his belt buckle.

  Ky’s voice came out harsher than he intended. “Stop! No, Cooper…” He angled himself back, away from her.

  “Please? I want to give you pleasure. I may not do it exactly right, but I’d like to try.”

  It didn’t take but a second or two for Cooper to realize their love making session had come to an abrupt end.

  “Not tonight, sweetheart. I need to go home. We’ll do more later, I promise.” He didn’t know why he was so embarrassed, but he was.

  Cooper couldn’t believe he was backing away from her. She had mistakenly thought she would be as free to touch his body as he been to touch hers. Apparently not. What had she done wrong? It had been perfect for her, but obviously not for him.

  “Oh.” That was all Cooper said. She sat up, still bare-breasted, and pulled her legs up in front of her, providing cover for her nakedness.