by Unknown
Ky was almost past speaking, but he knew that she needed to hear this. “Yes, baby. I’m still here.”
“I’m not fat or ugly.”
“You’re perfect.” What she was – was loved. He hadn’t said it yet, but it was true. He loved her with every fiber of his being. As Ky thrust into her, Cooper did amazing things with her body to give him pleasure. She used the inner walls of her vagina to caress and milk him.
Her efforts didn’t go unnoticed, or unappreciated. “Damn, sweetheart. You are a joy to love!” Bending over, he sucked one of her nipples into his mouth. When he did this, he catapulted Cooper into another orgasm and this time her moans of pleasure, and tiny convulsions, triggered Ky’s climax and he ground deep into her, his seed pulsing out of his body with every beat of his heart.
They clung to each other, trading kisses, whispering endearments.
Neither one of them noticed the condom had broke.
* * * *
“You are a master craftsman, Ky. I have never seen more beautiful work,” Cooper spoke in awe as she examined the fabulous carving work on the saddle that, only yesterday, had given a foundation for their passion. Her visit to his saddle shop had been cut short the day before, when a customer had almost surprised them in the altogether. Embarrassed, Cooper had retreated to the house while Ky had taken care of business. This was the first opportunity they had to resume her tour.
“Thank you, darling.” He brought out other pieces to share with her and all of them equally impressed her. She slowly walked around the studio and his work area, absorbing the feel of his domain. A box of leather strips on the floor caught her eye. They were long, some as much as three feet and narrow.
“May I?” she asked before picking up the box.
“Sure, babe, it’s just scraps.” He watched her hold them up, examining them.
“Do you have plans for these?” her mind was spinning with possibilities.
“Just the garbage can.”
“May I buy them from you?” She looked at him expectantly.
Pulling her to him, Ky sat down on a stool and settled her onto his lap. “What is it with you and money, sugar?” He touched the piece of leather in her hand. “I told you these are bound for the dump. Do you really think I would take money from you?”
“I owe you so much, already, Ky. I can’t just keep taking. I’ve been to the emergency room twice. You won’t show me the bills, but I’m sure I owe thousands of dollars. On top of that, you have let us stay with you far longer than I intended. You are too good to me.” Talk of money made her uncomfortable, but she knew it was necessary. She had spent years being at the mercy of a man who counted every penny, she didn’t know how else to act.
“Let’s think about this.” Ky’s voice was infinitely tender. “Your first hospital visit was because you lured a vicious rattlesnake away from me, and you wound up getting bit—to save me. The second emergency room visit was necessary because I ran over you like a snowplow. As for you being here now—it makes me happy. Are you beginning to get the picture? I am responsible for these debts. Look at me.” She obeyed. “I want to be responsible, Cooper. I want to be responsible for you.”
Cooper wiped tears from her eyes. Nobody had ever showed her so much consideration, before. “So I can have these?” She held up the long strips of leather.
“Yes, you can. What are you going to do with them?”
“Wait here. I’ll show you.” She bounced from his lap and ran from the room. In a moment, she was back with her box of jewelry supplies. “Did you plan on working in here for a little while?”
“I have things I need to do. But, my priority was spending time with you, love.”
“Let’s do both. You work on whatever you need to, and I’ll find a spot and see what I can do with the leather strips. Okay?” He watched her head to the corner and plop down on the floor.
“Coop, you don’t have to sit on the floor.” She gave him her brightest smile, liking how he shortened her name; it sounded so familiar.
“I do my best work on the floor.”
“I’ll have to remember that.” Damn! His dick was taking her innocent comment as a private invitation.
At first, he thought having her in the Saddlery shop would prove to be a major distraction. Contrary to his assumption, they both found a rhythm and time flew by.
Ky had just finished attaching the last silver Concho to a belt when he felt her soft, warm body fit itself to his back. He leaned into her, enjoying the contact. A slight pressure on his chest made him aware she was fastening something around his neck. Looking down, he saw an intricately braided cord linked with small sections of silver chain. Hanging from it was a small thunderbird, fashioned in exquisite detail. “Look at this. I can see each feather. Cooper, did you make this? Just now?”
“Not the thunderbird. I carved it last week.” He swiveled his stool around to face her. “The silver looks pretty good with your leather, doesn’t it?”
Ky examined the workmanship. She had further stripped the leather down into smaller pieces, and then painstakingly interwove it with the silver. “Cooper, I had no idea you could make anything that looked like this. You have tremendous talent.”
“I want to see how it looks next to your skin.” Cooper’s breath was coming out in little heated gasps, as she looked up at his face for permission. What she saw was unmitigated desire. “I’ll take that as a yes.” Slowly, she began releasing the buttons, one by one, until his shirt lay open and the thunderbird nestled in the hair on his chest, even with his flat brown nipples. “You are so sexy, Ky.” Before he took his next breath, Cooper was tasting one nipple and rubbing the other in tight concentric circles. When he started to pull her head up for a kiss, she made a little noise to dissuade him. She had her mind made up—it was her turn.
* * * *
Ky rested his elbows on the counter behind him and let her play. Closing his eyes, he let his excitement build. Never in his wildest dreams had he ever envisioned finding someone as totally right for him as Cooper was. She continued her exploration of his chest and began another expedition farther south, massaging his growing length through his blue jeans. “Baby, baby, you’re making me swell. Why don’t we take this to the bedroom?”
Cooper didn’t require much persuading. She allowed him to lead her out the door and back over to the house. The dogs were bounding around and the kittens were having war games on the porch, but Ky and Cooper only had eyes for each other.
Once in his room, he pushed her gently back on the bed. “You had your fun, now I’ll have mine.” With economical movements, he tore the clothes from her body. She had him so worked up he thought he would burst. So far, it had been like this every time.
He was determined, this time was going to be different, this time he wasn’t going to lose control. She was.
Cooper was shaking. She scooted back, making room for his large body. Ky had other ideas, however. Taking her behind the knees, he pulled her forward, until her bottom was on the very edge. Sinking to his knees, Ky got ready to take Cooper’s breath away.
“Oh, Ky, no. I’ve never…”
“Hush, baby,” he whispered as he began nibbling at the silky, soft flesh of her thigh. “I’ve wanted to do this since the first time I saw you, but you get me so freakin’ excited I can’t keep from plunging deep within you. This may kill me, but I’ll die happy.” With tongue and lips, Ky began a tantalizing journey to Cooper’s trembling sex.
“You are so beautiful. I can’t wait to taste you.”
* * * *
Cooper was mesmerized. She rose up on her arms, hungry to see the glorious sight of Ky loving her. And, God, it was a sight to behold. He made himself at home between her legs, his beautiful brown hair contrasted starkly with the white skin of her thighs, which he held open wide with sturdy, strong hands. With tongue and teeth, he pleasured her. She had never felt anything so mind-blowing in her life. Silky soft forays, tender kisses, delicate sweeps of his tongue—all com
bined to drive her slowly into madness.
When he pushed his tongue deep inside of her, she collapsed, unable to hold her head up any longer. The sensations she was trying to process were indescribable. That Ky would do something so unselfish for her was beyond her imagination. As the tension built within her, she pushed back with her shoulders and raised her hips high, moans, and coos of delight filling the air. Tension mounted, until her world exploded, and she called out to her beloved. “Ky, Ky, come up here baby. I need you so.” He hesitated only a moment, sheathing himself with a condom, and then he melded his mouth to hers and let his cock find its target like a heat-seeking missile. “Ahhh,” Cooper sighed in absolute relief.
Ky thrust into her over and over again. She was so beyond aroused they would have to create a new name for it. He took both of her hands in his, entwined their fingers tightly, and held them over her head. Her breasts were quivering and swaying with the motion of their bodies as he pushed into her over and over again. It felt so good! He ground down in a circular motion.
Cooper felt so connected to him. It was all she could do not to shout out her love for him, but she didn’t want to say it first–or have their first declaration be made in the heat of passion. This was just too important.
Seeing Kyler Landon taking his pleasure between her thighs was the most erotic sight Cooper could ever imagine. She was totally captivated by his face, the flexing muscles of his chest, and the rippling abs that seemed to be begging to be licked. After one toe-curling orgasm, Cooper wasn’t sure she could maintain her sanity for another. The orgasm in question was on the rise and moving in quickly. “I need to hold you close, Ky. I need to come, baby.”
At her sweet prompting, Ky angled himself down on top of her, eager to meet her every need. As she tightened around him, Ky’s grip on his control begins to wane. “Oh, my sweetheart. I’d rather be inside of you than anywhere else in the world. I can’t hold on, baby. It just feels too good.”
“Come with me, Ky. Come with me.” Cooper lifted her hips, circling them, seeking to push him over the sensual edge. In doing so, she slipped over herself.
As her convulsions began, Ky allowed himself to let go. Cooper moved with him. It was absolutely delicious. He thrust hard; once, twice, three times, then bellowed his satisfaction in a voice that thrilled Cooper’s heart.
* * * *
“You can put your things in a drawer, sweetheart.” Ky watched Cooper carefully fold and put away the clean underwear she had just taken from the dryer, then slip the suitcase back under the bed.
“This is fine, I don’t mind.” Cooper was determined not to make assumptions, and not to get in Ky’s way. The fact he was allowing her and the animals to stay with him for a while was already going above and beyond. The trouble was, Cooper admitted, it felt so right. Being with Ky, felt like home. “Would you like to see a picture of me as a baby?” she asked pulling out the box that contained her precious possessions.
Ky knelt on the floor by her, putting an arm around her waist. “Sure, I want to see.”
Cooper dug in the box and brought out an old tattered album. Flipping it open, she handed it to him. “Ah, Cooper. You are too cute. Look at you—those long ringlets, chubby cheeks, and dimpled knees—you were an absolute doll!” As he made over her childhood photo, all Cooper could think of was a little girl with her hair and his jade green eyes—or a little boy with Ky’s stubborn chin and his to-die-for dimple. “And as I turn the pages, I see a cute baby girl grow into a seductively, gorgeous woman.”
“What in the world? I’ve never seen this before. Where did it come from?” Cooper questioned as she pulled a blue ledger book from the back of the photo album. She quickly thumbed through it. “Oh, my Lord. Ky, look at this.” He took it from her and began to read—after a while he stood and walked to the phone.
“Is that what I think it is?” Cooper felt twinges of panic edge into her consciousness.
“I’ve just glanced through this, but it’s apparent this is somebody’s diary. More than that, it’s a record book of drug deals. There are dates, names, places—everything.” He looked at the inside cover. “Richard Hawkins, your husband.”
For some reason, Ky’s quick identification of Richard as her husband hurt. She didn’t like to think of him that way. He had never been a husband to her. She wanted Ky for a husband, and that might never happen. “I didn’t know anything about this, Ky, I swear.” Unease filled Cooper. What if Ky thought she was involved? “But, if this is true—the secrecy, the phone calls, the late night visits—they all make sense. Somebody knows I have this book—and they want it back.”
“I’m afraid you may be right, and I know you didn’t have anything to do with this, baby. You’ve got the broken bones to prove it.” Ky punched in a speed dial number. “I’m calling my brother. He’ll know what to do.” He talked quietly into the phone, and then sat down next to Cooper with the book.
“Ty will be here in a few minutes.” He held her hand, but he went back to the beginning of the book and began to read. Cooper sat by him quietly, her head spinning.
“Damn, baby.”
“What did you find?” She hated to ask.
“That idiot you were married to not only chronicled every drug deal, he wrote down every time he hit you, and where.” Ky’s chest tightened as he read the diabolical notes. “I had no idea, Cooper. This was almost every friggin’ day! How did you survive?”
Cooper rose to her knees on the couch and put her arms around Ky’s neck. “I lived in my head, pretending I was somewhere else. I imagined I had a family, a husband who loved me.” It was a perfect opening for Ky to tell her he loved her. Cooper held her breath.
But he didn’t.
He cupped her face, his thumbs catching the dampness glistening on her eyelashes. “What about the pain?”
Letting out a heavy breath of disappointment, Cooper explained. “It wasn’t so bad. I lived on Aleve and kept a lot of ice on hand. What was worse than the pain was the solitude, Richard wouldn’t let me leave the house very often. He didn’t want to take a chance people would see the bruises or the casts.” Crawling into his lap, Cooper sought to comfort him. “It’s over now, Ky. Richard is dead, and with this book, the rest of the garbage can be cleaned up.” Cooper told herself it didn’t matter whether or not he said ’I love you’. She loved him enough for both of them.
The front door bell rang. Ky eased Cooper off his lap and kissed her on the temple. “That would be my brother.”
Cooper scooted over to the very corner of the couch. Meeting new people made her nervous. A few moments later, Ky walked in with a man, who at first, appeared to be a mirror image of him. One Ky was impressive enough—two, was almost overwhelming. “Cooper, this is my brother, Tyler. Tyler, meet Cooper Lawson.” Tyler Landon walked over to her, and Cooper rose to accept his outstretched hand.
* * * *
“Hello, Cooper. I like your name, it suits you.” His eyes swept over her, not insultingly, but definitely with appreciation. Ky noticed his brother’s blatant interest in his woman. He didn’t like it. Not at all. He didn’t say anything. Cooper knew how he felt, and he trusted her. Implicitly.
“Thank you, Tyler. I appreciate your coming so quickly.” They sat back down on the couch. Ky chose to sit right next to her, proprietarily rubbing her shoulder and rearranging her hair. Ty sat across from them in an overstuffed chair. He watched the couple in front of him for a few moments, unspeaking. Then meeting his brother’s gaze, he smiled. “Ky, where have you been hiding Cooper? Is this the girl that saved you from the snake?” Ky knew his brother was thinking about their silly bet. If he said anything, Ky would cheerfully throttle him.
Cooper ducked her head, slightly embarrassed, while Ky chose his words carefully. “Yeah, she’s been living down in the cabin, right next door, for about three months. And yes she did save me from a nasty rattlesnake bite.”
“And you were bit.” Ty was amazed. “Most girls are totally freaked out by sna
kes. I’m impressed.”
“I don’t particularly like snakes, but I’m usually more afraid of men than reptiles.”
Ty looked at her with a thoughtful expression, as if he understood more than she was telling him. Ky handed Tyler the blue book, explaining, “This is the diary I was telling you about. Richard Hawkins, Cooper’s deceased husband, was Sheriff down near The Big Bend National Park. He was not only into dealing drugs; he was a wife-beater. Richard abused Cooper severely, and repeatedly.”
“That’s rough. I’m sorry, Cooper. No woman should have to go through that.” Ty looked at her so pointedly and sympathetically Ky placed a hand on Cooper’s knee and rubbed her leg in an obviously possessive manner.
Tyler took note and looked up at his twin. “Is there something you want to tell me, brother?”
Ky didn’t answer him directly. Instead, he continued to brand Cooper with his touch. He pointedly ignored his brother’s barb, picking back up on his explanation. “I think Hawkins and his cohorts used the wilderness area to grow marijuana. It also appears they were involved in some drug trafficking courtesy of a Mexican cartel. Messy stuff. There are names, dates, dollar amounts—everything you’ll need to get warrants and go in and gather up a well established drug ring.”
“You won’t believe this, but you’ve just handed me the means to solve a case of mine. I’ve been working on trying to find some evidence to tie this group of guy’s to Saldado’s cartel.” He thumped the book on his knee. “Your husband, Cooper, how did he die?” Ty picked up a pen and began making notes.
“He was shot trying to bring in a suspect in a burglary. The man led Richard out to the river and got away in a boat. Richard went after him and they ended up exchanging fire, Richard was killed. But, his body was never found.” At this revelation, Ky looked surprised, but he didn’t say anything.
