He hesitated, and she sensed he wasn’t exactly that happy about it, but he nodded. Her panic subsided and she laid back down, settling her head on his shoulder.
“How about we talk about what we’ve been doing the last eight months?” he suggested.
It was reasonable and definitely made sense. It didn’t occur to her until now that they really hadn’t talked.
“Okay.”
She said nothing and he chuckled. “I guess I go first. I took the job up here about six months ago.”
“I thought you liked your house in San Antonio?”
She felt his shrug. “I did, but it wasn’t right for me anymore. And you?”
She wanted to lie. She wanted to pretend that the entire mess of their marriage hadn’t affected her, but right now, she could at least be a little truthful.
“I headed back home. Got a job there.”
It wasn’t like it was a lie. Just a fib. She would tell him if anything became of this, but if not, there was no reason to open up that big festering wound. She would have to face her brothers soon enough.
“What do your brothers think of this? Of us?”
She sighed again and lifted her head. “I didn’t tell them.”
“About coming here?”
She nodded. “And being married.”
He blinked. “What?”
“Listen, I was just trying to save you some problems. My brothers probably would have come after you if they had known that I left. They would assume it was something you did. When it was just…well, it just went bad. Do you know what I mean?”
She could see by the look on his face that he was a little hurt by it, but he nodded.
“Seriously, it has nothing to do with you and everything to do with them. Smith—that’s my oldest brother—raised me after my folks died. I told you the story.”
He nodded.
“He thinks he has a say in my life. I just didn’t want to go around and around with him about it. When I moved to San Antonio, I was barely speaking with him or my other brothers. They had made life unbearable and I needed space. Smith was mad so he was barely talking to me. That’s when I met you. Once…well…it all fell apart, I didn’t want to face an argument with him. I thought that maybe you would show up and then I could deal with it. I felt like such a failure.”
“A failure. For being married to me?”
She shook her head. “No, at our marriage. I just couldn’t seem to make it work, and Lord knows my other relationships all ended abruptly.”
He slipped his hand up to cup her face. “No. Don’t say that it was your fault or that you were a failure. You were the one thing in my life that I got right.”
She studied him for a long moment and then her heart melted. He was telling her the truth. She had never had a man say that to her, or anything like it.
She leaned down and brushed her mouth over his, then deepened the kiss, slipping her tongue between his lips. Misty slipped over his body once again, but he pushed her away gently.
“What?”
“I need a taste, babe.”
She frowned at him. “I thought that was what you were getting.”
He chuckled. “Naw, I want a taste,” he said again, sliding his hand down her body to her sex, dipping a finger inside. Then, he raised his finger to his mouth and licked. “Come on up.”
He scooted down the bed so that she could straddle his face He raised up just a bit and gave her one, long, lazy lick.
“God, I missed you,” he said against her flesh, as he held her in place so he could torture her.
Misty took hold of the headboard to steady herself. Again and again, he dipped his tongue inside her, teasing, tasting, driving her insane. She tried her damnedest to hold back, but he always knew just how to touch her. Repeatedly, he took her to that edge, but drew back before she could climax. She needed it, wanted it with a ferocity that left her dizzy. He added his finger as he continued his torture, then he lifted his tongue up to her clit. It only took a couple licks before she was falling over the edge, her body convulsing from the power of the orgasm.
She drew back and looked down at him.
“You’re a naughty, naughty man, Cooper Murray.”
He chuckled as he cupped the back of her neck and drew her down for a long kiss. She could taste herself there, the passion he had given her, and she wanted to do that for him.
Misty pulled back from the kiss and slipped off of him.
“What do you think you’re doing?” he asked, the teasing tone telling her he knew exactly what she was up to.
She said nothing as she wrapped her hand around his cock and then took him into her mouth. He was hard, and unmistakably close to coming. She continued her assault, which she saw as a kind of payback, but he turned the tables, as usual. He grabbed her and lifted her so she straddled his face again. She continued on, as did he, and she felt her orgasm approaching again. But she did not want to be alone this time. She increased her rhythm, pumping him in and out of her mouth, and just as her orgasm hit her, he thrust up into her mouth and joined her.
Moments later, he dragged her up his body and kissed her. It was another long, lingering kiss, but there was so much more to it than that. There was need there, but there was something else, something that felt more like love than ever before. It consumed both of them. When he finally released her, she collapsed on the bed beside him, her heart still beating so hard she was sure people could hear it in the next county over.
“I think I might have died,” he said.
“Good, because we died together.”
He chuckled as he wrapped his arm around her and pulled her close. Cooper brushed his mouth over her temple.
Nothing had really been resolved, but at the moment she didn’t care. She knew she loved him, and right now, Misty was absolutely rethinking her position on their marriage.
“Go to sleep woman. Too much thinking will give you a headache.”
She smiled and decided that, at least for tonight, she would listen to him.
Cooper hobbled out to the kitchen and decided to give Misty a treat. The woman definitely needed it after the night they had together. They had grabbed some cold noodles late last night, but that was all. They had, without a doubt, taken the time to burn off the calories.
He got the coffee brewing and opened the refrigerator. He wasn’t much of a cook, but the one thing he was good at was breakfast. He pulled out the carton of eggs, some milk, and bacon just as the front doorbell rang. Frowning, he made his way to the door just about the time someone began banging on it.
“Open up, Misty. We know you’re in there.”
The woman was nowhere to be found, since she always slept like the dead. It took him a few moments to make it to the front door. When he opened it, Cooper found three rather large men standing on his porch. It was easy to tell they were related to each other. Light brown hair, blue eyes, and the same nasty frown. They even dressed the same way. Jeans, boots, and flannel. Two men stood behind the biggest of the three.
“Who the hell are you?” he demanded.
He heard a gasp from behind him. Glancing over his shoulder, he saw that Misty was indeed awake.
“Misty Dawn Eldridge—” the biggest and meanest one started to say, but Cooper interrupted him.
“Murray,” Cooper said.
“What?”
“Her last name is Murray.”
“Well, don’t that beat all?” said one of the other men.
He turned to face the men again, and studied them for a long moment. He had a feeling every one of them was thinking of ways to make Cooper’s body disappear. “And just who would you three be?”
“We’re her brothers. And just who the hell are you?” the leader asked.
“I’m her husband.”
“You’re her what?” the oldest asked again.
“I’m her husband.”
He glanced around Cooper and spotted his sister. “I think you have some explaining to do.�
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Misty looked from her brother to Cooper, her face now so pale Cooper was afraid she would pass out. Part of him wanted to comfort her, but at the moment, he didn’t know what to do. He still wasn’t completely awake, and a feeling of dread started to weigh down on him. He was trying hard not to make assumptions.
“Yeah, Misty, I think you do need to explain it to all four of us.”
Chapter Eight
M isty closed her eyes hoping that she was having a dream. A really, really bad dream. When she opened them, she discovered that it wasn’t a dream. It was a nightmare. Her three horrible brothers were standing in the doorway demanding to see her.
Her brothers had the worst damned timing.
“What are the three of you doing here?”
All three of them were giving her nasty looks.
“When you didn’t answer your phone yesterday and last night, we figured we better make our way up here,” Chet said. “We did a find my phone thing.”
“You low-jacked my phone?” she asked, mortified that they would do that.
“No,” Ryan said. “It’s the app you have on your phone to find it when you lose it. You low-jacked yourself.”
Dammit. Of course she did. Her brothers always seemed to catch her doing stupid things, and it was usually her fault they discovered her.
“It still doesn’t explain why you’re here.”
“I just explained it to you.” Chet shook his head. “Maybe you should get some clothes on.”
She glanced down and realized she was wearing nothing but one of Cooper’s shirts. She wanted to argue, but Chet did have a point. “Fine.”
She turned on her heel and marched back to the bedroom. Of all the horrible things that could happen after last night, this was right at the top of the list. She had wanted to talk to Cooper today to see where they went from here. And she wanted to tell him about her family.
Her brothers screwed all that up. Again. They were always screwing up things for her, and her life. From threatening her prom date by cleaning their guns when he showed up, to now arriving a day too early. If they had just shown up tomorrow, she would have had everything settled.
She heard footsteps behind her and knew it was Cooper. Mainly because he was clunking around with his cast. She left the door open and he followed her in.
“Just what in the hell is going on?” he asked.
Oh, God, this was going to be bad. She didn’t want to reveal her entire life to him today, but knowing her brothers, there was a good chance everything would be spilled out. They did not do subtle. Ever.
“I don’t know. I walked out and found my three brothers looking at you like they wanted to kill you.”
“Yeah. And why did they show up here?”
“I might not have told them I was coming up here.”
That was met with silence. She looked up. The stunned expression on Cooper’s face worried her. The fact that he hadn’t said anything worried her too.
“What?” she asked when he said nothing.
“What do you mean you didn’t tell them?” he asked, his voice rising with each word.
Damn. Her lies were getting harder to keep straight. It wasn’t that she had expected to lie to all of them, but when her marriage had fallen apart, it was difficult to admit to her brothers what had happened. And there had been no reason to tell Cooper about her family. She had tried before, and he hadn’t wanted to know more.
“Listen, I didn’t want them getting upset. You know, because of our situation.”
She was going to hell. Right now, she knew they were getting a room ready for her. Hell, more than likely, they already had her name up on the mailbox.
“Oh, that makes sense.”
Slowly she released a breath she didn’t realize she had been holding. God, she was going to have to come clean sometime soon, but right now, she wanted to get through this argument. Because it would be an argument with the Eldridge brothers. It always was.
She grabbed her jeans and stepped into them. “They are just a little over protective. Like most brothers, and it doesn’t help that they all had a hand in raising me after my folks died. They still don’t accept I’m an adult.”
“The oldest one? That’s the one who raised you?”
She nodded. “Yeah. Smith. And he likes to tell us all what to do.”
“Yeah, I could see that from the way he acted.”
“He means well. They all do.”
“Okay.”
“Let’s just go have some coffee and talk to them. Then we can talk about us.”
“Us?” he asked, his mouth curving up.
“I thought you understood what last night meant. To me. I mean, I wouldn’t have just jumped into bed with you.”
“Yeah, I was hoping that was the case,” he said, slipping his arms around her waist and pulling her closer.
He leaned down and brushed his mouth over hers. Once, twice…Just like always, she felt the fast rush of energy, of a need that left her dizzy. Cooper slipped his hands around her waist, pulling her even closer as she wrapped her arms around his neck.
Someone banged on the bedroom door. It had to be Smith.
“We don’t have all day.”
Yep, it was Smith. The man had the manners of an angry goat. “Oh, my God, I want to kill him.”
“Now, don’t go doing that, not just when I got ya back. I’d hate it if you ended up in jail.”
“I could claim insanity and I bet I would win.” She sighed. “Okay, but if he pisses me off, I get to maim him.”
“That’s my girl,” he said as he followed her out of the room. She just hoped that he would feel the same way by the end of the conversation.
As Misty and Cooper sat down, he felt as if he was in the principal’s office again. Now that he had a good look at her brothers, he could see the resemblance.
Chet was the youngest and closest to his age. His hair was so light, it was almost what people would call dishwater blond. He wasn’t overly huge, but lean and mean, as his friend Mike would call him. He might not be big and bulky, but there was no doubt in Cooper’s mind that Chet could hold his own in any fight.
Ryan was the middle brother, and looked to be the joker. He’d made a few remarks trying to lighten the conversation. Not as tall as the other two brothers, but he was built big, and it was easy to see that he worked with his hands.
Then there was Smith.
There was no doubt in his mind that Smith Eldridge was not a man anyone would be able to screw over. If someone happened to, there was a good chance Smith would hunt the person down and make him pay. He looked the most like Misty, and he knew that for a big part of her life, he had been Misty’s father figure. From the narrow-eyed glare he was giving Cooper, there was a good chance, in fact, that he was thinking as a father right then.
“So, you want to tell me what’s going on here?” Smith asked.
He didn’t look at Misty, but he felt her bristle. As an independent woman, she hated when men talked around her. Normally, he would let her handle it. But this was different. He didn’t want her to fight this fight alone, so he answered.
“I’m not sure this is any of your business.”
“Indeed?”
He had never heard one word carry such a threat before in his life, but he ignored it. “I get that you’re her brothers, but I think that you need to give Misty and me a little time to explain.”
“That’s what we’re here for,” Ryan said.
If Cooper hadn’t been paying such close attention to Smith, he wouldn’t have noticed the look. Smith dipped his chin and gave Ryan a slanted look. There was most definitely one brother in charge, and it was Smith.
Ryan took the hint and leaned back in his chair.
“Why don’t you explain why we didn’t know about the marriage and this?” Smith asked, waving his hand at Cooper’s leg. “You told us you were up here for a friend.”
He glanced at Misty, who was looking more than a little guilty
about the situation.
“Yeah, well I didn’t want to explain it to you over the phone. Cooper was hurt on the job. He’s a fireman.” She glanced at her brother, then back to Cooper. “I didn’t know what was going to happen, and I figured it would be best to wait and see.”
He had a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach. He knew she was telling the truth about most things, that he could pick up on. She had told him she considered herself still married to him, and that, he knew was clearly true. But there was something else.
“I guess that makes sense.”
“Really?” Smith asked, his irritation easy to hear. Both he and Misty turned to face him. “That makes sense? None of this makes sense.”
“Since Misty didn’t tell you, I’ll tell you. We met last year in San Antonio. Dated for six weeks, then we went to Vegas and got married.”
“Without a prenup?” Chet shouted.
“Uh, yeah. Why would we need a prenup?” Cooper asked.
Smith switched his attention to Misty. “Seriously? No prenup? What did I tell you when you turned eighteen?”
“I lost track of all the rules, Smith. There were so many.”
Oh, her brother did not like that. Cooper could tell from the flex in Smith’s jaw that the older man was grinding his teeth together. “You don’t marry without a prenup. Ever.”
“Uh, I’m missing something here. Why would Misty need a prenup? It’s not like either of us were marrying for money.”
All three brothers looked at her. Again, Smith asked the question. “You really don’t know?”
He shook his head. “I guess not because I can’t see why either of us would need a prenup.”
There was a long, drawn out silence. Then Smith looked at Misty and asked, “Do you want to tell him, or should I?”
Aggravated with the way people were talking around him. “Someone just tell me what the hell is going on?”
“Son, you apparently didn’t know it at the time, but you’re married to Misty Eldridge.”
Dallas Fire & Rescue: Scorched (Kindle Worlds Novella) (The Eldridges Book 1) Page 5
