Page 38 of Enticed

“I can’t just stand back and watch you do this to yourself anymore, not after last week…” All I see are flashes of our date and the conversations we had, leading to more than just the fucking I both know we want to happen.

“I’m not drunk!” She shouts, pulling my eyes from the ground and connecting directly with hers.

“What?”

She’s not smirking anymore. Nope, she’s looking down at the ground in awkwardness. “I’m not drunk, Cooper. I was just playing around. Faking it, even. Tony was in on the whole thing…”

I’m baffled, yet can’t help the slow smile that tips my lips. Clara fucking pulled a prank on me. And now I’m back to wanting to kiss her and smack her ass at the same time. “Why on Earth would you do that?”

She shrugs. “It just seemed like fun to make you work for it a bit,” she sticks her tongue out to lick her lips and I don’t miss how my anger with her is quickly replaced with need.

“Clara,” I close the space between us on the side of my truck, shielded from wandering eyes and people passing through the parking lot. “I’ve been working for it for months, ever since the first time you let it slip that you thought I was hot.”

“When did I say that?”

“The first time I picked you up from Tony’s about a month after the attack. You started babbling in the back seat of my cruiser about how you couldn’t believe how hot I was after all these years. You told me everything that went through your mind at my parent’s house when you came over for chicken and dumplings—I distinctly remember you repeating what we had for dinner after Olivia came home.” Her eyes are fixated on mine while she allows me to continue. “That night was the first confirmation that the attraction I felt towards you wasn’t one-sided. And then every time you’d get drunk and I’d pick you up, you’d keep pushing me to give in to you, promising that when we fucked, it would be mind-blowing. And then I finally cracked and kissed you after months of fighting what I wanted since that first encounter, and every instance after that.”

“I’m sorry, it seemed like a brilliant idea at the time,” she says, reaching up to trace the line of my jaw with her fingertips. “I just wanted to drag this out for a little while longer, I guess. I like our little games, even though they make me crazy,” she smiles.

“I appreciate your attempt to make me work for it,” I throw quotations up with my fingers before reaching for her hips to pull her closer to me, pressing her body up against mine, making my skin vibrate with heat. “But I think we’ve waited long enough.”

“Are you gonna punish me, Deputy?” She bites her bottom lip between her teeth and fuck. Me. Something in me snaps and I crash my lips to hers, catching her yelp with my mouth as I kiss the shit out of her. The thought of having her tonight was in the back of my mind all day—I couldn’t stop thinking about it, and there’s no way that anything else is going to stop me from making that happen.

I press her up against the fender of my truck and scoot us out of the light from the street lamps in the parking lot, moving my tongue deep in her mouth until she’s meeting me with every thrust and lick. We both groan as our lips caress and lay down the foundation of everything that’s about to happen between us. My hands tighten on her hips, digging into the soft flesh that I can’t wait to nibble on and lick when she’s fully naked beneath me.

I pull away quickly and then smack her on the ass as I adjust myself in my pants and unlock the truck. She walks around to the other side, but I hold her back, my chest to her shoulder blades as I whisper in her ear, watching the gooseflesh appear on her exposed skin.

“You bet your ass I’m gonna punish you, Clara. I hope you can handle it,” I growl in her ear as her breath hitches and then she shoots me a devious gaze over her shoulder.

“Bring it on, Twiggy,” her snarky reply makes me laugh as we hop in my truck and I speed across town back to my condo, rocking the hardest erection I’ve ever had in my life.

There’s no more second-guessing this now—this is finally happening. Clara and I are about to cross over into uncharted territory… and I can’t fucking wait.

Chapter 14

Cooper

My body is vibrating from the adrenaline running through my veins. The hold I have on Clara’s hand as we cruise down the street is borderline crushing, but there’s no way I’m going to spend another second not touching her. I’ve been waiting all day—for months really—to worship Clara’s naked body and nothing else is gonna stand in my way.

We pull into my driveway and I open the door for her, reaching for her suitcase from the bed of my truck that Tony ran out the door to give her before we left, and I usher her inside with my free hand on the small of her back. Once we’re indoors, I deposit her suitcase by the front closet and watch her as she cruises aimlessly through my living room, surveying my modest living arrangements.

Roark greets me when we enter, nudging his nose under Clara’s hand to say hello to her as well, then quickly curls back up on his bed in the corner of the room and resumes his sleep. My condo isn’t huge, but I’m a single man, and I didn’t need a large space for just me and my dog. The downstairs houses the living room, kitchen, and a half-bath, while upstairs contains two bedrooms and a full bathroom. It’s comfortable, affordable, and I’m about to claim Clara on every surface I can manage.

When she turns to find my eyes, I expect to see the same heat there that I feel in my entire body. But she looks hesitant—the subtle doubt and insecurity I’ve seen in glimpses over the past few months hiding behind her self-assured façade. I don’t want her to regret this; I don’t want her to talk herself out of something again. So I take the few steps separating us and cup her face in my hands, planting a light kiss on her lips before commanding her eyes.

“I know we were both expecting sex tonight, but you can still say no, Clara. I can wait. I don’t want you to feel pressured, not from me.”

I can’t help but wonder if she’s been intimate with anyone since her attack, but this is not the time, nor is it my place, to ask that question. Regardless of the answer, it doesn’t affect how I feel about her and the pleasure I know I want to give her. But she runs the show here, and I never want her to feel like she’s not in control in this aspect. I don’t want her to regret anything we do, and I sure as hell don’t want her to feel pressured to engage in something she’s not ready for.

Clara steps back and then pulls her light pink sweater over her head, tossing it to the floor and baring her torso to me, covered in nothing but a white lace bra. The curves of her hips lead to her long runner legs covered in dark blue jeans. Clara is not a petite woman—she’s tall and perfect—curvy in all the right places with smooth skin I’m just itching to touch. She smells like some kind of fruit too, and as I reach out to pull her to me, I confirm the scent of strawberries when it hits my nose as I inhale her with my face buried in her deep brown hair.

“Cooper, I appreciate you being such a gentleman… but if you don’t fuck me tonight, I think I might explode,” she finally says, eliciting a deep laugh from me. We both chuckle at her honesty before I lean down and press my mouth to hers, signaling the start of something we’ve both been fighting for months.

I take her face in my palms again, controlling her head as her hands find their way beneath the fabric of my shirt, her fingernails dancing across the tender skin of my stomach. I groan at the first signal of her touch because even though I know things are about to get much more intense, just that slight connection makes the wild beat of my heart pick up even more. I break from her and pull my shirt over my head so we’re matching in nakedness and wait for her to make the next move. Because even though Clara may seem a little reserved right now, I know there’s a sex kitten hiding in there—and I want her to come out and play.

Clara

Abs! I just found the Mecca of abs on Cooper Walsh’s stomach. This must be where all other abs that are hidden under belly fat come to worship, praying to the Gods that one day they can look this perfect.

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