Page 65 of Enticed

Her face is splotchy and red, her eyelids swollen and her lips still trembling slightly. Even though she’s clearly distraught and not at her best right now, I’ve never found her to be more beautiful.

I fuckinglovethis woman. I want to take her pain and make it mine.

She’s the woman I never knew I could have. The thought of her taunted me for years and now she’s real and right in front of me—showing me all the bad and the good.

She’s the woman I want over anyone else. No one has ever compared to her and no one ever will.

I see my entire future in her eyes, even through the moisture building back up there again. I want it all with her. I need everything with her.

I just need her to see it.

“Talk to me, baby.” I stroke her hand, waiting for her to speak.

“I’m so afraid, Cooper…” she moves to sit on my knee and wraps her arms around my neck.

“Of what, babe?”

“Of experiencing that again. Of losing you. Of needing you. Of listening to all of my insecurities and letting them talk myself out of being with you.”

Damn. How do I fix that? Because in reality, those aren’t things I can fix for her. The only thing I can do is to be the man to make her feel strong enough to face those fears.

“First, what happened that night was horrible, and I hope to God you never have to experience that again. I will do everything in my power to make sure that doesn’t happen, okay?”

She nods.

“Second, my job comes with certain risks, but trust me that I do everything in my power to avoid getting hurt. I can’t promise you that it won’t happen, but you are the person I want to come home to every day and I will do whatever I can to ensure that I’m there.” I reach up to tuck her wild hair behind her ears and swipe the tears from her cheeks. “Next, Iwantyou to need me—because I need you too. I never realized that I could need someone as much as I do with you, Clara. You make my entire life better—which is why I want us to come clean with everyone.”

She sniffles and wipes her nose with the back of her hand, but her eyes never leave mine.

“And last—I wish you wouldn’t listen to those insecurities of yours—because I don’t see them. I see the strongest, wittiest, most beautiful woman in front of me and I know that she deserves happiness as much as anyone else. And I want to help you find that, babe—with me. Can you trust me to do that?”

Her mouth forms a weak smile, but it’s there.

“Thank you,” she finally says and then presses a reverent kiss on my lips. “I’m sorry that all of this came up tonight… but God, that dream was so real. And it just brought up so many emotions at once… I couldn’t handle it,” she chuckles through her tears and I pull her face down to mine.

“You never have to apologize to me for being you, Clara. Now, let’s go back to bed—the real bed this time because my back is fucking killing me,” I laugh and she follows suit. “And let me hold you and keep you safe for the rest of the night, okay?”

“Deal.”

We shuffle under the covers and I lie there until I hear her heavy breathing and I know she’s drifted off. When we wake in the morning, I open my eyes to an empty bed and instantly panic.

Fuck, where is she? I promised I would keep her safe. Where did she go?

I jump out of bed and throw on some underwear before running down the hall and stopping dead in my tracks when I see her in nothing but red lace booty shorts, her back to me while she stands at the stove and dances to the song on her phone—swaying her hips while flipping pancakes.

“Morning, handsome,” she says without turning her back to me, sensing my presence in the room. Although, the pounding of my feet just now as I raced down the hall probably gave me away.

“This is the sexiest thing I’ve ever fucking seen,” I manage to say as my dick fights the confines of my briefs. Despite the emotional night, this version of Clara in front of me tells me she’s trying to work past it. Most might say that she’s not addressing her fears and burying them with sex. But seeing Clara return to her normal erotic self is actually a relief.

“I hope you’re hungry,” she suggests as she flicks her head over her shoulder and shoots me a wink.

“Fucking starving,” I growl before launching myself at her and taking her on the kitchen counter.

We spend the rest of the day back in the village visiting the antique shops and another restaurant for lunch. We rent a paddle boat and cruise around the lake for an hour, basking in the sun and taking pictures of the two of us on the water. When we’re cooked from the rays, we head back to the cabin to rest and then I make Clara dinner in our little haven. We make love twice, and I fight with myself on whether or not to vocalize my love for her. But I know she’s fragile after last night, so I hold off—hoping that’s the best decision.

“Let’s tell everyone next weekend,” I suggest while we lie in bed in each other’s arms.

“At the Fourth of July party at your parent’s house?” She asks.

---