Page 52 of You Can Make Me
“We were at the local animal shelter talking with the animal control officers about the impact of the fires on the number of intakes they’d had. One of the dogs they had with us started humping my leg while I was trying to talk on camera. We finally got him to give up my leg, but I went back on live—and nobody mentioned the spot on my pants that was clearly doggy jizz. Thehazing wasfierce. For weeks, people left dog stuffed animals on my desk and wet wipes. It was a lot.”
“You have that effect on people, too. I nearly humped your leg right there in Gene’s in-laws’ living room.”
Every story he got out of me made his smile a little dreamier. He was a great listener, and I loved to talk. When I tried to turn the tables and ask about his most embarrassing moment, he’d distract me with his hands or his mouth. If I’d thought he’d worshiped me before, he went above and beyond to show me how much he’d missed me. How much he loved me.
I’d get my answers. He wouldn’t be able to deny me when I put my full attention into questioning him. For now, I’d let him think he was succeeding.
When he reached for me at the end of the second day, I took him into my body with a wince and sighed. “This is it. After this time, I need a break—no, don’t you dare stop,” I said, when he tried to pull out. He had me on my back again, with one of my legs over his shoulder, giving him the deepest angle for penetration.
“I don’t want to hurt you,” he said, his face red and covered with sweat. His muscles shook with the struggle to control his movements. Earlier in the day, I’d been worried and made him stop so we could check his blood pressure. Once I was assured that he was fine, I had fun playing nurse with my very own tongue depressor.
“You aren’t, fuck, just make it count, Den. Then I’ll rest. Make it count, wreck me one more time, baby.”
He groaned, and yanked me up and onto his lap. He pulled me down hard on his cock, the new angle hitting my prostate so good, I came without touching myself.
The sight of my mess made him tremble, and I knew he was close.
“I love you so much, Cooper. So much.”
He came with a full-bodied convulsion. He kept pumping into me, laying me on my back as the waves made him rock into me over and over. He turned me on my side, curled around my back, thrust in once more, and held me tight to him as he panted.
“In case you wondered,” I said in between gasps. “You. No one else ever. You’re it, baby.” I reached around to grab his ass, wishing this closeness wouldn’t end.
“Good,” he whispered, and then he kissed the back of my neck. “I’m never letting you go. Never again, Cooper. Don’t ask me to.”
I sighed happily as I fell over that ledge into sleep.
My dreams were filled with puzzling and disturbing images, things I knew I should remember, but my broken brain made it difficult. And Denny couldn’t follow me there. He couldn’t always keep me safe.
Thirteen
Denny
Four weeks later…
“One more set, come on, you can do it.”
I’d picked up resistance bands and light weights at the local sporting goods store the weekend after his folks left, so we could get started with his strength training. I didn’t want him using heavy weights until he’d had another CT scan, as I worried about his concussion and the lasting effects. I spotted him on balance work using a ball and platform, and bodyweight exercises like planks. It was doing the trick, as his definition was already back.
I watched Cooper deadlift with twenty-pound dumbbells, which he refused to do until I took my shirt off. He said all of this would be absolute torture if he didn’t have my six-pack to look at. I was happy to have it back. I’d fallen out of my fitness routine, so this was good for me, too. With our soundtrack culled from cassette tapes—Journey, Huey Lewis and the News, andall of Billy Joel—we worked out side-by-side every day. I loved every minute of it.
“What do I get if I do them?”
My gaze traveled over his ass, barely covered by cutoff sweats, and down the backs of his thighs. “More of what you got last night?”
That made him grin, and he gladly completed the rest of his reps.
Yeah, working out had given him back some of the strength he’d lost, and his diva attitude had definitely returned. But now, instead of his tone being full of anger, bordering on vicious, it was playful and he seemed less concerned about his scars. We made it fun, challenging each other, and rewarding each other at the end of the day with what we truly desired. Even when it was hard for him, he pushed further than he thought himself capable.
He still used the cane without a fuss. He agreed a fall would be a major setback. I was so damned proud of him.
All the physical activity meant I was back to the level of fitness I’d been before everything went to shit, which alternately turned Cooper on and pissed him off at the same time.
“God, I hope I look as good as you when I’m an old man.”
He loved to put me in my place.
We took gentle walks along the water, and, when he was ready, we hiked together on easy trails. He’d put on ten pounds, which was still not enough but a good start. His skin had a healthy glow once more, as we spent ample time in the sun, and he accepted the supplements his doctor ordered. He kept his scars covered while we were outside to avoid complications when he was ready to see the dermatologist, but he had mostly gotten over his hang-ups about his body, at least with me.
