Page 77 of Entangled

“I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you.” He speaks it like a reverent prayer, pouring his love into me as if the words alone will ease my pain.

And maybe they can’t. Maybe I’ll always be a being whose pieces are threaded together by tragedy. But I do know one thing.

I lift my head, pressing my hands against his chest to get him to loosen his grip on me and he complies, giving me just enough room to bring my face up to his without letting go completely. His night-forest eyes bleed with worry as he looks at me and I lift my hand, running my fingers up gently to thread through his hair, mixing right in with the mud and earth below his head. I drop my lips and kiss him softly, barely brushing our lips together and whisper the words every part of me demands be said.

“I love you.” I feel his breathing halt and press another soft kiss to his lips. “I love you too.”

He brings his hands up and cups my face, pulling me in and kissing me as if he can pour all of himself into my being with the act alone. And for once, I do the same. Giving him everything in me without reservation, unable to hold any part of myself back now. And I can practically feel it, taste it. The way our hearts and souls yield to one another, twisting round and round until we’re inextricably entangled, no beginning or ending to be found between us. Simply one being. A never-ending infinity of us.

I wrap my arms around him, holding this new being of us together and he drops his hands to grip the back of my knees, bringing my legs up around his hips as he rises off the ground. We stay locked in our embrace as he walks to the car, only breaking apart when he lets go and my body slides down his as he opens the passenger door.

His eyes are alight with feeling, the lightest I’ve ever seen them. “Have to get you out of this fucking rain.” His lips ghost up as he grabs my waist and lifts me into the Bronco, quickly closing the passenger door.

I take stock of myself as he jogs to his side and hops in, throwing the car into reverse and turning us around before taking off back down the road to… home. I’m covered in the remnants of mud, my clothes sticky with grime and clinging to my body. I can feel the dirt caked to the back of my head and casting my eyes Coop’s way, I see that he looks even worse off than I am. Hardly any part of him left untouched by our tumble in the mud. He pulls up in front of the house and parks the car, both of us exiting and meeting at the front of it.

The edges of his lips twitch in amusement as he looks at me and holds out his hand. “Come here.”

I take his hand, my voice rough coming out from all the abuse it’s taken today. “You don’t look much better, in case you were wondering.”

“Of that I have no doubt.” He chuckles as he pulls me into the house.

Coop leads me through the house to the bathroom, letting go of my hand to reach in and turn on the spray of water in the walk-in shower. I slide off my shoes as he comes back to me and hold up my arms, letting him pull the concert tee over my head. Mourning its loss from the mud. Sliding my arms around his neck, I press our naked chests together as his fingers hook in my shorts and underwear, pushing them down over my hips. He quickly pushes out of his shoes and discards his shorts and underwear as I press soft kisses to his chest.

His hands move to my ass, scooping me up and I tangle my legs behind his back as he walks us into the hot spray, not stopping until my back meets the tile of the shower wall. I can feel him pressing against me, hard with need, but he doesn’t make a move for more and we stay that way. Foreheads dropped against one another, eyes locked in our newfound universe, breathing in sync, hearts thudding away in an answering call through our skin.

Eventually, the mix of the hot water running down my skin and the need building in my core has me making a move. I roll my hips against him, dropping my mouth to drag his bottom lip through my teeth, and he answers by lifting me higher. Lining up his hard cock with my entrance and slowly thrusting inside of me, kissing me deeply as he drags on the feeling of glorious invasion.

My pussy is quivering around him by the time he seats himself fully inside me and breaks our kiss, pulling back to look at me with eyes so full of love they verge on pain.

“I love you.”

I could say it back. It’d be easy at this point. I’m so full of the feeling that it’s shining light into all the dark and damaged corners of me that I’ve never even cared to explore before. Or I could give him more.

“My name—” My voice breaks and I clear my throat. “My name is Eleanor Delacroix.”

He’s silent, eyes clouding over for a minute before he drops his mouth to mine in a gentle kiss. “That’s a pretty name.” He pulls back, lips ghosting up. “Nice to meet you, Eleanor Delacroix. I’m Cooper Monroe.”

Chapter 20

Present Day

If I never set foot in Adam’s Place again, it would be too soon. Jace had dragged me to the bar with him every night this week, saying that he didn’t want to leave me alone so soon after the Morrison brothers had sent their threat. And while I appreciated his concern and most definitely did not want to end up as some lost and forgotten girl on a20/20documentary, if I had to sit inside that bar one more night and chunk quarters into a glass whenever I wasn’t reading my mom’s journals… I was going to lose my mind. I mean, the food was great and I loved watching him sing, but a girl could only sit on the same barstool for so many nights in a row.

It was now Sunday and I had told him enough was enough, that if I didn’t get a little me time to Netflix and chill… Well, I would happily march naked into town and play the bait just to lure the Morrison brothers into making their move.

So despite his sullen look, I had sent him off to work with a smile and a promise to lock the door, not answer it for anyone but him, and absolutely not watchBridgertonwithout him.

We had been switching off nights between his boat and Gram’s place ever since the day of the threat and I had put the show on one night despite his groan of protest. But color me shocked, after only one episode he demanded I go back and start from the beginning of season one so he could understandthe backstory. I had cocked a brow and thrown him a disbelieving look at the explanation but kept my mouth shut. Not needing to say what both of us knew.

The little shit was hooked.

But one could only be so strong in the face of regency romance temptation, especially in the midst of season two when things were just starting to get good, which was why I was watching Anthony capitalRrakeBridgertonchase after….

Shit. Was that the front door?

I slam the laptop closed on the bed, eyes darting around my gram’s room nervously. But the front is locked so…

My stomach churns as I push back the covers, trying to move as quietly as possible. If it is an intruder, I don’t want to go banging around and alerting them of my location. I press the tips of my toes to the floor first and hold my breath as I stand, eyes scanning the room for any kind of weapon and coming up empty.

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