Sour Cherry(23)

I let go of my anger, sinking further into Cooper’s control and loved every second of it. In the space of a few days, he’d become my life raft as the world crashed down around me and I never wanted to let him go.

Without warning, he bolted upright, his chest smashing against mine as he wound his arms around my waist. With a sharp bite to my shoulder, Cooper sent me over the edge with a mixture of pleasure and pain. It’d never occurred to me that teeth could be used as a sexual instrument and stars appeared in my eyes as I screamed my release. Relief flooded my body as we collapsed together. The scent of sex and sweat mingled in my lungs, chasing away the weight of our external situation.

A satisfied groan escaped his lips and I pulled back in time to see Cooper’s face relax after his completion. I didn’t know if he considered our time together as an entry in his Top 5 list, but I certainly wanted to help him with that.





Chapter Nine

“I liked these,” I said, looking up at Cooper as he unlocked the cuffs, “but not enough to use them again.”

“Again?” He gave me a quick wink. “What makes you think we’ll have the chance to use them again?”

I didn’t answer save for wrapping my legs around his waist as he bent over me. My core brushed against his jeans and I pressed myself into him harder. I gave him the sexiest smile I could muster and pulled him in for a kiss. I absorbed his warmth, all the way down to my bones, and never wanted to let him go.

The realization hit me hard.

What I’d sworn would just be a one-night stand had, in fact, turned into two nights and a playful make-out session at the restaurant. I wanted Cooper, undercover CIA agent and liar, more than I’d wanted anything before. He might have picked me out of that bar for leverage, but he’d come back for me, not his organization or his mission. The evidence showed in his blatant defiance of his superior’s order. Cooper wasn’t going to turn me in. “Why don’t you come back to bed and we can figure it out?”

After a quick peck on my cheek, he pulled away and dressed.

I watched in mild fascination, snuggling beneath the covers. I hadn’t gotten much sleep due to his sudden appearance at my side, but I wasn’t going to complain in the least.

Cooper tossed my jeans onto the bed. “Get dressed.”

“Why?”

The bed indented with his weight as he half-climbed on top of me. His lips remained a hair’s width away as he whispered, “Because I can’t talk to you while you’re naked.”

“Talk is cheap.” Arching my back, I pulled Cooper down on top of me and encircled his waist with my bare skin. “Why don’t you show me what you got?”

A moan escaped his lips and he thrust into me. His jeans scraped along my sensitive ladyparts, impossibly kicking my arousal higher. “I would love to, but my boss is expecting me to report back in an hour.” Cooper jumped out of bed then stared down at me with a sad expression. “I have to explain why I didn’t turn you in to the Outriggers.”

His warm, brown eyes grew distant as he looked at me and I had sensed he didn’t really see me at all. “This is the first time I’ve disobeyed an order.” A humorless smile crept across his face. “Might lose my job.”

My heart sank. I sat up, covering myself with a sheet and stood. Stepping into him, I planted a hand on his chest then moved it to his jawline. His bristled scuff tickled my fingertips as I stroked his face. I’d never apologize for the relief he’d given me when he told me he wouldn’t hand me over to the Outriggers, but why’d he have to put his career in danger for me? I didn’t want to die, but enough people had been hurt by this situation that I couldn’t let it destroy more lives. Especially Cooper’s. “Then why don’t you turn me in? This job is obviously important to you.”

Cooper’s chest rose silently with an inhale. “I won’t throw you to the wolves.”

I dropped my hand. “Then what are you going to tell your boss?”

I’d run through the possibilities over and over again, none of which made me out as nothing more than a criminal. I was a piece of an organization that ran drugs, weapons, and occasionally took lives. Nothing Cooper said to his superiors would change that and they’d want every piece of the puzzle they could find, even if it meant giving me up.

“I don’t know yet,” he answered. “But we need to get you somewhere safe. You can’t stay here. Outriggers have been patrolling this area since your escape.”

“Great.” I wasn’t an integral part in this mess and the CIA had bigger fish to fry. They’d ordered Cooper to turn me in, apparently uncaring what happened to a lowest member on the totem pole. I wasn’t even in the club they were after, but the Outriggers did business with Satan’s Army, and I’d played my part.