She rolled her eyes as she stood. “It won’t get better, you know. You can’t ignore them forever. The cost is high. The physical pain will be excruciating. And the mental anguish just as bad. Nothing will get them out of your head.”
“Yeah. I’m beginning to see that.” He stood next to her and followed her to the door.
She hugged him and then jogged toward her car without looking back.
Chapter Fourteen
Sharon lay on her bed trying to get comfortable. And failing.
She curled onto her side, drew her knees up to her chest, and still she shivered. She wasn’t cold. She was agitated. Every muscle in her body flexed and released at will as though she had the flu.
A knot in the pit of her stomach grew with every passing hour. She had stripped off her stifling jeans and sweater when they returned to the condo and put on a pair of loose pink boxers and a white tank top. She hadn’t bothered with a bra. This was her usual sleep attire anyway. And Cooper could go to hell if he didn’t like it.
She needed rest.
He hadn’t met her gaze when she padded into the kitchen after changing to get a glass of orange juice. Instead, he’d kept his face angled toward his computer where he sat at her glass table already surrounded by piles of documents.
That had been an hour ago. Since then she’d climbed under the covers and closed her eyes. But sleep wouldn’t come. Cooper’s scent was everywhere. Even though he was in the other room down the hall, she could smell him. And Jackson too. His scent lingered strong in the condo nearly twelve hours after he left.
Twelve hours.
Twelve long hours.
How long could they do this?
They had no choice but to wait. He needed to come to them on his terms. If he felt pressured or rushed or forced, it wouldn’t bode well.
Seconds ticked by in slow motion.
The only thing Sharon could think about was her men. No other thoughts were allowed to squeeze past them haunting her visions. When she closed her eyes, she could see them both, hovering over her. Her imagination repeatedly got carried away to thoughts of the future.
Both men sprawled out at her sides…
Cooper pressing his impressive cock into her warmth…
Jackson licking a path from her pussy to her clit…
The claiming itself…
Her nipples puckered. They’d been stiff for so long she didn’t remember what it was like not to have them rubbing against her shirt, sensitive to the point of pain.
She clenched her legs tighter to stave off the need to touch her clit.
Cooper was in the other room. He would lose his mind if she masturbated down the hall. She could lock the door and give herself some relief without fear of being seen, but she knew she wasn’t quiet when she came. And the torture to Cooper would be too much.
She moaned into the pillow and gripped it tighter with her fists to keep her hands from roaming down between her legs.
“Baby…” Cooper’s voice was gentle and close. She’d been so distracted in her own world she hadn’t notice him approach, and that was saying something because his scent filled her nostrils.
She didn’t open her eyes. “Can’t.”
He sat on the edge of her bed and laid a hand on her thigh, his warmth penetrating her through the blanket. “I’m so sorry.”
“I know.” She could barely hear herself. “Me too.”
“This is largely my fault. I should have handled things better, maybe not barged in last night. If I’d given you time to talk to him first… My cocky attitude didn’t help.”
She spoke again, her face still tipped toward the pillow. “You can’t blame yourself. This isn’t your doing. I can’t expect you to have ignored what you knew last night and gone home. Besides, don’t forget, you were the only one of us who knew the truth. Without you coming over, I would have spent the evening trying to get into Jackson’s pants and not understanding why we got thwarted at every turn.”
He chuckled. “True. Though that might have been comical to see.”
She tipped her head back to glare at him. “You did see it. Remember? Here. In my room. First a spirit, then a phone, then a fucking earthquake to stop us from having sex.”
“True.”
“Stop touching me. I’m dying.”
He released her thigh, though he really hadn’t had any direct contact with her skin. “Should I go to him?”
“No. At least not yet.”
Cooper nodded. He adjusted his cock for the millionth time and stared at her. “You’re so sexy. Even curled up in a ball on your bed as if you were sick, you take my breath away.”
“You say that to all the girls.”
He chuckled again. “Sure. There are so many of them.”