161
" I’m not leaving the bathroom. Nothing out there is as sexy as in here.”
“Hell yeah,” he groaned. “Don’t tease though. I’m this close to turning the water to cold.”
“Or you could fix your problem.”
Cooper squinted at me. “Really?”
Pulling off my shirt, I lowered my bra. Standing closer to the shower door, I stretched. “Here’s your visual inspiration. I could lick my lips a lot if you think it’d help?”
“Fucking A,” he said, stroking himself. “Say my name.”
“Cooper,” I moaned softly, rolling my nipples between my thumbs and index fingers like he always did. “Oh, Cooper, I’m yours. I need you. I wish you were inside me, Cooper.”
His gaze held mine as I teased myself and he stroked his cock. I eventually just looked at where he worked himself closer to relief. Soon, I licked my lips while thinking about making him feel good using my hand.
While I didn’t know how long Cooper had been in a state of heat, it didn’t take him long to find relief. I doubted it would take him long to need more relief. To prolong his comfort, I immediately dressed and left the bathroom.
Cooper appeared buck naked a few minutes later and I wondered if lunch should wait. Somehow, I’d gotten myself into a state of heat.
“Some of it’s genetics,” he teased, retrieving boxers from his dresser. “The rest is hard work.”
“I have a response, but I don’t want you getting worked up again.”
“Give it five minutes and the memory of you touching yourself and… Fuck it, I didn’t need five minutes. "
― Bijou Hunter , Damaged and the Beast (Damaged, #1)
162
" Finishing her cigarette, Raven put it out in the ashtray then sighed. “I never really bought into the God thing. Religion felt like a lie men told to make people listen to them. Mostly, it seemed dumb to think a magic man in the sky cared about us. Like if I was a magic man and could make the earth or whatever, I wouldn’t waste time on helping out losers.”
Raven set the ashtray on the ground and crossed her arms as if cold. “I see what Lark has now with you, this house, the ugly dogs, her friends, and now the baby. It makes me think God might exist. While losers run in our family, Lark could be more if she let herself. Now she has more and I think God might have helped her out. I prayed someone would. Even not believing, I prayed and told God if He was real and wanted me to believe that He needed to help Lark. I guess He heard me because she’s happy like I’ve never seen her happy before. Not even when Phoenix was alive and we were the best we ever were as a family.”
“I’m glad you’re here and you’re welcome to stay as long as you want, but, Raven, my dogs aren’t ugly.”
She laughed and tapped her foot against mine. “You’re a good guy. I know I said that before, but I didn’t think you would be. I’ve been around and good guys are rare.”
“They exist though.”
Raven nodded. “I need to quit men the way I need to quit smoking. Just go cold turkey. If I try to be rational about it, I’ll fool myself into falling for another creep. No, just say enough is enough all that shit. Focus on other stuff like a job and roller derby and family.”
“If you ever get sick of living here, the Johanssons have an apartment that Cooper used to live in.”
“There are plenty of apartments in Ellsberg.”
“Yeah, but if you want to avoid loser men, those apartments won’t help. They’re full of assholes. College shitheads and lowlife fuckers. If you stay out there with the Johanssons, no man will bother you. You might even like Bailey. She’s an acquired taste, but a good friend if you can deal with her mouth.”
“Bossy bitches are my favorite,” Raven said, pulling her knees up to her chest.
“No hurry moving out though. Lark is feeling unsure about stuff and having you here makes her feel more centered. Like she’s combining her old life with her new one and it fits.”
“I just have one question, bud,” Raven said, standing up and ready to leave the cold evening. “Are you planning to fix her damn worm?”
“I don’t normally tattoo pregnant women.”
“You really going to have your kid born to a chick with a worm tattoo?”
Smiling at Raven, I nodded. “I don’t want to do anything to jinx the pregnancy. Since we’ve been together, Lark was hurt by Larry, got into a fight with my ex, and had to hide under the table during a bar brawl. I want the rest of her pregnancy to be as pain free as possible.”
“Sissy,” she said, grinning. “I’m really glad you aren’t an asshole. It was a pleasant surprise.”
“Glad you approve, but don’t mock my dogs again and stop barking at Pollack.”
“Fuck off,” she said over her shoulder while walking inside. "
― Bijou Hunter , Damaged and the Cobra (Damaged, #3)
163
" Listen up, nerd,” he said, glancing over his shoulder while I wrapped myself against his back. “Man, you feel good like that.”
“Your huge brain is working at a wavelength I don’t understand. Repeat what you just said in a dumb way so I’ll understand what my being a nerd has to do with you liking this,” I said, wiggling my hips against him before raking his back with my breasts.
After giving me a groan followed by a naughty grin, Cooper sighed. “I can’t even remember what the hell we were talking about,” he said, wrapping my arms tighter around him. “Oh, yeah, you being a nerd. So don’t worry about getting carded. The Kirk in Whiskey Kirk’s is my pop and he doesn’t care if you get wasted. He doesn’t believe in laws.”
“I’m not drinking.”
“Farah, you need to relax and enjoy life.”
“I come from a long line of drunks and addicts, so I’m not relaxing and enjoying life if it means I become like my loser relatives.”
Cooper glanced back at me and smiled. “Did you take a shower before I showed up because you’re hella feisty?”
“Do they have good food at this bar?” I asked, ignoring his question.
“Burgers, hot wings, only the best bar food in Kentucky. You just keep holding on while I see if I can concentrate with your tits pushed up against me like that.”
“I had them pushed up the other night and you concentrated fine.”
“That’s because you were wearing your uniform and I forgot you had tits. No forgetting today.”
“If you ever want to be friends with them, you really need to stop calling them tits. They don’t like that.”
“Yes, mam,” he said, laughing as he pushed off and drove away from the apartment. "
― Bijou Hunter , Damaged and the Beast (Damaged, #1)
167
" I think about you when I’m alone,” I whispered.
Cooper’s expression sent me into hysterics. Everything from horny boy to shock to joyous relief got stuck into one weird facial expression. Even after I was laughing, he seemed unable to respond.
“You’re a wicked little bitch, aren’t you?” he finally said, adjusting in his chair.
“Stop calling me a bitch.”
“I call everyone that. My sisters, my dogs even the male ones, my brother, my Harleys. I called a squirrel a bitch yesterday. To be fair, the little furry bitch had it coming.”
Laughing behind my hand, I finally settled down and returned to eating. “I don’t masturbate. What’s it like?”
Cooper spit out his soda then glared at me. “You timed that.”
“Yes, I did. It’s not fun having someone mess with you, is it?”
“Oh, it’s on. Since you asked, masturbating is a great stress releaser. You know what else is?”
“Is this going to make me vomit?”
“Probably,” he said, laughing. “Yeah, I should wait until you finish eating. Dry heaves are the worst.”
Chewing and laughing, I struggled not to choke. "
― Bijou Hunter , Damaged and the Beast (Damaged, #1)
169
" So are you bailing? Is that what this is?” he muttered, staring angrily at me.
“I have your number. If I wanted to bail, I would have called and told you to fuck off.”
Cooper exhaled hard then looked around the courtyard. Returning his gaze to me, he shook his head. “Why is everything so difficult with you?”
“Because you’re an asshole who makes me feel bad,” I said then added, “On purpose.”
“You wanted me to kiss you. We had a nice dinner and you wanted to be close. I tried to be close and you punished me for it.”
“Fuck you,” I whispered, stepping back against the door. “You knew what you were doing. You figured I liked you more than you liked me, so you could do whatever you wanted. I’m just trash.”
“Fuck you back,” he growled. “There is no way in hell you like me more than I like you. If you did, you wouldn’t keep saying no.”
“So fine, let’s just fuck today and get it over with. That way, you can get on with your life.”
“Shit!” he yelled, walking halfway down the path before turning around and hurrying back. When he reached me, I flinched at the ferocity of his movements.
“I want you so bad, but it’s not just sex. If it was, I’d fuck someone else and pretend she was you then flip you off and move on with my life. I tease you, but it’s not about sex. You fucking know that too.”
“I don’t know anything,” I said, nervous now because I wondered if he might hurt me. Looking like he was ready to hit something, his hands flexed in and out of fists. “I was really happy after dinner. I wanted to bring you here and make out, but then you scared me. You did that on purpose to make me feel weak. Fine, I feel weak and I’m afraid of you.”
Cooper glanced to his right at the sound of people talking. Looking back at me, he lost much of his irritation. “It’s hard being patient, okay?” he said in a needy voice.
“Then, we’ll get it over with today and you won’t have to be patient anymore.”
Cooper’s expression softened into a panicked, almost pained look. “I want all of you. Not just sex. I want you to take down all of your walls for me. It felt so fucking beautiful to see you a little better after you told me about Mrs. Prescott. I felt relieved, but also desperate. I want you to look at me like you did after you told me that story, but I have to wait. I get that.”
“Sex will be another wall.”
“We’re not having sex today,” he said, sighing. “You’re looking at me like I’m a piece of shit that’ll hit you. You actually look afraid of me. No way do you want to have sex and I’m not doing it unless you’re really giving yourself to me. No fake Farah shit. No walled up crap. I want the real you and the real you doesn’t want to have sex with me,” he muttered then added, “Today.”
“Had to put in the disclaimer, huh?” I said, grinning slightly.
“It was too painful not to put it in.”
“I do want to go swimming.”
“And spend time with me?” he asked, nudging me with his knee. “Throw me a bone here. "
― Bijou Hunter , Damaged and the Beast (Damaged, #1)
171
" Cooper gave me a very serious expression. “I’m going to do something. Do not freak out. Be casual. Can you do that?”
“No,” I said in a panic.
Cooper reached behind me and I felt his fingers on my ass. Forcing myself to stay very still, I felt him fiddling around then he pulled his hand away.
“That suit is old and it’s riding up,” he explained, taking a beer from his brother who walked by. “I didn’t want anyone seeing my girl’s ass cheeks.”
“I didn’t notice,” I said, reaching behind me awkwardly.
“It’s too hot out to notice. You’re fine now.”
“You could have just told me,” I said then rolled my eyes. “But why would you when you could touch my ass instead?”
“My girl is pretty fucking smart,” he said, giving me a big bright smile. "
― Bijou Hunter , Damaged and the Beast (Damaged, #1)
173
" Your mom is a great cook,” I said, enjoying the macaroni salad.
“Yeah, self taught. Trial and error. Can you cook?”
“We usually didn’t have a kitchen in the motel. I can warm stuff up, but that’s it.”
Cooper studied me then nodded. “I’d have my mom teach you, but she’s pretty scary in the kitchen. Her way or the highway thing. They have evening classes at the college where they teach cooking. Maybe once you get settled in, you can take a class. I know how my girl loves to learn.”
Swallowing hard, I blurted out, “After we eat, can we go to your bedroom?”
Cooper glanced at the television and sighed. “No fucking way.”
“Why?”
“Your face is why. You look like you might puke.”
“I’m nervous, but I want to.”
“No fucking way times ten, baby,” he said, glancing back at me. “Today is going too damn well. There’s no way I’m ruining it by having sex when you’re still not sure about me.”
“When then?”
“When you look at me and I know you want it. When I know you’re giving with your heart and not that big head of yours.”
“My head isn’t big.”
“Figuratively.”
“Oh, I still don’t think it’s big. I’m an average student. Steady like a tortoise.”
“Don’t talk shit about my girl,” he said, gnawing at a corncob. “She’s fucking brilliant. She likes me after all. "
― Bijou Hunter , Damaged and the Beast (Damaged, #1)
175
" Wiggling my breasts against his back, I waited for the groan.
Cooper glanced back at me and frowned. “I need to start wearing sweatpants or else you’ll kill me.”
“I don’t understand,” I said, batting my eyes innocently. “Are you talking about this?” Wiggling my breasts against him again, I jumped when his hands went to my bare thighs.
Stroking from my hips to knees, Cooper gave me a grin. “I’m getting you naked this weekend. Even if I have to lie, cheat, and steal, I’m hitting a homerun with you, baby.”
“Sure, whatever. Can we leave now?”
“Temptress.”
“Dickhead.”
“Beauty.”
“Stud.”
“A stud that needs sweatpants.”
“If it’s such a hassle, maybe we shouldn’t fool around at my place?”
Cooper just laughed while pulling away from school. He was laughing again when he parked at the curb next to my apartment building.
“What’s so funny?”
“Nothing. When I don’t get enough oxygen to my brain, it gives me the giggles.”
Now, I was laughing as we walked to the front door. “My mom might be home.”
“I’ll be sure to feel you up silently then.”
Grinning, I unlocked the door and pushed it open to find the air conditioner running high.
“My mom sometimes gets overheated.”
“Lady issues. Check. No more info is necessary or desired.”
Shutting the door, I turned down the air conditioner before finding two sodas in the refrigerator.
“I need a shower.”
Cooper stared at me with a pained expression. “Sweatpants.”
Laughing, I left him to my crappy cable. After a quick shower, I changed into a loose tank top and shorts. Feeling daring, I chose to wear panties, but no bra.
Returning to the living room, I found Cooper stretched out with his legs over the coffee table and his arms spread out along the back of the couch. He looked large and menacing then he glanced at me and grinned.
“Would now be a bad time to mention I’m horny?” he asked as I opened my soda and joined him on the couch.
“If I never again heard a single thing about you being horny, I’d still be well informed. "
― Bijou Hunter , Damaged and the Beast (Damaged, #1)
