In under five minutes, she makes a reservation and enters Cooper’s card information before giving us our card key. “Areyou sure either of you need anything? More bandages? Food? Medicine?”
“A couple of bottles of water and some acetaminophen,” Cooper says, looks at the card and pulls me towards our room for the night.
“You got it.”
We take the stairs to the second floor and head to the left side of the building. He stops in front of the door with the number four on it and taps the card. The door opens and we walk inside. The room has a queen size bed and bench at the end of the bed. Some of the hardwood floors creak under our weight. I help Cooper take his jacket off and I check if I need to change the dress on his wounds. He doesn’t need a doctor or a hospital visit as long as his wounds are clean and he stops bleeding.
I feel him watching me as I check on his dressing and the coloring of his bruises. One thing about being the type of singer I am is that we have so many dance practices, I’m familiar with bruises and how tender they feel under my fingertips. He grabs my wrist and stops me from checking the bruises I can see. I turn around. I’m expecting he is going to tell me something, but what he does is kiss me.
Just a press of lips.
Some of the stress keeping my shoulders tight and back straight leaves.
“I’m okay.”
“I know, but I still want to check.”
“Should I take my shirt off?”
“What for?”
“For you to check the rest of my bruises and cuts.”
I nod. “That would be helpful.”
I help him get his shirt off when there’s a knock on our door. I’m walking to the door, but Cooper grabs my arm and pulls me behind him. He grabs the gun he has on his back and approaches the door. He looks through the little hole in the door and sighs. He opens the door but stays behind it. I see a young woman holding a basket with four bottles of water, a bottle of painkillers and packs of dried fruit, nuts and crackers.
“Ms. Lincoln asked me to deliver this to room four.”
I run to grab the basket and stop her from trying to get a view of a shirtless Cooper. That’s a sight only for me for however long he allows me.
“Thank you. We will not bother you all for the rest of the evening.”
“Oh, no worries. You can bother us at anytime,” she says, biting her lower lip.
I hear Cooper chuckle, but it dies when he sees my glare. I turn, smile at her, thank her, and close the door. I push the basket into Cooper’s arms, grabbing a towel, and close the bathroom door behind me. He can check his own wounds or ask the staff member flirting shamelessly with him a second ago.
I don’t want to sleep in the same clothes we came in, so I wrap the silky robe at the back of the bathroom door before stepping out of the bathroom. Cooper watches my every move before sighing and heads to the bathroom. I make myself comfortable in the bed as I hear the shower run.
I’ve must have fallen asleep because I don’t remember hearing the shower turn off or the door opening. I feel his weight beside me. I turn and see him wearing the other robe. We stay silent for a few minutes before I feel his pinkie finger bumpinginto mine. I bit of electricity runs from my finger to my elbow. A few moments later, another of his finger touches mine and before I know it, he is making circles on the palm of my hand and I feel like I can’t breathe.
His fingers keep caressing mine and my palm until a teeny tiny moan escapes my mouth. It feels like time freezes between us. Next thing I know, he is straddling me and I almost go crossed eyes with how close his face is to mine.
“This is the moment you tell me you don’t want this. Tell me to get back to my side of the bed and to sleep.”
I watch myself in his eyes. Do I want him to go back to his side of the bed? Do I want this? What is this?
“What do you want?” I ask.
“I want to kiss you. I want to open this robe and see your naked body. I want to kiss, lick, and bite every inch of skin available to me. I want to sink myself into you. I want to bring you so much pleasure you stop thinking. I want you to moan my name. I want to make you mine. I want to touch you, taste you, and hear you. I want to convince myself that you are alive and in bliss.”
My breath catches in my throat at his words, the desire in his voice, the heat in his eyes, and the want in my body.
“I want to too, but I’ve never done this.”
“Never done what?”
“This; sex, lovemaking, fucking, whatever people call it nowadays.”
