He takes a step back, letting his eyes wander over me with his bottom lip tucked between his teeth.
This is the most exposed I’ve ever been to him.
I thought I’d be more scared of this part. Too nervous to stand before him like this.
I’m not.
It feels so…right.
Natural.
Like being with Cooper like this is where I was always supposed to be.
“They match?” he asks, his eyes still scanning my body, surprised to see that my bra and panties do indeed match.
I nod, so happy I wore my lacy pale pink set tonight.
“For him?” he asks, referring to my long-forgotten date.
I shake my head. “No. They always do.”
“This is what you’ve been hiding from me all these years?”
It’s a question, but not one he really wants an answer to.
He mutters something I can’t quite make out, then slides his gaze to mine.
“You’re so fucking sexy, Caroline.”
Now I’m blushing.
He’s complimented me before, but the way he’s rasping out his words now… It’s a whole different level.
He steps into me, tucking my hair behind my ear and tilting my chin up.
“I need to know you’re one hundred percent okay with this. Because if I take this towel off, there’s no going back.”
“I’m still wearing something,” I counter.
“Not for long,” he promises, his eyes darker than I’ve ever seen them before.
I gulp.
Am I ready? Do I want this?
Yes.
“I want you, Cooper.”
He closes his eyes, pressing his forehead against mine.
“Fuck I love hearing you say that.” I hear him swallow. “I want to take my time. I want to be gentle. But I…I don’t know if I can.”
“Then don’t. I don’t want you to hold back. I want you. All of you.”
The words are barely out of my mouth before his lips are on mine and he’s kissing me harder than he ever has before, hands crashing through my hair.
He pulls away just as fast, still holding on to me.
“Take your panties off and get on the bed.”
“What?” I ask, my head all fuzzy from the kiss.
“The bed,” he tells me, putting distance between us. “Take your panties off and get on the bed.”
I nod and reach behind my back to unhook my bra, but he stops my efforts. “No. Later.”
“But—”
“I said later.”
His voice is firm. Rough.
I’ve never heard him like this before, but I’ve also never been like this with him before.
I like it. A lot.
I nod again, licking my lips, and follow his instructions. I push my panties down my legs, stepping out of them and kicking them toward my shorts.
I turn, dropping a knee onto the bed. Cooper strikes my ass with an open palm…hard. I gasp and a rush of pleasure shoots through parts of me I didn’t expect.
“You good?” he asks, and I nod.
He does it again.
It hurts, but in a good kind of way.
Jesus. No wonder River likes it when Dean smacks her ass.
“Keep going,” he says, massaging where he struck me, then patting me encouragingly. “Against the headboard.”
I do as he says, turning to face him.
I don’t know what to do with my hands. Don’t know how to sit.
It feels so strange having him stand at the end of the bed watching me, yet so hot having his devoted attention.
“Spread your legs.”
I gulp, and my breathing picks up at the request.
He dips his head toward me. “Do it, Caroline.”
Has he always said my name like that? With that rasp? With that authority like he owns me and he knows it?
Slowly, I spread my legs.
And Cooper lets out another string of curses, dropping his hand to his hard cock for the first time, squeezing it through the towel he’s still wearing.
“Perfect,” he murmurs. “Absolutely fucking perfect.”
My entire body is on fire—from my blushing so hard due to being so exposed, and from the pure need burning through me due to how incredibly turned on I am under his hungry gaze.
“Wider.”
I oblige.
I guarantee if I were to move right now, there’d be a wet spot soaking through his sheets.
“Touch yourself.”
This time I don’t even try to argue or hesitate.
I want it as bad as he does.
I slip my hand between my legs, sliding two fingers between my folds, drawing small circles over my swollen clit.
“Son of a…”
He drops the towel.
I’m not a saint—I’ve seen Cooper around the house in sweatpants. A girl pays attention to things like that, especially when the outline of his dick is always so evident.