Upside Down (Breaking the Rules #3) - A.M. Madden Page 0,48
and laughter woke me from a sound sleep and curiosity had me investigating. There they were, naked on a chaise, and one was blowing the other.” As was typical whenever I recalled that night, lust over witnessing their intimacy, mingled with a touch of shame from watching it, churned within me.
Cooper continued to remain quiet over the line. “Of course, I’d seen plenty of movies of a man and woman having sex, and because I suspected I was gay, I had snooped around online, trying to find anything I could on men with men as well. It wasn’t as accessible back then. But seeing it in person, having a front-row seat, had me pulling out my dick and using them to get off. Until then, I never came as hard as I had that night, and that says a lot for a teen who jacked off constantly.”
“So what does that say for me right now that my dick is hard just hearing about it?”
The visual spurred an involuntary groan. “I think you know what that says, Cooper.” Needing to know something that had pricked at the doubts I held on to, I then asked, “Has a visual of a woman fucking a man ever made you hard?”
He audibly dragged in a breath. “My excitement while with a woman is usually dependent on being physical. Watching people having sex or hearing about it never did it for me… until recently.” I wanted to say that spoke volumes, but I remained silent, allowing him to draw his own conclusion. “Is this common?”
“What?”
“This insane attraction we have. Is it a normal thing?”
“Not for me. I’m guessing that scares you?”
“No. We already know my dick wants what he wants. And now I think it’s safe to say my heart does as well,” he then admitted, yet again shocking the shit out of me.
“Does it now?”
“Yeah, it does.” Hearing such a forthright claim knocked my cockiness back a step or two. Despite my reservations going into this thing that seemed to be happening with us, despite the protective shield I’d hid behind after Corey fucked me up as he had, I wanted to admit the same. But for some reason, I couldn’t bring myself to do so.
Instead, I asked, “The question—what are you going to do about it?”
“I think…” He paused and amended by saying, “Actually, I know that it’s time to turn some fantasies I have regarding you into realities.”
“That admission comes with consequences, Cooper,” I threatened. I’d say it again… this wasn’t a game, and he needed to know his words held weight.
“I’m well aware,” he retorted without an ounce of hesitancy.
Fuck, if I was anywhere near him, he’d be naked beneath me in a heartbeat. But he was there, and I was here, and it looked like my hand would be pathetically supplying another night’s worth of relief because of this damn man.
Somehow it was already the middle of June. I’d been away for three weeks, and yet it felt like a year.
When Bella Viaggi pulled into port that morning, I successfully swapped places with Martin, who had returned in time for the next journey. Cooper had no idea my temporary assignment covering for Martin was now over. In fact, I also kept that from Marco, who was too busy pacing his home, waiting for his wife to go into labor. And I kept it from Rebecca, mainly because she had a big mouth.
It wasn’t until I walked into my apartment that I let the cat out of the bag and called Cooper.
He answered with, “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing. Why?” I acted dumb while grabbing a bottle of water from the fridge.
“You should be running around doing your thing, being all charming, for the next voyage.”
“That is assuming I’m on the next voyage,” I countered. “Martin’s back.”
“Where are you now?”
“My apartment.” I couldn’t tell if his silence was a good thing or a bad thing. “You there?”
“I’m here. I’m sure you have a ton to do.” It was clear he was probing.
“I do… but first on the list is to see you.” There, I said it. I finally left no doubt as to what I wanted from him. Until then, I’d kept things vague by letting him do all the talking. And he’d talked a great game these past few weeks. But without the miles separating us, there was no valid excuse to keep pussyfooting around our relationship, for lack of a better word.
If taking things to the next level was what he wanted,