The One Real Thing (Hart's Boardwalk) (39 page)

Satisfaction.

The word just didn’t suffice for how much pleasure this man could give me.

Cooper moved back up my body and when I opened my eyes I stared straight into his. He had his hands braced on either side of my head, his lower body pressed to mine.

I melted all over again at the love in his eyes. Somehow I found the strength to draw him to me and I kissed him, still hungry, as I tasted myself on his tongue.

I broke the kiss before he did, eager to love him back just as much. Gently, I pressed my fingers against his shoulder and pushed him onto his back. Lust flared in Cooper’s eyes as he lay back on the bed for me, his cock straining toward his belly. I needed it inside me. But I fought for patience, wanting to enjoy him.

I lowered my head and Cooper groaned before I even touched him. When I wrapped my mouth around him, the muscles in his abs contracted and his hips flexed against me. “Jessica,” he huffed out, as his fingers threaded through my hair. “Fuck, Jess.”

I licked along the underside of his cock first, teasing him for only a few seconds before I began to suck, tasting the salty heat of him. At the same time as I moved my mouth, I pumped the root with my hand.

His pants of excitement filled my ears, making my nipples pebble with desire. I grew slicker, my hips moving of their own accord with need, as I turned relentless in my urge to pleasure Cooper.

I looked up at his face from under my lashes, loving the worshipful look in his low-lidded eyes. The color was high on his cheeks and his chest rose and fell in shallow breaths as I chased his orgasm for him. I slid my free hand up over his lower abs, feeling the sheen of sweat on his skin.

I groaned and he squeezed his eyes shut, his teeth gritted together as he choked out my name.

“I’m coming,” he warned, but instead of jerking back like I usually did I stayed put, hungry for everything from him.

I sucked him through his climax, something I’d never done before, and he shuddered in aftershocks for a while.

When I felt him relax under me, felt his cock soften, I pulled back to stare at him.

He stared back at me in wonder.

Feeling smug, I hopped off the bed, putting a little more swing in my naked hips as I strolled into the bathroom.

Freshened up, I returned a minute later. Cooper watched me, like a hunter, as I sauntered back out, his eyes dropping to my breasts as they bounced with my movement.

Mine dropped to his dick, excited and impressed as the blood began to surge back into it.

Smiling, I crawled onto the bed and back up his body.

He moved, quick like lightning, and I let out a yelp of laughter and surprise as he flipped me on my back. My laughter was swallowed up in his deep kiss and I wrapped myself around him. There was no high like the high of knowing the guy you loved wanted you with a ferocity that showed no sign of dying.

Cooper broke the kiss to put his lips all over me again, loving my breasts, my stomach; and where his mouth went, his hands followed, squeezing my breasts gently before skimming down to my waist. He rested on his knees and I gazed down at him, breathless with anticipation.

I cried out, feeling sensitive when his thumb pressed down on my clit.

And then he pushed two fingers inside me and I arched my back, spreading my legs to take him deeper.

He was in the mood to tease, torment, but I was so turned on from sucking him off that my patience was nearing its limit.

“Jess,” he groaned, thrusting his fingers in and out of me. “You’re soaked.”

“I like you in my mouth,” I groaned.

“Heaven,” he said, his eyes dark. “Fucking heaven sent.”

I bit my lip at his sweet words, trying to suppress my smile and failing. “Coop . . . come inside me. Please.”

He could never resist my “please.”

He gently eased his fingers out of me and then coasted both hands up my body as he moved upward.

“Now.” I tilted my hips against him.

Cooper narrowed his sensual gaze, and excitement volleyed through me as he roughly pushed my legs farther apart and then slammed inside of me.

My back bowed as I cried out in pleasured relief. I loved the swelling, overwhelming thickness of him inside of me. When we were like this, nothing else existed.

To my surprise, since I’d assumed he was going to take me hard and fast, Cooper dragged almost all the way out of me in a slow, torturous stroke, before pressing back in, in an equally torturously slow thrust.

My eyes were locked on his face, mesmerized by his expression, by the mixture of primal sexuality and love in his eyes. Every muscle in his body was locked, tensed, as he strained to love me gently, slowly, tenderly.

His eyes moved over me, watching my lips shape his name, watching my breasts quiver against his thrusts, and I saw his control begin to wane.

“Jess, fuck, I love you,” he choked out as if he was in pain.

“I love you, too. I love you more than anyone,” I told him, needing him to know he wasn’t alone in this. Not ever.

My words snapped what little control he was holding on to and suddenly he was pushing harder, moving faster, deeper inside of me. “Come for me, Jess,” he commanded, his voice guttural. “Give me everything.”

“I am. I will,” I promised, pumping my hips into his strokes. “Always.”

His lips parted and he faltered for a second. “Jess,” he choked out on a harsh pant and I felt his cock throb hard inside me before his release triggered my own.

My inner muscles pulsed around his throbbing, straining cock and we shuddered together in climax.

Cooper collapsed against me and I somehow managed to find the strength to wrap my arms around him.

I felt his awe without him having to say a word because I was feeling the same awe.

We’d never climaxed together like that before.

In fact, I’d never experienced anything like that before.

“Wow,” I finally whispered.

His body shook against mine, his cock twitching inside me, and warmth suffused me at the feel of his amusement all around me. Cooper lifted his head, his eyes smiling into mine. “Understatement, Jess.” He murmured against my mouth. “Wow is an understatement.”

I laughed, the sound joining his laughter.

And that was how we began our new life together.

“You can do it,” he whispered, giving her waist a squeeze.

They were lying in bed, a little sleep deprived after the best night of his life, and Jessica had just told him about Matthew giving her Theresa’s number.

He’d suggested she call while he was there to support her.

“Maybe it’s too early.” Jess stared at her phone. “It’s only six o’clock there.”

“I don’t think she’ll mind.”

She heaved a shaky sigh and pressed the call button. Her hazel eyes flew to his, wide with fear. He squeezed her waist again, wishing he could take the fear away.

But only the woman on the other end of the line could do that.

“Hello.” Jessica suddenly tensed, alert. “Theresa?” She grabbed Cooper’s hand and held on for dear life. “It’s Jessica.” Whatever her aunt said to her in return made tears well in Jess’s eyes.

He held his breath, worried he’d done the wrong thing in encouraging her to contact her family.

But then Jess smiled, and the tears spilled down her cheeks. “It’s good to hear your voice, too.”

Cooper grinned and relaxed, lying down, his head on the pillow, to watch his woman’s face light with joy and relief as she talked softly with her aunt.

Joey was sitting in a booth at the back of the bar, watching the cartoons Cooper had put on the television for him.

It was never an inconvenience for his sister and nephew to drop by to see him, at home or before the bar opened, but the morning after he’d had the best night of his life, on the morning when he’d sat with Jess while she had an emotional talk with her aunt, Cooper wasn’t really in the mood for a lecture from Cat.

And the look she was giving him screamed lecture.

She glanced over at her son to make sure he was happily preoccupied before turning to scowl at Cooper. “You’re back with her?” she hissed.

“Yes.” His tone told her not to argue with him.

It only made Cat narrow her eyes. “Did she tell you whatever the hell it is she’s hiding?”

“Yes.”

Surprise flickered over her expression, softening it. “Really?”

Cooper sighed and leaned toward her. “Really. And believe me when I say I understand why she was so fucked up about it. But we’re all good now.”

“Well, what was the secret?”

He loved his sister, but sometimes she was a nosy brat. “None of your damn business.”

“You’re my brother. Of course it’s my damn business.”

“You shouldn’t be using the word ‘damn’!” Joey called over to them, his eyes still on the screen.

Amusement flooded Cooper and he saw the laughter mirrored in his sister’s gaze. Her amusement fled as she continued to study him. “I’m glad Jessica told you what was going on with her . . . but she knows she can’t pull this crap again, right?”

The only thing that stopped him from getting impatient with her lack of faith in Jess was the fact that it came from a place of absolute love. And the truth was that if their roles were reversed and some
guy had messed Cat about, he probably wouldn’t exactly be forgiving. “I don’t think she will, but that doesn’t mean there might not be speed bumps along the way. Jess has been through a hell of a lot.”

Sympathy softened Cat. “Is she okay?”

“She will be,” he promised.

“I really wish I knew what she’s been through. I’m imagining all sorts of horrible things.”

He remembered Jess’s words from the other night. “You couldn’t imagine how horrible the truth is.”

Cat flinched. “God, Coop,” she muttered.

“Maybe one day she’ll tell you her story—but it is her story to tell.”

His sister heaved a sigh but nodded. “It’s hard to imagine she’s been through anything that horrible. She hides it well.”

“She’s tough. She’s . . . amazing.”

Cat suddenly smiled at him. “You really love her.”

He nodded. No point bullshitting about it.

“You never spoke about Dana the way you speak about Jess.”

“Dana and I were just kids. We didn’t know what love is—confused sex for love.”

Her nose wrinkled. “Right.”

He grinned. “Conversation over.”

“Yup. Once my brother utters the word ‘sex’ I go temporarily deaf.” She glanced over at Joey. “He’ll be glad. He likes Jessica a lot.”

“Always trust a kid’s instincts.”

“Or at least my kid’s instincts.”

They shared a proud smile just as a knock came at the bar door, seconds before it was pushed open. The sight of Jessica brought on a flood of memories of their night together. He’d kept reaching for her throughout the night, unable, it seemed, to get enough of her.

Now she was walking into his bar with this flushed glow on her face, not just from the sex, but from her talk with Theresa, and that made him feel damn pleased with himself. It took him a second to realize she wasn’t alone.

Really
not alone.

Confused, Cooper frowned, watching as Jess, along with Bailey, Iris, Ira, Vaughn, Dahlia, and Emery, filtered into his bar.

“Jess!” Joey shouted, running across the bar to her. He skidded to a stop inches from her and Jessica grinned, putting an arm around his shoulder to draw him against her.

“How you doing, Joe?” she said, fondness written all over her face.

Joey looked up at her, frowning. “Where have you been?”

She gave him a look of apology. “I had some things to take care of. But I’m back now.”

His nephew grinned. “Did Uncle Coop tell you he bought a puppy?”

Oh, shit.

Yeah.

He had forgotten to tell her about that.

Jess’s eyes flew to him and she looked like she was struggling not to laugh. “He did not.”

Cooper smiled at her. “An Old English sheepdog. The litter is only a few weeks old. I pick him up in five weeks.”

“An Old English sheepdog? Those are pretty big, aren’t they?”

“I wasn’t going to get a teacup.” In all the times he’d imagined getting a dog it had been a big one like Chester, his mom’s St. Bernard. He’d loved that dog growing up.

She shook her head, smiling. “Big it is.”

“Uh, can we get on with this?” Tremaine said, looking impatient and bringing Cooper back to his original confusion.

“What’s everyone doing here?”

Tremaine gestured to Jessica. “Apparently your good doctor here has a plan to stop Devlin.”

She hadn’t said a word about a plan to him the night before. Although to be fair they hadn’t done much talking the night before.

Jess glanced down at Joey and then over at Cat.

Cat shrugged at the unasked question. “As long as no one is
planning to swear or plot a murder, he’s fine. Joey won’t say a word about what happens here, will you, kid?”

Joey mimicked zipping his mouth closed.

Cat made a
See?
gesture.

Satisfied, Jess turned to address everyone. “Between myself and Bailey informing you all, everyone is up to speed with Ian Devlin’s suspected plans to blockade the renewal of Cooper’s liquor license?”

They all nodded, but Cooper tensed. He hadn’t wanted this to be anyone else’s problem. The whole point was to get Tremaine to deal with it so no one else would worry about how far Devlin was willing to go to get real estate on the boardwalk.

He gave Tremaine a look that said as much, but the bastard just smirked at him and turned back to Jess.

“We don’t know who it is on the city board of licenses that Devlin has bribed. And we don’t need to. All we need to do is a little bribing ourselves.” She shot Cooper a reassuring look before turning back to his neighbors. “I propose that you all sign a petition stating you will close your doors if Cooper’s liquor license—or Antonio’s, or the hotel’s or the inn’s—is not renewed. We’ll take the petition to the city board of licenses and tell them that we’ve received word that someone on the board has been bribed. If that turns out to be true, and they don’t do something about it, all doors on the boardwalk will be closed.”

Tremaine scowled at her. “You really think they will believe that businesses that rely on tourism to survive will close their doors during the season?”

“Yes.” She gave him a wicked smile. “Because those businesses’ owners are friends with Vaughn Tremaine and he will be willing to supplement their income until the petition is met by the city board.”

Cooper almost choked at the horrified look on Tremaine’s face.

“You’re fucking joking, right?” said Vaughn.

Jess clapped her hands over Joey’s ears as Cat snapped, “Hey, kid in the room!”

He held up a hand. “Apologies. But still.” He glowered at Jess. “Are you kidding?”

“It’s just a bluff, Vaughn. Everyone knows you have more money than Croesus. You could keep a number of families afloat for a good while.”

“No one in their right mind would believe that I would do this.”

“He’s right.” Bailey stared at him in disgust. “He’s a selfish, coldhearted bastard. I can’t believe you seriously thought he’d help Cooper out, Jess.”

An iciness Cooper had never seen before crept into Tremaine’s eyes as he stared at Bailey. His tone was equally chilly when he said, “You won’t taunt me into doing this, Miss Hartwell.”

Cooper had had enough. “Look,” he said, rounding the bar, “I appreciate Jess organizing this, and you all coming to hear her out, but Tremaine and I are already on it.”

Bailey’s eyebrows hit her hairline. “
He’s
helping you?”

“I can be helpful when I want to be,” Tremaine said.

“I’ve never seen that side of you.”

“I only help the people I like.”

It was a direct hit. The first one Cooper had ever seen him volley at Bailey. It seemed he’d had enough of her insults.

Bailey tried to hide her flinch, but it was there.

Tremaine saw it and Cooper watched the muscle in his jaw flex as he jerked his eyes away from her.

Huh.

Maybe Jess was right about those two.

Not that Cooper had time to think about that disaster waiting to happen. “As I said, I appreciate you all coming here, but we’ll take care of it.”

Jess scowled at him. “Do you have a plan?”

“Not yet.”

“Well, I do.”

Dahlia spoke up. “I’m signing the petition. Devlin can’t get away
with trying to bully us. If we stand together he has way less chance of taking from one of us.”

“We’re signing, too,” Iris said.

“We are?” Ira frowned at her, saw her expression, and then turned to the rest of the room. “We are.”

“And me,” Emery said, surprising everyone in the room. She blushed when they all looked at her. “I have . . . um . . . If Mr. Tremaine . . .” She blushed even harder as Tremaine focused on her. “If Mr. Tremaine is uncomfortable with being used as part of the financial bluff . . . I . . . um . . .”

Jesus.
Cooper sighed. It was uncomfortable watching Emery struggle, and he was relieved when Jess let go of Joey to walk over to her friend to place a supportive hand on her shoulder.

It seemed to bolster Emery. “I inherited my grandmother’s company. It’s worth quite a bit and as a company it is . . . well . . . its profits are public.” She looked at Jessica, her fondness for his woman evident. “You’re welcome to say that I will be a benefactor to those who would lose income by shutting down.”

He could see Jess was as surprised by this information as the rest of them. With Emery not growing up in Hartwell, no one had really known her story. Wealthy grandmother was a new one to all of them.

“That’s so great of you, Emery,” Dahlia said, giving her shoulder a squeeze.

Emery flushed but gave Dahlia a smile.

“I’m signing, too.” Bailey gave Tremaine a look that would have made Cooper want to crawl behind his bar if she’d shot it his way. “It looks like we don’t need you after all.”

Tremaine flicked his glance from Bailey to Emery. “It was smarter keeping your wealth to yourself, Miss Saunders.” He ignored her blush and turned back to Cooper. “We’ll use me as the bluff. And no one outside of this room learns about Miss Saunders’s inheritance.” His gaze fixed on Cat.

She huffed. “Why are you looking at me?”

“Your son.”

“Joey won’t say anything.”

“I won’t say anything,” Joey said, piping up.

“I don’t get it.” Bailey looked at him suspiciously, her eyes moving between him and Emery. “Why?”

He gave her a suffering look. “I come from a world of wealth, Miss Hartwell. When a single woman has a lot of wealth it brings out the worst kind of scum to fleece her. When a woman is as beautiful as Miss Saunders, the more scum come scurrying out to get to her and her money.”

Emery blushed redder than Cooper had ever seen.

“Why would you care?” Bailey snapped.

“Why do you care if I care?”

“I don’t.”

“Oh, it certainly looks that way.”

“Enough!” Jessica huffed. “Fine. Vaughn is right.” She gripped Emery’s hand. “It was sweet that you trust us, Em, but no one else should know your business.”

“I feel a little stupid,” Cooper thought he heard her mutter.

“Don’t,” Jessica said. “You
can
trust us.”

“I’d assume Devlin already knows about it,” Iris said, eyeing Emery in concern. “That’s why he hasn’t bothered her. He knows Emery’s got the financial backing to defend herself against him.”