The Ties That Bind (3 page)

“Now I can take my time and enjoy the scenery,” he crooned, his hand tracing the heated marks on her bottom.

She lifted toward him. If he’d only touch her where she ached between her legs. One touch. That’s all it would take to have her screaming his name.

His voice rasped across her senses. “So sexy. A temptress. Even with my marks on your skin. Let me kiss them for you.”

She whimpered as he placed small kisses where his hand had been.

“You’re so close, aren’t you? The scent of you makes me horny as hell. I’m going to fuck you so good you’ll feel me for the next week.”

Her brain was barely functioning, but she managed to get words past her lips. “All talk and no play. Why don’t you put your money where your mouth it?”

“Why don’t I put something else where my mouth is instead?” he asked.

Claire gasped as his finger circled the tiny rosebud of her anus and she moaned as he pushed against her, entering her slightly.

“God, yes,” she begged. “Just take me. I don’t care how.”

“Do you need to come, baby? Ask me nicely and maybe I’ll give you a slight reprieve.”

Her breath came in pants and her voice came in broken sobs. “Pl—please. Please let me come. I’ll do anything you want.”

“I know you will, baby. Such a good girl when you want to be.” His finger pushed further into her ass and she felt the rasp of his cargo pants as he stood close behind her. “Such a pretty picture,” he said. “My dick thick and hard as it slides right between those rosy ass cheeks. That’s pure heaven.”

The head of his cock pressed against the swollen lips of her pussy just as his finger pushed all the way inside her ass. That’s all it took to make her body implode. The heat started at the base of her spine and crackled like lightning beneath her skin. She didn’t realize how loud she was screaming until she heard Cooper’s soothing voice.

“That’s it, baby. Scream my name as loud as you want.”

Her body shuddered and the swollen flesh between her thighs protested as he pushed the full length of himself deep inside.

“So tight,” he groaned. “Like a glove squeezing against me.”

“Fuck me,” she begged.

“Are you giving orders now? I don’t think so.” He pulled out slowly, her pussy grabbing at him until she wanted to scream in frustration. He swatted her on the bottom with his hand lightly and then pulled out completely.

“You’re going to pay for this,” she panted. “I promise. I’m going to tie you to that bed and find the tightest cock ring I can before riding you into exhaustion. Fuck me now, Cooper. No more teasing.”

“What you choose to do during your time is up to you. But this is my time now, and you won’t be giving me orders. Have I made myself clear?”

His voice was harsh and he flipped her quickly so her back was pressed against the table. He placed her feet so her heels pressed against his shoulders, biting into the skin there.

“Put your hands back up so they’re grabbing the table. You can’t touch me. Only I can touch you.”

She did as he asked. The game was over. She’d do whatever he asked to get what she wanted.

“Please,” her voice broke, and she felt the tears come to her eyes. “I’m begging you.”

He didn’t give her warning. He grasped her hips and thrust deep inside of her with one push. His hands were everywhere, alternating between the rings at her clit and nipples. Electricity gathered at the base of her spine and her skin tingled with the need for release.

Then he leaned over her, her heels pressing harder into his shoulders as her knees were splayed wide. And then his mouth replaced the actions of his hands and she was lost. The sensations were too much. He pistoned in and out between her legs and his lips and teeth and tongue played havoc with her sensitive breasts.

And then everything went black in an instant before exploding into a fractal of colors behind her closed lids. She heard him say her name before he stiffened and filled her with the thick hot jets of his seed.

Claire was grateful for the solitary drive home. It gave her time to think. Her ass still stung and her body ached, but it was the kind of ache she’d beg for again. And again.

But despite the pleasure, she knew in her heart they couldn’t continue to have the kind of relationship they had—both in their marriage and in their sex life—without trust. And that was the problem. The lies that had passed his lips put doubt into her mind. She had to confront him to get the truth. Even if the truth wasn’t something she wanted to hear.

Cooper followed closely behind her in his unit until they pulled into the long gravel driveway that led to their house. The trees were thick and canopied over the house, and she’d forgotten to leave the porch light on, so it was pitch black.

The simple white wooden house with the wraparound porch had been her home before she and Cooper had married. They were close to his family—in fact, on the other side of the lake at the back of their property was MacKenzie land. But they had the space they needed and were far enough out of town to not be bothered by nosy neighbors or those who wanted to come to their house to file a complaint instead of going to the SO.

She parked to the side of the house and then saw the beam of a high-powered flashlight as Cooper came around to help her out of the car. They were both silent and the tension was thick—thicker than it had been before they’d left the library.

By the time they walked inside the house her stomach was in knots and she was dreading the conversation. What if she confronted him and his response was something like, “You’re right. We made a terrible mistake in getting married so soon.”

She wiped her palms on her skirt and flipped on lights through the house as he followed at a distance behind her. Cooper wasn’t an easy man to read. He had things on his mind. Serious things. And she’d find out what it was when he was darn good and ready. Stubborn man.

Claire slipped out of her shoes and put them neatly in the closet, and then went about the ritual of getting out of her work clothes. She turned on the shower and could feel his eyes on her as she went about her tasks.

How like strangers they were.

He got in the shower as soon as she got out, so she put on lounge pants and a thin tank top. Her bones were chilled so she grabbed an extra sweatshirt to slip on over it.

By the time he got out of the shower she couldn’t take the silence any longer.

“Cooper, we’ve got to talk,” she said.

He looked up at her and she watched with fascination as his face went perfectly blank and he pulled an emotional guard around him like a blanket.

But he surprised her by saying, “I know.” That worried her even more. She was working her way from being nervous to pissed. It was the only protection she had.

“I’ve got two things to say,” she said, straightening her spine and crossing her arms over her chest.

“I’m listening,” he said, his voice soft.

“I hope so. I guess my first question is do you think I’m stupid?” The question must have caught him off guard because he looked at her like she was a crazy person.

“Of course not. What kind of question is that?”

She ignored his retort. “What would make you think that I don’t know you well enough to know when you’re lying to me? Fishing? Really? I didn’t realize the DEA was hunting salmon now.”

Cooper’s back stiffened. “If you think you know that much, then you know I can’t talk about what’s going on. Too many lives are at stake. And the less you know the safer you’ll be.”

“I’m not asking for details, Cooper.” She sighed frustrated and ran her hand through her hair. “I told you I’m not stupid. I know the sensitivity of your job. I respect that. What I have an issue with is the lies. Lies have a tendency to expand and multiply. How can any level of trust be established when I don’t know if you’re telling me the truth?”

Cooper didn’t understand why he was so angry. He knew what Claire was saying was the truth, but he’d been so protective of his job and his life over the years it was hard to let anyone in. Even his wife.

“What do you want from me, Claire? So I tell you I’m going back to work for the DEA and that I’m out on a job. What then? Twenty questions asking who and what and why?”

“That’s part of the issue right there. You tell me you’re going back to work for the DEA. I’m assuming, because I’m not an idiot, that you’re still hunting down more drug dealers cutting through the area. The same drug dealers that shot at you last time and wounded your cousin."

“You going back to work for them is a life altering decision. You’d think you’d have the courtesy to discuss those major decisions with your wife. Especially when you told me you weren’t going to continue working for the DEA before we got married. So not only are you lying to me, but I know you’re lying and now I have to wait and wonder if your body is going to be found in one of the mountain passes or eaten by a wild animal because some drug dealer shot you.”

She never raised her voice, but Cooper felt each word like the slash of a razor. He felt lower than dirt. He’d never once considered it from her point of view. He was so protective of his life and his private time. Raising his brothers had left him very little time on his own. Then when he went into the military he was special ops, so there was no talking or sharing there either. And it wasn’t like he had someone to share with even if he had wanted to.

Marriage was a different kind of battlefield. One he wasn’t experienced with, and if he was honest, one he didn’t really know how to navigate. He was closer to Claire than he’d ever been to anyone. She knew things about him—and he’d freely given her the information—but there were those pockets inside his soul that were so dark and dank that he didn’t want anyone to breach the interior.

“You’re right,” he finally said. “It wasn’t my decision to make alone. I should have talked about it with you before I started working with the DEA again.”

“Do you need the extra rush that bad?”

Cooper sighed and dropped down on to the bed. He was exhausted. Three sleepless nights, the terrifying spikes of adrenaline, and unbelievable sex were starting to take its toll on his body. He leaned against the pillows and steepled his fingers of the taut muscles of his abs.

“I don’t think about it like that.” He had no idea how to explain it to her. “It’s not that I need the rush or that I’m addicted to the danger. I’m a cop. Even in a place like Surrender that means I’m always putting my life on the line. It’s my job. And one I love. When Cade and the DEA came calling and asking for help I saw it as an extension of the job. Another way I could serve and protect. I don’t particularly like being shot at. There’s not much of a rush in that—at least not the good kind. But knowing I’m part of the process of pulling those evil men off the streets makes it worthwhile.”

Claire sat down next to him and she twined her hand with his. Her skin was soft and smooth where his was hard and calloused. And he wondered not for the first time why she’d chosen him.

“I love who you are, Cooper. And I love that that’s the kind of man you are. I’d never ask you to change that if it’s what you love. But I’m your partner. I should be sharing the burdens and the worries, not left in the dark to wait and wonder. I don’t need details. I just need you to trust me enough to tell me the truth. And I need to be able to trust you unconditionally. That trust is a leap of faith on my part.”

He could see something else worrying her. Something deeper to the root of the problem, but he didn’t press. Not yet.

“I’d already decided on the way back to you that I’d tell you the truth. And I’ve already given my notice with the DEA that I’ll help them however they need from my office and resources, but my days of undercover work are over.”

He felt her sigh of relief, but still she hesitated.

“What’s wrong?” he asked.

“The clubs—” she said, pausing. “It was one of the first things I noticed when you told me your fishing story. You were wearing all your piercings and your clothes were gone from the locked drawer.”

She bit nervously at her bottom lip and he realized in all the years he’d known her he’d never seen her unsure of herself.

“I know that the clubs were part of your lifestyle before you ever met me. But sometimes the line is blurred with your work with the DEA and your personal time. I just wanted to know—” she pulled her hand from his and placed it on her leg. “Are you there for work or because I’m not giving you what you need?”

The floor dropped out of his stomach and he sat up straight, pulling her across his lap so she sat cradled there.

“Are you fucking kidding me? If you gave me any more of what I need I’d never be able to walk again. I made a promise to you the day we got married. My past is the past. You’re my future. It’s you and
only
you. I was there for the job. And it didn’t take me ten seconds to realize as soon as I walked through the doors that I no longer belonged there. You’re my fantasy. My equal in every way. No one else will ever match up.”

Tears formed on her eyelashes and she dropped her head against his chest in relief. “Thank God,” she said with a laugh. “I’d have hated to have to kill you.”