Lexie smiled and continued her exploration, stroking him in her hand. Something about Coop made her feel comfortable enough to act first and worry later. Something about him emboldened her, allowing her to be very unLexie-like.
She realized now that, in the past, she’d gauged her actions in bed according to whether she felt she measured up to the current man in her life. Drew, being the longest relationship, had been the yardstick by which she’d reacted to the men who’d come after. Not that there’d been all that many. But those who’d passed through hadn’t truly known who she was deep inside and Lexie had held back, afraid that, like Drew, they ultimately wouldn’t even like—forget love—who she really was. So she’d always moderated her actions.
“You’re killing me,” Coop said in a tight, desire-laden tone.
Lexie glanced down to see her thumb gliding over the head of his penis, spreading the hint of moisture glistening on top. There was no moderation with Coop and she reveled in the fact that she could do this to him.
She grinned. “You can’t die on me now. There’s so much more for us to do together,” she murmured.
Coop slid his hands around the back of her neck and pulled her into a long, thorough kiss. Then, he gently reached out and slid her glasses off her face. “As much as I love these on you, they’ve got to go or they might break.”
He loved her glasses? Lexie’s heart squeezed a little at his words. Her eyeglasses had been yet another thing about her that Drew wanted to change. Another way she hadn’t measured up to someone’s hopes, dreams or expectations. He’d constantly pestered her to do Lasik, belittling her fear of the surgery. All he’d cared about was that she would no longer have to wear the damn things, as he’d called them, as if they were an embarrassment.
“Where do you keep disappearing to?” Coop tapped her head.
“Nowhere,” she promised him and herself. She pushed all thoughts of anyone or anything in her past back where they belonged.
Coop shot her an uncertain glance before turning to place the glasses on the nightstand.
“Before we go any further, you have protection, right?” Lexie asked. Because the one thing Lexie was meticulous about was protection. Not just because it meant she was smart and healthy, but because her traveling lifestyle didn’t leave room for any unexpected surprises. She was on the pill, but it paid to be safe all the way around.
He answered by opening the top drawer and pulling out a box of condoms.
A sealed box that he quickly tore open and she nearly sighed in relief. “I bought them after that night at your grandmother’s.”
He didn’t keep them on hand just in case. Because, as Sara had said, he wasn’t into revolving-door relationships.
Yet despite knowing she’d be leaving eventually, he’d invited Lexie in.
It went both ways. Coop wasn’t like anyone who’d come before. And though she knew this relationship was destined to be short-term, she wanted to give—and take—everything she could while she was with him. And she trusted that he would not only do the same, but would never betray her, as her ex had.
Scary thought, investing that kind of trust. Yet it was there.
He put the foil wrapper beside them and turned his focus back to her. “Top or bottom?” he asked, with a wicked grin.
She ran her finger over his cheek. “You choose.”
“Neither,” he said in a gruff voice and pulled her against him. Lying on his side, he eased his body around hers, spoonlike, her backside pressed against his erection.
She swallowed hard, but relaxed into him, allowing his arms and his body heat to cocoon her in a haze of growing desire.
“You’re so damn sexy,” he whispered in her ear.
She’d never been called that before. Never thought of herself in quite those terms, yet around Coop she felt that way. Saw herself as he did.
“Bend your knee.”
She did as he asked, parting her thighs, giving him complete access. He slid his hand between them and slipped his finger inside her. She was hot and wet and ready for him, and the pressure from this backward angle was intense. With his lips on her neck, his breath hot against her skin, he opened her sheath and pushed himself deep inside, expelling a harsh groan of pleasure, and holding her tight.
It had been a while for Lexie and it hurt for an instant, but as if he sensed her discomfort, he thrust in and stopped, waiting for her to adjust.
“You okay?” he asked.
The pressure eased and pleasure slowly consumed her. She shifted slightly and sighed. “Oh, yes.”
He cupped her breast in one hand, his fingertips toying with her sensitive ni**les, torturing her and yet pleasuring her at the same time. Lexie felt the pull from her chest all the way to between her thighs, causing her to squeeze herself around him and seek harder, deeper pleasure.
Coop took the hint. He grabbed on to her waist and began to move inside her, sliding in and out, pumping his hips against hers and all the while, whispering how damn good she felt in her ear.
The position was new to her and the angle increased his penetration. Each thrust took her higher until she couldn’t stand it. She grabbed on to the headboard with one hand and held on as he moved into her over and over again, until she was whimpering with need and close to coming.
Without warning, he pulled out and rolled her onto her back, coming over her and thrusting back inside before she could think or even breathe.
“I need to see your face when you come,” he said between long kisses.
God, even his words made her burn hotter.
She wanted to see his face when he came, too, and she wanted it now. She lifted her legs, pulling him in deeper, her gaze never leaving his. He began to move, gliding his body out then in, making certain he stayed long enough to grind hard against just the right spot. He brought her closer and closer to the edge, keeping up the pace and the pressure, watching her each time he thrust deep.
Lexie felt full to bursting and yet it wasn’t enough. “I need—”
“What?” he asked, his eyes gleaming with heat.
“You. Harder. Now.” She forced the embarrassing words out and a pleased, aroused smile tipped his lips.
He paused long enough to take her hands and raise them over her head. “Hold on to the headboard.”
She reached back and wrapped her hands around the cold metal bars. He inclined his head with a brief nod and leaned forward to kiss her once more. Then, he braced his hands on either side of her head and did as she’d asked—drove inside her faster and harder than before, not stopping to breathe, taking her higher and higher, just as she’d wanted.