I took a deep breath. “Whenever you’re ready, but I think I’m going to need a little help with one final thing before we go.”

  Cooper

  Of all of the things Torie could have asked from me, the only thing she’d wanted was to come over and use my indoor pool.

  Not that I’d minded getting her half naked, but I could see the fear in her eyes as she entered the pool room in a modest one-piece black swimsuit.

  I watched from my place in the middle of the pool as she slowly approached the water.

  She sat and dipped her feet in at the shallow end. “This pool is enormous,” she said in a nervous tone.

  Fuck! Something wasn’t right.

  My gut was sending me the same warning it had when I talked to my brothers about the fact that I still sensed something was wrong with Torie.

  I swam over to where she was dipping her toes, stood between her legs and wrapped my arms around her body as I said, “Tell me.”

  It wasn’t like I didn’t know that something had happened to make her wary of getting into the water. I’d just been waiting for her to tell me exactly what that issue might be.

  She put her hands on my shoulders in a completely trusting manner that tore my guts apart before she said, “Whenever I put my head underwater, I panic. It’s one of those remaining issues that I just can’t seem to shake. My kidnappers liked to play this twisted game whenever we were in the boat. They’d grab my hair and shove my head under the water until I thought that I was going to die. Before they did it, they even told me that they were going to kill me. I believed them, so I fought back with everything I had, but it was never enough against the strength of two monsters holding my head under the water.”

  “Fuck! And then they pulled you up before they drowned you?” I said, trying not to let my voice betray my fury. I had to remember that this was about her, not me.

  It was just really hard to remember that when I’d just found out one more way Torie had been subjected to horrible psychological torture.

  She nodded. “I think I passed out briefly once or twice, and I swallowed enough river water to make me pretty sick. It’s been that one messed up thing that I haven’t been able to conquer. Just getting into the water makes me nervous, and dunking my head starts the flashbacks. I haven’t tried getting into the water for a while because of it. But I love the water. I don’t want to let those bastards win.”

  Jesus Christ! What kind of twisted fuck did something like that?

  Every muscle in my body went taut with the need to kill those two bastards, but I tried to shake it off as I asked, “Are you ready to try again. I’ll be right here, Torie. Nothing will happen to you. I promise.”

  “Yeah,” she answered anxiously. “I think I’ll be okay. You make me less afraid.”

  I tightened my arms around her and slowly wrapped her legs around my waist. “We’ll do this together.”

  I watched her chew on her bottom lip as I walked us slightly away from the side of the pool.

  I stopped and held my breath as she slowly lowered her legs down to the cement at the bottom of the pool. We were in the shallow end, and once she was completely down, her head was still well above the water.

  “Okay?” I asked huskily as I held her head against my shoulder, wanting to protect her.

  “I am okay,” she said, her voice slightly stronger. “The water feels amazing.”

  I wasn’t about to tell her that I cranked up the temperature as soon as we’d gotten to my place, so the cooler water I usually preferred wasn’t a shock to her system.

  She raised her head and slowly released her death grip around my neck. “Now for the final challenge,” she said as she stepped away completely and took a deep breath.

  She lowered herself under the water, but came up sputtering and gasping for breath. “Shit!” she spat out as she swiped the water from her face.

  I took her hand and hauled her against me. “You’re okay, sweetheart.”

  Her eyes were slightly wild as she said, “I know, dammit! It’s not quite as bad as it used to be, but I just can’t seem to forget—”

  “Kiss me,” I demanded. “Wrap yourself around me and we’ll go down together.”

  I had no idea if having a distraction would help, but it couldn’t hurt.

  She sent me a sultry smile that made my damn cock ache as she questioned, “Are you offering yourself up as a very beguiling diversion?”

  “Hell, yes. If it helps,” I growled.

  Torie wrapped her arms around my shoulders loosely and speared her fingers into my hair. “When your lips are on mine,” she purred. “I can never think of anything but pleasure.”

  Yeah, well, that might not be true since she’d been severely traumatized, but I was ready to try anything that might help her. Torie loved the water too much. She had to get over this hump.

  She fused her mouth to mine, and I let her lead the way as we both sunk underneath the water.

  I could sense a brief moment of panic before she capitulated and continued that cock hardening kiss until we had to surface to breathe.

  “Holy shit!” she panted. “Distraction works.”

  We “practiced” over and over until Torie finally took my hand and shot under the water on her own.

  “It’s better,” she said excitedly as she came to the surface. “Maybe I just needed something pleasant to balance the horrible memories.”

  I knew she wasn’t completely cured, but as I watched her dive under the water over and over again as she repeatedly swam the length of the pool, I knew she was going to be okay.

  Torie had once been completely at home in the water, and she’d feel that way again. She just needed time to let go of the old stuff.

  “Have I told you what a completely amazing guy you are tonight?” she asked after she’d swum back to me and thrown herself into my arms.

  She wrapped her legs around me, and I happily palmed her ass to keep her close.

  Nah. She hadn’t told me that, but I sure as hell wasn’t complaining. Torie was here, and she was exactly where she belonged. That was more than enough. “Ready to get out?” I asked. “I’ll hit the shower and call for some dinner.”

  She nipped at my earlobe before she whispered, “Are you starving?”

  “Not really. Do you want to go out?”

  “No,” she said emphatically. “I was going to suggest that you take me with you into the shower and I’ll fix us something to eat…later.”

  Fucking hell! That was the best idea I’d heard in…well…pretty much forever.

  “After the misunderstanding today, are you sure?” I asked. “Fuck! I need you to trust me, Torie, and I screwed that up today.”

  “No,” she said with a shake of her head. “You didn’t. I trust you, Cooper. I know those words were coming from a place of fear, and I know it won’t happen again because you know that you hurt me.”

  My gut twisted as she said those words. “Are you sure you’re ready for this?”

  She swiped the hair out of her face as she said, “I’m tired of misunderstandings and waiting, Cooper. All I really want is to be with you. Everything else will work itself out, but I can’t stop this horrible ache inside me that just won’t go away.”

  She ached.

  I wanted to soothe any discomfort she had.

  Basically, it had been this way since the very beginning.

  It would be a fucking relief to finally give her exactly what she needed.

  If I couldn’t fix every issue she had left over from her kidnapping, I could at least take care of the need that radiated between the two of us.

  I lifted her up and climbed the steps until we were out of the water. “I’m not even going to ask if you’re certain one more time because you’ve had plenty of chances to run away,” I muttered as I carried her into the house.

  “I don’t want to run away,” she assured me as she trailed kisses up my jawline. “I want you to fuck me, Cooper.”

  Christ! There was no way she was getting away from me tonight. Just hearing those words from her gorgeous lips made me half crazy.

  “Be careful what you wish for,” I warned as I sprinted up the stairs and to the master bathroom. “It could end up being more than you want.”

  She lowered her feet to the floor as I turned on the rain shower that ran with multiple jets.

  “I’ll never get enough of you, Cooper,” she purred into my ear. “Never. All I want right now is to touch you. That’s all I’ve wanted since the first time I saw you.”

  I dropped my trunks to the floor as Torie skimmed the lightweight suit from her body.

  I took her hand and pressed it against my rock-hard cock. “This is what you fucking do to me, Torie. What you’ve always done to me.”

  I held my breath because it was the most intimate thing we’d ever done.

  She was naked.

  I was naked.

  Her hand was finally on my cock.

  And she still wasn’t running.

  Hell, she didn’t even look the slightest bit nervous.

  She pulled me into the shower eagerly and reached for the nearest shampoo and body wash. “Just let me touch you, Cooper. You don’t have to move. You don’t have to do anything. I just want to get to know this gorgeous body of yours.”

  I closed my eyes as Torie began to run her hands all over my body, smearing my hair and skin with body wash as I grunted, “I’m not sure how long I can handle this right now, sweetheart.”

  Fuck! I wanted her to touch me, but not reacting to the best damn sensations I’d ever felt was going to be next to impossible.

  She’d definitely break me and my patience.

  “You’re so beautifully made, Cooper,” Torie cooed as her hands stroked down my back to fondle my ass.

  “Torie,” I said in a voice meant to make her use some caution.

  “Don’t ask me to stop,” she pleaded. “Not yet.”

  I dunked my shampooed hair under the water to rinse it as I gritted my teeth. I didn’t ever want to deny Torie something she wanted…

  “Fuck!” I cursed loudly as Torie wrapped her fingers around my cock and dropped to her knees.

  Jesus! She wasn’t really planning on…

  She wouldn’t…

  “Christ!” I cursed when her mouth connected with my cock.

  I was a big guy, and there had been very few women in my past who had even wanted to attempt to wrap their lips around me.

  I fucked, and for the most part, that had been enough.

  Until. Right. Fucking. Now.

  I buried my hands into her wet hair and fisted the locks. She swirled her tongue around the tip before she swallowed as much of the shaft as she could handle.

  “Jesus,” I growled. “You’re killing me, woman.”

  “Are you complaining?” she asked between licks up and down my cock.

  “Hell, no,” I groaned.

  However, if she didn’t stop using my cock as her personal lollipop, I couldn’t be responsible for the consequences.

  It felt too damn good.

  She felt too damn good.

  This kind of intimacy felt too damn good.

  “Enough,” I growled as I pulled her to her feet.

  As good as it had felt to have my cock in that beautiful mouth of hers, I needed a few other things much more.

  “You didn’t like that?” Torie asked as she looked up at me.

  Christ! Did she really have to ask that question?

  Had no man ever told her that she was a sexual goddess and the fulfillment of every single one of his fantasies?

  “Everything you do is right and fucking fantastic,” I assured her. “But that’s not the way things need to end right now.”

  Hell, no.

  I needed to be inside her.

  I needed her body completely locked around mine.

  I needed to hear her screaming my name in pleasure as she climaxed.

  Nothing else was going to satisfy me or her this time.

  Torie

  I shuddered as Cooper’s hands stroked sensually over my skin.

  He was returning the favor of lathering up my body and hair with a body wash that smelled like vanilla and another scent I couldn’t quite place.

  Honestly, my brain wasn’t working and most likely wouldn’t as long as Cooper was touching me like this.

  He rinsed my hair and then my body before he captured my mouth with his and devoured it like it belonged to him.

  I fisted his hair and kiss him back, starving for the intimacy we hadn’t completely found…yet.

  “Oh, God, Cooper,” I panted as he let go of my lips, tugged my head back with my hair, and proceeded to feast on the skin at my neck. “I need you. Please.”

  “You’re so fucking beautiful, Torie,” he growled against my skin as one of his hands wandered between my thighs.

  “Yes,” I hissed as Cooper teased a finger over my clit.

  “You’ll get my tongue later,” he promised in a graveled voice right beside my ear.

  “Is that a threat?” I said breathlessly. “Because I’m actually looking forward to it.”

  “It’s a goddamn promise,” he answered hoarsely right before he nipped my earlobe. “Do you have any idea how long I’ve waited to touch you like this, Torie. It feels like forever, and this is the embodiment of my every fantasy right now.”

  My head thumped against the shower enclosure as I closed my eyes and let myself drown in pleasure.

  Cooper knew exactly how to make a woman crazy with his fingers and his mouth.

  I whimpered as the pressure of his finger stroking my clit increased and he sped up his pace. “Cooper!”

  “Tell me what you want, Torie,” he demanded.

  “I need you to fuck me,” I moaned. “I ache, Cooper. I ache.”

  I needed to get closer to him. I wanted to crawl inside him and never come out again.

  “I’ll never be able to let you go after this,” he said.

  Like that was a bad thing? I didn’t want him to let me go now or ever.

  “I’ll never let you go, either,” I said like it was a vow.

  “I’m clean, Torie. Birth control?” he asked harshly.

  “I have an IUD that’s been in for a couple of years. I’m covered, Cooper. I’m clean. You don’t need a condom.”

  “Thank fuck!” he rasped as he pushed me against the wall of the shower. “Hold on to me.”

  I wrapped my arms around his neck and put my legs around his waist as he gripped my ass.

  “You okay?” he asked as our eyes locked.

  I knew what he was asking. “I’m not thinking about them, Cooper. I couldn’t. Not when I’m with you. What they did was torture. That wasn’t like this. It could never be like this. This and you are everything.”

  “Only pleasure here, sweetheart,” he answered right before he covered my mouth with his.

  With one surge of his hips, Cooper buried himself to the hilt inside me.

  I gasped against his lips because he was a large man, and he stretched me until it was nearly painful.

  He raised his head and looked down at me, concerned.

  “Okay, baby?” he asked as he suddenly stopped, his large hands still squeezing the cheeks of my ass.

  Cooper crowded me, he surrounded me, and his concern radiated through his voice until it was nearly palpable. “You’re so big,” I moaned. “Just give me a second.”

  “I’ll give you forever, Torie,” he promised in a husky tone right next to my ear.

  I shivered from that lusty promise.

  “I’m better,” I said a short time later as I rocked my hips against him. “Fuck me, Cooper.”

  Pleasure rushed in as he pulled back and then surged back into me again.

  And then, my body cried out for satisfaction.

  I no longer ached.

  I craved.

  I coveted

  I hungered for Cooper Montgomery in a way I never had before.

  “Christ! You’re tight, Torie. You feel so damn good,” Cooper groaned as he started pumping into me faster and faster.

  Tears filled my eyes as my emotions started to overwhelm me. “I’ve wanted this. I’ve wanted you for so long.”

  “Hey,” he said coarsely. “Don’t cry, baby. What’s wrong?”

  “Happy,” I told him. “Don’t stop. Please don’t stop.”

  I threaded my hands through his wet hair, trying to absorb every bit of carnal pleasure I could get.

  “Harder,” I urged Cooper, needing to be as close to him as I could get.

  He gave me what I wanted, and I started to moan his name over and over as my body tightened. “Cooper. Yes. That feels so good.”

  “You’re mine, Torie,” he said fiercely. “Say it.”

  “Yes!” I screamed. “Yes, I’m yours.”

  Cooper started a breakneck pace and shifted slightly so each time he buried himself inside me, it would stimulate my clit.

  God, I’d been so close when he’d first buried himself inside me that I could already feel my climax hurtling toward me.

  “More,” I pleaded, my body begging for release.

  Cooper gave me more as he grunted, “Come for me, sweetheart.”

  “Oh, my God. Cooper,” I whimpered, my body no longer my own.

  I buried my nails into Cooper’s back and lowered my forehead to his shoulder as my orgasm pounded over me.

  “Fuck, yeah,” he rasped. “Let go, baby.”

  I did, knowing that he’d catch me if I fell.

  “Fuck!” he groaned as he grasped my hair and tipped my face up so he could watch me lose it. “You look so fucking beautiful when you come.”

  I felt his muscular body shudder as the spasms of my climax milked him to his own release.

  I panted as I sagged against him, trying desperately to catch my breath.

  “I think that orgasm just killed me,” I complained breathlessly.

  Cooper squeezed my ass. “You feel perfectly fine to me.”

  I swatted his shoulder. “I nearly died and I’m not sure you even worked up a good sweat.”

  He chuckled against my shoulder. “Sweetheart, with that sexy fuck-me voice of yours urging me on, there’s no way I’m not going to be sweaty. Did that help all of your aches go away?”