He carried me back to the shore, setting me down once we were waist deep. I took his hand and followed him out of the ocean to the pile of clothes we’d thrown on the beach, gathering them with smiles on our faces.

Neither of us spoke. We’d already said it all.

My thoughts circled as we walked up to the house. I’d denied him, denied myself the chance to be with him, and why? The reasons that seemed so concrete a few days before had dissipated like fog in the sunshine.

I wanted Cooper, and he wanted me. It was that simple.

We climbed the stairs to the back patio and made our way into the dark house. He paused to kiss my hair.

“Mmm,” I hummed. “I think I want to take a bath.”

His hand skimmed down my back. “I’ll make us a drink. Bourbon?”

“Yes, please.” I turned and slipped my hands up his chest to his jaw, pulling him down to kiss me once more.

When he broke away, he trailed his nose against the bridge of mine, and we breathed for just a moment before he smiled and turned for the kitchen, taking my breath with him.

I couldn’t stop smiling. Not as I dimmed the bathroom lights and ran the bath or as I sank into the steaming water. Definitely not when he came in, still naked, carrying a scotch for himself and a bourbon for me. I took it graciously and sighed, sinking a little further into the massive tub.

He smirked and moved to the shower.

“No bath for you?” I pouted.

That rogue corner of his crooked lips climbed a little higher. “You look so comfortable. Wouldn’t want to disturb you.” He opened the glass door and reached in to turn on the shower, taking a sip of his drink while he waited for the water to heat up.

My eyes roamed up and down his body. “Oh, it’d be no bother. Really.”

He laughed and set his drink on the counter before stepping into the steaming stream.

I sighed again, my chest so full of emotions that I felt as if I didn’t exhale, I’d cracked open and they would spill out.

I’d told him earlier that I wanted to wait to talk. I saw the hurt and fear flit behind his eyes when he’d agreed. But in the ocean, in the moment when we were as close as we’d ever been, I’d looked into his eyes, and I knew there was no going back. I didn’t want to lose the feeling. I didn’t want it to end. I wanted to be with him.

I wanted to try.

The second I thought it, my heart and stomach switched places. Doubt flew through me as I worried I wasn’t ready, worried he would hurt me. But it was gone just as quickly.

When I looked beyond our past, the answer was clear. I wanted to be with him. Everything else was just details.

I watched him through the glass as he ran his hands through his hair, face upturned to the light, eyes closed as the water ran down his body. I’d cared for him all along, I realized. Since the very first night.

I’d used everything that had happened to me as an excuse because I was scared. But deep down, I knew Cooper wouldn’t hurt me. I’d always known.

He turned off the shower and grabbed a towel, and I watched as he took a moment to dry himself off, running the towel over his hair before wrapping it around his waist. The second he stepped out of the shower and his eyes met mine, he shot me that smile that made my uterus do flip-flops. My gaze wandered down his chest, coming to rest on his hips where the towel was wrapped around that V that pointed straight to the Promised Land.

Cooper smirked at me and whipped that towel off like a goddamn stripper. The next thing I knew, the towel was flying at my face, and I laughed when it hit me, the sound muffled by the thick terrycloth as the ends sank in the water around me.

By the time I looked up, I only caught sight of his bare ass as he walked into the bedroom.

“Don’t make me wait, Mags.”

My cheeks flushed as I fished the wet ends of his towel out of the water and wrung them out.

I wouldn’t make him wait anymore. Not a second longer.

A few minutes later, I slipped in bed with him, naked as he was. He lay on his side, head propped on his hand, and as soon as I was under the covers, he pulled me into him. My head rested against the mattress, and I looked up, smiling.

He moved my hair from my face and traced my jaw. “Thank you.”

“For what?”

“For agreeing to come with me here. For letting me show you all of this.”

“I had no idea. You kinda blew my mind.” I made an explosion sound with my mouth, and he laughed.

“Then we’re even.”

We watched each other for a moment as his hand slipped down my shoulder and arm.

“Maggie,” the word was tight, and he looked down to his thumb shifting against my skin.

I laid a hand on his solid chest, feeling his heart beat under my palm. “To hell with the rules.”

His eyes darted to mine, and he watched me, his hand moving to cover my own. “Do you mean that?” It was almost a whisper.

“I don’t want this to end, you and me. You make me feel good and true and … right. I don’t want to lose this feeling.”

“You want me?”

I laughed, the sound tight as I held back tears. “I want you, Cooper. Do you want me?”

His eyes searched mine. “More than anything.”

“Then everything else will be all right,” I said simply. “Just be patient with me.”

“I’ll do whatever I have to do, Maggie.” His hand found my cheek, fingers in my hair. “Just tell me what you need.”

“You,” I whispered. “Just you.”

He didn’t speak, just closed his eyes and kissed me, touched me, gave himself to me as I’d asked. I could feel the echo of my past buried somewhere in the back of my mind, but I wouldn’t be swayed to listen, not in Cooper’s arms. There was nowhere I’d rather be but surrounded by him where nothing could touch me. No one could hurt me.

The weight of his body, the softness of his skin against mine, was everything. The sweetness of his lips, the hardness of his body as he slipped inside of me, stealing my breath, stealing my heart. His eyes were on mine, the emotion written on the planes of his face as he thumbed my cheek. I turned into his hand and pressed my lips to his palm as he dropped his forehead to mine.

My legs wound around his waist, and the sheets slipped away as our hips rolled against each other faster. And when I looked up at him, I understood what I’d been missing for so long. I understood what I’d always been missing, what I’d misunderstood for all my life.

I let my heart go, let my body go, and he was right behind me, breathing my name like the word was sacred.

Our bodies slowed, and he wrapped his arms around me, shifting to his side, holding me to his chest with his fingers in my hair.

We lay that way in the moonlight for a long time, not moving, just breathing until our breaths finally slowed, leaving us hanging on the edge of sleep. His warmth left me for the briefest, coldest of moments before returning to me. He placed a towel in my hand that I used to lazily clean up before tossing it away, and then I slipped back into his arms.

I felt everything — the heat of his skin against my cheek, the beat of his heart thundering through me until mine matched its pace, the length of his body entwined with mine. His strong arms held me like he’d never let me go, and that was exactly how I drifted off to sleep.

PIECES OF ME

Maggie

I SHIFTED AGAINST HIM, FEELING his arms around me, wanting nothing more than to stay in that bed all day. Forever. His arms tightened as he stirred, pulling me into his chest.