A Fallow Heart (Tommy Creek #2)(96)

His breathing grew shallow, harried. She found it also rather difficult to draw in air as he swept her into his desire. She knew she probably shouldn’t be aroused; the man was having a mini-breakdown. But it arrived in such epically seductive proportions that heat flooded her.

“Cooper,” she moaned as he cupped her face.

Without speaking, he nudged her down into the grass then all the way onto her back. She went eagerly, letting him do what he needed to do. Planting one hand near to her face, he kissed her again, drinking heavily from her lips as if she were the only oasis in a desert.

It consumed her. She didn’t feel ready for the intensity of it. He held himself up and off her so she couldn’t wrap her arms around him and sink into his warmth and couldn’t hold him close. Their sealed mouths were the only place they connected, and yet it bound them more intimately together than anything she’d ever experienced with him.

Stripped down to his basic, most primitive form, Cooper Gerhardt branded her as his; his mate, his partner, his woman.

Rejoicing in his possession and accepting his physical stamp, she threw her head back and arched out her chest as he kissed his way down her jaw and throat.

He growled his arousal and clenched his teeth as he finally lifted his face long enough to look her in the eye. She’d never actually watched him lose his center before, never seen his gaze go unfocused and clouded with desire. But she did now and was awed. His jaw popped, stretching taut in harmony with the ripples of his muscles as he pressed his hips down and ground against her through their clothes.

She keened out a sharp cry and dug her fingernails deep into his taut shoulders. His features were savage, primal, as if he were overcome by some madness. It scared her, so when he began to rip her shirt off, she panicked.

“No. Stop. Wait, I—”

She grappled with him, trying to shove her shirt down as he tried to tug it up.

“Cooper!” she cried, finally reaching him. He froze, blinking rapidly as if coming out of a stupor.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered, his face turning scarlet as if he’d been holding his breath for a minute. “My God, I…”

“Shh.” She reached up and drew him down to her. Clenching his eyes shut, he resisted, then gave in and sank on top of her, covering her in the grass. His muscles remained tight and restrained and he held his weight off her. But she was having none of it.

“It’s okay to mourn,” she told him.

If anything, he only drew himself up tauter. She’d never seen anyone in such a dark place before. It broke her heart to watch him suffer like this. But sensing only she could draw him back to the light, she gently stoked his hair and kissed his ear.

“It’s okay,” she repeated.

Letting out a growl, he fisted his hand and punched the ground beside them. The earth vibrated under her.

She jumped but didn’t let go of him. Couldn’t. Tightening her grip, she held him closer and pressed her cheek to the side of his face as he kept it stiffly turned away from her.

“It’s okay.” She didn’t know what else to say, so she kept with that. Sniffing when her own tears got the better of her, she rasped, “It’s okay, Cooper. Just let it out.”

“Damn it,” the words grated from him. “Damn it.” He hit the ground one more time, then shuddered out a breath and turned his face into her; still bright red, his cheeks now held moisture and sorrow.

“Oh, Cooper.” She gently kissed his cheek, her lips soaking up his tears. He gripped her shoulders and buried his face in the curve of her neck, weeping with great, heaving sobs. She wasn’t sure how long he cried, but it seemed to last forever, tearing at her soul until she wept just as hard as he did.

When he settled, Cooper dropped limply on top of her, where he placed a single, grateful kiss just below her ear. “Thank you.”

She sighed, pacified, and rubbed his back. He said nothing else, so she kept quiet too. This was what he needed. Physical touch to prove his heart still beat in his chest. She understood that, but she couldn’t help but hope for more, hope this meant the rekindling of their relationship.

She knew the moment he dropped off to sleep. His large body went slack and his breathing evened. Sensing he’d found a peaceful rest, she smiled, closed her eyes, drifting off with him.

They couldn’t have napped over an hour in the shade of the pecan grove. The shadows had barely shifted when she opened her eyes again. But it must’ve been enough recuperation for Cooper. Silently, he crawled off her and sat up. Stretching her kinked vertebrae, she blinked him into focus and watched him shakily jerk his hand through his wild hair. He didn’t look her way as he remained sitting on the grass next to her, but he buried his face in his hands as if ashamed.

Swallowing, she smoothed her wrinkled skirt over her knees and patted her clothes back into order.

Finally, he darted a glance in her direction. “I didn’t mean to scare you,” he rumbled out the hoarse apology. “I would never force—”

“You didn’t. Don’t worry about it.”

His gaze traveled up to her face. He studied her warily from bloodshot eyes and opened his mouth but caught sight of something on her elbow. Grasping her arm, he twisted it lightly to examine dried blood smeared across a scrape she’d gotten in the hard, dying grass.

“Oh God.” His hoarse voice rasped through her. “I hurt you.”