Page 24 of You Can Make Me (Carnival of Mysteries #28)
He blew out a breath. “For taking an old man back.”
I snorted. “I gotta say, I was honestly waiting to hear from Sam and Gene that you were getting married again to some woman.”
“Never gonna happen. There’s no one else for me. Won’t ever be.”
I pumped my fist, and he laughed.
“Achievement unlocked.”
He chuckled again and ran his fingers along my arm. “Are we playing video games now?”
“Oh, right. Sorry. You probably haven’t played since Atari, or what was that other one? Pong?”
“More like arcade games. I’m totally rad at Skee-Ball.”
I pushed up on my elbow. “Oh yeah? My first job was at Circus Circus in the arcade. I love those old-fashioned games. The water guns? I bet you’re a good shot.” I licked my lips and his eyebrows rose. He started to speak but my stomach growled.
“Stay right there.”
Denny climbed out of bed and jogged naked into the kitchen. God, I’d missed watching his naked body. Perhaps I’d hide his clothes. I wanted to watch him naked out back by the hot spring. Shit, we were going to need that hot spring after the marathon session I had planned for us.
“Here,” he said as he came back in. “Your mom’s muffins and the last of the fruit. I’ll get you a protein shake.”
“Aw, not those?—”
He turned on me with his hands on hips and his eyebrow raised. Was I supposed to pay attention? “You promised, remember? It’s part of the plan. You need more calories, especially if you’re going to be working out, and I tell you what, baby. We’ve got a lot to work out.”
His voice dropped at the end, and it went straight to my balls.
“I’m looking forward to it.”
Denny kept me fed, naked, and thoroughly fucked for the next forty-eight hours.
In between, we talked and laughed, cuddled and dozed.
He asked me a bunch of questions that he thought he should know, like more about my first job, and who my first celebrity crush was—Jake Gyllenhaal in Jarhead , which he found hilarious.
“It’s the Marine thing, huh? Okay, so you have a type.”
He wanted to know my most embarrassing moment, which was my first in-the-field interview, before Sam and I got paired up for the morning show.
“We were at the local animal shelter talking with the animal control officers about the impact of the fires on the number of intakes they’d had.
One of the dogs they had with us started humping my leg while I was trying to talk on camera.
We finally got him to give up my leg, but I went back on live—and nobody mentioned the spot on my pants that was clearly doggy jizz.
The hazing was fierce . For weeks, people left dog stuffed animals on my desk and wet wipes. It was a lot.”
“You have that effect on people, too. I nearly humped your leg right there in Gene’s in-laws’ living room.”
Every story he got out of me made his smile a little dreamier.
He was a great listener, and I loved to talk.
When I tried to turn the tables and ask about his most embarrassing moment, he’d distract me with his hands or his mouth.
If I’d thought he’d worshiped me before, he went above and beyond to show me how much he’d missed me. How much he loved me.
I’d get my answers. He wouldn’t be able to deny me when I put my full attention into questioning him. For now, I’d let him think he was succeeding.
When he reached for me at the end of the second day, I took him into my body with a wince and sighed.
“This is it. After this time, I need a break—no, don’t you dare stop,” I said, when he tried to pull out.
He had me on my back again, with one of my legs over his shoulder, giving him the deepest angle for penetration.
“I don’t want to hurt you,” he said, his face red and covered with sweat.
His muscles shook with the struggle to control his movements.
Earlier in the day, I’d been worried and made him stop so we could check his blood pressure.
Once I was assured that he was fine, I had fun playing nurse with my very own tongue depressor.
“You aren’t, fuck, just make it count, Den. Then I’ll rest. Make it count, wreck me one more time, baby.”
He groaned, and yanked me up and onto his lap. He pulled me down hard on his cock, the new angle hitting my prostate so good, I came without touching myself.
The sight of my mess made him tremble, and I knew he was close.
“I love you so much, Cooper. So much.”
He came with a full-bodied convulsion. He kept pumping into me, laying me on my back as the waves made him rock into me over and over. He turned me on my side, curled around my back, thrust in once more, and held me tight to him as he panted.
“In case you wondered,” I said in between gasps. “You. No one else ever. You’re it, baby.” I reached around to grab his ass, wishing this closeness wouldn’t end.
“Good,” he whispered, and then he kissed the back of my neck. “I’m never letting you go. Never again, Cooper. Don’t ask me to.”
I sighed happily as I fell over that ledge into sleep.
My dreams were filled with puzzling and disturbing images, things I knew I should remember, but my broken brain made it difficult. And Denny couldn’t follow me there. He couldn’t always keep me safe.