The door clicked behind me and a person who also fit that definition stepped back inside. He stopped to look at me before closing the door quietly behind him.
“Can’t sleep?”
I shrugged. “No.”
“You look exhausted.” Cooper didn’t so much walk as he prowled. He’d be a dangerous enemy. “Anything I can do?”
I rubbed at my eyes. “If you tell me one more time how terrible I look I’m going to kick you in the shins.”
He stopped in front of me. “Come away from the window.”
I did, waddling back to the bed. My legs were tired, my feet swollen. If I wanted to I could really get a good whine going.
“I thought you said I was safe in here.”
“You are. But let’s not push it.”
I yawned. “Did you get what you needed?”
He shook his head. “No. Things are really bad out there right now. The Bridge is jumping around, keeps getting spotted and disappearing again. The Nobles are worked up. My leaving is not their pressing concern at the moment. I expect that to change shortly.”
“How do you think they’ll take it if the operation worked? If the bomb attached to my heart doesn’t work anymore?”
Cooper stilled. “I need more details. You told me so little about it to begin with.”
I’d told him I’d been on the operating table, been unconscious, I guess I hadn’t been specific enough. I pressed my hand over my chest where my heart was. “I have a bomb attached to my heart. Wes was working to block the signal to it.”
“Is it one of Geoff’s bombs?” Cooper’s voice raised a notch, his hands running through his hair.
“Yes. That’s the part you want to focus on?”
“Well, yes.” He sat down next to me on the bed. “If it’s one of Geoff’s then it’s really bad. His bombs don’t get defused. And, as for the rest, I had no idea and I don’t think the Nobles did it, either. You are a female. They’ll treat you like gold, like a possession with no rights. A bomb on your heart? That seems much more like your mother’s brand of crazy.”
Silence stretched out in the room. Whatever additional thoughts Cooper had on the subject, he kept the information to himself. My head ached. Seconds later, Cooper laced our fingers together.
“Did the procedure at least work?”
I stared into his intense eyes. “I don’t know.”
“I…” His voice trailed off.
“What?” I touched the side of his face. I couldn’t help it, the compulsion overwhelmed me. Cooper needed to be held as much as I did. We’d both been alone. He closed his eyes at my touch
He didn’t lift his lids when he answered. “I want to kiss you and I don’t know if I’m allowed.”
Warmth filled my insides. I had to get to know him but that didn’t make him any less mine. “You’re allowed.”
His eyes flew open and a second later he grasped the back of my neck pulling me up against him. His mouth fused to mine and he kissed me, hard. Cooper didn’t so much as kiss me as lay ownership with his mouth. I struggled to keep up, to chase his need with my own. He pulled back but only to change where he kissed me.
My cheeks, my eyes, the tip of my nose…
I exhaled, some of the tension leaving my spine. The baby kicked me and Cooper jumped, his eyes widening.
“Is he saying hello?” He put his hand on my belly.
“She.”
Cooper’s grin widened. “For real? That’s incredible. Who’s the daddy? Did Dane do the test?”
I took his hands in mine and squeezed. “Geoff.”
His smile didn’t fade. “You know what? That’s perfect. He’ll blow up anyone who tries to get near her.”
My humor faded. “Assuming he is still alive to do so.”
“Let’s go with the idea he is.”
I almost told him what had been weighing on me for days. If they were alive, they weren’t in good shape. There was no way any of them would have left me unconscious on the ship without being willing to die to get to me first.
He was waiting for a response from me, so I gave him one. “I can’t sleep alone. Pathetic, I know. We’ve had this schedule going and I’ve gotten kind of addicted to it. I’m never alone in bed. We might as well do something because there’s no way I can get in this bed and go to sleep, pregnant and exhausted or not.”
“Well…” He stretched his arms over his head. “Hate to state the obvious, but I can take a nap with you, too.”
“I didn’t want to presume you would want to.”
He lay back, his head on the pillow. The bed was thin; we weren’t going to be sleeping any way but me on top of him.
“Here,” he patted his chest, “come lie down.”
“I’m pretty huge, I might crush you.” Why was I so nervous about this? I slept with the others all the time. Cooper was…new.
He shook his head. “I’ll manage.”
I scooted up and lay down, head pressed on to his chest. I could hear his heart beat, strong and steady. “I haven’t been around. I know that makes this weird for you. Don’t presume I love you any less than they do. If I’d been where I wanted to be, you’d have me on your schedule. You’d be comfortable pressed up against me. You would drift off in my arms knowing you were safe.”
“Need I point out that if you had been there, you’d be with the others? Maybe dead.”
He breathed in above my head, his nose pressed to my hair. “Hard to kill me.”
I did feel better being held, even if it made me a weak woman. I’d own the title. Neither of us slept. I could feel his tension and it wasn’t making it any easier for me to put away the day, either.
“Dane told me you fight with us because of your sister.” We’d actually hit the subject based on what kind of dad each of them would make but it wasn’t hard for me to make the jump in logic. One was related to the other.
“She got married last week.” He groaned. “Just about killed me. But she seemed fine. Better than, actually. Elated and kind of…off.”
“What is she like when she’s not off?” Anything to get him talking, to figure out Cooper Jackson and how I loved him.
“Sweet. Kind. In the way children are, not like a grown woman. Usually, you don’t like to hear about her. Makes you uncomfortable.”
I ran my hand over the hair on his arms. “I’m different.”
“I’m starting to see that. My sister, Olivia, is lovely. Beautiful like all my family is. Dark hair, dark eyes. She looks like a doll, like her favorite doll that she has been playing with since she was five. Thirteen years she’s had that thing. They packed it up for her and sent it with her on her honeymoon.” His whole body shuddered. “She used to say the thing talked to her.”
I snuggled deeper into his embrace. “Did she understand what was happening?”
“I tried to explain it to her. She grasped the marriage portion of it in the way a young girl would, like it was a game. The sex? I have no idea.”
I listened to him breathe for a moment. “Is there a reason you didn’t kidnap her? Get her away from there? Over the last two years?’
When he didn’t answer, I wondered if he’d fallen asleep. I shifted slightly so I could see his face. His eyes were open and he stared at the ceiling. His silence finally dawned on me as a response onto itself.
“You would have.” My heart fell into my stomach. “I didn’t let you.” Another thing I could add to the list of things I wished I never knew about myself. I’d almost gotten used to the discomfort of these realizations. “Why didn’t you leave me, Cooper? Why did any of you stay? I’m such a cruel bitch.”
He laughed, which surprised me and I almost fell off him from the way his whole body shook with amusement.
“You are. Or were. But you were our cruel bitch. As for Olivia, I don’t know that you were wrong. What would she have done on the ship? Artemis was no place for her. You did tell me I could go if I didn’t like it. The door was always open for my exit if I didn’t car
e for your rules. I tried to talk her into going with me almost as soon as I got back this time. She declined. Wants to be a princess. Told me she wants to rule the universe, whatever she thinks that means. Big giant mess. I won’t force her against her will. Does she not get a choice because she’s simple? That’s not fair. Knowing you didn’t like her gave me someone to blame, I guess, other than myself.”
I closed my eyes. “Forgive me.”
There had to be a way I could fix my mistakes, to somehow make things right. It couldn’t be too late. In the midst of all the madness, there had to be a path for me to make amends even if I could never remember causing the pain to begin with.
Chapter 2
Option Number 4
EVENTUALLY, Cooper fell asleep. I could tell the second his breathing changed. His breaths spaced out and his heart slowed down. With one hand on my stomach and the other behind his head, he was peaceful in rest.
The sounds of the space station filtered into the room. The later it got, the louder and more hopping the floating city seemed to become.
Cooper shifted slightly, sighing in his sleep. He squeezed my belly and muttered something I couldn’t discern. I closed my eyes, forcing his sleep to tug on my own need for rest. Eventually I must have fallen off. I didn’t dream, which was a relief. What would I have seen? Which one of my husbands would be screaming at me for failing them, for not having rescued them yet? Or would I get another memory I couldn’t recall that would make my head pound?
Only blackness filled me and I let myself drift away, surrounded by Cooper’s body and the cinnamon spice scent, which was either his natural aroma or something he washed his clothes with. The sound of his wrist alarm dinging roused me, even before it did him.
He lay with his mouth slightly open, eyes sealed closed, while his wrist beeped loudly. I shifted my body to sit up before I stroked his hair off his face.
“Cooper.” He moaned but didn’t open his eyes. “Time to get up, honey.”
His eyes fluttered. “Hey, Mine. I had such a screwed up dream.”
“Yeah?” I crawled off him and edged to the side of the bed. “What about?”
“I dreamed we were in this horrible shuttle crash. I had to go back to my family to save you. They erased your mind. Then it all got really…blurry.”
I snorted. “Sounds like a real doozy.”
He rolled onto his side. “I didn’t dream it, did I?”
“Nope.” I rubbed his leg. “What time is it?”
“Midnight.” He got out of the bed before I could. “I need a shower. Then off to see your aunt and find out if you told her what the hell is going on.”
I envied his ability to bounce around. He’d gotten up and bounded from the room into the bathroom in no time flat. I was getting bigger by the minute. Placing a hand on my stomach, I did the math. If I was lucky, I had another four weeks before the baby came. But it could be as little as two. Or less if she came early. With the stress I was under, my daughter could simply decide she was done with all the problems I created for her.
Cooper turned the water on and the ache in my neck increased. He’d left the door slightly cracked and I could see him as he pulled off his clothes. His chest was sculpted and the muscles in his legs and arms were as well.
I stood and walked toward him like a woman possessed. He’d just climbed into the shower when I stepped into the bathroom. His head popped around the curtain.
“Gotta pee?”
“Actually, I thought maybe we could help the station conserve water.” My clothes were off before I could overthink it. “Unless you think we can’t both fit in there?”
Cooper stepped back, making room for me under the spray. “You sure?”
I stepped into the water, soaking my hair as I did. “Think I would have taken off my clothes if I wasn’t?”
“Another change. Outside of bed, you’re generally not this aggressive. I’m not complaining, but…”
I held up my hand. “I know. I was very closed door. But I’m not now. That was then. I like sex and we’re married. I want it with you. Is that a problem?”
“Fuck, no. I’m not an idiot.” He ran his hand down the slope of my nose. “I don’t even care if you’re using me this time to feel better, because you know what, I need to as well. I can remember for both of us tonight.”
With my mouth close to his, I barely whispered my response. “I dream of you. I can never remember what. My head starts to pound and pushes it away. But I know it. Like you’re a presence in my mind.”
We kissed then. I don’t know who went first. One second we were breathing under the warm water, naked and aching, and the next we were barely breathing in between our mouths fusing together. He was angry, needy, and craving me. Or at least those were the words he barely spoke in between breaths. Cooper mumbled them while he roamed his hands everywhere. I did the same. Well, not the talking but the stroking.
His cock was erect in my hand and I stroked him hard. He groaned, his head hitting the wall behind him.
“Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.” He shook his head. “Can’t be so on edge. I won’t make it. Turn around. Hold the wall.”
I did as he said and a second later, he pushed a finger inside me. “Your body remembers me. I know it does.”
I wasn’t going to argue. This felt like the first time to me, like I didn’t know how he’d respond, what his noises would sound like, how he would move, or fill me.
He bit down on my shoulder and my knees shook. Cooper was potent. He squeezed my breasts, his cock pressed against my backside.
“Your breasts are huge.” With that statement, he pushed inside of me. I cried out from the wanted invasion. “Too much?”
His voice sounded strained, which made me smile. “I like it rough.”
From him, I did.
He sucked in his breath before he pressed inside me again. Over and over. When I couldn’t stand it any longer, when I thought I might actually explode if I didn’t come soon, I leaned back against him, closer to his arms and away from the wall.
“Please.” I wasn’t sure what I begged him to do, only I knew there had to be something he could do to bring me completion, something to make the pleasure that was rapidly turning into too much around.
“I’ve got you.” He found my clit and pinched while he thrust. I cried out, coming hard. Colors swirled before my eyes and my ears rang.
My knees gave out and Cooper caught me. He cried out my name, once, twice, before he rested his head on my shoulder blade. He breathed loud in my ear. Eventually I became aware of the water pounding down on top of us again. Funny, how really hot sex with Cooper made me not notice.
“You okay?” I spoke only loud enough to be heard over the spray.
He nodded. “Just concentrating on breathing and not dropping you on the ground.”
“Oh. Sorry.” I made my legs work and took my weight off him. Heat flooded my face. I was way too big to be constantly fainting or nearly falling over.
He pulled me against him. “Are you kidding? I love it. Got you so worked up you couldn’t stand? Never felt so macho in my all my life.”
I laughed which made him grin. Soon we were both cracking up. I knew I’d never forget this moment for the rest of my life—assuming it wasn’t someday forcibly ripped from my head.
“Let’s go see your aunt.”
I nodded. He was right, we needed to get moving. “Can we dry off first?”
He laughed again, which was what I wanted. Maybe I’d be lucky and I could keep Cooper laughing every day for the rest of my life.
* * * *
Hand in hand, we walked the street toward the brothel. In my last visit, I’d had catcalls and horrible slurs thrown at me. Men long without women—some of them never having spent any time with one—could be vulgar in their attentions. Now, however, I’d reached the point in pregnancy where men not already in love with me were not going to be interested no matter how female I was.
I was sure Cooper was ambling slow
er than he normally would to account for how I basically waddled instead of walked. “There’s going to be a baby here sometime in the next two to six weeks.”
Six was the edge of how long I would likely go, two weeks past my due date. Or sooner, if she was really motivated.
Cooper squeezed my hand. “We won’t be on this station when that happens. One way or another, I’ll get you somewhere safe to deliver. There’ll be a doctor—or a midwife—someone to help with the process. The guys will understand. We get too close to the date and they’re going to have to wait to be rescued.”
“They have to be out before she comes.”
We approached the building. Like every other structure in the floating city of the Truest Station, the façade was fake red brick with black shutters and two steps leading up to the front door.
“She.” He gave me a sideways glance. “At some point, you have to come up with a name.”
I let out a loud breath I hadn’t known I’d been holding. “I haven’t even given it a minute of thought.”
I looked back at the screen in the center of the square where currently a woman in pigtails was jumping up and down. I think we were supposed to be impressed with her breasts. The time at the bottom right of the screen read 12:55. Five minutes until Cooper thought my aunt would speak to me. Or at least until we hoped she would.
“I might not have wanted kids but I turned off my contraception chip. I did that on purpose. While we were on vacation.”
He nodded, staring at the fake brick as though it interested him. “Even though I can see the evidence of it, I still have a hard time wrapping my mind around the fact you did.”
“A secret I didn’t share with you. Tell me, why do I tell you everything I keep from everyone else? Why are you that guy for me?”
He kissed my cheek and lingered over the spot for a moment before he pulled back. “I have a hard time taking no for an answer. You tell me because I don’t leave you alone otherwise.”