Page 69 of Claws and Feathers

Cooper rose to his knees and pulled the belt loose, unzipping his pants and leaning back over her. He kicked his pants off, freeing himself, then tugged her panties down her thighs and watched her face as she wriggled her way out of the undergarments. Her cheeks were red, but her irises were the bluest he’d ever seen them. Her hair was splayed out in waves around her like a magnificent halo.

Abby gripped his hips, digging her fingernails into his skin, skimming them up along his sides.

Cooper moaned, reaching under her thighs, and pulling them up around his waist. “Jesus, Abby, you have no idea what you do to me…” He was pressed up against her heat, teasing her, making her squirm. A thought crossed his mind and he faltered. “I don’t have a condom,” he said.

Abby’s eyelids fluttered as her fingers curled around his neck. “I’m on the pill.”

She thrust her hips upwards as if to say,‘what the hell are you waiting for?’Cooper couldn’t help but grin. He kissed her, his hands tangling in her hair, his tongue gliding against hers. He’d missed her kiss. He’d thought about it every day since their mouths had been fused together in his kitchen and he’d almost taken her right there against his refrigerator. She had wanted him to. She’dtoldhim to. The memory scorched him. He sighed as he caught her bottom lip between his teeth and reached down to situate himself between her thighs.

Abby let a gasp slip through when she felt him. She was squeezing the back of his neck with one hand and tugging his hair with the other.

Her eyes were closed. Cooper’s arm was propping him up above her, so he leaned down and breathed against her lips, “Look at me, Abby.”

She did.Oh, she did. A fever swelled between them, something dangerous, something absolute, and Cooper held her gaze as he pushed inside her.

They both froze for a second, for just a split second, as the magnitude of the moment swept between them. Their eyes were locked, their limbs entangled, their hearts pounding against one another. Cooper began to move, drinking in every emotion on her face.

This was more than sex. It was pure intimacy.

Abby clung to him, her head tilting back, exposing her ivory neck. Cooper kissed it, sucking along the tender skin hard enough to leave a bruise.

Mine.

She moaned as he moved in and out of her, her hips rising in time with his. His rhythm increased as her breathing intensified. She was so warm, so tight, so damnperfect. Abby’s nails trailed along his bare back as he filled her hard and deep. She cried out with each thrust, pushing him closer and closer to the edge. Cooper cupped her face and kissed her, their teeth crashing together, their tongues a dance of frenzied passion. He felt her stiffen beneath him as her hands rose over her head to grasp the bedsheets between her fists. She was close.Yes.

Abby draped the back of her arm over her mouth, trying to stifle her sounds of pleasure. Cooper quickly pulled her arm back, locking it above her head by the wrist. “No, don’t hold back.” He leaned down, pressing his forehead against hers. “I need to hear you.”

Her lips parted, pink and puffy from their kisses. Their fingers entwined. She closed her eyes and arched her back, her body tensing, her legs latching desperately around his waist as he thrust harder.

“Ooh,” she moaned, squeezing his hand, her other pulling his hair.

She wasn’t quiet.God, it was sexy.

Cooper continued to move inside her until he felt his own release build. His face fell into the curve of her neck as he came, breathing in the scent of her hair while clinging to her hand.

They were quiet for a moment as the shockwaves subsided and reality flickered to the surface. Their breaths settled, their bodies relaxed, and Cooper finally lifted his head from the glorious arch of her neck. Their eyes found each other again, and he wasn’t quite sure what to expect.

But then she smiled. Abby smiled at him, grazing her toes down along his leg, and crinkling her nose.

Cooper was overcome. He knew then that he wanted her; he wanted her in more than a physical sense. He wantedallof Abigail Stone.

He would fight her demons. He would slay her dragons. He would be her hero – not just now, but always.

Chapter Twenty

Abby stirred awake, her feet tickling a warm body beside her.

Her eyes shot open.Cooper.

It wasn’t a dream.Thank Godit wasn’t a dream. Abby was relieved to find him lying beside her, unclothed, and sheathed in the glow from the sunrise filtering in through her curtains. She took a moment to gaze upon him, her breath catching, her heart fluttering at his sheer existence. Titillating memories swept through her – memories of Cooper moving inside her; their eyes locked together, something all-consuming passing between them. The way he’d held her,clungto her, like she was his. The way he’d made her feel safe. Protected.Cherished.

Something had happened. Something bigger than them both. It was so much more than physicality, and Abby was certain he’d felt it, too.

Cooper began to rouse, his body stretching out beneath the covers. Abby watched as the bedsheet dipped down his midsection, revealing his exposed hipbone.Lord have mercy, he was a work of art. She wondered if he even knew it. If he did, he didn’t seem to care. Cooper finally opened his eyes, his lids fluttering and adjusting to the new light of day. Abby couldn’t help but stare, eager to catch his reaction when reality all came crashing back to him.

Cooper blinked, then turned his head towards her.

There it is.

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