Page 56 of Entangled

I drop the book I’ve been pretending to read on the bed beside me, sitting up and casting my gaze to where Coop sits at his desk, checking to see if I garner any reaction.

Nope, nothing. I narrow my eyes on his bowed head and watch as he continues to write in that damn journal. Time to resort to extreme measures to get him to snap out of it.

I get out of bed and walk to the folding glass doors, pulling them back and grabbing one of the beach loungers from where they sit propped against the house. Popping the longer up a few feet from the house, I make sure it’s in plain view of his desk before walking back inside and heading straight for the bathroom. I strip off my clothes and stack them neatly on the table beside the walk-in shower to appease the neat freak in the other room, ignoring the bikini hanging on the back of the door as I open it. Not allowing myself to glance Coop’s way even once, I hold my head high and walk through the house in all my naked glory.

The halt in the steady scratch of his pen as I come alongside his desk has me fighting hard against the smirk pulling at my lips and the urge to stick my tongue out at him. I continue outside to the lounger and lie down on it, basking in the warmth of the sun as I close my eyes. It takes a moment for that incessant scratching of the pen to start back up but I just smirk to myself and settle in to wait, determined to win this battle.

He’ll break. If there’s one thing I’ve learned about Coop and I since arriving in Cahuita, it’s that the pull between us has quickly turned into an addiction for each other’s naked skin too. As time ticks by though, I begin to relax, the steady beat of the sun on my skin and the cadence of his pen lulling me into a light doze.

I startle awake when I feel Coop’s body brush against mine as he takes a seat on the lounger beside me. The first thing I see when my eyes open is the glass of ice water hanging loosely in his hand before I lift my gaze to his face and take in the shuttered expression there. Neither of us speaks for a beat as we eye each other and I decide to break the silence. He’s here and I’m the one who pushed. The least I can do is speak first.

But that doesn’t mean I can’t fuck with him a little.

I cock a brow. “Are you done with your temper tantrum?”

A low, dark laugh lacking any humor runs through him and his plush lips tighten. “Am I done?” He pauses, finger tapping against the glass at his side. “Not even close.” I watch as he sets the glass on the ground and dips two fingers in, plucking out an ice cube. “But I’ve decided to fight with you in the language you seem to communicate best in.”

My heated skin prickles with anticipation as I watch him roll the ice cube between his fingers before bringing it up the curve of my neck and running it down to my collarbone, dragging it slowly along both sides. The harsh contrast of the ice on my sunbaked skin is electrifying to my senses. The little drops of water running down my skin have me fighting against the urge to squirm and press my legs together already, but I won’t give him the satisfaction. Not yet.

“So I’m going to play.” He drags the ice cube down to the center of my chest and swirls it. “And we’re going to have a little talk.”

Lifting his hand, he discards the nearly melted cube with a flick of his wrist before reaching down for a fresh one. He brings it to my breast, eyes tracking the path it takes along the top curve of it. “And you’re going to open up, just a little bit.” He dips the cube down to the top of my nipple and I tense as my nerves ignite with pleasure, both my nipples hardening instantly. “For once.”

“And if I don’t?” I challenge him.

He flashes me that savage grin, ratcheting up the swirling anticipation inside me another degree. “Then I’m going to keep playing until you do.”

He drops his hand down and quickly runs the cube up my slit, ripping a gasp from my throat and he chuckles darkly before bringing it back to my neglected nipple.

“So what’s it going to be, Princess?” He arches a brow at me, the other side of my insolent coin.

I jut my chin out defiantly and force the rest of my body to relax as if I’m utterly unaffected by our game when in reality it’s giving me the most thrilling kind of high, far surpassing the nervousness skirting up my spine at his demand for more. “Do your worst.”

His eyes fill with heat, the forest green almost completely disappearing as his pupils dilate and his nostrils flare. “Stubborn.”

“Ass,” I taunt.

Push, push, push, El. One of these days, it’s going to bite you inyourass.

I watch as Coop plucks a fresh cube from the glass, body thrumming as he brings it to my ankle and slowly runs it along the curve of my leg to the back of my knee. My legs open for him slightly when he begins to drag the cube up my thigh and I couldn’t stop the reaction even if my life depended on it.

“Let me make something abundantly clear.” He drags the ice up my leg, running it along the dip between my thigh and pussy before bringing it to my hip bone. Teasing me. “I don’t share.” He drops his hand down and swirls the cube around my clit before bringing it up and running along my other hip. “Not ever.”

I bite my lip and take a few deep breaths through my nose to get my neurons firing again. “You’re forgetting the rules, Cooper.” Tagging on his full name to really drive the point home.

“I’m not forgetting your asinine rules.” Another drop of that cube I’m already starting to hate through my slit. “I’m amending them.” He brings his hand back up and starts to draw words with the cube on my stomach. “For as long as whatever this thing is between us lasts. You’re mine.” The ice has melted to nothing but water on my skin as he trails his cold fingers down to my clit, sliding through my folds easily with how drenched I am for him already.

“And I think at least this part of you would agree with me.”

I fight for clarity as he begins to roll the sensitive nub under his fingers relentlessly, dipping his head to my chilled nipple and pulling it into his hot mouth. The harsh contrast of hot and cold all over my body has me quivering as a wave of need rages inside of me. He releases my nipple with a pop and lifts his hand, leaving me having to bite my lip again to quell the scream of frustration working its way up my throat.

“That’s bullshit.” My voice is rough with need as I watch him fish another cube from the glass.

His eyes drill into me as he brings the ice up and swirls it around both of my nipples. “You made it necessary.”

Anger and frustration edge away some of the lust fogging my brain. “You wanting to change the rules means you’ve already broken them. And you know what happens if that’s the case.”

I see the anger flare in his eyes at my threat and he does nothing to hide it from me. “Guess what? You broke your own rules last night.” Dropping his hand, he swirls the ice around my clit before running it up and down my slit, then repeating the whole process again. “You feel something between us and it scares the shit out of you.” My legs open wider for him, desperate for the pleasure he’s holding just out of reach despite the battle we’re locked in. “You gave yourself away last night, throwing yourself around, lashing out against your own fucking fear.”

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