Deliciously Damaged (Reckless Bastards MC 3)

Cooper was still on top of me, but rested on his elbows. “This is funny?” he asked, a twinge of amusement in his voice.

I didn’t want to say it out loud, but I had never felt so completely out of control with a man. I’d had lots of orgasms—most of them solo ventures—but nothing even close to what my body had just experienced. I knew I would be too raw to go again, at least not for a few minutes, but I was already fantasizing about what we had just done, and wanting to do it again.

By the time the sun rose through the windows the next morning, Cooper and I had barely slept just a few hours. We had fucked like a couple of crazy teenagers all night long. Cooper had done things to me that I had never experienced before, and I woke up drenched in memories of everything that had happened, all blurred together in a steamy, heart-pounding, hair pulling rush.

I opened my eyes and rolled over to see that Cooper was sound asleep in the bed next to me. For a moment, I wondered why it felt so normal to wake up next to him. It had been a while since I’d gone to sleep next to a man, and yet, this morning at three a.m. when we had finally collapsed, too tired to go one more round, it hadn’t even crossed my mind to get up and leave.

Then again, I had no clothes, no car, and no one to come get me. So, that could be part of the reason I had been fine with settling into bed next to him.

I studied his chiseled face, now covered with an even darker layer of scruff, and a flutter of affection pulled on my heart. For some reason, I was possessed to reach out and brush his hair back. The soft touch was enough to stir him and he opened his eyes and stared at me. His face remained calm, like he didn’t have a moment of wondering who I was or what I was doing in his bed.

“Morning,” I said. I offered him a half-smile. From under the covers, I could see his firm arms and chest poking out from under the sheet and I was tempted to lay back and snuggle up to him. Some part of me was dying to know what it would feel like to have him spoon me, and pull me into his body like he needed me.

“I’m going to shower,” I said. I lifted my side of the covers and slid out of bed, needing to put some space between us before I let myself get carried away. I padded into the bathroom and was surprised when the stone floor under my bare feet was warm to the touch.

Heated floors. Very nice.

I went to the shower and stepped inside, turning the water on and rotating to a jet s

etting, letting the hot water pound away the soreness in my muscles from last night’s activities. I was pretty sure that it was only going to get more pronounced as the day went on, a memento of our passionate night together.

Somehow, I didn’t think I would mind.

As I rinsed off, I kept glancing through the foggy glass to see if Cooper was coming into the bathroom to join me. The shower was definitely big enough for two. My mind started wandering over all the things we could do in such a large shower.

My fantasy was interrupted by a ringing and I recognized a phone and muffled voices. I turned off the water and stood silently, trying to hear what was going on.

Nothing.

Moments later, Cooper’s voice called into the bathroom. “Allison?”

I rubbed a patch free of steam and saw his silhouette in the doorway. “Yes?”

“I’m leaving. I’ll send a car to take you home.”

“Wait. What?” I asked. I frantically pulled at the glass door and stepped out of the shower. I grabbed a towel off the shelf and wrapped it around me as I walked back into the bedroom. Cooper wasn’t there.

“I have to go and I’m sure you have other things you need to do,” Cooper said, reappearing. He stepped out of the closet and was fully dressed in a suit and tie. His face was still scruffy but he looked completely polished. As I stood there, naked and dripping water on his expensive carpet, I began to feel a sense of shame sinking in.

“You didn’t think I was going to keep you locked up here forever?” He smiled but something about it was cold. Calculating. I couldn’t read him anymore and it startled me. After everything that had happened, I thought we were finally getting to a new place, but those dreams shattered as I looked up into his blank stare.

“Not forever, but I guess I didn’t expect…” My voice trailed off. I had started the sentence but had no idea what I was trying to say.

“Your clothes, from the club,” he said, gesturing to a folded pile on the bed. “Goodbye, Allison.”

He turned and left without so much as a look back at me.

I backed up a step and sank down, onto the edge of the bed. My brain was creating and rejecting new ideas and theories faster than I could process everything and I felt dizzy.

What the fuck just happened?

I let myself reel for a few more minutes, and then forced myself up off the bed and back into the bathroom. I finished drying off and then went back to the bedroom and put on the street clothes that I had worn to the club yesterday— a pair of dark-wash jeans, a red tank top, my leather jacket, and my riding boots. I had no idea where he had gotten them. When I had changed to go onstage, I left them in my locker and thinking back, I couldn’t remember them being in the car with us yesterday. And yet, they were right here in front of me. Cleaned and folded.

I shook my head and finished getting dressed.

Back in my boots and jacket, I felt a little more like myself and my previous confusion and…if I was honest…hurt…was quickly replaced with anger and irritation.

All I knew was that I was getting the fuck out of his house and I was never coming back.