Love on the Line (Beaumont Legacy #2)

29. Maya

Chapter twenty-nine

Maya

A little over a week after her visit to Tennessee, Maya was in Charleston to celebrate Colton receiving the Buck Isaac Leadership Award. Only, her flight had gotten in late, she’d completely missed the ceremony, and she was now getting ready in the back of a car on the way to the club. Still, she was excited for the evening, her low-cut maroon bodycon dress hugging her muscular figure. She smiled wide at herself in the mirror of her compact when she finished the look with a clear lip gloss, knowing it was the best she’d probably ever looked in Cooper’s presence.

And they were right back where they’d started this flirtation: Frankie’s. She could almost feel his lips on hers against that far, dimly lit wall .

When she arrived, Colton was waiting outside to let her in, and she threw her arms around his shoulders.

“Congratulations!”

Colton chuckled and then led her inside. “Well, I don’t know about all that. It’s just an award.”

Maya could tell he was proud of the achievement despite his words. “Yeah, for being an excellent leader and stepping up when your team needed you. That’s huge.”

Colton shrugged. “Just glad you’re here. Luc and I missed you.”

“I’m excited to be here! And thank you for receiving the award on a Friday so I can stay a few extra days.”

They neared the bar, where Cooper was talking to the bartender.

“Did you have lessons this week? You’re not missing anything, right?” Colton asked.

Cooper finally looked up, and the look he gave her was entirely inappropriate for them pretending to be friends. The intensity of it as he took her in from head to toe reminded her of what they’d done in the truck bed, and heat slammed through her body, filling her veins. She had to look away, but not before she noticed him in his signature jeans, tight-as-fuck black T-shirt that showed off his ridiculously ripped shoulders and arms, and his straw cowboy hat placed perfectly on the thick hair she wanted so badly to run her fingers through.

Colton looked at her expectantly, and she adjusted her dress as she remembered his question. “Oh! Lessons. Yes, I had private lessons and I coached for On the Line this week. I have Fridays off and won’t have another private lesson until Monday afternoon, so I’m free for the weekend.”

“Great.” He hooked a thumb behind him. “Luc is on the dance floor if you want to join us.”

Maya looked over to where half the team and their partners stood, talking and dancing to the music. Then she looked back at Cooper. “I’ll catch up with you in a few minutes! Just going to get a drink.”

Colton nodded his understanding, and they parted ways.

Maya sidled up to Cooper. “Hi! How are you?” she asked, like she hadn’t been on the phone with him twenty-four hours ago, knowing plenty of Sabers players were in earshot of them.

“Doing well.” The smile he gave her flipped her insides like a pancake, the promise of what he wanted to do to her clear. Oh, he liked this dress. “Colton asked me why you were in Tennessee with me,” he whispered.

Maya closed her eyes, eyebrows furrowing in concern. She’d been thinking a lot about telling Colton, and she’d planned to talk to Cooper about it this evening, but she hated the thought that he’d found out like this. “I should have known it would have gotten out. What did you tell him?”

“Said you were on the phone with me when I got the call from my parents, and it was super last-minute. That I didn’t want to bother him.”

Maya opened her eyes, sighing. “Okay. Do you think he bought it? ”

“Honestly, yes. He seems really oblivious to us. But I don’t like lying to him, Mai. And you’ve shown me I don’t need to hide this anymore. I want to tell him.”

“I know. I wanted to talk to you about that tonight. I think we should tell him while I’m here this weekend.”

“Really?” His hand began moving toward her, and then he dropped it, looking to the dance floor. Maya nodded. “Oh, thank God. I was worried you wouldn’t be ready. Let’s tell him tomorrow. I don’t want to ruin his night, and I imagine news like that will—”

“You guys okay?” Colton had come back to grab his beer off the bar, and Maya jumped away from Cooper.

“Great!” Maya said, a bit overenthusiastically.

Colton nodded, sipping his drink. “I’m thinking we leave in an hour and hang out just the four of us at our house.”

“I think that’s a great idea,” Cooper said, and Maya smiled wide.

“Great!” she declared again. Subtle .

Colton headed back to Lucia. After a few minutes of watching, making sure he wasn’t coming back, Maya dared to slide the glass holding her pink drink across the bar closer to Cooper’s hand, which held a glass of whiskey that he’d barely touched.

“Cheers,” she said, licking her lips when her fingers brushed his, “to a job well done with the charity. ”

They clinked glasses and took a sip, eyes on each other the whole time. When their glasses came back down, he moved to wipe a small drop of the whiskey off his full bottom lip.

Before he could, her thumb swept it, catching and sucking it into her mouth. She hated the taste the moment it hit her tongue but didn’t care because the look he gave her spoke volumes.

“Mm, forgot I’m not a whiskey girl.”

“That’s too bad. I would’ve offered you some of mine,” he responded huskily, his heavy-lidded, lust-filled eyes dropping to her lips. As he lowered toward her, she shook her head once to remind him where they were.

“Careful,” she whispered.

She didn’t know when it’d happened, but they were toe-to-toe, and despite her being over six feet in heels, she had to look up at him.

“You want to dance?” he asked, inclining his head toward the dance floor full of sweaty bodies.

“Depends,” she answered, a smirk curving her lips.

“On what?” The gruffness of his voice set her body on alert, just wanting a brush of his hand along her body, knowing she was already wet with want for him.

“Can I save a horse and ride my cowboy tonight?”

His throat bobbed at the whispered question. “I’m not taking you for the first time in a bathroom at Frankie’s, as hot as we both know that would be. ”

“You know Colton’s going to have you stay the night. Just sneak into my room.”

Cooper looked around, then focused on her again. “That’s even worse than lying to him about us.”

“But so much fun. Think of how quiet we’ll have to be. How great it’ll be knowing how wrong it is.”

Cooper looked up at the ceiling, like he was searching for strength. “You have no idea the willpower I’ve had to this point. How much I’m holding myself back from touching you right now.” He looked down at her face, then her chest, down to the tips of her red-painted toes. “I want to rip this and anything underneath it right off you.”

She leaned forward to whisper in his ear. “What if I told you there’s nothing underneath?”

The groan he let out was animalistic, and his hands ghosted over her hips for just a second. Chills took over her body at the light touch.

“You are chipping away at my resolve quickly, sweetheart. The bathroom’s not sounding so bad now.”

“How about this: you sneak into my room and find me in just my dress in my bedroom, and next time we’re out like this, you can do whatever you want to me in the bathroom.”

There was that near-growl again. “Sunflower, if you don’t take a step away from me, I’m going to let every single person in this club know who this pretty pussy belongs to,” he muttered quietly, his hand ghosting over her inner thigh, inches from where she knew she ran slick with need for him .

She swallowed over the desire in her throat and took a step away. That didn’t stop him from keeping his eyes on her for the rest of the night, their little game continuing into the car and all the way to Colton’s house, until Lucia and Colton were drunk and ready for bed.

The soft, insistent knock on the door came only a few minutes after they had retired to their separate rooms in Colton’s house. Maya let Cooper in and locked the door.

When she turned around, he was a few feet away, and she smirked at the devilish look in his eyes. “What are you thinking about?”

Cooper took a step forward. “You,” he answered huskily. “Pretty much all the time.”

“Oh,” she breathed, her mind scrambling to find purchase on a single other word with him so close and those intense blue eyes on her.

“When I’m waking up and getting ready for the day? Thinking about you. When I’m at the facility or on the field? Thinking about you. When I’m out with the guys? Thinking about you, which is so bad because Colton is always sitting right there, and I’m terrified he can read my mind.”

Maya giggled .

“When I’m in the shower, I’m thinking about you. When I’m stroking my cock, I’m thinking about you.”

A muscle feathered in his jaw, and she saw the moment his control snapped. Cooper stepped forward, sliding a hand to cup her cheek, his fingers pulling at her hair, drawing a gasp from her mouth. His lips found hers quickly, and this kiss was punishing. Is he punishing me for teasing him, or did he just miss me? she wondered.

Cooper pushed her against the door, his warm mouth traveling to her jaw and then her neck, his hand moving to hold her waist. He strained against his dress pants, and she bit her lower lip to stop a breathy moan.

Maya was hot, feverishly so, and her entire body trembled with the knowledge that she was about to have what she’d been wanting for—well, who really knew how long? Since far before she’d admitted her feelings for him to herself.

Pushing the straps of her dress off her shoulders, he began kissing from her neck to her breasts, to her stomach over her dress, and then he was on his knees in front of her, looking up at her like she could control his every move if she wanted to.

Maya ran a hand through his hair as he slowly pushed her dress up her legs and over her ass, his breath warming the inside of her thighs until she felt like liquid, almost unable to stand on her own two feet.

Cooper’s eyes still on hers, he hiked her right leg over his shoulder, like he knew she needed the support, and placed a chaste kiss to her clit. Maya inhaled sharply .

His eyes flicked down to her and then back up to her face. “Can I?”

Maya nodded, still speechless at seeing him on his knees for her. He swiped a finger over her and groaned. “You’re always so fucking wet, sunflower. Fuck .”

Like he couldn’t stop himself any longer, he licked up her slit, a strong arm wrapping around the leg thrown over his shoulder. The fingers of his other hand circled her clit, and the immediate thrill through her body pushed her head back against the door, breath coming faster and faster. As if he couldn’t contain his joy at pleasuring her, he ripped his pants and boxers down and began palming himself.

“You think you’re ready to take this cock, sweetheart?” When she didn’t respond, he pulled away, and she frowned down at him.

“I asked you a question, Mai.” Cooper spit on his cock, pumping up and down as he once again looked into her eyes.

Maya bit her lip, trying to slow her breathing before responding. “Y-yes.”

Cooper raised an eyebrow, his cocky smirk making her heartbeat rocket through her body.

He was so beautiful.

“You don’t seem so sure. Let’s see.”

Cooper slid a finger inside her, and she gasped quietly at how easily he slid in. When he inserted another, she gripped his hair in one hand, the nails of her other hand digging into his shoulder, and he moaned like he liked the pressure .

His tongue played with her clit as his calloused fingers continued pumping in and out of her until she couldn’t take it anymore, blood pounding in her ears and legs shaking with her orgasm.

Cooper pulled away, setting her leg down and grabbing her waist as he stood, a self-satisfied smile on his face.

“You are a fucking wonder, you know that? I’m going to have somebody paint you in a hundred ways and plaster it all over my house.”

Maya smiled at his words, knowing he meant every one. Not wanting him to feel like she didn’t reciprocate, she grabbed at his cock, but he backed away, shaking his head.

“Maya, if you touch me, there is a very real chance I won’t be able to bend you over like we both want.” He stepped forward to grab her ass and squeezed once. “Get on the bed. On all fours, ass up.”

The authority in his voice sent a shiver down her spine, and she complied eagerly. Maya rested on her forearms, shaking when his hands bunched the fabric of her dress and used it to pull her to him. His warm breath against her pulled the first moan out of her, and Maya had to push her face into the bed to keep herself quiet.

Cooper massaged her inner thigh for a moment and then stuck his tongue right inside of her, lapping up her first orgasm.

He pulled back. “Can I spank you?” he begged .

She let out something that sounded like mm-hmm , nodding her head, and the quick bite of his hand on her ass sent pleasure zipping through her.

“That’s for teasing me at the bar when you knew I couldn’t do anything about it,” he said gruffly. Then he was kissing her inner thighs, his scruff rubbing against her. He found her center once again.

“Oh, god. Fuck, Coop, yes. Yes .” His tongue continued lapping her up as he rubbed her, and she very nearly finished again, collapsing onto the bed.

Cooper chuckled. “You’re lucky their bedroom is across the house from us right now or we’d be so busted.”

She heard him spit onto his dick, stroking himself. “You ready for me, sweetheart? Want me to fuck you like you’ve been begging for all night?”

“Cooper, please ,” she whined.

He spanked her again, and she gasped at how good it felt. “Let me see that pretty pussy before I pound it, sweetheart.”

Maya did as she was told. When she heard a wrapper being ripped open, she turned toward the noise. “I’ve got an IUD and I’m clean. I was tested a few weeks ago in case you were so inclined to fuck me. You don’t have to use a condom.”

“God damn it, Maya, you are so fucking sexy.” She felt his teeth bite into the flesh of her ass, and she let out another delighted gasp at the sensation. Cooper licked the area. “Clean when I tested a month ago and haven’t so much as looked in another woman’s direction in months. ”

“We probably should’ve had this conversation before I came all over your face at the watering hole, but good news.” She laughed.

He chuckled with her. A second later, the head of his penis was against her. “You ready, sweetheart?” This time, his words were sweet.

Maya responded by pushing herself into him.

“Guess so,” Cooper whispered, words strained as he grabbed her hips and moved into her slowly. Her body stretched to meet him, and his grip on her tightened, like he was struggling to keep a hold on himself. He began to pick up the pace, his cock drilling into her until the only thing she could keep in the air was her ass, and even that was supported by him.

“This is the only fucking pussy I want for the rest of my life,” he grunted as he thrusted. “Understood?”

Maya moaned in response, so dizzy, she could hardly enjoy the words she’d craved. Cooper filled her until she was screaming into the comforter again. The moment her middle finger began circling her clit in time with his thrusts, she came undone around him, and he groaned like he felt it.

“Jesus, fuck, sweetheart. Holy fuck.”

She panted again, stars lining her vision. “Isn’t that…a little…blasphemous?” she managed to get out.

He increased his rhythm as he said, “I would gladly go to hell for you, sweetheart.”

And she nearly orgasmed again just at those words .

Just when Maya thought he was about to finish, his fingers digging into her sides harder and his thrusts getting faster, he said, “Fuck this.”

Maya was flipped onto her back, light illuminating him in all his glory. “I need to see your beautiful face while I come.”

Cooper pushed inside of her again, and this time, she got to watch his face as she took all of him. He captured her lips and kissed her hard while he continued thrusting, groaning low in the back of his throat as he filled her with his cum. She hadn’t realized her nails were digging into his back until he’d stopped moving, his arms on either side of her body to keep him from falling on top of her, his face buried in her neck.

“That was…That was…Wow,” Cooper panted, lying beside her, an arm draped over her.

Too in a daze to respond, Maya only hummed in agreement.

A few minutes later, he stood, walking into the bathroom and returning with a towel to clean her up. When he tossed it to the other side of the bed, she asked, “So, round two?”

Later, after they’d wrung each other dry, Maya lay on her back, Cooper on his side beside her, tracing his fingers along her thighs as he smiled down at what he’d done to her stomach.

“I like seeing you like this. Covered in me. I want everyone to know you’re mine. ”

She threaded her fingers with his. “Let’s see how Colton reacts tomorrow, and then we can talk about telling the world. I’m still worried about the charity.”

He nodded thoughtfully. After a few moments of silence, he confessed, “I thought I could keep you off my mind when I only saw you a few times a year. But now that I get to spend time with you, I don’t want it any other way. You’ve been dancing around my head for far too long. I want to show you how special and wanted you are, sunflower. I want you in every single way, from the morning kisses to the evening dates to this.” He gestured at them and the liquid pooled on her belly from after their third round. “I want you.”

The words brought a smile to Maya’s face, and she grabbed the towel to wipe herself up a little bit. Cooper took over, gently removing all his spend from her body.

“I want that with you too, Coop. I want it all with you. I want to sit in your section at Sabers games and cheer you on. I want to kiss you when I first wake up and make breakfast with you before we start our days. I want to spend every free second I can with you.”

Cooper tossed the towel to the floor, pulling her so she lay on top of him, tracing lazy circles along her waist. “I know I need to go back to my room for the night, but I want to lie here for another few minutes.”

Maya beamed, her world suddenly so vast, and all she wanted to do for the rest of her life was explore it all with Cooper by her side.

A terrifying concept when she remembered the distance that divided them.