The Rivals of Copper County (Copper County #2)

Chapter 14

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

JASPER

When I woke up, it was still pitch-dark outside the dormer window—the kind of darkness I’d only ever experienced in Copper County, where streetlights weren’t a thing—and I was cozy and warm under the quilt in my room.

I closed my eyes and stretched… before suddenly remembering the night before. The hockey game. Martin. Watt.

My eyes popped open, and I rolled over.

Watt was lying on his side facing me, his stubbled cheek mashed against my pillow. My stomach flipped happily, then settled.

He’d stayed .

He’d taken care of me.

He’d cuddled .

The lamp on the table behind him still glowed, turning his dark hair into a bright corona and making the smooth skin of his broad shoulder glow gold. Relaxed in sleep, his face looked younger. Not quite like the teenager he’d been—baby Watt could never have managed that thick scruff—but more carefree than he was now.

I sighed softly and tucked one hand under my cheek, marinating in the safety and utter contentment I felt at knowing Watt was within touching distance.

Seeing Martin on my doorstep last night had been like the part of a scary movie where the bad guy pops back to life, and I was still shaken by it. It wasn’t just knowing that he’d followed me to Copper County and shown up uninvited—although, yeah, that was definitely bothering me—it was that he’d assumed I’d jump at the lure he’d dangled. Had been so sure I’d take his offer, in fact, that he’d hopped on a plane and driven all the way out to my house when I hadn’t answered his texts.

Had he not known me at all, despite being in my life for twenty years?

Or had he known me really well… as a money-motivated and success-focused person who’d agree to work with a snake like Martin if it would help me reach my goals?

Had I changed since moving to Copper County? And what would that mean for me if… er, when … I moved back?

I didn’t want to think about it.

Instead, I thought about how Watt had stood beside me in silent support while Martin was here, giving me the courage to stand taller.

Then he’d comforted and cared for me in the exact perfect way, not forcing me to talk but teasing me and protecting me.

He’d been my rock.

And I couldn’t help wondering what my life would have been like if I’d had him in it all along.

Gently, gently so as to not wake him, I glided a fingertip up the sharp curve of his jawline and over his scruff. Even in sleep, he looked strong and determined. I watched my fingers track higher, over his smooth forehead, then down the perfect jut of his nose. With the barest pressure, I traced the outline of his perfect Cupid’s bow and his full lower lip, which opened slightly?—

“Stop being creepy.” Watt’s voice was thick with sleep and rough as sandpaper.

“Stop being gorgeous,” I shot back.

Skeptical hazel eyes blinked open. “I’m definitely not the gorgeous one in this bed.”

My heart thumped unsteadily. He was wrong. I wouldn’t deny that I was handsome—I’d been paid to be, after all—but Watt was truly beautiful inside and out. His beauty was weathered like the rugged cliffs of Jane’s Peak, sturdy and resilient like the bark of a sugar maple. The sort of beauty that sometimes went unnoticed because it was simple and rooted in the landscape of everything familiar.

Scooting closer, I replaced my fingertips with my mouth, kissing him more fully awake. “You stayed last night.”

Beneath the blanket, his hand wrapped around my back. “We were in the middle of a game. Leaving would have meant forfeiting.”

I laughed softly. “That’s why, huh?”

Watt’s eyes creased with a teasing grin. “I also heard that you were down for whatever ?—”

My heart skipped a beat, and I moved a hand to his chest. “With you,” I finished just as I had the night before. I wasn’t sure he understood the distinction… or if I fully understood it myself. “Yeah. Definitely.”

His grin was slow, and even though we were joking like we always did, there was something deeper behind it. Something that made my chest tighten and my cock fill. “Careful.” His voice went lower. Deeper. “ Whatever could mean a lot of things.”

“I can handle anything you dish out.” I raised an eyebrow, trying to hold on to the teasing edge of our conversation. “Can you , though? You seemed to have concerns yesterday, and that’s okay…”

His eyes darkened, and his hand drifted down to rest below my hip, dragging the quilt with him. The air between us shifted subtly—the teasing still there but muted by something hotter and more intense. His thumb stroked along the waistband of my pajama pants, then dipped just beneath the fabric.

My breath hitched.

“I want to do this,” he said. “I just don’t wanna fuck it up.”

I couldn’t help the chuckle that slipped out. Watt really had no idea how much I wanted him. How badly he turned me on. “You can’t fuck it up. It’ll be awesome because it’s us, and we’re… friends. Bet you.”

Watt’s gaze softened, and he let out a breath. “You make it feel easy.”

“I was kinda hoping I’d make it feel… Oh .” I moved my hand under the sheet to cup his length and found that his shaft was already tenting his briefs.

Watt snorted. “You definitely make it hard, too.” Kicking off the covers, he moved his hand down to cup my ass and pull me against him for a long, thorough kiss.

Kissing Watt was familiar ground by now, though it never got old. The familiarity of his taste and the feel of his hands on my body made my pulse pound. In no time at all, I was painfully hard and grinding against him, seeking his friction and hardness.

“Tell me how this works,” he demanded breathlessly, breaking our kiss. Before I could say anything, he added, “And don’t be cute. That was a genuine question.”

I was so worked up I didn’t have the brainpower to tease him, though I loved that he’d thought I would.

“Lube,” I said. I pushed him flat on his back and crawled over him to rifle through the drawer in the bedside table… which Watt took as an opportunity to yank my flannel pants down so he could knead and stroke my ass.

“So fucking perfect,” he growled.

Nearly trembling with desire, I tossed the lube on the bed and stood to shuck my pants the rest of the way off. As he watched me, Watt’s large hand stole under his own waistband, and he groaned as he gave himself relief.

Saliva pooled in my mouth. Before I knew it, I was on the bed between Watt’s legs, sucking his cock. “Jasper,” he hissed. “ Fuck .”

I fucking loved the sounds he made when I sucked him. Every time, he sounded surprised and delighted and desperate, like he’d forgotten how good it would feel. I remembered what he’d said last night about not wanting many people, and it was a hell of a drug, knowing I was the one who got to be in this bed with him, that I was the lucky bastard who got to reduce this strong man to a writhing mass of groans and shudders.

It made me want to give him more, and more, and more pleasure—so much that he forgot to be surprised and learned to expect it as his due.

I pulled off and moved lower, drawing his balls into my mouth one at a time and swirling my tongue around them. The musky scent of him had me rocking against the mattress.

I simply couldn’t get enough of this man. I wanted to do everything to him at once. To take him down my throat, to turn him over and stroke his hole with my tongue until he lost his mind, to kiss him and swallow down all his hot noises.

Watt’s fingers threaded through my hair and tugged, and I let him draw me up to kiss him again. “Let me get you ready.”

Yes . I wanted that. I’d been wanting it since the first day, if I was being honest.

I hadn’t been lying yesterday when I’d told Watt that the particular variety of sex wasn’t what made the experience meaningful; it was the person you were with. I believed that wholeheartedly.

What I hadn’t said was that sex with Watt—sex of any variety—was a whole separate experience for me than sex with anyone else. I’d tried just about everything over the years, and it had all been excellent. I didn’t know why it was different with Watt… only that it was.

“Turn around,” he murmured, reaching for the lube.

I complied, crawling onto my hands and knees beside him, but he seemed to hesitate. Probably overthinking again.

“If you want,” I croaked out, “I can stretch myself this first time, and you can watch.”

“And deprive me of the enjoyment? Don’t think so.”

“You seemed hesitant,” I said with a grin, enjoying his attempt at bravado to hide his nerves.

“I’m just… considering.”

“Uh. Okay. Good. Great.” Meanwhile, I was dying. My cock was leaking, practically begging for relief. “But it’d be faster if I— ohmotherfucker !”

Watt had grabbed one asscheek in his capable, capable hand and, with the other, squirted a generous stream of cool lube down my crack.

“Watt,” I said helplessly, shifting my knees wider .

He trailed one blunt finger through the slickness and tentatively slid the tip back and forth over my hole.

All the breath in my lungs exited in a rush. Just from one finger touch .

I was so fucking into it, it took me a second to realize that he hadn’t gone any further, and when I turned my head, I found that he was staring at me with his brow furrowed.

“Watt?” I demanded. “You okay?” Please don’t change your mind . Please .

He huffed. “I am so good, Jasper.” When his eyes met mine, they were hazed with want, nearly drunk with it. And with our eyes still locked, he sank one lubed finger inside me.

I clutched at the sheets when his finger began to move but couldn’t help rocking back against him.

The small movement made him groan and fist his cock with his other hand.

“More,” I panted.

He poured out more lube before sinking another finger inside to join the first. The fingers of his free hand splayed against my back as if holding me in place while his dick rode against my hip like he needed relief.

The burn and stretch were real. Watt wasn’t a small person, and his fingers were proportional to the rest of him. And it had been a long while since I’d bottomed. But the man moved his fingers with purpose, like he knew what he was doing—or had done a real quick google after I fell asleep—and before long, he slid his fingers over my prostate.

I sucked in a breath so fast I nearly choked. “ Fuck . Watt. Yes .”

“Told you I’d be good at this,” he teased.

“I never doubted it,” I said fervently. Followed quickly by “ Christ ” as he glided over the same spot again. I reached down to give my poor dick a bit of attention. “Oh, shit. You’re so good at this.”

I was rocking back and forth, riding his fingers, but it wasn’t enough. “Watt…”

“Jesus Christ, I want you,” he whispered.

I was pretty sure that was supposed to be my line.

I was feeling genuinely frantic as I pushed him back onto the bed and moved to straddle him, like I might die if I didn’t get him inside me. I grabbed the lube from where he’d thrown it on the bed and poured some down his length, loving the way he hissed and threw his head back into the pillows at the sensation.

I leaned forward to give him a quick kiss because his mouth was my favorite thing ever, and I couldn’t resist tangling my tongue with his.

Then, I slid my hand down to the base of his cock, holding it in place so I could sink down on it.

“Jasper.” Watt groaned my name like it was a please and a thank-you all at once, and I got it. I did. Because I felt the same way.

Knowing it was Watt… my Watt… made all the sensations explode exponentially. My heart was in my throat, my stomach in my chest, and Watt’s fat cock deep in my gut.

The sound of his hot breaths as I felt them against my ear. The taste of his salty precum still on my tongue. The rough feel of his body hair against the tender skin of my ass. Everything about the situation revved me up until I was breathless with it.

Being with him like this was incomparable to any experience I’d had before with anyone else. It was everything I’d never even imagined. The fact it was with Watt made sense in a way I couldn’t describe .

“You okay, sweetheart?” he murmured next to my ear.

“Watt,” I breathed, overwhelmed with emotion.

“I know.” His deep voice vibrated through me as I turned to kiss him, stubble scraping across stubble as he continued to push in and out of me. “You feel so fucking good, Jasper. So damned good.”

I moved my hand between us to grasp my cock. As soon as he realized what I was doing, Watt pulled back enough to watch me stroke myself. His eyes moved between my cock and my hole as if mesmerized.

“You’re so beautiful like this,” he said in a ragged voice. “So fucking hot taking me. I won’t last. Need you to come. Jasper.”

My dick didn’t need any encouragement. My balls were already drawn up tight, and the sight of him turned on like this was doing a number on my self-control.

The orgasm hit as I noticed his stomach contract with another thrust. Pearly white fluid landed in the hair of his lower belly as I shot over and over again, crying out his name or a strangled version of it anyway.

“Oh fuck,” Watt groaned before shoving himself deep inside me and leaning in to kiss me hungrily as he groaned into my mouth and shuddered.

I ran my hands up and down his broad back and tried to memorize what it felt like to be completely owned by Watt Bartlett.

This was no longer in the same stratosphere as friends with benefits. Our connection was deep and true, unlike anything I’d ever considered with anyone other than Watt.

After we got cleaned up and returned to bed, we shared tender touches without saying much of anything. Words seemed unnecessary, and it turned out to still be the middle of the night .

We settled back into bed, wrapped up in each other to seek a few more hours’ sleep, and as Watt’s breathing began to slow, I heard him murmur, “My Jasper. Mine .”

I drifted off with a stupid grin on my face.

And the knowledge that, for the first time in my life, someone cared enough about me to want to stake a claim.