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Rain dances against the glass doors. “I love you,” I whisper breathlessly as a moan slips past my lips. Cooper lets go of my throat, and I shatter around him as fireworks burst behind my eyes.
Cooper gathers my face in his hands and holds my half-lidded gaze with his as he surges up once more and then comes with my name on his lips like a silent prayer.
I don’t know how I ever thought I could live without this man.
* * *
When I wake up the next morning, I’m not surprised to find the other side of the bed empty. Judging by the sun trying to fight its way through the clouds, it’s got to be mid-morning, and after the incredible night we had, I don’t feel remotely guilty for sleeping away half the day.
I stand and stretch, enjoying the way my body aches, reminding me of all the ways I used it last night. I should really go for a run since I haven’t done that in the last week but decide instead to take a long, hot shower, wishing Coop was up here to join me.
Twenty minutes later, I’ve got a little extra pep in my step when I open my door and Elodie’s fussing carries down the hall. Emerson’s door is open when I step into her room, and I find Elodie tucked inside the bassinet, while her momma stares inside her closet. “Hey, you okay, Em?”
Em turns toward me in a daze. “Yeah... I was just thinking I’m not supposed to be here.” She looks around her room, like it’s the first time she’s seeing it. “We rented a place. We lived somewhere else, but when Linc—” She covers her mouth and closes her eyes. “When it happened, I came home with Jack and Theo and never left. Jack moved some of my stuff here. But most of it’s still at my place.”
Elodie lets out a shriek, and I pick her up. “Okay, sweetheart. What can Auntie Carys do for you?” I nuzzle my nose against her face as I hold her to my chest and sit on the bed to change her diaper.
“I have a nursery set up at home.” Em watches the two of us with sad eyes. “Pale pinks and greens, and this gorgeous chiffon bunting hanging from the ceiling over a white sleigh crib. Dad’s girlfriend hooked me up with an interior designer friend of hers, and she took care of it all. I never told Linc about it because he’d have been upset that I was spending money like that. He wanted to provide everything for us.”
She sits down next to me and hands me a wipe. “I’m going to have to go home soon, aren’t I?”
“No. There’s no timetable for what feels right. You’ll know when you’re ready to go back there. And I’ll be here to help you every step of the way.” I finish changing Elodie’s diaper, then snap the buttons on her onesie and pick her back up.
“You can’t put your life on hold indefinitely, Carys. As much as I know you’d do it in a heartbeat, it’s not fair to you.” She trails a finger down Elodie’s back.
I stand and sway back and forth with the baby, trying to keep her content while her momma has a few minutes to melt down. “It’s not indefinitely. It’s just the first few weeks when you have to have help, Em. Now, why don’t you get a shower while Elodie and I go downstairs and hunt for the boys.”
“Is that your way of saying I smell?” She stands and cocks a hip, then checks for herself and smells her armpit. “Okay. Yes, I need a shower. But first, I need to know how last night went?”
My cheeks flush, thinking about the way Coop and I reached for each other all night.
“Oh, come on,” Emerson groans. “I know howthatpart of your night went. Everyone within a five-mile radius has no doubt about just how well it went. Girl, I don’t remember you being that loud before.”
I have to stop myself from commenting back about how loud she and Linc used to be. “Sorry about that.” I blush harder.
“No, you’re not. And I don’t blame you one bit. Honestly, you could cut the freaking sexual tension around here with a chainsaw yesterday, it was so damn thick. But I was talking about your brother.” She walks into her bathroom, leaving the door open. “How was Aiden last night?”
The water turns on, and Elodie and I walk to the door of the bathroom. “It went well. Why don’t you take a shower, then try to get some sleep. I’ll bring her back up when she needs to eat again. Does two hours-ish sound about right?”
Em peeks out and kisses her daughter’s head. “You’re a lifesaver, Carys. But I’m not letting you save my life at the cost of your own. Remember that.” She steps back into the bathroom, closing the door behind her.
Elodie’s big violet eyes look up at me, and I swear she smiles. “Come on, baby girl. Auntie Carys needs to find Uncle Coop.” A smile spreads across my face when I realize I can’t remember the last time I was this happy.
“Hey,man. Did you hear Trick is being sent stateside for rehab next week?” I stare at Rook, who’s cutting his omelet into perfectly portioned squares. I’ve never met anyone as regimented as he is, and that’s saying something since I’ve been in the Navy for four years.
His forks stops halfway to his mouth, and his forehead wrinkles. “No. The fucker didn’t tell me. Is he being discharged?”
I shrug. “Don’t know. He texted, and trust me, that’s not the kind of thing you want to talk about in a text.”
“Sorry, man. Have you given any thought to what you want to do?” He shifts uncomfortably because this whole conversation sucks. Well, at least it does for me.
“Not really. This was it.” I push my empty plate aside and pick up my coffee. “This was the plan. I didn’t have a backup. I figured I had another fifteen years before I had to figure out what came after the teams.”
Rook watches my movement with a question on the tip of his tongue.
You don’t serve together as closely as we have and not learn each other’s ticks. At least, that’s what I’d have said before our last op. “Ask your question, brother. I can tell you have one.”
“Have you talked to anyone yet?” I open my mouth to answer him, but he cuts me off, annoyed. “I don’t mean one of us, shithead. I mean a shrink.”
