Total pages in book: 28
Estimated words: 25792 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 129(@200wpm)___ 103(@250wpm)___ 86(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 25792 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 129(@200wpm)___ 103(@250wpm)___ 86(@300wpm)
“All I want is to get to know you, baby. You don’t have to share anything that you don’t want to but give me a chance. Let me get to know the real you.”
6
ISLA
My pilot—and I was finally ready to admit, at least to myself, that I considered him mine—was saying all of the right things. But I still couldn’t believe he was in Screaming Woods, let alone Maggie’s shop. “What are you even doing here?”
Cooper jerked his chin toward the counter. “I bumped into Maggie and Eli in the woods, and she invited me to stop by her store.”
I let out a little huff over my friend’s sneakiness. Turning to frown at Juniper, I warned, “Although Maggie went running for the bathroom to puke, I wouldn’t count on all those cupcakes still being in the box when you finally get it. Jackie was eyeing them when she brought them in back for safekeeping.”
“That’s just mean,” she complained, tugging on Silas’s arm to lead him around the counter.
Facing Cooper again, I explained, “I actually meant what are you doing in Screaming Woods.”
He ran his fingers through his thick blond hair, and I took a moment to fully take in how handsome he was. I hadn’t been lying to my friends when I told them that I hadn’t gotten a good look at him when I was saving his life. It was mostly just a general impression except for his gorgeous blue eyes. But now I was able to appreciate his strong jawline, plush lips, and tall, muscular body in a way that I hadn’t been able to back then. Which was probably a good thing because I wasn’t sure I would’ve been able to steer him safely to the ground while my panties felt as though they were about to spontaneously combust.
Wrapping his fingers around my wrist, Cooper urged, “Come to my cabin, and I’ll explain.”
Remembering what Maggie had said about how he might’ve been thinking about me all this time too, I nodded. “Okay.”
We were quiet as we walked to the cabin he was renting, but the silence wasn’t uncomfortable. I was hyper aware of him as he led me down the path through the woods, the air practically crackling with our awareness of each other.
When we reached his cabin and he pushed the door open, Cooper rubbed the back of his neck before gesturing me ahead of him. He followed close, heading straight for a desk on the other side of the space. After picking up a stack of papers from the left side, he handed them over to me.
I glanced down and was stunned to find a drawing of myself staring back at me. He must have gotten a much better look at me than I had him because he hadn’t missed a single detail—except for the fact that the sketch was more beautiful than I was in real life.
My breath caught in my throat as I flipped through the drawings. There were so many of them, I couldn’t begin to guess how long it had taken him to sketch them all. They could only mean one thing. “You were thinking about me this whole time?”
Cooper took the sketches from my trembling fingers and returned them to the desk. Then he cupped my cheek and tilted my head back. Staring down at me, he didn’t mask the naked desire in his blue orbs as he rasped, “Every single day and night. I didn’t know if you were real or a figment of my imagination, but I couldn’t get you out of my head either way. So I figured I might as well give in to the urge to come here on the off chance you weren’t a hallucination.”
I pressed my hands against his chest, blinking up at him in awe. “You really came here for me?”
“Yes.” He brushed his thumb across my bottom lip. “And I’m so fucking glad I listened to my instincts because they led me to you. Finally.”
“I’ve been thinking about you, too.” I swallowed the nervous lump in my throat and added, “A lot.”
“Thank fuck,” he groaned before his mouth crashed against mine. He pulled my bottom lip between his teeth, making me gasp. Cooper took full advantage, his tongue sweeping inside so he could deepen the kiss.
I was breathless when he finally lifted his head, but I wasn’t ready for the kiss to end. Desperate for more, I went up on my toes and dug my fingers into his shoulders. “Please, Cooper.”
“Fuck, baby,” he growled against my lips. “You can’t say my name like that. I’m already barely holding on by a thread, knowing there’s a bed right next to us.”
I’d been so cautious with other people since the night I was turned into a Valkyrie, but I felt fearless for the first time. Knowing that Cooper had come all the way here on the off chance that I wasn’t a figment of his imagination made me feel safe with him. “What if I want you to lose control?”