Binding Love Page 2

  When they pulled into town, it was just as Mallory imagined it would be. Chaos was exactly the way Cooper told of it in stories. Raising Cain was easy enough to find, but since it was still pretty early in the day, she had no idea whether or not Cooper was there. If he wasn’t, they would have to rely on someone else for directions to his home.

  What if they had come in haste? What if Cooper wasn’t there and what if his family and friends wouldn’t tell them how to find him?

  She didn’t realize she’d spoken the words out loud until Liam tugged on her hand. “None of that, girl. All those what ifs will drive you crazy, and if you’re nuts, who is going to take care of me?”

  Mallory knew he was right, but the doubts were nearly overwhelming now that they were so close. “I mean it, Mallory.”

  As usual, his stern tone pulled her head out of the clouds and brought her back down to earth. “Yes Sir. I know.

  Liam pulled the car into an empty parking space. After shifting to park, he tugged her over to him. His lips felt soft, and yet he took exactly as much as he wanted to. He was fair even if unyielding once he made up his mind about something.

  He growled low in his throat when she opened her mouth wide just the way he preferred. By the time he broke the kiss she was breathless. “Good girl. Now let’s go get our guy.”

  Chapter Two

  Cooper set the newspaper down at the sound of the phone ringing but made no move to answer it. He wasn’t ready to deal with everything just yet. When it finally stopped, he breathed a sigh of relief and resumed reading the paper.

  He’d gone into Raising Cain early, as was fairly usual for him. He preferred to complete most of his work while the place was quiet and then be back in the comfort of his own home before they opened for business. Often times he stayed around for the sheer purpose of being close to his family. Even though they had no clue what happened, they were a source of comfort and security.

  And although it wasn’t something he enjoyed, Cooper had even volunteered to work a shift or two at the bar. Cash and Noelle were busy having babies, and Connor, Carson and Tara were just busy. Evidently running a working horse ranch and keeping everyone happy took an enormous amount of time. Casey and Jared were newly engaged and also seemed to be busy with their own lives. Jared continued working on one of the drilling rigs and Casey ran her home business with more passion than anyone he’d ever met. It pleased Cooper beyond belief to see his siblings so happy, but it also highlighted exactly what was missing in his life.

  Cooper grumbled when the phone began to ring again. Leaning over, he snatched it off the kitchen counter. The caller ID read Raising Cain. He wasn’t sure whether to be relieved or not.

  “Hello?”

  “Hey, Coop.” It was his oldest brother Cash.

  He knew the answer before even asking the question. Mallory was at Raising Cain. She didn’t know his address, so going to the bar would be her only alternative. “What’s up?”

  He had no desire to have a long, drawn-out dramafest. From her reaction, Mallory was not okay with his sexual preferences. Cooper really didn’t see any way around it. He wasn’t willing to change who he was, to settle in order to have a relationship with her. No matter how much it had hurt to walk away, Cooper still felt as if he’d done the right thing.

  “You have company.” That was Cash. A man of few words, straight to the point. No beating around the bush.

  “Tell her I’m not interested.”

  Cash muttered something that would have gotten his mouth washed out with soap as a child. “I take it this is the ex Casey was telling me about?”

  So he knew that much at least, did he? “Yeah.”

  “Who’s the guy with her?”

  Cooper’s heart stuttered then picked up a pace that made him feel lightheaded. Mallory had a man with her? It couldn’t be Liam, it just couldn’t be! What in the hell was she thinking? Better yet, why would he have agreed to come with her?

  Newspaper long forgotten, he pushed away from the table and stood. Liam’s face the last time they had seen one another flashed before his eyes. It was the night Mallory walked in on them. Cooper had been flat on his back, his ankles bound to his thighs, immobilizing his legs wide open, just the way Liam preferred. They had been hanging out for months, getting to know each other, enjoying one another’s company, but that was the first time things had gone beyond kissing and groping.

  If he closed his eyes, he could still picture the way Liam’s brows furrowed as he ever so slowly entered the tight confines of Cooper’s ass. He was large, and although they had spent time preparing Cooper, he’d struggled to take all of Liam’s cock.

  “Are you there, Coop?”

  Shit! “I’m here.” He leaned heavily on the table with his free hand and lowered himself back into the chair he’d recently vacated. “Tell them—”

  Cash cut him off. “The guy with her, Liam he said his name was, said they weren’t leaving until you talked to them. From the looks of the guy, he means it.”

  That sounded just like Liam. He was a ballsy bastard for sure. Not many men would give Cash an ultimatum, but if Cooper knew Liam at all, he’d not thought twice about doing so.

  “Fine, give them my address.” It was obvious they weren’t going to go away.

  Silence met his ears. He could almost hear the displeasure in Cash’s voice when he finally spoke. “I don’t know what’s going on, Cooper, but if you don’t want to talk to this guy, I can make sure he leaves town.”

  He smiled. It couldn’t be helped. Cash had been born a couple hundred years too late. He should have been a spur-wearing, gun-toting lawman in some Wild West town. “Thanks for the offer, big brother, but it’ll be fine. It’s about time I deal with this.”

  “Suit yourself. You know where I’m at if you need me. In the meantime, I’ll give them directions.”

  Cooper thanked dead air as Cash hung up the phone. There would be no relaxing, no finishing the paper. Within minutes Mallory and Liam would be knocking on his door. He had no idea why they had come together. He’d expected Mallory to come alone. Although, even the whys of her visit were unknown and nagged at him. If she had wanted to apologize, she could have sent him a card or left a message on his answering machine. It didn’t really matter because he had no desire to hear it anyway. At least that was what he’d been telling himself for the last two years.

  Maybe seeing them would clear things up enough that he could start some semblance of a normal life. It would be nice to get back to living, to be able to trust again. Cooper had become so jaded he’d steered clear of pretty much all women. When he did finally break down for some sweaty, hot sex it was only with someone who either knew the score or charged for their services, and even those times were few and far between.

  As far as sex went, life majorly sucked, and not in the hot and sexy kind of way either.

  When his doorbell chimed, Cooper took a deep breath and headed to answer it. His first thought upon pulling the door open was that Mallory looked scared to death as she stood slightly in front of Liam. Her eyes were red-rimmed as if she had been crying, something he didn’t want to consider. Her hair was different. Still shiny black, but instead of being cut in layers, it was all one length ending right at her jawline with bangs. He liked it.

  Liam, on the other hand, appeared calm and cool. Jeans covered his long legs. They were legs Cooper knew were tightly corded with muscle. The other man wore a dark blue t-shirt just tight enough to make Cooper’s mouth water but not look feminine. Liam was wearing his hair longer than before and the lines bracketing his eyes were deeper, but otherwise he looked exactly the same.

  Cooper knew he was being rude as he stood in the doorway, not yet inviting them in. Part of him wanted to see what it was they wanted, but the other part warned him it was a bad idea to invite them in. Probably a very bad idea.

  Liam could see the indecision on Cooper’s face. He also noticed the way his gaze had wandered over the both of them. From the look
in his eyes, Cooper liked what he saw. Liam didn’t want to be an ass, but it was obvious someone was going to have to take the lead and get things started. In order to do so, they were going to need a place to sit and talk.

  Moving past Mallory, Liam crowded his way into the doorway until he and Cooper stood nose to nose. “We’re not leaving, man, so you might as well step aside and invite us in.”

  Releasing his grip on the doorknob, Cooper pushed it wide at the same time he backed up. No words were spoken, but Liam didn’t hesitate to take it as an invitation. With an arm around Mallory’s waist, he ushered her through the door and into the living room.

  It was sparsely furnished, the walls bare, the white paint in stark contrast with the wood floors. Liam chuckled. Cooper had always been a whiz with numbers, but there was not a decorative bone in his body.

  “Which way to the kitchen?” He had a feeling they were going to need coffee.

  Cooper closed the door then stalked away, Liam and Mallory hot on his heels. Liam rested his hand on her shoulder, giving it a slight squeeze. She had yet to say a word. He hated the look on her face. Really disliked knowing he had little to no control over the outcome of things as far as Cooper was concerned.

  “Sit down and I’ll put coffee on.” Cooper gave the command over his shoulder, his back to them as he worked.

  Liam looked at Mallory, trying to decide how to go about things. If it were just him and Cooper, he would have jumped right into discussing the issues at hand. The sooner all of the talk was out of the way, the sooner fucking could commence. Something warned him that with Mallory in the picture things were going to be a little more complicated. He also knew she wouldn’t appreciate it if he pushed the issue and was the cause of them being kicked out. It was one of his biggest fears. He worried that even after hearing them out Cooper might still not want anything to do with them.

  Liam brushed his fingers over Mallory’s denim-clad thigh. When she looked at him, her smile was a bit lopsided. He had an overwhelming urge to pull her into his arms and assure her everything would be okay. He longed to be able to tell her that soon Cooper would not feel any resentment toward them. Liam wished he could promise they would have a long and happy life in front of them, one where they lived and loved together. He knew there was a very good chance nothing of the sort would happen though. The thought of someone else, even Cooper, having that power over not only him but Mallory’s happiness put him on edge.

  Cooper set three mugs on the table with a loud thump. Next came a bowl of sugar, which was set in front of Liam. In front of Mallory came packets of artificial sweetener and milk. Remembering how they took their coffee was pretty insignificant in the grand scheme of things, but it gave Liam hope all the same.

  “Why are you here?” Cooper had yet to look at them. He’d turned his chair around then straddled it backward as he reached for his coffee.

  “I don’t remember you being such a rude asshole. Hard to believe you’ve changed so much in two years.”

  Liam was barely able to hold back his laughter. Mallory would put up with a lot of shit, especially when she felt responsible for the predicament, but she was a stickler for manners.

  Cooper’s head snapped back as if he’d been slapped. Their eyes met over the table, and Liam felt the heat as they gazed at one another. How could the big idiot sitting across the table from him ever doubt Mallory’s love? Hell, they hadn’t seen each other in years and it was still obvious to anyone who took the time to really look at them.

  “Touché,” Cooper responded a bit sarcastically, his gaze locked on hers. “Now why are you here?” His voice was raspy and low, as if he didn’t spend a lot of time talking. He sounded the same to Liam and yet not the same at all.

  “We came because we need to talk.” Liam spoke quietly, filling in for Mallory, who continued to watch Cooper’s every move.

  The only man he’d ever loved leaned back and looked first from him to Mallory. “I think she said it all when she walked away without a word.”

  Mallory’s gasp was audible in the quiet of the room. The hand holding her coffee mug shook slightly. Liam wanted to berate Cooper for being an ass but couldn’t. He could only imagine how he would feel if the tables were reversed. It was hard to just sit back and watch though. His woman was hurting, something he didn’t like at all.

  When she turned to look at him, Liam nodded. He recognized the look on her face. She’d had just about enough. Mallory had come to talk. At the very least she hoped to clear the air. In reality though, her aspirations were much higher. She was more than willing to take the lion’s share of the blame and had pretty much done so from the beginning, but there were things Cooper needed to know. From the stubborn angle of her pointy little chin and the way she’d squared her shoulders, Mallory intended to get busy pointing them out to him.

  Why were men so damn hard to deal with? And why if they were so hard to deal with did she have this need to include two of them in her life? Because you’re crazy! If she wasn’t so nervous and irritated, she might have laughed at that thought.

  That wasn’t the case though. Right now she was scared as hell to do something or say something wrong. She hated the feeling. Add in Cooper’s attitude since they’d shown up on his doorstep, and it was no wonder she could nearly taste blood from biting her tongue so hard.

  She hadn’t expected a warm welcome complete with hugs and kisses, but she had expected civility. Cooper used to love life, and it had always showed in the twinkle of his eyes and the smile curving his lips. The man sitting across from her was another story altogether. This man was cynical and unsmiling. Mallory was sorry for the change and had just made the decision it was up to her to bring back the Cooper she loved. She was now a woman on a mission. It was time to lay it all on the table and see what he did with the information.

  “I wasn’t the only one who walked away without a word.”

  Pointing fingers was not something Mallory took lightly, but neither was allowing Cooper to play the only victim in this game. Liam was right. They had all made mistakes and as a result all three of them had suffered.

  “I didn’t think there was much to say. I figured your actions spoke much louder than words ever could.” Cooper’s comeback dug deep.

  Liam, who had kept quiet, spoke. “You figured wrong, Cooper. There’s plenty to say, and that’s why we’ve come to Chaos.” His words were not heated or condescending.

  “Then talk.”

  He wasn’t receptive to listening, that much was obvious by the tone of his voice and the way he held himself so rigid, his muscles bunched, as if ready to flee any second.

  “I’m sorry things got so mixed up, Cooper.” Mallory spoke the words she wished she’d said two years ago. They were not hard words. She had no problem offering the honest apology. She’d made a huge mistake and had wished every day since that she could take it back, but she wasn’t the only one at fault. Both Liam and Cooper had played big roles in all that had happened as well.

  “Apology accepted.” Cooper levered himself off the backward kitchen chair he’d been occupying. “If that’s all…”

  Mallory fought back tears. She would not cry. She’d rather have bamboo shoots stuffed beneath her fingernails than get all emotional in front of Cooper, no matter how much she still thought she loved the big jerk.

  “Sit your ass down.”

  Liam’s voice lashed through the room whip sharp. He was now standing. Mallory had no idea when he’d moved. He was behind her chair, his hands resting on her shoulders. “We made the trip because it’s something that needed to be done. These words need to be said, Cooper, so you might as well sit down and at least listen.”

  “Why did you come, together I mean?”

  Cooper looked from Liam to her and then back again. She knew exactly what he was asking and had no clue how he would take the news but figured there was no way around it.

  “We live together.” Mallory didn’t offer any other information. If he wanted to kn
ow something, he’d have to ask.

  For a second, his granite façade crumpled. His face showed a plethora of emotions as he turned the chair so it sat facing the kitchen table and then lowered himself into it. When he looked up, his face was once again a mask of calm. “I’m glad.” His words were sincere, not an ounce of sarcasm.

  “Thank you. So are we.” Liam lifted his hands from her shoulders and returned to his own seat.

  “I meant what I said, Cooper.” Mallory took a chance. Extending her hand, she touched his arm just long enough to feel his warmth, to reconnect herself with him in a physical sense, even if in a small way.

  “I was very confused and angry when I walked in on you two that day.” It was hard to even think about it, to think of how hurt she’d felt. Even now, two years later and knowing everything, it still had the power to make her feel insecure. “I mean, think about it from my side of things. I come in with the intention of surprising my boyfriend only to find him in bed with my other boyfriend. I was a bit shocked.”

  That was putting it mildly. Shocked hadn’t been the only thing she’d felt. Too much had gone through her mind all at once to be able to do anything even remotely adultlike when it came to dealing with the situation. So Mallory had done what felt safe, she’d run away, back to her place where she could cry and sleep and think.

  She’d spent a week hiding and avoiding anything having to do with either Cooper or Liam. She’d ignored their phone calls, deleted email and phone messages without even reading or listening to them. It had been one of the worst weeks of her life. By the time she felt calm enough to talk and willing to listen with an open mind it had been too late. Cooper had collected his diploma, having decided to forgo participating in the graduation ceremony, and left for home.

  “What shocked you the most, Mal? The fact that your boyfriends were fucking or that one of us was all tied up while it was happening?” Cooper sounded hurt and bitter. She supposed he had every right to.