Lantern Lake Read Online Free PDF Page B

cursing as they fumbled for balance and leverage against the hardwood risers and railing. By the time they finally fell into her bed, the soft, clean cotton sheets were a cool and welcome relief against their fevered skin. Vivian pulled Cooper down until his body covered hers, a wall of muscle and bone keeping the future at bay. She turned her head far enough to peer through the gauzy white curtains at the subtle violet shade of the lightening sky. Dawn was coming.
    Squeezing her eyes shut, Vivian craned her neck to press her kiss-swollen lips to Cooper’s.
    “You’re not too tired?” His low voice rasped over her nerves, making her shiver.
    “One more time,” she replied, and he met her lips with a deep groan of need.
    The third time was slow, every touch and caress whispering over Vivian’s sensitive skin. With moans and sighs, she urged him to hurry, to give her what she needed, but Cooper rose over her on his strong arms and stared down implacably. His eyes burned with determination, iron control hardening his jaw, and Vivian knew he intended to take her apart piece by piece. Surrendering to it, she tilted her head back and rode the waves of sensation until she broke on the rocks, shattered and completely undone.
    Finally sated, Cooper collapsed beside her and fell asleep instantly. She forced her heavy eyes to stay open for a long moment, long enough to trace every line of Cooper’s face. Men were supposed to look softer, more boyish in sleep, she thought drowsily. But Cooper didn’t. Even the slackness of sleep couldn’t erase the hardness from his face. He’d changed.
    Well, so had she. She was stronger now, in some ways—and honest enough with herself to admit she was a total mess in other ways.
    And as she drifted off to sleep, Vivian was aware of a sharp pain in her chest at the knowledge that they’d never have the chance to get to know one another as they were now. Because she couldn’t afford the distraction while she worked toward her independence…and because Cooper didn’t care to know more than her body.
    Too bad accepting that she deserved this pain didn’t seem to lessen it at all.

Chapter 4
    As usual, Cooper came awake in a rush of total awareness of his surroundings. He’d worked hard to overcome waking disoriented—the occupational hazard of world exploration. No matter where he was, from a hut in the Andes to a villa in St. Moritz, Cooper had trained his brain to keep track. He hated being off balance when he opened his eyes, so before sleep, he fixed an image of his current location in his mind’s eye…but last night, he’d had other things on his mind.
    Those other things came back to him in a rush of awareness of the slender, naked, feminine body curled warm and close beneath sheets soft from repeated washing. Vivian. The memories of the night before crashed over him and headed straight for his morning erection. He wished he could be surprised that last night’s marathon sex hadn’t gotten this woman out of his head, but he wasn’t. There was something about Vivian that hooked him, drawing him to her like an addict to a bottle of bourbon.
    And what advice would he give a friend trying to kick an addiction? Cold turkey, baby.
    Just as he was trying to get up the energy to haul his ass out of the warm bed and into the frigid morning air of the bedroom, Vivian stirred beside him and made a soft smacking sound with her lips. Cooper couldn’t help but grin. She’d always been a cute sleeper. Back in the dorms, he used to wake her every morning by raining kisses over her forehead, cheeks, closed eyelids…she’d furrow her dark brows in confusion, and he’d kiss the sleepy frown away.
    He shifted uneasily, trying to avoid the swell of tenderness the memory evoked. The sheets slid over his skin, and for the first time, he saw the room in the light of day. The bed was an old four-poster, obviously solidly made since it had withstood their combined efforts to break the thing the