Copper (7 page)

Marla glanced at her sister. She didn’t like the twinkle in her eyes or the devilish look that quickly crossed her face before disappearing. She narrowed her eyes.   “Just because I confessed to finding Copper sexy doesn’t mean anything is going to happen, especially between the sheets.”

“Right,” Natalie said in a long drawn out whisper. “That man loves his privacy more than any person I know. Yet here you are, taking up residency in his room and his bed.  You could just as easily be sharing my room.  He staked a claim on you in front of me and the other Metal Cowboys.”

“Maybe?”

“You’re not convinced?”

“Nope!”

“Why not?”

“Because I’ve been to parties here before. Copper is never without company, if you know what I mean? Beautiful women are always hanging off his arms. I’m just plain and boring Marla.”  She stifled a yawn.

“Whatever. You are not plain, and you’re only boring because you want to be.”  Natalie pointed to the corner of the room.  “I tried to get everything you’ll need for the next three or four days.  You’re tired, and you need to rest.  Go ahead and take a shower before you fall asleep. Remember to be careful around your wound,” she warned.  “Don’t pick at the bandage or scrub at it too hard.” 

Marla sighed.  “I’ll be careful. What about you, what are you going to do?”

“I’m turning in too. It’s late, and it’s been a very long night.”  She hugged her sister.  “If you need me for any reason, I’m in the first bedroom, the one at the head of the stairs.  Yell my name, and I’ll come running.”

Marla returned the hug. “Thank you for everything. I love you.”

“Right back at you.  Enjoy your shower and sleep tight.”

FOUR

The click clack of Iron’s fingers on the computer keyboard was not nearly enough of a distraction. Copper’s mind was firmly fixed on the enticing woman currently taking up residence in his bedroom.  “Find anything?”  He asked the question in a desperate attempt to get his brain back on task. 

“Rob Storey is definitely in the area. The best I can tell, he’s been here about two weeks.”

“That’s long enough for him to get a sense of Marla’s schedule, case out the school, and find out where she lives.”

“Yep, he’s a local too, so it probably wouldn’t be too hard for him to ask around and get all the information he wanted on Marla or Natalie for that matter.”

Copper growled deep in his throat and smacked the palm of his hand against his thigh.  “You’re right.  He has to know Natalie and Marla are sisters.  It’s no secret that Natalie works for us.”  He smiled an evil grin.  “I almost wish the bastard would come a calling.”  He rubbed his hands together.  “He’d get one hell of a welcome,” Copper promised.  “But there wouldn’t be anything pleasant about it, at least not for him.  Me on the other hand, I’d love every gory second of it.”

Iron’s fingers stopped moving over the keyboard.  He spun around in his desk chair and squared off with Copper.  “What’s up with you, man? You seem to be taking this just a little too personally.  I know Natalie is an important part of our business, but we hardly know Marla.” 

He raked a hand through his already disheveled hair, took a couple of big steps, and turned to face Iron. “Marla gets to me, always has. I’ve tried approaching her before at various barbecues and parties, but in the past she’s always managed to avoid me.”

“You aren’t usually put off that easily,” Iron said with a chuckle.

“I was trying not to rock the boat with Natalie. I don’t think we could find a better assistant.”

“You got that right,” Iron agreed. “If we depended on Tina to keep the office part of the business running smoothly, we’d be screwed, maybe even bankrupt.  Remind me why we hired that ditzy woman again.”

Copper grimaced.  “I think Steel and Chrome were suckered by a pretty face. I bet they regret that decision now.” The two men snickered. “Worse than being bankrupt, could you imagine having to work with two women like Tina every day?”

Iron actually shuddered at the thought. “Is that the only reason you don’t want to upset Natalie?”

“Hell no, Chrome would kick my ass if I made Natalie angry enough to quit.”

“Ah, so I’m not the only one who noticed that sparks always seem to fly when those two are in the same room.”

“I’m pretty sure everyone here has noticed. I always thought it was funny, not so much anymore. I feel that same electric sizzle whenever Marla is nearby. The only difference is now I’m done with the tiptoeing.  She could have died tonight,” he said in a voice that cracked with emotion. 

“I want her and I’m going to have her.  If there’s one lesson we learned in the military, it’s that life is too short to waste time.  I’m done with that.  I’m reaching out and taking what I want.”

“Then why are you wasting time down here with my ugly mug?”

Copper laughed long and hard.  “Right, like you don’t have to beat single women off with a stick whenever we go trolling in bars?”

Iron, who got his nickname because he loved to pump iron, flexed his muscles. “They admire the six-pack and the biceps, not necessarily the face.”

Copper snorted.  “I know you’re not fishing for compliments.  On that note, I’m out of here. I want to check on Marla.”

“You are so screwed,” Iron teased the other man.

“Not tonight but soon, bro, soon.” 

Copper jogged from the room and bounded up the stairs two at a time. The pounding of his shit-kickers against the hardwood stairs echoed around him. It matched the erratic and wild beat of his heart.  He came to an abrupt stop in front of his closed bedroom door.  He was trying to coax her into his bed not send her running into the night.  Besides, he still had some manners left. 

He rapped his knuckles against the wood and waited for a softly spoken invitation to enter.  When it didn’t happen, Copper decided Marla must be asleep already.  He opened the door as quietly as he could and peeked inside.  The bed was empty.

The sound of running water from the shower droned on in the background.  It was another sound that got Copper moving however.  The wrenching sobs were loud enough to drown out everything else, even his common sense and decency. 

He walked into the bathroom without hesitating. It only took a few seconds for him to scan the scene.  Steam hung heavy in the air and coated the large mirror hanging above the double sink.  The tortured sound grabbed ahold of his heart and squeezed hard.

His eyes darted to the shower.  The squeeze became a twist at the sight that met his eyes.  Marla was slouched down on the floor, huddled into a ball in one corner of the shower. Her arms were loosely wrapped around her bent knees, which served as a resting place for her lowered head.

Copper couldn’t stand it anymore, and he couldn’t just walk away.  This shower was over.  He pushed open the glass door.  The sobbing became even louder.  He scooped Marla into his arms. He tried to ignore the fact that she was completely naked, even though the water from her body seeped through his clothes, plastering them together.

Startled, Marla flailed her arms and legs. “Let me go!” She demanded in a voice hoarse from several minutes of crying.  She shoved hard against her captor’s chest but got nowhere.

Copper didn’t’ want either one of them to get hurt. He tightened his grip, trapping her between the tight hold of his arms and his much larger body. “It’s okay,” he tried to reassure her. “It’s me, Copper. I’ll let you go as soon as you stop fighting me.”

She instantly stilled.  Marla refused to look at him.  Instead she buried her face in the side of his neck.  She took several ragged breaths and eventually managed to stifle the sobs.

Copper murmured encouraging words to her.  He glanced around the bathroom, snagged the nearest bath towel, wrapped the cotton around her, and walked them over to his bed.  He quickly turned back the covers and gently eased her down onto the firm mattress.  He slid in behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist to provide physical support. 

“That was one hell of an emotional outburst.  Anything you want to share or bounce off of me, just let me know,” he offered. He wasn’t much for small talk, but he needed a distraction. And he was damn sure Marla needed one too. 

It might make him a horny bastard, but his sex was already growing hard from the feel of the warm, soft woman pressed against him.  Copper discreetly adjusted his erection so it wouldn’t be so obvious.  He was trying real hard not to be a bastard and take advantage of the situation.  If that meant urging her to bare her soul, so be it.

Seemingly oblivious to the sexual tension that was coming off of him in waves, Marla finally lifted her head and looked at him. Her eyes were shiny from the tears. The deep and vivid brown color was mesmerizing to Copper. 

“I’m sorry,” she said between breaths.  “I thought I could be strong.  You know, not let the bad memories engulf me and bring me down.  I guess I was wrong.”  Another sob followed by a jerky breath left her body.

This was sorely testing Copper’s will, but he gritted his teeth.  He was determined to do the right thing.  “I’m no expert, but I would say there’s a lot more behind all that pent up emotion than being grazed by a bullet.”   

“You could say that.”  Marla sniffed.  “The attack and the realization that my ex-boyfriend could be involved brought back all kinds of horrible memories and feelings.  I tried to wash off the dust from my fall in the parking lot and hurry out of the shower, but when I closed my eyes all I could see was Rob’s hateful face.” She shuddered. 

“I scrubbed harder thinking the soap and water would symbolically wash away the bad memories, but it didn’t work.  Before I knew it, I was reliving the worst day of my life inside my head.  Once again I was a scared and pregnant eighteen year old, lying at the bottom of the stairs, bleeding out and losing my baby.”    

Every muscle in Copper’s body tensed. The hand that was absently stroking her hair stilled.  He was afraid he already knew the answer, but he needed to ask anyway.  “Marla?”

“Huh?”  Her voice sounded far away, like she was lost in the frightening memories of long ago.

“How did you fall down the stairs?”

“Rob and I were arguing about the pregnancy. He wanted me to have an abortion, but I refused.  I tried to tell him I would find a way to take care of the baby without him.  It would have been tough, but Natalie and I already talked about ways to make things work.”

Copper’s fingers clenched and unclenched around the comforter. “You gave the SOB an out, and he didn’t take it?” Copper’s jaw was clenched so hard, it was difficult to get the words out.

“No,” her voice was full of bitterness. “He lost his temper and grabbed my arm.  He was shaking me really hard.  I was so scared, I couldn’t catch my breath.”  A shiver skated down her spine, and her whole body shook.

He couldn’t resist the urge to hold her.  He wrapped his arms around her again, hugging her close to his body.  He’d heard all he needed to hear.  “I think I can guess the rest. You don’t have to say anything else.”

Marla placed her hand on top of his and squeezed.  "No, I need to finish, say the words out loud.  I think it’ll help, and you already know the worst of it anyway.”

“Talk all you want, darlin’, and I’ll listen.”  It might kill him, but he’d do it and not say a word, if that’s what she needed.

The woman in his arms took a deep breath and actually relaxed against him.  “Thank you, Copper.  This means a lot to me.  Natalie’s the only person I’ve ever talked to about this, and we haven’t mentioned it in years.  It’s been festering inside of me for way too long.  Being attacked and knowing that Rob might be behind it brought everything bubbling to the surface.” 

Copper leaned down and kissed the top of her head. “Here’s your chance, talk all you want.” 

After a long drawn out sigh, she picked up the thread of the story. “I tried to get away from Rob when he started shaking me.” She gave a bitter laugh. “Naively I thought everything would be all right if I could just break his grip and get away from him.  For a split second, I thought I succeeded.  I started down the stairs, trying to put some distance between us.” She paused and was silent for several seconds.

Copper gently rubbed her temple with one hand and stroked her long blonde hair with the other.  He didn’t talk.  He just offered his silent support and hoped that some of his strength found a way to sink into her.  He was a man of action. Copper wasn’t really known for his patience, but for Marla he would wait all night, if that’s what she needed him to do.

Finally her soft voice broke the taut silence.  It was barely a whisper.  “Natalie was in the kitchen, and I knew if I could get to her, I’d be safe.  The shove completely surprised me, though looking back, I’m not exactly sure why.  I lost my balance and toppled down the stairs.” 

Her whole body was trembling now.  Copper didn’t know if it was from fear or the sudden chill in the air.  He settled the comforter around them the best he could without jostling Marla.  He knew in his gut that she wouldn’t feel better until she got it all out in the open.

Her voice shook when she spoke.  “I knew right away something was terribly wrong.  The discomfort kept growing until it became excruciating enough to make me scream.   It was the worst pain I’d ever felt, way worse than the black eye and split lip Rob gave me several months before.”

“What!” So much for keeping his mouth shut. “He hit you?”  The words came out in a menacing growl.  A vein on the side of his neck stood out and started to throb.

Marla winced even though she knew the anger wasn’t directed toward her.  She laid a comforting arm on his shoulder, hoping to calm down his mushrooming anger.  “More than once,” she confirmed. 

He took a deep breath but didn’t have another outburst, so Marla continued.  “I mentioned earlier tonight that I was involved in an abusive relationship,” she softly reminded him.  “He only hit me twice.  I forgave Rob the first time, because I thought I was in love with him and that he felt the same way about me.  Chalk it up to stupidity, but I gave Rob a second chance, and I’ve regretted it every day of my life.”