15. Bridget
15
brIDGET
S omething warm and wet trailed up my cheek. If this was how Chase kissed, he was terrible at it.
I was so fucking comfortable that I didn’t want to open my eyes. I knew I’d have to go back to the real world as soon as I did.
The real world where I loathed the voice in my head, where I had to go to work with a jacked-up wrist, and where I wasn’t wrapped up in my dream guy’s arms.
Had I agreed to be his girlfriend last night?
“Stop thinking and go back to sleep,” Chase grunted from behind me.
There was another wet nudge at my chin. “This isn’t how I imagined our first kiss would go,” I muttered.
“I’m not kissing you.”
That was peculiar.
I opened my eyes and Luna greeted me with her tongue lapping at my face. I giggled and swatted her away.
Chase’s chest rumbled with laughter as he snaked his arms around my waist, pulling me back into him. “Sorry. She’s an early bird.”
“Well, I am a night owl, Lu.” I flopped my hand over and petted her shiny, mottled fur.
“How’d you sleep, darlin’?” Chase asked as he nuzzled his nose into the back of my hair.
I was grateful that they had only shaved a small patch of my hair for the stitches. I could cover the bald spot up easily. Call me vain, but I savored letting my hair down and feeling somewhat pretty after my time laid up in the hospital.
“Good. You?”
“So good.” With cautious yet capable hands, he rolled me over to face him.
Good heavens, his chest was a sight to behold. Wide shoulders rippling with muscles, pectorals that made excellent pillows, biceps strong enough to protect and comforting enough to soothe. He had abs that I wanted to trace with my tongue. Swooping V-cut obliques marked the way to something I had yet to lay my eyes on.
Something I wanted badly.
Chase teased me about hiding hard-ons around me, but he had never hidden them very well. Especially when he stripped me in the bathroom last night.
“You keep looking at me like that, and I might get it in my head that you like me,” he teased.
I smirked as I used my fingertip to trace the lines of his bicep tattoo. “I’ve always liked you.”
The corner of his mouth tugged up in a heart-stopping half-smile. The tip of his nose drew a line up the side of mine as our lips brushed. His eyelashes tickled my skin. I tilted my chin up. Just a taste ? —
“Define always. ”
My heart deflated like a popped balloon .
His lips looked so kissable. Soft, yet strong. Sure. Like he would know just how to kiss me.
I felt a slow blush creep up my cheeks. “I’ve liked you since math class in ninth grade when you told our teacher that she was a tyrant who was taking out her own personal failures on innocent students.”
Chase’s grin was a mile wide. “I got detention for that.”
I reached up and wrapped my arms around his neck. “Do you remember why you said that to her?” I asked as I ran my fingers over the short buzz of hair on the side of his head.
He closed his eyes, groaning as he turned to putty in my hands. “She told you to work the math problem on the chalkboard. You said you didn’t understand how to do it. She yelled at you in front of the whole class and made you cry. It pissed me off.”
“You swooped in like my guardian angel.” I let out a quiet laugh. “And got detention for your good deed.”
“But she didn’t call on you for the rest of the school year,” he said. “And the way you looked at me… It made me feel ten feet tall.” Chase brushed the pad of his thumb across my lower lip. “God, darlin’,” he rasped. “I’m afraid I’m dreaming. That I’m gonna wake up and you’re not gonna be here.”
I licked my lips. My heart was pounding out of my chest. Every extremity felt electric. Either I was having a heart attack, or I was about to kiss my best friend.
“It’s not a dream,” I whispered, trembling for him. “I’m here.”
Chase threaded his fingers in my hair. We were chest to chest, heart to heart. His eyelids lowered over those chocolate-brown eyes, fixating on my lips. “So goddamn beautiful. Your eyes. Your lips. Your heart.”
I tilted my chin up, silently begging for him to kiss me. “Chase…”
“I’m gonna kiss you,” he said, licking his lips. My heart exploded. I was borderline delirious with giddy butterflies and hormones. His sexy pout broke, splitting into a wide grin. “But not while we both have morning breath.”
“ Chase !” I shrieked as he rocketed out of bed, flooding the sheets with a cold draft. I grabbed his pillow and chucked it at him. “You jackass!”
He caught the pillow and tossed it back on the bed. “But I’ll make you breakfast. Deal?”
I narrowed my eyes on him. “What happens if I go to the cottage and brush my teeth?”
“Maybe you’ll get lucky,” he said as he jogged down to the kitchen.
I rolled over and looked at Luna. “Your daddy is an asshole.”
“I heard that!” Chase called.
Luna escorted me down the stairs. My brain must not have been fully awake yet, because I only had a mild panic on the steps. After flipping Chase the bird on my way through the kitchen, I let Luna out in the yard to do her business while I went to the cottage.
Everything was exactly as I had left it. My phone was on the end table. The book was on the chair. Quickly, I stripped out of Chase’s shirt and threw on my jeans and tank top for work. I ran a brush through my bedhead and weaved it into a sloppy braid. There was the slightest possibility I may have gone overboard in the oral hygiene department.
By the time I made it back across the yard, I could smell bacon wafting from the kitchen. My stomach growled, but I was hungry for something other than breakfast.
Chase was standing at the stovetop, still wearing the gym shorts he slept in. I took a minute to appreciate the flexing straps of muscle that rippled along his tanned back.
He glanced over his shoulder and shot me a panty-melting grin. I looked down just to make sure my jeans hadn’t spontaneously combusted.
No flaming denim to speak of. Thank god.
I tamped down the nervous butterflies and walked over to the stove.
“That smells good,” I said, peering over his shoulder.
Chase cut his eyes at me and smirked. “You got a little toothpaste—” he used the pad of his thumb to wipe a smear of toothpaste just below my lip “—right there.”
I bit my lip and stared at his mouth, willing him to come closer. I would explode if he didn’t plant one on me.
But to my disappointment, Chase turned back to the skillet full of pancakes and scooped them out with a spatula. My smile fell, and spiderweb cracks split around my heart.
“Mind grabbing the syrup?” he asked casually as he cut the burner off and slid the skillet to a cool element. “It’s in the door of the fridge.”
Was he fucking kidding me right now?
Crestfallen and slightly pissed off, I turned to get the damn syrup.
As I turned away, he grabbed my arm and jerked me back into him.
I gasped as my body whipped around. Chase fisted the front of my Jokers tank and yanked me against his body, crashing his lips to mine.
I was too busy having my mind blown to worry about whiplash. His mouth worked mine in a slow, deep massage, stealing every cogent thought I had left in my mind.
I let out a whimper, and he swallowed it down, sliding his tongue into my mouth. Chase reached down and grabbed my ass, digging his fingers into the back of my jeans as he picked me up and wrapped my legs around his waist .
It was all I could do to hold on tight. I snaked my arms around his neck, tilting my head to taste him from a new angle.
He pinned me against the fridge, magnets and takeout menus fluttering to the floor, as I cupped his sharp jaw in my hands. Sliding me down a few inches, I felt his hard length pressing between my legs.
I threw my head back and gasped. “Shit—” I choked out, chest heaving against his. “You… You’re gonna make me come…. Just… Like this.”
“Fine by me,” he grunted as he rocked his thick erection between my legs. “Give me your mouth.”
We crashed together again in a tangle of lips and tongue. His hands kneaded my ass as every nerve ending fired in my body simultaneously.
“Oh—Oh God?—”
He rolled his hips once, then twice, and that was all it took to send me over the edge. I curled in on him and held on as wave after wave of pure ecstasy pulsed through me.
“Goddamn, Bee,” he rasped as he nuzzled his forehead against my shoulder. “That was the hottest fuckin’ thing I’ve ever seen.”
“Holy shit,” I said on a heaving breath. “That… That was…”
So fucking embarrassing.
My cheeks burned, and it wasn’t because of the rush of the orgasm. Tears pricked the back of my eyes, and I turned my head away from him.
Chase left sloppy kisses up the side of my cheek and along the shell of my ear. “Tell me where your head is at, beautiful. I need you to talk to me.”
I tucked my forehead into the crook of his neck, wiggling so he’d set me on my feet.
But he didn’t .
“I just got you. Don’t think for one second that I’m about to let you go.”
He rested his forehead on my shoulder, and I could feel the restraint he was exercising. Chase carried me to the couch and sat down, forcing me to straddle his still-hard dick.
“Talk to me, darlin’,” he soothed and rubbed my back.
My panties were soaked, and my jeans needed to be changed. I was suddenly freezing, and goosebumps cropped up on my skin. Chase pulled the quilt around me, shifting so that I was in his lap.
“Did I hurt you?” he asked.
I shook my head.
“Okay.” His features were tight. Frustrated. He was hiding it, but I could see the tic of his jaw flare out while he tried to dissect my reaction.
I was used to dissecting those little tells with Kyle. It was a life or death skill I was forced to hone.
“I’m sorry,” I whispered.
“You have nothing to be sorry for, Bridge.”
I shook my head. “It was… Just… A lot. And it’s been a long time since I’ve… And I shouldn’t have…”
I blew out a breath. The words weren’t coming out right, and my brain felt like scrambled eggs. I wasn’t sure if it was the head trauma or the orgasm.
“I’m sorry,” I said softly.
“Listen to me,” he said gently as he wrapped his arm around my back and reached for my hand. “Was dry humping you into an ‘O’ a little intense after everything that’s gone down? Yeah, probably. Do I regret it? Only if I hurt you.” Chase let a sly smile slip. “But from my vantage point, it seemed like it felt pretty good for you.” He kissed the bottom of my earlobe before pulling it between my teeth and giving it a quick nip. “And goddamn, darlin’—I’ve never seen anything sexier in my life. ”
The corner of my mouth tugged upward. “It felt really good.”
“That’s my girl,” he said as he tucked loose hair strands behind my ear. “What’s got you freaking out inside?”
I sighed. “I haven’t … finished in a long time.”
“How long?”
“Like … a year and a half…”
His eyes nearly popped out of his head. “Darlin’, if you had told me that, I would have made it a hell of a lot better for you. For starters, our clothes would’ve come off.”
I pulled the elastic out of the bottom of my braid and combed my fingers through my hair. I needed to fix it again before I headed to the bar.
“I think I want to be more ready than I am,” I admitted.
“Can I ask you something?” His voice was low and steady.
I had an inkling about what he wanted to know. “Yeah.”
“Did Kingsley…” Chase sighed. “Did he ever…”
“Rape me?” I filled in when he couldn’t quite get the words out.
His features were tight. Pained. Chase wiped the corner of his mouth with the pad of his thumb. “Yeah.” He reached over and wrapped his hand around mine. “If you don’t want to talk about it?—”
“He didn’t,” I blurted out. “I mean… Not really, anyway.”
“ Not really ?” he rasped. I watched as his world crumbled in the shadows of his eyes. “Darlin’, anything other than an enthusiastic yes is a no .”
I twined our fingers together and gave his hand a squeeze. I had to tell Steve every sordid detail while I was in the hospital. I answered all of his follow-up questions in the days after. But I realized that the more I talked about my pain, the less it hurt me.
“He got close a few times,” I began as unruly tears slid out of the corner of my eyes. “But something would always set him off. He’d hit me a few more times, then leave me alone. ”
Chase swore as he wrapped his arms around me and pulled me into his chest. “I’m so fuckin’ sorry, Bee.” He kissed my cheek. My temple. My head. “I love you so much, and if I could go back in time and change things, I would do it in a heartbeat.”
“I know,” I whispered against his shoulder. “I don’t ever doubt it.”
He pressed another kiss to my temple, his lips lingering against my skin. “Can you tell me what you think you are ready for? Give me a starting place?”
My eyes immediately locked on his mouth. “You’re a really good kisser.”
He grinned and sifted his fingers through my hair, carefully drawing me closer. “I can definitely start there.”
The kiss was just as potent as our first. He was gentle and steady, kissing me until I tumbled headfirst into a lust-filled stupor. His hands remained outside my clothes, mostly tangled in my hair.
I wasn’t sure if it was because that’s where he wanted them, or if he was just too scared to touch me anywhere else.
Chase had kept his affection focused on safe areas. Places he knew hadn’t gotten hurt. I chalked up his affinity for forehead kisses to it being the only place not covered in gauze when I was in the hospital.
“Please tell me you’re not going back to the cottage,” he rasped as he used the pad of his thumb to wipe the sheen off my lip.
“I have to work,” I said, catching my breath and glancing at the clock. “And you do too.”
“I meant tonight,” he whispered into my hair, brushing it out of my face. “Sleep with me again.” He kissed my temple. “Just sleep.”
“Isn’t this moving a little fast?” I asked.
He chuckled, “Nope. I’m pretty sure we’ve taken this about as slow as a couple possibly could. ”
“So, we’re a couple now, huh?”
“Yep,” he said as he sat up. “So be prepared for me to show up to the bar for lunch and taste you first.”
My cheeks turned pink.
“You okay with that?”
As if timed to ruin the moment, my stomach growled. “I think I’ll be more okay with the idea of it when my stomach isn’t about to devour the rest of my organs.”
He laughed as he helped me off the couch, stealing another kiss on his way back to the kitchen.