32. Chapter 31
When you realize how important time is, everything changes.
“I’m fine,” Bradford grumbled as Hope laid out the first aid kit.
“I can see that.” She tried to keep the tartness out of her tone as she started cleaning his wound.
“I’m sensing the sarcasm.”
“No sarcasm. Just worry.” She gently cleaned the slice along his upper shoulder.
He’d already cleaned it on the way back and done a half-assed job of bandaging it, but she wanted to give it a fresh one with new antiseptic.
“You got really lucky.” She was trying to keep her emotions in check, but her voice trembled as she spoke.
When Berlin had told her he’d been injured, she’d prepared for the worst.
“I did. And thank you,” he murmured, lifting his uninjured arm and cupping her cheek with his free hand. “I swear I’m okay and I’m sorry that you worried. Also, because we haven’t talked about it… are you still on the pill?”
Realizing what he intended she eyed him cautiously as she set the antiseptic on the bathroom countertop. “I am on the pill. But what…are you doing? ”
He was sitting on the countertop in just his pants, and she recognized that expression far too well. And no. Just nooooo. Not happening.
“I’m only trying to show you how fine I really am.”
She batted at his hand. “Bradford, I swear to god—”
Grinning, he grasped onto her hip. “I’m not even bleeding anymore.”
“You’re being ridiculous.” But she leaned into his hold anyway as he spread his thighs wider. “But I’m glad you’re okay,” she whispered, gently holding on to his waist, trailing her fingers over his bare skin. He was here and safe and had escaped mostly unscathed.
“Of course I am.” His gaze dropped to her mouth, that familiar hunger in his eyes sending a shiver spiraling through her.
“There is no of course . You’re not bulletproof.” And if that bullet had shifted by even an inch in the wrong direction, he could have lost use of his arm. Or a whole lot worse.
“I can’t spend my days worrying about the what-ifs, Hope.” He pulled her closer, sliding his arms around her and holding her tight even as he tried to hide a wince. She buried her face against his neck as he said, “And I would really like to get naked in the shower with you right now.”
She let out a startled laugh and pulled back to look at him, trying to gauge his expression. “Are you serious right now?”
“I figure if I don’t ask…”
“How can I say no to you when you’ve just been shot—”
“Almost shot.”
“Fine, almost shot, helping me out. Grazed by a bullet, to be more precise.”
“Hope, if you don’t want—”
She leaned forward and kissed him because who was she kidding? There was no world where she didn’t want to jump him. Especially not after he was doing everything he could to keep her safe, had enlisted his friends to help her, and was the kindest, most gorgeous man she knew.
He just kept showing up, kept showing her exactly what kind of man he was—the kind worth fighting for.
He took over with ease, only wincing a little as he lifted her pajama top up and over her head.
“I’ll deal with my clothes—and yours,” she added. He might not be bleeding right now, but she didn’t want him straining himself at all.
“I mean…I won’t argue if you want to do a little strip show.” He nipped her bottom lip then leaned back as she shimmied out of her pants and panties.
“That’s about as sexy as you’re getting right now,” she said with a laugh.
Which just made him laugh as he slid off the countertop.
She moved in close, sliding her palm over his covered cock. “You’re sure you want this now?”
“If my answer to that question is ever no, put a bullet in me,” he groaned as she squeezed him once.
Then he leaned down to capture her mouth with a hungry groan. As he teased his tongue against hers, she quickly unbuttoned his pants and shoved them down his legs before they stumbled toward the shower.
She knew she should probably put a stop to this, but she wasn’t walking away from him.
Ever .
Even if the shitty part of her anxiety brain tried to tell her that this was too good to be true, she was just going to have to risk it.
Risk getting hurt and dealing with the fallout if it happened. Because she couldn’t protect herself forever. And if she was being honest with herself, she’d been running from him, and herself, for far too long. It was time to stop telling everyone else’s story and live her life.
After he started the shower, he pressed her up against the cold tile, making her back arch—and him smile as she basically thrust her breasts at him with her reaction.
Taking over in that way she loved, he cupped one breast, teasing the already tight bud with his thumb and forefinger as he sucked on her other nipple.
Careful not to clutch onto his injured arm or shoulder, she slid her fingers through his hair as he teased her with sharp tugs from his mouth. She hadn’t been expecting any of this tonight and the sensation of touching him was never going to get old.
She’d been so damn touch starved for years, trying to lock herself up tight from the world. And now the man she wanted more than her next breath was right here.
Still pressed up against the wall, the water now steaming as it pounded down around them, she wrapped one leg around him, digging her heel into his ass as she tried to urge him closer.
But he stayed in control, sliding his hand down to her hip, holding her in place as he continued teasing a path down her abdomen, then lower until he was kneeling on the tile in front of her.
“Are you sure you’re okay to do this?”
He looked up at her, his expression pure fire as he slid one of her legs over his good shoulder. And then she forgot to breathe or think as he began teasing her clit with the perfect amount of pressure.
“Don’t hurt yourself,” she managed to rasp out.
In response, he sucked on the sensitive bundle of nerves.
At the shock of pure pleasure that punched through her, she arched off the shower wall and felt the rumble of his laugh against her clit.
The reverberation sent another thrill through her, even as he continued teasing her until she couldn’t hold on to her control at all.
She’d never been able to truly let go with anyone until him. That need to remain in control, to always have a handle on things, had been a real presence even during sex.
Except with him.
When he slid two fingers inside her, pushing deep, she jolted at the sensation, need coiling tight inside her. He’d always known how to bring her pleasure, to make her feel safe.
“I’m so close,” she admitted, the words tearing from her. It should be too soon for her, but she’d almost lost him.
And now he was in front of her, on his knees, teasing her clit. The visual was enough to set her on fire.
She rolled her hips against his teasing strokes, her inner walls tightening faster and faster—until he sucked on her clit and she was lost.
She came with her entire body, the orgasm punching through her as he buried another finger inside her.
“Bradford.” His name tore from her as wave after wave of pleasure rolled through her, until she sagged against the tile, her entire body one raw nerve.
With a very satisfied expression, he stood, his thick erection at full alert, and oh, she reached for him, wanting to bring him as much pleasure as he’d brought her.
She gripped him tight as he placed a hand on the tile above her head. Stroking him once, long and hard, she held his gaze. Savored the way his eyes dilated as he sucked in a breath.
She loved touching him, stroking him, making him lose his mind. There was no other power like it in the world, and doing this for the man she loved? It was a turn-on all in itself.
But she didn’t want him coming in her hands or on her.
Leaning up, she was glad when he met her halfway, captured her mouth as she continued stroking him with that hard pressure she knew he loved.
She bit his bottom lip as she slowed her strokes. “Are you good if I bend over?” Because she knew he couldn’t hold her up against the tile. Not now. They could do that later once he’d healed, but she wanted to feel him inside her.
He groaned, stealing her breath as he claimed her mouth again. “Again, if I ever say no to that…” He gripped her hip with one hand and turned her around.
She arched into the fall of water as he guided himself inside her.
The sensation of being filled by him nearly overwhelmed her senses until she felt the hint of another orgasm.
As if he read her mind, he reached around to her front and began teasing her clit in hard little strokes.
“I know you can come again,” he growled, sliding his big palm down her back as he continued thrusting in wild, unsteady strokes.
She clenched around his thick erection, enjoying the way he groaned behind her. She wanted to make him lose control too. But he was right, she could come again, and she desperately wanted to while he was inside her.
“Faster,” she demanded, desperate for another release.
As he increased the tempo, it didn’t take her long until another orgasm slammed into her, this one harder, more intense.
And he was right behind her, clutching onto her hip in a tight grip she knew would leave a bruise as he found his own release.
When he finally eased out of her, she gasped at the loss of him, but turned around and wrapped herself around him, savoring the skin to skin of their bodies.
“I could have lost you.” Her voice nearly broke on the last word, the emotions she’d been trying to keep buried popping back up to the surface.
“I know, baby. But you didn’t.” His tone was soothing as he held her close. “And I’m not going anywhere.”
She wasn’t sure if there was a double meaning in those words, but she chose to believe there were.
Because she wasn’t going anywhere either. He’d have to be the one to leave her. Because she’d gone and fallen in love with her husband.