Chapter 10
chapter ten
My eyes didn’t want to open. I wasn’t sure how long I’d been drifting between awake and asleep, but it couldn’t have been very long. The world was still dark outside Forrest’s windows.
I groaned and rolled onto my side, closing my eyes again to revel in the way my body ached. If I thought about it for long enough, I could still feel the phantom touch of his palm around my neck. Not squeezing, just holding me.
The idea of not being able to breathe should’ve scared me.
It should’ve been like my literal worst nightmare coming true.
But it wasn’t. It was completely different.
There was no water rushing in through my nostrils, burning its way into my lungs.
I wasn’t helplessly flailing and gasping and begging for someone to notice. To pull me out and save me.
There was control in the loss of it.
I trusted Forrest. I trusted that he’d get me right to the edge, where my body would start to beg for air.
When that started, it made everything else feel so much…
stronger. So fucking intense. Every touch.
Every breeze. Desperation turned into euphoria, and my heart had started pounding, the blood pumping through my veins creating a mind of its own.
Then the most beautiful fucking thing happened.
I was driven straight to the edge. Right as I’d started coming, Forrest had given me breath again, and that first gasp matched with the first pulse of my cock, cum shooting all over my hand in rope after rope.
I saw a different universe. I felt a new emotion.
Euphoria and pleasure in the purest form, all done by Forrest’s hand as he controlled me.
Used me. Told my body what to do and what not to do.
I’d done breath play with one other person before, and while it’d opened my eyes to the kink, I didn’t know it could feel that good. None of my fantasies could’ve lived up to it.
And then I’d gone and cried. Something had bubbled up inside of me and popped the moment Forrest came. It was like years of stress and nightmares had finally come to an end. I felt safe. I felt cared for. I was completely out of control, and I’d loved it.
How fucking embarrassing.
“Hey, sweetie.”
I opened my eyes again, staring at Forrest. He was crouched next to the bed, smiling at me. “Hi.”
“I was starting to get worried about you. I wasn’t sure when you’d wake up.”
Scrunching my eyebrows, I glanced from him to the window again. “It’s still dark outside.”
He chuckled. “It’s dark outside again, you mean. It’s seven o’clock. Today’s Thursday.”
That had me sitting up, jaw hung open as I stared at him. “What? I slept through the rest of the night and the whole day?”
“Yep. You seemed to really need the rest.”
“Forrest, I have a bar to run. Oh, my god. I need to get to work.” I started pulling the blankets away from myself, but he stopped me.
Shaking his head, he placed a hand on top of mine. “Mav called while you were sleeping, and I answered. I told him you’d been sleeping for a long time, and he said you probably needed to. He’s got the bar. You’re good.”
Maverick Wilson, always there to help me when I needed it most. Even if I didn’t want to admit I needed it. “Oh. Jesus Christ.” I groaned and let my body flop back onto the bed, wincing a little at how sore I was.
“Callum also called and texted. I didn’t answer that one because I didn’t make it in time. It only rang a couple of times.” He handed me my phone from the nightstand. “Have you not been sleeping? Or did I put you into a fuck-induced coma for real?”
I scrolled through my notifications with blurry eyes.
They didn’t want to get used to the sudden bright light of my phone.
Callum had indeed texted me a couple of times.
“Uh, both, I think. Well, definitely both. I really haven’t been sleeping lately, but you also wore me out.
I can’t believe I didn’t wake up because of—” I had to stop myself.
I’d almost spilled a secret I didn’t want to share.
“I can’t believe I didn’t even wake up to pee or anything. ”
“Nope. I checked on you every now and then. You were knocked out cold. Though, did you know you snore?”
I faced him, staring for a second. “I do?”
He was smiling as he nodded. “Oh, yeah. Not very quietly, either. It’s like a damn train was going through my house.”
My eyes widened in shock, my cheeks going up in flames. “Fuck. No, I didn’t know that. I am so sorry.”
“Don’t be.” He leaned forward and gave me a quick peck on the lips. “It’s cute. Endearing. I like it.”
Could this get any worse? Sleeping with him again was already pretty far out of my comfort zone.
Realizing that he made all the nightmares go away was even worse.
He’d seen a side of me I rarely ever showed anyone—unless we were in bed, which I only showed people once—and now he knew I snored when I had no idea?
He called it endearing and cute.
I pulled the blankets up over my head. “Go away. I didn’t know that about myself. Nobody has ever stuck around long enough to tell me.”
“Oh, don’t be that way, beautiful.” He pulled the blanket back down, smiling over me. “How are you feeling? I went pretty rough on you.”
Looking away from him, I shrugged. “Sore. In a good way.”
“Good. How about this? You get yourself up and around, I’ll run you a bath, take care of you, and then I’ll cook you something to eat. I know you’ve got to be hungry.”
It sounded awful. Horrible. I didn’t want him to do any of that. I could run my own bath, take care of myself, and feed myself perfectly fine at my house. As long as the water was on now. But, of course, my mouth had other ideas. “Okay. Sounds good.”
Forrest brushed some of my hair away from my forehead before getting up and walking away. I felt so fucking rested, yet I was tired at the same time. I wondered if he’d let me take a nap in his bed after we ate, since it seemed to be the only place where I could have an uneventful sleep.
Pushing that thought out of my head immediately, I opened Callum’s texts back up.
Cal
Call me back when you get this.
Just got back to the house. Saw Tobi’s mom.
Hello?
Do you hate me now? Is that what this is?
I’m being punished, aren’t I? All because I don’t like to text.
Hope you’re not dead. But also if you aren’t, fuck you for not texting back. Hate texting.
I’d really put him through every emotion possible, apparently. I hadn’t even known they’d gone out of town. Did that make me a bad friend?
The phone rang for a few seconds before he picked up. “Oh, good, you aren’t dead.”
I rolled my eyes, even though he couldn’t see me. “No, I’m not dead. Sorry for going MIA.”
“I’d say no worries, but I was kind of worried. Are you okay?”
Sighing, I rolled back onto my side. “I’m fine. I’ve had quite the past couple of days, but I’m all good.”
“Hm. Yeah, us too. Are you at home, or are you at the bar? I want to come see you. Talk face-to-face. I miss you.”
“Uh…”
“Uh? Must be a new city I don’t know about.”
“No, sorry.” I shifted uncomfortably, trying to think of what exactly I wanted to say. “I’m at a guy’s house. I accidentally stayed the night. And the entire day.”
“Oh, wow.” Callum laughed. “Did you indulge in your bar stock? How do you accidentally stay with someone like that?”
“It’s complicated. I fell asleep. I haven’t been sleeping well lately, and he fucked me to a near-death experience, and then I slept for, like, just shy of twenty-four hours.”
“Same guy who gave you that hickey?”
I’d forgotten all about that. I’d blocked it out of my memory in an effort to save myself the embarrassment. “Maybe.”
There was a voice in the background with a heavy Southern twang. I could point out Tobi’s voice in a lineup of a thousand people. “He must be good, then. I’m glad you went back to him. Is it just sex, or are you hiding something from me?”
“I’m not hiding anything, paranoid ass. It’s just sex. One night turned into two, okay? But speaking of going back, when did you guys leave? Isn’t Tobi from Arkansas?”
“Yup. We left a couple days ago and only got back today while you were having your beauty nap. We only went to his hometown to see his mom.”
“Wow. I can only imagine how different it is there.”
“Oh, very.” There was a rustling sound in the distance. “Tobi wants to talk to you.”
I waited for him to pass the phone off. Tobi came over the line with a big sigh. “Hi, Jack.”
“Hi, Tobi. Nice to hear from you. Was your trip good?”
“Yeah, it was. I haven’t seen Mama in a long time, so it was good seein’ her. Hey, can I come hang out at your bar sometime, or do I have to buy somethin’?”
I squinted my eyes together in confusion. “Uh, yeah. That won’t be a problem. Why?”
“Well, I wanna challenge myself. Like exposure therapy. I wanna see if I can handle being in a bar while sober. I haven’t tried since I moved in with Cal and moved out of your little makeshift place.”
“Of course you can. I’d be happy for you to swing by. Just show up whenever you need to, okay?”
“Cool. So, I heard you’re at some guy’s place, huh?”
“Ugh.” I groaned into the phone, shaking my head. “Don’t even start, Tobi.”
He snickered. “I also heard you went book shopping with Crew and Willow. How did that go?”
All I could think about was how we’d run into Forrest and found out he was the owner. “It was good. They’re a bit argumentative with each other, but I expected that. I’ve only been around everyone at Christmas, so I’m still getting to know them.”
“Yeah, that sounds like them. We’re startin’ to get new employees now in preparation for the new location, and Willow has been helping Crew and Price make a lot of decisions. You can imagine how they argue then.”
“You’re hiring already?”
“Yup. Got some kid named River who started serving. Cal is in charge of training him, but he was dumbfounded by how many of us were from Arkansas. It was funny.”