Chapter 17
17
BAILEY
I blinked my eyes open when the sounds from the other side of my door brought me out of the best night of sleep I’ve had in over two years. My body was unusually warm and there was a heavy weight around my waist. My hands reached towards it and when I realized it was Hank’s arm wrapped around me, the events of last night came back to me.
“You’re safe with me, always. I promise I’ll never hurt you.”
“I trust you.”
I do trust him.
For a man I only met a few weeks ago, I felt like I could trust him with so much of myself. And last night, when he didn’t push me to go any further, I knew his promise was sincere. He had never struck me as the kind of guy to push any boundaries, but his suggestion to stop because he knew I wasn’t ready surprised me. Not because I thought he was the kind of guy to get upset if he didn’t get laid, but because I had never been with a guy who was perfectly fine not going any further after we’d already gotten past a certain point. The fear of blue balls was normally enough for a guy to need to keep going once things had gotten started.
The thing that surprised me most, though, was myself.
I hadn’t been with a man since the night of my attack, but last night, I wanted to be with Hank. I didn’t just want him, I was hungry for him. The way he looked at me with so much desire and care set my insides on fire. For such a reserved guy, he had a mouth on him and it turned me on something fierce. I thought I was going to pass out when he took his shirt off, exposing every fine line of muscle and ink that covered his torso. He called me ‘mi hermosa? 1 ’, which I made a mental note to look up later. I hadn’t taken Spanish in school, so I had no idea what it meant. I loved the way it sounded but I loved the way it made me feel even more.
The arm wrapped around my waist pulled me closer to the body it was attached to and I gladly followed its command. I could hear him breathing softly behind me, his body keeping me warm. Carefully, I turned over so that I was facing him instead of facing away. After he handed me my clothes last night, he offered to head out so I could get some sleep.
“I thought we were going to hangout?” I had questioned. He was standing next to my bed as I slipped my clothes back on and once dressed, I pulled him towards me. I didn’t want him to leave, I wanted him to stay.
“If you want me to stay, I’ll stay,” he said, slipping under the covers with me, possessively wrapping a strong arm around my body. I loved how his body shielded mine under the covers. We must have fallen asleep soon after because I don’t remember anything after that.
Looking at him now, peacefully sleeping next to me, I tried to commit every inch of his face to memory. His tan toned skin was darker than it had been a few weeks ago when I saw him for the first time—the summer sun giving him an almost golden look. He had long, dark lashes (why do men always get naturally long lashes?) and you could see all the laughs he had etched into fine lines around his eyes and mouth. My finger traced along his chin up his strong jawline and when my hand hit his hair, I gently ran my fingers through his dark curls. His breath was steady and slow and I twirled a rogue curl around my finger. I couldn’t help but smile looking at him as his chest rose and fell with every breath.
Part of me wanted to slide my hand around his shoulder and down his back to confirm if what I felt there last night was real. It was too dark to see anything, but when my hands had explored his back, they discovered what felt like twenty or more deep scars carved into his skin. He hadn’t let me feel them for long before he flipped me on top of him, cutting off my access. I was about to reach my hand towards the scarred skin when I heard Ophelia on the other side of my door.
“B? Are you still home? You aren’t usually here still!” My eyes widened as I heard her footsteps nearing my room. I carefully slipped myself out from under his arm, trying not to wake him, and skipped toward my bedroom door. The doorknob was starting to turn as I reached for it and I quickly slipped myself through the door and pulled it closed behind me, coming face to face with her.
“Hi, Ophie,” I gave her a big smile and tried to not seem nervous.
“Hi…” She gave me an incredulous look and studied me out of the corner of her eyes. “What are you still doing home? And why are you standing in front of your door like that?” My hands were tucked behind my back as I stood square in front of my door. I don’t know why I was so nervous, it wasn’t like I was doing anything wrong.
“Oh, I…” my eyes darted around, trying to come up with an explanation as to why I was still home. She and I rarely saw one another in the morning as I was typically at the gym when she left for work.
“Do you feel okay?” she asked.
“Yeah, I’m fine, never better actually.” I tried to laugh but it came out as a hiccup, causing me to choke on my spit and start coughing uncomfortably.
“Oh, well good. I’m glad you’re okay. Do you mind if I grab something from your closet? I think I hung my black blazer in there because I didn’t have space in mine.” She started to reach for the door and push past me.
“No, you can’t,” I nearly shouted at her and she jumped back.
“What the hell, B?”
I took a breath, bracing myself for the storm of questions that were about to be sent my way when I told her I snuck a boy into my room last night.
“You can’t go in there.”
“Why the hell not?” Her hands were on her hips as she studied me. I felt like a teenager who had just gotten caught sneaking in by her mother.
“Because….because there’s a boy in there!” The words tumbled out of me. She gasped, surprised by my confession, and brought both hands to her mouth.
“Shut up! Who is it?” she hissed, a devilish grin growing on her face.
“Remember that guy from the gym and the bar?” I said it slowly, grimacing as I did.
Ophelia had been telling me for a year that I needed to get back out there. Some would blush if they knew how many men she’s been with. But as she says, “No one questions a man when he brings home a woman, why should a woman be treated any differently for doing the same thing?” I knew she would have a field day with me sneaking a boy into our condo and having him stay the night.
“You bagged the soldier? I’m so proud of you B!” She shook my shoulders with both hands.
“Shhh, you’ll wake him up. And I did not bag the soldier, not really. I’ll explain later, okay?” I wanted to slip back behind my bedroom door and snuggle in next to him before he woke up and heard us talking like this.
“Damn straight you will. Go, go be with your man .” She wiggled her eyebrows at me. “But for real, once he’s gone, check on that blazer for me. I want to wear it to a meeting tomorrow.”
“Okay, sure, fine. I’ll let you know.” I smiled at her and turned to slip back into my room. Once the door was closed behind me, I took a quick breath. I would just have to deal with her later.
I crossed my room once again as quietly as I could, watching the sleeping man as I snuck back into bed. Once next to him, I carefully placed his arm back over my torso and snuggled into his warm, exposed chest. My eyes had just closed when he shifted slightly next to me.
“Why didn’t you tell her you bagged the soldier?” His groggy voice startled me and I opened my eyes again to look at him. His eyes were still closed but he had a small smirk on his face.
“Oh my god, you heard that?” I burrowed my face into his chest to hide my embarrassment.
“I felt you missing as soon as you got out of bed. I knew you were gone, I could feel it.” He kissed me on the top of my head as my insides began to melt.
“Well I’m back now, let’s go back to sleep.” I looped an arm around him and pulled myself closer to him. I breathed in his scent and let his warm body encase me.
“I wish I could, mi hermosa? 2 , but I have work.” He tightened his arms around me and rested his chin on my head. He was so close that I could hear his heart beating softly in his chest. A slight knock on my door caused us both to look towards it.
“Bye you two! B, I’ll be back today for lunch in case you want to eat together. If you need any supplies you can find some in my nightstand. So happy for you, sweetie!” I wanted to die of embarrassment right then and there as the front door slammed shut, signaling my soon to be ex-best friend had finally left.
“Oh my goooooood.” I brought my hands to my face and covered it, rolling over on my back because I could no longer stand to face him in my embarrassment. Hank burst out laughing next to me.
“I can’t believe her,” I squealed. My hands covered my face as I spoke. He continued laughing next to me as he moved toward me again. This boy didn’t seem to like being away from me if he could avoid it. He had one arm wrapped around my waist and brought his nose to my cheek.
“I like her, I think she’s funny.” He kissed me gently and pushed some loose hair away from my face.
“She’s a lot and is in so much trouble when she gets home.” I made a mental note to lecture her about being inappropriate when I saw her at lunch.
“She reminds me of my friend Malcolm. He would do the same thing to me.”
I looked at him.
“Yeah? Would Malcolm also tell you he was proud of you for getting laid? Because that’s exactly what Ophie will do when she sees me later. It’s embarrassing.” I rolled my eyes at the thought.
“That’s exactly what Malcolm would do. He doesn’t believe me when I tell him how long it’s been because it’s never more than a week for him.” I was shocked at his confession, both because of what he said about himself, but also because of how similar Malcolm sounded to Ophie. I scoffed and looked at him.
“Sounds like me and Ophie.” We looked at each other for a beat, both of us studying the other.
“I’m really sorry for last night.” I started to worry my bottom lip as my eyes dropped from his. I knew he was probably disappointed about our lack of a conclusion.
“ Bailey ,” his hand came to my chin and tipped it back so I had to look at him, “you never have to apologize for that. Ever. I will never pressure you to do anything you don’t want to do. If you want to stop, we stop. You just tell me and I’ll follow your lead. Got it?”
I was so taken back by the conviction in his voice that all I could do was nod.
“Good. Now,” he brought his lips to mine and kissed me deeply, “I don’t want to have to do this, but I do have to go. If I am late, my boss will ask me questions I don’t want to have to answer. And since he’s also my best friend, he will ask me questions that would probably get him sent to HR if we weren’t friends and if he didn’t own the entire company.” He chuckled before pulling away from me and rolled out of bed.
I missed him as soon as he was no longer next to me.
He grabbed shirt that had been left on the floor overnight as I sat up in bed. I watched his muscles flex as he pulled it over his head and had to nearly roll my tongue back into my mouth. Between the tattoos and the muscles, I was suddenly warm all over.
“I like the way you’re looking at me, blondie.” His voice was low and he had a smirk on his face. He took a step toward the bed and leaned over it to bring his face next to mine. “I hope you always look at me like that. Like you wanna know what it feels like to have yourself wrapped around me, to have me deep inside of you, begging me for more.” My breath caught in my throat at his words. The mouth on this man. He brought his hand to the side of my neck and pressed his lips to mine with a fury. I would have thought it hurt if I didn’t like how it felt so much.
“Walk me out?” My brain was trying to reconnect itself after his kiss and I could only nod in response again.
We both walked out of my bedroom and when we reached my front door, I had the sudden need to feel him on me one more time before he left. Before he could open the door, I pressed him against it and brought my mouth to his. His hands found my back and he dipped down to loop them under my legs. Following his lead, I jumped up and wrapped my legs around him as he stepped away from the door. I let him slip his tongue into my mouth, loving the way he tasted. He carried me towards the kitchen and set me down on the counter. I kept my legs around his torso and tightened myself around him like a boa constrictor when he pressed his hips into me. With his hands on the counter, he leaned in further and I could feel how hard he was through his sweats. When he pressed his cock into my center, I let out a small whimper.
“You drive me crazy, Bailey Brown,” he growled between kisses. I looped my hands through his curls and pulled his face closer to mine.
“I love driving you crazy, Hank Martínez.” We kissed each other deeply a few more times before he pulled away and looked at me.
“I would stay here with you all day if I could, but I really have to go.” My lip jutted out, disappointed that he had to leave. He chuckled at the face I gave him and tapped my lip with his index finger.
“It’s okay, I get it. I have things around here I need to do anyway.” It was a lie, I didn’t have anything to do today as I wasn’t needed at any of my current side gigs. Maybe I’ll spend the morning looking for something more permanent. He helped me off the counter and I walked him towards the front door again.
“Thanks for opening the door last night,” he said, looking down at me with his deep brown eyes.
“Thanks for coming to see me.” I smiled at him and brought my hand to his cheek. He leaned into it when I did.
“I’ll call you.”
I nodded before he leaned down and kissed me again. When our lips met, I felt a tingle in my belly that I hadn’t felt in a long time.
One that made it feel like a thousand butterflies had taken flight.
One that made me excited for his call.
But most importantly, one that made me feel safe and one that told me I could trust him with anything.
1 ? my beautiful girl
2 ? beautiful girl