Chapter Eight
I'd asked probably a million times what we were doing tonight but just like Cordell, Brent keeps his secrets. The only thing he'd said was to dress comfy and that I could bring my school work if there was anything I needed to get done. Of course, it'd given me a clue as to where we might be headed, so I'm not all too surprised when he pulls up outside of his pack house. It's late in the afternoon, but still early enough that we're the only ones parked in the driveway.
"Is this the part where I bribe you to do all of my work for me?" I tease as we get out and go inside.
He chuckles. "Not exactly."
I follow him up the stairs and into his room. I should probably be worried that he's expecting something that I'm not sure I'm ready to give at this point, but I'm not. His sweet, fruity-cereal scent covers me like a blanket the second I cross over into his room.
"Want to set your stuff down on the chair right there?" he asks motioning towards the corner.
I do as he says, even if I'm curious as to why I brought it if I'm going to be leaving it in the corner.
"I know it's a lot to ask," he says, circling around me and coming up behind me close enough that our bodies are touching. "But I'm going to ask you to trust me."
When I don't say anything, he covers my eyes with his hands and begins to slowly walk us across the room. Having only been here once before, I'm not confident enough with the layout to guess where we're going. Hell, he could be getting ready to toss me in his closet to hide my body for all I know.
By the time we've come to a stop, I'm pretty sure that I know where we are just by the sound my shoes made on the tile floor. Sure enough, he uncovers my eyes, and we're standing in the fancy bathroom with the aquarium. Only, this time, all around the edges of the tub are little gifts. Several are candles with tiny bows on top of them. There's a huge basket wrapped in plastic that appears to have every toiletry imaginable. It matches the extravagant vibe of the room for sure.
Motioning toward the middle of the tub where there's a wooden tray-like thing balanced on the edges, he says, "I saw this and thought it'd be pretty cool if you're the type that likes to read or even watch videos on your phone or tablet while you're in the bath."
I'd seen one, but never had the desire to blow money on it for myself. I can't say I've ever taken a book near any kind of water.
There's a bottle of something on ice beside the tub that he walks over to as he keeps talking. "It's non-alcoholic sparkling cider. I wasn't sure if you were a drinker or not since technically you're not of age, or because of..."
He trails off and my heart does a little pitter patter in my chest as I finish for him. "Because of my mom."
"Yeah," he says, popping the lid on the bottle and pouring some of the fizzy liquid into the tall champagne glass.
"I'm not a drinker," I admit and chuckle, covering my mouth. "Quite ironic since I work at a bar, huh?"
Laughing, he says, "You know, I didn't even think of that."
"You thought of everything else, though," I tell him, walking over to hug him around the waist. "Thank you so much for this."
"You're welcome," he remarks. "I was thinking a lot of the day what I wanted to do for you, and this popped into my head. I saw how your eyes lit up in here."
"I don't think you realize what this gift means," I muse. "I haven't had a bath in forever. It's showers only on campus, and I miss it so much."
He squeezes my shoulders. "I think you forget that I had to go to college to be a professor."
I let out a quick laugh, looking up to find him already smiling down at me. Reaching up on my toes, I press my lips against his. According to the information I picked up from the center today, we might be moving somewhat too fast, but now that I've committed, I'm not backing down.
Our kiss is short and sweet before he's pulling away. "Take all the time you want in here. I'll be right out there. Just let me know if you need anything."
"Oh," he states, pointing at buttons built into the tub. "There are different settings on here for the jets and to keep your water hot."
It's on the tip of my tongue to ask him to stay, but I don't. Instead, I watch the way his ass flexes beneath the tight slacks he's wearing as he leaves, closing the door behind him. Alone in the room now, it feels empty and lonely for a moment. Taking a deep breath, I walk over and take a look into the basket. There's everything from bath bombs, to body wash, to oils for after, to face masks and exfoliators for dry skin. Like I told him, he thought of everything.
Going over to turn the water on, I get it to the temperature that I like, borderline scalding hot, before hitting the button to plug the drain. It fills up about an inch or so before I go through the basket and find the biggest bath bomb, opening it and dropping it into the water. In a matter of seconds, the aroma of the room quickly changes to a soft vanilla scent that is relaxing and not at all overpowering. Waiting until the massive tub is halfway full, I strip down and step in.
I lose myself for a few minutes, simply letting my muscles relax under the warmth of the water. On the side closest to the basket there's a white pillow neck rest that drapes over the edge. Taking my glass, I scoot over to it. I'm happily surprised to find a small dip in the bottom that I hadn't noticed before. It's at the perfect angle to fit my bum so that I can lean back against the pillow without sliding down into the tub.
Sipping on my drink, I move it to the edge that borders the aquarium and set it down. Of course, I get distracted for a few simply watching all of the colors behind the glass. The fish don't seem disturbed at all that they're sharing a room with a naked girl practically groaning in satisfaction at a mere bath.
Going back into the basket, I pull out the facial mask, reading the instructions before lightly wetting my face, opening it and draping it across my skin. Another first, believe it or not. Even with all of my other online content, I've never considered doing anything for beauty products. I've never done anything other than yoga, fitness, and peace for mental health. Doing beauty content could open more avenues, but that'd require me to show my face, which I don't do currently. Something to think on another time when I'm not completely at peace relaxing.
Reaching to the buttons, I push the one for the jets, and they kick on immediately. The one against my back as I position myself back on the pillow pulls a moan from me as it works out tension there that I didn't realize had been there to begin with.
If anyone were to ask, I wouldn't be able to tell them exactly how long I’ve spent in here. All I know is that by the time I'm pulling the plug and struggling to stand up to get out, my skin is wrinkly, and I'm pretty sure I have a good head count on the number of fish in the aquarium. Which is a feat in itself considering there are a ton.
There's a small rolling cart I hadn't noticed before with towels and a thick, white robe with slippers beside it. I dry off and throw it on, slipping my feet into the shoes. I should probably put my clothes back on, but I can't bring myself to do it yet. The soft, thick material of the robe accents the bath so well that if it weren't for the sweet alpha on the other side of the door, I'd probably stay in this robe in here for hours, if I haven't already.
As I open the door and walk out, Brent is propped against his headboard, laptop across his knees. He smiles as I stroll over to his bed that looks super inviting and not for the fun reasons.
"Have a good bath?" he inquires, setting his computer off on the bedside table.
Closing my eyes, I sigh. "The best one I've ever had. Thank you."
When I look at him, his grin is wider than ever. "I'm glad you enjoyed yourself. You're more than welcome here anytime. Even if you just come for that reason and not to see me."
I snicker, "I don't think that'll ever be the case."
Laughing with me, he asks, "Well, want me to grab your bag so you can work on what you need to?"
I shake my head. "No, not exactly."
Crawling up onto the side of the bed, I crash down against his pillows and mumble into them, "I don't know why I'm suddenly so tired, but I'm pretty sure you put some kind of sleeping potion in that bath."
He laughs again. "No, but I should've warned you that it does seem to have that effect on some people. You'd think Roz was a different person entirely when he gets out."
"Maybe we should leave some of the girlie stuff in there for him," I snicker into the pillow. "I could totally see him using a face mask lying back against that pillow."
His laugh is louder this time. "Actually, I've seen him a time or two with a face mask on. And, that's his pillow, so he does use it."
I laugh until a few tears roll out of my eye and absorb into the pillow. Once I can catch my breath again, I mutter, "I think I'm going to take a nap now, if that's okay."
I'm not sure he understands the muffled words that seem to merge into each other as the sentence continues. He must catch part of it because I feel a light blanket being tossed over me as the weight of an arm presses down on my side.
Could be minutes or hours later, Brent's soft murmuring pulls me out of the warm cocoon of a dreamless sleep.
"That's fine," he's saying. "We'll meet you over there."
Lifting my head, I do a quick swipe of my robed arm on my mouth to make sure I don't have any drool dripping down anywhere before I turn over to face him.
He smiles softly at me. "Sorry I woke you."
"It's okay," I tell him honestly. "I don't normally take naps during the day anyway. I think that bath just got me good today."
Quietly laughing, he says, "You're not the only one it's gotten. Besides, maybe you needed the rest more than you think."
"Maybe so," I admit with an accidental yawn. "I'm not sure my roommate wouldn't kill me in my sleep given the chance."
His lips drop into a frown. "Are there problems with them?"
"Nothing out of the ordinary for two people who are different and come from completely different upbringings forced to share a space together," I answer. I could tell him the whole thing about my psycho roommate, but I don't. Not only because I don't want to ruin the moment, but it's nothing serious that I can't handle.
I can tell he has more questions, but I don't give him the chance to ask them. Scooting closer, I press my lips against his. I don't know what drives me to do it, but it's too late to take it back. There's absolutely no hesitation from him as he tilts his head further to slant his lips over mine completely. One of us parts them for the other, and that's all she wrote. Our tongues clashing works us both up until we're breathing hard. His sweet, fruity-cereal scent grows stronger and seems to envelope me until I don't know where he begins and I end.
His arm sneaks around my waist to my back, and he uses it to tug me closer to his body. I toss a leg over his hip as one of his slides between mine. The robe restricts how close he's able to get where I need him so desperately to be. If it wasn't for a pesky beating at his door, I would definitely slide the offensive material out of the way, giving him access.
We ignore another knock, and the door pops open right before a person strolls inside.
"What are you doing, sleep...?" Palmer trails off as we lock eyes.
"Oh!" he exclaims, clearly as surprised by me as I am of him. He saunters over to the bed, almost bouncing as he does before hopping up on it. "Hey, it's a great thing you're here. We're going to dinner tonight to celebrate Roz winning his big case he's been working on for months. Are you hungry?"
"For sure," I tell him without even having to think about it.
"Well, get up and get some clothes on so we can go," he says, playfully swatting at my ass. "I'm starving."
"You're always starving," Cordell informs him. "I'm going to pick up Jake and meet you guys there."
"Oh shoot, I'll need to go back to the dorms real quick to grab some nicer clothes," I tell them.
"You don't have to dress fancy for where we're going tonight," Brent reassures me.
"Yeah," Palmer adds, "you're going to love it."
"Well, let's get a move on before Roz ends up having to wait a long time on us," Brent says.
"Not like he hasn't made us wait forever on him before," Palmer says, rolling his eyes.
"Weren't you ever taught that two wrongs don't make one right?" I chastise him lightly.
Brent chuckles as he rolls off to the side of the bed, and I catch that dimple on Cordell's cheek with his grin as he says, "You're never going to get away with anything again, man."
"Besides, weren't you starving five seconds ago?" I ask, rolling off the opposite side of the bed. Almost straight into Palmer's arms where he's perched. For a moment his eyes do a double take once the robe opens and exposes skin all the way up to my hip. One look and I know for a fact that he'd forget all about food and take me right here in Brent's bed in front of him and Cordell. I wouldn't be able to stop myself from perfuming if I tried. My honeysuckle seems to intertwine itself between all of the threads of their scents, combining it into something that makes my head spin.
Cordell stiffens at the door and stands up straight from his leaning posture as his nostrils flare a tiny bit. I hear more than see Brent as he takes a deep breath before grinding out, "You should go get dressed, love."
Once I'm behind the closed door of the bathroom, I can breathe right. Pressing my forehead against the door to cool it off, I can hear Brent fussing at Palmer quietly, telling him not to start things we can't finish right now. Then, I hear several sets of footsteps recede and the room goes silent. I'm not sure if he's saying that because we're on a time crunch to meet Roz or because he thinks I'm not open to it. Either way, I'm glad he had the wits about himself to pull us out of the stupor. The last thing I want to do is ruin Roz's big night.
The guys were right, saying I wouldn't need to dress any kind of fancy for their restaurant choice. Palmer drives Brent and me to one of the hangouts I've heard some of the other students talking about going to over the weekend. Apparently, rumors are true, there are theme nights and it's completely random, so you don't ever know what night you're getting. I've heard of trivia, karaoke, and pay per view fight nights. Honestly, I'd love to come to one of the latter. I bet the atmosphere is completely unmatched.
"Here's a sweatshirt in case you get cold," Brent says, handing me a soft, grey sweatshirt smelling of fruit cereal as we step out of the car. I have to fight the urge to bring it to my nose to smell it.
After reading the stuff from the center, I can't help but ask, "Is this really for the cold or are you hoping I'll wear your scent?"
His cheeks turn pink as Palmer snickers and mutters, "Busted."
"Would it be okay if it were both?" Brent asks.
My answer is to pull the material over my head before sliding the sleeves up to rest on my forearms. It's a little big, because, let's face it, Brent is a big dude, but I like it. It's comfy and smells like him. A smile lights his face, and I reach up on my toes to give him a quick kiss.
Palmer walks a little ways in front of us and holds the door open as we walk inside. I don't know where I'm going, but they do. I follow along as they lead us to a table set somewhat away from all the others in the room. Roz is already seated with a drink in front of him and gives us a short wave. He doesn't seem as upset to see me tonight as he was the other day, which may or may not have something to do with Brent's sweatshirt that his eyes keep dropping to.
Palmer and Brent take seats next to each other on one side of Roz, leaving the other one open. Not one to be rude, I take it.
"And, how is Ms. Bardot this evening?" he asks, using Brent's name for me. Oddly enough, I can't choose which one says it better. Brent’s comes off as more of a light tease whereas Roz's tone makes me want to do bad things with him.
"I'm good," I tell him, burying those feelings down to deal with later. "I think I fell in love with your bathroom, though."
He smiles, and I have to say, it's glorious. I blame it for the next words to pop out of my mouth. "You should do it more often."
Brent and Palmer burst out laughing, making it turn into a grin.
"Are you always in a good mood when you win cases?" I ask curiously.
He takes a sip of his drink and nods, "Yes. Especially when it's a case that I've been working on almost every day for months now. It was a big win for me and for my firm. Now, we need to get you some drinks."
Holding a couple fingers in the air, he signals for the waitress to come over for our orders. Cordell and Jake make it just as she's about to walk away and get theirs in last minute.
It’s rowdy in here tonight and loud, too. We caught karaoke night, so people are drinking a few rounds before getting up to sing some of the most random songs off key. Only a few of them didn’t sound like cats fighting outside. Then again, I guess that’s what the liquid courage is for. Better them than me, though. The way I could get up on a bar and dance until my legs gave out, but I refuse to sing. Especially in front of a crowd of this many people.
Brent raises his glass, “I propose a toast. To all of the hard work Roz has put into his case these long months and it paying off.”
“Here, here,” Palmer agrees loudly, clapping a hand on the table with his drink raised in the other.
“And,” Cordell adds, “To Pack Apollo for it’s offical courtship of Billie Bardot.”
He catches me completely by surprise and my smile drops instantly. This is a night to celebrate Roz, not infuriate the alpha. Color me surprised again when he raises his glass and doesn’t appear the least bit vexxed. Palmer beams at me from across the table, as does Brent. Jake is the only one with his glass raised but looking at the table. He doesn’t look angry, but he doesn’t look happy, either.
“Cheers,” Roz says before tipping his glass back.
After much food and many drinks later, Palmer and I are the designated drivers of the night since neither of us were drinking. I haven’t been behind the wheel of a car in a couple months, and I’ve never driven anything as pristine as Cordell’s sleek, expensive car, but he, Jake, and I all make it to their house without so much as a scratch on it.
When we get there, they all part ways, calling out good night in one way or another. Both Cordell and Brent coming over to kiss my cheeks.
“Well,” Palmer starts, moving to stand in front of me. “Was it worth it? Have fun?”
“Definitely,” I tell him. “The most fun I’ve had in a while actually. I didn’t know Brent could sing as well as he does.”
His head falls back with his laugh. “Yeah, he’s pretty good, but he’ll only sing when he’s drunk, so good luck hearing it other than then.”
I laugh with him, and he adds, “It’s pretty late, you know. You could always stay the night here. We’ve got a decent bed in the spare room. My bed is pretty comfy too, though. I'll even get up early to take you back so you don't miss class and everything."
"Hmm," I murmur, tapping a finger to my chin. "You sure do know how to persuade a lady."
He laughs, taking my hand to gently pull me up the stairs. "That's the first time anyone has ever told me that in my life."
"I don't believe you," I whisper now that we're upstairs.
"You don't have to be quiet," he says. "Wait for it."
Half a second after he speaks, snores flow underneath at least two of the closed doors. Laughing again, I let him pull me into his room before he closes the door behind us. He lets go of my hand, and I immediately miss the feel of it. Taking his shirt off as he walks over to his bed, he tosses it across the chair in the corner. I'm not sure what it is about watching his bare muscles flex as he does it, but it makes my heart race and my cheeks flame.
Coming up behind him, I run my hands up his naked skin, and he sighs. "I didn't invite you for any ulterior motives. I didn't have anything in mind."
I press my lips against his skin. "What if I did?"
He turns, giving me a hooded inspection through half closed eyelids. Whatever he sees in my expression must be all of the invitation that he needs. Leaning down, his mouth closes on mine. We've barely touched before I'm parting my lips and devouring him like a woman starved. This whole pack has driven my desire, making me a madwoman.
Our clothes come off in a frenzy like no other. We send them flying everywhere. All I care about is the feel of his skin on mine as his spearmint scent surrounds me. I want him under me, over me, anyway that he wants as long as we're touching.
Palmer isn't big compared to Brent, but he's stacked with his own thick muscles that bulge as he reaches down behind my thighs to lift me. No one has ever tried to pick me up romantically or not, but instincts have me wrapping my legs around his waist. And, oh the glorious feel as his cock rubs between my lower lips as he walks. I'm saved from being embarrassed and coming on the spot by him setting me down on his bed.
Scooting back, I open my legs, giving him the perfectly angled view of everything I have. Licking his lips like a hungry man at a buffet, he crawls up on hands and knees until his face is perched right between my legs. Without warning his face drops between them, and he takes a long lick from my pussy up to my clit where he sets to work with his tongue. If I thought the man could kiss, it's got absolutely nothing on what he's doing to me right now.
Two fingers work their way inside of me, and it's all I need to set me off. I come riding his face as one of my hands clings for dear life in his hair. He says nothing as he pulls away and walks the rest of the way up my body, kissing a long line up.
When he makes it to my mouth, he kisses me hard and I take it, tasting myself on him. A primal part of me deep down inside, goes feral at my scent covering him. My lips move down to his neck where they find a place to suckle as he reaches between us to guide himself inside of me.
As he starts to move, I don't know where I end and he begins. I just know that it feels so damn good that I don't ever want him to stop. I even beg him not to, resulting in his hips moving faster, making us both groan in unison.
"Ohhhh!" I exclaim, drawing the word out. "I'm coming."
His lips drop to my hard nipple and he sucks on it as he jerks twice and starts to slow. Dropping to his elbows, he lays his head sideways on my chest. I'm sure he can hear the quick pounding of my heart right through the side of his face.
"That was amazing," he says breathlessly. "I've never come so fast in my life."
"Neither have I," I admit with a small chuckle. "That makes two of you now that have made me do it."
"Really?" he asks curiously. "Who else? Brent?"
"Nope," I tell him. "He was actually the perfect gentleman."
"Roz?" he asks.
I laugh outright, making his head bounce on my chest. "Yeah, right. Up until tonight I was convinced he hated me."
He sighs, his warm breath blowing across my still partially hard nipple, making me gasp a little.
"It takes a lot for Roz to hate someone," he says after a few seconds. "He's just worried about all of us getting hurt again and him being responsible and helpless all over again."
"I get that," I agree quietly.
Lifting his head, he pulls away slightly until he slides out of me. "Damn. I didn't think to use protection. I'm sorry. I'm clean I promise. I haven't slept with anyone in a long time. Actually, I don't think any of us have."
"It's okay," I tell him "We were sort of caught up in the moment. I'm clean, too."
"Whew," he says, wiping a fake bead of sweat off his forehead. "Glad we're responsible adults and all."
The joking has me laughing again before I flip over and crawl up the rest of the way onto the bed and under the covers. Palmer follows suit and gets underneath with me as I hold it open for him. We are both asleep in a matter of minutes, me tucked tightly in his arms.
Sometime in the night, I get a tickle in the back of my throat that wakes me up. I try to cough lightly as to not disturb Palmer who appears to be in a hardcore doze at my side. After the third cough, I get up as quietly as possible. The first shirt I come to on the floor is his, and I can only tell by his strong scent that wafts off of it as I pull it on. Then I set about trying to find my jeans. Instead of those, my fingers close around my panties. Flicking a glance at the door, I decide to take the risk of just sliding those on and continuing my quest to find my pants. It's super late into the night now, and everyone should still be sleeping.
Another tickle sends me running to the door as quickly as I dare as to not make much noise. Thankfully, it doesn't even do so much as squeak as I open it and slip out. The window on the top front of the house across from the chandelier lets in enough light from the street lights to make it easy enough to see going down the stairs.
My bare feet don't slap the hardwood floor as I all but tiptoe through the house. Though, there's no one down here to wake up, so I don't know why I'm bothering being so quiet.
As I round the corner into the kitchen, my stealthiness almost becomes moot as a dark figure leaning against the counter scares the daylight out of me. Grabbing my chest, I'm pretty proud of myself for not screaming.
"Did I frighten you?" Roz asks, taking a drink from the bottle in his hand.
I could lie to him, but he likely already knows the answer to his question anyway since I'm certain he can scent my fear.
"Only a little," I confess. "I just needed to come down for a drink of water. Sorry if I disturbed you."
"You didn't," he says.
"Surprised you then?"
"Not really," he replies.
The silence drags on for a minute or two, making things borderline awkward. before he says, "No matter what you may have been told, we don't fall easy and we certainly don't trust easily. Don't hurt us, Billie. Don't hurt my pack."
His first hurt request sounded vulnerable. The second one sounded like a threat. That fear spikes through my chest.
When he moves, I don't flinch. Even when he's standing close enough to touch. Reaching out, he slides a finger down my jaw and then under to lift my face to him. "Please don't be afraid of me. I will never give you reason to fear."
With that his lips close over mine, and I do fear. But not for the reasons he thinks. I fear that I am now so deeply connected to this pack that they won't be the ones in pain in the end. It's going to me. No risk, no reward, I tell myself, kissing him back.