Chapter 27
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
The Apartment
I was curled into a ball of pain. Shivering underneath the blankets. Praying for someone to put me out of my misery.
The door to the apartment opened.
“Freckles?” Brooks called.
I slowly lowered the coverlet to reveal my eyes.
“What’s wrong?” he asked, setting his keys onto the counter. “You’re still in the same position since I left you this morning.”
“Cramps,” I gasped. “Really bad.”
“Tea?”
“Fuck the tea,” I groaned. “It did nothing.”
He placed his cowboy hat on the kitchen counter and then stripped out of his clothes.
“What are you doing?” I demanded as he crawled beneath the covers behind me.
He pulled me back against his bare chest and I shivered at the warmth that emanated from him.
“You’re a block of ice,” he said, wriggling his hands beneath my shirt to rest on my lower stomach.
“Hmm,” I moaned in sweet relief. “Your hands are like a heating pad.”
“I can run out and get you one.”
“No! Stay right there. Don’t move.”
He held me for a long quiet moment, and I was drowsy from his heat.
Brooks brushed his lips against my ear. “Better?”
“Hmm. Yes.”
“You know what might help your cramps?”
“What?” I asked.
“An orgasm. It releases pain-reducing endorphins.”
“How do you know that?”
“I’m reading Hints from Heloise,” he teased.
I laughed. “I’m willing to try anything. I’ve been in bed all morning. Day two is always the worst.”
“Then let me . . .”
His hand slid lower, and he pressed the pads of his fingers against my cleft.
“Oh,” I breathed as pleasure crackled with promise.
“More?”
I nodded and closed my eyes, letting Brooks touch me and take away my pain.
He kept his other hand splayed across my lower belly.
Desire pulsed between my legs, as he continued to stroke me over my panties. It was bliss. And he didn’t stop until I was coming.
“Good girl,” he rasped.
Warmth curled through my lower belly.
I sighed in relaxation.
I wriggled back against him.
“Brooks,” I whispered.
He brushed his lips against my ear. “Hmm?”
“I want more. I need you . . .”
“What do you need, Freckles?”
“Inside me.”
“You’re not too sore?”
I shook my head.
He pulled back, taking his warmth and touch with him. Brooks climbed out of bed and strode completely naked to the bathroom and returned with a towel.
I shoved the covers off me and lifted my bottom. He slid the towel beneath me and then climbed back into bed. I wiggled my panties off and dropped them onto the floor, shoving them beneath the bed and out of sight.
Brooks rolled me onto my back and braced himself on his elbows. His kisses were tender, sweet.
I grasped his head and plowed my fingers through his hair.
“Kiss me for real, Brooks,” I rasped.
His tongue slid into my mouth as he pressed his erection against my cleft.
My legs spread open, seemingly of their own volition.
The crown of him teased my waiting body.
“I should get a condom,” he whispered against my lips. “Otherwise, we’ll have a repeat of the other night.”
“Of all the times we can be a little reckless,” I said. “It’s now.”
He framed my face with his hands. “You sure?”
I nodded.
The tip of him slid into me. Gentle. Slow. And then he slipped in all the way.
I gasped.
“Fuck. Am I hurting you?” His amber eyes were full of concern.
“No. Feels . . . good.”
Brooks didn’t move for a moment, and I felt him swelling bigger.
And then he began to thrust.
Our eyes were locked on one another.
The pleasure from his hands was nothing compared to now.
“You were made for me,” he growled.
His fingers skimmed between our bodies, and he played with the part of me that was primed and ready for more.
My back bowed as I wrapped my arms around his waist, silently begging for what only he could give me.
I cried out as my second orgasm ripped through me. I shook and convulsed, clenching his shaft with my body.
“Poet.” He buried his head in the crook of my neck as he spilled his seed inside of me.
I felt its warmth as he shuddered again.
His breathing was labored and raspy and I stroked his back.
Finally, he lifted himself up and peered down at me. “How do you feel?”
I smiled. “The first orgasm took me from a nine to a five. The second one took it from a five to a three. I’d say that’s a win.”
He frowned.
I brushed his forehead with my fingers. “Why the look?”
“Because you’re still in pain.”
I smiled and puckered my lips for a kiss. He bent his head and gave me one.
“I can live with a three,” I said. “I can function with a three. I have to say, I’m a new fan of this method of pain management.”
“Happy to help,” he said with a light chuckle.
He pulled out and I was glad for the towel beneath me.
“I came home to take you to lunch,” he said. “But now I only have time for a quick shower before I have to get back to the ranch. Shower with me.”
I nodded.
He climbed off the bed and strode once again to the bathroom. I shoved the towel between my legs and searched for my discarded underwear.
I sighed. I really did need to get over my aversion to being human around him.
So I shuffled to the bathroom, my knees pressed together. Brooks was already in the shower, so I had a few moments of quick privacy to do what I needed.
“We’ve got kind of a problem,” Brooks said when I got into the tub with him.
He moved and gave me the shower.
“We’re almost out of hot water?” I asked, dousing my head.
“No.” His hands went to my hips. “I’ve been inside you twice without a condom.”
“Hmm. Yeah.”
“We can’t keep doing that,” he said. “Because I’m getting addicted to the feel of you without anything between us.”
“I don’t know anything different.” I nibbled my lip. “I like it this way.”
He grasped the back of my neck and held it in his big strong, hand. “I came inside you.”
I shuddered. “I felt it.”
“You did?”
I nodded and closed my eyes, my cheeks blazing.
“You ready for a baby, Poet?”
“No.”
“Then we can’t keep doing this. I’ll wear condoms. We need to be more responsible,” he explained.
“Okay.” I wrapped my arms around his neck and pressed my naked breasts to his chest.
“I mean it,” he murmured. “No more playing with fire.”
“I think I’m learning to like fire,” I whispered, dragging his head toward mine.
“That’s what I’m afraid of,” he stated gruffly.