Chapter TWENTY-TWO
Had I just blacked out? Shit. That was . . . that was . . . there were no words for what that was. I was still lying on Blaire, probably suffocating her, although her arms were tightly wrapped around my body. She wasn’t trying to push me off.
I didn’t want to pull out of her. Being inside her felt like home. But I had just taken her virginity and at some point lost my mind in the process.
I moved back, and she tightened her hold on me. The pleasure she gave me was more than she knew. I liked knowing she wanted me close.
“I’ll be back. I need to take care of you first,” I told her, then kissed her gently before getting up and heading to the bathroom.
I didn’t bother with clothing. She had seen all of me now. She could handle it. I took a washcloth and got the water hot before soaking the cloth and making sure it was nice and warm. She would need cleaning up. As much as I wanted to do that again, she was going to need time.
I walked back into the room, and Blaire’s eyes locked on mine then dropped to my waist. Her eyes got big, and her face turned red.
“Don’t get shy on me now,” I teased her. I touched her knee and moved it. She wasn’t helping. “Open up for me,” I instructed, and gently nudged her knee again. “Not too much,” I told her. I just needed to get better access.
The small smear of blood on her pink folds made the beast inside me roar in pleasure. This was mine. I had done this. No one had been here before me. It was f*cked up, but I couldn’t help it. The idea of anyone else ever touching her made me insane.
“Does it hurt?” I asked, as I cleaned the area as gently as I could. I wanted to kiss her there and make everything better, but I wasn’t sure she was ready for that again just yet.
When she was as perfectly unblemished as before I had taken her, I stopped cleaning her and tossed the rag into the trash can. It was time I held her close. Let myself bask in the knowledge that she was mine. I crawled up to lie beside her and pulled her into my arms.
“I thought you weren’t a cuddler, Rush,” Blaire said, as she inhaled the skin on my neck with her little nose.
“I wasn’t. Only with you, Blaire. You’re my exception.” Truer words were never spoken. Blaire was my only exception. She always would be. I tugged the covers up and over us, then tucked her head under my chin. She needed rest, and I needed to hold her. To feed the possessive beast she had awoken inside me with the reassurance that she was safe here with me.
It only took minutes before her breathing slowed and her arms went lax around me. She was exhausted. She’d worked all day . . . and then this. Smiling, I closed my eyes and inhaled her scent. The fear in the back of my head that she would leave me when she found out the truth threatened to ruin this moment. But I pushed it away. She was going to love me. I’d make her fall in love with me. Then . . . then she’d listen to me, and she’d forgive me. She had to.
I woke up to a naked, soft, beautiful body still curled up against me. The sun was peeking through the blinds. I didn’t care what time it was, but I knew she would care. I wanted her here with me, but it wasn’t about what I wanted. This was about Blaire. And she wouldn’t want to be late for work. Her sense of responsibility wouldn’t allow that. I had to wake her up, as much as letting her sleep in my arms appealed to me.
Taking a deep breath, I let her scent fill my head. The memory of her other scent made my already semierect cock go full-blown. I wasn’t going to make her do something that would be painful, but I could make her tender flesh feel good and ease my hunger.
I moved down her body and picked up one of her adorable bare feet, then placed a kiss to the instep. She didn’t move. Grinning, I continued trailing kisses up to her calf and back down again, tasting her skin every few kisses.
Blaire’s body started to stretch and move. Just a little at first, but the moment she was awake, I knew it. The slow, easy movements stopped, and her eyes flew open. I continued kissing up her leg, grinning while I watched her sleepy face.
“There’s your eyes. I was beginning to wonder just how much I was going to need to kiss in order to wake you up. Not that I mind kissing higher, but that would lead to some more incredible sex, and you now only have twenty minutes to get to work.”
Blaire’s eyes went wide, and she sat up in bed so quickly I had to let her leg go. I knew she wouldn’t want to miss work.
“You’ve got time. I’ll go fix you something to eat while you get ready,” I said. I wanted to spend breakfast between her legs, but again, it wasn’t about Rush’s wants at that moment.
“Thank you, but you don’t have to. I’ll grab something in the break room when I get there,” she said, blushing as she grabbed the sheet to keep her bare breasts covered. The affectionate woman from last night was gone, and a nervous, unsure one was in her place. What had I done wrong?
“I want you to eat here. Please,” I said, watching her closely.
The small flare in her eyes told me she needed to hear that. Did she need reassurance? “OK,” she said. “I need to go to my room and get a shower.” She still looked nervous.
I wanted her to stay up here. I wanted her using my things. But . . . f*ck. “I’m torn, because I want you to shower in there, but I don’t think I’ll be able to walk away knowing you’re naked and soapy in my shower. I’ll want to join you,” I admitted.
“As appealing as that sounds, I’d be late for work,” she said with a small smile.
“Right. You need to go to your room.” She looked around for her discarded clothes. I wanted her in my clothes this morning. When she walked out of my room looking like a rumpled angel, I wanted my shirt against her skin, covering up what belonged to me. “Put this on. Henrietta comes today. I’ll have her wash and press your clothes from last night,” I said, picking up the shirt I had worn last night and tossing it to her.
She didn’t argue. I couldn’t look away while she pulled my shirt over her head and let the sheet fall once she was sure I couldn’t see her tits. Guess the fact that I’d sucked on them and lapped at them like a man obsessed last night didn’t matter. She was covering up this morning.
“Now, stand up. I want to see you,” I told her, needing to see her in my shirt. It was an image I intended to burn into my brain for eternity.
She stood up, and the shirt hit her thighs. Knowing how naked she was underneath and how easily I could pick her up and spread her legs had me rethinking my plans for today.
“Can you call in sick?” I asked, looking up at her hopefully.
“I’m not sick,” she replied, with a frown between her brows.
“Are you sure? Because I think I have a fever,” I said playfully, stepping around the bed and pulling her into my arms. “Last night was amazing.” I pressed my nose into her hair.
Her arms came around my waist and held tightly. “I have to work today. They’re expecting me.”
That was Blaire. It was one of the many things that had attracted me to her. She wasn’t going to lie or ignore a responsibility. Letting her go, I stepped back and put distance between us. “I know. Run, Blaire. Run your cute little ass downstairs and get ready. I can’t promise you I will let you go if you stand here looking like that much longer.”
A grin broke out across her face, and she took off running for the stairs. Her laughter trailed behind her, and all I could do was stand there like a fool and smile.
I got showered and dressed quickly, then called Jace. I didn’t want to ask Blaire about her schedule, but I wanted an excuse to be at the club. I never went up there unless Nan wanted me to meet her for golf or dinner.
“Hello?” Jace said, sounding surprised that I was calling.
“Hey. Are y’all golfing today?” I asked.
“Uh, yeah. We golf every day. You know that.”
“I want in,” I said.
“You’re gonna golf?” he asked, shock in his voice.
I didn’t see what the big deal was. I had golfed with them before. I played with Nan and Grant on occasion. “Yeah, so?” I said.
Jace chuckled. “OK, sure. You haven’t played with us in forever. What gives today? Normally, you have to be dragged out onto the course by Nan or Grant.”
I wasn’t answering that. He didn’t need to get the wrong idea about Blaire. They would need to see me with her. I’d make sure they all knew how off-limits she was. “In the mood for golf,” I replied.
“All right, then. See you at eleven thirty. Woods has to be in a meeting this afternoon with his dad, so we’re playing early.”
I didn’t point out that most people thought an early tee time was six or seven in the morning. Not eleven thirty. “Thanks. See you then.”
I headed downstairs to see if Blaire had left yet. She couldn’t have had time to dress and eat. Not if she took a shower. I opened the door at the bottom of my stairs and looked to the right. Blaire’s door was open. She wasn’t in there. The lights were off.
I headed for the stairs and took them two at a time, hoping to catch her in time for a good-bye kiss. She was standing at the bar, with a bowl of cereal in her hands and a spoon lifted to her mouth. She was eating. Good.
“Don’t let me stop you,” I said, walking over to the coffee pot, not wanting to make her nervous. She seemed so jumpy. “Are you working inside today?” I asked. She shook her head no then swallowed.
“They need me outside today,” she said.
I turned back to the coffee pot before smiling. I would see her, then. I f*cking loved golf. I noticed her cell phone lying on the counter and picked it up. She had forgotten it already.
I switched the pot on and watched her walk to the sink with her bowl. I stepped over and blocked her path and took the bowl from her, setting it in the sink behind me.
“Are you . . . is everything OK?” I asked, then slipped my hand down to gently cup the place between her legs, which I worried would bother her today. She had to work outside in the heat, and I didn’t want it to be painful.
She blushed and ducked her head. “I’m fine,” she said in a breathy voice.
“If you were staying here, I’d make it feel better,” I told her.
Her breathing quickened. “I can’t. I have to go to work,” she said, lifting her eyes to meet mine.
I slipped her phone into the pocket of her shorts. I wanted it on her all the time. “I can’t stand the idea of you hurting and me not being able to do anything about it,” I told her, slowly caressing the outside of her shorts.
“I have to hurry. I had to skip the shower, which is terrible, I know, but I couldn’t shower and eat. I didn’t want you . . . I wanted to eat so you would be happy,” she said.
She hadn’t showered. Well, f*ck. I buried my head in the curve of her neck and inhaled deeply. “Shit, Blaire. I love that you’re gonna smell like me all damn day,” I admitted. Knowing that she hadn’t washed me off made my inner beast roar. I was getting out of hand.
“I gotta go,” she said, stepping back. With a small wave, she hurried for the door.
It wasn’t until I heard the door close that I realized I hadn’t gotten my kiss. She’d distracted me with the fact that she was still wearing me all over her body. The stupid grin on my face was starting to make my face hurt. I hadn’t smiled this much in a lifetime, yet that girl kept giving me a reason to.