“Brooke, you need to get up.” My tone came out harsher than I’d intended, but finding out that Chase had been her first call had hit me hard. Harder than I thought it would. I knew she’d initially reached out to Nellie, but she wasn’t competition. Chase was.
I’d spent the last two and a half hours staring at the ceiling while obsessing over his text. It was ridiculous. It wasn’t like he’d gone to get her—I had. But still, it left me feeling like I’d been her last option before having to spend the night in the hospital for observation.
It was good to see where I ranked.
I shook her again, trying my best to bite back my frustrations. “Brooke, come on. It’s been over two hours. You have to get up.”
“Corbin. Help me!” Her distressed tone made all thoughts of introducing Chase to my right hook move to the back burner. Her arms shot out in her sleep, grabbing at anything in reach. But the second I had her cradled against my chest, she immediately settled.
“I’m here, Bridge. But I need you to wake up so I know you’re okay.” I rubbed her shoulder, and she moaned, which did things to my body that weren’t okay when holding a woman whose eye looked like a raw steak. “Bridge, babe. You need to wake up.”
She finally opened one eye. “I’m okay,” she grumbled.
“Good try, but I’ll need more than that. What’s your name and, where are you?”
“My name is Brooklyn Bridge. And I’m being held captive in Corbin’s bed. Oh, and I hope he does naughty things to me in my sleep. Goodnight.”
I leaned back against my pillow, pulling her closer with my arm around her. “That’s not funny, Bridge.”
“Seriously, I’m fine. I need to sleep, that’s all.” She cuddled closer and settled into my chest with a contented sigh, so I let her be.
It was already after midnight, and I’d pretty much decided to call in sick. If the last couple of hours were any indication on how much sleep I’d get—none—then it was safe to say I would be of no use to anyone at the office tomorrow. I’d only ever called in sick once before, and that was when I had food poisoning so badly I spent the day on my toilet in fear of being too far away from it.
Brooke wouldn’t be going to work anyway, so I figured I would stay with her and make sure she took care of herself. It was unfortunate the situation wasn’t different, or we could’ve spent our time together playing doctor.
I decided I’d give myself one day, and when she was well, I’d let her go back to Chase if that’s what she wanted. The longer I thought about it, the more pissed off I became. He hadn’t been there for her when she truly needed him. But as I stared at the shadows on the ceiling, listening to Bridge sleep, I had to accept that I didn’t have a dog in the fight. I honestly had no idea how they were before the breakup. There had to be a reason she’d stayed with him for so long, and I couldn’t imagine she’d have been so heartbroken if he’d been the asshat I’d painted him out to be.
We’d spent a handful of times together and slept together once—well, technically twice. If that was all I’d have with her, I had to be okay with it. But I told myself at around three in the morning that, if she allowed us to continue seeing what we had, I’d give it my all.
* * *
Between my alarm going off every two and a half hours to wake Brooke and Chase’s text message set on repeat in my head, I hadn’t gotten much sleep. Not that I needed much to survive, but I still had a bare minimum and that hadn’t been met.
The sun began to rise, and I decided to stop fighting the inevitable. I pulled out my laptop and started the inordinate task of answering emails. The number of emails I received daily was ludicrous, and there weren’t many of my colleagues who could keep up that pace. The only reason it worked for me was because of my lack of any personal life.
“Hi.”
I turned to find Brooke laying on her side facing me, her pillow hiding her injuries. “Hi, yourself. How are you doing this morning?”
“Pretty good! I can open my eye.” She pushed up onto her elbow to show me.
“I see that.” I chuckled, because it was hardly larger than a slit, but it did look a lot better than yesterday. The swelling had mostly gone away, thanks to the icepacks I rotated throughout the night. I wondered if Chase would’ve done the same. Probably not, because pretty boy needed his beauty sleep.
“I think I might attempt a shower,” she said with a yawn. “Do you mind?”
“Help yourself.” I then wondered if Chase would be so giving with his personal space. Fuckhead. The thought of her with him made me sick.
I had to let this Chase shit go, or it would put a black cloud over my entire day with her.
I busied myself with a couple more emails before Brooke came out wrapped in a white towel. That’s when I had to put the computer away, because nothing else existed. God, she was beautiful. She took my breath away. Just the sight of her, even with her puffy eye that was now a little more blue than purple.
“I feel so much better. Thanks for letting me use your soaps and stuff.” She’d washed her hair, and I swore those soaps never smelled half as good on me. I wanted to lick every inch of her body, which was strictly against the rules given to me by the nurse.
“Of course,” was all I could offer, considering all my blood had headed south.
“Shouldn’t you be at work by now?” Her lips stretched into an easy smile as she came to sit on the side of the bed where she’d slept last night.
“I decided to take a sick day.” I shrugged as if it were no big deal.
“You?” She looked at me like I’d developed malaria. “I thought I was the one with the concussion. Why are you home sick?”
I opened my laptop, not that I’d be able to concentrate, but at least it gave me something to do other than stare at each and every drop of moisture on her delicate skin. I realized if I didn’t do something now, I’d likely break all the rules regarding her care, starting by licking her dry—everywhere.
“Well, someone has to keep an eye on you, and I doubt the woman you live with will be much help, especially after you had to get ahold of your neighbor last night just to make sure she’d eaten dinner.”
“Oh…well, thanks. Although, I honestly think I would’ve been fine on my own. I’m sure the worst of it is over.” She shifted on the mattress, turning away from me. “Speaking of Phyllis, I should really check on her and see how she’s doing. She’s fine by herself, otherwise I wouldn’t be able to go to work every day. I’m sure the neighbor has already popped in; she usually does shortly after I leave in the mornings.”
She grabbed her cell from the side table, and my heart nearly stopped.
I guess it was time to put me out of my misery.
Chapter 18
Brooke
I picked up my cell from the table next to the bed, and my blood ran cold. Why the hell had Chase texted me? I hadn’t contacted him.
“This is so weird,” I mumbled, more to myself than Corbin.
“What is?” Corbin asked without taking his eyes off his laptop.
Ever since I’d come out of the shower, he seemed tense, maybe even a little distant. I didn’t know if calling in sick had stressed him out or what. But if that was the case, he didn’t need to stay home on my account. I was perfectly fine to be alone. Not to mention, I never asked him to sacrifice a day of work to babysit me, so really, he had no reason to act so cold toward me.
“Chase texted me.” I turned and pulled my knee onto the mattress so I could see him. Just because he didn’t want to look at me when he spoke didn’t mean I felt the same. “I haven’t heard from him since last week when I returned his text—which, as we now know, he’d sent in a drunken stupor.”
“What did he want?” He glanced my way long enough to point to my cell in my hand. “In his latest text, I mean.”
I read it to myself again. “He said he got my message and asked if I was okay. But I don’t understand. I never left him a message. So how’d he know I was in the hospital?�
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“That’s a good question. You sure you didn’t text him? Maybe you did but don’t remember due to your head injury.” Still, Corbin’s attention remained on the opened computer screen in front of him, yet it didn’t seem like he was actually doing anything on it other than staring at it.
It started to make me self-conscious about wearing nothing but a towel in front of him. I’d wanted to be sexy—well, as sexy as possible with a black eye—but maybe the sight of me turned him off instead.
I held the towel closer to my chest and said, “I wasn’t that out of it. I would remember if I texted someone or not. And I don’t at all remember contacting him in any way, shape, or form. I didn’t suffer memory loss.”
“Well, there’s got to be an explanation,” Corbin mused.
Suddenly it hit me. “Oh, I bet I know what happened. The school had asked me about my emergency contacts. I bet they called him because I never took him off the list. I need to change that ASAP.”
“That’s the reason?” Finally, Corbin faced me, looking elated like I’d handed him the biggest present with a bow on top.
“It’s the only thing that makes sense.” I shrugged and went back to my phone to reach out to Lourdes, the woman next door who kept an eye on Phyllis for me. After all, that had been the entire reason for grabbing my cell to begin with.
I quickly tapped out a text and sent it, not bothering to wait for a response before turning to face Corbin again. I was just happy he seemed to have shaken out of his mood.
“Are you hungry? If you let me wear some of your clothes, I can make breakfast for us.”
He closed his laptop and threw the covers off his legs before heading into his walk-in closet. When he came back a few moments later, he handed me a folded pair of boxers and a T-shirt he likely pulled off a hanger, taking a seat beside me. “Listen, I’m sorry I was out of sorts. Let me make us breakfast while you get dressed. Okay?”
I nodded and busied myself with putting on the clothes he’d given me. I finally gave up on trying to get the boxers to stay in place and settled on wearing only the T-shirt instead.
* * *
My eyes shot open and I panicked, momentarily forgetting where I was. Then I felt the warm surface beneath my cheek move and remembered…Corbin. Somehow, he’d convinced me to spend another night with him, even though the twenty-four-hour period had passed.
I snuggled into his shirt, deciding to take full advantage of his delicious smell while he slept. We’d had an amazing day together. We watched countless movies, ate until we were full, and talked until our voices were hoarse. But he hadn’t made one sexual inuendo or tried anything whatsoever. I’d been friend-zoned and had no idea why. I’d thought for certain he’d try something when we went to bed, but nothing had happened.
The shirt beneath my palm was soft and comfy. I’d already become addicted to his chest and never wanted to leave. Which was ridiculous because I’d only spent two and a half nights with him. How could I already be ruined to the point that the mere thought of spending nights alone felt daunting?
My hand moved lower to the waistband of his boxers, and my breathing hitched slightly. I almost pulled away and got cold feet. Almost. But I knew what I wanted, more than anything, and I wasn’t going to allow a case of cold feet deter me. My hand trembled slightly and then moved lower until I reached what I’d been after.
A completely hard cock.
Tingles went up my thighs, and I instantly felt moisture pool between my legs. All from the realization that he had a boner. And as far as I knew, it was a reflex and nothing more. What guy didn’t suffer from hard-ons during sleep? But that didn’t matter. For some reason, Corbin had a different effect on me. Anything he did, even if it was a simple knee-jerk reaction, was sexy as hell.
I held my breath as I slipped my hand farther inside his boxers, and I didn’t begin to breathe again until my forefinger and thumb had encircled his shaft. He was so endowed that my fingers couldn’t even reach the entire width of him. This should’ve deterred me, but it didn’t. I was going to give him a blowjob, even if it killed me. My assumption was that the best time to practice was when he slept. That way, if I screwed up, I could say it was a dream.
Yeah, anyone would believe that.
Sleep talking? Not me. Sleepwalking? Never. Sleep fellatio? All the time.
I slowly tried to pull down his boxers, but I couldn’t really see because it was early in the morning and still a little dark, and the last thing I wanted to do was wake him up. Then I remembered—there was an opening in the front. I carefully worked the button loose without stirring him and then freed his thick, heavy cock.
I wasn’t sure how he managed to stay asleep through all that, but he did.
And I wasn’t about to complain.
I scooted under the covers and climbed over his leg to crouch between his thighs before starting my mission. I gulped. Then I took a deep breath. And gulped again.
I cautiously encircled his thick, heavy, and rock-hard shaft with my fingers—or should I say, tried to. Then I tentatively licked his crown. It wasn’t bad. So I licked him again, but this time, I swirled my tongue around the head of his dick and then put it between my lips. I bobbed my head up and down before pulling him from my mouth, which produced a pop. I instantly stopped breathing and studied Corbin, positive that would’ve woken him up.
But he was still asleep.
So I continued.
I tried to take his entire length into my mouth, but there was no way. Although, that didn’t stop me from trying. At one point, I gagged, which had been my biggest fear going into this, though it wasn’t as big a deal as I’d thought. I didn’t die from it. And oddly enough, I found myself slightly more aroused because of it. Feeling a little more brazen, I started going lower and lower, taking more and more of him into my mouth while learning to fight past my gag reflex. Once I got the hang of it, I found it much easier than I remembered.
I also found it much more enjoyable, too.
I released him from my mouth to look at him, marveling in what I’d accomplished. But my mental pat on the back came to an abrupt end when he groaned, “Jesus, Bridge. You’re killing me.” I jumped and tossed the covers off my head. There, basking in the glow of the early morning sun, I found Corbin staring at me with intense desire burning in his eyes. I’d gotten so into it I hadn’t even thought to see if he was still asleep. Then again, I had been aware of his melodic moans and the subtle way he’d thrust his hips as I sucked him. But rather than alerting me to the fact that he was awake, they’d heightened my excitement and urged me on.
“Bridge, you okay?” he asked, panting the words more than speaking them. The laughter in his tone wasn’t lost on me. And if I weren’t so mortified, I likely would’ve found the humor in it as well. I mean, he did just catch me performing sleep fellatio on him.
I pulled the covers back over my head and cowered between his legs. “No. I died.”
“Why the hell did you stop?”
“Because you woke up.”
He laughed, hooking his arms beneath mine and dragging me up his body. “Was I supposed to sleep through that? Bridge…I don’t know what guys you’ve been with, but if anyone can sleep through what you were doing, they’ve jacked-off too much and lost vital sensation where it matters most.”
I tucked my chin toward my chest and covered my face with my hands.
“Come on, babe. Talk to me.” He wrapped his thick fingers around my wrists and pulled my arms away, forcing me to look at him. “I don’t understand. Why are you embarrassed? Please, explain it to me.”
“It’s just…” I either had to word vomit, or I’d just plain vomit, which would only serve to make matters even worse. So, I took a deep breath and went for it. “I’ve never done that before. I mean, I have, but only once. And it was a long time ago. And I hated it. But I wanted to try it again to see if I even could. Or if I even liked it.”
“What the fuck? Are you kidding me?” His eyes widened i
n disbelief, and after staring for what seemed like seventy-seven years, he said, “That’s impossible. There’s no way you’ve never done that before.”
“You’re just saying that.”
He threaded his fingers through my hair to push the hanging strands away from my face. “Listen, Bridge. That was unbelievably amazing. So amazing that I had to hold back from coming. You had me so close numerous times, but I didn’t want you to stop, so I held back.”
“Really?” I studied his face to see if I could detect a lie, but I couldn’t. All I found was sincerity.
“Seriously.” He pulled me closer and then whispered, “Come here.”
My lips met his, and when his tongue entered my mouth, I moaned and arched my back to deepen the kiss. He gripped my hips and rolled me over his erection, lining up the head of his dick with my entrance, but I pulled away.
“I don’t want to be in control.”
“But you’re so good at it,” he pleaded.
I believed him, but I’d had enough vulnerability for the time being. “It’s not that I don’t want sex, so please, don’t think that’s what I’m saying. I just prefer to be more…”
“Submissive?” He moved my hips again, getting himself into position once more, and then slowly sank into me, giving my body time to adjust to his size and welcome him. “That’s okay. Just sit there and enjoy yourself, Bridge. I’ll top you from the bottom.”
Holy hell. That was…hot.
He rolled his hips in a way that made his pelvic bone hit the right spot. And it didn’t take long before I fisted his shirt and met each of his thrusts with wild abandon.
“Are you in control now?” His voice was hoarse and sexy as hell.
“No.”
“Do you like it?” he asked with each thrust of his hips.
Instead of responding with words, I let my climax answer for me. Strangled cries ripped from my chest as wave after wave of pleasure rolled through me. His frantic movements told me he was close, so I fell to his chest and panted, “Come in me, Corbin. Please, come inside me.” It didn’t take long after that for him to finish. And as we laid there, trying to calm down, I began to nip his neck between kisses.
The unEXpected Plan Page 20