Chapter 9
Waking up after a night of sexual bliss was brilliant, in Cassie’s opinion. Sun peeked into the room as she gave a languid stretch, every bit of her feeling wonderful and completely used.
She’d finally passed out in Brody’s sexy strong arms in the early morning hours, but not before he’d taken her through round two of fun; thought they might be a bit sticky after sampling dessert with round three; and carried Cassie to the shower, where he’d proven just as adept during round four of water sports. Pinning her to the shower wall with the water coursing over both of them, Brody demonstrated the benefits of having a tall, strong man in her life. Limp, exhausted, and grateful to the bottom of her soul from discovering that her sexual drive was alive and well, Cassie had drifted off to dream world, utterly content.
Enjoying the sun’s sparkling brilliance lasted a full three minutes before a glance at the bedside clock had her eyes popping. It was just after six thirty, and a to-do list a mile long was waiting for her and then some. Usually Cassie was up well before the birds started their morning song.
Inching out of the bed like a secret ninja, she’d almost made it to the edge before those same sexy strong arms caught hold and dragged her back into bed.
“You weren’t kidding about being a morning person.” The sleepy timbre of Brody’s low voice wrapped around her as his arms tucked her backside against him.
“I am. Sorry, I woke you up.” Cassie silently swore she’d enjoy one more blissful minute of sensual warmth, then she absolutely had to go.
“That’s all right. I can adjust, baby,” Brody said, shifting against her and proving that he was already up and ready to go.
Cassie’s breath caught, and she giggled. “Let me go. I don’t have time to play with you again.”
She shoved and grasped at the sneaky hands traveling expertly over her after a night of learning just what made her come alive. Exactly how her body was responding yet again. She couldn’t stop the moan that escaped when his fingers went lower to discover the proof of that response.
Still half asleep, Brody rolled her under him and slid inside in one smooth move, leaving Cassie’s breath lodged in her throat and her nails digging into his back.
“That’s all right. I’ll be quick,” he murmured, working his lips on her neck.
Then Brody started to move and Cassie forgot all about her schedule.
Cassie dragged the black dress over her head and threw Brody a fuming glare. The man blew her a kiss and sauntered naked into the bathroom. Damn, now she really was behind and the worst of it was she couldn’t really be mad because she felt so damn good.
When he came out, Cassie was trying to get her hair back into some semblance of normal. Going to sleep with it wet had left it looking like she’d stepped out of a Guns N’ Roses video. Red snarls stuck every which way, and worse than that, she had not a single stitch of underwear to put on. Cassie prayed to heaven she would meet no one she knew or get pulled over by the Atlanta police on the way home. How on earth was a woman supposed to maintain any dignity when she didn’t even have her panties left?
After slipping into her heels, Cassie turned and bumped into a naked chest and pants half undone. Brody, she noted, still had his briefs.
“Sorry. Next time we sleep over together, let me know what time you want to be gone by.” He dropped a kiss on her cheek. “You did tell me not to stop…” Nipping at her neck again sent warm little shivers of heat streaking across her skin.
“Duly noted for next time, and stop right now.”
She shoved him away, and Brody pretended to fall away, laughing with her. “Come on.” He tugged his shirt on and tossed Cassie his jacket. “Let’s see if we can sneak out and not get caught.”
Anna stood in the kitchen, though she had to acknowledge it was more swaying and stumbling on unsteady legs than actual standing. She offered up a personal gratitude for not having to handle any classes today, since she had no sense of balance at the moment and would probably wind up in the ER if she tried to do yoga. She felt half dead, half dressed, and blurry-eyed. Her head ached like an anvil with an army of Tolkien’s dwarves beating on it with their massive hammers. She swore that their sharp axes were also on the offensive with the rest of her body. Whatever she had drunk last night must have been the equivalent of Klingon Blood wine. Cassie would have gotten all those pop culture references. She loved that stuff in spades. It was one of the reasons they were such good friends — few people really got sci-fi humor.
Hoping she wouldn’t die before the coffee was done, Anna figured she was hallucinating when Brody Miller stepped out of the back stairwell, holding hands with Cassie. It was a toss-up as to who was more shocked — Cassie or Anna — as they stopped and stared at each other.
Cassie, her friend who never had a strand of hair out of place, was a current giggling and rumpled mess.
Brody just pulled Cassie along in his wake and out the front door. The only words Anna heard were said in Brody’s slow Texas drawl, which uncannily matched Chase’s.
“Morning, helluva party last night, wasn’t it?”
The vision and commentary assured Anna that the world had indeed come to an end and hell was frozen solid with everyone ice skating inside it.