Chapter 27
Brandon
Melissa’s voice mail made me nervous, but the fact that she wasn’t answering her phone made me panic. She was obviously drunk by the way she was slurring her words, and I could tell the alcohol had finally unlocked the last of the resentment she had toward me. I knew things hadn’t been between us when I left, but now I felt as if I was going to lose her. It wasn’t that I was avoiding her, I’d just had a couple of late nights and was wary of calling her at one o’clock in the morning.
Fuck, I should’ve sent her some text messages.
I called my agent and told her I’d have to postpone the second week of this tour. She tried to convince me while I was packing my bags that it wasn’t a good look, but I didn’t care. It was about damn time I put something other than my career as a priority, and for once, I was going to make Melissa just that.
I was going to make her my priority.
I knew she didn’t trust me, and she had every right. She was afraid to love me, and I understood why. I booked the first flight home while my agent tried to call me, but I simply ignored her calls. I wasn’t doing the last leg of this book tour. Not until I could right things between Melissa and me.
I tried getting her on the phone before I got onto the plane. I cursed myself for not having anyone else’s number. Not her boss or her doctor or her best friend. No one’s. I had no way of checking in on her to make sure she hadn’t had too much to drink or choked on her own vomit or even if she had tripped and knocked herself unconscious. All these scenarios ran through my head as I flew back to L.A., and the moment I walked off my private jet, I made a mad dash for the car that was waiting for me.
By the time I got to my car and headed straight for Melissa’s, it was two o’clock in the afternoon. Her car was there and the lights in her living room were on, but there wasn’t any sort of motion going on behind the curtain. I stumbled out of my car and ran up to her doorstep, jiggling her doorknob before I started banging on her door.
Holy fuck, I needed her to be all right.
“Melissa!” I yelled as I banged on her door. “Melissa! Open up! Please!”
I stood there to see if I could hear anything, and for a moment I didn’t. I resumed banging on her door, my fist on fire as the door shook on its hinges. I was banging so hard, I didn’t hear her walking up to the door, and when she opened it up, I practically fell into her. She gasped, steadying herself on her feet as she held me close, and the moment I picked my head up, I crashed my lips onto hers.
She tasted like alcohol and residual vomit, but sweet fuck, I didn’t care. She was alive. She was conscious. And she was in my arms.
“Brandon?” she murmured.
“I’m so glad you’re all right,” I said.
“What are you doing here?” she asked.
“Your voice mail. I got your voice mail.”
“My what?”
Wow. She really had been drunk.
“You left me a voice mail last night. I tried calling and calling, and when I didn’t hear from you, I panicked.”
“How are you here? What about—wait, don’t you have an interview tonight?” she asked.
“Not anymore.” I wrapped my arms around her and stepped into her home. I shut the door behind me before my lips flew to her neck. She sighed into me, her body melting into my arms as I licked the salty taste from her skin.
I needed her to know that she was at the forefront of my mind. Always.
“What did I say in the message?” she asked.
I stopped kissing her and raised my eyes to meet her stare. She was curious, I could tell, but something also told me she knew what she’d said. She looked wary. Nervous. With a hint of relief like she was glad something had been said, but she didn’t know quite how she’d phrased it.
“You told me you were scared to love me because of what happened, that me dropping off the face of the earth made you nervous that I was with someone else, and you wanted me to be upfront with you about it if it had happened,” I said.
She nodded slowly as her arms fell from mine, but all I did was pull her closer to me.
“I had some late nights at some bookstores. Friday and Saturday, I didn’t get in until almost one in the morning. I didn’t know if you’d appreciate me calling that late.”
I could see the relief wash over her face as tears crested her eyes. Her hair was crusted to her neck, and I could see a massive red spot on her cheek, and I slowly pieced together what had happened. She’d probably fallen asleep getting sick from the alcohol, and my banging had woken her up from wherever she’d passed out.
“Melissa, are you all right?” I asked.
“I, uh, have to call Carl’s parents. Make sure they can keep Sarah a bit longer so I can clean up,” she said.
“Sounds like a good idea. I’ll run you a bath. How does that sound?”
“Sounds great,” she said, smiling.
She went in search of her phone while I headed to her bathroom. I ran hot water into the tub and poured some vanilla-scented bubbles into the bath. I took the liberty of washing her floor, getting the mess off the tiles before she ventured back in. Her shoulders were slumped, and her hair was a mess. Her eyes were red from exhaustion, and her voice croaked with pain. I turned off the hot water and slowly began to undress her. Then I picked her up and slowly sank her into the bath as she sighed with relief.
I shed my clothes and piled them on the floor before I slid in behind her. My hands slowly cupped water, pouring it over her head as I began to wash her down. Shampoo, conditioner, and soap riddled her body while my hands slowly massaged from her head to her legs, and with each circular movement, I could feel her relaxing into me.
But the moment I started washing her thighs, I felt her legs spread a little wider than they should.
Her head laid back onto my shoulder as I planted a small kiss on her cheek. I allowed the washcloth to float away while the bubbles popped against our bodies. Her chest was flushed with want while the conditioner softened her hair, and as my fingertips made my way between her pussy folds, I could feel her already squirming at my touch.
“Brandon,” she whispered.
“I’m right here,” I said as my lips grazed her ear.
Slowly, I allowed my fingers to explore her. I clocked every place that made her jump as I massaged her pussy folds. I ran my fingertips along the edge, feeling her press deeply into my chest as my cock grew against her back. I found her pulsing clit, the hood peeling itself back as it grew underneath my ministrations. She tossed her leg over the edge of the tub, giving me greater access as she offered her body to me.
“I could never want for another woman after getting you back,” I said.
“I’m sorry,” she said breathlessly.
“Don’t ever be sorry for speaking your truth. Thank you for letting me in.” I pushed my fingertips into her clit to punctuate my statement. She moaned out lightly, her back arching away from me as my other hand came up to cup her breast. My cock was smashed against her back, her soft skin against my throbbing dick as she ground back into my hips. The friction was enough to drive me wild as I slowly circled her clit, and every time she bucked back into me, my cock leaked with delight.
“You came back,” she whispered.
“Let it be the first of many precedents I’ll set.”
I picked up my ministrations as her body began to quiver. Her fingertips dug into my thighs and her back thrust against my cock. I tweaked her nipple, playing with it between my fingers as she moaned and groaned. I could feel her pussy humming with lust as she bucked wildly against my hand, sending soapy water sloshing over the sides of the tub.
Her nipples grew harder and harder in my hand as she reached back to grasp my hair. She pulled my lips to her neck, wanting me to bite down into her skin as I flicked and pressed her swollen center. My teeth grazed her skin as she began to pant, my cock growing against her as she continued to push back into me.
“That’s it,” I said. “Just like that. Take what you want. All I have is yours.”
“Brandon. Fuck. You feel so good. I love your hands on me. Yes. Yes. Don’t stop.”
“I’ll never stop, Melissa. Dear fuck, I’ll never stop.”
My cock thrust quicker and quicker against her back as she fucked my hand. I could feel her body trembling as we soaked her tiled floor. The bubbles were growing, her legs were contracting, my balls were raising, and my teeth were sinking into the soft mounds of her skin. Her hands tangled in my hair, and I watched her conditioner drip down her breasts. All I could think about was how perfect she felt against my body and how every single curve her body had filled out over the years to fit specifically into the divots of my muscles.
“I’m so close. So close. Almost there. Yes. Oh shit, Brandon. I’m coming. I’m—”
I held her close to me as her body began to shake. I bit down into her skin, marking her as mine as her pussy poured juices into the bath water. My cock shot come up her back, painting the most beautiful picture against her suntanned skin. I kissed up her neck as she jumped and trembled, her lips pressing kisses against my skin as she slowly sank back into me.
“I’m so glad you’re here,” she said, whispering.
“So am I,” I said before I captured her lips in a kiss.
“So am I.”