“It’s late,” Brandon said, cursing himself for not being able to take his eyes off her lips. “You need your sleep and so do I. I should go.”
Even as he said the words, he couldn’t bring himself to pull away from her. Already, he ached to kiss her again.
“I think I figured it out,” she said with a sinful smile, those full lips of hers captivating him instantly as he continued to stare at them. “You’re a vampire, and you’re afraid I’ll out you.”
If he were a vampire, she’d be dead in a few more seconds because that’s about how much longer he’d be able to stand not having his lips on her again. He felt the corner of his lip lift as his eyes swallowed her up from top to bottom. “You like what you see, don’t you, Brandon?”
She was as sure about herself as he’d expected her to be. Of course he liked what he saw, and of course, no matter how strong of an effort he’d put into trying to hide it, she already knew it and probably had from day one. “Ms. Brady—”
“Uh, uh, let’s not go back to that,” she said, tracing his lips with her fingers. “Call me Regina.”
Parting her legs, she brought his hand down to her inner thigh. The warmth of the soft flesh against his hand had him straightening out. “Regina, you’re under the influence of—”
The second her luscious soft lips touched his again he took her face, cradling it in his hands, and kissed her wildly, eating up every inch of her mouth, feeling on the verge of madness. She moaned in delight, spreading her thighs further, and he gave up resisting, lifting her skirt up until he realized she wore no panties. He pulled away and froze, staring in those huge brown eyes that sparkled with anticipation.
“You know you want me,” she said with unabashed confidence as she rubbed his hand over her warm hot wetness.
He was so hard for her it pissed him off. As much as he’d like to, it was impossible to deny it. He buried a finger in her as he watched her head fall back. “You want more,” she said with a moan.
“I do,” he finally admitted.
“You wanna fuck me?” she purred, smiling smugly.
He stared at her as he felt her hands undo his pants’ top button and begin to unzip him. Lowering his own hand, he stopped her just as her soft warm fingers had begun to pull him out of his underwear. Shuddering, he squeezed his eyes shut but held her hand firmly in his then opened his eyes slowly. Her big brown eyes stared back at him, anxiously waiting. His eyes dropped down to her lips, those lips he’d yearned to taste for too long and tasted just as divine as he’d imagined.
He licked his lips and lifted his eyes to meet hers once again. “I want more.”
Sitting up in a hot sweat and with an aching erection, Brandon glanced around panicked. He wasn’t still in Regina’s room on her bed. He was in his own bed, and his alarm was going off. He’d slept late. He never slept late. But it was already 05:45. His alarm was set for the usual 04:45. It’d been going off for an hour, and he hadn’t heard it?
Brandon jumped out of bed, still feeling the aching effects of his dream between his legs. It wasn’t as if he didn’t always wake with morning wood, but this was by far the most painful he could ever remember.
He tried desperately to shake the vivid visuals of last night’s kiss and his dream that morning because he was in a hurry and didn’t have time to relieve the ache. But just thinking about it had him throbbing and dripping already. He lathered up, stroking his massive hard-on, the kind he only ever got when he was about to do the real deed. Squeezing his eyes shut, he continued to stroke as the inevitable began to build with every visual he had of her. Those lips would be the end of him. After kissing her last night, he knew he’d be powerless to fight it if he was ever that close to her and she was once again that willing. That was exactly why he kept kissing to an absolute minimum whenever he was with a woman. It was too intimate.
He could spend hours doing other things to them—driving them nuts in other ways. To him, his sexual encounters had served one purpose and one purpose only. Like any man, he needed the release, but kissing was a no-no, especially not the way he’d kissed Regina last night. Just the thought of sucking and biting down on those delicious lips had him groaning. He leaned against the shower wall just as he burst out en masse as he only did when he was buried deep inside someone.
Even this rattled his nerves and had his heart pounding for more reasons than one. Doing this had never felt so damn satisfying. He stood there against the shower wall, letting the cool water immerse his still-too-warm body and took deep breaths as his body began to calm.
Suddenly realizing he hadn’t taken Regina’s number had him straightening out instantly. There was no way he could call or even text her to let her know he was running late. Knowing the pig-headed princess, she’d likely try to make it down those stairs on her own.
He wasn’t even worried about being late to work. There was nothing official on his schedule that would have anyone notice he was late until oh nine hundred, and even that could easily be rescheduled. The only reason he’d said oh six hundred to Regina was he had a feeling getting her out of her place and into her office might take some time. He hadn’t even been sure if she’d need him to help her get dressed, though secretly he hoped that might be the case.
After that dream, now he wasn’t so sure if that would be a good idea. I want more? That went completely against his number-one rule. You never ask for more, and you never gave them time do so either. It went hand in hand with the no-attachments rule. All he’d done so far was kiss her, and already his subconscious was asking for more? He still didn’t know much about her, except that she was stubborn as shit and she had one of the sweetest smiles he’d ever been caught up in, not to mention the most amazing lips he’d ever kissed. Just like in his dream, he’d felt almost crazed when he kissed her last night.
But it was what she made him feel inside that scared him. What her expressive eyes said without her saying anything at all. As he dressed hurriedly, he realized he was beginning to understand why he’d been so amused by her annoyance with him. She, too, was affected by him, even if she didn’t want to be. And like him, she couldn’t possibly know why since neither knew much about the other. She’d said it herself last night. As annoyed as he may’ve made her over the last couple of weeks, she wanted to get to know him. Unlike his dream, it wasn’t just sexual tension she wanted to alleviate. She, too, wanted more.
Even more frightening was that, for the first time in years, Brandon was tempted to do just that, not that he’d been tempted much in the last several years. Still there had been a handful of times he’d almost been lured into getting together with someone more than once. It’d never gotten past the initial thought before he easily snuffed the idea.
Now he’d gone far beyond the initial thought. Included in those thoughts were visions and the incredible desire to kiss her again—a lot. The thought of how he might feel once he got past the kissing—if he went through with this and things got that far, especially after feeling what he had in the shower—scared the hell out of him.
Being scared out of his mind didn’t stop him from rushing out of his place and into his Jeep. Glancing at the clock on his dash, he saw it was nearly oh six thirty. He muttered under his breath and was glad she was just a few blocks from him, because he reached her place in less than five minutes.
It was actually a little surprising to not see her downstairs already when he walked in her door. A part of him was certain she’d already be wobbling around in her kitchen, making breakfast or something ridiculous like that.
“I would’ve called you,” she said in the most pained voice from upstairs, “to let you know you didn’t have to pick me up after all, but I didn’t have your number. I’ve already called in. There’s no way I’m going in today.”
Relieved that she’d be staying put, but at the same time instantly concerned by the pain in her voice, he started up the stairs in a hurry. “Why? Did something happen?”
Damn it. Did she try coming down on her own and injure herself further? He sprinted up the stairs now but stopped cold at the top when he saw her sitting on the edge of her bed, her half-opened short robe falling slightly off her shoulder. She quickly clasped it shut, but he’d gotten a glimpse of the top of her soft and ample milky-white bare breasts. Her clothes were all at her feet, so he imagined she’d undressed and it’d been easier to just throw a robe over.
Tying the robe around her waist and covering up completely, she cleared her throat. “Nothing happened,” she informed him, wincing and rolling her neck. “I just woke up in the middle of the night, feeling like I’d been hit by a train.” She winced, closing her eyes as her brows pinched together tightly in agony. “I guess the pain in my ankle yesterday mixed with the morphine really masked the pain everywhere else. I’ve never been so sore in my life.” She groaned, trying to pull herself further back into her bed. “Every inch of my body feels bruised, and when I took a shower, I saw just how bruised and how many bumps I have all over. There is no way I’ll be going in to work today. I’m just glad it’s Friday and I’ll have the whole weekend to try and recoup.
Brandon hadn’t even thought about how sore she’d be today everywhere else after the ugly spill she took, but his thoughts were quickly disrupted. He’d been so busy trying not to focus on her appearance he just then noticed her wet hair. “You took a shower?”
She nodded, closing her eyes again as she massaged her neck with her hand. “There’s a rail in there I held on to, and I had to keep my bad ankle outside. I made a pretty big mess, and it took me a while, but I managed.” She looked at him, her painful expression going a bit soft. “I’m sorry I forgot to get your number last night. I would’ve called you and saved you the trip down here.”
Brandon was already shaking his head before she was even done, his mind on other more important things. “Forget about me. I’m less than five minutes away. I’d hardly call that a trip. So what are you gonna do? Have you called your parents?”
“No,” she said, pulling the blankets over herself. Her eyes were already looking a little drowsy. “I need to sleep. I’ve been up since three, and I just took some meds. I can already feel them kicking in. Maybe I’ll call them tomorrow. I don’t wanna worry them.”
“Tomorrow?” Brandon asked. This girl was too much. “What about today? How are you gonna get in and out of bed or eat?” He remembered something else before she could respond. “Those meds they gave you in the ER are only a temporary batch. What are you gonna do when you run out? In as much pain as you are, you shouldn’t risk running out before you can get your prescription filled.”
“I’ll call it in when I get up. I have enough for today. I can pick up the meds tomorrow.”
Having been in a car accident a couple years back where he’d really been banged up, Brandon knew the pain was only going to get worse before it got better, and . . .“You don’t even have a car,” he reminded her as it suddenly came to him. “It’s still at the base.”
Her head fell back into the pillow in frustration then winced in pain again, squeezing her eyes shut. Her eyes suddenly opened. “When my mom was sick years ago, she had her meds delivered.”
Taking a deep breath, Brandon also took a few steps closer to her bed. “How you gonna get downstairs to sign for them?”
Her lips pinched to the side, and she frowned. As if that weren’t enough to have him staring at her like an idiot, her eyes suddenly widened and she smiled. “Two of the guys in my office carpool. If you could please drop off my keys, I can ask them to drop off my car here tonight. I really don’t wanna get my family involved. They’ll never leave.” She scrunched her nose with a remorseful expression. “I love them to death, but they can be a little overbearing.”
Thoughts of her overbearing daddy thankfully pushed away the annoying thoughts of Antonio, who she was likely talking about dropping her car off. In the process, maybe he’d hang around for a while. Without giving it another thought, Brandon pulled out his phone. He could see she was going to be difficult about this already, and her mention of the guys bringing her car home for her just convinced him to do what he’d unbelievably begun considering doing anyway.
Glad the call went to voicemail, Brandon left a quick message. “Sergeant Carter, this is Billings. I’m having a personal issue, and I need to take the day off. Please call me at your earliest convenience so that I can explain—”
“No!” Regina sat up, whispering loudly, immediately wincing in pain but held her hand out. “You can’t—”
Brandon waved her protests away with his hand as he finished leaving his message and hung up.
“Oh my God, Brandon, I can’t believe you’re taking the day off for this. You don’t have to babysit me.” She reached for her phone on her nightstand. “Okay, okay, I’ll call my family. It’s not fair to you—”
“It’s too late. You had your chance.” He held his phone up. “I’ve already made the call.”
“But you can call back and say you’ve changed your mind,” she said, scrolling through her phone.
“Nope.” He shook his head. “My superiors know me and my track record for asking for time off. I wouldn’t even think of asking for it if it was something I could just change my mind about. Tell your family to come tomorrow,” he said, sticking his phone back in its holster. “It’ll save them having to deal with the Friday commute. I got you today.”
She stopped searching her phone and looked up at him in complete astonishment. “You can’t seriously be saying you’re going to spend your entire day looking after me. I’ve already taken so much of your time.”
“Well,” he said, reaching for the paperwork on her nightstand that he recognized from last night. “I’m free all day now.” He waved the prescription at her. “I’ll go get these, and you get some sleep.” She was still staring at him so wide-eyed He almost smiled until he remembered something, and he raised an eyebrow. “Your car will be just fine at the base all weekend, and I can give you a ride in Monday. No need to call anyone to bring it.”
Relief washed over him when he saw her put her phone back down on the nightstand. She picked up her purse from the floor next to the bed and dug through it, finally pulling out a small white card. “This is my insurance card.” She let him know what pharmacy she was already registered at. He took it from her, remembering her mention of anxiety pills in the emergency room and why she’d already be registered at a local pharmacy. “Thank you,” she said softly. “This is very sweet of you.”
Clenching his jaw, he nodded and began to the door. “Get some rest. I’ll be back in a few hours.”
Hearing her say this was very sweet of him brought a bothersome thought to mind, one he’d been trying not to think of since last night. Had he already turned into one of the pathetic chumps he’d scoffed at who barely knew her and were already doing sweet things for her?
The only time off he’d ever asked for was when he found out his dad was dying and then again for his services. He hadn’t even done so for his mom’s since there’d been no services for her. The only thing he’d done with her ashes was what she’d told him she wanted him to do when they’d discussed it just weeks earlier at his father’s funeral. He’d handled that as unceremoniously as she’d requested in less than an hour on the weekend. Now he’d asked for the day to take care of a girl who, up until yesterday, he’d sworn he wouldn’t so much as acknowledge if he ever ran into her again?
He shook it off as he reached the door. He wasn’t a sap, and he’d never been easily taken by anyone. Regina didn’t strike him as the kind of girl who would do what she did last night, even if she was high on her meds, with just anyone. If he’d agreed to drop off her keys with those guys at her office, she wouldn’t be thanking them in the same way, especially not allowing them to follow up with the kind of kiss Brandon had last night. He wasn’t sure why, but he truly believed this. Brandon was no fool, and he’d be damned if any girl would make one out of him. He’d always said as much when he was against getting attached to anyone, including his brother Marines, even if he’d gladly take a bullet for them any day. Regina may not be a fellow Marine, but she was a person in need of help just the same. Taking a day off to help her out wasn’t a big deal. Her family could take over after today.
~~~
Sergeant Carter, as expected, didn’t even ask for details of his personal issues. He only asked if there was anything he could do and assured Brandon his taking the day off was not a problem.
The rest of the morning went by fairly quickly. After going back home to change into jeans and T-shirt, Brandon dropped off Regina’s prescription at the pharmacy where she was registered. Then he stopped by an auto parts’ place nearby. He went back to his place and changed the oil in his Jeep as he planned on doing this weekend anyway. By the time he was all done with that, he realized it was almost noon and he hadn’t eaten anything.
Figuring Regina would likely be waking up soon if she hadn’t already, he headed out to pick up her meds and grabbed some food on his way back to her place. He didn’t want to chance her getting up and trying to get downstairs on her own.
Her place was quiet when he walked in, and he was relieved once again that she wasn’t downstairs. It felt a little surreal that here he was making his way up to this girl’s bedroom as if he knew her well enough when he hardly knew her at all.
Halfway up the stairs, he thought he heard movement, and then he heard her voice. “Brandon? Is that you?”
Her voice still sounded strained, but his thoughts went immediately somewhere else. Who the hell else would it be? Had she called someone else while he’d been gone?
“Yeah, it’s me,” he said. “Did I wake you?” he asked as he reached the top.
She was sitting up, and the phone in her hand immediately caught his attention.
“No,” she smiled weakly, obviously still in pain. “I was starting to toss and turn about a half hour ago, so I checked my phone and noticed I had a few texts.” Her eyes were on the bags in his hands and then back on his face. “What’s all that?”
“These,” he handed her the smaller of the bags, “are your pain killers. This,” he shook the other bag, “is lunch.”
“Ooh, whatcha get?” She reached for the bag, and he handed it to her. “I am hungry. Thanks. And remind me by the way,” she said, pulling out the container. “I forgot to give you money for my medicine, and I’ll need to pay you for this too, as well as your gas and time.”
“Don’t worry about it,” he said, pulling the chair by her dresser closer to the bed and sat down. “Your insurance covered most of it, and I told you I’m around the corner. So no worries about my gas either. As for my time, you’re nuts if you think I’m gonna let you pay me for that.”
Regina was staring at the label on the container. “Grilled chicken salad, no tomatoes or eggs, with light thousand.”
She looked up at him, her mouth falling slightly open, and he knew what she was thinking, so he cleared his throat. “I also got you a turkey sub and some chips in case you’re hungry for more than just a salad.”
“You remembered,” she said, ignoring his comment about the sub and chips.
He shrugged, pulling out the Coke Zero from the last bag he’d been left holding and his iced tea. He handed her the soda. “Did I get it right?” he asked as if he didn’t already know he’d been spot on.
The smile on her face now was going to make his deadpan expression crack if he didn’t stop looking at her, so he reached for the bag she’d set aside. “I got a tuna melt,” he said, beginning to feel like a real sap now. He hadn’t even noticed the lady place the order on the container the way he very specifically had ordered her salad. “We can switch if you prefer that to turkey. I can go for either.”
“I’m good with the salad,” she said, still smiling when he dared glance at her. “It’s exactly how I would’ve ordered it.”
Great. He was definitely going to make her chump list. Desperate to change the subject now, he pointed at the top of her bad foot. “Why’d you take off the wrap? Didn’t the doc at the ER say you’re supposed to wear it for a few weeks?”
She frowned, opening the lid to her salad. “It got wet when I took a shower, so I tried to change it with a dry one, but it was such a pain I gave up.”
Brandon stared at the tattoo curiously. He’d already appointed himself as her caregiver for the day. And since things had gotten pretty personal last night, he figured how bad could it be to ask. “What’s that mean? Boot and Uni?”
Her frown softened into a small smile. “I got it years ago in honor of my late grandpa, Boot.”
A bit relieved to hear the heart was for her grandpa and not some dude, he was still confused. “His name was Boot?”
“No,” she laughed softly but stared down at the tattoo thoughtfully. “That’s just what I called him.”
Brandon un-wrapped his sandwich, even more curious now, and well aware this was personal, but talking about her dead grandpa seemed harmless. “Okay, why?
“One summer when I was too young to attend summer camp with my older siblings, my grandparents decided to help out by keeping me and my younger sister, who was just a baby, during the week for the entire summer. My grandmother tended to my sister most of the time while my granddad entertained me.” She smiled bigger now. “One of my favorite things to do and what we did together every morning was watch Sesame Street. My absolute favorites were Bert and Ernie only I couldn’t pronounce my r’s so it sounded more like Boot and Uni. By the time summer was up, I was his Uni, and my grandpa was my Boot.” She waved her hands in front of her flooding eyes. “It’s been years since he passed, and I can’t believe I still get choked up.”
She cleared her throat as the emotion seemed to pass, and she continued, “I always knew the bond between my grandpa and me was special.” She laughed again, wiping what was left of a tear at the corner of her eye with her finger. “My grandma used to scold him when he’d call me his favorite, but everybody knew it. When he passed, I took it especially hard.” Her lips quivered now, and she frowned. “Jesus!”
Swatting this time at the tears that had started up again, she looked genuinely angry all of a sudden.
“It’s okay,” Brandon said, wiping his mouth with a napkin.
“No, it’s not.”
She leaned over to the box of tissue on her nightstand and yanked tissue out, dabbing her eyes in an annoyed way. Even though Brandon couldn’t really relate personally, he’d had enough training and experience dealing with new recruits, who could be very emotional at times, so he gave it a stab.
“It is okay to feel emotional, even after all this time. If you guys were that tight, then of course you’ll always get choked up thinking of him.”
She shook her head defiantly but didn’t offer anything more. Brandon knew all about not wanting to talk about certain subjects. Obviously, while she started off talking about her grandpa willingly enough, she didn’t want to anymore. So he figured it was best to change the subject.
“I can help you get that ankle dressed again when you’re done eating.”
She nodded but said nothing, and they continued eating in silence for a few minutes until she spoke up again. “I’ve never dealt well with loss,” she whispered, staring at her salad.
“Most people don’t,” he said, shoving the last of his sandwich in his mouth and sat back taking a swig of his bottled iced tea.
Finally, she looked up at him, her eyes a bit weary now. They’d lost that sparkle he’d seen in them earlier when she realized he’d remembered how she ordered her salad. She started to say something but then seemed to catch herself. “I guess,” she said then looked back down at her salad. “This is really good.” He watched as she stabbed some lettuce and a piece of chicken. She looked up at him with a sad little smile. “Thank you for remembering how I like it.”