Obligation, page 15
“You do have a place like that,” he said before he could think about the implication of his words. “You have this place. You can come here any time you want.”
Her smile was faint but still noticeable. “Thank you. Seriously. You’ve been a great friend to someone you hardly know.” She slid one arm beneath the pillow and rested her other hand on the bed.
He let out a sigh that was much heavier than he’d meant. “So, I’ve been officially friend zoned, huh?”
Despite knowing that’s all they were, hearing her say the words was like a billion tiny pinpricks to his heart, each one deeper and more painful than the last. And even though he’d sworn not to pursue her while she was in a relationship with another man, the second he’d found out Danny abandoned her, Bradley changed his mind. No way was he going to step aside and let someone as awful as Danny have Carissa and treat her like she didn’t matter.
“I thought we were friends,” she said, her tone unsure. “Was I wrong to think that?”
“No,” he said, shaking his head. “We are friends, but we were both there for that kiss. You can’t tell me that was just a friendly kiss.”
She averted her gaze and aimlessly traced the stitching on the comforter. “I told you. That kiss was a sorority test. I had to—”
“You had to kiss me. Yes, I know. But you didn’t have to respond to me the way you did. No one could fake that kind of reaction.” His tone was soft but insistent.
He needed to make her understand, to help her see that she had other options, that she didn’t need to waste another day—or one more tear—on Danny. Maybe Bradley needed to be blunter in his approach, but he didn’t want to come on too strong and end up pushing her away.
“I don’t know what you want me to say,” she whispered.
Bradley placed his hand over hers, stilling her movements. She didn’t attempt to pull away, so he took that as a sign to keep going.
“I want you to admit that you felt something when we kissed.” His heart pounded as he waited for her to say something, even if her response crushed him. At least then he’d know the truth.
“I did,” she finally said, meeting his gaze. “No one has ever kissed me like you did, and I couldn’t tell you the last time Danny kissed me with any real emotion.”
Bradley scowled at the mention of Danny, but rather than dwell on the bad, he focused on everything else Carissa said. No one has ever kissed me like you did. Those words were a balm to his raw nerves.
“When I found out you had a boyfriend, I was bummed, but I swore to myself I wouldn’t do this.” He waved his hand between them. “I wouldn’t be the guy to move in on another man’s girl, but then I saw the way Danny treated you, the way he spoke to you, and I saw red.” The muscle in his jaw tensed just thinking about it. “And tonight, when he left you…”
Carissa’s sigh sliced through his growing anger, and Bradley forced himself to calm down. The last thing she needed was for him to bash her boyfriend, even if Danny deserved every word said about him.
“Sorry.” Bradley frowned.
“No, it’s okay,” she said. “I know Danny doesn’t always say and do the right things, but he does love me.”
Bradley raised a brow. “If he loved you, he wouldn’t constantly make you cry, and he sure as hell wouldn’t have left you alone in the woods.” His face heated with a renewed sense of rage. “Anything could’ve happened to you, Carissa. Do you realize that?”
She nodded and once again lowered her gaze so she wasn’t looking at him.
“Does he? Because if he did, he wouldn’t have left,” Bradley said, his tone hard. “Look, I may not understand what you see in that guy or why you stay with him, but you obviously love him enough to stick around and put up with that kind of treatment.”
The glistening sheen of tears shone on her cheeks, and Bradley wanted to kick himself for making her cry. He’d vowed never to do that, and that’s exactly what he’d done.
“Please don’t cry.” He gently placed his finger under her chin and tilted her head up, bringing them face to face again. “I promised myself I wouldn’t do this, that I’d stay away from you and far from your relationship, but I’m willing to be that guy for you, Carissa.”
She blinked, and a few more tears slid down her cheeks. “What’re you saying?”
“I’m saying I like you. A lot.” He lifted her hand and pressed a kiss to her palm. “I’m saying I’ll go against everything I believe in if doing so means I might have a chance to be more than your friend.”
“Bradley…” Her bottom lip trembled.
“I’m saying that Danny now has competition, because I am more determined than ever to prove that I’m the better guy for you.” He flattened her hand on his chest, directly over his racing heart.
Her touch, even though not intentional on her end, sent fire blazing through him, igniting his need in a way he wasn’t sure he’d be able to control. She curled her fingers against his chest, and then she scooted a little closer.
“There is no competition, Bradley. I already know you’re a better man than Danny,” she said, a new wave of tears pooling in her eyes.
His breath caught in his throat, and for a few moments, he was too stunned to speak. But eventually, his brain caught up with his heart. “Then why are you still with him?”
With a sigh, Carissa eased her hand from his chest and rolled onto her back. “It’s complicated.”
“Complicated how?” He was so close to getting what he wanted—her—and he couldn’t give up now. “It’s not like you two are married. You don’t owe him anything.”
“I really don’t want to talk about Danny right now.” She turned her head to look at him, and her expression was pleading. “Can we please talk about anything else?”
Bradley was silent, debating the pros and cons of giving her what she wanted. Agreeing to talk about something else would make her happy, but then he still wouldn’t have any answers. But did the “why” behind her and Danny’s relationship really matter? All Bradley wanted was for Carissa to see that she deserved better, and that “better” was literally right in front of her.
“Okay,” he agreed. “What would you like to talk about then?”
“Why are you so into me?” She once again shifted onto her side. “Clearly I’ve got a lot of emotional baggage. I mean, other than the first time we met, I’ve been fighting with Danny or crying like a lunatic. Why would you want someone like that?”
“I don’t want someone like that. I want you, and I’m smart enough to see that you only act that way because of Danny. If he were out of the picture…” Bradley shrugged.
“I’d probably still be overly emotional,” she said.
“Probably,” he agreed, which earned him an eye roll and a laugh. “But I’ve seen you happy, too. I’ve heard you laugh. Why wouldn’t you want to feel that way all the time?”
“It’s complicated,” she said again, and he groaned with frustration. “I’m sorry, but it is, and this conversation is over.” Her tone turned to ice. With a huff, she rolled in the opposite direction, her back to him.
He flopped over onto his back and blew out a heavy breath. Well, so much for confessing his feelings. Then again, what had he expected? That Carissa would admit she had feelings for him, too? That she’d break up with Danny on the spot and agree to be Bradley’s girlfriend?
He lay there in utter silence, his thoughts racing. Soon, Carissa’s breathing evened out, and he glanced over. She was sound asleep.
Chapter Twenty-One
Unbearable heat stifled Carissa, and she kicked off the blankets. Then she rolled onto her side. Her face smooshed against a wall of hard, hot flesh, and she eased back just enough to draw in a breath. The lingering scent of men’s cologne hung in the air around her.
She attempted to blink open her eyes, but her lids felt like they’d been tied shut with lead chains. Disoriented, groggy, and in that weird space between sleep and alertness, she stopped trying to fight to wake up. Getting up meant facing the world and all of her problems, and she wanted to avoid that as long as possible. Besides, she was in the middle of a fantastic dream about Bradley.
The central air kicked on, and a blast of cold air blew across her body. Now shivering, she blindly searched for the blankets and jerked them back up. She burrowed under the covers and sighed as her mind went blissfully blank.
She wiggled closer to the sexy man in her dreams, and he draped his arm across her side, pulling her tight against his body. His hard, warm, perfectly sculpted body that molded incredibly well to hers. Two halves of a whole.
Carissa flattened her palm on his chest and coursed her hand up to his well-defined pecs, then across his nipples, the buds hardening from her touch. His groan was low, almost inaudible, and so needy. Did he want this as badly as she did?
She ran her hand over his shoulder, down his muscular arm, and came to rest on his ribcage. Then, she leaned forward and puckered her lips to his chest. His flesh was smooth and heated and tasted better than anything she could’ve imagined. Firmly shoving against his stomach, she guided him over onto his back. Body half on him, half on the bed, she continued to tease him with fiery kisses.
“That feels so good.” His sleep-laden voice was heavy with desire and rumbled through her in the most delicious way.
He dragged his fingertips up and down her back, sending shivers through her body, but nothing could distract her from what she was doing. She’d waited too long for this moment, and she refused to let anything get in her way.
Bradley grazed his fingers along the nape of her neck, then gently gripped a handful of her hair. He brought her mouth to his, and she swung her leg over his waist, straddling him. Their lips collided in a scorching kiss that fried her every last nerve ending—and brain cell. She operated on pure instinct, her body in full control of her every move.
He wrapped his other arm around her back and held her to him, his tongue demanding and insistent, and she gave him everything he asked for. Her heart pounded, her ears rang, and her body throbbed with the need for more. More of his touch, his kisses, his body. She wanted all of him, and she didn’t care what she had to do to get it.
Carissa shifted her hips, grinding on his very impressive erection. Bradley jerked beneath her, driving himself harder against her most sensitive area. She moaned around his kiss, which only seemed to encourage him to kiss her harder, to demand more than she thought she had to give.
“Fuck,” he breathed out and nipped at her bottom lip. “Carissa, sweetheart.” His voice was thick and raspy and sinfully sexy, and his southern drawl was more pronounced than she’d ever heard before. “If you’re expecting me to stop things before they go too far, you’re going to be disappointed.”
Finally, her eyes popped open, and she peered down at Bradley. His gray-blue eyes were stormy, swirling with a sexual desire that was for her and her alone. Her legs were stretched wide across his waist, her thighs sore from the position, and her clit pulsed against his very hard and very real erection.
Yelping, she scrambled off him, scooted all the way to opposite side of the bed, and clutched the blankets to her chin, as if that would erase everything that just happened between them. What the hell had happened between them? Last thing she remembered was falling asleep.
“Well,” he said, easing up to a sitting position. “That great for the ego.” He rubbed a hand over his face.
“I’m so sorry.” She covered her face with the blanket, but nothing could shield her from the embarrassment currently tearing its way through her. “I don’t know what happened. I thought I was dreaming.”
Bradley laughed, then gently tugged the blanket away from her face. “You were having sex dreams about me?”
“Oh my God.” She groaned, a fresh wave of humiliation setting her cheeks ablaze.
“Don’t be embarrassed,” he said with that lazy one-shoulder shrug she found so undeniably sexy. “I was totally having sex dreams about you, too. I didn’t act mine out, though. Not that I’m complaining.”
“I hate you so much right now.” Laughing, she sank down onto the mattress and hid beneath the blankets.
“I mean, if you want to finish what you started… who am I to stop you from living out your ultimate fantasy.”
His tone was full of humor, but she knew he wasn’t really joking. If she told him she wanted to have sex, he’d be a very willing participant. No questions asked.
“Bradley?” she mumbled, refusing to show her face.
“Yes?”
“For the sake of what little humility I have left, will you please stop talking?”
He laughed again, the sound setting off a whole new host of emotions she didn’t want to explore. But she couldn’t shake the feel of him beneath her, of how hard he’d been. How big. She let out an involuntary groan.
A second later, the blanket lifted, and then Bradley was hiding under the covers with her. His handsome face was filled with sympathy. Despite his teasing, his expression told her that he knew he’d gone far enough, and now he was all seriousness.
“You said you were going to leave as soon as I fell asleep,” she said.
“I swear I was going to. I had every intention of sleeping on the couch, but I must’ve fallen asleep in here.” He tucked his hands beneath the side of his face and stared at her with the utmost sincerity. “Next thing I know, you’re climbing on to take a little ride.”
“Oh, my God!” she shrieked and smacked his chest. “This isn’t funny. I just sexually assaulted you in my sleep.”
But he laughed, long and hard. “C’mon, Carissa. Relax. We both know I wanted that as much as you did. Still do.”
Unable to stop herself, her gaze dropped to his crotch. Sure enough, the front of his sweats were tented, his cock still as hard as it had been moments ago. Her face heated, and she snapped her focus back up to his face—his smirking, knowing, sexy face that she wanted to kiss so badly right now.
“It’s still not funny,” she grumbled. But some of the tension was easing from her body, and she slowly began to relax her muscles.
“It’s a little funny.” He held his thumb and forefinger close together but not touching.
His eyes sparkled, the sight damn near convincing her to throw away all rational thought. To forget that she had a boyfriend at home. To forget that she and Bradley were only friends. To forgot whatever consequences she’d have to face if she gave in to her urges.
“Okay, maybe it’s a little funny,” she conceded. “But that doesn’t mean what I did was okay.”
“You’re right.” He nodded, his expression suddenly somber. “It wasn’t okay. It was fantastic. My God, Carissa.” He brushed the back of his hand along the side of her cheek. “I have never been so turned on in my life.”
She swallowed the lump in her throat. Her ability to speak packed up and left, and all she could do was stare into his gorgeous eyes. A girl could really get lost in those eyes. Hell, she was lost in his eyes. Drowning and gasping for air, for something solid to latch onto until she could regain her senses.
“I want you more than I have ever wanted anyone in my life.” He gave a short, self-deprecating laugh. “But I get why you don’t feel the same way about me.”
Carissa sighed. “That’s the problem, Bradley. I do feel that way about you. I mean. Hello. I was acting out my sex dream on you. What more proof do you need that I’m attracted to you?”
His smile was so damn cocky, and normally that might irritate her, but right now, everything he said and did only ratcheted her hunger for him—a hunger that was going to consume her if she didn’t do something about it soon.
Slowly, she eased the blankets from their heads, and she inhaled a deep lungful of cool air. “I don’t want to be like Danny,” she whispered. “He may be an asshole and a cheater, but I’m not. I want to be better than that.”
Bradley’s face softened with understanding. “You’re incredible, you know that?”
“No, I’m really not.”
“Sorry, but you don’t get to tell me how I’m allowed to feel about you.” He sat up, swung his legs over the side of the bed, then stood.
Carissa sat up, too, and watched as he stretched. His back rippled with the effort, and her gaze slowly lowered to the waistband of his sweatpants. Her mind wandered to the memory of what he was packing beneath that cotton material. She caught her bottom lip between her teeth and bit back a very ill-timed groan.
Danny was a cheater. He’d admitted to cheating once, and she had no doubts he’d done so a lot more times than she knew about. Hell, he’d had another girl in his room last night.
He constantly said mean things with the sole purpose of hurting her. He yelled and screamed and accused her of terrible things. He had no issues leaving her in dangerous situations. He hadn’t ever hit her, but she worried if things continued as they were that that’s exactly where they were headed.
She’d already cheated on Danny when she’d kissed Bradley. Cheating was cheating, right? Did it really matter how far she went? The line had been crossed, and there was no going back. And would anyone really blame her for giving in to Mr. Walking Temptation over there? She didn’t know a single woman capable of resisting someone as wonderful as Bradley. God knew she wasn’t strong enough; she had no idea how she’d lasted this long.
“Carissa?”
Her attention was drawn back to Bradley. He stood near the side of the bed, arms crossed over his bare chest. Her lips tingled with the remnants of his taste.
“I’m sorry. Did you say something?” she said, confused.
The corner of his mouth quirked up in a teasing smirk. “I asked if you were hungry.”
“Starving,” she said, and then forced herself to get out of bed.
“I’ll make some breakfast.” He turned to leave.
Carissa chased after him, grabbing hold of his hand just before he reached the door. “Wait.”
He stopped and turned toward her, brow raised.
