Chapter 21

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 was 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 forget 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.

“Are we going to be okay?” she asked, dropping her hold on his hand. “I mean. I hope that we can forget about all that awkwardness this morning and still be friends.”

Something in his expression shifted, and she held her breath.

“No,” he said, shaking his head. “Sorry, Carissa, but I can’t forget what happened this morning. I don’t want to.” He closed the little distance that was between them. “And I really don’t want to be your friend.”

Her heart stopped, and she stared up at him with hurt and disbelief. He knew she had a boyfriend. Just like she knew she had nothing but friendship to offer him. Why wouldn’t he want that from her? Wasn’t something better than nothing?

Bradley reached for her, taking hold of her waist and flexing his fingers. His touch was hesitant, but his actions were self-assured. The heat from his body wrapped around her, and she leaned into him. Her hands trembled as she tenderly rested them on his chest and trailed them down his stomach, her gaze following the path of her fingers.

“I won’t tell anyone what happened, but I’m not going to pretend it didn’t happen,” he said. “I don’t want to be your friend. Hell, I don’t want to be just your boyfriend, either. I want to be your everything, Carissa. I want to be the man you can count on one-hundred percent of the time. The man who will always be right there for you, no matter what, who will never yell at you or hurt you or take you for granted.”

Her gaze lifted to his, and she blinked back tears.

“I am that man. You just don’t know it yet,” he said.

He was wrong. She did know that. She just couldn’t accept that any guy was that perfect, least of all a guy who was interested in her. She didn’t deserve that kind of devotion and unconditional love.

Bradley dropped a kiss to her forehead. “I’m going to make some breakfast. Feel free to come out whenever you’re ready.” Then he left without another word.

Carissa’s entire body slumped—with too much emotion or lack of his touch, she had no idea. But she did know that she couldn’t keep doing this. She had to either let Bradley go for good and recommit herself to making things work with Danny, or she needed to cut her losses with Danny and give Bradley a fair chance.