Bree's Journey Pt. 02

I plucked the washcloth hanging on a hook nearby. I figured it was probably hers, but at that point, I didn't even care. I got it wet in the sink and proceeded to wipe her forehead and cheek, pushing her damp hair off her face. I then lifted her head and flushed the toilet.

She was awake, but not really coherent. A couple of times, she groaned and tried to push me away, but I wouldn't let her. I was stubborn by nature, and even more so because I'd been drinking.

I kept re-wetting the cloth so that it remained cold. She liked that, as I knew that she would. Nothing feels better than cold on your face when you're in that state. I knew that. Hell, everyone knew that.

When all she seemed to want to do was sleep, I decided it was time to move her onto her bed.

"Come on, baby. Let's go to bed."

It took me several times of reawakening her to get her to her feet. Once she was there, I was able to open the door and hoist her into my arms for the short walk across the hall.

***

Bree

I woke up and then instantly regretted being alive. My brain was sizzling with a hangover, and I could swear that something had crawled into my mouth and died while I was sleeping.

Bits and pieces of the night began to flood my memory. When I got to the part where I was heaving in the toilet, I added nausea to my current list of ailments. I wanted to retch just thinking about what a fool I'd probably made of myself in front of my brother's friends. And, oh gawd, Kieran.

Why did I have to make such an ass of myself in front of him?

I sat up and glanced around my empty bedroom. My sodden clothes were strewn over the floor but I couldn't remember even taking them off. I vaguely recalled Kieran helping me to the bedroom, but that was about it. Nothing after that. No idea how I got down to my underwear.

Laying back down, I draped my arm over my face and groaned. I've made such a mess of everything with Kieran. He's surely not going to want to see me after this. What a juvenile thing to do. I'm such an idiot.

I heard my door creak open but I didn't remove my arm to see who it was. I didn't want to know. Didn't want to face anyone after my embarrassing night. The bed sunk next to me and I knew I couldn't hide any longer. I removed my arm and blinked up into Kieran's bright, hazel eyes. He had this pitiful look on his face.

"How are you feeling?"

"Humiliated," I croaked.

"Humiliated? Why? You didn't do anything that any one of us hasn't done a dozen times."

I wasn't buying it and he could tell.

"It isn't a good party unless someone pukes. Didn't you know that?"

I groaned and rolled onto my side to give him more room to sit. In the process, I pulled the sheet against my bare chest so as not to flash him. That was one part of my conversation with Kieran the night before that I clearly remembered.

I wasn't ordinarily so uncomfortable with my body, but with Kieran, I couldn't help it. He was so gorgeous. And I was sure the women he'd dated in the past were probably knock-outs, as well. I wasn't so sure he was going to like me without clothes on.

"Glad I could be of service, although I feel more like I need to apologize to Daniel and Bryan for making a fool of myself."

"You didn't make a fool of yourself. I don't think anyone noticed. And you were so neat about it, there wasn't anything to clean up."

"How could they not notice that I'd gotten sick?"

Kieran shrugged. "You weren't in there for very long."

"What did they say?"

"I don't know. I came in here with you to make sure that you didn't get sick again."

"You slept here?"

Kieran nodded and grinned. "Not how I imagined the night ending, but at least I got into your bed."

"God, I'm so sorry. I'm such a mess."

"Stop. It's okay. I'd drank too much, myself. Sex would've been ... well, not as great as I would've wanted, anyway."

"Are Daniel and Bryan up?"

"They're long gone. It's just us."

This wasn't what I had in mind when I imagined Kieran and I being alone in the house. I'd had visions of endless, mind-blowing sex. But that was the last thing on my mind at the moment. I let my eyes rake over his bare chest and sculpted abs. He was wearing nothing but jeans. Okay, maybe sex wasn't the very last thing on my mind.

"You hungry at all?"

When he said that, my stomach woke up and growled. "Yeah."

"Let me fix you a nice, greasy breakfast. That should fix you up."

I nodded and smiled as he stood up. My eyes dropped to the bulge in his jeans and then shot back up to his. As much as I wanted to have sex with him, I didn't think my fried brain and iffy stomach could handle it. "Kieran..."

He held up his hand to stop me from talking. "We're not going to do anything until both of us feel better."

"But..." I eyed his erection and looked back at his face.

"Yeah. That happens a lot around you. Doesn't mean we have to do anything about it. I'm going to start cooking. You can join me if you're feeling up to it. If not, then it's breakfast in bed.

"But I have to warn you...if you're still half naked and in bed after we're done eating, all bets are off." He walked to the doorway of the bedroom and then turned to add one more quip. "A guy can only take so much."

Kieran turned on his heel to saunter off to the kitchen, his sublime jean-clad ass swaying with each step. He really was the most perfect specimen of a man. I didn't deserve him one bit.

As tempting as it was to stay in bed so he'd take me right after breakfast, I didn't want to have dragon breath. I needed to brush my teeth and get cleaned up. I didn't believe him when he said I'd been tidy the night before.

I scrambled up and quickly slid my oversized pajama tee over my head. He'd already seen me in it, so there was nothing too provocative about wearing it. I would've added a pair of jeans if I'd had any clean ones left to wear. I needed to wash some clothes.

Scampering to the bathroom, I spied Kieran laying out strips of bacon in a skillet. My gut somersaulted at the sight. I was absolutely famished.

About halfway through applying a minimal amount of makeup, the smell of bacon reached my nose. I also realized that the song that I thought was just playing in my head was actually coming from speakers in the living room.

Kieran listens to Led Zeppelin? I chuckled at myself. You didn't really think he listened to disco music, did you?

My nose and grumbling tummy led me to the kitchen in time to catch Kieran pouring an egg mixture into the skillet. The bacon strips were neatly spread out on a nearby paper towel.

"You look like you know what you're doing."

Kieran grinned as he peered at me over his shoulder. "You look better."

"I feel better. Almost human, even."

"You'll feel a lot better after you eat."

Kieran set the spatula down and approached me with a piece of bacon in his hand. I reached up to grab it, but he pushed my hand away so he could feed it to me. The rich smoky aroma filled my nostrils as the sweet and salty maple flavor infused my tongue. I closed my eyes to savor the whole bacon experience.

I felt his hand steady my face as I was chewing, and a moment later, his tongue swiped over my lower lip briefly before kissing me.

The kiss was over before I even realized what was happening. All too soon, he was back to attending to the eggs. The ones he was making for us, so I could recover from my idiotic night of drinking.

I turned toward the pot of coffee and fetched myself a mug. "You want a cup?"

"I've got one." Kieran pointed over at the coffee table.

"How long have you been up?"

"About an hour. I got up to see if the guys had left."

"What time is it, anyway?"

"Eleven, eleven fifteen. Somewhere in there."

"Shit. I slept a long time."

"Yeah. Me, too. I don't usually sleep that well with other people. You didn't move much."

"Did I snore?"

"A little."

"God, how embarrassing."

"It wasn't much. You didn't peel the paint or anything. I actually found it soothing. As long as I could hear you, I wasn't worried that you'd stopped breathing."

I groaned. "I hate that you had to take care of me like that."

"I liked it. You know nothing about men if you don't understand that."

"Understand what? Surely you don't get some cheap thrill from babysitting drunk girls."

"Not particularly. I do, however, enjoy it when a woman lets me take care of her. Watch over her in bed. Cook her breakfast when she's not feeling well. So many women are hung up on being independent. Doing everything for themselves. It's sort of emasculating. I like to know that I'm needed."

I didn't know what to say to that. No man had ever taken care of me before. Was that because they hadn't wanted to, or because I hadn't let them? I'd always tried to be independent and never rely on anyone for anything. Was that just another way of pushing men away? Letting them know that I didn't really need them in my life?

I certainly never let Miles take care of me. Then again, he could hardly take care of himself. He had Nancy there to do that. She cooked meals for him and fixed his drinks. She cleaned his house and did his laundry. She even tucked him into bed when he was too inebriated to do it himself.

I shuddered as I thought about what kind of life that would be like. To constantly be the caretaker of a womanizing drunk.

"You shouldn't beat yourself up over last night. It really was nothing."

I realized that Kieran had interpreted my shudder as a self-deprecating gesture. I was still berating myself over getting that drunk, mostly because I knew better, but that wasn't why I'd shuddered. "I'm just thinking about what you said and wondering how many times I've pushed guys away with my independence."

Kieran gave me a sideways glance before scooping the eggs out onto two plates. I stepped forward to help him and decided to change the subject. It was too early for a heavy conversation. Or, too soon after waking up, anyway.

"Thanks for making breakfast."

"No problem. I'm starving, too. And a little more hungover than I look, probably."

We ate breakfast, or rather, we scarfed it down in record time. I shoveled eggs in my mouth as if I was a starving person. It was only after my plate was empty that I lifted my face to guiltily eye Kieran. "Sorry."

"Sorry for what? I'm glad you liked it."

"You must think I'm such a pig."

"Nope. Just a hungry person like me." He showed me his empty plate as he sat back and took a drink of coffee.

He made it so easy to drop the pretense. I didn't have to pretend to be the dainty female that I wasn't.

I sat back in my chair and sipped at the mug of much needed caffeine in front of me. We'd not engaged in conversation since we started eating but somehow it didn't feel the least bit awkward. We'd spent enough time together to be comfortable just existing in each other's presence. Or maybe it'd been like that with us from the start. Either way, it just felt cozy. Like home.

I enjoyed my coffee for a few more minutes before rising with my empty plate in hand. I reached over for Kieran's plate.

"You don't have to do that. I can get it."

"I want to do it." I briefly wondered if I was doing it again - flexing my independence. "You cooked and everything. It's my turn."

Kieran let me take the plates to the sink for a quick rinse before stacking them in the dishwasher. He got up and headed toward the bedroom, or the bathroom, I wasn't sure which one. A moment later, I spied him out of the corner of my eye. He was moving toward the side door, but I didn't look up from scrubbing the skillet to see what he was doing.

I dried the skillet and wiped down the countertops. Kieran was changing the music to Pink Floyd as I was heading to the bedroom. A moment later, I emerged from the bedroom and approached him.

"What happened to the clothes that were on the floor in the bedroom?"

"They're in the wash."

"And the ones piled next to the suitcase?"

"Those, too."

"Those are the only jeans I brought. I have nothing to wear."

Kieran grinned too broadly to be interpreted as anything other than devious.

"You planned this, didn't you?"

Kieran laughed. "Not exactly. I wish I was that good. I just thought you might like some clean clothes. They'll be done in about 40 minutes. I need to go to my place to get some clean clothes, myself."

I pushed aside my errant feelings about his thoughtfulness in favor of a more pressing issue. I desperately wanted to take a shower. Now that I was feeling stable, I wanted to get cleaned up. But I felt a little awkward just announcing it. I'd taken a shower with him in the house before, but things were different then. There was no sexual tension between us, no threat of Kieran joining me. It was a real dilemma for me because I really, really wanted to start something with Kieran but I didn't want our first time to be in the shower. Shower sex was for couples who'd already done it a few times. It wasn't the kind of thing you did your first time out.

Kieran studied me as I stood there fidgeting, and then smiled and moved past me to the bedroom. A moment later, he emerged with his shirt on and keys in hand.

Leaning over, he pecked me on the lips. "I'll be back shortly."

I poked my bottom lip out in disappointment. Even though I knew it was the best thing, I didn't want him to leave.

Kieran frowned at my childish expression. "I'll pack some things so I won't have to do this again. And I'll hurry. I promise."

It was silly for him to have to pacify me like that. I'd never been so needy in my life, I was sure of it.

He was out the door before I could try and cover up my clinginess.

Great. Now he's going to think I'm this pathetic girl who can't breathe without a man around. Blek!

***

Kieran

Once again, I found myself fleeing Daniel's house. If I had to look at that pouty lip of hers one more second, I was going to bust the seam in my jeans.

Fuck, she was adorable when she allowed herself to be vulnerable. I doubted she had much experience with that. She was nothing at all like the girls I usually dated. In general, I had a tendency to pick the pampered ones who expected to be treated well. They weren't really helpless, but they pretended to be.

Bree was strong and independent, and completely uncomfortable with being seen as the least bit weak. I wanted to do things for her. Surprise her with nice gestures. It was so much easier to do things like that for someone who truly wasn't expecting it.

I adjusted my jeans as I stepped out of my car in front of my apartment building. My dick hadn't gone soft since I woke up. It'd been hell being the gentleman in bed. I'd wanted to fuck the ever-loving shit out of her. Instead, I kept my hands to myself, and got up out of bed before she woke up and I couldn't help myself.

Now I wasn't sure my cock would go down even after I came. It wouldn't be enough.

I dashed to the bathroom and started the water, then shed my clothes as I brushed my teeth. Two minutes later, I was standing under the warm jets of the shower, stroking my swollen cock as I imagined sinking into Bree's hot, silky cunt. I didn't last long.

About thirty seconds later, my balls roiled and constricted, projecting cum through my shaft like a bullet through a gun. "Fuck, fuck, fuuuuuck!" I felt the tingling from the top of my scalp, all the way to my toes. Pulse after pulse of cum splattering the shower tiles until I saw stars. I had to lean on the wall to keep from toppling over.

Fuck, that girl is going to be the death of me, I swear.

I wasn't sure I could survive much more abstinence. I'd been fantasizing about fucking her for too long. I'd moved beyond wanting her, to absolutely needing to be inside her.

When the blood finally rushed back to my head, I righted myself and splashed water on the tile to wash away the cum splatter. It was a damn waste. There were other places I'd rather deposit my load, but until the time was right, I'd have to settle for this.

Fifteen minutes later, I was dressed and had thrown a few things in a backpack. My hair was still damp, but the Texas sun was shining, promising unseasonably warm temperatures. Anyway, it was more important that I got back to Bree.

When I arrived back at the house, Bree was drying her hair. I checked on her clothes. She'd moved them to the dryer, but they weren't done, yet. Which means she's not fully dressed.

I argued with myself for a few seconds before I made up my mind. The gentlemanly thing to do would be to wait until she came out. I couldn't do that with Bree. We'd both been dancing around having sex for two days now. I wanted it. She wanted it. There was no reason to wait another minute.

I waltzed into the master bathroom to spy Bree wearing nothing more than a towel. I'd expected her to have put her tee shirt and underwear on, so it was a bit of a surprise. When she saw me in the mirror, she spun and turned off the hair dryer.

"You're back already."

I nodded as I approached. "I told you I would hurry back." I didn't stop until I was standing entirely too close for comfort.

Bree craned her neck to look up at me. She blinked several times and gripped the top of the towel. "I ... I wasn't expecting you this soon."

She was nervous. Delightfully nervous. For some reason, that made my cock twitch, even though I was nervous, too. I was finally going to fuck this girl that'd taken over my fantasies. A mixture of excitement and sheer anxiety overtook me. There was so much at stake. What if the sex sucked? What would we do then?

I tried to put all those impossible questions out of my mind as I peered down at her. Regardless of my insecurities, I was going to have sex with Bree. It was happening.

I leaned down and pressed my lips to hers. My hand snaked around her neck to hold her face still as I tilted mine to deepen the kiss. Her lips were soft, warm, and trembling against mine. So feminine, so supple and yielding. I wanted to devour them. Bite them until they were hot and plump.

Slow, the fuck, down. Take it easy.

I slipped my tongue between her lips to explore her mouth. Her tongue came alive, dancing with mine in a perfectly orchestrated dance. She was a fantastic kisser. Not too bold or forceful, but not too passive, either. Just perfect.

The impatient asshole side of me wanted to strip off her towel and bend her over the counter. But I knew I'd regret it later when she made up some excuse about why she needed to head back to Dallas early. It wasn't the way girls wanted to have sex. They wanted to be made love to, at least the first time. Rough sex was only acceptable after a night of drinking, or maybe, just maybe, a long separation. Then it could be rationalized as something other than a total lack of control.

I broke our kiss to lead her to her bedroom. I was going to do this right. Even if it killed me.

I immediately locked her in another kiss when we were standing next to her bed. I didn't want to lose momentum. As we were making out, I toed off my shoes and guided her backward until we were falling onto the mattress. In the process of adjusting our position, her towel unwrapped itself and I got the first real glimpse of her body.

Fuck, she was even more perfect than in my fantasies. I couldn't help myself. I had to stare.

I noticed her squirming and reaching for the towel. I was confused for a second and then realized that I hadn't said a word. She'd warned me that she was somewhat self-conscious about her body, though she had absolutely no reason to be.

I stilled her hand. "Don't. I just want to look at you for a second."

She lifted her hand to cover her face and I pulled it away so I could look in her eyes. I had to make her understand.