Status Update (17 page)

His question took her unaware. “Home.”

“Don’t go anywhere.”

The call disconnected. What the hell was that? Was he planning to come over?

Her heart started to race. Talking to him over the phone was a far cry from speaking to him in person. She went upstairs to the bathroom and studied her reflection. She looked like shit. She’d spent a good portion of the morning—hell, the last two weeks—crying. Her face was blotchy and her eyes were puffy.

She splashed cold water on her face, then spent the next few minutes trying to repair the damage while struggling to catch a deep breath. She was terrified she’d pushed him too far. What if he came over and told her he’d moved on, that he was happier without her in his life?

After running a comb through her hair and brushing her teeth, she went into her bedroom to change her clothes. She’d spilled salad dressing on her shirt at lunch and she really wanted to look her best when—or maybe if—Bryan showed up. She settled on her skinny jeans and simple cotton blouse. It was the same outfit she’d worn to Blue Moon the first time she’d seen Bryan again.

Laura was halfway down the stairs when she heard his knock.

She closed her eyes and offered a silent prayer that he would forgive her.

She opened the door and he was there. She wasn’t sure what gods had smiled down on her today, but she was grateful he was willing to give her a chance to apologize, to try to make things right. “Hi.”

“Hi yourself.” The words were lighter than the expression on his face. She had a lot to make up for.

Stepping aside, she gestured toward the living room. “Would you like to come in?”

He nodded and entered. Laura tried to push away the nerves tugging at her as she followed him. Rather than claim his usual spot on the couch, he opted for the chair near the TV.

“How have you been?” she asked, sitting on the couch.

“Fine. And you?”

Laura shrugged. “I’m okay.”

Silence fell. Laura struggled to break it. She’d practiced this apology over and over in her head all day, but now that Bryan was here, her words seemed wrong, clinical. Insincere.

“I don’t think you called me to make small talk, Laura.”

“I didn’t. I wanted to tell you I’m sorry.”

He nodded, considered her words. “Is that all?”

His distance and chilly demeanor tripped her up. Finally, she said, “No.”

“Why did you push me away?”

Laura shrugged, not sure she could put her reasons into words that would make sense. She’d been tied up in knots, questioning every decision she’d ever made. Eventually she’d concluded she was an utter failure at relationships. “I don’t know. Lately every step forward I take is immediately followed by someone shoving me three steps back.”

“Who’s shoving you?”

Laura didn’t want to admit the truth, but she had no choice. “I thought Mason and Katie and even you were, but it turns out I’m my own worst bully.”

“And you thought breaking things off with me would help you find your footing?”

She shook her head. “I never should have asked you to leave.”

Bryan stood up. “You’re right. You shouldn’t have.”

She expected him to walk out, to leave her again. She wouldn’t blame him if he did. So it surprised her when he grasped her hand, pulled her up and led her out of the living room. She tried to pull back when they started toward the stairs, but Bryan’s grip was relentless, strong, unbreakable.

“Where are we going?”

He didn’t reply. Just continued dragging her until they stood in her bedroom.

Bryan dropped her hand. “Time for some hard truths.”

Her chest constricted with fear…and arousal. Two minutes in his presence, even as nervous and confused as she was, didn’t dim her attraction to him. Her desire for him was as powerful as ever.

His face was serious, set in stone. She was used to his easy smiles, the laugh lines around his eyes, his infectious humor, so this man seemed like a stranger.

“What do you mean? What truths?”

Bryan stepped closer to her. Laura retreated before she could think better of her actions. Her withdrawal spurred him to action. Bryan pressed her against one of the posts on her footboard, his arms encircling her briefly. Then he reached up and began unbuttoning her blouse.

What was he doing? She couldn’t decide if he was angry or hurt or…just horny.

“Bryan?”

He shook his head, indicating that he wanted her to be quiet. Confusion stayed her tongue as he drew her blouse down her arms. He stopped just short of tugging the cotton completely away. Instead he enclosed her in his arms once more as he reached around her and used the shirt to tie her hands behind her, around the post.

God. More of his sensual bondage. She wasn’t sure she could stand it right now. She was emotionally overwrought and standing on shaky ground. She hated not knowing what he was thinking, what he was going to do.

At the same time, she’d never ask him to stop. She wanted to see where this would lead. Her nipples tightened when his gaze dropped lower, taking in her breasts. She had to bite her lower lip to stop from begging him to fuck her, to take her hard and fast. She’d missed this so much, it had become a physical ache that never left her.

Bryan lowered the straps on her bra, pulling them off her shoulders, then he toyed with the hooks in the back, releasing them.

Laura released a sigh of relief until he pushed the silky material underneath her breasts and used the hooks to tie her more securely to the post. Her back was pressed tightly to the wood, the constriction tight, immovable, as the bra pushed her breasts up.

“What are you doing?”

“Can you breathe?” His voice, his face, gave nothing away.

She nodded. “Yes, but it’s tight.”

“Is it painful?”

She shook her head. It didn’t hurt, but she’d never felt more trapped.

“Good.” He didn’t move to touch her breasts, to kiss her nipples and again, she was tempted to beg.

Bryan unfastened her jeans, tugging them down, then using his foot to kick the material off completely. Laura moaned and leaned her head back against the post when he lifted one of her legs to the mattress, leaving her wide open, his for the taking.

Please let him take me.

“Where’s your vibrator?”

She blushed at his question. She’d confessed to playing with the sex toy while fantasizing about him one night over dinner. Bryan had insisted she bring it out that night and show him exactly how she masturbated when he wasn’t there. The sex after her demonstration had been hot, rough, incredible.

“It’s in the nightstand.”

“Don’t move.”

She gave him a dirty look. Where the hell could she go? He had her trussed up as tight as a drum.

He stepped away to retrieve her sex toy as Laura tried to ignore the cool air on her sex. She was very, very wet. Something about Bryan’s commanding presence and the way he focused solely on her drove her wild.

He returned quickly. Once again, he didn’t fool with foreplay. Instead he went straight for the kill.

She sucked in a harsh breath as he pressed the vibrator inside her pussy, not stopping until it was fully lodged. Then he turned it on low, holding it in place.

Laura jerked as much as her bindings would allow as the toy teased her sensitive flesh. Sadly, it wasn’t large enough or on a high enough speed to do more than set her body on simmer.

She needed something harder, faster, larger. She needed Bryan.

He grasped her knee, lowering it from the bed.

“Please,” she whispered.

He narrowed his eyes, but didn’t acknowledge her plea.

Kneeling, he lifted her jeans and, using the legs of the denim, he tied her thighs together tightly. The new binding ensured the vibrator would remain in place, the damn thing revving her motor without putting her into drive.

“God. No,” she cried. “I need—”

“Quiet, Laura. Or I’ll gag you.” Bryan reached for the knot of his tie, undoing it, then slipping the silk from the collar. Returning to her, he placed it around her face, using it to blindfold her.

For the first time since Bryan began undressing her, Laura truly started fighting against the bondage. He let her test the bonds for several minutes, but her struggles were ineffective. Pointless.

The room fell silent except for her harsh inhalations. She was exhausted from her failed escape, worried about Bryan’s intentions and more turned on than she’d ever been in her life.

Once she gave up the fight, Bryan stepped close. “How do you feel?” His face was next to hers, his breath hot against her ear.

“Blind.”

He pressed a soft kiss on her cheek. “What else?”

She didn’t know what game he was playing, but she was at her wits’ end and in no mood to humor him. “Horny.”

He ran his hand along her side, stopping at her waist. It was a tender gesture that was in complete odds with her captivity. “Try again. Dig a little deeper.”

She released a sharp, annoyed sigh. “What do you want me to say, Bryan? I feel trapped, helpless, frustrated, pissed off.”

“Good.”

She leaned her head back against the post of the bed, her temper flaring. “What’s good about any of that?”

“Is that how you felt these past two weeks?”

His question caught her off-guard. It was exactly how she’d felt. She’d stopped living, tried to punish herself for every mistake she’d made, every person she’d ever hurt. The bottom had fallen out, leaving her clinging to the edge of an abyss, wondering why she should bother to hold on.

“I thought I’d failed my kids, my family, you. It seemed like everything I did just hurt everyone more and more.” The words fell out of her. Something about being blindfolded and unable to see Bryan’s expression freed her, allowed her to speak aloud all the words that had been jumbled up in her brain.

“Why did you call me?”

“I missed you. I need you in my life.”

“You were wrong to push me away.”

He’d said as much downstairs. His tone frightened her, convinced her she’d called too late. She’d lost him.

“Ask me for help, Laura.”

“What?”

He slipped the blindfold from her eyes. She blinked several times in her attempt to adjust to the dim lighting. Evening was giving way to night. The only light in the room was provided by the bedside lamp. When had he turned that on?

She studied his face, wishing there was something she could say to ease the sadness written there. “I don’t understand.”

“You don’t have to do all of this alone. There’s no defeat in asking someone for help.”

For years, she’d tried to shoulder the weight of her family’s happiness alone. She’d shielded her kids from Mason’s depression, pretended to the world that they were the picture-perfect family when inside, loneliness ate at her like a cancer. When she’d finally gotten the courage to leave, her lonesomeness had given way to guilt as she assumed responsibility for the failed marriage, Mason’s misery, Katie’s sadness. She was tired.

“Help me,” she whispered.

Bryan clasped her face in his hands and kissed her. It wasn’t a touch of possession or desire, it wasn’t fueled by lust or need. It was simply meant to comfort her. And it did.

“You don’t have to be alone, Laura.”

Finally, he was there, touching her, his hands offering her everything as he stroked her breasts, her stomach, her ass. She immediately missed the use of her own hands, but Bryan was in no hurry to free her from her bonds. Instead he stoked the flames higher.

He pressed warm, open-mouth kisses to her face, her neck. Bending forward, he sucked one of her nipples into his mouth, increasing the suction until she cried out. He had a unique ability to make every little hurt so damn good.

He cupped her breasts, squeezing the sensitive flesh. “I want to put my cock between your tits and fuck you.”

“Yes,” she whispered.

“I want to bury myself in your pussy, your ass.”

“Do it.”

He grasped her hips, pressed his covered erection against her, letting her feel exactly how much he needed her. “I want it all, Laura.”

“It’s yours.”

He stepped away, his gaze capturing hers. “I don’t mean just your body.”

She knew that. The answer was still the same. “Everything is yours.”

Her confession freed whatever unseen restraints still held him back. He untied her legs, then released her from the bondage of her bra and blouse, before removing the vibrator and tossing it aside.

Bryan pressed her onto the bed. He undressed quickly, then took exactly what she’d offered. He suckled her breasts, then rose over her until his cock hovered above her face.

She reached for it, pulling him inside her mouth. She licked his hard flesh, hungry for him. He thrust deep only a handful of times before withdrawing. She tightened her grip, tried to bring him back, but he shook off her hold.

Moving lower, he laid his cock in the valley between her breasts, then pulled them against his erection. Laura joined the game, holding her breasts around him as Bryan reached for the headboard. He moved slowly, his eyes closing in ecstasy as he fucked her breasts.