Chapter 23

Brian held her hair back as she vomited into the toilet. If she didn’t feel so horrific, she would be embarrassed. Champagne, juice, and chocolate were the absolute worst combination to overindulge in.

She spat the awful taste from her mouth and accepted the cool washcloth from Brian, wiping her mouth with it and holding it to her flushed cheeks.

“Can you take me home now?” she asked, not brave enough to look at him.

“Are you going to be sick again?” he asked.

“I don’t know,” she replied grumpily.

“Well, you’re not going anywhere near my Shelby unless you’re sure. Vomit is the absolute worst thing to clean up in a car.”

She leaned back against the wall and closed her eyes. Brian slid down the wall next to her and handed her a glass of water. She sipped cautiously, not sure if her poor, nauseated stomach could take it.

“I’m sorry,” she mumbled.

He must be so embarrassed by her. She had made a fool of herself in front of his family. No wonder Nathan didn’t want to marry her.

“It’s okay,” he said with a chuckle, “you were quite entertaining. I only wish I’d been in the room to hear what you and the bridesmaids were talking about. Whatever it was must have been juicy.”

“Two and Three wanted to know how big your dick is,” she said, past embarrassment now.

“Two and Three?”

“God, I can never remember their names. The two bridesmaids.”

“Ah,” he nodded understandingly. “But surely that can’t have been what pissed Ainsley off.”

She snorted. “Nope,” she said, “I asked if she and Nathan had slept together yet. They haven’t, by the way, so I asked her if she’d seen his cock and I may have intimated that he wasn’t attracted to her.”

“Fuck, Cassie,” he said, but she could tell he was smiling. “Did you tell her about last night?”

She shook her head and then moaned from the pain. “No,” she said.

“Why not?” he asked. “It would break them up in a hurry.”

“If we’re going to be together I want it to be because he chose me, not because all his other options were taken away.”

He was quiet beside her and not the companionable quiet that they had shared in the past.

“Let’s go,” Brian said abruptly, getting to his feet and holding out his hand.

She took it and let him pull her to her feet. Her head spun and her stomach flipped, but she didn’t feel like throwing up. She shuffled out of the powder room behind him, dreading facing the rest of the family. Luckily it was only his mother waiting for them.

“I’ll take her home now,” Brian said, his voice devoid of warmth.

“Is she okay?” Maree asked softly and Cassie coloured with embarrassment.

“She’ll be fine,” Brian said with a long-suffering sigh. “She just needs a long nap and lots of fluids.”

Cassie kept her head down and let Brian guide her out of the house and into his car. She settled into the leather seat, fastened her seatbelt, and rested her head against the headrest, closing her eyes. Brian didn’t say anything as he slipped into the driver’s seat and started the car. What a mess.

They drove back to the hotel in silence and he parked in the cool underground garage. She unhooked her seatbelt and got out of the car slowly.

“I’ll just go back to my room,” she said as they headed for the elevators.

“No,” Brian said, “I already checked you out.”

“Are you sure?” she asked. “I don’t want to be a burden.”

They stepped inside the elevator and Brian pulled her to him, wrapping his strong arms around her.

“God, Cassie, you’re not a burden. Nathan hurt you, you got drunk and said some shit. Big deal. They’ll all get over it and if they don’t, fuck ’em.”

Cassie couldn’t help drawing comparisons between Brian and Nathan. Nathan would’ve been furious with her after her behavior today. In fact, he probably was. But Brian just took it in his stride. He may have been pissed at her earlier, but he was still prepared to look after her and make sure she was okay. Why was he pissed at her earlier?

“Why did you get cranky before?” she asked. “Did I say something?”

He exhaled harshly and squeezed her tighter. “I just…God…I don’t understand why you are determined to be with Nathan. He’s an asshole and he’s treating you like garbage. You should just come clean to Ainsley and let the chips fall where they may.”

He tipped her face up to his, his finger under her chin, and looked down into her eyes. His green gaze seemed to see right through her.

“Who says I still want him?” she asked softly and his eyes heated.

He dropped his head so that their foreheads touched and their noses rubbed. “Cassie,” he whispered before taking a deep breath, “don’t say that if you don’t mean it.”

She lifted a hand and cupped his jaw feeling the tickling bristles of his beard on her palm. Here was a man who would treasure her, would do anything for her. He wouldn’t marry someone else and expect her to be his mistress on the side. He wouldn’t ask her to be a bridesmaid in his wedding to someone else. Brian was strong and sexy and her body craved him. Her head urged her to take the plunge, to walk away from Nathan once and for all, and to take a chance on Brian. It was only her heart that had reservations.

The elevator came to a stop and the doors slid open with a ding. Brian pulled away from her regretfully and threaded his fingers through hers. They walked towards the penthouse suite slowly as Cassie made her decision.

“I want you Brian,” she whispered as he unlocked the door. “Take me to bed.”

Brian dragged Cassie through the penthouse door and pressed her up against the wall, leaning his body along hers, caging her in, dipping his head close to her ear.

“I’m warning you, Blue,” he whispered huskily in her ear. “Don’t say things like that if you don’t mean it.”

Her eyes were open and clear, their chocolate brown depths dark with desire. Her lips were parted slightly and glistened where she’d run her tongue along them. The pale skin of her cheeks was rosy and the pulse at the base of her neck fluttered rapidly.

She licked her lips again, her pink tongue darting out to slick along the plump, dusky skin and his erection swelled, the blood draining from his brain and making his rational thoughts fade in the presence of full-blown lust.

“I mean it,” Cassie replied, her voice breathy.

“I don’t share, Blue,” he said, wanting her to know that if they went to bed now, there was no going back. “If we do this, it’s not casual sex, it’s not a one-night stand. If we do this, there is no Nathan.”

She stared up at him, her chest rising and falling in pants and she wet her lips again. He followed the path of her tongue with his eyes, wanting to capture it between his lips and suck it into his mouth, but not willing to give in to his desires until he knew that Cassie understood his stance.

“I don’t want Nathan,” she said, reaching up and gripping his shirt with her hands, dragging him closer to her. “I want you.”

He crashed his lips down on hers and let the last of his rational thoughts flee. He plundered her mouth, sucking, licking, nipping at her lips and tongue, losing himself in the feel of her. He heard her moan into his mouth and he swallowed the sound, greedy for more.

Cassie found the buttons of his shirt and tore at them, exposing his chest to her small hands. Her nails dug into his flesh, the sharp pain sending ribbons of pleasure through him. His hands groped her ass, molding the tight denim and flesh into his hands as he lifted her against his body. She opened her thighs and wrapped her legs around his hips as he pressed her into the wall and ground his hardness into her soft core. The contact made them both groan with need.

“Bed,” she whispered.

“Naked,” he replied as he stood up, taking her with him and carrying her towards the bedroom.

Cassie gripped his shoulders and burrowed her head into the crook of his neck. She bit the muscle that joined neck and shoulder and he shivered in pleasure. She laved it with her tongue to soothe it and then sucked on the skin.

She was wrapped around him like a spider monkey, her grip strong as she held onto him. He peeled her off him and tossed her on the king-sized bed. She looked up at him with hungry eyes, her rose gold hair fanned out on the white comforter, her eyes dark with passion and her lips swollen from his kisses.