He nuzzled her through the aftermath, loving her as sweetly as he’d kissed her mouth. She rocked her hips and sighed, the rumble of her pleasure vibrating through her body and straight into his.
“Thank you,” she whispered as he gathered her in his arms. “I know I’ll sleep now.”
Before he could comment, she was snoring against his shoulder.
Chapter 3
Sara had never been a fan of awkward middle-of-the-night-afters. Especially when she awakened due to an unladylike coughing fit that ended with her new lover stroking her back.
“Easy. Let me get you some juice,” Brad murmured, slipping out of her bed before she could ask him why he hadn’t gone back to his.
The moment he left, she flung herself into her pillows. What the hell had she been thinking, demanding he go down on her? It had felt really good, granted, but so did getting rip-roaring drunk. The hangover was the problem.
By the time he returned, she’d composed herself. She thanked him for the juice and sipped it gratefully. The sweet liquid cooled her raw throat. At least it was still dark so she didn’t have to see his face.
Just when she thought she might escape with a shred of dignity intact, he turned on the bedside lamp and pried the glass out of her clammy hand. He tossed back the rest of her drink and set it aside, wiping his mouth in a way that should’ve reminded her of a little kid but instead made her swallow hard. The ripple of his throat shouldn’t have reignited the heat in her belly, but dear God, it so did.
“You really want to get sick too, don’t you?” she mumbled, rubbing her eyes in an effort not to meet his gaze. She could feel him staring at her and didn’t want to imagine how she must look. Who looked good while they were sniffling and hacking?
“Not worried.” He brushed her hair away from her face, his touch unbearably gentle. “You’re burning up.”
That explained why her clothes practically chafed her skin. She huffed out a breath and closed her eyes. “I’ll sleep it off.”
“How long’s it been since you took your medicine?”
“Dunno.” She curled up around her pillow, already drifting. But she woke in a hurry when a cold washcloth skimmed he
r forehead an instant before an icy stream of water trickled into her hair. “Dammit, Brad.”
“You need to cool off.” He nudged her up and sat behind her, cradling her body in his strong arms. He wiped her face, eventually reaching the back of her neck. She couldn’t deny it felt good, so she didn’t stop him.
She frowned, realizing the room was strangely silent. “Where’s Telly?” she asked, noticing his cage was gone.
“Downstairs. Didn’t want you to give him the avian flu.”
“I don’t have the avian flu, you ass.” But she giggle-coughed just the same.
He unlaced the top of her nightgown and smoothed the compress over her breasts. “See, you’re cooling right off,” he said against her ear, rubbing the wet washcloth over her shoulders.
Despite her near-slumber and general rundown state, her nipples perked up the minute his competent hands roused them. Since he still hadn’t covered her again, she figured they were probably standing sky high, but she was too tired to check. Everything below her forehead that didn’t ache felt numb.
“If you’re trying to take advantage of me, you’d probably get more resistance from a corpse.” She smiled as he tugged her earlobe. “So do what you must.”
“Oh yeah.” His irritated tone elicited a grin. “Watching your chin slump into your chest from exhaustion gives me a huge boner, let me tell you.”
It hurt her sore ribs to laugh, but she did it anyway. Her reward was yet another coughing fit. “I’m not used to having someone take care of me.”
“So? What’s the verdict?”
Already heading toward sleep again, she snuggled into his embrace. “I think I kind of like it.”
When Sara woke, he was gone. It didn’t really surprise her. What guy wanted to hang around the sick bed of a woman he had the hots for? At least he had before she’d been attacked by the super virus from hell.
She sat up and winced at the new pains that presented themselves. Her chest hurt, her back hurt, and her nose twitched with the near-constant need to sneeze. Charming. Good thing she had a nearly full bottle of cough syrup and a ton of movies to watch on Netflix because she so wasn’t going to work today.
How had she gotten sick so fast? In the last two years, she hadn’t had so much as a fever. Now all of a sudden she’d been laid flat by the mother of all bugs.
Yawning, she inched across the bed and grabbed her phone. After placing a quick call to the bird sanctuary, she sank into her pillows and stared at the ceiling with blurry eyes. Her oversized nightgown clung to her, and she desperately needed a shower. She glanced down at her attire and winced. God, had Brad really seen her in this?