ChapterEleven
Parker
“I promise you this isn’t what you think.” The whispered words break through the fog, and I wonder if that is Samuel. I must be dreaming because why else would he be here? I roll over and wince at the sharp pain shooting through my face. “Okay, maybe it is what you think, but I swear—” My eyes fly open because that is Samuel and he’s whispering.
My eyes lock with his, and I see he has his phone pressed to his ear. Whatever he was about to say, he stops and stares at me.
“Let me call you back,” he says before hanging up. “How are you feeling?” He rushes over to the bed. A bed that is clearly not mine. The night before starts to come flooding back to me, and I realize he’d been there. He came out of nowhere when I needed him most.
I reach up to touch my forehead where that sharp pain is coming from, and I flinch. The phone in Samuel’s hand starts to ring, but he ignores it as he picks up a bottle of pills and hands me one. I take it, chasing it down with a large glass of water, then hand it back to him.
“Thanks,” I manage to say around my voice cracking. The phone starts to ring again, and I glance at it. “Who’s calling you?” I glare at him because whoever it is is persistent. And he felt he needed to whisper when they talked.
“Is my fiancée getting jealous?” he teases me as the phone starts to go off again. I don’t know what comes over me ‘cause I snatch it from his hand and answer it.
“What?” I snip into the phone.
“Not a morning person,” Samuel chuckles at me, and I narrow my eyes at him.
“Parker!” Lexi shouts through the phone, and I pull it back and realize it’s actually mine.
“Sorry,” I say to both of them at the same time. I’m actually not sure who I’m apologizing to, but they both deserve it.
“Don’t be. You look like an adorably angry kitten when you’re mad. I rather enjoy it.”
“Sorry? You’re sorry?! You’re lucky I got out of the hospital that you’d been there. I thought you were dead or kidnapped into human trafficking!” Lexi shouts through the phone loud enough that Samuel can hear her too.
“Oh gosh, I’m sorry, Lex. After they let me go from the hospital, I was out. I don't even remember much of the ride home actually.” Samuel must have carried me into his place.
“How do I know you’re not being held hostage and someone is making you say these things?” I pull the phone back and switch it over to FaceTime. I cringe when I get a look at myself. The area around my cut is already black and blue, and my hair is a wild-ass mess. Adorable kitten? More like a stray alley cat.
“Oh shit,” Lexi says when she sees me. “See, kidnapped.” She peeks around. “In a really nice place.” I glance around the room. It is really nice. Sparse, but the furniture and things he does have look very expensive.
“The hospital said you left with your fiancé.”
“My boss from Finance & Legal BNC.” I start to turn the phone to show her Samuel but stop when I realize he’s only in a pair of gray sweatpants that hang low on his hips. My fingers itch to reach out and run them down the trail of hair that leads south. I watch his cock actually start to harden under my perusal of him, and my mouth opens.
“Hello? Were you about to show me the person in question so I know he’s not some psycho with a weapon on you?” She’s being a nut, but this is part of why I love her.
“After he puts a shirt on.” Samuel’s lips twitch.
“Puts a shirt on?” Lexi repeats as he actually goes to do as I requested.
“He’s only in his sweatpants.”
“So?” She shakes her head at me before her eyes widen. “You don’t want me to see his chest?! Oh my god, you’re crushing on your boss.”
“Lexi! What if that was a secret and you blurted it out?”
“Shit, right.” She leans in closer to the phone to whisper. “Is it a secret?”
“No,” Samuel answers as he drops down on the bed next to me with a shirt on.
“Well, hello there.” Lexi smiles. “I’ve been wondering what Parker’s type is. I was thinking a priest since she’s a nun for the most part, but—”
“Lexi!” I groan, cutting her off.
“What? Just saying you don’t need that—”
“I’m about to no longer be your best friend,” I hiss. Samuel chuckles from beside me. Damn, even his laugh is sexy.
“I already know about the dildo, but I’m sure we can find use for it,” Samuel says as he leans over and kisses me on my neck. Heat blooms through my face and all kinds of other places too.
“Why are you both doing this to me?” I groan.
“Well, if you don’t want him to hear everything you’re about to spill to me, you better kick him out of the room or go hide in the bathroom because we’re not getting off this phone until I’m filled in.” All the teasing has now left her tone, and she’s not messing around anymore. I don’t blame her because I’d be the same way.
“I’ll make you breakfast.” Samuel places another kiss on my neck before he grips my chin with his forefinger and thumb to turn my head toward him to kiss my mouth this time. He starts to deepen it, but Lexi giggles, reminding us she’s watching. “Keep an eye on her for me,” he says to Lexi before he slips off the bed and out of the room.
“Start from the top,” she orders, and I go all the way back to the night he showed up at our dorm and don’t stop until we make it to us leaving the hospital.
“Holy shit,” she whispers when I’m done, and I drag myself into the bathroom. I didn’t give her every detail of what Samuel and I had been up to, but I made it pretty clear. “So your father is a bigger asshole than I thought, and you’re really into this man.”
I don’t even want to touch the topic of my father right now, so I dodge it. I’m not ready for that.
“I really like him,” I admit around a toothbrush Samuel left lying out for me. Who am I kidding? After him showing up at the accident when I needed him most and the things he said, I might be in love with him.
“Did he just have that extra toothbrush on hand?” I pull it out of my mouth and look at it. Who has extra toothbrushes lying around?
“Yeah.” I drop it down and rinse my mouth out.
“Hmm,” she says, and we both know we’re thinking the same thing. What other women have been here?
“He said this wasn’t normal.” I tell her all the sweet things he’d said to me.
“Making you write instead of work on other shit says a lot too. I just want you to be careful.”
“I need to tell him I’m a virgin.” I don’t think he assumes I hop from bed to bed, but with him I’ve been moving fast, and I also talked a big game that first night when I said women should take care of their needs. As they should, but I’m sure he might think I’ve at least had sex before.
“Be straight with him. It sounds like he’s really into you. Ask him what you want to know. Also, make sure his ho days are behind him.”
“Lexi,” I pout, not wanting to think about him with anyone.
“Go eat your breakfast and rest. I love you.”
“I love you too,” I say before ending the call. When I glance into the mirror, I see Samuel standing in the doorway of the bathroom.
“Virgin?” he asks. Well, shit. I guess that’s done.
“Ho?” I fire back.
“Come eat.” He snags me by the wrist and leads me out of the bathroom, not answering my question. I start to feel a bit fuzzy, but thankfully my head no longer hurts.
“Just don’t be a ho anymore,” I blurt out. “I mean, you’re handsome so maybe you couldn’t help it before but now—”
“I’m not a ho,” he chuckles. “I think that pain pill is kicking in.”
“I don’t have to be a virgin, you know.” I lick my lips.
“Babe, please. It’s been years since I’ve even gone on a date, which I stopped doing because I didn’t care to do that bullshit anymore. My hand is the only thing getting me off. On top of that, you’ve been in my bed all night moaning my name. I'm on edge here.”
“Moaning your name?”
“Yeah, you called me Sammy in your sleep, and I really fucking like it. Now you’re talking about being a virgin?” He runs his hand down his face. “I need to feed you.”
“Then you could eat me?” I blurt out, then gasp and put my hand over my mouth. I did not say that.
“You’re lucky your head is hurting because now you’re teasing me, and that will earn you a spanking.” He reaches down and adjusts his cock. “Be a good girl.”
I want to be good for him, but maybe I want a spanking too. What’s a girl to do?