Chapter 34

CHAPTER34

“Iquit,” Cayley mumbled sadly with a sniffle that had the large man carrying her into her apartment, chuckling as though she was joking.

She wasn’t.

Not even a little bit.

And just to make sure that he fully understood so that he wouldn’t be disappointed later when he realized that she wasn’t kidding, Cayley said, “You’re on your own.”

“I figured that out when you dropped into the fetal position and sadly mumbled about being unable to find the will to go on,” Bryce said as he carried her into her room and moved to place her down on her bed, only to rethink that decision when she sadly mumbled, “I’m dirty.”

“Good point,” Bryce said, pulling her back into his arms and turned around and headed back the way they came while she hung there, mumbling pathetically when every step jostled her and caused her poor, abused muscles to do things that really didn’t feel good at the moment.

“Why does it have to hurt so much?” Cayley mumbled against his back even as she had to wonder how he managed to do this every day.

“You’ll be fine, sweetheart,” Bryce said as he gave her leg a comforting caress that had her whimpering.

“I think I’m going to have to help out with the house in a supervisory role,” she said, knowing that he would be heartbroken.

“That’s very generous of you,” Bryce said, sounding amused as he carried her into his apartment.

“I know,” Cayley mumbled as she wiggled her toes to see if they still hurt, only to decide that was a bad idea and settled for hanging there instead.

“Let’s get you cleaned up,” Bryce said as he gently placed her on the bathroom counter and focused his attention on removing the pretty work boots that she bought to help him.

“I wanted to help,” Cayley said, moving to grab hold of her shirt to pull it off, only to decide against that when her muscles screamed in protest.

“And you did,” Bryce assured her as he dropped her boots on the bathroom floor and made quick work of taking off her socks before he reached for her shirt and-

“Ow!”

-gave her a quick kiss in apology that helped a little bit as he pulled her shirt off, forcing her arms to cooperate before they dropped uselessly by her sides as she sat there struggling to bite back several more “Ows” and a few “Owies” that she knew wouldn’t help at the moment.

“Do you think you can get the rest on your own?” Bryce asked, only to clear his throat, mumble, “Right,” and clear his throat again with a nod when she just sat there, staring at him.

With one more nod, Bryce reached back and grabbed hold of his shirt and pulled it off while she sat there, really wishing that everything didn’t hurt so that she could enjoy this moment. God, he had a really nice body, Cayley thought, moving to nod in agreement before she thought better of it and settled for watching as Bryce tossed his shirt aside as he toed off his boots and reached for his belt.

A few minutes later, he was naked and-

“Please don’t.”

-making her bite back a whimper when he reached for her, forcing her to stand so that he could strip her out of the rest of her clothes. When he was done, and she decided to give into the need to whimper, Bryce carefully picked her up and carried her into the large shower where he carefully placed her on the floor.

While he turned on the shower and adjusted the temperature, Cayley decided that it would be for the best for everyone if she resumed the fetal position. Decision made, she dropped onto her side, released a grunt of pain, and lay there waiting for the hot water now hitting her to do its job and make it possible to breathe once again without pain.

“You are just too fucking adorable for words,” Bryce said with a heavy sigh as he grabbed the bottle of body wash and the shampoo off the built-in shelf and set to work cleaning all of the dust and bits of horsehair plaster off her.

“I know,” Cayley mumbled sadly with a sniffle as she did her best not to whimper as he made quick work of scrubbing her clean, and once Bryce was done, he quickly washed up before rinsing them both off.

“I don’t think I’m cut out for this,” Cayley mumbled sadly as she found herself picked up and carried out of the shower and placed back on the bathroom counter, wrapped in a large towel, and swallowing the Advil that he’d placed in her hand along with a bottle of water.

“You were a natural,” Bryce said, shooting her a wink as he finished drying off and tossed his towel aside, pulled on a pair of clean boxers, and-

“Oh, God…”

-had her whimpering when he carried her into his room and gently laid her down on her stomach. That was followed by her regretting her decision to pick up that sledgehammer and take on the second-floor bathroom.

Then again, if she’d known that there was an old chimney hidden behind that wall, she probably could have avoided getting the sledgehammer stuck in the wall, spending the next thirty minutes trying to wrestle it free, and then the walk of shame where she’d been forced to go tell Bryce what she did and ask for help followed by the need to prove herself once he was able to pull it free.

* * *

“Are you feeling any better?”Bryce asked, thankful that she couldn’t see him smile.

God, she’d been so fucking cute trying to swing that sledgehammer. It didn’t even matter that she kept missing her mark, he’d loved watching as she took each missed swing as a personal challenge, got a determined look in her eye, and then swung again, which caused her to stumble, trip, and curse her adorable little ass off.

“No,” came the sadly mumbled answer as Cayley sniffled while he searched for the lemongrass balm that his uncle made for him.

“I think I broke my ass,” Cayley mumbled into his pillow as he searched the bottom drawer of his nightstand.

“And why do you think that?” Bryce asked absently as he searched through all the shit in his drawer until he finally found the small tin buried behind an expired box of unopened condoms that he should have thrown out a few years ago.

“Because I fell on it,” she said with a sniffle, making him chuckle.

“You’ll be fine,” Bryce promised as he removed the cover and shifted his focus on the small woman that had spent the last five hours trying to help him.

“I’d like that in writing, please,” Cayley said as Bryce placed the tin on the nightstand so that he could focus his attention on removing Cayley’s towel. It took a few gentle tugs and several apologies when she mumbled, “Owie,” but he finally managed to pull her towel free.

“This should help,” Bryce said, reaching over and dipped his fingertips in the balm before rubbing his hands together and-

Tore a soft moan from the woman burying her face in his pillow.

“Is this okay?” Bryce asked as he gently ran his hands over her shoulders and down her back.

Nodding against the pillow, Cayley murmured, “I believe that this is acceptable,” with a heartfelt sigh that had his lips twitching as he continued running his hands over her back. He took his time working the tension out of her muscles, watching as his hands moved over her soft skin. He loved touching her, Bryce thought, running his hands down her back as he leaned down and pressed a kiss against her shoulder.

“Let me know if you want me to stop,” Bryce said as he pressed his lips against her shoulder one last time before he pulled back and ran his hands down her back and over the generous ass that drove him fucking crazy and couldn’t help but groan.

She felt so fucking good, Bryce thought, unable to resist the urge to lean down and press a kiss against the small of her back as he gave her bottom a gentle squeeze before he started moving his hands down her legs until a small, demanding wiggle of her ass had his lips twitching as he moved his hands back. Leaning down, he pressed a kiss between her shoulder blades as he moved his hands over her bottom, gently kneading each cheek as he kissed a path down her back.

“That feels so good, Bryce,” Cayley said, moaning softly into the pillow as he slowly made his way down her back.

When he reached her lower back, he pressed a kiss above each cheek and then-

“Bryce,” Cayley gasped into her pillow as her hands grabbed hold of the comforter and held on as his lips brushed against one cheek and then the other as he moved onto the bed and swung one leg over hers so that he was straddling her lower legs.

Pressing one last kiss against her cheek, Bryce reached over and grabbed the tin off the nightstand and dipped his fingertips in the ointment before tossing it on the bed as he sat back and focused his attention back on running his hands over Cayley’s skin. While he sat there, Bryce watched as his hands moved down the back of her thighs, working the balm into her sore muscles as she groaned into his pillow.

He took his time, slowly working the tension out of her thighs before running his hands over her bottom again, watching as she turned her head on a soft moan. For several minutes, Bryce watched her face, the way that her lips parted on the next moan as he ran his hands over her and-

He loved her.

Christ, he loved her more than anything, Bryce realized, swallowing hard as he leaned over her and pressed a kiss against the middle of her back, wondering if she had any idea what she meant to him.