Total pages in book: 46
Estimated words: 47381 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 237(@200wpm)___ 190(@250wpm)___ 158(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 47381 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 237(@200wpm)___ 190(@250wpm)___ 158(@300wpm)
“Your instinct is good.”
“Hmm, it always has been. Right now, my instinct is telling me to do something else.”
She slammed her hand over her mouth. “Youcannotkissme!”
Brand’s eyes widened as he stared down at her incredulously. Then he threw back his head and laughed.
Surprise filled her, followed quickly by irritation. “Hey! Why are you laughing? Why is kissing me funny?”
“Baby, kissing you isn’t funny. It isn’t funny at all. But the first time I kiss you, I’d like to not be worrying about whether you can breathe or not.”
“I can breathe out of my nose. Sort of.” Wait. Was she trying to convince him to kiss her now? She was an idiot.
“Ah, so you want me to kiss you?”
She slammed her hand over her mouth again. Then realized it was rather hard to breathe through her nose.
Brand removed her hand hastily. “Breathe.”
She gasped for air.
“Don’t do that again or it will be three.”
Jolie pouted. “I don’t think you should threaten me with spankings while I’m sick.”
“I won’t spank you while you’re sick,” he reassured her. “But you’re going to have difficulty sitting when you feel better if you keep going like this.”
Well, that sucked.
“Please don’t spank me.” She gave him her best puppy eyes.
“Aww, damn you’re cute. Too bad that doesn’t sway me.”
Drat.
“I’ll kiss you when you’re feeling better.”
“Probably a smart idea,” she mumbled. “I can’t actually remember the last time I brushed my teeth.”
His eyes widened. “Right. We need to take care of that. Oral hygiene is important.”
Yeah. She leaned away from him. Drat. He could probably already smell her breath.
Then there was the fact that she hadn’t showered in a while.
“Let’s go brush your teeth.” He stood with her held against his chest.
“I need a shower.”
“No shower.”
“I have to have a shower,” she said.
“No shower unless I shower with you. I don’t want you getting light-headed and falling.” He paused in the bathroom. “This is nice. And there’s a bath. You can have a bath. If you let me help you in and out.”
Probably not an ideal way for him to see her naked for the first time. But she was desperate.
“Deal,” she croaked.
“Good girl. You need to drink some water too. Are you hungry?”
“No.”
“I’ll let you get away with that for a bit longer. But you need to eat something today.”
She nodded tiredly as he set her on the counter and turned away to run the bath. Where was her toothbrush? Oh, there it was. She picked it up and put some toothpaste on it.
When Brand straightened, he frowned.
What? What was wrong?
Then he took the toothbrush from her. “That’s my job.”
It was?
“Little girls don’t brush their own teeth.”
“Pretty sure a lot of them do,” she replied.
“Let me reword that. My girl doesn’t.”
Oh god.
She was Brand Starr’s girl.
She swallowed heavily, her throat scratchy. “Okay.”
He looked surprised. He’d probably expected her to protest. But the fact was that her Little felt like she was parched. As though all the life was being sucked out of her.
She didn’t know if it was like this for other people. But ignoring and neglecting that part of herself… it felt like a part of her was dying. She wasn’t who she wanted to be.
And Brand taking care of her like he was… it was bringing her back to life.
He very carefully brushed her teeth. He was thorough and didn’t rush through it.
“There we go. All clean, Bumblebee.”
“Thanks,” she said croakily. “Can you get me a hair tie?”
He handed her toilet bag to her, and she sloppily put her hair up into a bun. Urgh, it needed washing. She didn’t think she had the energy for that today, though.
He frowned. “Let’s get you a drink.” He turned away, then swung back. “Probably shouldn’t leave you sitting on the counter. You might fall off.”
Heat filled her cheeks once more.
Brand was constantly surprising her.
Jolie thought about reminding him that she was actually an adult. But she was enjoying his care too much. Cradling her to his chest once more, he carried her out through the bedroom to the small kitchenette.
Placing her on the counter again, he got her a glass of water. To her surprise, she felt upset he wasn’t using the baby bottle.
She sighed sadly.
“What’s wrong?” he asked after helping her take a few sips.
“I’m just being silly.”
“Hey. Nothing you feel is silly. What’s going on?” He placed his hands on the counter on either side of her, caging her in.
A shiver of pleasure ran through her.
“You like this?” he murmured.
“W-what?”
“Me surrounding you. Stopping you from moving. You like it.”
Well, it wasn’t like she could deny it when she was practically licking her lips.
“Yes.”
“Good girl for telling me the truth. Now, what upset you just now?”
Great. She’d forgotten about that in her lust-haze. Was that a thing?
“It’s really dumb.”
“That’s another one.” He held up a third finger. “Racking them up, Bumblebee.”