"Bree?" Julian gently shook Brianna awake. "You have to wake up, eat, take your medication, and change your dressing. I brought you some juice."
Brianna stretched and fully opened her eyes to look at Julian. He was in cargo shorts and a t-shirt, his dark hair damp from an obvious shower. The guy was not only good-looking, he had an air of naughty innocence which Brianna could bet was what drew women to him like moths to a flame. And that smile... Then she remembered the sounds she'd heard from upstairs the night before and scowled.
"I need to use the bathroom," Brianna rasped, sitting up slowly.
"Allow me to help..."
"I'll use the wheel…"
"Aw, shut up and let me help," Julian snapped as he wrapped an arm around Brianna's waist and helped her off the bed and into the en-suite bathroom. "Call me when you're done," he instructed as he closed the bathroom door behind her.
He quickly made Brianna's bed and left to pick up her medication from the medical wing. When Julian came back to the room, he gasped at the sounds he heard coming from the bathroom. With an angry growl, he barged in.
"What the fuck do you think you're doing?" Julian bellowed.
"What does it look like?" Brianna's voice was muffled under the spray of the water. She'd braced one hand against the tiled wall and was squeezing some lemon-scented liquid soap onto her head. "I'm taking a shower."
"Are you nuts?" Julian growled as he stepped into the shower, getting his own clothes soaked in the process, to wrap an arm under a not-too-steady Brianna. "If you fall, your stitches will reopen, you fool."
"Well, I haven't fallen, have I?" Brianna used a hand to rub the soap down the back of her neck, getting suds onto Julian in the process. "I wanted to take a shower."
"Did you even think about your wound and the dressing?" Julian snapped.
"I thought you said you were going to change it."
Julian snorted as he reached for a body sponge and began to wash Brianna's back. "Turn around," he instructed when he was done. "And make sure you have a good grip on that rail. I wouldn't want you slipping and cracking that silly skull of yours."
Brianna did as was instructed and sighed with contentment as Julian gave her a thorough bathing. It felt heavenly. Afterwards, Julian helped Brianna back into the room and into bed, shaking his head at how soaked the dressing at her groin had become.
"Damn, I needed that," Brianna breathed, lying on her back. "Thanks."
"Hmm..." Julian grunted with a scowl. "You're an idiot. I need to go change. I'll be right back." He turned to go but paused in the doorway. "Don't do anything stupid while I'm gone."
"What can I possibly do?" Brianna laughed.
"Have you met you?" With that retort, Julian left to go and change out of his wet clothes.
Julian came back looking dry in blue jeans and a black t-shirt that accentuated his great physique. He went directly into Brianna's bathroom and came back with some shaving cream, a razor, and a cup of water.
"What's that for?" Brianna asked, her eyes following him.
"It's for your wound site," Julian responded as he placed his supplies on the bed. "I need to clear the area properly."
"The fuck!" Brianna growled. "If you think I'm going to allow you anywhere near my pussy with a razor..."
"Remember how painful it was when I had to take off the dressing yesterday?" Julian turned on the TV and flipped through the channels. "It's going to be even worse today because stupid you had to go get it wet." He left the TV on an exercise channel where three women were working out on a beach to Sia's 'Cheap Thrills'. "I can spare you the agony tomorrow by giving you a proper manscaping. Well, womanscaping." He spread Brianna's legs and sat between them.
Brianna groaned. She knew Julian was right, she didn't even mind the fact that he had seen her naked, she was in the army and somehow she didn't care about all that and after all he was her doctor but allowing him to shave her felt far too intimate.
"As for letting me close to you with a razor, I was even closer to more vital organs with more deadly gadgets during surgery and didn't maim you, so shut the fuck up."
Without any warning, he ripped off the wet plaster.
"Fuuuuck!" Brianna screamed. "Oh shit, shit... You did that on purpose!" Her eyes flashed angrily.
"Sue me," Julian retorted smugly as he began to apply the shaving cream. Then he went to work.
Brianna watched Julian work. He was very gentle but thorough, his focus intense. He moved with the precision of a surgeon, even when his hands were in such an intimate area. Thankfully, he hadn't nicked her once. His hands felt so soothing and nice in fact, it felt so nice that Brianna began to feel delicious, traitorous tingles deep inside, which she tried to ignore.
Unfortunately, her body had a mind of its own. When the first moan burst out of Brianna's throat, she didn't even notice. Julian paused when he heard it. He briefly looked at the women on the screen gyrating to 'Cheap Thrills' and then turned to look at Brianna's face. Her eyes were closed. She wasn't even watching the TV. Under normal circumstances, he would have teased her, but the doctor in him saw it as a good sign, no nerve damage.
"I'm sorry about that," Brianna muttered, her face flushing crimson as she threw an arm across her eyes. She was mortified.
"Hey, don't worry about it," Julian said with a chuckle. "To be honest, you've just laid a worry of mine to rest. It shows your nerves are firing perfectly. Trust me."
"Shut up, Julian," Brianna growled.
"I'm just saying, you're healthy," Julian chuckled, wanting to put Brianna's mind at ease. He'd noticed she'd tensed up. "Reminds me of this review I once read on a hair removal gel. You're not going to believe what happened to the guy..."
Julian launched into the story of "Einstein" and the hair removal gel, the burning, the ice cream tub, and the frozen sprout. Brianna was laughing so hard she started to cough.
"Oh my god, you're nuts," Brianna panted, looking at Julian with amused eyes. "So what happened? What did the wife say?"
"She screamed in shock, of course. Which startled Einstein into an involuntary fart, which also resulted in the sprout springing out of his hole and hitting the woman..."
Brianna burst into laughter. "Now I know for a fact this whole story is made up!"
"I'll let you read the review," Julian laughed as he wiped her clean and finished dressing the wound. "It's healing just fine."
After breakfast and her meds, Julian changed into a smart-casual white shirt and blue blazer. He looked incredible.
"Going out?" Brianna asked, her gaze lingering on his boots.
"Yep. Making a quick stop at the hospital and my parents'. I'll be back with lunch. If you're in pain, take one of these." He wrote his number on a notepad. "Whatever you do, don't go up those stairs. Rest."
"Buzz off. I need to exercise."
"The earlier you heal, the earlier you can exercise to maintain those abs. Catch you later."
"Remember not to go out in that car," Brianna grumbled.
"I'm not an idiot," Julian threw over his shoulder.
"Could have fooled me," Brianna muttered.
She waited until he left, then tried to settle. But the memory of his hands on her was causing a heat she couldn't extinguish. She felt a surge of desire so strong it terrified her. This wasn't acceptable.
"No, no..." she groaned. Suddenly, she heard that condemning voice again, her father's voice. The voice that had made her feel dirty and worthless years ago.
"You will burn in hell. I wish you hadn't been born. You're a disgraceful slut. Get out of my house!"
"No!" An anguished scream tore out of Brianna. She shook, covering her face. Why now? She hadn't been truly aroused by anyone in years. Not since she was a teen and her father had caught her. She had built a wall around her heart, focusing only on her Navy career. But Julian Broody had just smashed through it without even trying.
Anger at herself replaced the fear. Determined to clear her head, she shakily stood up. She needed to move. She needed a distraction. She headed for the foyer and looked at the spiral staircase. It was time to explore what was up there.
"Damnit," Brianna growled breathlessly as she reached the top. The third room, the one Julian was dodgy about was locked. She moved to the door that led to Julian's bedroom. It wasn't locked.
"Damn," she breathed. The master bedroom was exceptionally luxurious, with a second-floor loft for a massive bed. Why did one man need a bed that big? After looking in the study, she grabbed a bottle of water from the mini-bar and collapsed onto a lemon-green couch in the seating area, drifting off to sleep.
That was where Julian found her.
"You must be shitting me," Julian barked, startling her awake. "For a soldier, you really don't know how to follow orders."
"Ever heard of sleepwalking?" Brianna rasped.
"Yeah, right," Julian chuckled. "We might as well eat here."
He served curried chicken and baked potatoes. "I've told Ty to send you a cheque for my upkeep," Brianna said.
"Don't insult me, Brianna," Julian glared. "I don't need your money to feed you."
"I'm just not comfortable leeching off you."
"You're not," Julian assured her. "Besides, it's nice to have someone around."
"As if my being here would stop you from having 'guests'," Brianna snorted.
Julian laughed. "By the way, Ty sent you some clothes."
After the meal, Julian helped her back downstairs. Soon, Ty called her on the burner phone.
"It's bigger than we thought, Jackson," Ty whispered.
"Field Marshal Jonas is involved. He's part of the syndicate."
"What?" Brianna gasped. Jonas was one of the highest-ranking officers in the country.
"The evidence is overwhelming, thanks to you. But they're looking for you, Bri. You need to stay at Julian's. It hides you and gives you medical care. Take that as an order, soldier."
"Fuck you," Brianna muttered with a smile.
Two weeks passed. Brianna was healing well, but her mental state was fraying. Every night, Julian came home with women. Every night, Brianna had to listen to the muffled screams of passion coming from the "playroom" Julian had eventually shown her.
The playroom had been a shock, a collection of bondage tables, Sybian saddles, and St. Andrew's crosses. It was a high-end dungeon.
"I play almost every night," Julian had told her simply.
Listening to those sounds was driving Brianna insane. Every moan she heard made her picture Julian's naked, sexy body. It left her wanting him with a hunger she hadn't felt in a decade. She was attracted to him, the doctor, the playboy, the man who had everything she didn't.
She couldn't stay. She would rather go home and face the killers than fall back into the "forbidden" abyss her father had cursed her for.
Fuck the injury, she thought as she drifted off. "I'm getting the hell out of here tomorrow morning."