Sure Bet (Out of Left Field #1)

18. Brooke

Chapter 18

Brooke

S prawled on my bed, I chewed my bottom lip and read Liam’s message, trying to determine whether he was serious or messing with me. A week ago, I would have laughed and blocked him.

Liam: No games, Brooke. Tell me.

But I wasn’t laughing now.

Me: Tell you what?

He responded immediately. He’d been waiting for my answer.

Liam: What do you like? What pleases you? You didn’t tell me last night—at least not in words—and I’ve been thinking about it, wondering, guessing.

My chest rose with each heavy breath, and I struggled to think of an answer that was not a slapstick joke about my favorite pizza toppings or hobbies.

Liam: We’re friends. You can tell me. Let’s cut the bullshit. I want to know because it makes me hot, and I think it makes you hot, too. That’s all. Cross my heart. I won’t say the B-word.

But I struggled to tell him, and it had nothing to do with begging, his motivations, or even the stupid bet.

I’d always been just as quiet as the men I dated, filling the silence with music or background noise during intimate moments. Things were always… fine. We moved through the process in orderly and logical progressions. There wasn’t much need for a conversation to get the job done.

Getting lost in a moment of physical touch with Liam drew me out of my head and away from those swirling insecurities that once threatened to drown me. But talking about what I wanted? It tossed me right back into the rough seas of self-doubt. What if I sucked at this? What if my words weren’t as hot as the physical chemistry?

Liam was different. Everything with him had been different for me, made me feel different. I wanted this to be good.

Me: Is this what you talk about with your friends?

Liam: Just the ones who get off on men with globes for asses and a predilection for mounting women.

Me: Is that what you’re into? Mounting?

Liam: There’s a maiden I would enjoy mounting, yes. Have you ever had your face shoved into a mattress and been fucked hard from behind? Hips hitched high while being held down and pounded so ruthlessly your teeth rattled?

“Oh, wow,” I whispered, shuffling my feet over the blanket and squirming.

Me: Is that how you like to be with women?

I died a little. Shit at dirty talk, I turned it into an inquiry and information-gathering session.

Liam: Why do you answer my questions with a question?

Because I don’t know how to do it, and I’m afraid you’ll be disappointed that I’m not good at it.

Liam: Stop is an acceptable answer if I’ve made you uncomfortable, Brooke. Fuck off is fine, too.

His self-effacing tone tugged at my heart. Liam is different, and I was different when with him. The pushing, the confidence—it was new. Maybe I’d stumble, but he was right there with me, and he’d yet to let me fall.

In that moment, I dared to do something else just as different and new—I’d be openly vulnerable.

Me: I don’t know how to do it. To say what I want or like. It’s embarrassing, so please be kind.

My phone rang almost immediately. Surprised, I fumbled and dropped it. Bouncing on the floor, it landed on its back, the caller ID flashing Liam Porter.

Oh, my god. Do I answer?

I stared at the vibrating phone like some sort of sentient object capable of wretched destruction. Depending on the purpose of the call, it might be.

“You’re… calling?” I answered hesitantly. “Why?”

“I can’t believe you think you have to give me instructions on being kind in a vulnerable moment.”

“Really?” I propped on my elbow and leveled my gaze at the wall. “Not even an ounce of disbelief that I might question your response to a vulnerable admission?”

He chuckled. “Fine. But admit it, now isn’t then with us, is it?”

I sighed and flopped onto my back. “I admit it.”

“Fuck.” He rumbled a groan of approval that landed tight in my belly. “I love being told I’m right.”

“That’s not what I said.” I laughed and picked absentmindedly at a loose thread on the sheets. “I can’t believe you called me. We’re a wall away.”

“Would you rather have this conversation face to face? Because I intend to hear all about why saying what you want embarrasses you. Come over and tell me.” My breath hitched, and he softly added, “Maybe it’s easier to talk about it with a literal wall as a buffer.”

His thoughtfulness surprised me. Liam considered my feelings and anticipated what those might be in a given situation. For all the years I’d labeled him as selfish or self-absorbed, I wondered if it was me who’d been.

The soft glow of my bedside lamp cast a warm ambiance in the room, and I cozied up in the plush duvet and nestled my back against the mound of pillows.

I shifted the phone from one ear to the other. “It never seemed like a big deal, the specifics.”

“Your wants and needs aren’t a big deal? Your ability to express them? That’s your response?” He released a long exhale. “Oh, Brooke. That won’t do. It doesn’t align with the confident and capable woman you are?—”

I cut in, “I’m a work in progress?—”

“It doesn’t align with the confident and capable woman that you are. ” Liam wouldn’t be derailed. His voice dropped, the words a low whisper. “Don’t you deserve to get exactly what you want?”

Perhaps the tranquility of my bedroom enhanced the sense of intimacy, or maybe it was the topic of conversation. But I think I could have stood beneath the bright sunshine of a midday sky and talked about potato farming with Liam and felt just as dizzy.

He was right. It was easier to talk about it like this, and I wanted to. I longed to be the queen on her throne who commanded the man at her feet, not only because he inspired it... but because she desired it. Empowerment was sexy, but empowerment meant claiming what I wanted.

“Yes,” I breathed. “How do I get better at it?”

“Practice,” he said solemnly. “Lots of practice. Tons of practice. So much practice that you wonder?—”

“Liam!” I laughed. “You’re teasing me.”

Something brushed against the receiver before his voice sounded distant. He put me on speakerphone. “I’m teasing a little bit. It does take practice. Have you ever been with someone who made you feel comfortable enough to talk about what you want?”

I frowned, pulling hard at the thread on the sheet until it snapped. “No, I guess not. But maybe that’s more about me than them. I’ve always been self-conscious.”

He gasped. “Says the woman who bathed in my body wash and sauntered into the kitchen demanding control. Tell me that woman can’t brazenly command what she wants because I watched her do it.”

“It felt sexy,” I whispered, my cheeks heating even when alone in my room.

“It was sexy. You’re sexy, Brooke. That’s not the issue.”

My fingers tightened around the phone, gripping it firmly as I tried to steady myself. My mind raced with the admission. “That’s… that’s unexpected to hear. That you think I’m sexy.”

“I find you very sexy, and I want to help you get what you deserve. Will you let me help you?”

Was this a mistake? Would I regret this? Was this a game?

I’m safe on this side of the wall .

I whispered, “Okay.”

His words took on a different tone, deep and urgent. “I imagined having you in the kitchen last night, my hand sliding into your panties to see if you were wet for me. Would you have been wet for me, Brooke?”

I closed my eyes, my breath ragged. “Yes.”

“I would have taken you right there if you told me you wanted it, too. Tugged off your pants and spread your legs. Pressed you flat against the counter before I dropped to my knees and ate your pussy from behind. Do you enjoy having your cunt worshiped?”

I licked my lips and nodded. “That’s…”

“That’s what?” he coaxed.

Silence filled the line. My frustration escalated with each agonizing second that I failed to say it—to say anything.

What is wrong with you?

“You can hang up,” I said quietly. “Let me die in peace, please.”

He sputtered a laugh, quickly covering it up with a cough. “Okay. Let’s start over.” Clearing his throat, Liam said, “You like listening to stories. Would you like to hear mine?”

I managed a feeble “Okay.”

“I think you’ll like it. It’s about a man in his bed, hard as a fucking rock, and wondering what to do about it. He’s faced with a dilemma, I’m afraid.”

I bit my lip and smiled, shaking my head. “Oh? What’s that?”

“Well, you see, his maiden swore she wouldn’t break, but she wants to. It’s obscene how much she wants to. She’s rather depraved with her filthy mind and vulgar tongue.”

I bit my lip harder, holding my laughter.

“It’s foolish, don’t you agree?” he continued. “The man is weeping—cock and tears, mind you—because he’s desperate for this maiden to lay down her sword.”

“Sounds like he’s content to keep his hands on his sword,” I murmured, relaxing my knees and brushing my hand over my thigh.

Liam groaned. “Well, there’s his dilemma. He’s not sure what he should do with his hands. His maiden’s tongue is sharp but tied, it seems. While he aches to hear her confess those dirty and wanton thoughts that are so perverse she shan’t share them, he also aches to jerk off.”

Breathing hard into the phone, I nodded. “He should. Maybe she would feel more confident knowing he wants her so badly that he can’t refrain from touching himself.” Everything vibrated, and I struggled not to float away when my head went fuzzy. I licked my lips and closed my eyes, my heart pounding in my chest. “Assuming he actually wants her—genuinely wants her.”

A strangled groan rumbled low on the line, his breath hitching a moment later. “Oh, he fucking wants her. There’s nothing disingenuous about his desire.” Rough and husky, he swallowed. “Will she touch herself?”

“Yes.” Dying, I was dying—I was certain of it. I hurried to put him on speakerphone, my chest heaving and everything tight in my body. A light sweat broke along my skin, my back arching off the bed when my hand slipped beneath my shirt to pluck at my nipple.

“Where will she touch herself?”

My heels pressed into the mattress, my knees falling open. “Everywhere.”

The building, the anticipation. My blood ran hot, and I wiggled my pants down, my panties to follow, and lay exposed on my bed.

Disbelief thrummed just as loudly as desire. Was I really doing this?

“It feels good, doesn’t it?” he rasped. “I’m stroking my cock, thinking of you, Brooke. I’m so fucking hard.”

“Is that part of the story?” I rubbed myself in slow, lazy circles. I wanted to draw out my pleasure, to enjoy the ecstasy and excitement. The tension was sublime. “I assumed you were the maiden.”

He grunted, and the forceful expulsion of air and saliva echoed on the other line. The distinct, visceral sound of spit. “I think story time is over, don’t you?”

Oh god. He’d spit into his palm. The palm he used to pump himself.

My chest rose with every hard breath as I panted and writhed over the covers, my toes flexing into the sheets. I stroked myself faster, moaning and bucking. I wanted it to be Liam’s hand on me, him touching me. I wanted to be in that kitchen and not in my head.

“The kitchen,” I gasped, sinking two fingers inside my pussy. “We’re in the kitchen. Can we be in the kitchen?”

He practically purred. “You’re in the kitchen with me right now. I’m rutting and rubbing against that luscious, divine ass. My nose brushes your temple. You smell like me, and it makes me fucking feral. I want to devour and ravish you. I’m greedy to taste you. Will you let me?”

“I would let you.” I whimpered and wetted my lips, my hips rocking with a steady rhythm.

“Tell me what you’d let me do to you. It’s sexy, Brooke. You’re sexy, and I want you. I’m desperate for you. I’m on my knees now, my hands are pawing at your ass, and you’re pressing yourself back against me. I think you want me to do it, but I can’t unless you tell me what you want me to do.” His voice was rough, strained.

Heat snaked up my spine, my body burning with arousal. “Have me. Get me naked, spread me, and devour me. I’m bare for you, eager and aching for your mouth.”

“Where?” he rasped, inhaling sharply. “My mouth where? Look how good you’re working me, Brooke. I’m desperate for you. Fucking ruined on my knees and admiring your pretty cunt. So pretty. Where do you want my mouth?”

My chin tipped to the ceiling, and my eyes pressed hard enough to see stars in the darkness behind my lids. “On my pussy. Licking me, sucking me, eating me until I come. I’m crazy for it. It feels so good.”

“I won’t stop, Brooke. I’ll fuck you with my tongue until your legs collapse and you swear you can’t give me anymore.”

A delirious mess, one hand clawed at the bed while the other shamelessly worked my clit. “I don’t want you to stop then, either. I want you to take more.”

I would give it. I would give him whatever he wanted when I felt like I was flying on top of the world. A flare of pride burned as Liam’s shaky and heavy breaths grew increasingly unsteady.

Indecent and lewd, he stroked himself faster and grunted and cursed. “Jesus, Brooke. Perfect.”

The slap of his skin pushed me over the edge of my own pleasure. My entire body lifted off the bed as my climax crested, not with a soft swell of gratification but a tidal wave of destruction, obliterating my senses as delectation seized me.

“I’m coming,” I moaned. “Liam?—”

“Shit.” He exhaled a fast breath and released a low groan. “Shit. Shit. Oh god. That… Fuck.”

His heavy breathing echoed in the phone.

I feared the moment of reckoning that would strike when our bodies settled, but it didn’t come.

“Christ, Brooke. You filthy fucking liar. I think you feigned a lack of skill in your naughty and lascivious dirty talk just to demonstrate your unbeatable mastery of it. That was…” He sighed. “But like I said, practice. Lots and lots of?—”

A giggle bubbled up from my throat— a giggle . I was so goddamn proud of myself. “I can’t believe I did it.”

“You can do anything, Brooke. When you want to, you can do anything. You’re amazing.”

He’d said something similar to me once before, after I stood on the edge of a cliff and berated myself for a lack of courage, too afraid to jump into the water below. But I’d done it with his help. Just like I’d done this with his help.

‘You can do it, Brooke. When you want to, you can.’

“The end,” Liam panted. “What a story, huh?”

“That wasn’t the end,” I said softly. “This one’s a cliffhanger. Goodnight, Liam.”