“It’s still not the same.”
“I want you to talk to Michaela about this someday. She had a miscarriage when she was only seventeen. She was devastated and blamed herself until she came to realise that everything happens for a reason. Everything.” He kissed the back of her hand and Sophie had to bite her lip to stop from saying what she really wanted to. He was doing his best to tell her what he thought she wanted to hear but it still didn’t change anything.
“I don’t know that it’s that easy.” For all this time she thought she’d killed her baby but could Brandan be right?
“Do you want to be alone?” he asked, seeming to always know how she was feeling.
“No...no. I don’t think I do. Not anymore.”
“Good, I’m starving. Let’s go out and get a bite.”
“Just give me a sec to change my clothes.” She started to turn away from him.
“What you are wearing is just fine. Let’s go find a bar and get drunk.” Brandan felt distinctly like he’d dodged a bullet and wanted to enjoy the moment. He didn’t want her to go away and start thinking about anything except being with him.
“I’m all for dinner but as to the getting drunk part, I could think of better things to do...” Sophie wrapped her arms around his waist and standing on her toes reached up and kissed him, softly, seductively, letting her inner siren out to play.
“Maybe dinner can wait?” he suggested as he slid his hands up under her shirt.
It had been less than twelve hours since he’d been buried inside her and already he was painfully aroused and ready to drive into her warmth again. She only had to touch him and he was ready. Hell she didn’t even have to touch him. The problem was it felt like they were about to have make-up sex, he could even taste the tears on her cheeks. Brandan gave in and pushed the thoughts away. At least she wouldn’t be thinking about her unborn child or her psycho ex.
“I thought you were starving,” she laughed as he spun her around and let them both fall onto his bed, his weight pressed into her.
“I am,” he growled as he took her mouth with his, moving his body gently so that her breasts rubbed his chest, his hips ground into hers and her legs wrapped around his waist. “Hungry for you.”
~
“Are you worried about your appointment?” Sophie asked Brandan about an hour later as they lay satisfied and naked. His head rested on her stomach while she lay on her back running her hand over his shoulders and arms, in awe of the underlying strength of his powerful muscles. There was nothing rough about him even though he was huge. He was gentle and persuasive, making sure she reached her climax before he did. He was a very considerate lover.
“What appointment?” he asked. When his tongue shot out and licked her belly button, her quick intake of breath pushed her breasts against the top of Brandan’s head.
It was a minute before Sophie got her brain back on track. “The doctor,” she reminded him.
“Oh that, I forgot,” he mumbled as his licks became hot, open-mouthed suckles travelling south.
“How could you possibly forget?”
“Just because I can’t see you doesn’t mean I don’t know where you are, what you feel like.” He ran his hand down her leg to her knee and back up to rest on her flat midriff. “What you taste like.” He licked her from her naval to her breast where he took her nipple into his mouth, covering her neglected breast with his large, hot hand.
“I don’t mean being blind, I meant the doctor’s appointment. Aren’t you ready to have the bandages removed?”
He stopped kissing her body and put his head back down. “You know, I’m not really sure. He did say there may be some permanent damage, there may not be. I have a fifty-fifty chance.”
“Not great odds, but still...”
“Could you love a man who would be blind forever?” he asked.
Sophie tensed slightly, was he asking if she could love him? Was he seriously asking her how she felt? Could she give him an answer?
She still had no idea what to think, what to feel. So much had happened to force them together. If she hadn’t received the phone call about Max in the first place would she be asleep, alone in her cheap, crappy hotel? Would she have gone back to see him? Would he have come after her? All questions without answers because they were together and after finding out the horrible truth about her he’d stuck around, asked her to stay, even went so far as to try to make her feel better.
“It would depend on a few things.” Sophie opted for a diplomatic reply.
“Like what?”
“Is he a good kisser?”
“Yes,” he replied with a tender kiss to her collarbone.
“Is he handsome as sin?”
“Absolutely.” He rose over her parting her legs with his knees, his powerful arms either side of her head.
“Is he great in bed?”
“Always,” he promised as he slid into her, inch by glorious inch. She raised her hips so she could take him all the way.
“Then I suppose if he played his cards right, it would be a distinct possibility.”
There was no breath left for words after he started to move within her. Their joining was as hard as it was quick. Faster and faster he pumped into her until she cried out and held onto him, her nails raking his skin as he drove into her one last time, calling her name.
Roaring like a cavemen who had just claimed his cavewoman.
~
Early the next morning Sophie realised this would probably be the last day they would spend together. In a few hours Brandan would have his sight back and have no more need of her. He would be able to once again negotiate his way around furniture and would probably be on the first flight out of there back to the US.
Sophie wasn’t sure if she was relieved or not. She was having the best time with him and he’d opened her eyes to the possibility that one day she might be guilt free and happy. He’d also given her more orgasms in three days than her ex-husband had in their entire marriage but they came from different worlds, different countries, different lives.
Maybe if everything did happen for a reason, he’d been sent as her knight in shining armour to pleasure her senseless and then leave her, older and wiser for the experience?
Looking over at the bedside clock she woke Brandan and told him they only had an hour until Mick would be there to take them to the hospital.
“That’s plenty of time,” he murmured, his hand moving over her body.
“We can’t.” She pushed him away with a giggle. Did the man only ever think of sex?
“Why not?” he huffed.
“I need to get ready. You know, have a shower, maybe eat something.”
“I know, I know. You go and have a shower and I’ll order up some room service.” Brandan listened to her footsteps as she went back to her own room. He could imagine the sway of her hips, naked as she walked around the suite. His erection stood proud and tall when he started to imagine her soaping herself in the shower, lathering her breasts and her body with her hands.
He groaned and rolled out of the bed, fully intending to join her when he heard a cell phone ringing.
He went in to the lounge and could hear it vibrating on the coffee table. He didn’t even think about what he was doing when he answered it.
“Brandan McAllister.”
“So, was she good? Is she lying naked in your bed right now?”
He didn’t need to ask who it was. He’d answered her phone and unwillingly given the dirt-bag a clue as to where she was.
“I thought I told you not to contact her again.”
“Hiding behind your skirts is she?”
“She’s not here at the moment.”
“Well you tell her I’ll be there soon. Not much longer now.” Max was laughing hysterically.
“If you touch her I will kill you,” he ground out through clenched teeth.
“I suppose you’ll listen for the sound of my voice or my footsteps and then beat me to death with y
our blind stick?”
“You’re sick,” Brandan replied.
“Maybe, but at least she doesn’t have my balls in the palm of her hand.”
“There’s a good reason for that since you clearly don’t have any.” He goaded a mad man but he needed to take Max’s anger from Sophie and redirect it. He could take care of himself, she couldn’t. “I’ll say it one more time just in case you didn’t hear me. Leave her alone.”
“The time is near!” He was hysterical again. Prison wasn’t the place for a guy like Max. He should be in a straight-jacket in a padded cell.
Brandan was about to say something else when the line went dead. He put her phone back down on the table and went to get dressed. He wasn’t going to tell Sophie about the call. He would stay close to her phone in case the psycho called again though.
He could see no way to resolve this mess for her. He could hire a private detective or someone to find him but he had no idea where to start. Surely the police in this country could find a man who was a danger to everyone and himself? Short of dangling her like bait, Brandan just had to wait until someone sighted him. He scratched at the bandage around his head. As soon as he could see again he would do something even if he had to go out and look for Max himself.
He stopped dead, the shirt he’d borrowed from his brother-in-law half on. He’d told Sophie he didn’t care what the doctor had to say but he found now that he definitely cared. He didn’t want to be like this for the rest of his life. He wanted to welcome his nieces into the world, see them with his own eyes rather than have someone tell him what they looked like. He wanted to one day see his own kids, he wanted to see his wife when she walked down the aisle. He wanted to see Sophie.
He pulled the shirt on and started to do up the buttons. Strange that his future wife and Sophie showed up in the same thought. It’s the last thing he needed, another wife to screw him over and take more of his money.
It was only natural after what they’d shared that he would want to see her smile, see what colour her eyes were, see those eyes roll into the back of her head when he made her moan in delight.
On the other hand, if he was still blind maybe she would hang around for a bit longer. Maybe he could bribe the doctor to tell her he had some other condition that would require her to stay and ‘help’ him.
He smiled as he tried to conjure up some other symptoms, maybe he should orchestrate a fall down some stairs or something and he could tell her he had concussion and needed someone to stay with him. Close to him.
You could just ask her to stay, his brain screamed at him with way too much logic.
Sure, what would he say? Thanks for looking after me so far, oh, and I’ve thrown a couple extra thousand dollars in your account so you’ll hang around for a few more weeks. She wasn’t a woman he could or should buy. As it was he felt bad that he wasn’t paying her enough but at the same time he wished he wasn’t paying her anything. Sophie never made him feel that it was about the money. He was sure she would have helped him out of kindness if she hadn’t had her psycho ex in the picture. In fact she hadn’t mentioned the money since that first day. Maybe she had money and didn’t need his. Maybe he could get her a gift instead. The idea had merit except he couldn’t really buy her anything himself and he didn’t want the hassle of asking Gloria or Michaela to do it for him.
He would just see what the doctor had to say and take it from there.
Half an hour later and an apology for not ordering some breakfast they were in the lobby waiting for the limo.
“Maybe we can get Mick to stop at McDonalds or something?” Sophie suggested, her stomach growling loudly.
“That’s a great breakfast,” Brandan replied sarcastically.
“It’s better than nothing,” Sophie muttered under her breath.
“If you can wait till after the appointment we can get some brunch?”
“Sure,” she grumbled. He thought it was so cute that she got cranky when she was hungry.
“Good morning,” they were greeted cheerily by Mick, their driver.
They bundled in the back and in minutes they were on their way to the hospital, his entire future dependant on one man. To see what was coming or to be forever in the dark? Brandan fidgeted nervously.
“I’ll be there all the way,” Sophie whispered close to his ear as she snuggled into his side.
“You left me alone in there the other day.” He wasn’t trying to be insensitive but he was so nervous.
“I’m sorry about that. It’s the first time I’ve seen the inside of a hospital since Max put me in one.”
“No, I’m sorry. That wasn’t fair of me to say. You can wait in the car if you don’t want to come in.”
“I think I’ll be fine. This is about you, not me.”
“Thank you,” he said, raising her hands to his lips.
She felt like a princess when he kissed her like that. It made her think of the prince in the fairy tale who took the hand of the beauty and gallantly kissed the backs of her fingers. She couldn’t contain the thrill that coursed through her veins when his kisses slowly moved up her arms.
“Brandan... Not here.”
“Why the hell not?” he growled and took her mouth with his, gently holding her face prisoner while he plundered her warmth, his tongue challenging hers for power.
She responded like a woman dying of thirst and he was the solitary answer to her fate.
“Ahem?” The car had pulled up and Mick had opened the door, but neither had noticed.
Sophie blushed violently, straightening her clothing before stepping out into the heat. Mick gave her the thumbs up as she turned to help Brandan out. She rolled her eyes at him with a grin.
“You two can stop talking about me,” Brandan said.
“How could you possibly know that?” Sophie asked as Mick laughed and closed the door behind them.
“I’m blind, not stupid,” he pointed out.
“We’ll see,” she responded with a healthy dose of mischief.
“It’s a good thing you have hold of my hand,” Brandan leaned in close and told her.
“Why’s that?” She liked it when he got flirty.
“Otherwise I’d spank your bottom.”
“Maybe later,” she whispered, running her hand up his arm.
“Will there be a later?” he asked her seriously.
“Do you want there to be?”
He was about to say something when they were interrupted by the nurse at the desk. “Ah, Mr Mcallister. The doctor has been called away to an emergency but he said to tell you he should be back very soon.”
Brandan nodded and let Sophie lead him to a chair in the waiting room but he was tense beneath her hands.
Chapter Seventeen
This time she didn’t freak out and run away. There were a lot less pregnant women and children in the waiting room. It helped Sophie to stay calm. She closed her eyes and leaned her head back against the wall behind her, listening to the rumbling of her empty stomach. They really should have eaten something.
“Are you all right?”
“I’m fine.” Maybe he’d heard her stomach rumble. That, or the sigh that followed it.
“I don’t think you’ve been this quiet since we met.”
“It’s not like you volunteer to fill the silence,” Sophie pointed out.
After a few more minutes of tension he spoke again. “What the hell is going on?”
“What do you mean?” she asked, looking around the nearly empty waiting room. There was nothing going on, no noise, not even the sound of a phone.
“What is taking so long?” he asked in his doesn’t-he-know-who-I-am voice.
“I’m sure that while he is taking care of an emergency his thoughts are ‘gee I really should finish up here so I don’t keep Mr McAllister waiting’.”
“Very funny,” Brandan said bumping his shoulder against hers.
He radiated anxiety and it kicked up her own nerves. “It’s going to be fine, h
e’ll be here soon and then you will finally be able to see the beautiful views from our room.”
Thirty minutes later they were still waiting restlessly, both were starting to fidget. Sophie slammed down the magazine she was reading on the chair next to her and stood up.
“I’m going to see what’s taking so long.”
Sophie wished she hadn’t a few minutes later.
“Well?” he prompted when she threw herself down in the chair without a word.
“He may not be coming.”
“What?” Brandan exploded. “There has to be another doctor I can see?”
“There isn’t. The nurse is going to make a few calls and find out if we can come back this afternoon or if it will have to wait till tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow? I want it done now.”
“Mr McAllister?” The nurse called as she walked over.
“Yes?”
“I’m really very sorry but the doctor has been detained and won’t be able to make it back today.”
“It had better be a damned important emergency,” he muttered.
“His wife went into labour early this morning and there were complications so he had to stay with her,” the nurse explained.
Immediately Brandan felt contrite, he shouldn’t have been complaining. He knew exactly what it was like, the nervous wait to see if your wife and baby would come through unscathed, the way your heart would just about stop every time one of the nurses got a funny look on her face or one of the monitors would go crazy, beeping and whining.
The nurse kept talking and he had to hurry to keep up with her words. “He said if everything went alright he would stop by your hotel tonight otherwise it won’t hurt to give your eyes one more day to heal.”
“Thanks.” Brandan replied. Another day? Could he wait that long to find out if he was ever going to able to see again? “Tell him not to bother himself tonight, just let him enjoy his baby for a few hours. I’ll see him tomorrow.”
“Thank you, I’ll let him know,” she said, before walking away.
An intake of breath followed by a growling stomach made him smile, chasing the anger and frustration away.
“All right, all right,” he said, reaching for Sophie’s hand. “Time to eat.”
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