Prognosis Incompatible

by Andrews, Amy

  He chuckled as he cut into his steak. ‘Nothing too deep and dark about me, I’m afraid.’

  ‘Hah! Don’t believe you. What about your ex? What happened there?’

  ‘Ah.’ He smiled. ‘Long story.’

  She smiled at him as she slowly sucked a strand of fettuccine into her mouth and watched his eyes bulge ever so slightly as her tongue darted out to lick some creamy sauce off her lips. ‘I’m not going anywhere,’ she said.

  Marcus stared at her for a moment, trying to clear the lust from his brain. ‘We were twenty-two,’ he said after a moment. ‘She got pregnant, we got married. She had a miscarriage. The whole thing was a disaster. We got divorced.’

  She laughed. ‘So that’s the nutshell version?’

  He shrugged. ‘It was a long time ago.’

  She rolled her eyes. ‘Men! I just tell you all my gut-wrenching stuff and you give me nutshell? I want more,’ she demanded with a smile.

  ‘All right,’ he sighed, resigned to a full dissection of a time in his life he’d rather not remember in too much detail. ‘What do you want to know?’

  She looked at him exasperatedly. ‘I don’t know...’ She searched around for something to start with. ‘What’s her name?’

  ‘Tabitha.’

  ‘How long were you together before she got pregnant?’

  ‘A year.’

  ‘Did you love her?’

  ‘I think so, in the beginning. But I think I was more besotted with her than anything. She was the prettiest girl I’d ever seen. It wore off kind of quickly, though. I was about to call it off when she discovered she was pregnant.’

  ‘Ouch!’

  ‘Yup.’

  ‘But you married her anyway?’

  He nodded vigorously. ‘No way in the world was a kid of mine growing up without a father. Been there, done that. Wouldn’t wish it on my worst enemy. I insisted we get married.’

  Madeline nodded. That made sense, knowing what she knew about his childhood and his bond with Connor. ‘How long after that did she miscarry?’

  ‘About a month. She was sixteen weeks.’

  Madeline whistled. ‘Late. She must have been devastated.’

  He nodded. It had been so unexpected. Tabitha had been well into the second trimester — it had been a shock.

  ‘And how did you feel?’

  ‘Truthfully?’ She nodded. ‘Relieved. Sure, it was sad, too, but I wasn’t ready for a baby. As much as I ranted about my child having a father, I lived with this constant feeling of dread. Like my life as I knew it was at an end. I mean, we were so young and we’d tied ourselves down to marriage and children and I was in med school and trying to study and work to support us. And then I felt guilty that I was relieved and stayed for another two years, trying to assuage my guilt.’

  She gave him a sad smile and reached her hand across the table to lie on top of his. ‘Poor you.’

  He smiled back. ‘Poor Tabitha. I think I stayed in Melbourne for so long because I still felt that guilt years later. I’ve tried to be there for her since. You know, do some DIY stuff, helped her move house a few times, checked in on her from time to time.’

  ‘She’s not remarried?’

  ‘No. She’s had a few relationships that haven’t worked out.’

  ‘And neither have you,’ she said speculatively as she withdrew her hand.

  He laughed. ‘I’m a fast learner.’

  A waitress came and removed their plates and took orders for another drink. They moved onto other topics and Madeline found herself relaxing. The music was good, the company was very good and her third glass of wine was amazingly good.

  With their angsty conversation behind them, the thing between them flared again and Madeline enjoyed her newfound power. Her every move, every gesture was followed intently by Marcus’s interested gaze. She pushed the envelope purposefully. Her fingers caressed the fine chain at her neck, fiddled with her wristwatch and her arms folded and unfolded, drawing his gaze repeatedly to her cleavage.

  Marcus was charming and easy to talk to and, when he laughed it lit up his whole face and emphasised his dimples, and the noise was rich and deep and soothing. As the night settled around them and the flames from the garden torches danced shadows across his jaw stubble, the feelings he had stirred with his massage intensified. The longer she spent in his company, the surer she was that Marcus was just what the doctor ordered.

  Rebound sex.

  ‘Dessert?’ he asked.

  Only if she could be it. She looked him straight in the eye and shook her head.

  Rebound sex.

  ‘Coffee?’

  She held his gaze steadily and shook her head again.

  Rebound sex.

  Marcus felt his groin tighten. He looked at his watch. Nine p.m. ‘Then I guess we should probably go.’ They were at one of the last remaining occupied tables, most people having left as soon as they’d eaten.

  She nodded and stood, draping her jacket over her arm and retrieving her purse, passing over some cash.

  ‘I think I can manage it,’ he said.

  She considered him for a minute. He looked like he could manage it very well indeed.

  Rebound sex.

  She shrugged. ‘OK. Thanks.’

  They walked past the markets, now closed for the night, and back towards the river. They ambled down the walkway in silence, the fairy-lights in the trees a subdued glow. They didn’t talk.

  Madeline’s heart pounded in her chest as she debated ways to proposition him. It had seemed like a good idea in the pub but thinking it and doing it were two different things. She could hear the gentle lap of the river and the warm evening air was filled with the fragrance of summer blooms.

  But his arm brushed hers occasionally and she could smell his aftershave and the faint whiff of beer, and when he walked slightly ahead of her his gait was all man and his butt was as cute as hell.

  ‘Actually, I wouldn’t mind a coffee,’ she said. ‘Why don’t we go up to your place?’ Her heartbeat thundered in her ears and she held her breath.

  Marcus stopped. His loins exploded into flame. He knew what she was suggesting. He turned back. ‘There’s plenty of coffee-shops still open,’ he said, holding her gaze.

  ‘I haven’t seen your place yet.’

  Marcus sighed. ‘Maddy...’

  Madeline almost groaned out loud at the way he said her name. Her muscles clenched. ‘Please, Marcus,’ she said quietly.

  He walked over to the wall where she’d been sitting earlier and looked at the darkened river, shimmering in places with the reflections of the city lights. He turned back and wished he hadn’t because she’d obviously been standing just behind him and was now, consequently, just in front of him. And then she took a step closer. He placed a staying hand on her shoulder.

  ‘Maddy,’ he groaned.

  ‘Please,’ she whispered.

  He shook his head and took a side step away from her. ‘No.’

  ‘Are you going to make me beg?’ She smiled despite his rejection because he looked so conflicted.

  Poor guy.

  Marcus shut his eyes to block out the images her begging evoked. ‘Look, you’re on the rebound.’

  Madeline’s smile widened. Yeah, hence the rebound sex! ‘You don’t want to be rebound guy?’

  Of course he wanted to be rebound guy. But he didn’t really think she knew the rules. ‘You said yourself that you could never be with someone like me. You’re a commitment girl. I respect that. Rebound sex.’ He shook his head. ‘There are rules, Maddy. It’s not about love or relationships. It’s just about lust and desire and sometimes even there’s a healthy dose of revenge thrown in.’

  ‘Good,’ she said, stepping closer again. She didn’t care about the happily ever after stuff for tonight. She got it. Tonight was just about sex. ‘So now I know the rules.’

  ‘If we do this —’

  ‘When,’ she interrupted with a smile and reached forward to trace his collar-bone
with her finger.

  He felt the jolt in his groin and grabbed her hand, holding it still. ‘If,’ he said pointedly. ‘You need to know that it’s probably not going to mean the same thing to me as it is to you. It’ll be sex —’

  ‘Good sex?’ she interrupted again.

  Hell, yes! She looked set to ignite at the merest touch. ‘Concentrate, Maddy. I don’t do weddings or babies or long term. You’ve just heard why. From a female point of view, my commitment track record sucks.’

  ‘Okay, okay,’ she said, moving in so the length of her body was now touching the length of his. ‘Just sex. I get it.’

  She didn’t care and she certainly didn’t want to get involved with someone else on the back of her split with Simon. Especially a commitment-phobe. But Marcus’s hard body felt so good she was going to scream if she didn’t feel him in her as soon as possible.

  ‘Are you sure, Maddy? Really sure?’ he asked, his voice husky, her lips millimetres from his.

  She stepped back and smiled at him. ‘Cross my heart,’ she said, doing the actions in a flirty lingering fashion, feeling the arousal of her nipples. ‘Your place or mine?’

  ‘Mine,’ he said, grabbing her hand hastily and pulling her along. ‘It’s closer.’

  They didn’t talk, just walked. Quickly. By the time they reached the foyer of his apartment complex they were both breathing harder. They waited impatiently for the lift to arrive and the second Marcus had punched the number six and the doors had pinged shut he backed her against the wall and gave her a hard probing kiss.

  Madeline almost fainted as the tightly controlled lid she’d been keeping on her hormones exploded and she kissed him back like he was a freshwater stream and she was dying of thirst.

  She dropped her bag and her jacket to the floor and hooked a leg around his. He gripped her bottom and pulled her up and in, grinding his pelvis into hers, his desire evident. She whimpered and an ache roared to life between her thighs.

  The lift pinged and Marcus dropped Maddy back onto her feet then squatted in front of her, looking up into her emerald eyes, his nostrils flaring at her female scent. He hastily picked her things up off the floor, grabbed her hand again and half strode, half ran with her down the hallway to his door.

  Madeline stood looking at the door as he fished through his pocket for the keys. She noticed the number was sixty-nine and she quirked an eyebrow at him.

  ‘That a prediction?’ she asked cheekily, running her fingers over the brass numbers.

  ‘Nope.’ He eyed her intensely. ‘It’s a promise.’

  Her heart tripped. ‘Hurry.’

  Marcus laughed to hide the slight tremble of his fingers as he fumbled to unlock the door. His hand shook, his vision blinded in a cloud of lust. He relaxed as the key finally slipped into the lock and he opened the door, pulling her inside, slamming the door behind them and pushing her against it.

  And then he was kissing her and his hands were everywhere. He wanted to take her here, now, against the door, but he wanted to taste every part of her first.

  He pulled back and she mewed her disappointment. Chuckling, he pressed another hard kiss to her mouth. ‘It’s OK, I just want to look at you.’

  Madeline watched as his gaze fell to her cleavage and his index finger stroked lightly against the little white button that had winked at him and teased him all night.

  ‘This,’ he said, ‘has to go.’ And he grasped the lapels of her shirt and yanked the shirt open, buttons popping and flying everywhere.

  Madeline gasped not caring that he’d just ruined her shirt in the face of his potent male need. He stared at her breasts, her nipples hardening as quickly as if he’d applied ice cubes.

  ‘Oh, my God. Green and pink lacy push-up,’ Marcus said, gazing at the twin marvels like they were chunks of precious stone. ‘With a little jewel in the middle. Front clasp.’ He gave her a slow sexy smile. ‘Pictured you as a white-cotton girl,’ he murmured.

  ‘Never judge a book by its cover,’ Madeline said, wishing he’d kiss her again.

  He didn’t but he did run his fingers down the lacy edge of the bra, delving into her cleavage, stroking and teasing the soft skin.

  ‘Matching knickers?’ he asked, leaning in to kiss the slope of her neck and reaching behind to the zip of her skirt, sliding it down and easing it off her hips.

  Madeline kicked out of it and blushed as his appreciative gaze devoured her body. Her matching knickers met with his approval and she thanked God nice underwear was her one true vice.

  ‘I’m going to lick you all over,’ he promised her before sweeping her up into his arms.

  Kicking open his bedroom door, he was at his bed and dropping her on it, within three strides. Marcus took a moment to just look at her. Her Titian ringlets lay fanned out on his bed. Her green and pink lacy underwear hid and emphasised all at once.

  ‘Marcus,’ she whispered, and held her arms out to him.

  ‘Tell me what you want, Maddy.’

  Make love to me. It was on the tip of Madeline’s tongue but she stopped herself at the last moment. She didn’t want Marcus to think she was unclear about the rules. ‘I want you in me. Now.’

  She watched as his dimples disappeared and his clear blue eyes hazed over with lust. ‘Good answer,’ he said and tore off his clothes.

  Madeline admired his nudity, the broadness of his chest, the definition of his muscles and the length and hardness of his erection. Her fingers itched to touch and she licked her lips in anticipation. And when he lowered his body onto hers she revelled in the weight and the feel and the hard jut of him cradled against her pelvis.

  He kissed her and she almost cried it was so good. As his tongue stroked across her lips and delved into her mouth she reached down between them and stroked the smooth hard length of him. His deep moan was empowering and she boldly positioned him at her entrance.

  ‘Now, Marcus, please. Now.’

  He tore his mouth away. ‘Oh, no. I said I was going to lick you all over and that’s exactly what I intend to do.’

  ‘I can’t wait that long,’ she panted.

  He chuckled. ‘I’ll make it worth your while.’

  She shook her head. ‘I mean it, Marcus. It’s been too long. I need to feel you in me or I’m going to go insane.’

  She wriggled her pelvis so his head was teasing her entrance and she clutched his back convulsively as everything clenched at the stimulus. ‘Please, Marcus. Please.’

  ‘But —’

  She lifted her head and kissed him hard on the mouth. ‘No buts. You don’t need to worry, I’m more than ready for this.’

  He grinned. ‘At least let me get you naked.’

  ‘Nope.’ She shook her head. ‘Right here, right now. Like this.’

  He reached for a condom and tore the packet with his teeth. ‘What the lady wants...’ He shrugged.

  Madeline braced herself for his entry as his hand deftly swept her knickers aside and he slowly pushed inside, filling her with breathtaking fullness. With his other hand, he pulled aside one lacy bra cup and Madeline opened her eyes in time to see his lips descending then closing over an erect nipple.

  She bit down on her lip to stop the scream as his full length pulsed inside her. ‘More,’ she moaned, and almost cried out as he withdrew and plunged back in again, harder, faster this time.

  She whimpered revelling in the way his body trembled against hers. ‘More,’ she said, louder this time.

  Marcus had never been this turned on in his life. Maddy’s nipple was a hard peak in his mouth, scrapping erotically against his tongue, and her hot moist depths milked him as he plunged to the hilt.

  ‘Faster,’ she groaned.

  His mouth left her nipple and plundered her soft mouth, silencing her demands. They were making him build too quickly and he wanted to stay here for ever.

  ‘Marcus.’ She tore her mouth from his. ‘Don’t stop. Don’t you dare stop!’

  ‘No chance, Maddy.’ He laughed, burying his
face in her neck and licking his way back down to her still hard nipple.

  Madeline was on fire. His first plunge had lit the fuse and with each thrust the flame moved slowly towards flash point. He was on her and around her and in her and she could feel him and see him and smell him and she wanted him to pound inside her forever, hold her like this forever.

  But she could feel the first twinge of her orgasm and knew it was going to end soon. She needed it, desperately, but fought the pull, reluctant to end their union.

  She groaned out loud and Marcus rained kisses on her face. Another groan was ripped from her and she gave herself up to the sensations, not caring that she would most likely be dragged under and drown in the undertow. She’d go happily.

  ‘Oh, God,’ she panted. ‘There. Right there. Don’t stop.’

  Marcus picked up the tempo, thrusting harder, faster as his own orgasm rushed up from deep in his loins. He groaned her name, too, as he felt her contracting around him, giving him the extra stimulus, sucking him under as well.

  They cried out together as their bodies shook with the intensity and they rode it until the pleasure became so all-consuming it was almost painful and neither could go on any longer.

  Madeline’s breath was ragged as the remnants of pleasure undulated deep inside her, stroking him, still hard inside her. She revelled in his weight and the unevenness of his breathing and knew he was as incapable as her of movement.

  As she lay in the aftermath, his weight pressing her into the bed, Madeline knew that she’d never previously experienced what she’d just experienced.

  Never in a decade with Simon. Never. Ever. And it wasn’t just the sex. Somewhere, while she had been drowning in the undertow, she’d made a much more intimate connection.

  The ice that had encased her heart was gone. Melted like a snowball in sunshine by the heat and intensity of Marcus’s passion. In a few days and one cataclysmic night he had thawed what she hadn’t thought could ever be thawed. Her heart pulsed in the warm cavity of her chest again and she had him to thank for it.