by Claire Adams
She struggled against me, her hands pushing ineffectually at my chest, but from the way her mouth opened to me, the way her tongue twisted against mine, I could tell that she didn't want me to stop. Maybe neither of us knew what we were doing at the moment. If that was the case, maybe I could forgive her.
I took a step forward, closing the small gap between us, really leaning into her. Her body stiffened against mine, and our kiss became impossibly more heated, more lustful. At least, until she turned her head to the side, away from me.
I nibbled on her earlobe and then pressed sloppy kisses to her jawline and her neck, listening carefully to the little whimpers that she made. “Eric,” she whispered. “I didn't sleep with Buck. I don't want anyone except you right now.”
I smirked against her skin. “You want me, do you?” I asked her.
When I pulled back, she was biting her lip. I rubbed it with my thumb, and kissed her again, sucking the abused flesh into my mouth, licking at the marks she'd made in her skin. I could feel her responding to me, her mouth opening up, and her body relaxing against my weight, where I pinned her to the wall. She sighed softly as I pulled away, and it took a moment for her eyes to slide back open again.
“Oh, Eric,” she said quietly, drawing us both out of the spell of the kiss.
Chapter Twenty
Olivia
I hadn't expected Eric to show up there, and I hadn't expected him to accuse me of sleeping with Buck. Of course, there had been that little bubble of guilt inside of me, ever since I had invited Buck to go to the wedding with me, and it had been there through figuring out the arrangements at the hotel after the wedding. I'd felt silly, both for feeling guilty about it and for having drunk so much champagne that I couldn't get myself home that night.
In fact, I'd wanted to call Eric from the hotel that night, and the only thing stopping me had been the fact that my phone was out of battery and I didn't have a charge cable with me. I had a feeling that they probably had one down at the front desk that I could borrow, but I hadn't been able to get up the nerve to go down there and ask for one.
But now, Eric was here, in my front hall, kissing the life out of me. It was as though he was trying to assert some sort of claim on me, and although at first, I struggled against him, before long I found myself giving into the passion and the pleasure. I wanted him just as bad as he appeared to want me.
He slotted a leg up between mine, and I groaned, grinding down against him. It felt so good to have that little bit of pressure against my clit, but it was nowhere near enough, even with his hands playing with my breasts through the flimsy cotton of my pajama shirt, which I'd changed into after my shower that evening.
Eric kicked the door shut behind him, and I had the feeling that there was no going back now. This was happening, whatever this was. I wanted to stop him, to try to clarify. I knew that if we did this again and then he spent the next two weeks ignoring me, it was going to hurt, maybe more than all the other times had. What's more, I still needed to tell him about the pregnancy.
But I was afraid that if I stopped him, I'd shatter this fragile thing between us, whatever it was. So I let him keep going, and I just kept hoping that this wouldn't mess things up between us.
I couldn't let it drop, though. “Eric,” I interrupted, turning my head away again.
“I don't want to talk about it,” Eric growled, his hand tugging at my hair. “All right?”
“All right,” I breathed, so incredibly turned on by the angry passion in his voice.
“I don't want to talk at all. I just want you to sit there and take it, whatever I want to do with you.”
“Okay,” I agreed, practically sobbing as 'whatever he wanted to do with me' apparently involved him pushing my panties aside and plunging his fingers into me.
Eric groaned long and low and then kissed me again, still working his fingers inside of me.
The kiss was a little tamer than before, but it still held a surprising fire to it. His lips moved frantically against mine, and I wondered that he was so worried about losing me. I stumbled a little toward him as his arms came around me, dragging me forward—but he caught me easily and steadied me. We made out sloppily until my lips were swollen and my whole body was flushed with pleasure.
Finally, he pulled back and dragged my shirt up over my head. He stared hungrily down at my naked breasts and reached out to experimentally roll one of the nipples between his fingertips. Then, he latched on with his mouth, teeth biting into the skin, leaving behind marks that I was sure I should feel embarrassed about. But he kissed each mark with a tenderness that surprised me. I arched toward him, and he grinned, making his way back toward my mouth.
He paused to kiss my pulse point, setting my heart rate fluttering and fast. Then, he tugged down my panties in one easy move, letting them drop to the tile floor. It was only then that I became aware that we were still there in my front hall. He had closed the door, fortunately, so no one would be able to see us, but still. I felt a flush of embarrassment course through me: this was the first time that I'd had sex anywhere that wasn't a bed. But then, this was also the first time that I felt like I had to have sex somewhere other than a bed.
Right now, the bed seemed impossibly far away, and I didn't think I could make it there without combusting with the heat of my passion.
I stood there naked in front of him, biting my lower lip a bit as I watched him strip off his own clothing, piece by piece, moving slowly and letting me catalog each new swath of skin that was revealed. I couldn't help making a soft noise as he slid off his boxers, his prick bouncing in the air between us. I reached out a tentative hand and thumbed at his slit, finding that it was already damp with precum.
Suddenly, I couldn't help myself. I dropped down to my knees in front of him, leaning in so that I could get my mouth on him. Hoping to speed things up, not because I wanted it to be over but because I needed him inside me. It was the fastest way I knew how to goad him into action. Eric groaned his appreciation as I sucked at his tip of his dick and mouthed my way along his shaft, swirling my tongue along his delicate skin. He tasted so damn good that I lost myself in what I was up to. My selfishness shifted, and I wanted to take my time with him, to hear him moan, to make him cum for me.
He was content to let me set the pace, although his hand did come down to tangle in my hair. His fingernails scratched lightly at my scalp so that I shivered in pleasure as well. I couldn't help dropping a hand down between my legs, playing with my clit as I pumped at his member, tonguing my way along his shaft.
I could taste his pearly drops of precum, and for a moment, I wanted to get him off just like this. Suddenly, the niceness vanished, and Eric's hand came down around the back of my head, forcing me down further until I was practically choking on his length. I felt tears sting my eyes, but I didn't stop him. There was something degrading about it, something painful too, but at the same time, I was turned on by it all.
My pleasure spiked hotly in my belly, and I couldn't help but moan wantonly around Eric's length. I sucked hard against his heat and fluttered my tongue across the thick vein at the underside of his dick, and I heard his breath catch.
I could tell he was getting close, from the way his balls drew up tight against his body. His member felt as hot as a branding iron, and just as firm. But he finally pulled me off of him. Then he looked down at me, breath ragged, his face flushed, and his eyes dark with lust. I trembled, waiting for him to direct me.
“God, you're sexy,” Eric said hoarsely. He got to his knees on the hall rug and then lay me back, pushing my legs open. Slowly, he began to kiss his way up the insides of my legs, a glint in his eye. He moved with incredible patience, slower than I could stand. No matter how much I squirmed beneath him, he refused to touch me where I needed him to. Instead, he stopped just shy of my folds, biting a mark into the soft skin there, making me cry out and writhe with desire. I snaked a hand down, trying to touch myself, desperate for some release. But Eric caught my wrist
, shaking his head, still grinning at me. “Oh no,” he said.
“Eric,” I whined. “Please, you don't know how badly I need it.”
“Oh you need it, do you?”
I gasped as he trailed his fingers across my nub, and I couldn't help rocking against his hand, moaning again as the very tips of his fingers dipped inside my entrance. He continued to caress the soft folds there and then pulled back, wrapping a hand around his package and stroking himself to full firmness.
He grabbed a condom from his jeans and hurriedly tore it open, sliding it on with practiced ease. Then, he plunged inside of me, penetrating deep into my warmth, and we both groaned in unison.
“Fuck,” I whimpered, unable to explain how perfectly he completed me.
“Yeah,” Eric agreed breathlessly. He began to move his hips in a slow, circular motion that dragged at my pleasure points and had me clinging to him within moments. On each drawn-out upstroke, he seemed to bury himself deeper inside of me.
I twisted my head to the side, pressing my face against his forearm where he was resting his weight on the tile floor. He slowly lowered himself down so that he could kiss me sloppily once again. The kiss was firmer than before, and I shivered as he filled my mouth with his tongue even while he filled my needy pussy with his thick cock.
He pulled back from the kiss just when I was becoming breathless, but he didn't give me time to recover. Instead, he gave a few quick, hard thrusts into me, sending me spilling over into oblivion. I came hard, my whole body going slack against the rug.
But that didn't stop Eric, who was still chasing after his own orgasm. I was shaking by the time he came, and I could hardly breathe as he fucked me through it all, ignoring how overstimulated I was, ignoring the way I gasped and clung to him. He spilled into me in seemingly endless waves of passion, and then finally fell still.
We lay there for a long moment, until he finally dragged his head up, smirking at me even as his fingers slid between my legs. I sobbed and reached down to catch his wrist, knowing that I couldn't handle the way he was flicking the pad of his calloused thumb against my nub; it was too much.
Fortunately, Eric seemed to understand that, because, after a few last, slow strokes, he removed his hand and rolled to the side, off the rug, and onto the tile. He didn't even flinch at the cold, though.
I turned on one side, propping my head up on my hand so that I could stare at him. “We need to talk,” I said finally.
Eric laughed and looked over at me. “Probably,” he agreed.
“Come here, off the tile,” I said, scooting to the side so that he could lie on the rug as well. When he did so, it brought the two of us closer together, and I pillowed my head against his shoulder. Eric's fingers came up to stroke my hair.
I breathed out a soft sigh and snuggled closer. “I'm not sleeping with Buck,” I said, feeling sleepy and sated.
“I'm sorry I stormed in like that,” Eric said, sounding embarrassed and upset.
I smiled. “Actually, it was kind of flattering. Like you wanted to duel for me or something.”
Eric laughed. “This isn't the Middle Ages,” he said.
“Not all chivalry is dead, though, is it?” I asked. “A girl can hope, anyway.”
“For the sake of chivalry, I want to clarify: I never meant for this to be about just sleeping together,” Eric said seriously. “I wouldn't do that to you.” He paused. “I want something more than casual. I just want to do it on our terms, without the whole town butting in.”
“So we need to figure out a way to make that work,” I said thoughtfully, already trying to come up with a solution. My heart was singing at the thought that he might want an actual relationship with me. I only hoped we could manage it.
“We need to find a way to make that work,” Eric agreed. “Easier said than done, but maybe if we set up all our dates when I stop by the daycare anyway, and then we both drive separately to where it is? I don't want it to feel like we're sneaking around, but just for now, I want to keep things quiet if we can.”
“All our dates?” I asked, feeling warmth blossom inside me.
Eric pulled me closer, kissing my hair. “All our dates,” he affirmed. “I know a certain Italian restaurant that you seem to like, and there's a Thai food place that I've wanted to take you to as well.”
I hummed a response and then rolled away. “For now, I guess you have to get back to Emma, though?”
“Yeah,” Eric sighed. He brushed my hair back, tucking it behind my ear. “I'll see you bright and early on Monday morning, though. Maybe I'll bring donuts, to make up for barging in here.”
I grinned. “Well, the sex in the front hall more than made up for your jealousy, but I wouldn't say no to donuts!”
Eric grinned as well and leaned in to give me a last, chaste kiss before he started putting his clothes on.
I closed the door behind him when he left and leaned back against it, wondering if this really could work out between us.
Chapter Twenty-One
Eric
I was in the middle of an appointment on Monday afternoon when my cell phone rang. I frowned, planning to ignore the thing. I could give them a call back afterward. But as soon as the phone quit ringing, it started up again. I glanced at Mrs. Allbright as I finished up the prescription that I was writing for her. “So you'll need to take two of these twice a day until they run out,” I instructed her. “But they'll print those instructions on the bottle when you go to fill the prescription. Let me know if you have any problems or if your symptoms get worse.”
Mrs. Allbright looked doubtfully toward my bag, where my phone had started ringing for the third time. “Aren't you going to answer that, dear?”
“Is it all right if I do?” I asked.
“It sounds like it must be important,” she said.
I nodded and grabbed my phone, stepping out onto the back porch to answer, giving me a little privacy. “Hello?”
“Eric! Eric, thank God. It's my mother. I don't know what's wrong with her or why she hasn't called 911, but she called me and said she can barely breathe and that she has severe pain in her chest. I don't know what's wrong, but I can't go over there right now because I have the kids.”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” I said. “Olivia, I need you to take a deep breath for me, okay? In and out, nice and easy. Where is she?”
“At her house,” Olivia sobbed. “She's at her house, and Eric, I don't know what's wrong. It's so unlike her to complain about anything; it must be really serious.”
“I'm on my way over there now,” I promised. “I'll keep you updated. For now, just stay where you are. I'm sure everything is fine; we'll just do a couple of tests to make sure.”
The truth was, I wasn't sure that everything was fine. But worrying would only make Olivia panic even worse.
I hung up the phone and headed back inside, grabbing my things. “I've received an emergency call. I have to go,” I told Mrs. Allbright. “You can pay me later for the visit.”
“All right, go!” she said, waving her hands at me.
I ran over to Jeannie's house, bounding up the front steps in a single leap. Fortunately, the front door was unlocked, and I tore inside. “Jeannie?” I called, running from room to room. I skidded to a halt outside the bedroom, panting slightly.
Jeannie was laying back on her bed, her breath rattling from her lips. She coughed lightly. “Good to see you, doctor,” she panted.
“What seems to be bothering you?” I asked, putting on my professional voice as I strode into the room. “Olivia said your lungs were hurting you and that it was difficult to breathe?”
Jeannie nodded but didn't respond further.
Her breaths were coming irregularly, I realized, and I started to do a full examination, or as full of one as I could do here. I strapped a breathing mask over her face, but it didn't seem to help as much as I would have liked.
I frowned, feeling grim. I had a feeling I knew exactly what the issue was, and if I was correct,
it wasn't a good sign. “Jeannie, I need you to come with me to Kingsfield to go to the hospital,” I told her as gently as I could. The woman's eyes widened, and I could tell that she was scared. I hurried to soothe her. “I just want to have some X-rays taken of your lungs,” I told her. “Just to see if we can figure out what's causing your pain.”
Jeannie's face clouded, and I thought for a second that she was going to argue. But she must have been in a decent amount of pain because, eventually, she nodded and let me help her up from the bed. I wondered if we would be better off taking an ambulance, but she was able to walk under most of her weight, although her breaths were still uneven and rattled.
Besides, an ambulance wasn't going to be able to help her more than I could. I had a feeling that the problem was that she had tumors growing in her lungs. Only a CT scan could tell; we would be able to see the vessels of the tumors and be able to go from there.
I swallowed hard, wishing that it hadn't come to this. Maybe if I'd been a little more insistent about the chemo treatments, we could have avoided this. Or at least delayed it, giving Olivia a little more time with her mother.
I drove too fast on the way to the hospital, but fortunately, I wasn't pulled over. I used my connections to get Jeannie in immediately for the X-rays, doing my best to fill out her paperwork based on the information I already had in her file, which fortunately had been in my doctor's bag since I'd been planning on having another talk with Olivia soon anyway.
I stood up as one of the doctors made his way over to me. “Dr. Halsey, good to see you,” I said, reaching out to shake his hand.
“I wish I had better news for you,” Halsey said grimly. “It's exactly what you suspected: the cancer has spread to the lymph nodes, and the tumors in her lungs are growing. Pretty soon, they'll be large enough that she won't be able to breathe properly.”
I closed my eyes and pressed my fingertips against my eyelids. “All right,” I said. “What do you suggest we do? Chemotherapy?” Halsey was one of the leading oncologists in the state; if anyone was going to be able to come up with a solution, it was him.