by Aliyah Burke
He glanced at her. “Always?”
“Yep. My sisters changed it up, but I was bound and determined that if I continually went as a princess, my prince would find me and sweep me off my feet. Spirit me away to his castle in some far-off land.”
“Still going as a princess, this year?”
She chuckled. “Hey, I like dressing up as a princess. Don’t judge.”
Grant held up his large, strong hands, eyes sparkling with humor. “No judgment here. Just curiosity. Do you even include a tiara?”
She gasped indignant. “Of course I do.”
“That, I’d love to see.”
“Swing by the Quad Cities at Halloween and come to the hospital party. I’m always there. This year, I’m wearing blue.”
“I assumed you would be. You mean there were years of other colors?”
Eva smacked him playfully. “Yes, thank you very much. Before I locked in on blue I wore other colors. I’ve worn many different ones.”
“Sure, you have,” he drawled. “So you’re like Cinderella on this night?”
“A very naughty Cinderella.” She sucked her finger into her mouth. “Very naughty.”
“What the hell kind of party is this?”
The gravely tone went from his mouth straight to her clit. Eva laughed until her sides hurt. “Sorry, but your expression was priceless. Like I was going there in some naughty dress. So hopeful.”
“Woman,” he rumbled. “You can’t blame me for hoping.”
“It’s a children’s hospital. Of course, I’m a proper princess.”
“And behind closed doors?”
“I can’t divulge that information. You’d have to come by and find out firsthand yourself.” The moment the words left her mouth, she realized they were an invitation to something much more than this week here in Mexico. She wanted it but at the same time, Eva wanted to snatch them back and put up rows of impenetrable walls.
“I may just do that.”
While his words pumped a world of hope into her, she pushed it away. This was just a fling. A time to have fun and get enough sex to last her for a while since when she got back, it would be all about work. So, she let it go, not commenting on his statement. Besides, what man would want an incomplete woman?
The anger inside began to churn once more.
I need to not focus on that right now. I’m here to enjoy this time with him. Not pine about a future I’m not going to have with this man.
“Care to take me dancing tonight?” she asked, lying on her back, fingers lingering along his forearm.
“Absolutely. Where?”
“We can ask at the front desk. I’m sure they have some places they’d recommend.”
He gathered her close and nuzzled her neck, sending all kinds of warm fuzzy feelings through her. “Consider it a date.”
“Good, because it’s been a while since I’ve shaken my ass on the floor.”
He nipped her neck. “Not true. You were shaking your ass on the floor earlier today when I was behind you.” Grant smoothed a hand over her ass. “Beautiful image to me, it was.”
“Can’t have that out in public.” She tugged on his shirt. “Perhaps we should get it out of the way, so it’s not in your system when we go dancing.”
“I’m all for doing it again but I promise you, if I see you shaking this on the floor I’m still going to want to fuck you. Hard.”
Eva could say, in all honesty, she felt the same way. “That’s then, this is now. Let’s see what we can do about it. Shirt off.”
He listened with a low growl of approval when she stripped off her top.
She got to her feet and put her hands up in the air, grinding her hips. “Come dance with me.”
“My pleasure, Eva.” Grant got to his feet.
Soon, nothing else mattered but him, his touch and what he was doing to her.
* * * *
Grant stared down at the petite blonde in his arms. They lay out in a hammock, wrapped together, limbs entwined tight together. She slept and he smiled, thinking she had every right to.
I sure kept her up late last night. Not that it was a one-way thing, for she sure as hell kept him up. Goddamn they were good together.
And they had been up until the warm sun began to rise, bathing the land in its glow. They’d stayed awake long enough to get some breakfast however, she’d wanted to be outside for a bit.
So they climbed into a double hammock at the hotel and had been there ever since. He had two more days here and didn’t want to leave her. Hell, he wanted to take her home with him to Arizona and see where things went between them.
“I’m not any good at long-distance relationships. But I’m willing to give it a try for you,” he whispered.
She didn’t respond, remaining sound asleep.
He rubbed his hands along her back, not denying the thrill running through directly to his cock when she moaned slightly and pressed against him further. He loved how she wanted to be held. And not just a little bit. She wanted to be locked in his embrace to the point where he worried he would be crushing her. Sometimes he swore she was trying to climb into his skin.
“Makes me feel wanted,” she’d said one time when he asked twice if she was okay with how hard he held her.
He sure as hell wanted her. In every way possible. And ninety-five percent of the time, he believed she was on the same page with him, but every once in a while, something would flash over her expression and he would hesitate and wonder. Wonder what she was hiding and keeping from him. What secret made her look angry and sad?
Wonder what she’d say if I asked her to marry me? Grant gave a light chuckle then closed his eyes again, body still exhausted. His mind, however, continued to race about the possibilities between them when they returned to the States.
She shifted against him once more and he bit back his groan. Eva had tucked her hands between them and when she moved, she brushed along the edge of his cock. The blood in his body streaked there and pumped him full of steel and lead. There would be no doubting the erection he’d be sporting when they got out of the hammock.
He heard footsteps approaching and opened his eyes in time to see a member of the staff approaching.
The guy flicked his glance between the two of them, smiled and took the empty glasses away, leaving them alone without a word.
Grant liked that about this place. The staff wasn’t intrusive. They weren’t constantly asking and interrupting if they could get you something. However, if you needed or wanted anything, they weren’t hard to find at all.
Right hotel for me to pick.
Doubly so, because of the woman in his arms.
The wind blew warm around them and he could smell the ocean with each breath he took. It wasn’t all he could smell. Eva’s shampoo, with the scent of fresh, crisp pears also floated to his nose.
She rubbed against him once more and this time the groan fell from his lips. Eva shifted and he glanced down to find her peering up at him, all sexy and rumpled.
“Hey,” she muttered.
“Hey yourself, beautiful.”
“How long have you been awake?” She rolled her shoulders and snuggled back up to him, something he greatly approved of.
“Not long. One of the staff came by and collected our glasses, I woke up then.” Okay, so he’d been awake prior but not long, so it didn’t really count in his mind. “Get enough sleep? We could go back to the room and sleep some more.”
“You never fell asleep hard, did you? This is my fault because I wanted to be outside. You stayed partially awake to keep an eye on things.”
He shrugged. It was the truth.
“How about this? We go back to my room. Utilize the bed, then nap again. Wake up and do some surfing and get something to eat later on.”
Grant slid his hand down to cup her ass. “Utilize the bed. Is that an indecent proposal I’m hearing from you, Ms. Monroe?”
Her blue eyes twinkled. “God, I hope it wasn’t a decent one.
”
He squeezed her ass cheek after which he smacked her lightly. “Good, because I really want you on your knees in front of me as I fuck that luscious mouth of yours. Been dreaming about that, and now I’ve got this hard cock that isn’t going to be hidden as we walk across the hotel.”
She moved her hand along his length with subtle motions. “Want me to take care of it now? Right here?”
Lord help him, that was one hell of a tempting offer. “Are you telling me you’d jack me off right here, if I wanted it?” Christ, his voice just dropped a few octaves.
“Jack you, suck you, either or. I’m open for options. I mean the hotel may not approve and we probably shouldn’t give young kids anything in the realm of education in the sexual variety but yes, if that’s what you want, then I will. I’m not coming back here again, I don’t know these people.”
His dick pushed hard into her hand. What he wouldn’t give to have her warm skin on him instead of with a layer of material between them. “Don’t tempt me,” he warned in a low tone.
She shrugged with a teasing smile. “Okay. No more tempting. I’ll be good.” She waggled her eyebrows. “For now.”
Somehow, he doubted that. His cell phone rang and he mumbled as he reached for it in his pocket, having to shift away from Eva in order to accomplish his feat.
This time, she didn’t settle back against him but climbed out of the hammock.
“Where are you going?”
She stretched, arms over her head, drawing her tank tight over her high rounded breasts. “To my room. You take your call. I’ll be up there…showering.” She gave him a pure sex kitten grin. “You know, soapy water, steam, flushed skin, that kind of thing.” After blowing him a kiss, she walked off—leaving him alone in the hammock with an erection that could have drilled for oil.
Frustrated, he swiped his phone and answered, “What?”
“Did I catch you at a bad time, man?”
His best friend, Daniel Erickson, who was also a colleague at the same hospital. Scrubbing a hand over his face, Grant sat up, allowing his feet to dangle over the edge. “Yes.”
“What? About to get some pussy from a willing hottie?”
“Something like that. I’m sure you didn’t call to ask about the sex I’m having. What’s up?”
“I’ve got your caseload at work, like you know, but I had a question about one of your patients.”
Grant immediately shifted into professional mode, pushing away all thoughts of Eva and her naked body soaping up in the shower, her hands gliding over her peach toned skin. Yeah, push all those thoughts away. “Which one?”
“He came in the day before you left, Mr. Hancocci.”
Skimming his mental banks, he recalled the patient. “Right, Mr. Hancocci, arrived at the ER with the metal pipe embedded in his chest that had occurred during an explosion at his place of employment.”
“Yes, him. Was there anything else about him that you can remember? His pressure refuses to come up and it’s like he’s still bleeding, but we’ve checked, and you got him sewn up completely. Nice work by the way.”
Grant climbed out of the hammock and headed for the lobby. “Nope, I don’t recall anything else on him. It was a hellish night. We had a lot of business unfortunately, during my shift. If I had, there would be notes on his sheet. I’m assuming by the call that there wasn’t anything there.”
“No, just wondered if maybe since you were so busy, you’d thought of something after the fact.”
“Damn it. Nope, sorry. I just remember the lead pipe in his chest and the time it took to get him stable.”
“All right. Sorry to bother you on vacation. I’ll let you go. See you when you get back. And if you’d care to bring me a sweet hottie, I’d greatly appreciate it.”
“Not sure how Sarah would feel about that, and while you may be okay in challenging that, she scares the fuck out of me. She’d make my bones dissolve and not leave a trace, so I’m staying away from anything she may view as inappropriate when it comes to you.”
“More the merrier,” Daniel teased.
He grinned as he stretched. “Sarah isn’t even around, is she? You sure as hell don’t have the stones to talk that way if she was.”
Male laughter filled the line. “Fuck no, she’s at work already.”
“I’m out. See you in a few days.”
“Hey, Grant?”
“Yeah?”
“Have some fun, will you? Don’t think of it as a question but more an order.”
“I’ve got a woman waiting in the shower for me. As soon as I get you off the phone, I am going to have lots of fun.”
“Well, hell, why didn’t you say so? Bye.” Daniel hung up with another laugh.
Staring at his phone, Grant shook his head. He’s got my back for sure. He shoved the phone in his pocket and jogged to the elevator. As it went to Eva’s floor, his cock hardened once more, aware of what was there behind the closed door to her room. Personally, he couldn’t wait to sink his dick between her thighs and feel that tight heat surrounding him.
Chapter Four
“Tell me, Grant, what’s the most amazing place you’ve gone to with the organization you work with?” Eva lay on the couch, legs over the arm and her head in Grant’s lap. She’d hit that fuck-until-you-can’t-move line. The man was insatiable, which she wasn’t complaining about. However, she had no energy to move. Not at all. Even her dangling legs were still, no slight swinging back and forth, they just hung there.
They’d been talking about what got them into the medical field. Correction, she’d been asking him, believing it was better for him to talk. Kind of a downer for her to say ‘I am a cancer survivor, so that’s why I wanted to be a doctor.’ She wasn’t into getting sympathy from him. This wasn’t anything more than an upbeat vacation for her.
Her muscles screamed if she tried to shift, but she floated on a cloud of euphoric bliss. This man had taken her to places she’d only read about in romance novels before. The types of stories she had on her Kindle, so no one would know that she was reading them. She tried to avoid the need to justify what she read. Just because she was a surgeon didn’t mean she couldn’t enjoy being lost in a tale of lust and adventure. So it was easier having them where people couldn’t see the covers of the stories.
“I loved Africa. Don’t get me wrong, the rest of the world has beauty that’s amazing in its own right, but to me, it was Africa. The places in Africa I went to surpassed everything else. I love that continent.” He dragged his fingers up and down her bare arm. His voice stroked along her skin, setting it alive once more.
“Have you been to each country?”
“No. I’ve traveled to a good number of them, but, no, I’ve yet to reach every country.”
“But it’s something you would love to do?”
“Absolutely. I love traveling. The people you meet, the cultures. I love all of it. Helping them while I’m there is a bonus.” He shifted his fingers so they stroked along her cheek. “What about you? Do you do any traveling?”
“Nope. This is the first vacation I’ve had in years. I stick close to home. I’d love to travel, but can’t ever seem to find the time.” That and my parents don’t like me going that far away.
“Life is short, beautiful. You working where you do, you should know that. Take the adventure when you can. Live your life to the max. Before you know it, you’ll be bogged down with children and can’t get away to have some ‘you time’.”
The knife ripping through her chest and into her heart brought tears to her eyes as she tried her best to ensure the pain didn’t leech into her reply. “I’ve heard that before. I don’t know. I guess since I know how little time some can have, and I possess the ability to help some children get a few more months with their family, I don’t feel right leaving to indulge myself.”
“Your parents raised you to take care of others first. An admirable trait, but you deserve to rest and relax. Like now.”
She smiled up
at him, falling deeper with each moment they spent together. What wasn’t to love? He helped people, caring, hot as all get out and a doctor. All the way around, that was a win-win for her. “I didn’t do much resting on this trip. I will say, however, that right now, I’m very relaxed. Of course, that could be because I have zero energy to move.”
“Just how I like my women.” He winked.
‘Women’, he had jokes. Her sisters would like him. She’d love to introduce them.
“What are you thinking about? You have a small private smile on your face.”
Wriggling her toes, she stared at the pink polish. “Just that my sisters would like you. And I wish you could meet them.”
“They sound like a lot of fun. I’d love to meet them.” He skimmed along her lower lip with his thumb. “Your parents, too.”
Those three words slowed her heart as she struggled to maintain an easy breathing pattern. She stared up at him. He wasn’t shying away from making eye contact—he was there. Straightforward. “My parents?”
“Seems logical if I started dating their daughter. I’d want to meet the one my child was dating.”
“Dating?”
He held her gaze. “I know this was supposed to be a vacation fling, Eva. I get that. I knew that the second we headed for my room after meeting on the beach. But I don’t want it to end there. I want more. I want to be with you. Date you. Be able to call you my girlfriend.”
She touched his arm, stopping his movements along her skin. “Are you sure, because you look like you swallowed something foul?” As it was, she had to school her own expression, so it didn’t do the same thing. She would love to be his girlfriend, but later, would be the pain when he found out she couldn’t have children and left her.
His expression smoothed. “I’m positive. I just didn’t mean to blurt it out like that. I’d planned on taking you to a nice dinner first.”
Ignoring her body’s fervent protest, she rolled to her feet then straddled his lap, avoiding the need to rock on his length as it pushed against her core. Perhaps a fuck would get his mind off the thought of a relationship. But then, perhaps I can just keep it physical and enjoy what he’s offering, yet not make it serious. “It has kind of surpassed a one-night stand hasn’t it?”