Best Friend to Doctor Right
Page 10
That night, exhausted from the sun and the soporific effects of the seawater, was the first in many she slept deeply, unaffected by her arm.
But the next day the pains were back, and it took every ounce of concentration she had, to get through the workday without incident.
The missing hand alternatively burned and itched, driving her to distraction.
Part of the problem, she knew, was that her stress levels were through the roof. The physical therapist had warned her that might happen, but she hadn’t paid much attention, especially when the pains hadn’t come back during her depression.
She still hadn’t given Dr. Hamilton an answer, and the timeframe he’d set was running out. And her unerring desire for Kiah had resisted every effort she made to lock it away.
Until she sorted those things out, she’d have to find some other way of handling the pain.
That evening the household was in uproar as Charm whirred around, trying to pack everything, including the kitchen sink, it seemed, to take camping.
“Charmaine, stop.” Miss Pearl’s sternest voice only moderately slowed the little girl down. “Pick one of those toys to take with you and put the rest back in your room.”
By the time Miss Pearl and Charm were being picked up, Mina had a headache to go with the phantom pains, but she kissed them both goodbye, and stood at the gate to wave until the SUV had turned the corner.
“Wow,” Kiah said, slinging his arm over her shoulders and turning her back toward the house. “Let’s not do that again anytime soon.”
Mina chuckled weakly, just wanting to sit down and enjoy some peace and quiet, although she didn’t know how much enjoyment she’d get out of anything tonight.
“Charm’s just excited to go on her first camping trip,” she said, and even she could hear the weariness in her own voice.
Kiah led her over to the sofa and gently pushed at her shoulders, so she sat.
“You want a cup of tea? Something to drink?”
Concern was patent on his face, those dark watchful eyes trying to divine what was happening with her, and, before she could stop them, tears filled her eyes and overflowed onto her cheeks.
Kiah knelt down in front of her to cup her cheeks.
“Sweet girl. Tell me what’s wrong. Please. Let me help you, if I can.”
That made her laugh through her tears, but there was a hysterical edge to her mirth.
Kiah used his thumbs to rub at her cheeks, then got up and sat on the couch beside her. When he reached out and pulled her onto his lap, she didn’t resist, wanting the closeness, even if it wasn’t as close as she wanted to get. Burying her face in his neck, she let his warmth seep into her, fill her.
“What is it, Mina?”
“Phantom pains.” It came out as a low moan. Somehow being here like this with him made the sensation increase. “It burns and itches.”
“Why didn’t you tell me before?” The anguish in his tone was clear. “What can I do to make it better?”
“Get me my hand back?”
She was trying to joke, to lighten the mood, but his arms tightened around her, and his chest shuddered when he inhaled.
“If I could, I would, sweet girl. You must know that?”
It sounded like he was about to cry, too, and she couldn’t bear it.
“I’ll be okay, Kiah. It’ll pass.”
“I know an acupuncturist, but I doubt she’s still open at this hour. Damn it, Mina, why didn’t you say something earlier?”
Even though he sounded angry, it was the caring she heard in his voice.
“I was trying to handle it myself,” she said.
His chest rose and fell on a sigh. “You know that as long as I’m around, you never have to face anything alone, don’t you?”
“I do.” She sighed in turn. “But sometimes I need to do things for myself. I can’t lean on you for everything.”
He didn’t reply, but there was something about his stillness that made her raise her head to search his face. His expression was intent, and somehow the way he was gazing at her made her heart rate pick up, and the ever-present need flower bigger, and hotter, in her core.
“You can, you know,” he said quietly. “Any-and everything. No matter how little, or big, or off the wall. I’ve always got you, sweet girl.”
It took everything she had inside not to let her gaze drop to his mouth, not to tell him how much she wanted him to kiss her and make love to her. Something inside her whispered that would make everything right, but she knew better than to trust that voice. Besides, Kiah didn’t think of her that way, and the thought of his rejection was too much to bear.
So, instead, she snuggled her face back into his neck, inhaling the warm, sexy scent of him, even as she tried to ignore the desire flowing like liquid fire through her veins. There was no place she’d rather be than in his arms, so she shifted a little closer on his lap, craving additional contact.
Then it sank into her brain what she was feeling snugged up against her thigh and, for a brief, glorious moment, she thought his erection was a sign he wanted her, too. Her heart rate soared, and she tightened her grip on his waist. But even as she felt him pull her in a bit more, sanity returned.
The right thing to do would be to ignore it, leave it alone, but Mina felt compelled to comment anyway. After all, they’d been calling each other out over stupid or embarrassing stuff for years. Why buck the trend now? Besides, laughing about it hopefully would get her back on an even keel.
“You really have been going through a drought, haven’t you?” she murmured, bumping his crotch gently with her thigh, so there was no mistaking her meaning.
She expected a chuckle, or a witty riposte, not the silence that followed her comment, or the restless movement of his hands on her back, which felt suspiciously like a caress.
Eventually, Kiah inhaled deeply, then replied, “My sexual drought has nothing to do with it, sweet girl. That’s all for you.”
CHAPTER ELEVEN
HE’D HOPED SHE wouldn’t notice or, even if she did, wouldn’t comment, but once she had Kiah knew he couldn’t let her go on believing it was just an automatic reaction on his part. That if it were anyone else, his body would respond the same way. Not after the conversation they’d had on the beach, when she’d told him the disgusting things her ex had said.
No. Mina needed to know she was still as desirable as she’d ever been.
To him even more so than ever before.
Seeing her every day over these past weeks, in all her various moods—vulnerable and confident, laughing, crying, and everything in between—had been an emotional revelation. For so long he’d pushed his attraction to her down deep, refusing to let it grow beyond the treasured friendship. Distance had made that easier, but now there was, literally, no hiding from the truth.
He wanted her, badly.
Mina hadn’t responded verbally to his words, but he could feel her rib cage rising and falling rapidly beneath his hands, and her stillness was, in itself, telling. Kiah could almost hear the wheels turning in her head, and it worried him.
Had he frightened or repulsed her? Was their relationship, so carefully nurtured and vastly important to him, in jeopardy, now that she realized his lust for her?
Then she shook her head, just once, against his neck and said, “I know you don’t really mean that.”
He snorted, wishing he could find the situation more amusing than he actually did. “I mean every word. I’m not fifteen, and I don’t get aroused as though I were. Ask Niesha, and she’ll tell you she got no reaction from me, although she tried her level best.”
Reaching down, he tipped her chin up so he could meet her gaze.
“You think I was kidding when I told you how beautiful you are? I wasn’t. And I could have added the fact you’re incredibly sexy. I’ve always thought so, and h
aving you around has reminded me just how much.”
Color tinged her cheeks, and that made him chuckle.
“You’re blushing,” he said, reaching up to run his index finger over her overheated skin. “I haven’t seen that in a while.”
“I haven’t been called sexy in a while,” she retorted. “Actually, in forever.”
Kiah kissed his teeth, once more annoyed at the thought of how poorly she’d been treated by her scumbag ex.
“You should know it, though. Don’t you notice how men look at you? At the club, the hospital, on the beach yesterday? There’s an air about you, Mina—sultry and sassy and sexy, all combined to make you irresistible.”
It was her turn to make an incredulous noise. “You’ve never had a problem resisting me.”
“Our friendship has always been too important to gunk up with sex,” he said, trying to be honest without giving too much away. “Losing you because we slept together and it didn’t end well wasn’t a chance I was willing to take.”
Her gaze searched his, and although her lips quirked into a ghost of a smile, her eyes were solemn. “Is that what sex does? Gunk things up?”
“It definitely can,” he said, his heart thumping, wondering where the conversation would end up leading, although he was trying to stay realistic. “If the people involved let it.”
“And if they don’t let it?”
His heart stopped for an instant, and then set off galloping again. Already aroused, his body tightened, almost to the point of pain, and his lungs seized, making replying impossible in that moment.
The logical part of his brain was telling him not to take this any further, to walk away before things went sideways, but his body... Oh, his body was screaming for him to see where this would lead.
Trying desperately to take the path of reason, he finally found the wherewithal to say, “It would be risky, Mina. Just agreeing not to let it change things doesn’t mean things wouldn’t change anyway.”
She nodded slowly, never breaking eye contact. “But what we share can never really be broken, can it? Dented, or bent, maybe, but I’ll always be your friend, and you’ll always be mine. My best friend. I...”
She paused, looked down, and once more his breath caught in his chest at the sheer beauty of her, the fact they were even having this conversation slamming home again.
“You what?”
She looked back up, meeting his gaze again. “I don’t have a lot of experience, Kiah. You talked about men being interested in me, but it scares me—the thought of being with someone new. These feelings I have for you, those don’t frighten me. Somehow, wanting you feels right.”
She shrugged, as though not sure she’d found the right words, and although there was no lessening of his desire, his heart sank just a little. He was to be an experiment, then. A gateway to finding out what it felt like to be with someone other than the worm.
Hearing that should have lessened the desire, but it didn’t. Instead, strangely, it added another layer to his need, making it even harder to resist the temptation on offer. Trying to figure out why was impossible with her gleaming eyes on him, her hand cupping the back of his neck, as though to pull his lips down to hers.
“God, Mina. You’re making it really hard for me to say no.”
“Then don’t,” she replied, then gave a little grin. “I like that I’m making it hard.”
She bumped his erection with her thigh again, and Kiah choked on the chuckle rising in his throat. Trust Mina to make him laugh at a time like this.
“You wretch,” he said, his arms tightening around her waist against his best intentions. “You’re leading me astray.”
Her laughter was soft, sultry. “I’m trying my best, but you’re stubborn. It’s like leading a mule.”
His amusement faded, and he lifted his hand to stroke her cheek. “If we do sleep together tonight, and want to again, it can only be for these couple of days while Granny and Charm are gone.”
She was still smiling, enticing him closer, as she nodded. “Yes. The last thing I need is disapproving looks from Miss Pearl, or having to explain to Charm why I’m coming out of your room.”
Besides, for her it was just for the experience, not the potentially life-altering event Kiah suspected it would be for him.
His brain tried once more to tell him not to risk it, that making love to Mina wasn’t safe, or even sane. But her fingers were moving on his nape, making goose bumps fire down his back. And she shifted on his lap, her scent rising to fill his head, driving out all thought of anything other than her and this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
“Are you sure?” he asked, even as his head was dipping, the words coming out when their lips were almost touching.
And she replied by closing that gap, and his brain short-circuited with that first, glorious kiss.
* * *
There was no time for contemplation, for further worry about whether what they were doing was right or wrong. All Mina could feel was Kiah’s kiss.
The vibration into her lips, as he growled low in his throat.
The movement of mouth on mouth, and the sweep of his tongue, seeking entrance.
She didn’t just invite the deepening of the kiss, she demanded it, welcoming it with the kind of ferocity she didn’t know herself capable of.
This was no tender seduction. Not on either side.
Instead, it had all the explosive power of a lightning storm. The inexorable flood of a tsunami.
He pulled her closer so she felt the pounding of his heart against her breasts, the thrust of his erection now beneath her thighs. Twining her arms around his neck, she strained against him, ravenous for his touch.
His lips left hers and found her throat. The sound that broke from her was one she’d never heard before: rife with need and delight, a symphony of desire.
“Last chance, Mina. Stop me now if you’re not sure.”
She tried to laugh, but it stuck in her chest, held there by the immensity of her arousal.
“I want you.” She finally got the words out, but they were choppy, born on her labored breathing. “I need you, Kiah.”
“Ah, sweet girl. My sweet girl. Come to my bed.”
“Yes. Oh, yes.”
Now things settled, became almost calm. Not her racing heart or skyrocketing need, but the admission of mutual desire gave them reprieve from the rush of desperation.
He rose and set her gently on her feet, standing for a moment in front of her, his dark eyes mysterious and probing. Then he turned and led her down the corridor, and into his bedroom.
She reached for him, but he held her arms, his gaze traveling along her body, sparking reactions wherever it settled. Her breasts tingled, nipples tightening further into aching points. Goose bumps rose across her belly, and her legs trembled.
Slowly, oh-so slowly he undressed her, his hands skimming her flesh, his breath harsh and growing faster with each piece of clothing that fell away. Under his rapt focus, she blossomed, felt beautiful in a way she’d never experienced before. There was no need for words between them. Not now. Not when he looked at her as though she were the most precious woman in the world.
And she didn’t feel self-conscious when she was naked and he was still clothed. Rather, she felt eager, bold and powerful.
It was her turn, then. And she took her time, both from necessity and desire. Unbuttoning his shirt single-handed, sweeping across his chest and then one shoulder at a time to ease it away, unreasonably pleased when he shivered and his eyes drifted closed.
She got his pants undone, too, and reached into his briefs to grip the hard length of him in her hand, making him groan and, this time, shudder.
“You’ll have to help me with the rest,” she whispered, not letting go or ceasing the motion of her hand, fascinated by the feel of him, his obvious pleasure.
“You need to stop, Mina. You’re making me crazy.”
“I want to.”
“You’re bad. But I want to return the favor.”
He tugged her in close, kissed her until her head swam and her legs were like jelly. How they ended up on the bed, she wasn’t sure; she only knew he was touching and kissing her in ways that blew her mind and sent her body soaring.
Making love with Kiah was everything she’d imagined it would be, and so much more.
More intense.
More arousing.
More satisfying.
He set her aflame, then made that fire into an inferno only he could douse.
She found herself arching, pleading, opening herself to his fingers and lips in the most wanton, beautiful of ways.
When she lost control, it was with joyous abandon, welcoming the ceding of power to his touch, without even a hint of shame or fear.
Now the desperation was back, and she pulled him close, wrapping her legs around him, urging him to fill her, to take her back to that place of ecstasy.
“Mina, wait,” he said. “We need to use protection.”
With a little growl, she loosened her grip on him, and said, “Hurry.”
She lay there, watching him sheath himself, even that mundane action an aphrodisiac. When he came back to her, she welcomed him, and as he slid into her body, stretching her, she mewled with pleasure.
“I want you,” she panted, tightening her strong thighs so he couldn’t escape. “I need you, Kiah.”
He groaned, gave in, pushing forward to give her his entire length, and she cried out.
“Yes. There. Oh, yes.”
He shifted, went even deeper, then began to move, each thrust and retreat causing little spasms deep within her, until they all started running together, and she found herself once more on the edge of completion.
“Mina. Mina. Mina.”
It was a chant, a benediction, and her body responded, as though the sound of her name in his hoarse, desire-struck voice was the final touch she needed.