The Love Doctors

by Fontaine, Bella

  “I wish I could say that I know. I still feel like that though. I’ll get past it eventually.” I offered a smile and hoped I’d set the stage for her to open up.

  As she looked at me and the last traces of daylight beamed on her, I knew I had.

  The guard was down.

  “My story doesn’t… It’s not anything like yours. I feel like a fool for even talking about it,” she stated.

  “I didn’t tell you so you could compare.” I pressed my lips together. “I shared because the last time I spoke about that was probably a good seven years ago. I haven’t spoken about it since. Not till tonight. I told you because that for me is hard to talk about, and if I can get past something as life-changing as that, you can too.”

  She gazed into my eyes, hanging on to my words.

  “I got involved with my college professor in my senior year,” she said, then she stopped for at least a minute. I thought maybe that was it. That was all she was going to share. Then she continued. “He promised me everything under the sun. He was the first man I truly fell for. I believed him when he told me he loved me, but it wasn’t true. We were together for three months, then I met his wife and child. When I met them, I’d just found out I was pregnant.”

  My heart stilled when she stopped talking again.

  “What happened after?”

  “It’s that part that gets me. It always does because that was the part that changed me into this person. Apart from his wife sending me all these hate messages and getting people to follow me and scare me, he didn’t want me, or the baby. Told me straight to get rid of it.”

  She stopped again and got this faraway look in her eyes…

  Was it that? Did she have an abortion and felt bad about it?

  “Did you?”

  She shook her head. “No, I couldn’t do it, but I lost my baby, and he had a hand in it. He became violent and beat me and… um… I can’t. I can’t talk anymore.” Her hands started shaking, and more tears streamed down her cheeks.

  “You don’t have to.”

  I pressed my forehead to hers, and she seemed to calm slightly.

  I took her hands and covered them with mine. Honestly, I had to calm myself down too because I could only imagine how the rest of that story went, and it made me want to find the fucker and beat the life out of him.

  I couldn’t conceive her going through any form of violence. No fucking wonder she thought most men were animals. What else would she think?

  “I’ve never told anyone that.” The meekness in her voice brought me out of my thoughts, and I swallowed past the lump that had formed in my throat.

  “Thank you for trusting me to tell me.”

  “I’ve been holding on to it for so long. Too long. I still can’t believe all I went through with him. It was my fault. I shouldn’t have gone there. I knew better than to get involved with my teacher.”

  “No, Jada, that part is not your fault. It was him. All him. He knew better. He held the position of responsibility and should have acted that way.” I was talking and saying what I said to calm her, but really, I thought the guy was an ass who would have entertained a relationship like that if it came his way. She was beautiful, and men like him didn’t care about their families.

  “I don’t even know how I made it through my senior year. I just scraped by, and it feels like I just scraped through life too.”

  “Jada.” I pulled back and cupped her face. “Listen to me. That guy was what they call an opportunist. Men who take advantage of young women and can’t live up to the consequences when they happen. No one who truly loved you would treat you that way.”

  “Really?”

  “No, baby. It’s not like that, and you deserve more than believing that. Jada Dane, you know that. They don’t call you The Love Doctor for nothing.”

  She dried her tears and tried to smile. The beginning of the smile tipped the corners of her mouth.

  “Looks like you deserve that title more than me. I think you’re going to win.”

  “Remember what I told you about business?” I was trying to distract her grief and turn her attention away from the pain. A mental subject change.

  “Yes.” She laughed now and dabbed at her eyes.

  “We don’t talk about that when we’re together.”

  “What about tomorrow, when we’re on the show?”

  “Tomorrow can take care of itself. I’m here trying to focus on my new mission.”

  She tucked her hair behind her ear. “Do I want to hear it? It’s going to be something crazy, right?”

  “Yeah, I’m totally crazy for trying to get Jada Dane to fall for me, especially when she can’t stand my ass.” I was crazy, but I wanted her.

  I couldn’t even try to stop. All this stuff I’d done rounded off to that.

  “Who told you that?”

  “She did, baby. Can you believe that? The woman’s going to be super hard work.”

  She started to laugh. Really laugh. “Maybe it’s too much, and you shouldn’t try.”

  “I never give up on what I want. Come here.” I stared at her long and hard so she could see I was serious, then I pulled her back to my chest, loving the feel of her as she curled up against me.

  Loving the feel of her feeling like she was mine.

  Chapter 20

  Jada

  After doing his whole exaggerated show of opening the car door for me again, Ivan walked me right up to my front door. He stood on the porch, continuing the show as he checked out the place.

  “Just continuing my act of chivalry and making sure nothing’s lurking behind the hedges, or the wall lights.” He glanced up and pointed at the lights as they came on.

  I shook my head at him. “Like what?” I couldn’t believe I was laughing.

  “Something, I don’t know. Never can tell what could be flying around at this hour, then it’ll be my fault a bug flew into your hair or something.”

  “Oh my gosh, you are so crazy.” Crazy, but I liked it.

  “You like me crazy.” He gave me that pride-filled grin.

  “Looks that way.”

  Who was I kidding?

  I’d never been the kind of woman to kid herself. I liked him, and somehow, the universe had sent me this man to either cure me or make me crazy too. Maybe both. Maybe both was what I needed to find myself. I just wasn’t sure if my thoughts right now were right or if I was buzzed up on some high from being with him for too long.

  I couldn’t believe that I told Ivan about Brian. I couldn’t believe I shared my past. It wasn’t the whole story, but I talked, and I could see he’d figured out the rest on his own. There was a certain element of comfort that surrounded me when I watched the flicker of anger that entered his eyes as he did.

  I knew I had people who had my back, and if people like my parents ever found out what happened to me, they wouldn’t care how many years had passed; someone would be looking at some sort of prison sentence. It wouldn’t be Brian because I was certain that my father would killed him.

  Seeing Ivan get worked up was different; it showed he cared. I felt better to get it all off my chest. Hard as it was. I felt like someone came up to me and lifted a burden I’d carried for too long. It wasn’t good to go through something like that and not tell anybody.

  Ivan stared at me, looking me over.

  “I should check the inside of the house too, for bugs,” he suddenly said like it was the best idea ever. “Never can tell what can happen at this time of year with the weather so hot.”

  I placed my hands on my hips. “Check the inside of the house? You can’t find a better excuse to come in?”

  He laughed. “That’s not my excuse to go in. That’s my excuse to leave.”

  “You need an excuse to leave?” I raised my brows, not following what he meant.

  “It’s my excuse to buy five more minutes with you because I don’t want to say good night, but I also don’t want you to think I expect anything more from you than your company.”
The seriousness returned to his eyes, and he sighed. “Jada, if I stay for longer than five minutes, I’m not leaving, and there’s no way in hell I’m sleeping in the same house with you and not touch you the way I want to. It’s torture.”

  It was after ten. We really had spent the whole day together. If he came in now, I wouldn’t be inviting him inside for tea or supper. Or to check for bugs.

  This was that natural pause for thought on what we should do next. It was that moment when something should happen. This would have been a kiss if we were on our first date, but we were already doing that. So, this was after that, and I knew how I felt.

  I didn’t want to say goodbye or good night yet either. It was why I’d spent the whole day with him, even when I had several opportunities to leave and return to my fortress of loneliness.

  He watched me as I took out my keys and opened the door. I put my keys back in my pocket and took his hands. Instantly, his eyes glowed with a wild, savage energy that beckoned me to continue. To continue and pull him inside.

  He held my face as he stepped inside and released my hands to close the door behind him.

  I moved to step back, but he reached for me and pulled me flush against the hard walls of his chest, closing the space between us. A devilish look came into his eyes, and it fueled me to enjoy him.

  I could never resist him, even if I tried.

  He lowered to nuzzle his face into the crook of my neck, his cologne dark, rich, musky, and sexy, just like him. The masculine scent enveloped me as he placed a trail of fiery kisses up to my jaw and lingered there.

  “I want to enjoy you,” Ivan whispered into my ear. His voice, velvet with seduction, was music to my ears.

  My body tingled with awareness as his fingers skimmed over my stomach and quivers of anticipation shot through me.

  “I want to enjoy you too,” I confessed. I did. I really did want nothing more than that. Nothing more than him.

  Right now, nothing else mattered, only the thought of experiencing ultimate pleasure with a man who wanted me.

  He lifted his head and smiled, then captured my mouth for a kiss that made my head spin. It made every inch of me light up with the burning, urgent need for him to possess me.

  He deepened the kiss with the pressure of his strong, searching lips that ravished mine in a raw, unapologetic manner that mirrored his seduction. It sent a shiver of delight through me and reminded me of yesterday. Raw need met pure desire.

  And, just when I thought that was the best kiss I’d ever had in my life, he proved me wrong by turning things up a notch. His hands plunged into my hair, pulling me even closer, and the man did what I could only describe as making love to my mouth.

  Kissing me in a way that told me he planned to do the same to my body. That was the moment when he performed the same miracle he’d performed yesterday and shoved reality right to the corner of my mind.

  He sucked on my tongue, and I melted at the sexy taste of him, moaning into the kiss. His hot, hungry kisses fueled our forbidden desire.

  Me and him, two people who should have been enemies but were no longer.

  I giggled when he swept me up and slung me over his shoulder like I weighed nothing.

  “This is mine tonight,” he declared, placing his hand on my ass. “And this.” He ran his fingers down my legs and proceeded with me up the stairs.

  “Any other part of me you want to take?” I was joking, but I should have known better than to ask him that.

  “Everything,” he answered and pushed the bedroom door open.

  He moved with me to the bed, and we both collapsed down onto it. Him sitting down and holding me so I straddled him. “I want every piece of you, Jada.”

  He looked me over seductively, his gaze travelling over my body.

  My heart pounded, eager and erratic from the smoldering in his eyes.

  “You get to have every piece of me tonight.”

  He guided me back to his lips but lingered there for a second without kissing me. “No, not just tonight, Jada. It won’t be enough.”

  I believed him. I absolutely believed him.

  It was me who slipped my hands into his hair and kissed him this time. Showing him I agreed.

  He ran his hands up my side and cupped my breasts, molding my fullness. My nipples hardened in an instant, and a jolt of electricity sparked through my soul.

  He pulled down the straps of my top and my bra so that my breasts popped out, and then continued to squeeze and mold.

  The blue of his eyes darkened with desire when he moved back and saw me. Then that wicked smile came right back.

  He fell back on the bed and lifted me over him like he was pumping weights. My hair fell forward, and my breasts hung heavy in his face as he hovered me above him.

  “Fucking hell, there’s no way I’m leaving you, ever.”

  He could stay in my bed with me forever if he wanted to. I would happily agree to that.

  He nuzzled my breasts and licked at each nipple, then started sucking, teasing, and tasting.

  I tried to control myself, but I couldn’t; the pleasure was too much. Then, in true Ivan style, he had to amplify it by flipping me over onto my back.

  He pulled off my top and bra in one swift move, then dove back in to suck my breasts like he could taste me. By the time he moved down to kiss down my stomach, my nipples were sore and swollen from the sensation.

  He shoved my jeans down my thighs, dragging them off with my pumps, and practically ripped off my panties. It took all of two seconds to get me naked while he was still fully clothed.

  I stopped him before he could dive in on my breasts again, but he managed to evade me by catching my left nipple between his thumb and forefinger, playing with it.

  “Hey, I need your clothes off too,” I protested, tugging on the end of his shirt.

  His abs clenched as my fingers fluttered over the soft cotton.

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  My mouth was practically watering as he eased back off the bed and whipped off his shirt, showing off those fantasy muscles and tattoos all over his torso.

  He stood there before me. Six feet six of solid muscle, his body designed purely for fantasy with his chest tapered perfectly down to a tight V. The man oozed power and raw sexuality.

  I smiled when his fingers tugged on his belt buckle, and wider when he undid his belt and pulled the zip down.

  He pushed his jeans and boxers down his powerful legs at the same time, and the hardness of his massive, thick cock sprang mercifully free, stealing my breath away.

  “Is my lady pleased with the sight of me?” he asked, as if the answer could be anything but yes.

  “Uh huh.” That was the only thing my brain could think to say.

  “Hold that thought. I just remembered I didn’t have my dessert.” He pulled me roughly to him, and I squealed.

  I was about to ask him what he meant because we’d been at the Gutiérrez’s all day, but the words faded from my mind when he parted my legs and nuzzled his face right between my thighs, pushing his tongue straight into my core.

  The effect from the thrilling sensation that raced across my body was so much so that I arched my back into the bed, pressing against the silky sheets as I cried out and gasped for breath.

  God…

  It was too much. He continued licking and sucking, tasting and teasing, drinking as I grew wetter, then lapping against my folds when a savage orgasm gripped me and severed me from reality.

  “Fuck,” he whispered. “You taste so good.”

  I couldn’t answer, and even if I could, I wouldn’t have known what to say to him.

  He bent down and retrieved a condom from the back pocket of his jeans, then sheathed himself with it, rolling the latex down the thick length of his shaft. Climbing back on the bed, he reached for me, gripping my thighs with possessive magnetism that couldn’t be explained with words.

  My entire body tingled from his touch, and my blood surged from my head to my toes when h
e pushed my knees up and parted my thighs once more.

  I was wet and ready for him. Aching for him to be inside me.

  Begging for him to be inside me.

  He teased my folds open, smiling a wicked, sinful smile as he rubbed his cock against my entrance and watched me come undone in my own bed.

  When he first pushed in, I thought he was too big. Then he pressed harder, inching himself into me, filling me up completely. I moaned into the thrust, and he stroked the side of my waist.

  “It’s okay, baby, you’ll enjoy it. I promise.”

  Again, I believed him. I wanted him too badly not to.

  He started pumping slowly at first, moving in and out gently so he could go deeper and deeper. Then his pumps started speeding up, and he turned from sexy man to savage beast, searing his hot length into me.

  Hard, rough strokes shook me as he rammed into my soul, shaft slicking in and out as he pistoned harder, and soon the intimate and purely erotic sounds of us filled the room, fueling the raw, primal entity that had taken us both.

  I cried out as he moved even faster, driving into me with a pounding need, and faster still. Fucking me, jackhammering into me like he wanted to possess me in truth.

  I’d never felt that before. Not ever, and I took a moment amidst the pleasure to relish it.

  Hunger matched hunger as we moved body to body and I cried out, trapped in the torment of ecstasy that claimed me and made me his.

  My entire being vibrated in response, awash with overlapping waves of pleasure. The orgasm that gripped me in that moment shattered my senses with a savage energy that streaked through my body and scorched me clean.

  I came with a soul-wrenching satisfaction.

  Ivan clasped my hips, pulling me hard into his final thrust. He growled with hot male pleasure when he came too.

  We were both breathing hard. He slowed his pumps to a stop and pulled out of me. He lay next to me trying to catch his breath. I turned to face him, not sure what he was going to say.

  There were a lot of things I never imagined doing with this man. Seriously wild sex was one of them.