The twinkle in her eyes grew the longer she looked at me, and that smile of hers warmed my heart.
“Okay, everyone, calm down.” Andy waved his hands, and the applause receded. “Wow, wow. All I can say is wow. Now, Dr. St. James, forgive me for bringing this up, but I have to because it’s credit to you. I used to watch you play football, and I remember that when you went out on the field and took that ball, nothing could stop the Pitbull. Whether the team lost or won, you had that spirit in every single game. You won. I’ve never truly seen that in anyone. I was sad to hear about your accident, but damn, was I ever happy to hear you’d applied for this contest. Tell us, how did you go from L.A. Rams Football hero to Dr. Ivan St. James?”
Wow, now that was some question. A question I’d have to focus hard to answer once I got past the declaration that he’d seen me play. I guess back then, I was so lost in doing what I did best that I didn’t realize anyone taking note of how I carried myself.
Catherine had said similar things to me when she first got me to believe in myself.
I looked at Andy and didn’t know how I could answer the question without divulging all that had happened to me. The last eleven years could have fit in a whole lifetime. There was a chunk that the public didn’t know and never would. It wasn’t that I wanted to keep my story secret; chances were I’d share it one day. Right now, it was still private to me. Private and special.
I pulled in a breath and looked from the audience to Andy. “First, thank you all for your support. It means a lot. I’m the new kid on the block. I’ve always been inspired in many ways to do different things. Football meant a lot to me, and I’ll always cherish the time I played for such a fantastic team. Being a therapist represented a different phase of my life where I’ve worked hard to turn that inspiration into something that could help others in some way. Relationship counselling seems to be my thing; maybe it’s because I see life in a different way to others.”
Applause came at that answer.
Andy nodded and clapped. “That’s beautiful. I like it.” He stood up and reached across to shake my hand. “This is the first year we’ve had a tie situation. So, clearly, we love the both of you. While you two seem peaceable and cordial now—I also noticed Jada joining in with the cheers—the last week has seen a number of incidents and… let’s take a look, or a listen.”
I winced when I heard my voice boom from the screen across from us. It was Jada’s radio show with Mikey Mark and me launching the start of my attack on her.
I couldn’t believe I was the same person. Next came images of the seven-day myth bust, and it landed on the caricature I’d had done of her dressed as a dominatrix with her pack of boyfriends of the past with dog bodies.
Everyone was laughing.
Jada tensed, and I shook my head.
“Dr. St. James, what the hell possessed you to do this?” Andy asked with a chuckle. “And do you still feel the same about Dr. Dane now?”
Jada looked at me, and I gazed at her. This was the moment when I had to be clear on my thoughts. If I wanted to be an ass, I would have continued to be the guy I was last week and get under her skin.
Yesterday, we connected in a way that broke down her walls and I got her to trust me.
This was the moment of testing to see if that was real. I could apologize all I wanted to her, but all of that shit was cast into the public to get me to this chair.
“I do not feel the same way about Dr. Dane now, and I publicly apologize to her for the craziness. She didn’t deserve that. This show isn’t about that, and I admit I was being an ass. On occasion, I tend to take things a little too far. I have to say too that I would happily be part of the little doggie pack.”
She looked at me and chuckled. “You are so crazy,” she said under her breath.
I leaned closer to her and whispered back, “Apparently.”
“Okay.” Andy smiled. “I guess we don’t have to make preparations for the next world war on this show.”
“No.” Jada shook her head. “I think we can agree to work in a professional manner, respecting each other’s ideas of what we think is right.”
“Exactly. Do we like that, ladies and gentlemen?” Andy asked the crowd. They all cheered in response. “That’s why we love this show. Now that’s settled, let’s bring the couples out.” Andy straightened. “Presenting, Bob and Cynthia Donovan from Louisiana.”
From the left sight of the stage came a middle-aged couple. The audience applauded as they walked on. Bob and Cynthia smiled, but it was evident that they weren’t in a good place. They sat next to Andy and offered tight-lipped smiles.
Would they be mine?
If so, I was willing to bet that they were on the verge of divorce. They had that look I’d seen on most couples at that stage. Sometimes they could be saved, sometimes not.
“Let’s also hear it for Jane and Peter Bell from Tennessee,” Andy announced.
Okay, both married couples. He was right; this would be interesting.
From the left side of the stage came Jane and Peter Bell. They were a trendy-looking couple who looked like they were either in their late twenties or early thirties.
Jada and I both looked on in anticipation of which couple we’d be getting.
When the applause died down, Andy cleared his throat and started talking again. “I felt that since we had a very unique pair of contestants this year, we’d go with some unique couples. Both are in the stages of divorce. The Bells applied for the show as a final attempt to save their marriage, and the Donovans were referred to the show by a family member who helped them find each other twenty years ago. The Bells are talking about divorce, but the Donovans are about to file for it.”
Everyone went unusually quiet. The complete opposite to the noise that had been previously echoing throughout the studio.
I looked at both couples and hoped I got the Donovans as they seemed to be the more difficult pair. I loved a challenge and felt straight away that if a relative referred them to the show, then that person must have seen something worth saving, especially if they helped get them together.
However, Andy’s next words wiped that from my mind.
“We drew straws and decided that Dr. Dane would work with the Donovans and Dr. St. James with the Bells.”
Yes, this would definitely be interesting, but I wouldn’t make the mistake based on looks that I got the easier couple and Jada the more difficult.
It was the way business worked, and now that this part of business was over and done with, I could focus on pleasure.
Jada in that dress on my bed.
Thirty minutes until the end of the show, and I’d take her.
I just hoped I’d be able to calm myself down to wait that long.
Chapter 23
Ivan
* * *
It was the longest thirty minutes ever, and then there was after with everyone wanting to talk to us.
I thought it was going to be a simple case of get to the studio, get ready for the show, do said show, and then get on out of there.
But no, two hours later, we were still here. If it wasn’t responding to the press and all their million questions, it was taking pictures. Heck, I even had some football fans ask me for my autograph. I didn’t think it was going to be so full-on.
I also wasn’t sure which of us got it worse. Me or Jada.
There were reps from not just the weekly women’s magazines and daily newspapers, but also Celebrity News, People Magazine, and Style Magazine.
They all wanted her picture and some comments from her on something.
I lost track of her in the crowd and managed to sneak away back to the dressing room area, deciding I’d wait there.
I knew how much she loved being in the public’s eye, so I didn’t know if I was being a fool waiting. A fool waiting and wondering if she’d tear herself away from her admiring fans to come back and find me.
I went to her room, not risking going back to my room in case I m
issed her.
When forty more minutes passed, I got up feeling stupid indeed, ready to leave.
Then the door opened, and in she came, looking flustered. She didn’t see me in the corner, and I didn’t alert her to my presence.
She rushed over to her bag on the opposite side of the room and dug through it for her phone. She dialed a number, and my faith in us was restored when my phone started buzzing in my back pocket.
It was then I moved over to her, and she saw me. I took out my phone and realized in that moment that I never gave her my number.
“You’re here.” She smiled and switched off the phone. The buzzing stopped instantly.
“And you must have liked me more than I said, because you have my number.” I grinned. I looked at her and couldn’t stop my heart from opening to her more than it already was.
“Ivan, you know I’m a very powerful woman. I have my way of getting things.”
“You certainly do, Goddess. You have your way of getting people too, even when they try not to be gotten.”
She giggled, and I stepped forward and brushed my fingers over the smooth golden-brown skin of her cheek.
“You never tried not to be gotten.”
“I guess not.”
“Thank you for your apology. I’m sorry I slapped you and poured my drink on you.”
“It’s fine.” I didn’t care about that. Not anymore.
“It’s not. It was mean of me to say to you, but you still deserved the slap.”
I laughed. “Baby, that’s how you apologize?”
She winced. “Okay, I’m sorry for all of it.”
“That’s okay. Hold on to any anger you feel. There’s no better sex than the angry type.”
She rolled her eyes at me and shook her head. “Ivan—”
“No… no more business talk. It’s our time now. Screw everything else. I mean it.” The longer I looked at her, the more I wanted her, and the time had long passed for me to be patient. Over three hours. There was only so much a guy could take, and her in that dress was fucking torture.
“Everything?”
“Yes, everything. Here are the steps back to our love nest. Ladies first.” I pretended to hold out a ladder to her. “Come on, step. Take that step, baby, if you still want me. We are officially competitors. I’m holding the ladder, and I’ll be right behind you.”
She smiled, and my heart soared when she stepped closer to me and slipped her arms around my neck.
“My dress is super tight. I can’t step up a ladder. Will this work?”
I nodded and gazed at her, deep into her beautiful brown eyes, and saw the shimmer of hope staring back at me. “Your walls are completely down now, Jada. I can see you.”
“Maybe I want you to see me.”
Yes, screw everything indeed, and where we were.
I bent down and kissed her. I was going for subtle, but then she swept her hot, sexy, wet tongue into my mouth, and that was it. I was a damn goner. No more patience at all.
I kissed her back hard, claiming her mouth and pulling her close. With her pushed up against me like this, it was clear we wouldn’t even make it to my car, let alone my house.
I picked her up and placed her on the dressing table, where I continued to devour her. She sucked in a sharp gasp when we heard footsteps outside.
I took that moment to move away from her and lock the door. If anyone came knocking, they’d either assume she was changing or had locked the door and gone home. Our dressing rooms were completely our rooms while we were on this show. We’d been given keys and basically the room as property.
So, I’d have to work with my surroundings.
When I moved back to her with a cunning smile, her jaw dropped.
“Here, Ivan?”
“Here.” I grabbed a good handful of her breasts and enjoyed the soft flesh in my hands.
“What if we make too much noise and someone breaks the door down?”
“Goddess, I don’t care. It’ll make a good story. The public will see we’re getting on very well.”
“Oh my gosh.” She laughed but stopped when I moved the fabric across her left breast and exposed the whole perfection of her. I stared at it for a second, taking the time to appreciate her body. The massive globe with the diamond-hard nipple that looked like it had been dipped in caramel and honey.
And why was I just admiring one?
She giggled when I loosened the bow at the back of her neck and the whole top of the dress came down.
“Oh yes. Thank you, God, for sending this perfect woman to me.”
“Ivan, you are crazy.”
“Yes, Goddess, looks that way. Crazy for your body. Crazy for you.” Before she could answer, I lowered my mouth and helped myself to her perfect breasts.
The hard nipples tasted sweet on my tongue, and I took the moment to savor the taste of her. Her arching her back as I sucked her long and hard, alternating from one nipple to the other and nuzzling my face between the mountainous peaks.
I could have carried on doing this forever. I really could have, and I could have died happy doing it too, while listening to her make those pleasure-filled purrs of ecstasy humming from her lips.
I knew, though, from last night’s heavenly experience that there were other delicious parts of her body to enjoy, to taste.
I rolled up her dress, right up to her hips, and parted her legs.
She rested her hands behind her, knocking some stuff off the table that crashed to the floor. It was mostly makeup.
I loved the black lace panties she wore, but they were in the way. Like an animal, I ripped them off her and dove in to taste her sweet pussy before she could complain that I’d ruined her precious Victoria’s Secrets whatever. In my eyes, nothing was more perfect than her naked body.
I thrust my tongue into her, tasting her and coaxing her to release. As she did and I tasted the sweet nectar, I drank her like I hadn’t had water in days. Tasting her also made me lose my mind. I needed to be inside her now.
I shoved off my jacket and grabbed a condom from my back pocket. I didn’t spare the minute it would take to take off the rest of my clothes. I just about managed to undo my pants and shove a condom on my cock, doing my best not to finish right here from looking at how aroused she was for me.
I then took hold of her and plunged into her pretty pussy.
She grabbed my shoulders at the impact and wrapped her legs around me.
My brain worked enough to form another sexy idea, and I moved with her to the wall next to us, where she tightened her grip on me.
“Ivan… I…” She tried to catch her breath.
“Just give yourself to me Jada,” I told her and started pumping.
I didn’t know how this felt better than earlier, but it did. Maybe it was the few hours I’d gone from not being inside her that made me miss her. Maybe it just really did feel better. I didn’t know. All I knew was that I wanted her bad, and that feeling of not being able to get enough of her took me and made me start pounding and rutting into her.
It felt too good to slow down or stop. All I wanted to do was go faster, push harder, push deeper.
This was ultimate pleasure, and I couldn’t get enough. I wanted more, and more, and suddenly, I remembered how much I loved taking her from behind.
I pulled out of her, and she gasped.
“Don’t stop,” she complained.
“I don’t plan to, baby.” I took the rest of her dress off and turned her around to face the dressing table.
The mirror captured the image of us. Me standing behind the goddess.
I pulled off my shirt and pulled her to my chest, looking at us in the mirror. We looked like a fantasy. A fantasy I was about to turn to the R-rated variety.
I slipped my arm around her waist and pressed my face to hers.
“Remember this, Jada. Look at me.”
At first, she looked in the mirror, then she turned and looked right into my eyes.
“Remember ho
w much I want you.”
The words seemed to have some effect on her because she leaned forward and kissed me. It was meant to be a sweet, subtle kiss, but it turned me on even more and called out to the beast inside me.
I turned her back to the table, grabbed her hips, and thrust into her. I nearly came right then and had to fight my release because she felt even better.
My body took over, fueled by the internal need for her, and we both got lost in the mad lock of wild, passionate ecstasy that took me as I pounded into her.
It was something else, on some high level of transcendence that I couldn’t quite explain if anyone asked. All I knew was her, and that I always wanted to feel like this.
It was a scary thought since I’d just been sucked into this thing with her, and I didn’t even know what we were yet.
When my release came, a wave of heat set my soul on fire. The infernal heat spread right over my whole body and scorched me. Just like she’d threatened that time.
If you play with fire, you will get burned.
Scorched…
That was the warning label that came with Jada Dane. She even went as fucking far as to tell me herself, but that just made me want her more. The volcano erupting within me was proof of her words. My climax took her too, and we were both gasping and crying out from the pleasure of it.
I was pretty certain people outside would have heard, but I didn’t care.
Once I’d calmed down from the mind-numbing sensation, I turned her to me.
“Let’s go home,” I told her, pressing my chin on top of her head.
“Yes,” she agreed, catching her breath.
Home…
I loved that I didn’t have to specify whose place I meant. Hers or mine. Right now, they felt like one and the same.
* * *
Monday morning came, and we were in water again.
This time in the bathtub of my house.
She’d been with me since Friday night ,and we were at that stage again where we had to step out of the bubble we’d placed ourselves in.
The Love Doctors Page 17