by J. H. Croix
“Oh my God. How often have you all been talking about this?”
“Probably as much as you all talked about me and Nate,” Holly offered with a shrug.
Lucy snorted. “I know how much I hate when people gossip, but we don’t count.”
“It’s not gossip if we care, and we need to make sure she ends up with sexy-as-hell Remy,” Amelia added.
I looked around the table at my well-meaning, nosy friends, and sighed. “I’m getting up the nerve. I wasn’t exactly up for it when I was coughing and hacking and had a fever. Plus, who knows what he wants?”
“Oh, he wants you,” Maisie said as she returned from the bathroom, clearly not missing any of the conversation.
“But, how do you know?” I asked.
“Because I see the way he looks at you. Get over yourself,” she said firmly as she slipped back onto a stool and grabbed a tortilla chip.
Looking amongst my friends, I kept my next sigh to myself. Though my passing interaction with Bruce on the way here had somehow helped me see I was finally past a certain part of what he did to me, I was still struggling with just how much I wanted to lean on Remy.
I didn’t quite feel like having that conversation in a group. So, I rolled my eyes and assured my friends of the obvious. “Of course I know Remy’s sexy as hell, and a good catch. Plus, the man can cook. The chicken and dumplings he made me were amazing, even though I could hardly taste.”
If they knew I was avoiding the deeper part of the topic, my friends loved me enough to let it slide.
Chapter Thirty-Two
Rachel
The next day, I was anxious to get a text from Remy and kept obsessively checking my phone while I was at the office. The last few times he’d been gone for work, he texted when he got back.
When I heard nothing, those old doubts, strong and opinionated, started to kick up a fuss in my brain, reminding me why someone as awesome as Remy might not want things to get too serious with me. Maybe it was just sex, maybe he was just being nice when he happened to call when I was sick.
Under the surface of that was the quieter voice, the voice that was often drowned out by my shrill, doubting critic. That voice tried to remind me of how things felt when we were together—the intensity, the intimacy, that ethereal connection. It transcended any physical qualities.
After finally getting clearance to return to work, I had more than enough to do to catch up, so at least I had that to keep me from constantly checking my phone. When I finished up for the day, I had to hunt around the office for my cell phone. Occasionally, I left it in examining rooms as I rushed from one patient to the next. I found it on the counter beside the computer in the charting room where I had left it plugged in to charge when the battery got low.
With a muttered curse, I snatched it up. I hoped upon hope that a text from Remy would be waiting for me.
Instead, there was a text from Maisie, along with three missed calls from her personal cell phone.
Where the hell are you? I’m trying to let you know that Remy is really sick, and they took him to the hospital when he got back.
I tapped the call back button as I hurried down the hallway at the office. Maisie picked up right away.
“What the hell is going on with Remy? I’m on my way over right now.”
“I guess it started out as a cough, and he kept working. Because, you know, men are idiots. According to Beck, this morning, his fever spiked. They were already due to fly back, so that’s what they did. Remy’s not too happy about them insisting he get cleared at the hospital, but that’s where he is,” Maisie explained.
“Have you heard anything since they took him over there?” I asked as I grabbed my coat from the back of my office chair and hurried out.
“No, just that he’s there for an evaluation. Beck promised me he would call as soon as he had an update.”
“I bet he caught whatever I had. I feel awful,” I said, scrambling into my car.
“You had a cold. Even if he got your cold, it’s not your fault he got that sick,” Maisie said calmly. “I gotta go. Just got a call on the dispatch line.”
“Thanks for…” I didn’t get to finish as the line went dead in my ear.
I didn’t take it personally, seeing as she was responsible for handling emergency calls. I zipped over to the hospital, probably breaking every speeding law on the way over and grateful I might be able to sweet talk Rex out of giving me a ticket if I happened to get pulled over.
Moments later, I hurried in through the main entrance at the hospital, looking around wildly. The ER here had two tracks—the cases for blatant emergencies, such as a severe injury, and then the cases like Remy’s, where the emergency level was a little lower. Hurrying down the hallway, I aimed toward the wing where I thought he should be.
Charlie happened to be here for an afternoon rotation. I caught sight of her dark ponytail swinging and called her name. She turned back and waved.
“Have you seen Remy?” I asked, not even bothering with a hello when I reached her.
Charlie gaze softened. “I was just about to call you. He’s going to be fine, but we’re admitting him. He’s got viral pneumonia.”
“Oh my God, where is he?”
She pointed over her shoulder with her thumb to the room she had just exited. “I just found out he was here, or I’d have called you sooner. He’s in there and none too pleased with my recommendation. My guess is, it started with a cold. There are more than enough viruses bouncing around town. Like an idiotic man, he went right out into the field, where it’s cold and damp, and worked his ass off.”
I started to brush past her, and she caught me at the elbow. “He’s exhausted.” I stared at her, tears hot in my eyes and my throat tightening with emotion. “Are you okay?” she asked, her voice softening.
I nodded quickly, trying to take a breath through the thickness in my throat. “I’m fine. I don’t know why I’m freaking out,” I murmured with a shaky sigh.
“He just needs rest, medication, and some fluids.”
I stared at her, nodding jerkily. She didn’t say anything, just let her hand slide up to my shoulder to give it a squeeze. “He’s going to be fine. Go in and see him. It’s not likely anyone here will enforce visiting hours, not with you,” she said with a soft smile.
Just then, her name was called over the pager system. With another squeeze on my shoulder, she hurried off. Opening the door to Remy’s hospital room, I closed it behind me quietly after I stepped through. He was under the covers, his eyes closed. With my heart still tight, I approached the bed. When I stopped beside it, his eyes opened and he rolled his head to the side. He looked like hell. His skin had a flushed, feverish tone, and his eyes were glassy. He looked utterly exhausted.
My man, my strong Remy, was completely wiped out.
“Hey,” I said softly. Laying my hand carefully on his forearm where it rested on the mattress, I lifted the other to brush his hair away from his forehead. “Looks like I gave you that cold after all.”
Remy’s lips quirked. “Don’t know. Maybe, but two of the guys on the crew have that same nasty cold. Charlie just gave me a lecture…” He stopped, a harsh cough cutting into his words.
I glanced around, my eyes landing on a small plastic cup of water on the tray beside his bed. I added more water from the pitcher beside it and handed it to him when he finally managed to stop hacking. He took several sips and then leaned back, even more weary after that bout of coughing.
My heart squeezed. “So, what did Charlie say?” I asked when he finally seemed to be breathing normally again.
“Said I shouldn’t have worked so hard. She thinks between the weather and pushing it too hard, I’ve got viral pneumonia. Whatever the hell that is. She wants to keep me overnight and I do not want to be here.”
“Yeah, she mentioned that on my way in.” I brushed his hair away from his forehead again, feeling a clench of worry at the feverish heat from his skin. “Charlie’s not one to overr
eact, so if she says you need to stay for tonight, then you need to stay.”
Remy collapsed against the pillows with a sigh, the sound rattling slightly in his lungs. “Right. Says you who wouldn’t even see the doctor when you were sick.”
“Do you want some tea?” I asked, ignoring his slight jab.
“What I want is to be home. I don’t need you nursing me, along with the nurses here,” he mumbled.
I narrowed my eyes. “I’m not going anywhere. You didn’t answer me about the tea.”
He set the plastic cup down on the tray and nodded. “It’ll probably feel better on my throat.”
As I turned to step away from the bed, he caught my hand in his. Looking back, my breath hitched in my throat. Even though he was sick, clearly exhausted, and probably miserable, somehow, this man managed to give me one of those sexy looks, one where I felt like his eyes were searing my skin.
“I missed you,” he said softly, and then promptly lapsed into another bout of coughing.
When he was done, I filled the cup again and handed it to him. All the while, my heart tumbled in funny little beats in my chest. “I missed you too.”
He held my gaze, the look there so intense, it stole my breath. Then, he started coughing again.
“I’m going to get you some tea, and find out if Charlie can get you something for that cough,” I said, the next time his cough lapsed.
Chapter Thirty-Three
Remy
A full two weeks later, I was resting on the couch at my house with Henry curled up at my feet and Rachel busy in the kitchen. Apparently, pneumonia sucked. Or so I learned. Probably because I was the worst patient she ever had, Charlie reluctantly discharged me from the hospital after one night. She wanted me to have enough fluids and something to take the edge off my cough.
She ordered me to rest at home, rather sternly. I hadn’t meant to do so. In fact, I had assumed I would maybe take a few days off until I got my energy back, and then go back to work. That wasn’t quite how it worked out. It was a good week before I felt like I had enough energy to do much of anything, other than sleep and wake up long enough to eat and snuggle on the couch with Rachel.
Rachel had insisted on taking me home from the hospital. My recovery time had started at her place, but we ended up decamping to my place after the first night. Of course, I told her Henry could come, and it was more comfortable. She finally admitted she’d been meaning to sell her house anyway because it had too many memories of Bruce.
I didn’t really know because I hadn’t had the energy to investigate, but I assumed she’d pretty much reorganized my entire kitchen. While I could certainly cook and was better than average, I couldn’t have cared less how my kitchen was organized. Rachel, on the other hand, had all kinds of opinions about what should go where. In the first few days, she had asked tons of questions about where to find things, occasionally slipping up with a grumble about it. I’d given her free rein to do whatever she wanted.
“How are you doing over there?” she called as she adjusted the heat under a large stainless-steel pot.
“Just fine, sweetheart, just fine. Whatcha making?”
“More chicken and dumplings,” she replied.
I discovered she could make a divine batch of chicken and dumplings. She’d been switching it up, but pretty much forcing me to subsist on soup ever since I got out of the hospital.
Not that I was complaining. At all. The woman could cook. I was pretty sure she could make boiled water taste amazing at this point.
“I also made fresh bread while you were napping,” she added.
“Is that what smells so good?” I gave Henry a stroke on his head and rose from the couch, striding into the kitchen to investigate.
I had only felt well enough to stand for more than a few minutes at a time over the last few days. When I stepped into the kitchen area, the scent of fresh bread assailed me.
“It smells like heaven,” I murmured as I stepped behind Rachel, slipping my arms around her waist and leaning down to dust a few kisses along the side of her neck.
It had been too damn long since we had sex. Just now, with her lush bottom pressed against me, my body immediately responded, my cock thickening and lengthening in a matter of seconds.
“You smell even better,” I added, brushing a few more kisses along her neck and nipping at her earlobe.
She giggled. “Behave,” she ordered. “You’re not one hundred percent yet.”
Reaching around her, I turned off the burner and removed the ladle from her hand, setting it on the counter beside the stove.
“I don’t have to be one hundred percent, sweetheart.”
“Remy, you…” Her words trailed off as I turned her in my arms and palmed her ass, rocking my arousal into the cradle of her hips. Her cheeks flushed and her mouth fell open in a lovely little O.
“What was that you were saying?”
Her hair was in a loose ponytail with tendrils falling around her face. She wore a pair of sweatpants that hung low on her hips and a long sleeve T-shirt. I supposed few would consider her outfit sexy. Except me.
I slid my hand under her shirt, almost groaning at the feel of her silky skin as I dragged my palm up over her belly to cup one of her breasts. Her nipple was taut through the silk of her bra when I pinched it with my thumb and forefinger. I rocked my hips into her again.
“You didn’t answer,” I teased.
A little moan escaped before she answered. “You’re not all better yet.”
“I feel quite fine. In fact, I feel better already.”
She gasped when I flicked the clasp between her breasts, a low growl escaping at the feel of her warm skin and the heavy weight of her breast in my palm.
“You need to eat,” she murmured, a whimper following when I dipped my head, grazing my teeth lightly along the soft skin on her neck.
I’d come to learn her body well—all the little places that made her crazy. A sweet spot low on the side of her neck was one of them, and her nipples were crazy sensitive.
“We’ll eat in a little bit,” I murmured, finally catching her lips in a kiss. She sighed, the warm sweetness of her mouth welcoming me in, her tongue darting out and slicking against mine.
Perfect.
Need lashed at me, and I was suddenly feeling almost frantic for more. Perhaps it was because it had been so long. I’d never thought a few weeks would feel like an eternity, but when it came to being intimate with Rachel, it was too damn long.
Stepping back slightly, I slipped her sweatpants down over her hips, her panties right along with them. Rachel cried out when I reached between her thighs to find her hot and ready, her pussy slick with her arousal.
I needed her naked because I needed to see all of her. With a rough tug, I tossed her shirt aside. She stood before me, my eyes tracking over her plump breasts, and the flare of her hips. She shifted her legs, the subtle sound of moisture heightening the need twisting inside me. I teased my fingers in her arousal.
Bending low, I dragged my tongue around a nipple, sucking it lightly as she cried out. I might not have been one hundred percent, as Rachel worried, but I had no trouble lifting her on the counter and pushing her knees apart. Glancing down, the sight of her pink, swollen, and glistening pussy greeted me.
With a few kisses on the inside of her thighs, her body rippled. I wanted to take it slow, but I needed her too much. I buried my face between her thighs, savoring the salty tang, her musky scent washing over me. When I buried two fingers in her channel and sucked lightly on her clit, she came in a rough, noisy burst.
She was freeing my cock from my jeans before I had fully straightened. Her legs curled around my hips and she rocked forward as I surged into her snug, wet core. I almost came instantly. I had to force myself to hold still, my forehead falling to hers.
She giggled. “Well, I guess you are feeling better.”
“Told you,” I said gruffly. We held still like that for a few beats. I could feel the flutter
of her pulse where her breasts pressed against my chest. Emotion rocked me.
“In case you haven’t figured it out yet, I love you.”
Rachel was quiet, her breath coming in soft pants. I didn’t care if she was ready, she needed to know how I felt. After a moment, she murmured, “Look at me.”
Lifting my head, I found her blue gaze waiting, vulnerability and emotion shining there. “I can’t say that I figured that out yet, but I figured out that I love you.”
I caught her lips in a kiss, drawing back slowly and sinking inside of her core again. What had started as a rushed, frantic need for release spiraled into a slow and sensuous lovemaking on the kitchen counter.
With her legs curled around my hips as I rocked into her, every breath and every heartbeat echoed her name.
My release was intense, building inside, pressure gathering like a wave, and then hot, sizzling electricity bundling at the base of my spine and shooting upward through me. Rachel’s cry was right ahead of mine, my name a rough shout as her sex clenched and rippled around my cock, drawing my release out.
Afterwards, she looked over at me and laughed softly. “How did it end up that I’m completely naked and you still have all your clothes on?”
I shrugged. “I guess I was in a hurry.”
After we untangled ourselves, she tugged her clothes back on and joined me on the couch for soup and fresh bread. I fell asleep later, with her warm against my side, thinking I was the luckiest man in the world.
Chapter Thirty-Four
Rachel
Pushing through the door into Firehouse Café, I found it a little crowded. Although the air was still cool in the mornings, the tourists were starting to crowd the small towns of Alaska. It was still technically spring and not even summer here yet, but so what? Once the snow was gone and the roads were clear, out-of-state visitors crowded the usually sparsely traveled highways of Alaska.