by E. Walsh
His head dropped back at the sensation of their heated skin touching. He felt her mouth on his exposed neck, felt the grumble of satisfaction at the back of his throat at the feel of her soft, wet mouth dancing an intimate pattern on his feverish skin. Instantly, he wished her mouth was on his stiff manhood, but knew that there would be no hope for him if she did. He let her trail kisses down his shoulder and pecs until he could stand it no more.
He shoved her higher against the wall to brace her. Her arms locked loosely around his neck. With one hand, he impatiently tugged down his underwear, and then hooked a finger around the lace of her panties and pulled it away. He couldn’t resist teasing the swollen flesh and she let out an agonized moan of anticipation. With both hands now full, he had a moment of uncertainty before he decided to just go for it. He tilted his hips, and slid into her waiting heat in a fluid motion that had both of them groaning. She was so wet, and he was so hard that in one thrust he was buried to the hilt.
They stayed there, motionless. He felt every part of her, felt her heat and her arousal. He felt her tense and knew that neither of them would endure very long this time. A part of his brain registered the ‘this time’ and wondered if there would even be a next time. Unwilling to let this time get caught up in the anxiety of next time, he forced himself just a little farther and her body clenched around him. When she began to squeeze rhythmically around him, he took up a frenzied thrusting tempo that had them both gasping and moaning.
Her nails scraped down his neck and back and he arched his back, unconsciously thrusting even deeper inside of her than he’d intended. From the way her nails were digging in, he knew that she did not want gentle. With three more deep thrusts, he had to release. Her body was drawing it out of him each time she tightened. He made a move to pull out, but she had her legs locked around him, and was actually pulling him closer rather than pushing him away. Unable to resist, he came inside her in a rush of intense magnetism and stimulation. He couldn’t stop the throaty growl that escaped him as he found his release in an intensity he’d never felt before. He felt her thighs quiver to match the shaking of his legs, and they both slid down in a boneless heap with her sprawled on top of him, still locked around his body.
* * *
Chapter Six
They didn’t speak for what seemed like hours, but probably was only a few minutes. Both of their bodies were still shuddering heavily, greedily sucking in air. She slid her leg up his thigh in an unconsciously sensual movement that made him start to grow hard again inside her. She let out a laugh.
“No way, Logan.”
He loved the way her voice sounded. It was husky and teasing. He brushed away the damp hair at her temples and noticed the way her eyes seemed to glow. Her cheeks were still flushed, but he loved the way her whole body seemed alive, yet relaxed.
He sighed dramatically. “I suppose I can wait a few more minutes, you tempting witch.”
She laughed, and pushed his shoulder in a mock punch. “You’re such an ass.”
He caught her movement and turned it into a gentle kiss. Instead of turning passionate, the kiss sat between them, a soft and emotional motion that frightened him. He knew what this was. One part boredom, one part fear, and one part an intense attraction that they’d both felt since they’d met. What it was not was a relationship. It was a connection that was purely physical, not anything remotely resembling the beginning of a relationship.
Danielle felt the sentiment of the kiss and was confused by it. Every interaction she’d had with Logan had been light-hearted. Even what had just transpired had been about the physical attraction. But now, when he had nothing more to gain, he kissed like that?
Kisses like that were made for twentieth anniversaries or the kiss at the altar or the kisses after the kids went to bed. They weren’t for sex and spur-of-the-moment.
When it was done, they didn’t say anything. Slowly, her skin started to cool and her wits started to return. They were in an elevator. And this was Logan. She pushed off of him and redressed. He shrugged on his pants.
“Danielle,” he started.
She interrupted him. “This doesn’t have to be anything more. I get why it happened, and why it won’t happen again. Let’s not make this more complicated than it has to be.”
She was surprised when he didn’t agree or disagree with her immediately. He wasn’t usually a man at a loss for words. After at least a minute went by and he still didn’t say anything, she grew agitated.
“Well?”
He shrugged. “It doesn’t sound like I’m a part of this decision. I’m fine with whatever you want to do going forward.”
She felt heat rising to her face. He made her sound like a heartless bitch. “There isn’t a decision to be made, is there? We still get on each other’s nerves. We still work together. Some casual sex is not worth ruining both of our careers.”
“Is that what it would be – casual sex?”
She blew out a frustrated breath. “Oh, for heaven’s sake! That’s all it ever could be. And put on a shirt!”
He chuckled. Apparently she was not as unaffected by his body as she pretended to be. He threw on his scrub top. He reached out for her to pull her down. At the same time, the elevator jolted into action. They looked, bewildered, at each other.
* * *
Chapter Seven
Danielle wasn’t sure it was a good thing or a bad thing that the elevator had been fixed in that moment. They hadn’t been able to finish their talk, but did it really need some grand finish? They both knew that there was nothing that could really change between them.
She was very glad that it had waited until now to start moving instead of half an hour ago with they had been in flagrante delicto!
They collected up their items and as soon as the doors opened saw the group of day shift workers that were waiting for them, looking curiously inside. Both of them were bombarded with questions from their coworkers, the elevator maintenance staff, the security crew, and the chief of the hospital. When they were declared safe to go home, they both took off in opposite directions – Danielle to the overview parking lot and Logan to the commerce parking lot.
When Logan reached his truck, he felt an instant rush of dissatisfaction. He didn’t like how they had left it and he wanted to finish what they had started. He still wasn’t sure exactly what that meant. Did he really want a relationship? Or maybe just some fooling around when they were on and off work? Either option sounded pretty good to him.
But the largest part of him wanted more than sex. He just wasn’t sure how much more. Instead of planning on his strategy, he drove to the overview parking lot that he knew she always parked in. He found her white Lexus RX350 and parked in the next closest spot, two stalls over. He got out and walked around the little Prius between them. Before he could step around a large orange Hummer to get to her, he heard her voice. At first he thought she was talking to someone, but realized she was on the phone when the other person didn’t answer back.
“Well, I think he was trying to ask me to be his girlfriend, but I just avoided it. I know what my answer would be, and I think the rejection would make it weird to see him at work…Yes, he’s definitely attractive, but when I look at him, I just don’t feel the same spark he apparently must…Well, I guess we’ll find out Saturday what Sam thinks. I’m having dinner with him at Olivier’s at eight.”
Logan didn’t even wait to hear the rest. He’d heard all he needed to. Apparently this attraction really was one-sided. Thank God he hadn’t spilled out the rest of his guts to her, just to have her throw them back in his face.
He got back into the truck and slammed the door shut. He sat there for a few moments, unbelieving and angrier than he’d been in a while. She made him sound pitiful and that she had done it just to avoid hurting his tender feelings. He hadn’t really been that way, had he? After all, he hadn’t hinted at a relationship with her, had he?
He waited until she pulled out and headed down the garage ra
mp before shoving the truck into gear and taking his time following her out.
* * *
Chapter Eight
Even though it had been a few days since their tryst in the elevator, Danielle couldn’t stop thinking about Dr. Logan Belmonte. She’d tried her best, but it was no use. And it wasn’t just about a replay of the sex in her mind. It was about him telling her about his mother: of realizing that his carelessness and devil-may-care attitude was just a cover for being surprisingly sensitive underneath.
Oh, maybe not sensitive like Sam. Sam was one of those guys who was oddly sensitive and almost too into his own emotions. Danielle realized it was never going to work between them. She preferred her men a little more masculine, a little broader, a little more like...
Since when, her mind questioned. True, her physical type had always leaned more toward the Sam’s of this world. But since the elevator incident (that’s what the little voice in her head called it), all she could think about was Logan – kissing her, touching her, inside of her.
Shrugging it off, she focused back on her work just as her nurse, Abigail, came jogging up to her.
“Dr. Sheridan, Christine Cripp in 6B is code blue! Dr. Morris said to find you and Dr. Belmonte right away. He thinks it’s something neuro or cardio related, but can’t find which it is without you two. I’ll page Dr. Belmonte and send him over there right away!”
The petite nurse jogged away down to neurology.
Danielle gathered up the chart that had been waiting for her, and threw back on her lab coat. Now or never, she supposed. Luckily, she hadn’t run into Logan at all the last few days. They were normally on the same shift, but they seemed to only cross paths. She hadn’t so much as spoken more than two words to him since the elevator. It was painfully obvious that he was avoiding her.
She trotted down the hallway, arriving at the door to 6B at the same time that Logan was running up to it. They clashed gazes, but didn’t say anything. He motioned for her to go in first.
Ten minutes later they had two very different diagnoses. Unfortunately, time did not allow for them both to try out their hypothesis. They had thirty minutes to decide on treatment. When it became clear they were not going to agree, the chief put them into a training room to hash out the differences, pros and cons.
“If its NMS, you can’t run a stress test or it will kill her,” Logan warned.
“Neuroleptic Malignant Syndrome is incredibly rare,” she shot back. “It’s far more likely she has an angina or coronary artery disease.”
He ran through the lists of tests already done. “But she had an EKG not even six months ago and nothing showed.”
“They don’t always show, Dr. Belmonte. You of all people should understand that. Tons of neurological disorders never present on the tests.”
They went back and forth until they reached a suitable conclusion for running one test that would diagnosis either of the conditions.
On the way out the door, Logan couldn’t help saying, “Good thing it isn’t weird at work now.”
Danielle heard what he said, but wasn’t sure what the reason for the volatile quip was. Had she said after having sex it would be weird at work? It undoubtedly was, but he seemed almost angry about it.
Because he was already out the door, there was nothing she could say about it now. They were at work after all. They needed to focus on work. She couldn’t keep thinking about his kisses, or the way his body had felt pressed up against her.
Giving out a frustrated groan, she whirled and headed back to her office; wishing there was a pill she could take that would erase the memory of him inside her.
* * *
Chapter Nine
It was an exhausting week that couldn’t end quickly enough for Danielle. She spent most of Saturday running the errands she never had time to do during the week. She was glad to be busy. It helped keep her mind off of Logan Belmonte, but the handsome doctor’s face kept flashing through her mind even as she was getting ready for her date with Sam.
Sam picked her up exactly at seven, always punctual to the minute. She kidded that he probably sat at the end of the block timing out his arrival. The drive to the restaurant was filled with small talk about her work and his daughter, whose health had greatly improved over the last few weeks.
At the restaurant, Sam jumped out of the car and trotted around to hold open her car door. He offered his arm and she took it as he led her inside of the restaurant. She breathed in deeply, smelling the Italian spices and seasonings the restaurant was famous for.
He held out her chair, and she seated herself carefully. Her little black dress was not conducive to sitting, but she couldn’t resist one last opportunity to be cute on a date night. Who knew when she’d get another one, given what she planned to do after dinner.
The meal started off great. Sam was an easy talker and listener, and there were plenty of things they didn’t know about one another. When they were going over the dessert menu, he brought up their relationship. Danielle knew that it was time for a frank conversation.
“Sam, we need to talk,” she started. She could see him lean back in his chair, as if he knew what was coming.
“I’m listening,” he said, offering her a wary smile.
“You’re a great guy,” she said. “One of the really, really good ones. And, I can’t put my finger on it, but I just feel like we’re headed in two different directions. Do you know what I mean?”
He cocked his head and frowned. “Not really. I find us very similar. We have the same taste in music, and restaurants, and TV shows, and you’re a great doctor.”
She sighed. This wasn’t going to be easy. “I know. We are very similar, but maybe that’s the problem. We’re too similar.”
“Well, would you rather we fought all the time? Quibbled like children? Like that other doctor, what’s his name? I see the way you two look at each other. You shoot daggers at each other with your eyes.”
It was Danielle’s turn to be surprised. Did everyone see what Sam saw? She had no doubt that he was talking about Logan. There was no one else at work that turned her head the way that he did. Not even close.
“What do you mean?” She questioned him carefully, almost dreading the answer.
“Dr. Belmonte. Every time he looks at you, it’s like he wants to devour you. And when you look at him, you get this… yearning in your eyes. You’re both like naughty children. You look away and pretend like it never happened, but I know what it looks like. I noticed it the first time the both of you came into Anna’s room.”
She could only imagine the look in her eyes when she looked at Logan. What had been pure attraction was now something more serious, something even more basic. She wanted him. She wanted to know everything about him, to be with him, to understand some part of him. And yes, she wanted him in her bed. That was a given.
“Sam, that is ridiculous. Dr. Belmonte and I can barely stand each other. You know that.”
He picked up his napkin and wiped his hands on it, as if symbolically wiping his hands of her. “Do you know that? Because it seems more like you’re trying to convince yourself than me.”
And maybe she was. After the elevator, she had thought they had a connection. But all week, Logan had been rude and even hurtful when they had to interact. He acted callously, as if nothing had happened. Except what had been teasing and playful was now just mean. She didn’t know the reason. Perhaps he regretted what they had done, or maybe it was just that he’d gotten what he’d wanted and now he was over it. Either way, it didn’t leave much ‘future’ for the two of them.
When she didn’t answer, she saw the fleeting look of pity wash over Sam’s face. She remembered that he had been married previously. What he was seeing in her was probably the same level of disappointment and hurt that he had probably felt going through the separation from his wife. Now he pitied her, was there anything worse?
He got out of his chair, and crouched next to her, grasping her hand. “Danielle, there
’s something I need to ask you.”
* * *
Chapter Ten
Logan looked through the restaurant window and felt his heart sink into his stomach. He didn’t even know why he was there and now he was regretting his decision to come. Danielle had made it very clear she wasn’t interested in him, and yet, here he was…following her around like the puppy dog she had indicated he was.
He snorted in disgust at himself. And yet, he had felt her surrender to him; had felt the state of her arousal that couldn’t deny the feelings that had been between them.
And now, he was staring in the window like a Peeping Tom. That’s what he’d resorted to. He had become a stalker. He remembered what she had said on the phone about the dinner reservations and he couldn’t resist digging the knife in a little deeper.
When he saw Sam leave his seat, he felt sick. The fool was going to propose to her. Danielle deserved better. Sam was a good guy, but he was no match for her intelligence, for her spunk.
Logan couldn’t stop his feet from moving. He threw open the door and all the diners stared in his direction. He hardly noticed them. He stalked to the table with his hands balled into fists. His eyes were only on Danielle. She turned towards him, and he read the stunned look in her eyes.
“Logan, what hell!" She started, only to be interrupted by him mashing his lips against hers in an artless form of uncontrolled passion.
Danielle couldn’t breathe. One moment she’d been sitting here with Sam, crushing his heart with every word, and the next minute she was kissing Logan in a crowded restaurant. Actually, he was kissing her. She wanted to be disgusted by it because of the way he’d been treating her, but instead she found her lips softening, and her hand floating to his shoulder.