“Is that where you met Jacob?” Keelee’s soft question brought him back to the present.
“No. I served my four years. Got out and used my GI bill to put myself through college and earn a degree in Biology. I was accepted to the University of Florida’s College of Medicine. After two hundred and fifty thousand dollars in school loans, a thousand sleepless nights and an unbelievable amount of testing later—presto, a doctor. I was accepted to a residency program in D.C. for emergency medicine and worked there for four years. That’s where I met Gabriel.”
“Gabriel was working at the hospital where you did your residency?”
Adam laughed and shook his head. “No, Gabriel was a patient. He was the absolute worst patient in the recorded history of medical care. The nurses wouldn’t even go near his room. I did his initial intake, plugged up a couple bullet holes and pushed him upstairs like I normally do, but the surgical doc and internal medicine resident both had problems with him. They called me upstairs and I handled the situation.”
“How?”
“Ahhh… let’s just say I explained hospital life to him and where he stood on the pecking order. He wasn’t given an option except to acquiesce and be nice. Nicer… hell, who am I trying to fool? He was barely tolerable. His private doctor showed up and the next day when I reported for my shift, he was gone. I didn’t think anything of it until a month later. Gabriel turns up with a contract. The money indicated for the first year was enough to pay off all my student loan debt and still leave enough so I could live like a king. I listened to his proposal and thought for about five seconds before I signed the contract. A year later Alpha Team needed a doctor. I had combat experience and there wasn’t time to train anyone else. That’s when I met Jacob, Chief and the Wonder Twins, Dixon and Drake. That was almost seven years ago.”
Keelee sat up and turned around to face him. “But what does that have to do with you accusing me of trying to get pregnant to trap you?”
Doc leaned across and put his coffee cup on the hearth. Supporting his head on his hand, he lay on his side and contemplated her for a moment. Her hair framed her face and the firelight made the blonde seem almost golden. Her quiet beauty had always amazed him.
“Bianca had a pregnancy test fixing conception at about the right time. She threatened to abort the baby if I didn’t marry her. I know it’s a woman’s right to choose, but she said the baby was mine. I should’ve been allowed to have a say. I couldn’t understand the way she just threw that option out on the table. I’d have done anything to make sure that the child had at least one parent who would love him.” Doc closed his eyes trying to draw the strength to continue. “She had a prenup drawn up. It demanded compensation for carrying the baby to term. She would be allowed out of the marriage at her convenience, with spousal and child support until the child turned eighteen whether or not she remarried.”
“What? She planned to leave you before she even married you?”
“It seems I was a stepping stone and unfortunately so was my baby.”
“Your baby?”
“Yeah. Because I didn’t know my family history, I demanded the usual tests—amniocenteses, sonograms and blood tests. Guardian’s doctors sent me the results via the hospital network system. The same results Bianca received. We found out my little boy had Down Syndrome, but I didn’t care. Obviously Bianca did. The official medical records state spontaneous abortion of the fetus as the cause of the miscarriage.”
Doc swallowed hard, his voice forced through the thickness of despair he’d revisited. “Keelee, I’m positive she terminated the pregnancy. I would have paid her until the day she died if she’d let me keep him.”
“Oh my God! Adam, I’m so sorry.” Keelee lifted off her knees and wrapped her arms around him. Doc accepted the embrace and drew a renewed strength from her warmth and compassion.
Pulling her into his arms, he leaned back again and tucked her head under his chin. “Jason King helped me find a damn good lawyer who got me out of the marriage and the prenup. Because she… because there was no pregnancy, none of the conditions of the document applied.” Adam used his thumb to wipe away the moisture that clung to his lashes. He hadn’t told anyone about Bianca since he had asked Jason for help. His son would have been five next month. He had no grave to visit and no way to morn for the life that bitch had extinguished, the life he had helped to create.
He felt Keelee’s tears seep through his shirt. She sat away from him and her huge sky blue eyes searched his face. “Adam, I would never hurt a baby. I would never demand anything from you. I’m not her. I’m not Bianca. I understand she hurt you in a way no one should ever have to hurt but don’t let the wickedness that she is ruin what we could have. I’ve loved you for so long.”
Adam’s breath caught in his chest. Thank God.
She held up a hand to stop him when he leaned forward to recapture her in his embrace. “I wouldn’t let you talk to me to explain. Yes, you were wrong for assuming I was trying to trap you, but I failed us too. I should have let you explain. I was just so… hurt. Then it was pride. And then…” Her hand lifted to his eye patch. Adam held still as she pulled the patch from his face. He knew the scar wasn’t horrible. The eyelid still functioned. His eye had a milky white film clouding it. Her soft fingertips traveled across his eyebrow and traced the scar that marked some of the damage done during that mission.
She leaned forward and placed a soft kiss on his forehead just above that eye. “I wanted to come to you. When I heard you were missing, I was so scared. Dad left to help Tori take care of Dixon and Drake. After they came home, she kept us updated, but it seemed like forever before we got any news. I was so scared for you. The day she called to say you and the rest of the men were safe, I was so relieved. Then she told me you’d been hurt. You didn’t remember me… or us or what you thought I did.”
Adam pulled her into him and rocked her as the tears fell. “I didn’t remember. But I do now, baby. I remember. I love you.”
Chapter Thirteen
Adam held her lips in a kiss as he peeled the flannel shirt off her shoulders. The shirt landed beside the mattresses, as did her jeans. He made quick work of the snap on her bra, but with the lace, he took his time. He slowly removed the material, revealing her beautiful breasts. His fingers traced down her shoulders to her nipples, which he caressed softly. He saw her body react as the buds pulled and tightened at his touch. He trailed his fingers across her tight abdomen and lowered his hand further, lightly caressing her through her panties. The pink cotton didn’t last any longer than the rest of her clothes. He needed to feel her flesh, her heat, and her wetness.
“Your body is so responsive, baby. I am going to take you places you have never been before. I want you. God, I need you.”
He ran his hands over her tight, toned body. His to touch. Finally. His eye held hers as his fingertips explored. Her eyes told him her secrets. She had no pretense, no subterfuge. Each small gasp, whispered plea and shivering tremble exposed her pleasure and her desire. He lowered his head and kissed her deeply. The taste of her was like an addiction and he wanted—no, craved—more. He stood and took off his flannel shirt.
She sat up on the bed and reached to touch his abs. He flexed and made them ripple just because he could. His woman liked his body. He’d make damn sure he kept her interested. Her fingers trailed lower until she undid his jeans and pulled them and his underwear past his cock and ass. Dropping in front of him, she kissed one thigh. Keelee reached tentatively out to him, taking his balls in her hand. She licked the tip of his cock. He jerked and cupped the back of her head as she sucked his shaft into her mouth and circled the cap with her tongue.
Adam pulled her up. It took everything he had not to crush her naked body against his. He wanted to be gentle, yet Keelee met his demanding kiss stroke for stroke. His hands never stopped moving as he caressed and explored every nuance of her body. He couldn’t get enough of her. Adam lowered her backward and pressed her into the bed. His mo
uth broke away from hers and traveled down her body, stopping only to torment and tease her nipples. She arched into him and moaned in response.
“Soon, baby, but not yet. I need to taste you.” He continued down her torso to her hips and circled each hipbone with his tongue. His hands found her ample breasts and continued to caress and arouse her.
Keelee buried her hands in his hair when he centered himself between her legs. The tight grasp couldn’t stop her hands from shaking. He kissed the inside of each thigh as he lifted each leg to give him complete access to her hot center. His fingers traced a line up her thigh to her heat as his lips followed. He heard her gasp and moan as his lips brushed the lips of her labia. Her body tensed and she gasped, “Adam… I’ve never… Adam!”
“Never?” Did he hear that right?
“No, I… no.” Her face flushed a dark rose color. Fuck, she didn’t have much experience then? Somehow that made him extremely happy. He’d take care of his woman.
“Relax baby, trust me. I’ll make it good for you.” If she’d never had a man go down on her, he’d make damn sure she enjoyed herself. Adam lowered his mouth and licked the area around her swollen bud. Her body trembled. Another swipe around her clit and she jumped. Lifting one arm, he pinned her hips to the bed and began his feast in earnest. His lips and tongue combined with just a bit of teeth had her moaning and pleading. One small taste and he was addicted to her taste, her feel. He entered her with two fingers. Her body clenched around them. Hot and tight. Damn, he wanted more.
“Oh God, baby, you are so hot and wet. You are absolutely incredible. Delicious.” He lowered his mouth and worked his tongue around her clit. It drove her insane. A deep repetitive clenching within her released her tormented body in the spasms of an intense climax. Her soft moans turned into his name, shouted over and over again. Oh fuck yeah, his woman came unglued. Her long thigh muscles tightened convulsively around him as he drank every drop of nectar her body produced.
Her body trembled, her hands full of his hair, grasping tight and not letting go. He peppered her with small light kisses.
“So good, baby. So beautiful.” He talked her down, lightly caressing her trembling flesh with his lips and tongue. As she stilled, he lifted and kissed his way up her body. Her arms wound around his neck and pulled him down on top of her. Her nails dug into his back and sent a delicious thrill through him. He lifted his head from the kiss and soothed, “Whoa, baby, slow down, we have all night.”
She mewled and he chuckled. “Do you need something?”
Her breathing was ragged as she reached down and stroked his huge cock. “Please, Adam, I have waited so long… so damn long… I… please.”
He growled and lifted his knee, spreading her legs for him. “You are so fucking irresistible, baby.” He tried to move away from her, but she locked her arms around his neck. “It’s okay, I need to get a condom, baby. I’m not going anywhere.”
She ran her hand down his back and grabbed his ass. He smiled and leaned over, reaching for his jeans. The foil wrapped package ripped open easily and then he was back. Lowering his mouth to hers, he took her hand and helped her put the condom on his rigid cock.
Adam dropped his hand to her swollen lower lips, applying pressure on her clitoris. Her legs trembled and her body tightened. His touch lit a fuse and her body once again arched in anticipation. He lifted his leg and spread her wide. Her eyes were closed and mouth parted as she lay beneath him.
“Keelee, baby, look at me. I want to see your eyes when I make you mine.”
Keelee’s baby blues opened, and she lifted her hands to his shoulders as he pressed his cock head through her tight passage. She gasped and her body tensed immediately.
He pushed further and lowered his lips to hers. “You’re so hot and tight… God, so tight, baby.” He pushed further and shifted his weight. So fucking tight. He pushed again. His body froze. She said she’d never… she’d waited so long… He stopped and gazed at her in question. “Oh, shit! Baby, you’re a virgin? You meant you’ve never made love, didn’t you?”
Her body trembled beneath him. She cried into his shoulder and nodded. “Adam, please, please don’t stop.”
He lifted and moved her hair out of her face. “Baby, I’m not going to stop. Look at me.” Her tear-filled eyes searched his. “Keelee, this may hurt for a while, but I promise I will make it good for you. Do you trust me?”
She nodded. Her innocent acceptance of his words and his body sent a rush through him. She trusted him to be her first. Didn’t that make him feel like a fucking god? He lowered his mouth to her lips and braced against the footboard. His arms snaked under her. Just before he claimed her, he whispered, “Thank you, baby,” and covered her mouth with his as he pulled her down and pushed himself into her tight channel. His mouth consumed her cries. As he stilled in her, he stroked her with his fingertips. He pulled away so he could whisper to her, “Beautiful. Such a gift. I love you, Keelee.”
“I love you, Adam.” Her words carried on small breathless huffs.
Slowly he pulled out and entered her again. From her tight, tense muscles he knew she was scared, or perhaps in pain. He continued whispering tenderly and forced himself to take her with long, careful strokes. “Come back to me, baby, come back to us, feel how good we are together.”
Her hands started to travel across his back as he kissed her, shifting his angle, searching her body’s reaction to find the most pleasure for her. He moved slightly between thrusts as she molded into him, her body finding a rhythm with his.
“That’s it, baby. Feel me in you. God, we are so good together.” He moved, pressing deep. Her body shuddered and she dug her nails into his back. He stroked again—slow and deep. He smiled softly and stroked her there again.
“Oh, Adam!” Her whispered plea etched itself into his soul. He’d never get enough of this woman. Adam dropped his lips to her neck and kissed his way down to her breast. He caught the hard bud in his lips and teased her with his lips and tongue. She gasped and arched her back, giving him better access to her breast. His arms tucked underneath her and held her up, exposing her to his searching mouth. He kissed and licked his way to her other breast, nipping and sucking the tip until she cried out with need.
Adam continued the slow, tender push and pull as his cock screamed for relief. His mind knew what Keelee needed. The tenderness, the commitment and the love. But his body wanted her harder, deeper and faster. The delicious tightrope he walked his body on held taut as he allowed his fingers to explore along with his lips. God, the woman amazed him. Her body shivered at his touch, arched into his caresses, and her complete surrender stroked his need as much as the hot velvet heaven that surrounded his cock.
“This, how it feels now? This is what we’re meant to be, baby. So good. I love you so much.” His own orgasm fought to erupt, but he continued to push deep into her as she writhed below him. Her fingernails bit into his shoulders. Once she learned to trust him and let go, she’d be a hellcat in bed. That thought propelled his own release to the center of his attention, yet he fought to control it. Her body tightened and then convulsed as she dropped over the edge of her first orgasm with him inside her. Thank God. Based on instinct, because his cognitive brain activities had ceased to function, he reached between them and applied pressure to her clitoris and stroked her hard. Either she came again or never quit coming. He didn’t know. Nothing existed except his own need. Adam pounded into her, growling her name against her shoulder as he came so hard he thought he’d shatter.
Instead of crushing her, he rolled to his side and pulled her with him while he was still inside her. They both drew ragged breaths, trying to catch their breath. He kissed her forehead and panted, “Thank you, baby.”
She pulled away and asked him, “For what? You did all the work.”
He lifted up on his elbow and moved her hair away from her face. “For giving yourself to me. Thank you for the gift of being your first.”
“You’re not mad at me
for not telling you?”
He pulled her close and hugged her. “No, but I’d have waited if you wanted.”
She shook her head. “I waited for so long for you, Adam.” He kissed her tenderly and got out of the bed. “Where are you going?”
He leaned over and kissed her again. “Disposing of the condom.”
He made quick work of it and detoured to the fireplace, putting two more logs on the coals. The fire flared immediately. He slid in next to her and pulled her close to him. He covered them both with the sleeping bag and draped his leg around her just as he had a little more than two years ago in this very line shack. The missing piece of his life snuggled closer to him and he drifted off to sleep listening to her even breathing.
Chapter Fourteen
The sun glittered off the pristine snow that blanketed the meadow surrounding the line shack. Vivid blue skies broken by floating columns of white played host to a pair of red-tailed hawks that drifted on air currents in search of a winter’s meal. Keelee leaned against the door and watched as Adam’s silhouette dropped past the ridge heading towards the old homestead. He left on foot, or rather snowshoe, at daybreak to retrieve her snowmobile. When she could no longer see him, she let herself back into the little cabin. He had left the snowmobile and Sat-phone for her, taking only a rifle, water, and small tool kit with him.
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