by Amanda Jones
There wasn't anything he could think of to do to make it up to her. He thought of texting or calling, but what would he say? That he agreed to talk about part of her case but they ambushed him? No, he couldn't apologize enough for what she must have seen. What new craziness her life would be now that the buzz of the case was stirred up again.
Throughout the day his phone would not stop ringing. He largely ignored it, until it spilled over and his personal cell phone would ring. Hilda, a former staffer at the clinic, was alerting him that 'the girl from the case' was in the hospital.
"Oh god Lily, what have I done," Robert uttered as he grabbed his jacket and headed for the door.
While they were adamant about friends and family being the only ones back, they did relent a little when he said he was her personal psychiatrist. They gave him just enough information to keep him from worrying. Stress-induced blackout, she's on fluids, will be fine, holding her for observation.
Robert started breathing again. While he wasn't going to be allowed to see her, he could at least send in flowers and a letter, explaining everything and hoping for the best. He'd never forgive himself if this set her back in recovery.
Just for good measure, he threw in a stuffed teddy bear with a tee-shirt that read: Get well beary soon.
Two days after he visited, Lily left him a message.
Cute bear, good excuse, let's talk.
He called her immediately and told her once again, he'd never have done the show had he known. He just wanted to help people and thought that referencing the break throughs that they'd had together was a step in that direction, until the interviewer turned the tables on him.
They met at Tribeca and he let her ahead of him to order her coffee. The barista touched her as he gave her the coffee causing her to gasp and drop it, spilling the dark liquid everywhere.
"I'm so sorry, I don't like to be touched," she said quietly as she looked back at me with horror. Were all the break throughs of therapy gone?
The barista was a pro and cleaned the counter and fixed her a new beverage, sitting it down on the counter instead of handing it to her. After fixing Robert an espresso, they sat down at a table to talk.
She said the shock was too much for her, that she didn't even get to finish the broadcast. She then looked him straight in the eye and said, "I had a vision about you while I was out." She was almost incoherent she was whispering so lightly, but Robert latched on.
"Of what?"
"I was holding on to the edge of a cliff and you held out your hand to help me. I grasped onto it and you pulled me to safety."
She kept her eyes on her coffee, waiting on a response.
"That's understandable after a shock to the system. You view me as someone that has helped a little in the past and may manifest as someone you can rely on.
"Can I?" she asked him, still not meeting his gaze.
"Can you what, Lily?" Robert was genuinely confused at what she was asking.
"Rely on you."
"Of course. While I'm your therapist, I do hope I'm your friend as well."
"That wasn't the only time I've had that vision," she continued, telling him about the dreams with the vines. "I've also thought about you, or rather your bear, coming to help me with that man again. It wasn't scary."
"Then why did the barista's casual touch bother you?" This perplexed him.
"I've no idea. Touch me." She held out her hand. Robert hesitantly put his hand over it and closed his eyes to sense her body's reaction. There was an increased heart rate and her blood pressure rose slightly, but he didn't sense fear. Was I sensing arousal? He thought.
"You seem fine now."
"I think it's you, Robert. I think you're the only one that can touch me right now and I not freak out."
Robert didn't move his hand, but slid his other hand under hers to cradle it. His thumb rubbed her hand as his bear lusted. While he's had women in his bed, none have ever affected him as she did. He wanted Lily as his own.
He moved close to her before asking, "Purely for scientific reasons, May I kiss you Lily?"
She turned to look at him, his eyes looking her all over. She was broken in her eyes; too curvy and too damaged. Her eyes filled with tears as she answered, "Yes."
His lips brushed against hers softly, easily. When she didn't move or tense up, he kissed her with earnest. Licking at the upturned corners of her mouth, exploring her as her lips parted. Tasting the sweetness of her latte. He wrapped an arm around her and pressed her body to his. He broke only long enough to whisper in her ear, "One day Lily, one day you're going to be mine."
Chapter Nine
Robert and Lily spent the next few days texting and calling, getting together every now and then to spend a few moments together. While they continued to grow close, they made sure to take it slowly for her sake.
The next session, Lily went over precisely what part of the events still haunted her. Robert made sure to also try to get her to hold on to the parts that helped her survive; knowing that she wasn't penetrated, knowing that she was saved, and knowing that even though she was accused at first, that she came out of it with the truth.
"Is there anything that makes you hold on to those thoughts of the attack?" Robert asked.
"I keep seeing the shifter. I know it sounds insane, but ever since our breakthrough where I realized he was a shifter I've keep replaying it so I can see him when he turns to look at me once more before leaving. I always wonder what he was thinking." She's far away, wistful as she spoke.
"He was thinking you were the loveliest thing he's ever seen."
"Excuse me, doctor?"
Jesus, I said that aloud? he thought.
"I'm sorry?"
"You said something; I didn't quite catch it all."
"Lily, I've two things I have to say to you - no three. One, I'm no longer able to be your psychotherapist and for that I'm sorry. Two, I said that he was thinking you were lovely. Three, well....three will come after I've explained one and two."
He sat down on the couch beside her. His hand rested on her leg as he went to hold her hand. Slowly, he explained that his feelings for her couldn't be denied but that was only a portion of the reason he couldn't continue to be her therapist.
She looked confused, until he looked up into her eyes, held her and said, "There's more I need to tell you, Lily. Something I've wanted to tell you since the first day you entered the clinic and told me your story. I just couldn't though."
He struggled. His rung his hands and got up to start pacing. Every cell in him was screaming at him not to do what he was about to do, that it could ruin everything he'd built establishing a trust with Lily. Still he forged on, wanting anything left with her to be built on truth.
"Remember when you said that it was a bear shifter you saw in the woods?" he began, "well it was actually me you saw. I was the shifter who saved you that evening, and no, I didn't know it was you until you started to retell the story."
Lily didn't know what to think. She'd already made peace with it being a shifter out there that night. She'd come a long way with Robert; he filled her mind lately. He was still the one man that could get close to her without recoil. She knew she wanted him, would this change anything?
"You said there was a third thing?" She faltered in her speech. Between the first two revelations, she was hesitant to hear the last, wondering if it would ruin everything.
"I'm in love with you. Between the bear shifter thing and me loving you, it's why I can't be your therapist any more. I want to be so much more to you, if you'll have me."
He walked back over to her and sat beside her. Cupping her hand once again, he waited on her response. Would she give him a chance?
"You know I care about you." She began.
This isn't a good sign, he thought.
"Can I have a few days to think about it?" she asked.
He nodded, unable to speak at there still being a ghost of a chance. They got up and he gave her a card pressed int
o her hand.
"It's someone I recommend for the rest of your sessions. He's been a great help to me."
"To you?"
"I went into therapy shortly after your case." He said head down. "I couldn't deal with not getting to you before you were too traumatized and I couldn't deal with what I'd done to him, and what I still wanted to do even after he was injured. I really wanted to kill him for what he was doing to you."
"Oh."
She walked out the door and into the still humid air.
Chapter Ten
The days away from Robert were confusing for Lily. During the day she busied herself in work and errands, but during the night her mind wandered to thoughts of him. How comfortable she was when he held her hand. Such a simple gesture to many but for her meant everything. It had been years since she'd been comfortable with the touch of a man.
She thought of the coffee shop kiss and how he pulled her to her, how her emotions got the best of her and she was wet with wanting for him. For the first time in the five years since the attack, she had real sexual longing and it both frightened her and overjoyed her.
She understood how Robert couldn't be her therapist after admitting his feelings and his shifter secret. Society wouldn't allow a shifter in that role, especially one that is so well known. She knew things that could ruin him but all she wanted was to keep him safe; as he had kept her safe so many years ago.
She made her decision and called him.
"Robert, hey it's Lily, when you have a moment, I'd like to talk. I want you Robert, all of you. I've not been able to think of anything else but you." It all came out in a jumble, left on his machine.
It was about an hour before he called her back. He'd been with a client and mainly checked just to stop the incessant blinking that kept distracting him. When he saw it was her, he tripped trying to call her back as soon as possible.
I don't know what it is about her, he thought, but she feels like home to me.
She'd agreed to continue the relationship; that she could find another therapist well before she could find another man that she cared about as she did him and one that she didn't recoil upon touching.
"Clearly you're the one I'm suppose to be with, Robert," she said quietly, "at least for now."
At least for now. He'd take that. He could show her all that she meant to him and why they were destined to be together.
"Let me take you to dinner" he offered, to which she agreed.
Hours later they were sipping wine and laughing like not a moment had passed and not a single dark cloud had ever threatened their happiness. They sat huddled together in a dark corner and every so often Robert's hand would rest on her thigh. He'd lean over and kiss her sweetly as his hand held her thigh. Light strokes from his fingertips teased and played over her bare skin as her dress was hitched up.
"If you continue to do that, Dr. Stevens," she leaned over to whisper to him so no one else could hear, " you best be prepared to have me on this table for the restaurant to see or take me back to your place."
His hardness ached against his trousers zipper at the sound of her throaty voice saying the words and his hand hit the table as it made its way back up to signal the waiter.
Chapter Eleven
They barely made it back to his home before falling into each other. Robert's kisses began as soon as the engine to his BMW had shut off and proceeded the entire walk to the front door. He pawed at her blouse like a horny schoolboy on his first time, but Lily didn't care.
His tongue trailed down her neck and to the soft roundness of her breasts, teasing a nipple into his mouth. Flicking it with his tongue, he sucked, sending waves of pleasure through her. She'd never known this sensation and it was so vastly different from that night in the woods.
Robert carried her inside before the neighbors saw them, kicking the front door back shut with his shoe. He took her straight to the bedroom, stopping only at the entryway to ensure she was still up for the encounter.
"Are you sure, Lily, we don't have to..." he began.
"Robert, if you don't finish what you've started, I'm going to have to spank you," she teased to him with a wicked insatiable look in her eye.
I'll have to remember the spanking thing for later, he thought.
Robert slowly undressed her the rest of the way, his hands going under her clothes to feel her nakedness. With every small section exposed, he went and kissed it gently, smothering her body with the lightness of his lips. His hands explored her, dipping into the folds and creases, and licking the ample flesh.
"You're so incredibly beautiful," he whispered into her skin, "I want to taste every inch of you before I'm done."
His mouth followed through with the sentiment; kissing, licking, and sucking everywhere.
He traveled down and slid her pants off to expose the tiniest pair of pink panties he'd ever seen. He looked up at her and grinned, as he pulled them off with his teeth. She laid there, squirming at the thought of what was to come.
In one long lick, his tongue traversed her slit from tip to end, taking time to flick the sensitive bud. His mouth went down on her, making her slick with his saliva. The alternative licks and nibbles caused her heart rate to rise and soft sounds to escape her.
The scent of her arousal was making his bear want her more and more. He was in a battle to keep from taking her then and there, wanting to be as slow and careful with her as possible. It wasn't easy to tame the bear when he was face first in her nectar.
When her hips started to buck under his face, he started moving up, kissing a line between her hips and her chest. Long strokes with his tongue moved him to her breasts, as his finger took the place of his tongue near her opening. His mouth went back to teasing her nipples, making them hard and erect while his finger worked in and out of her.
"You're killing me with this buildup, it's torture," she gasped, "I'm ready, I swear it. Take me now, Robert."
His body eased up just a little further, taking her earlobe into his mouth. Nibbling on it, sucking it, all while his cock took position over her body. He didn't hesitate this time, his bear roaring to life within him.
His cock lengthened and was rock solid, diving into her. His hips moved over hers, grinding into her. His body firm against hers, causing her to gasp for breath.
His hips worked back and forth, both for depth and to rub against her clit for her pleasure. She was so close he could feel it. He pulled almost completely out of her between strokes and plunged himself back inside.
On and it went, him holding out for her to come first. Finally, his hands went to her chest taking a nipple into his hand. He rolled and pinched them just when he went to her ear and whispered, "Come my love, come all over me and let me feel your desire."
She moaned loudly as she bucked against him. He felt her tense and release, her pussy milking his cock for every last bit. He could feel her get tighter around him with her orgasm. It was the closest thing to heaven he'd ever felt and the clamp down around him pushed him over the edge.
"Oh god, Oh Lily, darling." Was all he could say as he pulsed inside her, spilling his seed within. He didn't stop it seemed, spurt after spurt releasing. He'd been with women many times over the course of his life, both tame and extreme, but had never released as he just had. His bear within was even tired, making his whole self in need of a nap.
Chapter Twelve
Robert and Lily lay there, still wrapped around each other. She didn't pull away or recoil and she wasn't traumatized from what he could gather. He knew she was his. They made small talk, going over little pieces of their lives. Favorite colors and foods, pets they'd had as a child, and hit upon future plans.
"So where do you see us in a few years, Robert?" she asked.
"Married, somewhere far away from here, out of the public eye." He spoke as his fingertips laced through her hand that he held above his face. He kissed each fingertip of hers before letting go and doing it all again.
"I don't know if I'm marriage materia
l yet," she cocked an eyebrow and propped up on an elbow to talk to him, "besides we're a long ways off from proposals and such."
"I know, we're going to take this slow, I promise," He assured her, "nothing that you're not totally comfortable with."
He winced when he said it, an action that did not go unnoticed.
"Are you ok? Something hurt?"
"Yea, I'm fine, it's just that..." he trailed off, looked out the window, then back into her face as he finished, "I probably need to tell you about my ex-wife."