by Lisa Eugene
“I’d like to know so I can kick his fucking ass! Is it your boyfriend?”
“I—I don’t have a boyfriend.”
Her body shuddered with the effort of stifling her emotions. He was crashing through her barricade, ripping apart every defense she’d ever built. In the end, more tears came, running like a river down her cheeks.
“Shit!” He dragged her to him and wrapped his strong arms around her, almost crushing her in his grip. “You’re so damn beautiful, Chloe. Inside and out.”
She sniffled into his shirt, mortified that she was having a meltdown in his presence.
What is wrong with me today? I’m usually so strong!
He leaned back and grabbed her hand, startling her when he pulled her palm to his crotch. She felt his hips buck as her fingers grasped hold of the solid length of his large erection.
“This is for you, Chloe. This is what you do to me. I would love nothing more than to be buried inside you,” he said breathlessly. “That night in the alley was amazing. A-fucking-mazing!”
She blinked dully, looking into his expressive eyes. There was such sincerity there, such passion, and it vibrated through her.
He chuckled, the hand encasing hers squeezing tightly. She felt his erection kick in her palm through the fabric.
“You have no idea how sexy you are. You’re naturally passionate and responsive. You just do what feels right, and it’s exciting as hell. I can’t get you out of my head.”
Chloe shook her head, still confused.
“Then why won’t you have sex with me?”
His wide shoulders relaxed as he blew out a breath. “Because you’ve been through hell today. You’re emotional and upset and it wouldn’t be fair to you. I want to make love to you all night long, Chloe, but I’d only be taking advantage.”
Chloe pulled her bottom lip between her teeth, thinking she really wouldn’t mind him taking advantage. But he was right. As much as she desired him, she was emotionally raw and still twisting tight with anxiety. It wasn’t like the night at the club when they were both impulsively ruled by passion.
She managed a weak smile when he rubbed his large palms up and down her arms, rubbing warmth into her skin.
“I’d like to stay though, if that’s okay?”
Vastly pleased with the idea, she nodded and watched his lips curve into a devastating smile.
“Good. I was starting to think you were only interested in my body.”
Chloe’s smiled and her fingers tightened their grip on his hard flesh. “Well, your body is pretty impressive.”
He shot her a saucy grin, and she felt heat dissolve some of the knots in her stomach. He tsked loudly, shaking his head.
“I can see this is going to be a true test of my willpower. Now, hands off the goodies.”
Chloe laughed at his feeble attempt at a stern face. For good measure, she stroked to his bulging tip and squeezed hard, forcing a deep belly groan to curl out of his throat.
He bucked his hips hard and tumbled her onto the couch. She yelped, gasping and falling into a tangle of limbs. Her bathrobe gaped open, revealing the taught roundness of her breasts and a pale expanse of skin at her hip. Brad growled and crawled over her body. He planted a soft kiss on her lips, his chest grazing her exposed nipples. She felt them strain and pucker to sharp points.
He pulled back and looked down at her, locking her wrists as she moved to cover herself. Her breath hitched in her lungs. “You’re beautiful, Chloe.” His gaze dropped to her breasts and his lips tilted wickedly. “And so damn sexy. Don’t ever forget it. Now. Let’s go to bed before I change my mind and fuck you here on this couch.”
Chloe had to hide her grin as he sprang up off the couch. She adjusted her robe and slipped her palm in his, leading him to her small bedroom that was little more than an expanded closet. The full sized bed possessed the space. It was a rocky ocean of bumps and lumps she’d grown accustomed to. She swept her gaze over his large frame, pinking with embarrassment as she wondered how he’d fit onto her cramped mattress. No doubt he was used to more luxurious accommodations. Plus the scarred night table and chest of drawers she’d wedged into the meager space barely left room to walk. He didn’t seem to notice as he unbuttoned and shucked his shirt from his broad shoulders, and soon her mind was busy contemplating other things.
Oh. My. God… He is beautiful.
She’d been pressed up against him and knew he was solid, but the full visual of his splendid, hard body was sustenance for her hungry eyes. He did not have an ounce of fat on him. His wide shoulders and broad chest were sculpted with a rolling definition of muscle. It was an expanse of smooth tanned flesh interrupted only by a sprinkle of dark hair on his chest and two tiny discs of rust colored flesh. His waist was narrow with a washboard grid of tight abs. Chloe wondered how much time he must spend at the gym. Her gaze followed his hands as they shoved away his jeans to reveal a pair of blue boxers and she almost groaned aloud at the sight of the heavy thickness tenting the material. Her body instantly responded to the memory of having him inside her, and her sex buzzed with a flood of tiny sparks.
“Penny for your thoughts…” she distantly heard him and looked up to see the wicked grin on his face.
Oh God… Have I been caught staring? Again?
Penny? He’ll need a lot more change than that, considering the thoughts rambling in my brain. Ahh… What had she been thinking about before her brain turned to mush? Yes! The small bed.
“Ah…um…just wondering how you’d fit.”
She watched his brows pull up quizzically and his blue eyes shined with mirth.
She grimaced, feeling heat consume her face. “Wondering how you’d fit…on the bed,” she clarified, and watched him bite his bottom lip to contain his laughter.
He rotated his head and glanced at the mattress. “I know for a fact I’ll fit just fine.”
She gulped, because when he turned back and regarded her she knew he wasn’t talking about the mattress. She grabbed a scrunchie to tie back her thick mop of hair, anything to hide from the burn of her embarrassment.
Great, Chloe. That was really smooth! You dolt! Why don’t you just ask him to take out his penis so you can have a looksie since you haven’t actually seen one in years? She was about to refute her conscience when it quickly countered. One younger than eighty!
She cursed her inexperience. From what she remembered with Jack, sex just happened when the mood struck them…well, him mostly. And then the lights went out, he got on top, and minutes later it was over. There were no innuendoes, no playful teasing or sexy banter. She wasn’t skilled at that sort of thing. And certainly they’d done nothing as scandalous as what had occurred in Brad’s office. Jack would never have enjoyed watching her touch herself. He would have been appalled at the very idea. And before Brad, thoughts like those were shameful fantasies she kept locked and chained in a dark corner of her brain.
She sighed just as he slipped into bed and reached out to her. She peered into the endless pool of his beautiful eyes, thinking about her tumultuous day and her see-saw of emotions. Utopia existed in his eyes and hope was burgeoning in her chest, gaining strength. Looking into them, she found hope pushing through the thick muck of her emotions to lift her spirits and buoy her resolve to get to the bottom of what was happening to her. She offered him a tentative smile, then reached over and flipped off the lamp before pulling off her robe and slipping into the warm spot next to him.
He snuggled against her back. Quietly, his arms and legs encased her, locking her into a lush heat of soothing sensations and textures. From the rock of his chest to the prickly feel of the coarse hairs on his legs, she was wonderfully inundated. She shuddered from the stimulation as he groaned against her ear and stabbed his erection against the curve of her ass.
“I was wondering if you were naked under that robe.” He gently nipped her earlobe and groaned. “Are you trying to tempt me?”
She could sense his smile in the dark and imagined tho
se lips tilting sensually. His fingers delved through her hair, removing the scrunchie.
“I…I don’t usually sleep with clothes on,” she whispered, smiling secretly. He groaned again, a vibration that purred through her belly and rumbled in her sex, coating it with need.
“God help me…” He chuckled, his lips playing against the nape of her neck.
He fanned out her hair, pulling his fingers through it in long leisurely strokes as he combed it over his chest. She heard his deep intake of breath and knew he’d buried his nose in a fistful.
“I love your hair. It’s beautiful. You should always leave it down.”
“Mmmm…” She smiled into the dark, hearing him repeat his action.
“Get some rest, Chloe. Everything will be okay.”
“Thank you for coming…” She felt his arms draw her tighter against his body. She listened as the even saw of his breath grew quieter and she almost wept because she knew she could live in the shelter of his embrace forever.
This man touched her deeply. She never knew what to expect from him. There was a simmering intensity beneath every emotion. One minute he was a placid breeze and the next a turbulent storm. No one had ever so passionately held a mirror before her, or forced her to see beyond her preconceptions. For a brief moment, she had seen herself through his eyes. And whether she believed the image or not, she was moved that he cared enough to reveal it.
Everyone misjudged him. His reputation was one of a tough, egotistical overachiever, but she saw another side to him. She believed it was the same side that Bea had alluded to. She also imagined he had a great deal of responsibility, people counting on him to literally save their lives. The pressure must be immense. She couldn’t fathom what that was like and still couldn’t believe that he’d carved time out of his busy schedule for her. He believed in her and she knew he’d help her through this crisis. The administrators had made a mistake and she was sure he’d help them see it. She didn’t want to think about her family situation and the dismal possibilities, so instead she burrowed into his enveloping comfort and believed that all would be well. It had to be.
CHAPTER EIGHT
Brad tried very hard to keep his voice modulated, but was growing increasingly frustrated with the person on the other end of the line. He’d explained that he had an emergency and couldn’t make the conference in Boston. No, he would not be flying in later today. No, he would not be making the trip tomorrow nor any other day in the near future. Yes, he was sorry to disappoint the people who’d looked forward to hearing him lecture, but he had urgent business to attend to. Yes, he understood that this was not a good move for his career. Yes, he still wanted to be number one. Brad scratched his chin and sighed, because he knew this tirade would be incessant. It was always the same.
Sinking onto the couch in Chloe’s living room, he tracked a ray of morning sunlight slicing across the brown shag rug. His gaze darted through the door of her bedroom to check on her sleeping figure huddled against a mound of pillows. He arched his aching back, wondering how she could sleep so soundly on that mattress of torture. It felt like he’d slept on a bed of rocks—rocks that a little man in the springs hurled at his back all night long! That, and the erection he’d battled had chased away any real sleep. He was glad when he heard the beep of another call. He’d been waiting for Bea to call him back and that would be her.
“Listen, Dad. I have to go. I guess I’m just as stubborn as you are. I’ve explained all I need to. Goodbye, I have another call.”
Shaking his head to clear the debris, Brad signed off and switched over to Bea. He’d spoken to her about an hour ago and explained a bit of the situation. She’d made some calls and was now getting back to him, hopefully with some good news. He held his breath as she spoke, hoping to eventually exhale the fumes of his worries and inhale deep cleansing relief, a relief he could share with Chloe. But as Bea talked, he felt his skin grow tight with mounting apprehension. There really was no Nigel. Brad had hoped the administrators were wrong, but Bea had made inquiries into almost every department in the hospital and come up empty.
He’d asked her to set up a meeting with the hospital administrators. Unfortunately, the earliest time they could convene would be next Wednesday. Brad gritted his teeth, trying to control his frustration. Next Wednesday? Almost a week! He wanted to take care of this promptly. He could just imagine what their investigation entailed. When it came to risk management, the hospital would be swift and exacting with its judgments. It would sever its right arm to save the entire body. The priority was always the institution.
He asked her to speed up the information he’d requested on Omega and send a note of apology to his more prominent colleagues who’d shown up in Boston for his aborted conference. He smiled when she told him she’d already done the latter—handwritten apologies with a small token. He reviewed his scheduled cases and local commitments for the upcoming week, and he listened as Bea related his emergency calls. He had her call in a few prescriptions and add several more patients on for him next week.
Through the door he saw Chloe arch in a liquid stretch, the sheet rising high on the curve of a milky thigh. She’d felt incredible cuddled against him last night, which was surprising because he rarely slept with a woman. He shifted and a muscle in his shoulder cramped and complained, making him curse the bed of rocks. Signing off the phone, he made his way into the bedroom, smiling when he was greeted by radiant hazel eyes. As he drew closer, he saw tiny flecks of green dancing in their depths, and his stomach turned because he wished he could douse the anxiety he saw still hiding there.
“Morning, beautiful.” He leaned over and brushed his lips against hers, loving the feel of her supple flesh.
He sat on the edge of the bed and gazed down at her, noting her hand clutching the sheet to her neck. Her degree of shyness surprised him because there were moments when she was so deliciously bold. It was as if she constantly battled with her inner self. Always willing to kick her out of her sexual comfort zone, and suddenly having the urge to view more than her pretty face, he pinched the sheet and dragged it down. He held her sparkling gaze as the edge slowly slipped over her body, the fabric gliding over her delicate shoulders, before revealing the beautiful mounds of her naked breasts. Her dark peaks puckered stiff as cool air caressed them.
“Never hide from me, Chloe.” He leaned over and brushed his lips over hers, smiling at the breath coming faster from her lungs.
“I heard you on the phone,” she said hopefully and he traced his lips along her jaw, not ready to end the peaceful moment.
“Was that Bea?”
He straightened and she pulled herself up in bed, the sheet tucked at her waist. She folded her knees and leaned against them. Still hiding.
“Yes, it was.” He nodded. “I had her make some calls. She couldn’t find a Nigel in any department.”
Her gaze faltered and landed on the sheets where she traced a wrinkle with her finger. He could sense her disappointment, but the contemplative look in her eyes told him she was digesting the information and was working it out in her head, figuring out a game plan. He’d expected more tears, but could sense she’d awakened with a purpose.
He cleared his throat. “I plan on speaking to the administrators at the hospital. I have a meeting set for next Wednesday, but I’m hoping to move it up. I can’t promise anything, but perhaps with me vouching for you and assuring them that I’ve already been through the charts and found no wrongdoing on you part, they’ll at least reinstate your position while they finish the investigation.”
Her amber gaze flew to his, and he could tell by the fear in her eyes that resuming her duties was very important to her. Taking a deep breath, he continued. He needed to be as honest as possible with her.
“Listen, I don’t know what to make of this Nigel thing. I believe he exists, but it’s a mystery. The administrators will probably want a full psychological evaluation before they agree to let you work again.”
She nodded,
her features growing grim as she bristled. “They had said as much. I don’t mind doing that. I’m not crazy!”
He smiled at her rancor. Cupping his fingers over her bent knees, he caressed in small reassuring circles.
“You might also want to seek legal counsel, you know, just get an opinion.” At this suggestion her eyebrows pulled in alarm.
“That…that…will be a lot of money.”
He took a deep breath, his eyes roaming her face. Her apartment was neat and efficient, though sparsely furnished. He’d been in her living room and kitchenette earlier and could tell from the worn condition and quality of items that she didn’t have a lot of money. He always thought nurses made a decent salary and it surprised him that she lived so modestly. It would only benefit her though and strengthen her position if she spoke to an attorney.
“Don’t worry about the money. I’ll take care of it.”
“No way!” She swung her head in protest. “I couldn’t let you do that. You’re already doing enough. You missed your conference because of me.”
“It’s no big deal, really.” He could tell by the tight seam of her lips that she would never accede. He wondered if she’d overheard his conversation with his father.
“Don’t nurses have some kind of advocacy board that they can go to for support and advice?”
She nodded and he could tell she wasn’t too thrilled with that idea either. “We do. I’ll look into it today.”
Sensing she was ready to end this discussion, he smiled and leaned in for a kiss, groaning when she parted her lips in invitation. He tasted her resolve and stubbornness, and loved how it flavored her shy personality. He let his tongue flow into her mouth, enjoying the sweetest nectar he’d ever experienced. His lips whispered over her jaw and down her neck. He inhaled her lazy morning scent and tried to lock the breath into his lungs, wanting it to saturate him. He could wake up to that scent every morning, and the thought surprised him.