The Doctor Who Made Her Love Again

by Susan Carlisle

  They walked to the end of the sandbar hand in hand. As the water became too deep, they swam. At the boat, Payton lowered the small ladder at the back and climbed aboard. He took China’s hand and helped her to the deck. She started to pull her hand away but he held it fast. He took her into his arms and gave her a soft kiss that should leave her no doubt she was desired.

  The subdued and no longer forthright China had him worried that she might be regretting what had happened in the water. He didn’t want that. Quite the contrary, he wanted her as hot and bothered as she’d been earlier.

  Seconds later her arms came up to circle his neck. Her mouth opened and his tongue intertwined with hers. His manhood pulsated for release between them.

  Payton pulled his mouth away. “Sweetheart, it has been a long time for me. I’m not going to last much longer. You deserve better, but could we go inside the cabin where I don’t have to worry about sharing you with the world?”

  She raised her big doe-like eyes to meet his gaze and nodded slightly. Releasing her, he took her hand and led her into the cabin.

  Slow down, man, or you’re going to scare her.

  Taking a deep breath in the hope of calming his libido, he turned to face China. Her eyes were wide. They held a hint of anticipation mixed with uncertainty. That was one of the many aspects of her personality that he found appealing. She seemed to be confident and sure one minute, needy and naive the next.

  Payton cupped her face, brushing his thumb across her cheek. “You’re beautiful.”

  Her gaze left his for a spot somewhere on the bunk.

  “Look at me, China.” Her look met his again. He said softly, “I don’t lie.” She blinked as if in acceptance.

  Payton ran the pad of his thumb over her kiss-swollen lips and she smiled. It was one of a woman who suddenly grasped her power.

  China placed her hands on his chest. With exceedingly slow movements she trailed her fingers over his skin, touching and circling his nipple before moving on follow the ridge of his pectoral muscle. She skimmed her palm across his chest like a gentle wind, making his skin tingle in her wake. Stepping closer, she placed a kiss on his neck and nipped his skin before going up on her toes. She brushed her body against his already straining erection.

  Could he take much more? Afraid to touch her for fear he’d push her against the bath door and take her without thought, he kept his hands tightly fisted at his sides, giving her time to feed her need.

  As she kissed his jaw her hands traveled down over his ribs to his waist until they reached the top of his swim trunks. There she ran her fingers around the line of his waistband. At the back, China pushed a finger under the material but quickly pull it out again.

  He groaned and moved a half a step closer. The woman would be the death of him.

  “Not much fun to be teased, is it?” she murmured next to his mouth.

  He wasn’t answering that question because if he did it wouldn’t be with words but actions.

  She went flat-footed again and began to explore his chest with her tongue. One hand left his waist to brush against his manhood.

  That did it. In one swift motion he sealed her mouth with his, tongue finding her warm sanctuary as he picked her up, turned around and fell to the bunk.

  Payton rolled so that he didn’t crush her. China’s legs were entangled with his. He ran a hand up the expanse of the creamy silken skin of a thigh until he found the bottom of her bikini. Tugging, and with her help, he removed them. Just as quickly he had her top on the floor. Standing, he pushed his wet bathing suit down. He glanced at China. She’d rolled onto her side with an arm hiding her breasts from view as she unabashedly watched him.

  “Like what you see?”

  The corners of her lips rose. That small action was enough to make him feel ten feet tall. No longer feeling like a victim of cancer, he found his previous male swagger returning under her admiration.

  If she wanted a show he’d give her one. Turning slowly, he presented her with his back as he dug into the backpack he kept hanging on a peg. With relief he found what he sought. Just before he turned around, the touch of a finger moving over one cheek of his backside had his blood heating to boiling.

  “I’ve been wondering what that butt looked like without clothes covering it.”

  His heart rate went into hyper mode. With a rumble deep in his throat he opened the package and prepared himself. Turning, he came down on her and at the same time pushed her back against the bunk. Nudging her legs apart, he looked at her. China reached for him, pulling him to her as he pushed forward and found her hot, waiting center. She lifted her hips in welcome.

  China was so incredibility accepting and responsive to his every touch. He leaned down and kissed her, and to his great satisfaction she shuddered in his arms. He followed with his own release to collapse next to her, one leg resting possessively across one of hers.

  While ill, he’d not felt like having sex. Being dumped hadn’t helped and he’d never been into mindless encounters. But never had he had such mind-blowing sex.

  But that wasn’t accurate either. It was lovemaking when shared with China.

  * * *

  China looked at Payton lying beside her. Her head rested on his outstretched arm. She was snuggled close and one of his legs was entwined with hers. Moving would be impossible even if she wanted to, which she didn’t.

  When she’d met Payton never in a million years would she have believed that she’d end up in his arms. A fleeting touch of lips along her ear said that he was waking. She turned her face into the crook of his neck and inhaled the warm, musky scent of him. No matter how long she lived she’d remember this.

  China didn’t know if it had happened when she’d called him an idiot and he’d taken it so well, or had it been when they’d watched the storm roll in, but she had let this man charm her, and she liked it.

  Payton’s hand brushed back her hair from her face. “You okay?”

  “Ah-ha.”

  “You might want to look at me so I know for sure.”

  China raised her head and smiled. “I’m better than okay.”

  “I’m sorry things were rushed. I’ll do better next time.”

  More brazen than she’d ever been in her life, China shifted out of his hold and turned so her arms crossed and rested on his chest. “I’m not complaining. I thought you rather excelled at being rushed.”

  His grin was slow and sexy. “Those kinds of compliments can get you almost anything.”

  “How about something to eat? I’m starving.”

  “That I can do.” Payton gave her a quick kiss before he stood. “I brought a picnic lunch. Nothing fancy.”

  “I don’t need fancy. Just substantial.”

  “Here.” He handled her a long thin piece of glossy floral fabric that had been hanging from a peg on the wall. “You can put this on while your bathing suit dries.”

  “I’m not putting on some other woman’s sarong, am I?”

  “Yes.”

  “Yes?” she shrieked, throwing her legs over the side of the bunk and grabbing the blanket to cover herself.

  Payton grabbed her shoulders, stopping her. “I kind of like you jealous.” He placed a swift kiss on her lips. “It’s my sister’s. She left it here the last time she came sailing with me.”

  China relaxed.

  Payton opened a small cabinet above the bunk, giving China a full view of his physique. The urge to reach out and run her fingers over his tight abdominals had her hand trembling. He had gained some weight over the last few weeks. If she hadn’t known he’d been sick she would have never guessed.

  He must have sensed she was admiring him. “If you don’t stop staring at me like that, you’re going to be really hungry by the time we get to food.”

  China swallowed hard. W
as she brave enough to call his bluff? Maybe not a few weeks ago but now... She reached out and let her hand drift over his warm skin. It rippled beneath her touch. She watched in fascination as his manhood grew and stood proudly before her.

  Payton growled, dropping the shorts he’d been holding to the floor. “Now you’ve done it. No food for you.”

  China didn’t mind at all.

  * * *

  Payton laid out on the deck a sheet he’d retrieved from the drawer under the bunk. Of the few supplies he’d brought with him from the house, a tablecloth hadn’t been on the list. He set the sack he’d carried aboard in the center.

  He’d left the cabin so China could dress and have a few moments to herself. He needed them, too. The afternoon had been intense, amazing and totally mind-blowing. China took so long to join him that he worried he might have to go in after her. Maybe giving her some space had been a bad idea. The one thing he didn’t want her to do was withdraw. He wasn’t ready to let go of what he’d experienced in her arms.

  He cared too much about her. But could there really be more? What if he got sick again? Was he willing to put her through that? If he took a chance, would she leave him like Janice had?

  “Hey,” China said, bringing him out of his dark thoughts. With the sun as a backdrop, she looked sweet, fresh and well loved. His heart swelled. He’d never seen a woman look more desirable. With great restraint, he stopped himself from grabbing her and taking her again.

  “Hi.” The simple word came out rusty. He cleared his throat. “Come and have some lunch.” Payton stood and stepped to meet her. Offering his hand, he was pleased when China took it. He led her around one side of the cabin to the bow of the boat.

  Her gasp made him look at her. “Is something wrong?”

  “No. This is just so...wonderful. I hadn’t any idea you planned to eat up here.”

  Payton smiled, pleased with his surprise.

  She visibly relaxed.

  “Come sit down. I think you’ll like my other surprise as well.”

  Payton helped her sit on a cushion and took his place, making a point not to come into contact with her. He was afraid if he did the food would be forgotten one more time. Opening the brown bag, he pulled out a smaller white one with the name “Sid’s” printed in red on the side.

  “You stopped by Sid’s.”

  The sound of amazement in her voice made him smile. “I did,” he said proudly. He opened the bag, pulled out a sandwich in a wrapper and handed it to her.

  “A shrimp po boy. My favorite.”

  “I know. I asked.”

  She looked at him with a shocked expression. “What’s wrong?”

  “It’s just that I don’t think anyone has ever gone to the trouble to ask what I like.”

  Why? Hadn’t someone, her parents, ever cared enough to be interested in her likes and dislikes? “Well, I did.” He grinned. “I also found out that you like hush puppies almost as much as you do chocolate.” Payton pulled his sandwich out of the bag then offered China a canned drink from the small, soft-sided cooler he had nearby. He removed the wrapping from his sandwich and took a bite. “This is good.” He shook the thick sandwich slightly in the air.

  “You didn’t think you’d like it?”

  He chuckled. “I guess not, but I should’ve known better.” As they ate he looked out over the water. Finishing his sandwich, he remarked, “It must have been nice to live in such an ideal place. Small-town USA. The beach nearby. Everyone knowing what you like to eat.”

  Had China flinched?

  She didn’t look at him as she said, “Sometimes things aren’t as ideal on the inside as they appear on the outside. Even paradise has its problems.”

  “That’s mighty cynical.”

  “You never know what towns, families, people are like until you’re a part of them.”

  “My family is pretty tight-knit. Or at least they were until I left. I’m close to my sister, but then again she is about the only one not mad at me. Her husband and kids are great. The tough part about being in a family is that it doesn’t go well when you don’t go along with the ‘family plan.’”

  China put her sandwich down on a napkin and looked off into the distance. “I can hardly remember what our family plan was”

  “Why’s that?” Payton asked softly.

  * * *

  China didn’t understand it but for some reason she wanted Payton to know, to tell him the whole story. “I had a solid family. You know, the kind that everyone looks at and says, ‘That’s the perfect family.’ A father who had a good job, a mom who was home for us, three kids and a dog.” She put her hand up and made quotations marks in the air. “The perfect American family.”

  “Something happen to that?”

  “My brother turned sixteen and it was as if everything exploded. The band that had held us tight popped off. Chad had always been headstrong but as a teenager he really started bucking the rules. Began running around with the wrong crowd. Or at least it wasn’t the crowd my parents wanted him to be involved in.”

  She paused. Did she really want Payton to know all her dirty laundry?

  “And?”

  With a sigh of resignation she continued. “Father got wind of it and cracked down. Hard. He suspected Chad was drinking and doing drugs. He had Mom search his room regularly. Dad forbade him to go out at night. Told him who he could see and not see. My brother rebelled big time. Things got difficult at home, his grades dropped and his relationship with Father went from bad to worse. There was screaming all the time, doors slamming. Mom and Father couldn’t agree about how to handle Chad and they fought. Mom isn’t a strong person and she finally gave up and let Dad have his way.” China took a sip of her drink, easing her dry throat.

  “When the police called...” she hesitated but then blurted it out “...to say they’d picked up Chad on the beach, smoking pot with a group of other teens, my father went ballistic. Mom tried to calm him down but he wouldn’t listen to reason. Chad stayed in jail overnight. Father didn’t even drive him home.”

  “And he ran away.”

  She nodded, hating to see the look of pity on Payton’s face, but as she’d gone this far she might as well tell him everything. She said softly, “Mom and Father blamed each other for Chad’s behavior. She said he was too hard on him and he believed she went behind his back and let Chad have his way too much. I don’t know which it was. My parents still struggle with not knowing what has happened to him. Everything in our lives became either before or after Chad left. Not that we ever talk about it.”

  “That had to have been tough.”

  “Yeah, it was. Still is. Our family came apart like an old rag. Mom and Father are still married but they never really talk. My younger sister doesn’t speak to them. She was close to Chad and blames them for pushing him out. I even have to work at it to get her to have anything to do with me. She wanted out of the house and I just wanted what we had before my brother left—my happy family back. Kelsey managed to get through high school without getting into any real trouble. I ran interference most of the time when I thought Father might really blow his top.”

  “Where’s your sister now?”

  “Oh, she lives here in town.”

  “And you don’t see her?”

  “It does sound bad when you put it like that. I see her at Christmastime mostly. Even then I have to beg her to meet me somewhere. She refuses to go to our parents’. Won’t have anything to do with them. I might see her on an occasional birthday. I send cards on hers but she doesn’t do that in return. She’s a nutritionist at the hospital. There were a few years there I didn’t think she would finish school but she did.” China looked away from Payton. “I shouldn’t have dumped this on you. I’m sure you know more now about my family than you wanted to.”

  “I�
�m glad you told me.” He brushed his thumb across her hand. “I want to know everything about you.”

  She gave him a weak smile and removed her hand.

  “Have you ever looked for your brother?”

  “I think Mom did for a while without Father knowing it but the most I do is check the paper and see if he is ever in it. I think at this point on some level even Father would like to know that he isn’t dead. I certainly would.” She picked up her sandwich again. “Enough about my life. Hadn’t we better be getting back?”

  “Are you ready to be captain again?”

  “I kind of like being in control.”

  He gave her a suggestive grin. “I’m going to keep that in mind.”

  She heat crawl up her neck. “I didn’t mean it like that.”

  He cupped her cheek. “Don’t apologize. I rather like the idea. And you’re right. We should be thinking about getting back.”

  Together they gathered up what was left of their meal and stored it below. She changed into her top and jeans before leaving the cabin. Payton was coming in as she was going out. He pulled her to him, taking her mouth in a sweet and tender kiss. China wrapped her arms around his neck and leaned into him. A heavenly minute later Payton broke away with a groan.

  “If we don’t stop here, I’m going to take you again right out here on the deck when I have a far more comfortable bed at my house.”

  She gave him a pointed look. “Are you assuming that I’m going to join you?”

  “Sweetheart, with you I don’t dare assume. The best I can do is hope. You always seem to surprise me.” With an exhalation he stepped away. “I’ll get the mainsail up,” he called. “You want to man the rudder again while I handle the jib?”

  It was dusk when China watched as Payton maneuvered the boat into the slip at the marina. She had to admit this had been the best day of her life. Perfect. But could it last? Could he be her safe haven?

  She had so much baggage. Payton did, too. Did he even want more than a sexual relationship? Could she or would she agree to anything further if he did? She needed security and he had just moved to town, had a new job and was trying to figure out the direction he wanted his life to go. Payton didn’t sound like the man for her in the long run.