by Marie Force
He couldn’t take his eyes off the sway of her breasts, the pink nipples, the razor burn he’d left on her white skin or the patch of auburn hair at the apex of her thighs. His cock was so hard he could pound nails with it as he took his phone from her.
“She’s called six times. Do I need to be worried?”
He scowled at her, insulted by the implication. “Get your sexy ass back in this bed, and don’t ask stupid questions.”
She rolled her eyes at him but did as she was told. That was a first.
When he had her snuggled up tight against him where she belonged, he called Tiffany back so he and Kara could get some peace to finish what they’d started.
“Oh, Dan, thank God you called.”
The panic he heard in the voice of his friend and client alarmed him. “What’s wrong?”
“It’s Jim. He heard about Blaine moving in with me, and he’s threatening to sue for full custody of Ashleigh.”
“Hmm.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means, he may have a case, Tiff.”
“What? Why? We’re divorced! He can’t tell me who I can live with and who I can’t.”
“No, but because he shares joint custody with you, he can say who his daughter lives with and who she doesn’t.”
“You’ve got to be kidding me. What if I was getting married? Could he stop that, too?”
“Not as easily.”
“Then that’s what I’ll do. I’ll get married.”
“Tiffany—”
“I’ve had enough of that dickwad telling me how to run my life. If he wants war, he’s going to get it. Are you able to help me respond to the letter he sent me?”
“Absolutely. Could I call you in the morning to figure that out?”
“I guess it can wait until then.”
Thank God, because he wasn’t leaving this bed until the morning and neither was Kara. “I’ll call you. Try to stay calm and don’t worry. We’ll figure it out.”
“Thanks, Dan. I’m sorry to bother you. I hope I didn’t get you away from anything important.”
“I wasn’t doing anything important,” he said, squeezing Kara’s breast and pressing his cock into the cleft between her cheeks.
She laughed softly, as he’d hoped she would.
“Thanks again,” Tiffany said before she ended the call.
Dan turned off his phone and tossed it to the foot of the bed. “Now, where were we?”
“Nothing important, huh?”
“How did I know you’d have something to say about that?”
She turned over to face him.
“You ought to know by now that there’s nothing more important than you,” he said, kissing her. “Than this. Than us.” As he deepened the kiss, he drew her into his embrace, their legs intertwining, her hand on his back, one of his buried in her hair, the other on her breast. In anticipation of this night with Kara, he’d recruited his friend Grant McCarthy to help him cut off the part of the cast that had covered his hand. With his palm now full of supple flesh and tight nipple, he thanked the heavens above for hacksaws.
Just that quickly, they were right back to where they’d left off before the phone interrupted them, only this time the urgency was even more acute.
Kara drew back from him, her lips swollen from kissing him. “I’m so afraid of hurting you.”
He took her hand and brought it down to his erection, closing her fingers around him. “This is hurting me way more than the ribs are right now.”
“Dan, come on. Be serious.”
“I’m dead serious.”
Her laughter filled him with the kind of joy he hadn’t experienced in a very long time. Losing his brother in Afghanistan and then his fiancée days before their wedding to a tryst with his best man had hardened Dan’s emotions, made him remote and closed off in relationships. Kara had penetrated that wall and worked her way so deeply into his heart that there was no room left for bitterness or regrets.
There was only her. There was only right now.
Her phone rang again, and he groaned. “I thought you shut it off.”
“Ignore it,” she whispered, stroking him from root to tip and then running her thumb over the slickness at the top.
“Might be a good idea to take the edge off so I last more than thirty seconds.”
“You think so?”
Lying face-to-face with her on the same pillow, he gazed into her eyes. “Mmm. I’ve been dying for you for weeks now. My sexy nurse. Every time you walk in the room, I get hard. Every time you touch me, I need you.” He slid his fingertips over her arm and felt her muscles flex as she stroked him. “Every single time.”
“Thank you for not dying out there on the water. I would’ve hated to miss hearing you say that to me.”
Dan couldn’t believe it was possible to laugh when it seemed like his entire body was on fire. “Believe me, it’s my supreme pleasure to have survived and come home to you. I thought about you the whole time out there. I knew I was hurt really bad, and all I wanted was to see you again. One more time.”
Kara’s phone rang again.
Dan blew out a deep breath that was filled with frustration. He’d dreamed about being naked in bed with her again, and now that they were finally there, the interruptions were nonstop. “Do you think you could turn that off?”
Unfortunately, she released him to deal with the phone. “I thought I had.” She glanced at the phone. “It’s my mom. Twice in ten minutes. That’s not good.”
“Go ahead and call her back,” Dan said, resigned to his fate.
“No, that’s okay. We’re busy.”
“Trust me when I tell you it’ll keep.”
Kara glanced down at his erection, which was painfully hard, not that he’d tell her that. “Are you sure?”
“Yeah, I’m sure.” He put his arm around her and snuggled up to her. The press of her skin against his was all he needed to maintain the status quo while she called her mother.
“What’s up, Mom?”
Dan was lying so close to Kara that he could hear everything her mother said.
“I thought you might like to know that your sister had her baby.”
“Good for her.”
Judging from Kara’s dismissive tone, the sister in question must be the one who’d married Kara’s ex-boyfriend.
“You don’t need to be snippy, Kara. She is your sister, after all.”
“Maybe on paper.”
“How long are you going to do this?”
“What am I doing exactly?”
“Acting hateful toward your sister for something that happened years ago. Holding on to that bitterness isn’t going to make you happy.”
“I’m very happy,” Kara said, her hand covering his under her breasts. “I’m beyond happy, in fact. But I still hate her for what she did to me, and I always will.”
“Please don’t say you hate her. And always is a very long time.”
Kara had nothing to say to that.
“Do you care at all about your new nephew?”
“Sure. He hasn’t done anything to me. I’m sorry he got such shitty parents, but perhaps the rest of you will see to it that he doesn’t end up as shitty as they are.”
“Kara…”
“I have to go, Mom. I’ve got better things to do than talk about them.”
“His name is Connor,” her mother said. “The baby is Connor.”
“Congratulations on your new grandson. I’ll talk to you soon.” She ended the call before her mother could reply and powered down the phone. Turning to face him, she attempted a sincere smile that failed miserably. “Now, where were we?” Her hand curled around his cock.
Dan covered her hand with his, stopping her from stroking him. “Please don’t act like that news didn’t rock you.”
“They don’t matter to me anymore. I refuse to get sucked into that rabbit hole again when I’ve only recently found the way out.”
“You don’t hav
e to pretend with me, honey.” He brushed a strand of her auburn hair back from her face. “Tell me the truth. I want to know how you really feel.”
“I honestly and truly don’t care. Everyone is happy. What does it matter?”
“It matters that they’re still hurting you, even after all this time.”
“They aren’t hurting me. I don’t care about them.”
Except she did. She cared desperately. Did she think he couldn’t see the effort she was making to control her emotions?
“Don’t lie to me. Don’t ever lie to me.” He immediately regretted his tone, which was angrier than he’d intended. But it made him damned angry that she’d been treated the way she had by the man she’d once loved and her own sister.
Apparently, his sharp words didn’t matter to her, because she caressed his cheek. “I appreciate that you care so much. I really do. But they don’t matter to me anymore, and they can’t hurt me unless I let them. I choose not to let them.”
“Knowing what they did to you is still somewhat new to me, so is it okay that I’m not over it yet?”
Her smile lit up her face and made her eyes crinkle adorably in the corners. “That’s totally fine.”
“The rest of your family… What do they say about the two of them together?”
“My parents have been weird about it from the beginning. They acted like it was no big deal that Kelly had taken up with my boyfriend behind my back. They had a kind of ‘shit happens’ attitude about it.”
“Seriously?”
“You have to understand, they’re all about family peace and harmony. The rift between Kelly and me has been really hard on them because they see it as a failure on their part.”
“Someone needs to help them get their heads out of the sand.”
“I’ve given up on that ever happening. When my dad gave Kelly away at the elaborate wedding they threw for her and Matt, it became very clear to me that if I stuck around Bar Harbor, I was going to have to be confronted with my sister and her new husband on a regular basis. Thus my move to Gansett Island.” She leaned in and gave him a kiss. “Best thing I ever did.”
“You really think so? Even after everything I’ve put you through?”
“I really think so.” Snuggling in closer to him, she said, “While I appreciate that you care, I don’t want to talk about them anymore. Not when I’ve waited so long to be with you again like this.”
“You’ve been waiting, too?”
“Oh, yeah. That first night we spent together… Let’s just say I’ve relived it a thousand or two times since then.”
“Me, too. At least a thousand or maybe three thousand times.”
“Thank you for forgiving me for freaking out afterward.”
“I was freaking out, too, you know—and not just because you tried to lose me like a bad habit the next morning.”
“You really were?”
“I’ve never felt like I do when I’m with you. It’s totally different and way, way better than anything I’ve ever known.”
“It is for me, too. And you’re a big reason why I don’t care about Matt and Kelly anymore.”
Dan knew there was no greater compliment she could ever pay him than that one.
“In my best moments with Matt, it was never like it is with you.”
“You stop my heart, Kara Ballard. Sometimes I think I dreamed up that day on the dock when you told me you love me. I wanted to hear those words from you so badly.”
“You didn’t dream it, and I want your love just as badly.”
“You have it. You’ve had it for a long time now.” Cupping her breast and running his thumb over her nipple, he captured her lips in a deep, soulful kiss that started the fire burning again, hotter than ever. The last thing on his mind at that moment were broken ribs or the arm still encased in plaster or anything other than the exquisite sensation of her soft skin against his, her legs curled around his, her tongue tangling with his.
Judging by the way he rolled them so he was on top, his injuries might never have happened.
She gazed up at him with wide eyes. “Dan! Be careful! You shouldn’t be doing that.”
“Kara?”
“What?” she asked, her voice full of exasperation.
“Shut up and kiss me.”
She wrapped her arms around his neck and brought him down slowly.
Her concern for his well-being touched him as he lost himself in the sweetness of her lips and the sensuous strokes of her tongue.
“Condom,” he said, wondering where the presence of mind had come from when every brain cell in his body seemed to be heading south to join the party.
“Where are they?”
“Bedside table.”
“Don’t move.” She shifted carefully under him to retrieve a foil packet, rolling it on him with an efficiency that astounded him. His girl didn’t mess around. “Are you okay?” she asked, looking up at him.
“I will be in a minute.”
That drew a small smile from her as she took him in hand and guided him to where he most wanted to be. The relief of being joined with her after so many weeks of uncertainty was nearly as overwhelming as the clutch of her tight muscles. “Christ,” he muttered. “This is going to be over before it begins.”
“That’s okay.”
He thrust into her deeply. “Tell me again.”
She arched into him, her fingers moving gently down his back, and he could tell she was afraid to hurt him even in the throes of passion. “I love you. I love you. I love you.”
That was all he needed to hear. All he’d ever need to hear.
Chapter 7
David lived in a spacious garage apartment behind a big house on the island’s west side.
“Whose house is that?” Daisy asked of the enormous contemporary that overlooked the water.
“A guy named Jared James. He’s a Wall Street tycoon who’s never here except for a week or two in the summer, so he wanted someone in the apartment who could keep an eye on the house, too.”
“Imagine having a house like that and living in it for a week or two every year.”
“I think he bought it with plans to retire here eventually, but he likes to work too much to ever retire. The guy is filthy rich, from what I hear.”
“It’s sad,” Daisy said as David parked in front of the garage.
“What is?”
“That he’s so devoted to his work that he’s forgotten to live. How much money does anyone really need, you know?”
“Don’t say that to Jared,” David said with a wry grin as he grabbed his duffel bag from the car. He led her up the stairs to his place while trying to remember the condition he’d left it in two days ago. Hopefully, nothing was smelly or messy. “Making money is a religion to him.”
“I need to get some of his brand of religion,” Daisy said. “If I don’t pass the probationary period and get the manager job full-time, this will be my last summer on the island. I can’t do the unemployed off-season thing anymore. It’s just too expensive.”
“I’m sure you’ll get the job. Mrs. McCarthy would be crazy not to give it to you.”
“One thing she isn’t is crazy, but she’s not going to give it to me out of loyalty. I have to earn it. It didn’t help that I had to take a week of sick leave right after she gave me the chance.”
He used his key in the door and stepped inside ahead of her to turn on the lights. Thankfully, the air smelled musty rather than stinky. David opened a window to let some fresh air in and turned on a light. The apartment was better than most, with high ceilings and a huge room that served as a combined living room and kitchen. A hallway led to a bedroom and bathroom. It was small, but it was all he needed, and it had gotten him out of his mother’s house, which was critical to his sanity. “The week out of work wasn’t your fault, Daisy. Mrs. McCarthy knows that.”
“Still… It was the last thing I needed.”
“I hope you’re not pushing yourself too much trying to
prove something to her. You need to be taking it easy for a while longer.”
“Don’t worry about me, Dr. Lawrence. I’m fine.”
“You’re not fine—yet, but you will be soon, and I do worry.”
“About all your patients, or me in particular?” she asked with a teasing smile.
Drawn in by that smile and her sweetness, he rested his hands on her shoulders. “All my patients, but some more than others.” He tipped his head to kiss her and loved the soft sigh of pleasure that escaped from her lips.
It took every ounce of control he could summon to remember that she was fragile and he needed to take it slow with her. Things had gotten way, way out of control the other night, and he couldn’t let that happen again until he was certain she was ready for it.
“Let me know if your boss needs a note from your doctor,” he said with a teasing grin.
“Oh, I definitely will! Nice to have friends in high places.”
With tremendous reluctance, he let his hands fall and stepped back from her. “I’ll be just a second. Have a seat, feel free to snoop, whatever you want.”
“I don’t snoop,” she said indignantly.
“Daisy, all women snoop. Give me a break.”
“On behalf of all women, I’m offended.”
“Sure you are,” he said, chuckling as he left her in the living room to rush through a quick shower and shave. He donned a dress shirt and black pants, slid a belt through the loops and stepped into loafers at the same time. As he applied a small bit of cologne, he looked at himself in the mirror and summoned some calm.
He’d shared the worst of himself with her, and she was still here. Rather than feeling relieved that he’d gotten past that huge hurdle, he was more anxious than ever about not making a mistake that would drive her away. It had been a very long time since anything had been as important to him as she was becoming, but he had to keep reminding himself that she was recovering from physical and emotional trauma.
Despite her resilience and spirit, she needed tenderness far more than she needed the out-of-control desire she roused in him. There’d be a time and a place for that, he told himself, if he didn’t move too fast and drive her away.
When he felt like he had found the calm he needed to proceed with caution, he left his room and returned to the living room.