From Ice to Flames

by Hargrove, A. M.

  This emotional detachment from her was pretty scary. Maybe it was because he’d never been attached in the first place. But for some reason, I kept waiting for the hammer to hit. And it scared the hell out of me, because I was afraid that when it did, it was going to wreak serious havoc. I could only pray it didn’t.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Milly

  The Monday morning meetings were epic. Seriously epic. Glenn was all over himself with how thrilled he was with the event. Our board meeting was Wednesday night and they were discussing bonuses for everyone.

  This made me giddy because our team had pulled together and done a damn excellent job, in spite of Linda’s ineffectiveness. This afternoon I had to go back to the Met to gather everything left behind that the crew didn’t pick up. I also had a final meeting with Clinton and I wanted to deliver my gift to him. I bought him a generous gift certificate to one of the local spas so he could de-stress.

  When I got back to the office, Ava corralled me in my own office, shut the door, and said, “Okay, I’ve waited long enough. Give it up.” She clicked her fingers in rapid succession.

  “What are you talking about?” I offered her my most innocent expression.

  “McFoxy? Hot neighbor? Bid for Bachelors? Purchase for twenty-five grand? What the hell, Milly? I can’t take it anymore!”

  I flashed her a secretive smile. “I’ll never tell.”

  “What? You can’t do this to me. I’m your bestie.”

  That cracked me up.

  “Okay, I’m your New York bestie.”

  “I’ll give that one to you. So where should I start?”

  “Try the beginning.”

  “He asked me to buy him. I guess he was a little freaked about stalker woman, so I figured why not.” Then I explained how Marin was the opposing bidder and the one driving it so high.

  “And?”

  “And what?”

  “Are you going to go out with him?”

  I thought about that for a minute. “I doubt it. It was just so he wouldn’t have to go out with anyone else.”

  “Hmm. Well, what happened afterward?”

  My face heated to a thousand degrees.

  “Oh my God. You did it, didn’t you? I mean, really did it?”

  There was no way to deny it. She’d be able to tell in a heartbeat. “Ugh. I confess. We did it.”

  “Shit. I mean shiiiiiitttttt. How was it? Spectacular?”

  I fanned myself. “Better than.”

  “Better than what?”

  “Spectacular.”

  “No shit?”

  “No shit. He is the master of … well, use your imagination.”

  She had this dreamy look in her eyes. “Oh, man, I’m so totally jealous.”

  “Why? You get it all the time. Me? I thought my vagina had died. I was actually planning its funeral.”

  “Well, from the sounds of it, it’s been reincarnated.”

  “You can say that again. And there’s a newer version of the old one too. Milly 2.0 has arrived.”

  “Damn, girl, what did he do to you?”

  “I’m not sure, but it was a peen-jection of epic proportions.”

  She slapped her thigh and bent over, laughing. “A peen-jection?”

  “Yep. A peen-jection. I’m ruined, Ava. That was one talented appendage. I’m surprised it didn’t do the tango or something.”

  “The tango?”

  “You wouldn’t believe how that thing shimmied.”

  “Now I’m even more jealous.”

  “I’m not gonna lie. You should be. I can’t even believe I survived to tell about it. It was stupendous. The man owns a living breathing vibrator.”

  Her hand came out. “Stop. I don’t want to hear any more. You sound like you’re wearing cock goggles.”

  “You asked. Remember?”

  “True, but I thought he was gonna be your average guy and that you would be happy just to have gotten some. But the way you’re talking … he’s better than peanut butter.”

  “Peanut butter?” I narrowed my eyes. “What does peanut butter have anything to do with it?”

  She glared at me. “It has everything to do with it and don’t you dare make fun of me. I’m addicted to that stuff. It’s my crack, okay? I’ve never been with anyone who has lived up to good ole fashioned PB.”

  She had a point. Until Hudson, I would’ve agreed with her. There wasn’t much out there that was better than a peanut butter cup. “Yeah. Like I said, I’m ruined. Any other man who comes after him has huge condoms to fill.”

  “Great analogy.”

  “No analogy. Truth. And to think I used to be blasé about peens. Not anymore. I’m a convert.”

  “I gotta go. Much more of this and I’m gonna have to make a quick trip home.”

  I wiggled my fingers as she left. Unfortunately, all this talk about sex had made me horny, which was weird because I wasn’t one to get this way. Did he awaken the little nympho in me? I hoped not. That could be problematic.

  After wrapping up the day, I ticked off the tasks I’d accomplished and made my to do list for tomorrow. We only had three months before our next event took place in July. Cramming my laptop into my bag, I stopped by Ava’s office on the way out.

  “See you in the morning.”

  She waved me off as she was on the phone.

  A happy Dick greeted me as I walked in.

  “Hey, big boy. You ready for your walk?” I dashed into my room to change before he could hit me up with his slobber. He woofed his way around the apartment, excited to go out.

  When his leash was on, I grabbed his gigantic poop bags, and we left. I decided we’d head to the park since it was such a nice April day. It wasn’t very late, and now that the days were getting longer and it had warmed up, I was a much happier person living here.

  Once there, we took a leisurely walk and returned home. We were directly in front of our building when my phone beeped with a text. It was Hudson. It was hard to stop the grin from stretching across my face and I’d be a liar if I didn’t admit to my lady bits tingling too.

  Hudson: What are you up to?

  Me: Walking Dick.

  Hudson: Good for you. I’d like to walk mine too. Straight into you.

  Shit. If he kept these kinds of texts up, my vagina was liable to leap out of me and head straight up to his apartment without me.

  Me: Oh yeah?

  Hudson: Oh yeah. How far away are you?

  Me: Right out front.

  Hudson: Stay there. I’m on the way down.

  I was so engrossed in that stupid text, I wasn’t paying attention to my surroundings. Suddenly, Dick playfully lunged for another dog, but even so, when a dog outweighed you like Dick did and did that, it felt like your arm was being yanked out by the roots. I had no choice but to release his leash or risk losing my limb. And then my worst nightmare came true.

  Dick ran down the sidewalk for a second and then out into the path of an oncoming van—one of those big delivery kinds. The driver tried to swerve. I screamed. But it was too late.

  The carnage was more than I could bear. I ran to his side as he lay there panting. Sad eyes stared at me in confusion. He had no idea what happened.

  I shouted for help and someone ran to my side.

  “What happened?”

  Ice blue eyes stared into my own.

  “He was hit by that van.” The driver had pulled over and ran up to us.

  “I’m so sorry. I really tried to avoid him, but he came out of nowhere.”

  “No, I saw. It wasn’t your fault,” I said.

  “Can I help?” the guy asked.

  Hudson looked at him and said, “Is there room in the back of your van?”

  “Yeah, it’s empty.”

  Then Hudson added, “We need a board, something to slide him under.”

  “I have a piece of plywood back there. Will that work?”

  “Yeah.”

  The guy ran off to get it. When he came
back, they carefully slid it under Dick and carried him to the van.

  “Hudson, where’s Wiley?”

  “At a playdate. Come on.” Then he looked at the other man and asked, “Can you drive us to my clinic? I’m a veterinarian.”

  “Sure thing. Let’s go.”

  It was a short drive and they carried Dick inside. Hudson called one of his techs to see if she could come in since she only lived around the corner. She was there in fifteen minutes. Between the time it took her to arrive, he took an X-ray and determined that Dick had a bruised pelvis and more than likely some internal injuries. He was in shock and his blood pressure was dropping. Hudson ran an IV line and hooked him up to a bag of IV fluids.

  “If you want to stay here, that’s fine, but I’m going to have to open him up to see what’s going on. It’s not going to be pretty.”

  “Is he going to die?” I asked.

  “Milly, there are no guarantees. But I’m going to do my best to see that doesn’t happen.”

  Chapter Eighteen

  Hudson

  Milly was a wreck. “Thank you.” She drew an arm across her face, wiping the tears that soaked it. I wanted to comfort her, hold her. But there was no time. There was a dog in there that could possibly be dying who needed my attention right now more than she did. “I’ll wait out here,” she said. I was glad of that because it was sure to get ugly in there.

  “Just so you know, when we start, you can’t come in because of the sterile field.”

  “Okay.”

  “There’s a kitchen down the hall with drinks, coffee, and other things. You can wait in there if you’d like. It’ll probably be more comfortable.”

  “Hudson. Thank you.”

  I grabbed her face and kissed her. “I’m going to do everything in my power, Milly.”

  “I know.”

  It was time to go to work. Cindy, the tech, was scrubbing, and I joined her. “It’s bad, isn’t it?” she asked.

  “Yeah. I think we’re dealing with a possible ruptured liver or spleen at the very least.”

  “Do you think he’s going to make it?”

  “I don’t know.”

  We went to work, got Dick asleep and I was right. It was his liver. Ruptured livers are messy. He was bleeding fast, but at least we got it controlled.

  “Shit, I think he has a pneumothorax too.” A collapsed lung. “We need to put a chest tube in. He’s stabilized right now. Cindy, I hope he doesn’t need a transfusion with all this blood loss. He’ll have to stay on the IVs tonight.”

  “Looks like it.”

  I finished with repairing the damage and hoped he wouldn’t end up with further bleeding complications. This would have to be closely monitored. I X-rayed him again.

  “Truth. So, odds master, what are you giving him?”

  “Right now? I’d say forty-sixty if he makes it through the night. Which is better than I first thought. Tomorrow is key.”

  “You ready to close?”

  “Yeah, let’s do it.”

  I checked the time and we’d been at it for two hours. Not too bad.

  “Hey, I owe you huge.”

  “I know.”

  When he was sutured up and bandaged, I brought him out of anesthesia and waited. His eyes opened up, but he was still groggy, which was how he would stay for the next several days. Dick would not be moving much at all due to the severity of his injury. Any movement could tear that liver open again and that’s the last thing I wanted.

  We took our gloves and bloody gowns off, washed up, and I went to get Milly.

  She ran to meet me.

  “He made it through, but the next few days are critical. As I suspected, it was his liver. We patched him up and he’ll be immobile for the next few days, if not a week. He has a couple of fractured ribs and is badly bruised, but surprisingly suffered no broken limbs. He’ll need to be confined to rest for a while. I don’t want him doing anything other than laying around and I need eyes on him here.”

  “What does that mean?”

  “It means he’s going to be my patient for a while.”

  “Can I see him?”

  I held out my hand and said, “Come on.”

  He was still on the operating table, stretched out, groggy, but conscious.

  “Can he see?”

  I chuckled. “Yeah, but he’s super drunk.” His tail moved once. “See, he knows you.”

  She bent over his head and hugged him.

  “Talk to him. He’ll recognize your voice and scent more than anything.”

  “My poor Dick. Why’d you run out there like that, you big dork? I’m so sad you’re hurt, but we’re gonna get you better.” She rested her head on his neck and rubbed his ears. “Can I spend the night here?”

  “You don’t need to. He’ll sleep, and I have cameras I use to check on him.”

  “Hudson, I don’t know what I would’ve done if you hadn’t been there.”

  “Yeah, you do. You would’ve called me and I would’ve come.”

  “I’ll never be able to repay you for this.”

  “You don’t need to worry about that.”

  “I’m going to clean up here and when I’m done, Cindy and I will move him to the estate.”

  “The estate?”

  “That’s what we call our largest kennel. Just stay put. This won’t take me long.”

  Cindy had already gotten the kennel ready and I finished cleaning up the room. She came back in and we wheeled Dick to his new temporary home. Once he was settled and I was confident everything looked good, we all went home.

  On the way, as we walked, since it was only a few blocks, Milly exclaimed, “Oh hell. Wiley!”

  “He’s taken care of. I called the nanny and she picked him up. He’s in bed by now.”

  “I feel terrible.”

  “Don’t. Let’s grab some carry-out to take upstairs.”

  We stopped at a Thai place and ate at my apartment. The nanny left and Milly couldn’t stop thanking her. Flimsy, Roscoe, and Scooter were trying to kiss her, and I commanded them to stop. This time they wouldn’t obey.

  “They must know I need the extra love right now.”

  “Come here.” She scooted closer to me and I hugged her to my side. “Things are going to be fine. My biggest concern is keeping the big guy immobile when he starts to feel better. That’s the hardest thing with dogs. But we’ll keep him crated. Short bathroom walks and that’s it.”

  She sighed. “It’s a good thing he’s a lazy ass.”

  “True. Let’s eat. I’m starved.”

  I pretty much inhaled my food. I hadn’t eaten since lunch and it was almost ten. It wasn’t smart to eat this late, but that surgery did me in. When I glanced at Milly, I noticed she hadn’t touched hers.

  “Hey, it’s going to be fine. You’ll be of no use to him if you don’t take care of yourself.”

  “My appetite is gone. I’m sorry. I keep seeing him lying in the street right afterward. It was just awful. I thought he was dead at first.”

  “He wasn’t and we’re going to do our best to get him well again. He’ll be back to knocking things off your coffee table in no time.”

  She clenched her fingers together and asked, “Can I see those cameras you talked about?”

  I grabbed my phone and opened up the app. When I got to the camera that was focused on Dick’s kennel, I showed her. “See?”

  “This is pretty handy. What about his medicine?”

  “Someone comes in and takes care of that. I have people, you know.”

  “Have you ever thought about hiring another doctor?”

  I handed her one of the boxes of food so she could eat. “As a matter of fact, I have someone starting next month. It’s gotten too much for one doctor.”

  “That’s great. Where is he from?” she asked.

  “He’s finishing an extended training program up at Cornell and will be done at the end of the month. He has great credentials and wants to move to Manhattan. He came to
the practice back in March and fit in really well. We’re excited about him joining us.”

  “That’s awesome.”

  It was the first time the light had returned to her eyes and before I knew what I was doing, I pulled her onto my lap and kissed her. Soft lips and a silky tongue met my own and I just knew I was totally fucked, because I wanted this woman more than anything right now.

  “Milly,” I murmured against her mouth. “You’re killing me.”

  “You started it.”

  “I know.”

  “Wiley.”

  “I know.” Fuck the consequences. I took her hand and tugged her into my bedroom. A finger hovered over my lips, indicating we had to be quiet.

  After I shut the door, I cupped her cheeks and whispered, “I hope you want this as badly as I do.” Her hands dug into my waist and it was a damn good thing, because my cock was more than ready for her.

  She didn’t speak, but the fact that she was already unbuckling my belt told me what I wanted to know.

  I unbuttoned her jeans and shoved them past her hips. Then she kicked them away, and I did the same to mine. My hand reached for her sex, finding her already wet for me.

  Closing my eyes, I said, “Jesus. You’re slick already.” The feel of her was heaven.

  Her hand fisted around me and I bit back a groan. I dropped to the floor for two reasons. My damn legs were weak with want. And the second—this time she would be on top.

  She followed me and without hesitation, her thighs framing my hips as she spread herself over me, guiding me deep inside.

  “Christ,” I breathed. “Just fuck me, Milly.”

  She gyrated her hips as she pressed a hand on my chest, finding a rhythm that I matched. My fingers clenched the sides of her hips, sinking into her perfect skin, and I decided there and then I could fuck this woman for days. Her tits stared me straight in the eye, begging for attention, so I gave it to them, tugging one nipple at a time. She hummed her pleasure, even though she tried not to. I took the pad of my thumb and found her clit. Then I pressed it and massaged a circle onto it. She threw back her head and when I felt her shudder and her pussy tighten against my cock, I let myself go. I bucked into her and orgasmed hardcore. It left us both breathless as she flopped down on my chest.