Swirl: The Complete Collection (BWWM Interracial Romance) (Books 1-3)

by Lexi Lewis

  Eve smiled and teased him in his daydream about her giving him a sponge bath. She called him an idiot and opened his gown at the front, warm water sluicing down his chest when she squeezed the sponge. It should have been damp and uncomfortable, but as the water slid down his stomach towards his crotch, it only added to the excitement in his body.

  Reese checked the time and saw that it was after nine already. A night nurse would be coming by in about fifteen minutes to check the machines and see if he needed anything for the night, and his hand itched to slip under the covers and touch himself.

  He hadn’t since before the accident, and the thought of doing it now sort of made it better. The idea of getting caught appealed to him (well, the idea of being able to get caught; it was the thrill he loved, not actually getting caught with his hand on his dick), and the more he thought about it, the better an idea it seemed.

  It would help him relax and probably he’d sleep better after a little release. Having to hobble to the bathroom in his unwieldy cast to clean up would even be worth it.

  Just as he was considering sliding his hand under the covers to give an experimental touch, the door opened and the object of his fantasy walked in, making him snatch his hand away from his crotch like it was on fire.

  “What are you doing here?” he asked, surprised.

  Eve huffed. “I’m working, what does it look like?” she said, and her voice was sharper than he had ever heard it before, making him raise his eyebrows.

  “Is something wrong?”

  “No. Why would anything be wrong? I love being here in the middle of the night like this. It’s my favorite shift. I’m just peachy.” She stomped over to the machines that he was hooked up to, poking at the readouts before going to get his chart and make a notation. He’d been told that they were watching his blood pressure for the next couple of days, and since he’d been having fewer issues with nausea, he was probably on the mend and would be released soon.

  Reese was impatient for it, even while he wasn’t. He turned his attention back to Eve, though, and he could see the tension in every line of her body. She looked like she wanted to hit something, and he sincerely hoped that he was not on that list.

  Guilt ravaged him because of the way he had been thinking about her only minutes before, and he chewed on his lip, watching her write down whatever she had gleaned from the beeping machines and then replace the clipboard at the foot of his bed.

  “I’ll go refill your water pitcher,” Eve said, and took it up without waiting for him to tell her that that wasn’t necessary.

  She looked like she needed to be in motion anyway, so Reese just leaned his head back and sighed. He used the control on the bed to angle the head of it up more, so he would be in a more sitting position when she came back in.

  He wanted to ask her what was bothering her, but he was consciously aware of the fact that it was probably none of his business. He’d learned a lot about her so far, about her mother dying and her giving up her dream of being a doctor to settle for being a nurse so she could take care of her brother.

  She was unlike anyone he knew, and he was drawn to that, as cliché as it was.

  When she came back in, she looked moderately calmer, and he was familiar with the ‘take a few deep breaths in the hallway’ technique that she must have employed.

  “Sorry I snapped at you,” she murmured, eyes on the shiny floor as she maneuvered around the bouquets of flowers that were still on the floor in their vases. She had taken to switching out the new ones that still came in with the ones that were starting to wilt.

  “No, it’s okay,” Reese said cautiously. “It makes since that the job would kind of stress you out.”

  Eve snorted. “That’s an understatement. And it’s not even that, really. I just hate the night shift. I told the person in charge of making the schedules that I need to be home at night, and usually he listens, but one of the other nurses needed to take the night off, and I’m pretty sure he wants to get in her scrubs if you know what I mean. So of course he gave her my shift and moved me to the night.”

  Oh. Well that explained a lot.

  “You’d rather be home with your brother,” Reese said, and it wasn’t a question.

  Eve paused and looked and him, blinking in surprise. “Well…yeah. I hate leaving him alone at night. I mean, he’s not technically alone. He’s staying over at the neighbor’s house, but…” She sighed and tugged at one of her twists. “I don’t like not being there and having to push him off on the neighbors. It’s not fair.”

  “To who?”

  “To him. The Santiagos never mind watching him. Devin and their sons get along really well, and they always love having him over, but he’s my responsibility. And it’s even worse because I’m pretty sure he was running a fever when he came home from school today, and I just…”

  “Hey,” Reese said. “First of all, don’t talk like you’re bad at looking after him. I’ve know you for less than a week, and I’ve never met the kid, and I can tell that you’d do anything for him. I mean, you’re here, doing this for him, right?”

  She fidgeted a little, tugging at the hem of her top. “Yeah, I guess I am, but—”

  He cut her off. “No buts. You’re doing the best you can with what you’ve got, and I think that’s really amazing. All I do is sit around and whine about what happened to me, but you’re really doing something great. You’re great.”

  Eve still looked tense, but there was a little smile on her mouth, and Reese was happy to see it. “You’re such a charmer,” she teased him, poking him in his good shoulder. “But thank you. I guess I needed to hear that tonight. And I mean, the Santiagos are always saying that, but it’s different when it’s someone who doesn’t know me that well, you know? It feels like maybe it’s true.”

  “It is true,” Reese insisted with a grin. “Trust me, I know things.”

  She laughed at that and sat down on the edge of his bed, careful not to jostle his leg. “You’re silly. Anyway, how’re you feeling? I’m not supposed to let my personal life distract me from my job.”

  Reese waved a hand. “I’m fine. Same old, really. I still get pretty tired a lot, and they’ve been checking in my blood pressure like all day.”

  “Any nausea?”

  He shook his head. “Not today. Dr. Smith thinks I’m finally on the mend.”

  Eve smiled, and it was lovely to look at. “That’s good. I’m glad. I guess you’ll be out of here soon. You must be so relieved.”

  “Oh yeah. Can’t wait to go back to my parents’ house and spend time lying around in my pajamas all day. It’s going to be a blast.”

  She poked him again. “You’ll be fine, and you know it.”

  “Yeah.”

  He fell silent, and for a bit she seemed content to be quiet as well, the two of them just sitting there in the low light in the room. This wasn’t the first time she had perched herself on the edge of his bed, but this time her proximity reminded him vividly of what he had been thinking about before she’d come in, and he couldn’t help the way his eyes skimmed over her body, lingering on her chest and the curves of her hips before flashing back up to look at her mouth.

  Eve had full, soft looking lips that he wanted to taste. He was attracted to her, there was no doubt about that. He wanted to touch her and pull her down to kiss him, but he didn’t want to screw things up. She was one of the things that he looked forward to the most while he was here, and if she decided that he was some kind of creeper and didn’t want to talk to him anymore, it would suck.

  But…apparently he wasn’t thinking with his brain. Her mood and their conversation hadn’t really done all that much to get rid of the semi hard on he’d had when she walked in, and her being so close and smelling lightly of something sweet definitely wasn’t helping.

  Reese bit his lip and the reached a hand out to trail up her arm. If she batted his hand away or said no, he would stop immediately, but for now…for how he had to know if she was even a little
bit interested in him.

  He’d half expected her to ask him what he thought he was doing, but she didn’t. She just turned dark eyes to him and quirked her mouth in a little smile, eyebrow arching in challenge.

  Oh. That was not what he had expected, but it sent a curl of desire through him and made him wrap his fingers around her forearm, tugging until she leaned in closer to him, close enough that he only had to lean in a little to cover her mouth in a kiss.

  She stiffened a little, and Reese backed off a bit in case she wanted to pull away, but then she was moving in closer, kissing him back and bringing one hand up to rest on his shoulder.

  His heart pounded in his chest.

  She was kissing him back, and there was a very high possibility that this wasn’t a dream. God, her lips were soft, and when he trailed his tongue over the bottom one, she parted those lips and let him slip his tongue in to tease and tangle with hers.

  Reese had never kissed a woman in a hospital before, and with one arm in a sling and his leg in a cast, it was hard to maneuver. But the kiss gradually grew in heat and intensity until they were both kissing each other hungrily.

  They had to stop to breathe after a minute or so, and the sounds of their ragged breaths echoed in the room with the soft beeping of the machines. Reese licked his lips and waited to see what she would do, and good god, he wasn’t disappointed. He watched as she carefully moved herself on the bed, slinging one leg over his lap until she was straddling him, one hand slipping up to play with his hair.

  “This is all kinds of unethical,” she murmured.

  “Yeah? I thought this was all that happened in hospitals.” And he really wished his other arm was better so that he could wrap both hands around her hips and drag her closer, but he settled for using one and slipping his fingers under the hem of her top to touch soft, warm skin.

  “You’ve been watching too many soap operas,” she teased him with a smile, and then she leaned in for another kiss, not protesting when his hand slipped up higher.

  It seemed like she liked it, and Reese took that as a good sign. They kissed slower this time, and he let his hand explore under her shirt, sliding around to caress her back. Eve seemed to like that, and she pressed down over his crotch, rocking her hips and making him groan into the kiss.

  Fuck, that felt good.

  “Did I hurt you?” she asked, pulling back and opening her eyes.

  Reese shook his head. “Not even close. Just…don’t stop, okay?” Her mouth was kiss reddened and now he was thinking about those lips in other places, but he was pretty sure they didn’t have time for that. He pressed his hips upwards as best he could, making a pleased sound when she pressed down against him and rolled her hips forward.

  His hand slid back around to the front and then up to cup one of her breasts through her bra. “Can I?” he asked, voice barely pitched above a whisper.

  “Yeah,” she breathed back, and he wasted no time in pushing up the cups of her bra, freeing her breasts.

  They were just as soft as he had imagined they would be when he let himself think about it, and he brushed a thumb over her nipple, grinning crookedly when it hardened under his touch. The little intake of breath that she gave was so damned alluring, and he pushed his hips up again, now fully hard in the flimsy hospital gown and his boxers.

  He wondered if she could feel his erection under her and if she was getting as excited by this as he was. It was such a turn on, doing this in the hospital room where anyone could open the door and come in to see them like this.

  Of course, Reese didn’t want that to happen, since he was fairly sure that Eve would get in trouble if someone saw them, but the fact that it could happen, that there could be some witness to what they were doing here, was enough to have his blood pumping.

  It was the same kind of thrill that he got from flying down a hill on his snowboard, preparing to make a jump that was ridiculous and hard, and Reese was willing to bet that if they went all the way, it would feel the same as sticking a landing and looking up to bask in the roar of the crowd, barely able to hear it over the thundering of his own heart.

  But that might be too risky to think about. It was one thing to touch like this, and definitely another to take that next step, and anyway, with the way she was grinding on him, it wasn’t going to take too long for this to be over and him to find his release.

  Reese wasn’t selfish, so he went back to paying attention to her, touching and stroking her skin, and rolling his hips in an effort to give her some pleasure as well.

  From the sounds she was making, he was succeeding, and he grinned against her mouth, nipping at her lip and pulling back for just a second. “Not bad for a guy working with one hand, huh?” he teased, tweaking her nipple and relishing the gasp she rewarded him with.

  “Oh, god,” she groaned, and it could have been a reaction to his comment or to the way he was touching her, but Reese didn’t care either way. He kissed her hard as they moved together, and when she pressed down hard, he couldn’t hold back anymore.

  Heat and pleasure raced through his body, and he felt the front of his boxers become wet as he came, the clammy dampness seeping into the hospital gown as well. He swore against her mouth, pinching her nipple harder and drinking in the sounds she made as she came as well, writhing and thrusting down on his lap.

  They parted to breathe, and Eve’s eyes were wide and dark. Reese watched as the pleasure and satisfaction was edged out by something colder and sort of…terrified.

  “Oh, god,” she said again, but there was no warmth in it. “Oh, no.” She was up from his lap in a matter of seconds, fixing her clothes and looking at him like he she had never seen him before.

  “Eve?” he asked, frowning. “Are you…” Before he could finish that question, she was out the door, letting it close behind her as she hurried away.

  Reese let his head flop back against the pillows, and he heaved a sigh. Maybe that had been a mistake after all.

  CHAPTER 8: REGRET

  Oh, god. Oh, god. What had she done?

  She’d never messed up like this before. Reese was a patient. He was someone who was looking to her to help with his care, not to make out with him in his bed like some kind of horny teenager. What had she been thinking?

  Granted, he had started it, which clearly meant that he’d wanted it, maybe that he’d even been thinking about it before, but that didn’t make it right. It didn’t mean that she was excused from the fact that he was a patient and what she had done was the height of unethical behavior.

  And really, what was the reason they had done that? Because he was bored and she was angry at having to work the night shift? She’d managed to work nights before without ending up straddling a patient.

  Just the memory of it had her pressing her hands over her face and letting out a low groan. Of course, that noise just reminded her of the noises she had been making into his mouth when they had kissed and when he’d touched her, and it was all too much. She wanted to go back in time and not kiss him. She wanted to go back and shake his hand off of her arm and tell him that it was inappropriate for them to do things like that.

  She wanted to pretend like she hadn’t liked it.

  But, oh that wasn’t true.

  Eve had liked it quite a bit. Reese was skilled with his mouth and his hands, and when she closed her eyes and licked her lips, she could still taste him there. She could taste him on her mouth and feel his hand on her breast, and it made her heart race.

  “You are an idiot,” she said to her reflection in the bathroom mirror. Her shift was nearly over now, just about half an hour to go, and she’d managed to avoid going back into Reese’s room. When she’d peeked through the window, he’d been lying on his good side, facing away from the door, and she’d hoped he was asleep.

  Really, she was probably the only one making a big deal out of this. She was probably just one in a string of women that Reese kissed. It didn’t mean that he felt anything for her or that he wanted anything f
rom her, and assuming that he did was stupid.

  Just because he’d touched her and kissed her better than anyone had in a while (and really, how sad was it that a quick fumble in a hospital room was one of the best experiences she’d had with this kind of thing?), didn’t mean that it had to mean anything. She’d probably show up for her shift the day after tomorrow and he’d have nothing to say to her about it.

  After all, someone like him was clearly able to have whoever he wanted, and she wasn’t so naïve as to believe that he wanted her.

  She had nothing to offer him. She barely had the time to sleep and keep herself fed between her job and the time she spent with Devin. When would she have time to have a boyfriend or a sex friend or whatever?

  Even when Reese was healed, it wasn’t like she could invite him over to spend the night at her place. Devin would want to know who he was and why he was there, and explaining that to her ten year old brother was definitely high on her list of things she never wanted to do ever. And anyway, she knew better than to think that someone would stick around when she had to have her focus on her kid brother all the time. So it was a moot point, either way. And that was good. It needed to be moot. It needed to never happen again.

  “Pull yourself together, finish your shift and then go home,” Eve muttered to herself as she let herself out of the bathroom to make her last couple of patient visits.