by Lori Ryan
“Are you serious?” Max’s arms fell to his side as he took a step toward them. “How?”
“You don’t need to worry about it. Just keep your mouth shut about this.” She nodded toward Aaron.
Max looked at his brother, then Kayleigh. “Why?”
“What happened when your mom found out you and Devlin were doing the nasty?” She asked.
Max grinned. “You two doing the nasty?”
“No comment,” Kayleigh said.
“Well,” Max said, “word of advice. Read the instructions on all contraceptives. Read them twice.”
“What does that mean?” Aaron asked.
Kayleigh burst into laughter. “Should you tell him or should I?” she asked.
“Not going to be me.” Max shook his head. “Lesson learned, though. Come on Aaron, we need you. You’re a bigshot surgeon and someone’s got to carve this massive beef tenderloin.”
Aaron stiffened. He wasn’t a surgeon. Not anymore.
Kayleigh squeezed his hand and released it.
He nodded at Max and they all started back to the tent, but he noticed Kayleigh hung back. When he turned to see why, she spoke quietly.
“Feel like going to Boston for a wedding?”
This was what Kayleigh did for him, brought him back from his dark thoughts about his career that was plummeting to its death. “Will there be a few douchebags there?”
“It’s Boston high-society. It’s guaranteed.”
He understood how hard this was for her to go back home. And she understood how hard it was for him to picture his life without surgery. To be reduced to carving meat at a wedding.
“I’d love to.” He stepped toward her and bent down, kissing her lips.
“Good.” She slipped from his hands and walked away. “Oh, and if anyone asks while we’re there, you’re madly in love with me and about to profess your undying loyalty to me. You know, just in case anyone asks.” She laughed.
Aaron didn’t. He wasn’t so sure she was far from the truth.
Chapter Twenty-One
Kayleigh unlocked the back door and tossed her keys on the hook next to her coats. The sound of nails clicking on the floor echoed and within seconds Annie was sliding into Kayleigh’s feet, pawing at her legs.
She bent down and picked up the dog. “Hey, pretty girl. I’m sorry I’m late.”
Annie abruptly lifted her head and stared over Kayleigh’s shoulder. Kayleigh followed her dog’s gaze.
“Hey, girl,” Aaron said, reaching out and scratching under Annie’s jaw.
Annie’s eyes closed as she clawed over Kayleigh’s shoulder to get to Aaron.
“You know her sweet spot.” Kayleigh laughed, releasing Annie.
“I’m good with the ladies.” Aaron winked, taking the dog in his arms.
Kayleigh stepped back and stared. She never brought men home. And yet, Annie acted as if she’d known Aaron her entire life.
“Wow,” Aaron said, laughing as the dog wriggled in his arms. “She really likes me.”
“She needs to go outside before she pees on you.”
“Do you need to go potty, little girl?” he asked with a playful voice.
Annie wiggled in response.
“Just set her outside. She’ll be fine.”
Aaron did as he was told but stayed at the door watching the little dog.
Annie sat on the back step staring up at him.
“She’ll never go potty with you looking at her.”
“She gets stage fright?” he asked. He squatted down so he was close to Annie. “I don’t blame you girl. I don’t like peeing in front of people. Go do your thing, sweetie, I’ll turn my back.” Aaron actually turned but remained squatted. He glanced up at Kayleigh and winked.
She bit back a smirk. There was no way Annie was going to pee even if Aaron’s back was—
“She going?” Aaron asked.
“Well, I’ll be damned.” Kayleigh stared at Annie, dumbfounded.
Aaron slowly glanced over his shoulder. “Hot damn, number one and number two.” He laughed.
“I seriously can’t believe she went to the bathroom with us standing here.”
“Come here, girl.” Aaron reached out his arms.
Annie ran to him, like most women probably did. She jumped in his arms like she’d known him for years.
She knew animals were great judges of character. She’d always known Aaron was a good guy, but now her pet had proved it.
Something rubbed on Kayleigh’s leg. She glanced down and saw Jax hiding behind her leg.
“Who’s this?” Aaron asked, setting Annie on the floor and reaching toward Jax.
Jax stood behind her leg, his shoulders rolling back in an air of supremacy. There was a reason she called him Sir.
“This is Jax,” Kayleigh said, reaching down to scoop the cat in her arms. “We sometimes refer to him as Sir Jaxie because he thinks he’s royalty.”
Aaron made an extravagant bow. “My honor to meet you, Sir Jaxie.” He held out a hand.
Jax stared like he was a peasant.
“It takes him a while to warm up to people,” she said. “If ever.”
“He’s a cool cat. He looks like a tiger.”
“He’s a Bengal. Breeders say they were created to look wild, but are totally domesticated and supposedly super affectionate. I’m not sure I buy that. This guy doesn’t seem to see himself as domesticated. Maybe he’s not exactly wild, but he definitely doesn’t think he’s a housecat. More like a king with royal subjects.”
“Where did you find him?”
Kayleigh noticed Aaron stepping closer and Jax didn’t back away from his touch. “On the highway. He’d been hit. He had a broken leg and—” Her words cut off as she watched in fascination as Jax licked at Aaron’s hand. “What the hell? He never…”
“Hey guy.” Aaron rubbed under Jax’s chin.
The cat’s eyes closed and he leaned against Kayleigh’s chest, purring.
“You little traitor.”
“Traitor?” Aaron asked.
“He barely lets Lina pet him and she’s been feeding him for months.”
“What can I say? I have a way with the men, too.” He chuckled.
The sound traveled straight to her girlie parts.
Jax jumped from her hands and Aaron stepped in closer to her, slipping his arm around her waist. “Now, where were we before my brother so rudely interrupted us before?”
She squirmed in his arms. “Aaron,” she squealed, “I smell horrible and I’m all sweaty.”
He nuzzled her neck as he unbuttoned her shirt. “You’re about to get a lot sweatier.”
“Let me take a shower.” She pushed at him.
“Excellent idea.”
Her mouth went dry as she watched him tug his shirt over his head. There must be a gym next to the operating room at his hospital because Dr. Sumner was ripped.
“Where do you find time to work out?” she asked, studying his chiseled chest and rock-hard abs.
“Here and there.” He smiled
Her core temperature rose by a few hundred degrees.
Maybe being sweaty and dirty with him wouldn’t be such a bad thing. She did a quick sniff check. Nope, no way.
She ducked under his arms, skirting out of his hold. “Give me three minutes,” she said, racing down the hall toward the bathroom. A wave of nervousness caught her by surprise. She’d had sex. A lot. She wasn’t a prude. But there was something different about Aaron she couldn’t quite put her finger on.
She reached for the shower and turned the water on, toeing off her shoes and wiggling out of her mini-skirt. It had been so embarrassing, catering the event. She’d had to bend over the entire night in an extremely short, extremely tight skirt. She was going to kill Maggie the next time she saw her.
“You don’t have any fucking underwear on?” Aaron roared behind her.
She turned and squealed, her hands covering between her legs. “What are you doing in here?”
/>
He stared down at her hands that covered her. “What are you doing without any underwear on?”
“These are pantyhose. You don’t need them.”
He raised a brow.
“Fine,” she huffed. “I didn’t have any on when I changed into the mini skirt.”
“Wait,” Aaron stepped closer, “so you haven’t had on any panties, all day?”
“I was wearing yoga pants when we went rock climbing. They’re really tight.” She shrugged.
He stepped closer.
Her back hit the wall.
“All day? No underwear?” he growled, but there wasn’t anger in it. It was need, fascination, and a whole hell of a lot of desire.
“Well,” she stumbled for words, “I knew my big butt would be high in the air when we were rock climbing and you’d be looking up at me. I didn’t want you to see any panty lines.”
“So, on the blanket, during our make-out session, no panties?”
She shook her head. “No,” she said quietly, almost fearing the predatory look in his eyes.
Aaron pulled her hands away and stared down at the apex of her thighs. “Fuck,” he moaned. Before she could move to cover herself, he grabbed the edges of her tuxedo shirt and ripped it open then tugged the zipper down, spreading it wide.
“Aaron!” she screamed as buttons skittered across the floor. “Maggie’s going to kill me.”
He remained silent, not moving as he stared at her body.
She began to feel self-conscious and moved to cover herself.
He caught her arms and held them up by her shoulders.
“Oh, no you don’t.” He smiled down at her, a predator, holding down his prey.
“Aaron,” she struggled.
“God, you’re beautiful.”
She stared up at his face. He was totally serious.
His eyes were darker, filled with need and lust. For her.
He released her hands and unbuttoned his jeans before kicking off his shoes. He slipped his pants and underwear down his legs and stood shamelessly, his impressive erection jutting between them. Slowly he lowered his head and captured one of her freed nipples into his mouth.
Her breasts ached and tingled where his mouth sucked, sending electrical volts of desire straight to her center. “Oh, God,” she moaned. “Aaron.”
His delicious torture made her want to beg.
“Mmm,” he murmured against her skin.
The vibrations were too much. Kayleigh feared she might come just from his ministrations to her breast. She curled one leg around his leg and ground against his hard thigh.
He pressed his hips against hers, giving her the friction she needed but the hose were in her way.
“Shower,” she said.
He leaned back and stared down at her. “I’m pretty sure you’re already wet.”
Her face heated with embarrassment which was completely foreign. She was usually the one that had everyone blushing.
Aaron slipped his fingers into her hose and pulled them down her legs, one teasing inch at a time. He stepped back, his gaze roaming over her body. “Holy, fuck,” he breathed out, shaking his head.
“What?” She crossed one leg over the other, trying to hide.
He moved up, his hands slipping into her hair as his mouth crashed down on hers. He was hungry and hot, his needy arousal pressed firmly against her belly.
She opened to him, her tongue meeting his as their embrace turned desperate.
“I stink,” she moaned against his lips.
“No, you don’t,” he said. Without warning, he bent and grasped her in his arms. Shoving aside the shower curtain with his elbow, he stepped inside with her still in his arms.
The water’s delicious heat slid over her already hypersensitive skin. Suddenly she realized she still had the tuxedo shirt on.
“The shirt,” she said over the pounding of the shower.
He released her, letting her body slide tauntingly down his. His erection pressed against her as her nipples scraped against the fine hairs on his chest. The sensations set off a fire of need deep inside her.
“Aaron,” Kayleigh whispered.
His fingers slipped under the shirt and shoulder strap of her bra as he tugged them both off her shoulders. The clothes fell at her feet with a wet thud and he kicked them aside.
Aaron lathered his hands with shower gel and turned her to face the spray of the shower head. The water was warm and slid over her heated skin as his hands followed the same path.
Kayleigh leaned forward, bracing herself on the wall as Aaron ran his soapy hands over every inch of her body, heating her flesh more than the water had. Every touch teased and taunted her, making her want so much more.
“God, Aaron.”
His movements were painfully perfect. Blood thundered in her ears, and lower.
One hand slid to her breast while the other found its way between her legs, making her moan and thrash. She bucked against his hand, releasing a cry of need. Heat crawled up her spine as her orgasm built to a fever pitch. His fingers felt so good on her, in her. She wanted to hold off her release, but he was making that nearly impossible.
Overcome with desire and sensation, she came, her body convulsing as she screamed inarticulate words. His hands continued their delicious assault, ringing her dry. When her body finally stilled, she sagged in his arms, not surprised when he caught her.
That’s when she felt the press of his erection at the small of her back.
She turned in his arms and gazed up at him, her focus still a little fuzzy. She was sure she looked like a drowned rat, albeit a sated one. Reaching for the body gel, she squirted the soap in her hand. Aftershocks of her orgasm left a delicious burn between her legs.
She rubbed her hands together until a lather formed then pressed her hands to his chest. She rubbed her palms against his hard muscles, drinking in the sight of him.
Her hands all but tingled with the erotic sensation of touching him as she ran her fingers up and down his muscled body. His shoulders, his chest, the ridges of muscle on his stomach. She went lower, taking his length into her hands and feeling how hard and ready he was for her.
As the shower water rinsed the soap from them both, Kayleigh ran her hands almost playfully lightly over his erection. She was teasing him with the lightness of her touch, trying to drive him just as crazy as he had her. Slowly she tightened her grip and ran her hand along the full length of him.
Aaron groaned, then slammed the nozzle to the shower off.
“What are you doing?” she asked.
He scooped her in his arms and stepped out of the shower, dripping wet. He whipped two towels off the rack and stalked out of the room.
“Aaron,” she laughed.
“I don’t want to come yet. I want to take my time with you.”
His low husky voice set her body on fire.
“I don’t want to do this standing up in a shower the first time,” he said. “The first time I come I want to be buried inside you, holding you, feeling everything.”
Well, okay. That sounded good, too. “All right,” she said quietly, resting her head on his shoulder.
“Just like that, you’re doing what I say?” he glanced down at her, a small smirk on his face.
“Well, when what you’re asking for sounds pretty damned good, I don’t have a choice but to do what you say.”
“That’s my girl.” He laughed.
She couldn’t help but laugh, too. Aaron Sumner buried deep inside her sounded way better than pretty good. It sounded perfect.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Aaron was hard as stone as he carried Kayleigh down the hall toward her bedroom, and her lips tracing a line down his neck didn’t help matters. If he didn’t get inside her soon…well, he didn’t know what was going to happen. As he hoisted her higher, her naked hips rubbed against his erection.
Hell. That was it.
He half ran the rest of the way to her room and unceremoniously dropped
her on the bed.
She squealed. The towels he’d grabbed earlier fell by her side. She reached for them but he yanked them away and climbed on top of her.
“I’m soaking wet, Aaron.”
One side of his mouth tipped up in a smile. “I know.”
He laughed, staring down at her.
She was spread across the comforter, her long blonde hair wet and tousled across the bed. Her hands gripped the bedspread as if she were afraid, which was comical considering there wasn’t much Kayleigh Montgomery was scared of.
She twisted her hips in an alluring pose and licked her lips.
Yeah, she wasn’t afraid. She was hungry.
Every cell in his body vibrated with need. He couldn’t wait to be inside her.
“Do you have any condoms?” he asked.
“In the drawer.” She nodded toward her nightstand.
Aaron reached for one and tossed it to the bed beside them where he could grab it when he was ready for it.
When he rolled back to her, she was wet and ready for him.
She laced her arms around his neck. “Hi, pirate.” He laughed, something new for him during sex. He’d had several lovers during his lifetime. Sex had been a nice way to relieve stress during med school. But being with Kayleigh was different. This wasn’t just recreational. It felt like more. He wanted to give her everything.
“Aaron,” she pleaded, her fingers digging into his hair. “Please, I can’t wait anymore.”
He let his gaze travel over her body. Her chest heaved, her breasts rising and falling. Her rosy pink nipples called to him, but the way she tugged on his hair, he feared for his scalp if he didn’t give her the release she needed soon.
He lowered his hand to stroke her. Her body tightened against him as his hand moved against her pulsating skin.
“Please,” she whimpered.
He smiled and slipped his fingers into her, finding a spot he knew would send her flying.
Her skin was flushed, her breathing labored, and she cried out as an orgasm hit her. He didn’t know if he could hold out himself much longer, but he loved the sight of her as pleasure ripped through her.
When her body fell back on the bed and stilled, he pulled away and sat up on his knees, staring down at her.