Lovers Unmasked: The Complete Series

by Nicole Flockton

“Are you able to get a phone signal?” Phoebe asked as she followed him to the car. He extracted the first aid kit before answering.

  “I’ve got one bar, I’m not sure how successful I’ll be, but I’ll try calling emergency services and I’ll try and send a text to Alex — he always carries his phone with him.”

  “Hopefully we can get hold of someone.” She held out her hand. “Pass me the kit and I’ll go back over and see if I can get a better look.”

  Marco watched Phoebe’s retreating back and then picked up his phone and quickly typed out a message to Alex. Once he’d sent it off, he dialed emergency services. Unfortunately the moment the operator answered, the phone started cutting out. He tried a couple of times but nothing. He only hoped that his message to Alex had been delivered.

  He made his way back to the car ready to face whatever he had to.

  “I think I got a message off to Alex. My phone said it was delivered, but sometimes you never really know. I couldn’t get through to emergency services.”

  He saw the momentarily flash of despair cross Phoebe’s face before her expression changed to one of resolution and determination. His resolve to do whatever he could to help her and the victim flowed through him. Together they would save this person.

  “Let’s see what we can do with this car.”

  Marco walked around the car and tried to work out the best way to get the car back on its wheels. They could potentially push it over, but the movement would be jarring and he thought that sort of violent motion might do more injury to the victim inside the car. As much as he wanted to help, he knew they couldn’t do it themselves. It was a job for the professionals. As he got to the front of the car he tried not to look but he couldn’t help himself. All he saw was the passenger and a hole in the windscreen. His stomach dropped even further than he thought possible — where was the driver? He turned slowly and found the body of the driver sprawled on the ground a hundred feet in front of the car.

  “He wasn’t wearing a seatbelt,” Phoebe murmured behind him. “It takes two seconds to put one on; I’ll never understand why people don’t bother.”

  “Even seatbelts don’t save people,” he responded, remembering that Tomasso had been wearing a safety belt.

  “They give you a fighting chance though.”

  He turned to look at her, noticing the blanket she held. “We can’t move the car, it’s going to be too difficult. We could make her injuries worse.”

  “I thought as much, but I didn’t want to say it out loud. Maybe if we punch out the windscreen I can wiggle in and treat her.”

  Marco didn’t want to think of Phoebe getting inside a car sitting on its side, but it wasn’t like they had much choice. Every minute they stood around not acting was a minute longer the victim’s injuries could end her life.

  He held out his hand towards her. “Give me the blanket.”

  Wrapping the blanket around his hand, he reached into the already existing hole and punched the rest of the glass outwards, away from the interior of the car. He brushed away the remnants just as the girl moaned.

  “Phoebe,” he called out. “She’s waking up.”

  He moved quickly out of the way to let Phoebe access the victim, and listened as she spoke to her patient. She was talking low enough that he couldn’t make out the words, but the modulation of her voice was calming. It gave him the confidence to walk over to where the driver of the car lay.

  Gritting his teeth, he looked down. A pair of unseeing eyes looked back at him. Marco closed his own eyes momentarily. He opened them again and he reached down to close the dead man’s eyes. He then laid the blanket over him gently. It took everything he had not to walk over to the bushes and retch.

  His phone buzzed and he took another deep breath as he turned away and looked at the message on his screen.

  Help is on its way, both ground and air. How bad? Alex

  He strode back to the car. “Alex just sent a text. Help is on the way. Looks like he got the lifeline helicopter to come out, although goodness knows where it will land. He also wanted to know what status is of the occupants. How’s the girl doing?”

  “The ’copter will probably land on the road — you’ll need to put something out to let them know where we are. And she’s holding her own at the moment, looks like there’s internal injuries.”

  Marco quickly typed back and let Alex know that someone had died and what Phoebe had told him.

  “I’m going to lay out the towels on the road so they’ll be able to see us from the sky. Do you need me to do anything before I do that?”

  “No, I’m just cleaning up some cuts and trying to make her as comfortable as possible.”

  “I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

  “It’s fine, there’s not much I can really do. Why don’t you stay by the car so you can direct everyone when the helicopter and other help arrives?”

  Marco went back to the car and laid the towels out. He paced as he waited for the help to arrive. Time seemed to drag, but eventually he heard the whomp whomp of the helicopter’s blades. He stood out in the middle of the road and waved his hands. Once he saw that the pilot had seen him, he moved out of the way as the air generated from the rotors threw up dust and dirt and scattered branches and leaves around him.

  He couldn’t tell what happened next; it all seemed to happen in slow motion, as if he was a spectator watching as the emergency crew jumped out, grabbed their equipment, and followed Phoebe who had come out once she’d heard the helicopter.

  He stood back and let them get on with what they needed to do. When the police arrived, he gave them a statement, feeling like nothing more than a spectator.

  Eventually the helicopter lifted off with the female victim safely on board and heading towards the people that could save her. As he watched the helicopter disappear he couldn’t help but feel that if it wasn’t for Phoebe’s observing eye, the situation may have turned out worse than what it could have been.

  A warm hand slipping into his finally penetrated the fog he’d been in since the helicopter arrived.

  “Are you okay?”

  He looked down into blue eyes and immediately felt grounded. “I am now. Are we able to leave?” He looked around at the police as they moved around the accident scene.

  “Yes, I’ve told them everything I could. Not that it was much, seeing as we arrived God knows how long after the accident happened.”

  He gazed up at the sky in the direction the helicopter had headed in. He wanted to get as far away from the scene as he could. He tightened his hold on her hand. “Let’s go.”

  • • •

  Phoebe stood under the shower, letting the water wash away the sand and grit from the beach, the blood from the car accident victim, and the sense of disappointment she’d felt when the moment they’d arrived home Marco had parked the car and then gone for a walk along the beach. She knew coming across the accident had been traumatic, but it seemed to have hit him harder than she’d thought possible.

  She closed her eyes and put her head under the spray, rinsing out the shampoo. At that moment a pair of arms closed around her and she found herself pulled against a strong chest.

  “Marco?” she squeaked out. He was the last person she expected to be joining her in the shower. Which was a really silly thought since it was just the two of them in the house. She pulled away and looked up at him, and gasped at the look of desolation in his eyes. “What’s wrong? Has something bad happened?”

  “No, nothing bad has happened,” he said as he pulled her closer to him again. He captured her lips in a kiss that took her completely off-guard. She couldn’t deny him, and she wanted it just as badly. After seeing the accident site and seeing a dead man, she understood the need for affirmation that life still continued on.

  She opened her mouth under his, their tongu
es dueling, and she went up on tiptoes to deepen the embrace. As she wrapped her arms around his neck she could feel the power of his need against her belly. She shivered at the thought of him thrusting into her. Even as badly as she wanted him to take her right now, she had to know why he needed to kiss her.

  She pulled back and looked deeply at him. His eyes were slumberous with desire; the desperation she had seen moments before he kissed her had disappeared. “Why?” she asked.

  “I need you,” he uttered, a wealth of emotion in those three little words. “I need you.”

  She turned the water off. It might not have been the three words she wanted to hear from him, but they still meant something to her. “You have me,” she whispered.

  Phoebe hung on tight as he swept her up in his arms and out of the shower. After drying each other off, he laid her on the bed reverently, as if she were made of a precious metal.

  “I need to feel something other than the emptiness I’m feeling right now.” He whispered the words against her lips. She couldn’t say anything. Words wouldn’t make a difference to what he was going through now. She could understand his need. The first time a patient had died on her shift had been the hardest. She’d done something completely out of character after her shift had finished — she went out to a bar, got roaring drunk, and had her one-and-only-ever one-night stand. She knew how life affirming making love with someone could be.

  She would let Marco feel with her again.

  “Then feel with me. I’m here for you.”

  She then reached and up pulled his head down, initiating a kiss. She put everything she had into it. The emotions she felt for him poured from her soul to his. He accepted her gift and pulled her closer, moving his hands down her body to lift her, bringing her into direct contact with his straining erection. She wanted him to take her that second, but he pulled back and moved his hands back up her body to her breasts.

  She moaned as he massaged first her right then her left breast. All the while his mouth was creating havoc on her neck. Nibbling and teasing. Tasting and tormenting. She was so ready for him. Running her own hands down his back she grabbed his buttocks and gave it a squeeze before changing direction and reaching in between them to take a hold of his hard length. She stroked from base to tip, loving the feel of his smooth, hot flesh. She rubbed her thumb across his tip, causing him to moan against her mouth.

  He quickly dealt with protection before capturing her lips in another kiss. He pulled away and rested his forehead against hers. “I want you so badly, sweetheart.”

  “Then take me, I’m not stopping you.” She tilted her hips up and guided his length to her hot entrance.

  “Thank you.”

  It seemed a strange thing to say but all thought was lost as he thrust into her. She hissed out a breath at the sensation. He’d always been able to do this to her. Fill her completely where all rational thought was lost and she only felt.

  He pulled out, teasing her with a roll of his hips before he plunged back into her. He slowly built momentum and she met his increase in pace. She could feel her orgasm building. He reached down in between them and his fingers found her sensitive bud, sending her spiraling over the edge. She cried out his name in completion and as her body still vibrated he reached his own climax and called out her name. He collapsed on her in exhaustion and she wrapped her arms tighter around him, never feeling closer to him than she did right at that moment.

  CHAPTER 8

  Marco woke up, relishing the feel of having Phoebe back in his arms. Apart from the interlude on the beach, it had been too long since they’d been like this. She sighed in her sleep and he tightened his hold on her.

  “What time is it?”

  His body immediately responded to her husky words. He glanced over to the clock sitting on the bedside table. “It’s just after seven. Are you hungry?”

  As she sat up and pushed her hair out of her face, and he had to stifle the groan as his body hardened even more.

  “I can see you’re hungry but I don’t think it’s for food.”

  He chuckled, pulling her back down and fusing their lips in answer to her question. He was making up for lost time. He wanted to show her that together, they were made for each other.

  He rolled onto his back so that she was lying on top of him, her hair falling around them, enclosing them in a curtain of gold. He could feel her starting to break the contact and he raised his hands to either side of her face, holding her there, deepening the kiss. After everything that they’d experienced that afternoon, he still needed to feel the contact of a warm body against his. He didn’t want to think about what he might do if he had to let Phoebe go for good.

  She took advantage of his momentary lapse and pulled away, panting heavily against his chest.

  “I need to breathe.” Each word seemed to wheeze out of her.

  “I can keep myself occupied while you catch your breath,” he muttered as he trailed kisses down her neck, losing himself in her taste.

  She arched her back in response and he bit down gently on her sweet tasting skin, before he swirled his tongue over the same spot. He wanted to mark her as his. He’d never felt so possessive as he did right at that moment.

  With his free hand he found her breast and rolled her nipple with his fingers; her moan had his body jerking in response, wanting to thrust deep inside of her. His hand left her breast and moved to her hips, lifting them so that he could position her, ready to fulfill his need to possess her again.

  He teased her entrance with his tip, pulling her down so that he rested against her before lifting her away. He repeated the action.

  “Marco,” she moaned.

  “What?” he asked as he entered her a bit more, before pulling away again.

  “Please.”

  “Please, what?” he asked as he took the nipple he was caressing earlier into his mouth, swirling his tongue around her hardened peak.

  “Take me now,” she demanded.

  “My pleasure,” he answered as he pulled her hips down and took her fully. He almost lost it when she arched her back and her head fell back in abandon. She ground her hips against him, encouraging him to increase the pace. He couldn’t hold back and flipped her over so he was on top. He drove into her, lifting her hips so that he could drive further into her. Her body vibrated around him and as she cried out his name, he pumped into her one last time before he, too, lost himself again.

  • • •

  Phoebe stepped her fingers up Marco’s spine before she loosely ran them through his hair. If she was totally honest with herself, she had missed this intimacy with him. She had started keeping her distance physically from him the moment John had first connected with her.

  What they’d shared since they’d returned home from the beach was the strength of their relationship. There was nothing wrong with their sex life. It was the other side of their relationship that needed work. The part where they shared things with each other.

  She gasped as Marco shifted their positions until she found herself sprawled across his chest. She instinctively turned her head and laid a soft kiss just below his heart.

  It would be so easy to forget her wish to cancel the wedding, tell him she’d made a mistake, but still she held off from saying the words.

  She wanted a man who give all of himself to her, and she wanted to give all of herself to him. She just wasn’t sure if she and Marco were ready for that. None of the issues between them had been sorted out. They were still in the exact same position they had been before she’d broken their engagement.

  “You still hungry?”

  Marco’s question jolted her out of inner thoughts, she was glad to have the interruption. Her thoughts were heading in a direction she didn’t want to examine too closely.

  “Starving,” she replied. “Lunch was a long time ago.”


  “You know it’s your turn to cook for me.”

  She was affronted by his statement until she looked at him and she saw the teasing glint in his eyes. “Only if you’re going to help me.”

  “It will be my pleasure.”

  Her heart skipped a beat at the smile he sent her way. She wanted to lean in and kiss him. Instead she laid her hand on his chest and with a gentle touch, she pushed him back on the bed and got out. “Last one to the kitchen has to do the dishes,” she called over her shoulder as she scooped up a sarong that was slung over the chair in her room and wrapped it around herself.

  • • •

  Phoebe placed her knife and fork on the plate, her appetite for food sufficiently satisfied. All the time they’d been together they’d never worked as a team in the kitchen, preparing a meal together. Usually one of them cooked while the other one sat and drank coffee if it was breakfast being prepared, or wine if they were having dinner.

  “I suppose I need to do the dishes now.”

  She looked over at Marco, smiling at the pitiful look he was sending her way. “I’m sure you can handle a few dishes by yourself.”

  “But it would be much more fun if you were helping me. Besides with another set of hands things will be done quicker.”

  She laughed and pushed her chair back, picking up her plate and glass. “Fine, you win. Come on let’s get these dishes done. Do you want to watch a movie after we’ve finished?”

  Marco stood too. “Sounds like a great idea. I’ll even let you watch a chick flick in return for helping me.”

  “You’re a real hero.”

  Phoebe couldn’t help but enjoy the closeness they were now sharing. It wasn’t the norm for them; they’d always been going out, or snatching a quick bite before she headed for a night shift.

  It was funny how looking back, she could see all the holes in their relationship that she hadn’t noticed before.

  “What are you thinking so hard about?”

  Phoebe looked up and saw Marco standing next to her. His eyes were full of concern and her heart warmed at the sight. “Nothing too important. Just how different tonight is from most of the other nights we’ve spent together.”