The Brightness Duet: Complete Series Boxset

by Bri Stone

  There was a possibility I wouldn’t get it anyway.

  But Thom always knew how I felt about pathology and my education. He wouldn’t ask me to match as a couple. They say it doesn’t affect your placing, but the algorithm just doesn’t work that way. Plus, our specialties give us very different program choices.

  Anyway, we didn’t match as a couple. We were just crossing our fingers.

  “You went off somewhere.” Thom’s fingertips brush the back of my hand.

  “Oh. It was just a long day.” I smile. I was hesitant to voice any of my concerns with him.

  “Hmm. Chris is getting married.” He says.

  “Everyone is getting married,” I murmur to myself, “that’s exciting.” I smile. He grins and shakes his head.

  “Maybe. But he’s asked me to be a groomsman.”

  “He’s your best friend though.” I giggle.

  “I know. Still, it’s a task. The wedding is just before Thanksgiving.”

  Wow. Getting married so close to residency matches and potential interviews was nerve wracking, and it isn’t even me.

  “You’ll be my date though, right?” He leans forward on the table. I smile and nod.

  “Of course. Melinda will love dragging me dress shopping. It’s Danielle that he’s marrying, right?” The last time I saw Chris was...in May, maybe?

  He had been dating her then, if I remember correctly they started dating in January.

  “Yeah. He proposed during her lab last month. Put the ring around a skeleton hand.” Thom laughs. Chris is in for orthopedics, bones are just his thing. Melinda had a few electives with him last year. But Deedee (Danielle’s nickname) wants to be a dermatologist. Donald is into plastics, plastic surgery.

  “Oh wow. That’s kind of cute.” I smile.

  The space falls silent and we think about the same thing. I can feel it. We’ve been together two years, officially. Marriage was a fleeting conversation, but we were mostly joking. I think about it all the time.

  Being his wife.

  Really belonging to him.

  But somehow, he knows I’m not ready.

  “If you proposed to me, hypothetically—how would you do it?” I smile curiously. He grins and takes my hand, idly tracing the skin between my thumb and forefinger.

  “I’d put the ring on in your sleep, so you don’t have the chance to say no.” He laughs, and I join him. I love his laugh, so deep and boomy. He jokes at my abhorrent fear of commitment.

  “No, really.” I pout. He ticks his jaw as he thinks.

  “I don’t know. Sometimes I think about being one of those couples that get engaged on match day...”

  My eyes brighten. “I like that.” I grinned. “It isn’t corny.” I smile but it’s missing something. He notices.

  “Don’t worry, Sparks. I have no real plans. I know you aren’t ready for that.”

  I realize my shoulders were tense and relax them. He knows all my tells.

  “Thom...I love you.” I sigh. He chuckles and kisses my knuckles.

  “I love you too. Let’s go home. I’ve been thinking about being inside you all fucking day.”

  THOM WASN’T JOKING.

  Thirty seconds after entering the apartment we were in his bed. In ten more we were naked.

  Writhing.

  Throbbing.

  He warms me up with his fingers, one at a time until three are inside of me. His mouth claims mine as our lips coax together and he pumps me with his fingers so hard, the headboard rattles the wall. I break the kiss only to breathe and moan. Mostly moan.

  “Thom...yes.” I breathe.

  His lips are on my neck, then my weak spot below my ear. He sucks my jaw and kisses my chin before his mouth claims mine again. His fingers curl inside of me and his palm covers my clit. I grind against the fury of his hand as I grip his hard shoulders. His body has remained the same over the years, after seeing how he works out I understand. He is intense for a short amount of time with long recovery. His muscles practically build themselves. We started tanning together. So now I’m worthy of California.

  I feel my body climbing higher. Everything is tight but weightless at the same time. I reach for his hard cock, it throbs in my hand. As vulgar as it sounds, it’s my favorite thing in the world. To ride, to hold, to taste. Ugh.

  Thom continues until I’m clenching around him. Arching my back and moaning loudly as I come. The kiss breaks but our lips are still touching as we breathe each other’s air. Then his tongue laps over my bottom lip and he sucks it like a lollipop before kissing me deep. So much that I feel it in my toes. My calves wrap around his waist, but he wiggles out of them and leans over to dig in his pants.

  My eyes widen. My heart flutters.

  “One of those?” I say as he takes two pumps of his inhaler. He gives me a look that says yeah, baby.

  He grabs my hips. Turns me over. Pulls my ass up so I arch my back like a cat and then he’s inside of me. I cry out and clutch the blue cotton sheets. He waits until I finish pulsing around him, until I relax and accept him inside of me before he moves again. His rhythm is even, his thrusts strong.

  “Perrie.” He groans deep and goes faster.

  My eyes nearly roll into the back of my head as I press my chest to the sheets.

  My nipples scraping the sheets create a new sensation that stems in my core. The hardness of his hips slapping against my ass ripple in the air. I am gushing wet for him, each thrust drawing it farther down my thighs. He widens his knees outside of mine, presses his hand to my lower back and it draws him deeper inside of me.

  I was barely aware of the noises I was making. Or of his deep, wanton grunts. Only sure about how perfect this was. He feels so good inside of me, his cock stretches me so wide, but he knows how to use it. He knows my body so well. When I’m close he slows down and moves shallower, until it drives me mad and I groan in frustration. Then he goes faster.

  Deeper.

  Harder.

  Until I’m on the edge. So close I can taste it, and then he lets me hang again.

  I start to beg. I always end up begging. I don’t care. He makes me need an orgasm like I need air.

  His hands grip my hips in a way that will leave a mark. His right hand leaves me and trails to my clit instead, rubbing in slow circles. I come immediately, but he continues. As I shudder and shake he kneads my breast and pinches my nipple. Then he goes back to my clit. In five, six more thrusts I come again.

  “Thom...Thom!” I cry out.

  I felt like I reached my limit. The hands that clutch the sheet now lay dormant as I bask in the shudders of my body.

  I am on an endless orgasmic ripple as Thom thrusts through his, spilling himself inside of me. He moves until he is so deep inside of me I feel the weight of his balls against my clit and the tickle of his hair on my ass. When he’s done he lays his body on mine, save his chest.

  He pulls my chest to his back and I tilt my head to kiss him. A deep, wet kiss. And then he pecks my lips softly. His hand cups my cheek as he kisses my nose. My cheeks. My chin. Until I giggle and squirm around. I grip his arm as I move closer. I’m sticky between my legs and the room smells of sex, but I don’t want to move.

  “I promised Melinda she could come over.” I break the silence. I don’t get to see much of her anymore, but we always try and make time.

  “Okay. You want me to go?” He smirks.

  “You don’t have to, Melinda will talk about you whether you’re here or not.” I laugh. I comb my fingers through his hair just because I like the feeling.

  “That she will. What time?” We both look at the clock. Shit, ten minutes to eight.

  “Ugh. Like now. I have to shower.” I pull away, but he just pulls me closer and kisses me until I can’t breathe. Even after two years, the passion, the spark between us hasn’t gone anywhere.

  I always want to touch him.

  I always want his touch.

  “Thom.” I mush against his lips. He sighs and finally releases me. />
  I laugh when he smacks my ass on my way out of the bed.

  Chapter Sixteen: Thom

  MELINDA IS LOUD AND crude but over the past two years she has grown on me.

  She and Perrie got very close, very fast. It’s good that she has someone to talk to, since she doesn’t get to see her sister often and her dad is always in the middle of some body of water. The Adriatic Sea right now, if I remember correctly.

  “Thom, make snacks.” Melinda demands, stretched across my couch like she owns it.

  I frown at her and Perrie just shakes her head and smiles.

  With a heavy sigh I say, “What would you like, your highness?”

  “Less attitude with a side of ice cream.” She says with a straight face. Even when she smiles, her face stays the same.

  “I don’t know why I put up with you.” I murmur to myself, but she still hears me somehow.

  “Because I’m your favorite!” Her and Perrie laugh.

  I just shake my head and deliver the tub of mint ice cream with two spoons, as any good boyfriend would do.

  Sometimes it’s odd to think of us as boyfriend and girlfriend. It feels like so much more. And I want it to be. But I also know Perrie very, very well now. Marriage is a shared dream, but it isn’t one happening soon. I’m happy with the way things are now anyway.

  “I’ll be in the room.” I excuse myself.

  Perrie smiles up at me, her gray eyes bright and beautiful.

  Even after two years she hasn’t changed much. Her hair is still that gorgeous honey color, only she keeps it longer now, past her waist. She got back into rowing on the ergometer, so her body has filled out in the perfect places; her ass curves outward and rounds out at the bottom, falling to her curved hamstrings and sculpted quads. When she wraps those legs around me it’s like I am a willing prisoner to them. Even though we barely get any sleep, her face stays so smooth and youthful, and that dimple beneath her eye perfectly dipped.

  “No, stay,” Perrie says, but looks to Melinda to check.

  She shrugs like she doesn’t enjoy my company sometimes.

  “If you insist.” I lift Perrie from the arm chair and place her on my lap. They return to their conversation as they pass their ice cream. Something about a new reality TV show.

  I turn my attention to the television; Reba re-runs are on. I used to watch it a lot with my mom, as well as soap operas. She loved her soaps, and for years it was annoying. But when she got sick, I would watch it with her in the hospital while she had her chemotherapy, and all the characters and dramatic plots grew on me.

  I miss her.

  I still haven’t been able to take Perrie to her grave. I want to, but I haven’t even gone there myself since her funeral. But on the anniversary of her death, Perrie was there and it was all I really needed. We didn’t say much, just laid on the couch and she tried to take my mind off it. I did the same to her in October, except we traveled to Houston and met up with her sister and her father while he was able to dock in Galveston.

  I come back from the past and laugh at Brock’s reaction to Barbra-Jean. Perrie feeds me a spoon of ice cream occasionally.

  “Where did you match to, again?” Perrie asks Melinda.

  “Hundreds of places. But I don’t mind Johns Hopkins and Duke.” Melinda shrugs and takes the ice cream back.

  “You don’t mind? Those are swank programs.” I say. Melinda screws up her face.

  Perrie smirks at me. “She’s top of our program. She can go anywhere.” I frown and Perrie kisses my closed lips, pulling away with a smile. I lick my lips and smirk, she tastes like sugar and mint.

  “Thanks, Perrie. Uh, what about you two?” For the first time, Melinda’s voice is unsteady.

  “We both applied to a lot of places but if we match with them, I want Mass Gen, and Thom wants Mayo.”

  “Good choices, and airfare is so cheap to those two places.” She then stuffs her mouth with ice cream to keep from holding her tongue about something else.

  I feel Perrie stiffen in my arms. I grip her waist and pull her closer to me, squeezing her ribs until she relaxes. We already talked about this. We’ll take turns visiting, it isn’t impossible. Best case is it is for four years, worst case the next two years for her, since medical examiners must do another year of certification in clinical pathology, and then another one-year fellowship.

  What Perrie refuses to ask or understand is that I will follow her anywhere. I’m passionate about being a surgeon, but I don’t care much where I’m operating, just as long as I have the resources I need to save lives. Perrie will always chase the best program, the best anything. It’s one of the reasons I love her so much but it’s also one of the things that could destroy us both.

  MELINDA FEIGNS A FROWN but then she smiles at me, a strange look in her eye.

  “You know, the way you love her so much...it’s the only reason I tolerate you.”

  We both laugh.

  “Right. Well, it isn’t easy. She...”

  “Rejected you for a year? I know, I remember.” She rolls her eyes.

  Before I can banter back Perrie appears. “I can’t find them, sorry. What were you guys talking about?” She drops back onto my lap.

  “The best way to hide our affair. We’ve decided to propose a threesome.” Melinda says with a straight face.

  I break with laughter as Perrie shakes her head at her crazy friend. “I don’t know why I keep you around.” She rubs her face and then leans into my side.

  “We’ve been over this.” Melinda glances at her silver watch and then stand up to stretch out.

  In the last two years she has gotten a full sleeve on her left arm, and a half sleeve on her right. She shows them off every chance she gets, hence her tank top. She also has a thigh piece and calf piece, so she nearly always wears shorts. All her tattoos mean something, but I was never part of that conversation.

  “I have to go. Walk me out.”

  Perrie kisses my cheek and adheres to her demands. Once she leaves I clean up the living room a bit. Melinda is kind of messy. She slept over here for two nights once, and it took two days to clean up after her. Though I think she only did it on purpose.

  I was happy their friendship was so strong though. Perrie does confide in me but I know it’s easier for her to do with a fellow girl. It isn’t that I don’t understand, but sometimes it’s best not to know everything. We’re friends before we are a couple, so that does help too.

  Perrie and I have built a trust that isn’t easily broken. I fought for her for so long, and I wasn’t ever going to let her go. I know she feels the same way about me, she always did. She just has a hard past.

  I finish cleaning up and head to the shower. It’s been such a long day and tomorrow will only be longer. I have lecture early, then three labs, my clinical rotation, then the day is finally over. It wasn’t as hard as studying for the USMLE though, and step two is finally over.

  But M4 is where it all happens. The interviews, the residency choices. The next five or six years start here. It’s kind of scary, but still exciting. And to do it with someone else; the woman I love, is even better. We’ve both grown intellectually, and as doctors. Even though her patients will have already passed, she respects them in the same way. Though she was never fond of M3, when we had to do all our clinical rotations for each specialty.

  I get out of my head and shampoo my hair. An invisible barrier breaks in the air.

  Perrie slips her arms around my waist and presses her front to my back. I close my eyes and exhale, feeling every inch of her body.

  Her pert breasts and the poke of her nipples. Her smooth belly meets my lower back and the soft hair between her legs rub my ass. Her fingers graze down my front, I feel her nails through my pubic hair and then her hand is around my cock. I feel myself swell as she squeezes.

  “Fuck. Perrie.” My head drops. I watch her lithe hand stroke me. Tease my tip. Twist softly as I leak with desire.

  Her soft lips kiss my shoulder, mo
ve across my back leaving wet kisses. I moan as her hand moves faster. My knees weaken. The shower sways.

  I close my eyes and reach for her thigh. I feel her hot breath against my back. She moves faster. Until I’m on the edge.

  I spin around and trap her on the shower wall. She smiles with a devious look in her eyes before I claim her mouth. Her lips part and my tongue passes over hers, over the roof of her mouth. She tastes like mint ice cream and herself. I press my thigh between her legs and she rubs herself against me.

  She is scorching hot and so wet.

  Her fingers fist in my hair. I slip my hand between her legs and fuck her with my fingers. She clenches around me as I feel her clit swell against my palm. I inhale sharply but it isn’t enough. I have to break the kiss. I pant hot against her neck, her jaw, her chin. As I work her harder. Faster.

  She moans loud. God, I love how loud she is. Her sounds of pleasure fill my ears until they are all I hear. My cock is trapped against her stomach begging to be inside her, but I need her coming on my hand first.

  I pull back. Meet her eyes. I don’t look away until her pupils dilate and her lips tremble as she comes. She holds my gaze until her tremors are too much, and then her eyes slip closed as she bares her neck and groans. I kiss her. Suck her skin until I’m sure I will leave a mark. Then I take her mouth in mine and kiss her hard. Hungry.

  She nudges her hips towards me. She needs me. I always need her. I love how perfect it always is. How much we fucking need each other. When I’m against her body I’m okay. I’m fucking perfect. In her arms everything makes sense. Between her legs I am a willing slave and in her heart, I belong.

  I hitch her leg around my waist and I thrust into her. She cries out. Her nails dig into my shoulder as she shudders. I feel her right leg against mine as her toes curl. Then I’m moving. Deep, and slow. My mouth presses over hers but I don’t kiss her, so I can breathe. Her hot breath falls into my mouth as she pants. I groan; I don’t know how much longer I can hold out.

  Perrie trembles as her moans grow shallower, louder. She groans my name over and over. I tell her how good she feels. How much I love fucking her and how much I fucking love her. The steam clouds my eyes but I find hers. The grays of our eyes matches as we come together. I thrust until I empty inside of her. My bones quake and I feel the pleasure deep in my spine.