by Melody Anne
“I won’t last long,” he said, his skin flushed, sweat dripping from his forehead.
“Then take me and feel as much pleasure as I’m feeling,” she said, wrapping her legs around him and wiggling her hips.
He let out a guttural cry as he pulled out and then pushed back in, their pelvises slamming together, making them both moan. He did that over and over again, picking up speed as more pleasure built inside her.
Erin’s second orgasm hit her like a freight train. It was building and building and then it exploded, taking her breath completely away as her fingernails dug into his back. Steve cried out as she gripped him over and over again, and then they pulsed together as his own release was ripped from him.
The orgasm lasted for a very long time for both of them; then they were spent. Steve turned to the side, falling to her right side as he collapsed half on her, half off, making sure to protect her injured leg. Even in the throes of passion he was taking care of her. She might be falling in love with the man.
They lay there a long time before Steve eventually lifted his head. When she opened her eyes and looked into his satisfied expression, she found herself smiling back at him, more than pleased with how well this date had gone.
“If I’d have known dating was this much fun I would’ve done it a hell of a lot more over the years,” she said with a satisfied laugh.
His eyes narrowed. “Really?” he asked. “With just anyone?”
She felt giddy in her pleasure, and found she liked poking him. “Well yeah. A girl could do this daily.”
Like a flash of lightning, Steve leapt to his feet, then leaned down and grasped her in his arms. “What are you doing?” she asked as he began running toward the water. She clung to his neck as her breasts bounced against his chest.
“Cooling off your libido,” he said with a wicked grin.
“Don’t you dare!” she cried out. But it was far too late. He hit the edge of the lake and jumped. Erin barely had time to plug her nose before she was submerged. When they came up from the frigid water, there was nothing hot left on her body. It took a couple of seconds for a gasp of air to enter her lungs.
“That was pure evil,” she said, her teeth chattering.
“I figured you needed cooled off.”
“I’ll get revenge. You can count on that,” she told him as she ran her hand through the water splashing his smug face.
“I’m counting on it,” he told her. And then he dove under the water, coming up right in front of her, pulling her against him, and much to her surprise, he was still scorching hot.
“I don’t think you’re human,” she said with a laugh.
“I might be part robot,” he said. “But don’t worry because all of the good parts are very human.” He kissed her again, and much to her surprise and delight, she felt his arousal pressing against her stomach.
“Already?” she asked, delight filling her.
“Oh, most definitely yes,” he said.
He kissed her before lifting her back into his arms and exiting the freezing lake. They barely made it to the blanket and the condoms before he slipped back inside of her. She had no doubt she was going to be sore, but she didn’t care. She wanted this man to never leave her body again. She felt at home with him buried deep inside of her.
Their next orgasm came nearly as quickly as the last one. She feared she’d never get enough of this man. She might not. But she was going to enjoy every single second she was with him. Something like this didn’t happen often. When it did, you grasped it tight and didn’t let go.
Chapter Twelve
Brackish felt as if he was walking on air as he and Erin hiked the path back to his truck. This definitely had been the best date he’d ever had, hands down. He’d gotten this spectacular woman all to himself for the entire day, and the lovemaking had been better than he’d imagined — and he’d imagined it a lot.
He checked his phone as they moved down the trail and Erin looked at him, her brows raised. He smiled, leaned down and kissed her lips, loving the flush in her cheeks. He wanted to repeat this day over and over again. It reminded him of that Rascal Flatts song, making him want to rewind the day.
“Why in the world do you keep checking your phone when we’re out here in nature? I’m sure there’s nothing on there as good as what we’re seeing in front of us,” Erin said with a laugh.
“I’m just checking the trail cams when we pass them,” he told her. “Here’s another one.” He turned his phone so she could see.
She stopped as she looked at his phone, the two of them clearly showing on the screen. The smile she’d been wearing evaporated as she gazed at his phone.
“Why are there cameras?” she asked, her tone unreadable. He felt as if she was upset but he couldn’t figure out why.
“I installed them so we’d be alerted if anyone came our way while we were out here. I don’t like surprises as much as you do,” he told her with a chuckle.
“There are multiple cameras in these woods that you installed?” she said, all of the color draining from her face.
“Yes,” he said slowly. “Why are you upset about that?” He was perplexed.
She handed his phone back and then the color returned to her face, but it wasn’t from happiness. She looked furious. He had no idea what was happening.
“You filmed us having sex?” she growled. “What the hell? I thought you were an honorable man,” she finished, her eyes filling.
He held up his hands. “What? No!” he practically shouted. “There were no cameras at the lake. I’d never film that,” he tried to assure her as he reached out. She stepped away from him, not allowing him to touch her. “I swear, Erin, there were no cameras there. Take my phone and look.”
“I don’t believe you. You could have them saved somewhere else,” she told him.
“It’s not like that at all,” Brackish told her.
“I don’t want to be anywhere near you right now. Obviously you aren’t the man I thought you were,” she said and started running up ahead of him.
It took him a few seconds to realize what was happening. Then he was on her tail fast. They’d just had the best date of his life, then the best sex of his life, and now it was all turning upside down. How in the hell had that happened? He’d never understand women, or how they operated. They made absolutely zero sense half of the time, and the other half he just went along for the ride. Men didn’t come to irrational conclusions like women did. He was smart enough not to tell her that, though.
“Erin, please don’t run, this trail is dangerous, I don’t want you to get hurt. There’s so much deadfall, these branches can be tricky, please just walk,” he said, quickly catching up to her.
“Go to hell,” she said as she jumped over a fallen tree and picked up her speed.
Brackish was about to grab her arm and stop her, knowing she was going to be ticked, but caring more about her safety than her temper at the moment. But he was too late. With a cry, Erin tripped over the next branch and went flying into the brush, slipping past Brackish as she landed hard, then let out a scream of pain.
“Erin!” he called out. His stomach turned as he saw blood on her leg. “Where does it hurt?” He dropped to his knees as tears streamed down her cheeks.
“Don’t touch me,” she said on a sob as she grabbed her leg.
Brackish had been on many missions in his career, and he’d seen his share of blood and gore — even being the tech guy. But he hadn’t been prepared to see the woman he cared about with a torn branch punctured through her upper leg. He might actually get sick for the first time in his life from the sight of blood.
“You’re going to be okay, Erin. I’m not going to lie, though, this is going to hurt like hell.” She reached for the branch and he grabbed her hand. “You can’t take the branch out. I don’t like the position it’s in, it’s far too close to your femoral artery.”
“Let’s just pull it out so I can get out of here,” she said, her tears stopping a
s her stubbornness took over. She was trying to stay mad at him, but it wasn’t as easy when she was in pain. He knew how she felt. There had been times in his life he’d wanted to hold a grudge, but couldn’t. Pain had a tendency to take over all other emotion.
“Erin, you have to listen to me. I’ve served many years in the military. I know wounds,” he told her. “You can be mad at me all you want, but let’s do it when your life isn’t in danger.”
“My life isn’t in danger from a little branch,” she said. But much to his relief she’d moved her hand away and was no longer trying to remove the branch.
“Let’s just be overly cautious,” he said. “I’m going to have to carry you the rest of the way out of here.”
She shook her head. “No way, no how. I’m going to walk,” she said, her lips clamping shut at the end of her words.
“Erin, we don’t have time to argue about this. You can be ticked at me later.” He was done talking. He lifted her up and began walking. She let out a huff and slammed her fists into his chest. Once she realized it was useless she crossed her arms over her chest and stared out in front of her, refusing to hold on to his neck and refusing to look at him.
The weight of her in his arms was nothing at all, and he moved swiftly and carefully through the trail, knowing the route well, since he’d memorized it a few days earlier. He’d only been looking at his phone to make sure the devices had been working properly, and because, hell, he loved technology. He was sure as hell wishing he hadn’t been doing that now.
He reached the truck and while holding her, laid her seat all of the way back, then gently set her inside. He pulled out the blanket in the back of the truck and rolled it, then carefully placed it beneath her knee to keep her leg elevated.
“The closest hospital is thirty miles. I’ll get us there in about twenty minutes,” he assured her before rushing around to the driver’s side of the vehicle and starting it up. She looked out the side window the entire drive, refusing to talk to him. He knew she had to be in pain, but she was a champ, not crying out even when he hit a pothole that had to have hurt like hell.
He let out a sigh of relief as he pulled up to the emergency department of the hospital, rushing from the truck and going to her side.
“You don’t need to carry me again. I can use a wheelchair,” she told him as he reached inside for her.
“This’ll be faster,” he said, not only loving to carry her, but not wanting to leave her alone while he went inside and got a wheelchair. She didn’t try to argue; she knew it wasn’t going to do her any good. It wasn’t easy for an independent woman like Erin to have to accept help from anyone, especially someone she thought had betrayed her. He’d change her mind when she wasn’t hurting. He hadn’t filmed her.
He moved inside the lobby of the hospital, and straight to the counter. “We need a doctor fast. She has a tree branch lodged in her leg,” Brackish said. The woman behind the counter stood, then moved quickly.
“Follow me,” she said.
“Shouldn’t I get a wheelchair?” Erin asked.
“I’m fine,” Brackish told the nurse, who nodded and swiped her card at the doors leading to the ER area. He rushed behind her, not wanting to put Erin in a wheelchair. He had no doubt she wouldn’t let him come back if he was to set her down on the other side of the doors. This way he was already inside, and he didn’t think she’d make a scene and make him leave.
The nurse took them to one of the ER rooms and Brackish laid her down on the crisp white sheets on the hospital bed. “I’m going to get the doctor and I’ll be right back to take your stats,” she said.
The nurse left and Brackish moved back into the corner of the room. He didn’t want to be asked to leave, so he was going to stay out of sight of Erin and the staff. If she forgot he was there, he had a better chance of sticking this through with her.
“Thank you for getting me here so fast,” Erin said after about fifteen seconds of silence. Hiding in the corner hadn’t worked. If he’d been Smoke it would’ve. That man knew how to disappear.
“You shouldn’t expect anything less than that,” he told her. “I swear I didn’t record us.”
“I don’t want to talk about that right now. I don’t even want to think about it,” she said.
The nurse returned and began taking vitals, then hooked up an IV. Brackish didn’t like how pale Erin was. She was losing a lot of blood. Where in the hell was the doctor? As if on cue, he stepped inside.
“I’m Dr. Bowers, and I hear we have a branch in a leg,” he said as he moved inside the room and straight to the bed while the nurse hung a bag and hooked it inside the IV in Erin’s arm. “Yep, that’s a big branch,” he said. “You did the right thing leaving it in place.” He poked around the tender area of Erin’s leg, and she winced. He looked at the monitor and then at Erin. “We need to get an X-ray stat and prep the OR — this’ll have to be surgically removed.”
Dr. Bowers looked at the nurse and said in a low voice, “I need you to get her typed and crossed, also get two units of O negative blood transfused ASAP — I don’t like her color, and her blood pressure is dropping. Did you already draw the STAT labs?” The nurse nodded in the affirmative. It was clear she already knew the drill.
“Are you sure?” Erin asked, looking over at Brackish as if she was frightened.
“Believe it or not, we see a lot of incidents like this one. I’ll have the nurse get you prepped and ready for surgery. We’ll get this out of your leg right away and then you’ll be back to normal and up walking in no time at all,” he told her, patting her hand.
“You’ll be okay, Erin,” Brackish said when Dr. Bowers stepped outside the room, probably to get ready for an emergency surgery.
“Yes, Erin, Dr. Bowers is the best there is,” the nurse said.
“You can go now, Steve. I’m in good hands,” Erin said to him. She was saying the words, but her eyes were filled with panic.
“I’m not going anywhere,” he told her, folding his hands across his chest with a determined expression. “Besides, I’m your ride home.”
“She won’t be leaving today. He’ll want to watch for blood infections,” the nurse said.
“I’ll be fine. I want to go home and sleep in my own bed,” Erin said, now turning her attention to the nurse. “You can just pull this thing out and then I can be on my way.”
“I don’t see that happening, but ultimately that’s up to the doctor,” the nurse said. At least Erin’s anger was now focused on the nurse and not Brackish. He could be happy for small miracles.
“Are we ready to go?” Dr. Bowers asked as he stepped back into the room. “We need to get her into the OR now. I want to get this out of you,” he said, first talking to the nurse and then to Erin.
“Yes, we’re ready.”
Brackish moved to Erin’s bedside and grabbed her hand, squeezing her fingers. “I’ll be waiting in the lobby for you to finish. I’m not going anywhere,” he told her. She didn’t say anything, but her eyes filled with tears. Brackish felt helpless when they wheeled Erin away, out of the room and toward the OR.
The next two hours were hell on Brackish’s life. He wore a hole in the floor as he paced back and forth waiting and waiting to get some good news about Erin. He knew it hadn’t looked like much of an injury, but he was also aware that the slightest thing could cause unexpected results.
Brackish didn’t take a full breath until he saw Dr. Bowers walk through the OR doors and look across the people until their eyes met. He was wearing a smile. It was all over and it was fine. Brackish waited for the doctor to tell him how it had gone.
Brackish met the doctor halfway. “You can take a deep breath,” Dr. Bowers said as Brackish stood before him with his lips clamped together. “The surgery went really well. She did lose a lot of blood, but we replaced it. Her leg is going to be sore for a couple of weeks, but she can put some weight on it starting tomorrow if she uses a crutch. If she’s careful there won’t be any infections. You
did everything right and got her here quickly. Great job.”
“I haven’t been that scared in a while. Thank you for what you did,” Brackish said.
“There’s no thanks needed, I’m just doing my job. There’s nothing I like more than a satisfactory ending,” Dr. Bowers said. “She’s one lucky woman, a few millimeters to the left and she would’ve severed her femoral artery. I’m glad that didn’t happen as she could’ve lost her leg in the least, but that didn’t happen so don’t get that panicked look in your eyes again.”
Brackish let out a chuckle. “I might need to chill a bit,” he admitted, and held out his hand. “My mother taught me manners, so thank you again,” Brackish finished. The doctor laughed and shook his hand.
“You have a good mom. Now, I don’t want her leaving tonight, but you’re more than welcome to stay with her. That might make her more comfortable,” Dr. Bowers told him.