“Come here,” he said.
Once again on autopilot, Kimber stepped forward, close enough that when she came near the shower doors, he reached out and took her hand. The cold water on her wrist snapped her out of her trance. Dario dropped his hard member, which bounced forward, and turned the knob on the wall. Steam filled the space between them. Kimber took another step closer until her toes hit the ledge.
“Scared?” Dario taunted her.
In full bravado, Kimber shook her head. Her thumbs hooked the waistband of her pants and with the aid of her feet she stepped out of them. Not waiting another second, Dario pulled Kimber into the tiny space. Water dampened her shirt within seconds.
“Where were we?” Dario asked without waiting for an answer. His hands reached for the bun at the top of her head and took it down while his mouth reunited them.
Kimber mewed, hating the material between them. As if he understood her thoughts, Dario lifted the hem over her head, leaving the two of them naked together. His erection pressed against her belly. Kimber’s hands ran over his shoulders, arms, chest and member. She stroked his length, gripping and pulling, rolling her thumb over the slick helmet head. Droplets of precum mixed with the water of the shower. Dario moaned. He knelt down before her, kissing and suckling her breasts. Thick moisture formed between her legs. She throbbed for him. Satiating part of her need, Dario spread her legs apart, hooking one over his shoulder. A long blunt finger pressed inside her. Kimber gave a little cry. How long had it been? A year? Dario spread her lips apart with his fingers, rolling her bud between his thumb and forefinger. Within seconds the sensation of an orgasm gripped her body. She held her breath.
“Let it out,” he coaxed.
Kimber leaned against the shower wall. Her hands gripped the metal bar as the first wave come over her. Dario moved her leg off his shoulder to his waist. Water pooled between their bodies when he stood and slipped himself inside her. Kimber tried to balance herself on one toe, but their heights didn’t match. Knowing the difference, Dario picked her up by her behind. His fingers took a firm hold of her flesh. The protective hard grip excited her. She came again while he pulled halfway out and plunged back in.
Kimber hugged her body against his and let him bounce her up and down. His legs bent enough to support her weight. Under the showerhead he kissed her once more, tasting her tongue and suckling on her bottom lip. Kimber tilted her head and offered her neck, and he obliged before moving on to her breasts. The water stopped abruptly and before Kimber understood what was going on, Dario carried her to his bed.
Both of them soaking wet, she climbed into the cushion of the four-poster bed. Kimber propped herself up on her elbows, cocking one leg up, her head to the side while he fumbled with what she figured was protection from the side drawer. Without the steam or distance, she got a better look at him and decided she might need to scoot back.
Dario shook his head with a lazy grin. “Nah, don’t run from me now.” He caught her by the ankle and brought her to the edge of the bed.
Penetrated to the hilt, Kimber moved one foot to his chest. He clasped both legs and held them straight against his chest. Kimber’s breasts jiggled before he reached down to hold both together with his fingers. His thumbs rotated between her nipples. Kimber’s body quivered with the threat of another orgasm. How was this even possible? She tried to hold back but couldn’t. Her inner walls clamped down on his driving cock. Back arched, Kimber gripped the messy sheets. Her eyes fluttered with each satisfied wave.
Dario took both her calves and held them wide open. He thrust forward and grunted with each one, faster and deeper. Still in a haze, Kimber watched his body in overdrive. Eyes closed, his lips moved like he was reading a book for a moment before his mouth dropped open, frozen almost. His whole body stopped moving. Kimber tightened her walls once more and when she did, his whole body shook. Even through the condom she felt the force of his orgasm shooting out of him. Once spent, Dario kissed her all the way up her thighs, stomach and breasts to her face.
“That was...” He was lost for words.
“Amazing,” Kimber supplied for him. He collapsed onto the bed and she turned to her side, facing him. Her hands couldn’t help but caress his jaw. Dario closed his eyes and smiled. Amazing how such a rugged, handsome man looked so innocent while pretending to sleep. At least, she hoped he was pretending.
“Dario?”
Dario wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her as close as possible. The sheets were soaked. Their bodies half-dried. “I’m not ’sleep.”
“Dario,” she whispered. “I’m sorry I left the way I did last year.”
“Sshh,” he said. “I told you. That’s in the past. We can’t change who said and did what. What’s important is that we’re here now.”
Kimber bit her bottom lip. “Well, about being here now. I need to get to the hospital.”
“We’re going to be there on time, Kimber,” he said with his eyes still closed.
“No, I promised Vin I’d meet him before the letter writing starts. He has something important to tell me about the tiaras. I think he’s going to confess to being the maker.”
Dario’s arm tightened around her waist. His face sank into the crumpled comforter. “Well hell, this we gotta hear.”
* * *
“Miss Kimber!”
After signing in at the desk upstairs with Nicolette, Kimber heard her name being called. A small, frail girl in a wheelchair was being pushed off the elevator. Kimber’s heart sank and soared at the same time. Christiana, the petite blond being pushed by a young volunteer, raised the hand not attached to the IV pole hooked to her wheelchair. She’d been in and out of the hospital since Kimber started volunteering there.
Setting the flower-shaped pen down on the counter, Kimber rushed over to the precocious thirteen-year-old. “Christiana, I’m both glad and not glad to see you.”
“Aw you know me and this lymphoma can’t stop this love-hate relationship.”
Kimber knelt by Christiana’s side. She was close to Philly’s age and should be spending her afternoons chatting with friends, playing video games and maybe going crazy over the latest kid line of Ravens Cosmetics. “It’s back?”
“Just for the holidays,” Christiana laughed. “I believe I heard you were holding a beauty pageant here and you know we had to be here for a front row seat.”
“How about a front row seat as one of the special guest judges?” Kimber asked her.
Excitement lit up Christiana’s alabaster face. “For real?”
“Sure,” said Kimber. “You’ll get a special nametag and everything.”
Within the limitations of the IV, Christiana reached up and gave Kimber a hug. Over her shoulder, Kimber spied Vin coming through the doors down the hall. He wore a white lab coat over a pair of brown plaid pants.
“Are you going to do some letter writing to Santa today?” Kimber asked Christiana as she pulled back from the hug. The expected straight face looked back. “I’m guessing you’re going to help organize.”
“Correct,” said Christiana. “I’m babysitting.”
Vin came up behind Christiana and the volunteer with a deep laugh. “Don’t be too hard on them today, Miss Christiana.”
The young girl’s cheeks turned a bright red. “I won’t, Dr. Vin.”
It was cute the way Vin—Marvin—evoked such a sweet response. She remembered Vin blushing during the outfit of choice portion of the beauty pageants he’d accompanied her to back in the day.
“Somebody has a crush,” Kimber said once the girls were out of earshot.
A stethoscope hung around the doctor’s neck. Vin shoved his hands into his pocket. “Oh please,” he chided. “You would know a thing or two about crushes, since everyone around you had one.”
“Apparently I don’t know as much as I thought I did,” Kimber mumbled. “How are you d
oing today, Vin?”
“I’m a lot better now,” said Vin.
A warm relaxed feeling came over Kimber. She felt better, as well. Every bone in her body was left satiated. Her skin still buzzed with the sweet memory of Dario’s lips. Then Vin’s sweaty palms were against her forehead. His hand gripped her elbow and led her to the wall just to prop her up. Kimber wondered if she’d blacked out for a moment. Dario had been in the waiting room coloring with one of the kids and was already charging toward them.
“I’m fine,” she said quickly, stepping out of Vin’s concerned hold. “Really.”
Dario stepped between Vin and her. His large hands caressed her shoulders. “You okay?”
“Perhaps you haven’t eaten today?” Vin suggested. “My colleague’s office is right this way and I know he keeps some crackers. I can take her from here.”
Vin held his hand out for Kimber but Dario wrapped an arm around her, not heeding a thing Vin said. Tucking his hand back into his pocket, Vin led them just a few feet down the squeaky-clean corridor. A camera followed them. For a moment Kimber thought it seemed odd to have such high-tech equipment but realized this was the children’s ward. Their safety mattered.
No wonder she had to sign in each time, Kimber thought, leaning on Dario. “You guys, I’m totally fine. I think I just got a little heated. It is warm in here, right?”
“A little,” Dario agreed.
Using a white passkey clipped to the pocket near his nametag, Vin opened the office with Dr. Ross’s name card outside and ushered them in. A flat black leather couch stood against the wall under half a dozen academic degrees, all framed in black wood. A large desk with mounds of paperwork and folders stood in the center and white lab coats hung from a rack behind the door.
“Let me take your temperature,” said Vin. He pulled out a thermometer for her to place under her tongue while he pressed his wrist against her forehead. All the while Dario sat beside Kimber.
“He’s a legit doctor,” Kimber mumbled.
“I can take you downstairs to see my degrees if you like,” Vin said. “Now tell me, nod yes or no. I know everyone over at the Reyes house has the chicken pox. Have you been around them?”
“Not long enough,” Dario answered. “She was there, what? Five minutes before she and Lexi noticed the spots?”
The thermometer pinged. Vin examined the numbers. “No fever.”
“I’m telling you I just got a little winded,” Kimber tried to explain.
“Were you doing something to cause you to lose your breath today?” Vin asked her.
Kimber glanced up at Dario before she cleared her throat. “If cleaning counts.”
“You need to be careful around the fumes from chemicals, okay?”
Nodding, Kimber sat back on the couch. “I feel so silly. Did anyone notice?”
“No,” both men chorused.
“Thank God.” She breathed a sigh of relief. “How about that drink?”
Vin moved across the room to the brown fridge by the closed door. “Crap, he doesn’t have anything in here. Could you grab her something from down the hall?” Vin reached into his front pocket and extracted a dollar bill. “It’s on me.”
Dario snorted at the money. He hesitated a moment before coming to his feet. “I will be right back.”
“Your new guard dog is well trained,” Vin said in a teasing lower voice since Dario had left the door ajar.
“Now, now,” Kimber scolded with a smiling tsk, “that’s not nice. Dario is just concerned, just like you.”
Grabbing a stool from beside the couch, Vin wheeled it to sit in front of her. “Yes, but I went to school for this.”
“And who’s doing it for free?” she quipped right back at him in defense of Dario.
“Okay fine,” the doctor sighed. “I’m not going to pick on your Neanderthal.”
“Vin,” Kimber warned. “Why don’t you tell me what you know about the tiaras? Have you been following my blogs?”
“Nicolette,” he answered with a shrug. “We were talking about the last time you were here with the kids and the pageant you held for the patients.”
It still seemed odd that Vin was around last year but hadn’t wanted his presence to be known. “And?”
“Well, I did overhear about the problems you were having with that company about price gouging at the last minute so I...” Vin’s pregnant pause brought Kimber to the edge of the couch with anticipation. She wasn’t sure why waiting for this revelation didn’t make her as thrilled as expected. Kimber swore she heard the tick of the second hand on his watch. The gold face stood out against the darkness of his deep brown skin.
“What is it, Vin?”
“I didn’t want to say anything earlier because I didn’t want to make a big deal of it,” he said. “I never wanted to tell anyone, I just wanted to make your day better. I’m the designer you’re looking for. I didn’t realize you would ever research it for your article.”
And then some, Kimber thought. “Why didn’t you say anything last year?”
“I was already avoiding you,” said Vin. “Remember?”
The journalist in her started thinking of questions, but they’d have to wait. Someone knocked on the half-opened door. Vin came to his feet when one of the nurses poked her head inside.
“Sorry to interrupt, Dr. Vin,” she said. “There is an issue that needs your attention.”
Vin offered Kimber an apologetic smile. “Duty calls.”
“Sure.” Kimber came to her feet with the help of Vin’s forearm. “We can talk later about the tiaras.”
The two of them separated at the door. Kimber followed the sound of laughter down the hall. She found a group of kids, boys and girls, spread out at a half dozen tables. Crayons, paper and childproof scissors sat in silver pails, serving as centerpieces. Christiana rolled by the tables, helping the children with their letters. Some of the other pageant squad had arrived in Kimber’s short absence. The only person missing was Dario.
Kimber’s heart swelled with excitement just thinking his name. She studied the group of kids with her hand over her mouth. Her thumb traced her bottom lip. Something circular pressed against her back. She figured Dario had returned with her drink. Kimber, happy to see him, spun around. But it wasn’t him.
“Philip?”
A camera, dangling from a neck strap, scraped against Kimber’s elbow. She reached up and wrapped her arms around his shoulders for a hug. In this cooler weather, Philip had chosen to wear a thin, dark blue shirt and a pair of khaki cargo pants. “I didn’t expect to see you so soon,” she said.
“I thought I’d come by and take a few pictures of what goes on before the pageant’s bright lights,” he said. “I got this idea to put a booklet together for the contestants. It’d be nice to show my players there’s more to life than being in the NFL or a rapper. I just saw your uncle at the theater. He might come and speak to the team about building things and business.”
Jaw dropped, Kimber pushed on Philip’s shoulder. “What? That is so cool of you.”
“Well, you know,” Philip crooned. “I gotta inspire kids somehow.”
“You certainly inspire me,” said Kimber. She leaned against the wall, positioning herself to be the first person Dario saw when he came back. What was taking so long with the drink?
Philip returned the slight push on her arm. “Maybe this time around, I’ll inspire you again.”
Kimber shook her head. “I’m sorry, what do you mean?”
“I mean, you know, last year.” Philip pressed his hand against the spot on the wall above her head.
“Why do I feel like I’m missing something?”
After a look around and over his shoulder, Philip leaned closer. “The tiaras,” he whispered close.
A thud hit the pit of her stomach. “What tiaras?”
“The ones that showed up last year. I know you’re trying to find out who designed them and I wanted to clear up any confusion. I was here last year right after you exposed that pageant for fraud. Even after five years of not seeing you, I was still in my feelings about how you ended things with me. We were the it couple and you ended things cold. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to see you right away, but I did want to do something nice for you.”
“Oh, I already know,” Kimber said with a relieved smile. It was comforting to know that Philip and Vin remained friends over the years. Vin must have gone to Philip for help. They’d probably laughed over hiding from her last year. “Vin told me.”
“Vin?” Philip pulled his head back. “Who is Vin?”
“Marvin,” Kimber said, stopping short of adding a duh at the end. “We were just talking about it.”
“I don’t know what the hell is going on,” snapped Philip, “but he didn’t leave the tiaras behind. I did. I made them in the shop at school.”
Confused, Kimber shook her head. A fog began to form. What was going on here? First she spent a year wondering who created them and now she had two people confessing within the same hour? “I don’t understand.”
“My cousin Auggie said you were asking about them,” Philip explained, “on, like, a video blog or something. He knows I like to play around with power tools and asked me about them.”
Kimber recalled talking about them to the front desk clerk, but had no idea Auggie followed her column for the blog or that he would uncover this. The plot thickened—which was good considering she spied Vin coming through the door of the stairwell. “Vin, do you mind coming here for a moment?”
Smoothing down his tie, Vin approached the two of them. His smile broadened at the sight of Philip and raised his hand to shake. “Damn, Philip Grieco, how long has it been?”
“Not long enough,” said Philip. “What’s the deal, man?”
Vin smoothed his hand down his stethoscope. “With what?”
“Someone enlighten me as to what’s going on?” Dario demanded, coming up behind Kimber. He handed her a bottled water then stood with his left shoulder in front of her.
Christmas with the Billionaire ; A Tiara for Christmas Page 26