by KB Winters
“You done?” he asked with that damn smirk that made my knees weak.
I crossed my arms and notched up my chin. “For now, I guess.”
“Good. I’m sorry.”
That deflated my anger in a heartbeat. “You’re sorry?”
“Yep. You’re right. Though I didn’t lie. That’s the truth, just not all of it.”
“Duh.” I rolled my eyes and took a few more steps inside his hospital room. “You sure you don’t want me to get a nurse in here to look at that mark on your neck? It’s turning a few different colors.”
I knew it was just bruising from that guy trying to strangle him, but damn, it didn’t look good. My fingertips touched the discolored skin, and he gasped, grabbing my hand in his.
“You could nurse me back to health, Ivy. And this is the perfect opportunity for you to get your hands on me.”
The amount of charm oozing out of Shae should have been illegal but I was a greedy little fiend and wanted it. “I could, but what would I get out of it?”
“A damn good time,” he growled and pulled me until I was sprawled across his chest. “You doubt it?”
I opened my mouth to contradict him simply because verbally sparring with Shae was so much fun, but his lips crashed down on mine before I could do anything other than open up to accept the fire that was his kiss.
By the intense hunger in every swipe of his mouth, I would have never known he’d been attacked by two thugs. But I’d seen it myself. He kissed me like we had all the time in the world to explore the sparks arcing between our lips, to stoke the fire burning deep inside of me. But we didn’t. We were in a hospital. Filled with sick people. And Shae was hurt.
Those thoughts brought me up short. “As nice as that was, and it was, we’re not exactly in the right place for this.”
One of his eyebrows arched and a seductive smile spread across his face. “Lock the door.”
“What? These doors don’t lock.”
His words sank in, and I shook my head. I was as adventurous as the next girl. Okay, maybe not the next girl, but I enjoyed a healthy—but safe—dose of adventure in my life. “You don’t mean … you can’t.”
“I do, and I can. Lock the door. Just close it and push that chair up under the handle.”
Oh. Fuck. My mind raced to catch up with what he was saying, what was happening and how my body was responding, but all the while my legs carried me to the chair. I pulled it across the floor and wedged the back of it under the door handle. What. The. Fuck?
“Good girl. Come here.” It was not a request; it was an order.
I turned to face Shae, using the chair to hold up my wobbly legs, and smiled. “No.”
“Why not?”
I didn’t want to tell him my knees were so weak I was afraid I’d fall flat on my face. “Why don’t you come to me?”
He grinned. “Because the bed is right here, and this is where I want you.”
Was it weird that all I heard was I want you? I knew what was happening, even as I tried to fight my desire for Shae. It built every time we saw each other, and right now if there was a machine that measured chemistry and desire, it would ring loud enough to wake the whole city.
“Is that so?”
“It is.” He grinned, his voice low and playfully seductive.
“What do you want to do to me over there?”
He licked his lips and raked a hand through his thick waves. “First I want to strip every inch of clothing off you so I can see how pink your nipples are. I want to see how you look when you’re wet and aching for me. Then I’m going to taste your sweet pussy. Is it sweet, Ivy?”
“How would I know?”
“Come here.” His gaze was determined, his voice low and dark.
I went to him and stopped beside the bed, gasping when he slid his hand across my stomach. His thumb slicked across the strip of skin exposed by my t-shirt, and I sucked in another breath. “Shae.”
“You’re so fuckin’ lovely, Ivy.” His words were sweet as he yanked open my button and pulled on the zipper of my jeans, slipping his fingers inside the band of my panties and over my hair until his middle finger touched my pussy lips and, “Oh, God!” came out of me in low, stunned tones.
“Not God, sweetheart, just Shae.”
He was so arrogant, but with his hands down my pants he had every reason to be with the way he made me pant and moan and thrust against him. It was just the tip of his middle finger moving back and forth and then in circles against my clit, but I was breathless, my skin sweaty as I hurtled toward an orgasm. “You’re close,” he growled and stopped.
“What the hell?” I protested.
Shae chuckled and stood until we were chest to chest, and then he knelt down in front of me, tugging my jeans and panties to the floor before he pushed me onto his hospital bed.
“I just want to feel how wet you are for me. So wet I can’t wait to slide my cock into you, Ivy. But I will.”
He stood, towering over me as he removed every piece of clothing I had on and stared at me. And stared. And stared some more. “Carnation pink nipples, pale and dusky. Lickable.”
His words were like a moan when he leaned over and pulled one nipple and then the other, into his mouth. The fear that we could be caught any second, and the feel of him was intoxicating.
“Shae.” His name was a prayer on my lips as his lips, his teeth and his tongue tortured my nipples and breasts, pulling me right up to the finish line without letting me go over.
“Pale skin dotted with freckles. So pretty.”
He kissed his way down my ribcage, my belly, just below my navel. “More strawberry than blonde.” His fingers tangled in the neat trim that covered my pussy as his breath fanned over my slick lips. “Raspberry pink.”
Then his lips closed around me, and I was lost in a sea of electricity and arousal, each one only fanning the other into greater intensity. He licked and sucked, flicked over and over until I wrapped my legs around him, bucked up into his mouth. “Oh fuck, Shae. Yes! Oh, yes.”
He growled against me, a low purr as one finger slid deep, and I flew apart like fragile glass shattered by a sledgehammer. It was how battered I felt as I came down from that orgasm, but still my body craved more.
“Damn, Ivy.”
I sat up, thankful I was on the bed because my legs were rubber. I reached for Shae, yanking down the gym pants he wore until his cock sprang free.
“Damn, Shae.”
He was big. Bigger than I was used to anyway, at least eight maybe nine inches, and so thick my mouth watered thinking about getting a taste of him.
“Ivy,” he groaned when I wrapped my hand around him and began slow strokes across his hard, smooth cock.
“Fuck, Ivy!” Shae growled. His hips bucked when my mouth closed around him.
“Oh fuck!” His hips wouldn’t stop moving, invading my throat in a way that should have offended me, but he tasted good, and the weight of him felt so damn nice on my tongue. That salty bead that dripped down the back of my throat had my thighs growing sticky.
“Ivy!”
I released him with a pop and smile. “Yes, Shae?”
“You dirty girl, I love to hear you say my name like that.” He stroked his cock as his gaze bounced from my eyes to the wetness between my thighs.
“You suck a mean cock and I aim to fill your pretty little mouth with come but right now, I need to be inside that tight slick cunt of yours.”
“Yes, Shae.” His gaze darkened as the blunt head of his cock pushed through my folds and just inside of me. He growled and froze.
“So fucking hot.”
“You too,” I told him and raked my nails down his chest as my heels took up residence on the firmest ass cheeks I’d ever had the pleasure of touching. “I need more, Shae. More of you.” To bring the point home, I dug my heels into his ass and sent him surging forward, deep inside me. “Yes!” I moaned.
From that moment on, things got crazy between me and Shae, right
there in his hospital room, and I couldn’t find it in me to give a fuck. His thick cock filled me deliciously, and I reached between us to stroke his balls because I loved the way his jaws clenched as he tried to fight for control.
“Fuck, Ivy,” he cried, in pain or in ecstasy was hard to tell.
I smiled and tightened my pussy around him until he groaned again. Hearing that sound from this man, knowing I was the cause of it was so arousing, I felt myself growing even wetter around him. Slick and pulsing, I was close and then he collapsed on top of me, taking a nipple in his mouth while at the same time changing the angle so he could pump deeper. Harder. Faster. He touched me all over, his mouth and hands, his cock. His balls.
“Shae!” roared out of me. My body shook with an impending earthquake as he pounded into me, sucked me, caressed me all over. “Shae!” I screamed again.
He reared back, a dark look marring his handsome face, and he pushed my legs wide, gripping them tight while he fucked me hard and fast. Skin smacking against skin until we were damp and out of breath, both of us shouting our pleasure into the hospital room.
“Holy shit, woman!” He grinned and winked at me, even as his body still shook with orgasm. Even as he filled me with his come.
My body wouldn’t stop shaking, and Shae’s hands wouldn’t stop roaming, brushing over the skin of my belly, his palms barely skimming my rock hard nipples. I was a ball of sensation and Shae was taking full advantage. At least two orgasms passed through me before I came back down to earth, his mouth making love to my neck.
“Did I die? Am I in heaven?”
“Nope, but you’re damn good for my ego.”
I rolled my eyes. “Now I know for sure you don’t need your ego stroked. That giant cock maybe, but definitely not your ego.”
He laughed and pushed his hips forward one final time, sending another bolt of lightning through my body.
“I don’t need it,” he said and I laughed.
“But you want it?”
Shae nodded, and a satisfied sigh lit up his face.
“Fine Shae, you were amazing. You have a nice cock and you know how to use it. I can’t remember the last time I came so hard.”
“You came so hard you nearly snapped my cock in half. Kudos.”
Was I really having this conversation with a guy right after sex? “Thanks … I think.”
“Anytime, sweetheart.”
He winked and pulled away until we were two separate people again.
“Say the word, and I’ll let you attempt to break my cock any day of the week.”
“Thanks but—”
His look instantly turned dark. “But what? You don’t fuck criminals?”
“Are you a criminal?”
He glared and I bit back a smile.
“I was going to say thanks, but I don’t really do casual sex. This was out of character for me because there’s something about you I can’t resist, but if we keep this up then I’ll start to care about you and then it’ll turn into a whole thing so … yeah.”
Shae laughed. “Sorry, was that supposed to be a coherent fucking thought?”
“Yes,” I scoffed.
“Try again.”
“I don’t fuck criminals,” I said indignantly, standing to grab my clothes from the chair beside the bed as Shae’s laughter sounded behind me.
“Never said I was one, babe. Come back here.”
I didn’t want to because I felt like he was mocking me. “No.”
“I’m serious, Ivy. I don’t do serious relationships, but I like you. Come see me later?”
Damn this man and the magnetic pull he seemed to have on me. “I’ll see what I can do.”
“I’ll be waiting, Ivy.” Shae’s deep voice sent another sharp knife of desire slithering own my spine before it settled between my thighs. I couldn’t turn to face him, not after what we just did together. In his hospital room!
Instead, as soon as my clothes were mostly straight and I’d tamed my sex hair, I walked out of the room and into the bright fluorescent lights of the hospital. My very own walk of shame.
What the fuck was I thinking? I don’t even know this guy. Who the fuck am I anymore?
And instead of making a right and heading toward the bank of elevators like I should have, I went left. Back to Ian’s room. He wouldn’t like it, that much I knew, but since I’d decided to give him his space, I figured one more check tonight would make me feel less obligated to show up tomorrow.
I stood outside his door and listened for sounds of Ian being happy with his friends, but there was silence. I took a deep, cleansing breath and knocked as I opened the door.
“Before you yell at me, I’m only here because I decided I’m not coming to see you tomorrow.”
Ian and his doctor frowned at me, and I realized I’d interrupted their healthcare powwow. “Sorry.” Jeez, I couldn’t get a damn thing right lately.
“No, it’s okay Ivy. You might as well stay.”
Well that was the most reluctant invitation I’d ever heard, and it made my heart burn with humiliation and just a little bit of anger.
“Don’t be ridiculous. I’ll just wait until you two are done.”
Hand on the big silver door handle, I yanked it open and stepped outside before anyone could stop me, not that they would.
I wondered how life went on for the people inside these walls. How did the nurses cope with the never ending parade of sick, injured and dying patients, growing close to them only to say goodbye? And the people stuck in the endless loop of pain, in limbo as they waited to find out if the doctor would have good news or bad news. There was a mother at the end of the hall, trying to look strong as she held her little girl in her arms, and I wondered if it was her husband or child stuck in that hospital room.
As I sat there, waiting for Ian and the doctor to finish up, I felt a strange sensation. Like someone was watching me, but that was crazy. But I felt it, along with sadness for the other families on this floor. When I thought about it, I realized the feeling started just as I left Shae’s room, but my blood had still been warm then from the pleasure he’d given me that I hadn’t paid attention.
“Or I’m just being dramatic.” I mumbled to myself. It was highly likely that my changing relationship with Ian, the uncharacteristic encounter with Shae and the stress of the past couple days had me a little bit on edge.
“No such thing as dramatic when it comes to loved ones,” Dr. Mannheim said kindly, pulling me out of my spiral of thoughts.
I looked up at him with a grateful smile. “Yeah, thanks for that, Doc.” I raised myself out of my chair and looked him deep in his gray eyes and waited for him to say something. Anything. But he didn’t. I covered the awkward moment with, “Well, enjoy the rest of your day, Dr. Mannheim.”
He gave a kind smile and a wave before shuffling off to his next patient. I opened the door and went inside. To face my brother.
“Everything okay?” Ian asked.
I nodded. “I’m fine, Ian. Like I said, I just wanted to stop by to see if you were okay for tomorrow?”
I stood at the foot of his bed, nervous like I’d been called to the principal’s office, but that was how off-kilter I felt. Like I didn’t know him anymore, this man who didn’t really want me around.
“Yeah, I’ll be fine.” Ian blew out a breath and scrubbed a hand over his face. “Doc says I can go home tomorrow.”
I felt a surge of elation. “Tomorrow? I thought you were going to be in here for weeks.”
“Me too, but the healing is ahead of schedule and no problems.”
Then I had rush of uncertainty. “That’s great. Do you need me to pick up crutches or anything?”
“All taken care of Ivy.”
I got the message. He didn’t need me. “Okay, good. Then I’ll get out of here before your friends arrive. Enjoy yourself, Ian.”
“I will. And thanks. For listening.”
I flashed a smile as fake as it was bright and nodded. “Don’t t
hank me for that. I’ll uhm, see you later then.”
The sooner I got away from this damn hospital and the men inside, the sooner I’d feel normal again. I would go home and reset, practice giving Ian his space and not worrying about him.
“Ivy, wait!” I turned at the door, a death grip on the handle as I waited for him to tell me something else I was doing wrong all these years.
“What is it, Ian?”
He blew out a breath. “I’m sorry if I hurt your feelings.”
I wasn’t sure I heard him right. “Don’t worry about it. You have a right to your life the way you want it. That’s all I ever wanted for you.”
“I know,” he sighed. “I just feel you pulling back already.”
“That’s what you wanted, dude. I’m giving you exactly what you wanted.” Again, remained unspoken between us.
His shoulders deflated, but he nodded, blond hair still magazine cover perfect despite a two-day stay in the hospital. “I know, but it feels … different.”
“This is what it feels like to not have an overprotective sister hovering over you. Get used to it.”
He smiled and opened his mouth, to let out a smart-ass comment I was sure, but we were interrupted by a giant smashing the door right into my shoulder. “Hey man, ready to have some fun without your—oh hey, Ivy.”
Without your sister ruining our fun?
“Right. See you around, baby bro.”
He called my name as I practically ran down the hall, ignoring the stinging sensation in my shoulder in my hurry to get the hell out of there. My eyes stung with unshed tears that I absolutely refused to let fall, at least until I was alone, but still I felt the burn of someone’s gaze on me.
I froze at the elevator doors and looked around, but I didn’t see anyone I recognized and chalked it up to the collective grief of the post-surgical unit. That had to be it because my life was nowhere interesting enough to warrant a secret admirer. Unless it was Shae. And I didn’t think he’d be watching me.
Chapter Ten
Shae
The feel of Ivy’s soft lips still lingered even though she’d been gone for a while now. Damn that woman was something else. She kissed like an angel dropped straight down from heaven. But more than that, there was an honesty about her, a naiveté that called to me, which was pretty goddamn rare. First, because I didn’t think there was such a thing as an honest woman anymore, and second, because I didn’t let myself care about women outside the Connelly family.