by Emerson Rose
I climb the stairs and walk down the hall to Lennon’s bedroom. I can hear the television and the shower running when I enter. He must be doing better if he got himself up and into the shower.
His clothes are in a pile on the floor next to his bed. I pick them up and place them in the hamper in his massive closet. When I come out, he’s still in the bathroom. I make myself useful and straighten up his bed, fluff the pillows, and open the drapes. I step back and appraise my work. Much better.
The shower stops, and I go to the bathroom door and knock softly. “Lennon, it’s Trinity. I didn’t want to startle you when you came out.”
“Can you give me a hand?” he asks, and I freeze. You’re a nurse, Trinity, go in and help your patient. It doesn’t have to be anything more than that.
“Sure, are you decent?” I put my hand on the doorknob and wait.
“No, that’s the issue. The floor is wet, and I can’t crutch my ass to the towel rack.”
Oh boy. I take a deep breath and push open the door with my eyes on my feet. “Where are the towels?” I ask.
“Trinity.”
“Yes?”
“Look at me.”
“I’ll get you a towel if you just tell me where they are.”
“If you look up, you’ll see them.”
“If I look up, I’ll see you naked.”
“Would that be so bad?”
No, I’m sure it wouldn’t be bad at all, but it would be unethical. “I uh…”
“Is this about the professional relationship thing? Because if it is, you’re officially fired, again.”
Before I saw Kelly on the beach last night, I would have turned and walked out of this bathroom. Now I’m no longer his nurse, and I know that the Kelly thing wasn’t actually a thing. Why can’t I do this? Nothing’s holding me back.
I slowly raise my gaze. My heart is pounding in my rib cage when I lay eyes on his glorious body, crutches and all. Every muscle is perfectly lean and toned. His thick cock stands at attention, making me blush, and his eyes are black with desire.
A stack of towels sits on the bench right next to him. He sees me eyeing it.
“You never would have come in unless you thought I needed help.”
“You don’t need help? From here, it looks like you do,” I say surprising myself with such a seductive and sassy answer.
He smiles and crooks his finger at me. I cross the bathroom and stand in front of him. “Is Fiona gone?”
I nod.
“Callahan?”
“Doing laundry.”
“Good.” He sits on the bench and slides his hands up my bare thighs under my dress to cup my ass. “You’re a naughty nurse wearing a thong under your dress to work, aren’t you?”
I did it on purpose just in case things went in this direction. I thought we would talk about Kelly first, but I don’t want to ruin the moment.
I nod and place my hands on his muscular shoulders. He pulls me against him and squeezes my ass on a moan. “God, I’ve wanted to do this since the moment I saw you in my hospital room when I thought I’d died and gone to heaven.” His face is pressed against my abdomen, making his words vibrate through my body.
“Did you really think I was an angel?”
He looks up at me. “Absolutely. I was convinced of it for days. I’m still not sure you’re real.”
“I’m real.”
“Thank God.” He lifts my dress until he can’t reach any further. I take over and slip it over my head and toss it on the wet floor next to us. “Let me look at you,” he growls, holding me at arm’s length. I’m naked but for my thong and flat sandals, the dress doesn’t allow for a bra.
“If I had to imagine what an angel looks like, she would look exactly like you. You’re stunning, Trinity. I didn’t think I could want you more, but I do.”
I place my hand on the side of his head. “I don’t mean to be a downer, but are you sure? How is your head today?”
“Which one? Because this one…” He pulls me between his legs so that I can feel his length. “This one is desperate for this.” He slides his hand up to my apex and traces my soaking wet seam on the outside of my panties with his finger. I gasp and forget whatever I was talking about.
He slides my panties down over my hips, and I slip my feet out of my sandals when they fall at my feet. “Tell me what you want, Angel. I want to hear you ask.”
I open my mouth, and with no inhibitions, I tell him exactly in detail what I want. “I want you to kiss me here,” I put my hand on top of his. “And then, I want to ride you on this bench until we both come. If you’re still up for more after that, I want to go into your bedroom, lock the door, and make love to you again.”
“Oh, baby, that sounds like an excellent plan. In the drawer behind you is a box of condoms, unless…”
“I’m on the pill, and I haven’t dated anyone for longer than I care to admit.”
“I have no idea who I’ve been with. Amnesia,” he says, pointing at his head, and I laugh.
“I’ll grab a condom,” I say and turn to open the drawer.
“I didn’t think the view could get any better. I was wrong.”
I look at him over my shoulder and smirk. “You haven’t seen anything yet.”
“My God, I had no idea you could be such a bad girl. I love it.”
I return and tear open the foil packet with my teeth. “It’s always the quiet ones,” I say as I stroke his shaft and slide the condom on. He closes his eyes and moans at my touch.
“Come here.” He swings his good leg over the soft, narrow bench so that he is straddling it and guides me to do the same. I stand in front of him as his hands glide over my hips, stopping to squeeze the curve below my waist.
“You’ll tell me if you don’t feel right?” I ask, still worried about his injury.
“Angel, I feel fine. Anyway, I can’t think of a better way to go than making love to you in my bathroom on this bench right here.” His hands continue to explore my belly, my breasts, and back down to my ass again.
“That’s not funny.”
“It wasn’t meant to be. I’m serious.”
“Well, I don’t want anything to happen to you. I’d like to make this a frequent habit, and if you leave me after one glorious experience, I’ll kick your dead ass.”
His eyes close, and he pulls me against his body sliding me down until I can feel the tip of his cock against my core. “Let’s start that habit now, Angel,” he whispers. I sink onto him and grip his shoulders as his heat stretches and fills me. I grip his shoulders and stare into his eyes while we revel in the connection of our bodies. Being one with Lennon is unlike any experience with a man I’ve had before. It’s not the sex, it’s the emotion in his eyes, the gentle way he touches and guides my body, and the way his breath hitches every time I move.
I move my hands from his shoulders to the sides of his face. My eyes flit between his mouth and the rim of his familiar cloud-blue eyes. I love those eyes. They remind me of a time when I would lie on the grass and look up at the sky on a perfectly clear summer day.
“What are you thinking?” he whispers.
“How is it possible to have so many feelings for a person I hardly know,” I say without a thought. It isn’t so much romantic as it is true. Some would say it is lust, but it’s more than that. It is more like destiny or serendipity.
“I’d say we’re getting to know each other now,” he says, dipping his head to kiss my neck. “Sometimes love happens like fireworks.” He kisses my collarbone sending a shiver down my spine. “Other times, it slides in like a wave on the shore.” His mouth moves to my shoulder where he gently nips my smooth skin with his teeth. “And then there’s the love that sneaks in disguised as compassion or concern or loyalty.” My head is tipped back, giving him as much access as he needs, but when he stops talking, I look back into his eyes.
“Are you saying…” I ask, uncomfortable with the next part of the sentence.
“Yes, I�
�m saying I’m falling in love with you, and it’s happened in every way I just described. Fireworks, waves, and in disguise. That’s how I know it’s real.”
I’m stunned. I expected sex, passion, and lust, not love. I can’t argue with him, though. What we have is different. Oh, there’s lust, absolutely, but there are deep and intense emotions too. If this is love, I’m in big trouble.
He squeezes my hips encouraging me to move. I stand sliding to his tip, feeling the loss of his heat within me. Breathless, I pause when he pushes me back down hard on a loud moan. He thrusts his hips upward filling me even more if that’s possible. He wraps his arms around me and holds me so tight I can’t breathe. He releases me and begins to move me up and down his thick cock until my thigh muscles burn with the effort.
His hands and mouth are everywhere lifting my hair to kiss and lick my neck, sliding his fingers between our undulating bodies to circle my clit. I’m dizzy, and every molecule in my body feels like it’s on fire as sweat drips down the center of my back into my crack. I claw at his shoulders, feeling my orgasm build into what will be a Mount Saint Helens-size explosion.
“Next time I’ll take my time with you, but right now, I can’t,” he says, digging his fingers into my flesh. “I’m going to come,” he pants, and I nod. He picks up the pace swelling within me, and I start to clench around him. My head falls back, and I cry out for several more thrusts until he roars with satisfaction pulsing and molding his body around mine.
We collapse back onto the bench, and I slide my hand under his head without thinking. My head is pressed against his chest, and I can feel his heart pounding in my ear. “I knew it would be good, but…”
I lift my head to look at him. “But what?”
“Good pales in comparison. That was mind-blowing, life-altering, and intense.”
I lay my head back down on his shoulder. Out of nowhere, I’m exhausted, and all I want is to crawl into Lennon’s bed naked and curl up next to him. “It was all of that and more,” I agree, but I don’t expand. It may have been mind-blowing, but it’s also new, and we’ve already started throwing around the word ‘love.’ I need to guard my heart if only a little bit.
“Angel?”
“Mmm?”
“Are you okay?”
“Yes, why?”
“I was concerned I may have scared you off.”
He’s perceptive, I’ll give him that. “It was intense like you said. I’m fine.”
He strokes my hair, smoothing the stray pieces that are sticking to my cheek away. “So, me falling in love with you doesn’t have you rattled?”
I sit up with him still semi-hard inside of me. His hands go to my thighs, and he strokes his thumbs back and forth nervously. “Not rattled, surprised.”
“Why? I’ve been telling you how much you mean to me since I came out of that damn coma.”
“I don’t know, maybe surprised isn’t the best word. I’m excited, but I’m also guarded. I don’t want to get hurt.”
Understanding floods his face. “I’ll never hurt you, I promise.”
I take a deep breath in and let it out slowly. I hate promises. Somehow, they always seem to get broken.
17
Lennon
An entire day in bed with a beautiful woman. At this moment, I don’t care if I ever get my memories back. I’m perfectly happy to make new ones with my angel.
“Hey,” she murmurs, rolling over to face me. I push a strand of her hair out of her face and sigh.
“Hey, yourself.”
She smiles her little half-smile that says come on now, don’t mess around.
“Do you want to go downstairs and look at the photo albums now? Callahan has them all spread out on the dining room table organized in chronological order.”
“Downstairs. That’s a long way from this bed.”
“Not that far. Come on, don’t you want to see if they trigger more memories?”
“Sure, but later. I want to ask you something first.”
“Yeah? What’s that?” she props up on her arm.
“Why the sudden change?”
“What do you mean?”
She knows what I mean. I woke up from a coma and fell for her at first sight. She’s stood firm with her ethical and professional excuses ever since.
“What happened to your ethics and the issues with Kelly? You made it pretty clear when you left last night that you were done with me.”
She chews on her bottom lip, looking sheepish.
“First of all, you fired me as your nurse. I’m here today as a friend helping a friend.
That solved the ethical and professional issues I had.
“All right, what about the things with Kelly, then?”
“When I went home last night, I decided to go to a bonfire that I was invited to next door. While I was there, I learned a few things about Kelly.”
“At a bonfire?”
“Yes, she was there.”
“Oh, really?”
“Yes, and she was with someone, drinking and not looking one bit pregnant in her skimpy bikini.”
“I see.”
She stares at me waiting for more of a reaction. Problem is, I don’t have much more. It’s what I have been suspecting all along. Now we have proof, and I can call off my investigator.
“That’s it? ‘I see?’ Don’t you have anything else to say?”
“Nope. Oh, wait, yes, I do. Thank you. You saved me a large chunk of money that I was going to spend on a private investigator.”
“You hired a private investigator?”
“Yes. Jace is looking into the video to confirm that it’s a fake, and I hired a PI to look into the pregnancy.”
“I would keep your PI, you know, just in case the pregnancy is something recent.”
I pull her into my side and revel in the warmth of her naked body against mine. “I might just do that if only to give you peace of mind. Would that help?”
“Yes, actually, it would. I mean, if we’re going to keep seeing one another, that is.”
I frown and kiss the top of her head. “Consider it done. And listen, Trinity, nothing is going to keep me from you. Not amnesia, not a fake fiancée, not a baby, not a job, nothing.” Her small, one-sided smile is less than confident. I am going to take that as a challenge. From this day forward, I am going to make it my primary goal to make Trinity, aka, my angel, feel safe and secure in our relationship.
“There’s one more thing,” she says softly, looking down at the sliver of mattress between us.
“Okay, let’s have it.”
“I have a video of them. Bodhi, he’s my neighbor who invited me to the bonfire, his girlfriend, Star, says that the guy Kelly’s hanging around with is bad news. She says he’s into a lot of dangerous things, and he’s manipulative. It’s possible that he’s been pulling the strings on this whole story trying to make some money.”
“Did you get his name?”
“BJ, I didn’t think to ask what it stood for.”
“That’s all right, I’m sure we can figure it out. I’ll have my PI look into him. Did Kelly look okay? You don’t think he’s hurting her, do you?” I don’t know why I care, but something is nagging at me from a dark corner of my mind. Trinity looks surprised and a little shocked. “What?”
She shakes her head slowly back and forth. “I don’t know how you can have any kind of compassion for that woman, after all she’s done.”
I shrug. “I must have cared for her at some point since we dated for a few years. I wouldn’t wish trouble on anyone, even her.”
Two little lines appear between her eyes, and she looks away. “Does that bother you?” I ask, guiding her gaze back to mine with my finger on her chin.
“It shouldn’t. It shows what a good man you are, but…”
“But you don’t like it.”
She lets out a defeated sigh. “No, I don’t. Does that make me a bad person?”
“No, just a jealous one, and I happen to like th
at.”
“You do? I thought men hated jealous women.”
“Men hate needy women, and you are far from needy, Angel.”
“Hmmm, I think I’ll take that as a compliment.”
“Good, because that’s how I meant it.” I pull her in and kiss the tip of her nose. “Now, how about I call Callahan and have him bring up some of those albums?”
She hesitates, and I raise my eyebrows in question. “Have you ever thought about hiring someone younger to help Callahan out? I mean, he’s getting up there in age, and I feel like some of the things he’s responsible for are going to get more and more difficult for him.”
“I hadn’t thought about that, but now that you mention it, it’s probably a good idea. Are you concerned about him carrying the photo albums upstairs?”
“Yes, I think that’s why he put them in the dining room.”
She might be right. Callahan has been with me for so long, I never thought about him aging out of the job. He will always have a home here with me, working or not. He’s family.
“I’m not sure how he’s going to take having someone else around.”
She sits up, pulling the sheet with her to cover her breasts. “How about I talk to him? I might be able to cushion the blow a bit, make it sound like it’s for his benefit, which it is.”
“Go for it. I’d be more than happy to delegate that job to you.”
She’s thinking again. What now? “I see the gears turning in your mind.”
She smiles. “Well, I was thinking maybe if you had a smaller home it would be more manageable for Callahan, and you wouldn’t have to hire someone new.”
I wrinkle my forehead in a deep frown. “You don’t like my home?”
She tilts her head to the side and makes a face that says she doesn’t want to hurt my feelings. “You don’t, do you?”
“I don’t dislike it…”
“But you don’t like it, either.”
“It’s just not my taste, but it’s yours, and that’s great. I’m not trying to uproot your life. I just thought it might help to have less space for Callahan to take care of, and since it’s just you who’s living here in this big, dark old house…” She shrugs. “I don’t know.”