Rolling her eyes, Polly sighed and sat in my chair. “No one is saying anything derogatory about your girl. She’s a doll. Had that daughter of hers mighty young, but things happen. Jammie speaks highly of her. Why haven’t you tossed her over your shoulder and dragged her off to your den?”
“I don’t have a den, Polly.”
“You know what I mean.”
“I’ve been swamped, you know that, and when I do get a minute and head over to Jammie’s to talk to her, she’s either locked in her massage room with a client or she’s off the clock.” I stood up and started pacing. “It’s making me crazy.”
“I noticed. We all have. Don’t worry, though. I’ve been telling all your patients that you’re fighting a migraine, so they’ll forgive your jackassery.”
“Are you serious?”
“Yep.”
I closed my eyes and slapped a hand to my forehead, motioning her out of my office with the other. “Go. I’m done with this conversation. I’m getting back to work now.”
“You better. I will not have this clinic fall apart on account of your raging pheromones.” With that, she sauntered out of my office and didn’t look back.
I resumed seeing my scheduled patients, starting with little Bradley George in exam room two, who threw up on his mom’s shoes while I prescribed an electrolyte drink to keep him from dehydrating. In exam room three, I saw Tavion James, an older boy who had a little brother in elementary school. He stank like diarrhea and vomit, not unlike my other patients. After Tavion, I examined three more kids before I was caught up and able to disappear back into my office for a breather.
I settled into my desk chair with my head in my hands and closed my eyes. Immediately, memories of Fern’s magic touches—like tonic for the soul—flooded my thoughts. When I heard her soft voice coming from the front desk, my first assumption was that I was hallucinating. I sat up straight and heard it again. A sweet, gentle sound with a hint of a southern drawl, it was definitely hers and definitely not a hallucination. I stood up so fast, my chair toppled over, and I hurried out of my office and down the hall to the reception desk.
There she was, my Fern, holding a basket of cinnamon rolls. She was trying to offer them to Polly as she nervously glanced back at the door like she couldn’t wait to make a run for it. “I don’t want to disturb him, really.”
Polly laughed. “Too late.”
Fern glanced over her shoulder. As I came toward her, her lips parted on a little gasp and the basket fell from her hands onto the edge of Polly’s desk where it teetered for a moment before Polly caught it at the last second—just before the rolls went flying. “Um…”
I grabbed her upper arm and dragged her after me, down the hall and into my office. I had so much to say to her, but all of a sudden, my words left me and I couldn’t think of a single one. I was too caught up in her deliciously sweet scent of wild honey and the silky feel of her skin as I held her arm.
“I don’t… I think… I just came…” She kept starting and stopping sentences, but went silent when I pulled her through the doorway and kicked the door shut behind us.
Spinning her around, I pressed my body against hers pushing her against the closed door. Staring down at her, I watched as her pretty lips parted, before lowering my mouth to hers and gently nipping at her bottom lip. I sucked it, nibbled it, tasted it. She moaned as my tongue delved into her mouth and rolled over hers. My world had been off-kilter since I’d met her, but it was instantly righted by that first, delicious kiss.
Capturing her face between my hands, I devoured her like a desperate man. Two days had felt like two years, and my body yearned for hers as though she was the oxygen I needed to breathe.
She tasted like honey, and I stroked my tongue again over her sweet lips. I knew I’d never get enough of her. I would always want more. Fern wrapped her arms around my neck, pulling me closer and giving me the green light. While I explored her mouth, my hands ran over her hair and down her back. Her soft curves drove me wild. Her breathing hitched as I palmed her plump ass cheeks, giving them a little squeeze. Perfection. Her rounded backside was utter perfection. I lifted her so I could feel the heat between her thighs press up against my erection. I wanted to feel her, but I also wanted her to know what she did to me.
Fern’s legs locked around my hips. Her hands locked in my hair, her fingers threading and tugging. Fierce kisses, her tongue stroking mine, her teeth nipping. She let out a husky little moan when she felt my erection press harder against her.
The world melted away. Nothing mattered but us—my mate and me. I didn’t care where we were, who was in the building with us, I just needed to give and derive pleasure. Holding her tightly against me, I turned us to my desk and used my other arm to sweep it clear, scattering the contents on the floor. Still holding her with one arm, I sat her on the desk, and with my other arm, I reached over my head to drag my shirt up and off. I kissed and nibbled her throat while her hands stroked over my chest.
She mumbled something against my mouth. I slipped my hands under the hem of her shirt to her waist, electrified by her soft, warm, bare flesh beneath, when she said it again, louder.
“Wait.”
10
Fern
The last thing I wanted to do was to tell Harrison to stop. And he was now officially Harrison, versus Dr. Daniels, because the title “Dr.” was reserved for those physicians who hadn’t gotten to second base with me on top of their desks.
Harrison froze with his hands around my ribcage, just under my breasts. When I let go of his hair and lightly drew his wrists away, he dropped his hands and took a step back.
I had to say something. My mouth was too busy wanting to call him back or curse myself for stopping him. Without a doubt, I wanted him. He clearly wanted me as well. There was nothing wrong with two consenting adults going at it like animals in his office at the clinic during business hours. I mean, the door was closed. Yet…
“I didn’t… I hadn’t meant for this to happen.” I cleared my throat and tugged the hem of my shirt down to cover my exposed midsection. “I only came to apologize. With cinnamon rolls. Homemade.”
When he looked up at me skeptically, I cracked.
“Okay, I didn’t make them. Susie did. I bought them from the Bayfront Diner. I don’t know why I wanted you to think I made them.” I tucked my hair behind my ear and wondered where my ponytail holder had disappeared to. “Well, that’s a lie. I do know why. It’s because you’re so hot and so put-together and, for whatever reason, I act like such a hot mess around you.”
“I like it.” His voice was thick, husky, and his eyes were so black that I couldn’t make out any of the brown in his irises. “I like everything about you.”
“Bless you. That’s sweet of you to say.” I found my ponytail holder. It was on my wrist, so I quickly swept my hair into a bun. “I came to apologize for my unprofessional behavior during your massage. I really don’t know what came over me, manhandling you that way. I’ve never done anything like that before. With anyone. I’ll be 31 soon. Isn’t that way too young for menopause? Yet I’ve been having hot flashes and I can’t stop these feelings of extreme arousal. My hormones seem crazy. Could I be headed into early menopause? I don’t know.”
“It’s not menopause.”
“At any rate, I’m sorry. That’s what I came to say. Although, I think we’re even now since you kind of manhandled me back just now.”
“Sorry.” Judging by the tone of his voice, he wasn’t sorry in the least. Not about manhandling me. The expression on his face said that the only thing he was sorry for was that he’d stopped.
“I liked it.” I covered my face with my hands and groaned. “A lot. I didn’t want to stop you.”
He stepped closer again, he wasn’t wearing a shirt and I was practically drooling at the firm musculature of his chest. The very large bulge in his jeans pressed against me. “I didn’t want to stop, either. You did nothing to apologize for during that massage except ru
n out of there. I wasn’t attempting to make you stop, I was attempting to bring you closer. You know I’m a shifter, Fern. I have sharper-than-human senses. For instance, I can smell things that you can’t. Like how aroused you are.”
My eyes felt like they’d pop out of my head when his fingertips trailed up my inner thigh and close to my still very wet, very needy pussy. “What?”
“I can scent your—”
“No. Do not repeat that. Please. I’ll die from embarrassment.” I waved my hands for him to stop, then flattened them on his chest, meaning to shove him away. His chest, though, was so solid, so strong, so hot. Instead, my fingers glided over his pectorals, feeling their contours. “I should go. You have patients.”
“Polly cleared out the clinic as soon as I dragged you back here. We’re alone, honey.”
I swooned at the way his deep voice sounded when he said honey. “How do you know?”
He grinned, tapped his ear, and stole another kiss. “Still a shifter. I have lots of talents. I’m willing to give you a taste of a few of them right now.”
I licked my lips and started to nod. “No! Wait. I didn’t mean to nod. I can’t. I can’t have sex with you in your office. On your desk. I can’t taste your talents. No matter how amazing that sounds.”
Growling, Harrison held my hips, pulling me more snugly against him. “Okay.”
I couldn’t help but laugh when he didn’t move away from me or step back. “This—this kind of thing is exactly how Kinsley happened.”
More growls. “I don’t want to hear about that. Not right now. Or ever. Whoever that asshole is better hope I never cross paths with him.”
I wrinkled my nose but otherwise ignored his macho-man thing. I assumed he was merely attempting to make me feel special and unique by acting like he wanted to protect me or look out for me or something. “I just mean, this isn’t me. I don’t do this kind of thing—meet a man and then have sex with him. I don’t do hookups. I made that mistake once, and I ended up pregnant with Kinsley. Not that she’s a mistake. Unplanned, yes—mistake, no. I’m grateful for her. Most days. I am. Really. I just… After that, I haven’t… I’m just not comfortable.”
“It’s not like that with me.”
I found myself laughing again, fully enjoying how much he seemed to be into me. It was flattering. “I think I actually really like you. You were so good with Kinsley, even when she was being her difficult teenage self. You’re attractive and kind. You have your life together, and everyone I know on this island seems to have made it a point to tell me what a stand-up guy you are. If you want to go out on a date with me, I’d do that.”
He stopped and tilted his head to one side. “Did you just ask me out on a date?”
I blushed. “I know it’s a little awkward, what with your boner pressing against my stomach and you smelling my…ugh…arousal…and all. But I don’t sleep around. At all. No exceptions. I could date, though.”
“I’d love a date with you.”
I nodded, excited and a little shy all of a sudden. “Yeah? Cool.”
He easily lifted me off of his desk and put me on my feet on the ground. “I’ll pick you up tonight.”
I found my body instantly aching to be pressed up against him again. “Oh shoot! Not tonight. I’m busy tonight. Kinsley bit me again last night and I grounded her. If I don’t stay at the house to keep an eye on her, she’ll leave.”
He curled his lip. “She bit you?”
I waved it off. “It’s fine. It was just a nip. She’s grounded until next weekend. We could go out then.”
“Maybe the three of us could hang out at your place tonight. Do you cook?”
I winced. “Not well.”
“I’ll cook, then. I’ll come over and cook for you two, and I’ll have a few words with your little wolf about keeping her teeth to herself.” He looked over my hand and arms until he spotted the bruise on my forearm. “I could always bite her back for you.”
I scowled at him, not realizing he was teasing until he winked and broke into a grin. Sighing, I swayed closer to him. “I’m taking care of it.”
“Tell me your address.”
“I’m still not sure this is a good idea. I can’t seem to control myself around you.” I found myself again pressed flush against him, of my own doing this time.
“Tell me where you live or I’ll have to go into Polly’s filing system to find out for myself. She won’t be happy. Please do not inflict that woman’s wrath upon me.” He leaned down and kissed me softly, tenderly. “Tell me.”
“Magnolia Street. We live on Magnolia Street. You can’t miss us. We’re the house with the harried and frazzled human mother and the sullen and angry wolf child.”
He kissed me again, his hands sliding to grip my ass and squeeze it before he held me away. “Now, go. Get out of here. It’s killing me to let you walk away from me right now. You should go while you still can.”
Heaven help me, I believed him. With a smile as wide as the Atlantic on my face, I hurried out of his office, only stopping to glance back at him once. He was sexy as sin, standing in the middle of his office, his torso bare, his chest rising and falling with each quick breath. His eyes narrowed lustily. He growled and leaned forward as though poised to give chase. I squeaked, raced out the clinic door, and ran back to the salon, giggling euphorically the whole way.
11
Harrison
As soon as she saw me haul Fern off to my office, Polly had canceled all afternoon appointments and closed the clinic for the rest of the day. I went home and took an ice-cold shower then headed over to Fern’s place. I was early for our date. Several hours early. She probably hadn’t meant for me to come over right after work, but I was eager to see her again—for our date. I snorted a sharp laugh as I turned down Magnolia Street. A mate date. I’d never heard of mates dating before—they didn’t need to. The outcome was inevitable. Forever bonded with the person who was your other half, the person who made you whole. But if Fern wanted a date, a date she would get—and as many as she fancied. I’d do whatever I had to win her over.
It was easy to tell which house was hers by the aroma of wild honey that surrounded it. The little cottage was smack dab in the middle of Magnolia. It faced the water, but the houses on the next street over, Shipwreck Way, blocked it from having a view that would raise its market value substantially. I parked my motorcycle in front of her house and groaned as the scent of sweet honey grew so strong, it entirely ruined the libido-dampening effects of the cold shower I’d taken.
A handful of neighborhood kids were hanging around playing kickball in the street and ran over as soon as they recognized me. I knew each of them by name, and their mothers, a few of whom followed their children and also headed toward me.
“Look at his Harley!” Darius Hendricks elbowed Jacob Conner before looking up at me with near hero worship in his eyes. “I want a ride, Dr. Daniels!”
I glanced at Fern’s place and noticed the front door was opening. Instead of Fern emerging, Kinsley slipped out. Her eyes narrowed to slits when she saw me. Marching straight over to the little group that was forming around me, she dug her fists into her hips and glared at me.
“What are you doing here?”
“Can we ride it?”
“Yeah, can we?” Jacob ran his hand over the front fender and groaned. “Man, I can’t wait until I’m old enough to own one of these bad boys.”
“If you don’t scram, you’re never going to be old enough. Get the hell out of my yard.” Kinsley turned her back to the kids and crossed her arms.
Darius’s mom had reached the group just in time to hear Kinsley. Scowling, she put a hand on her son’s shoulder. “Young lady, you best watch your tongue.”
Kinsley was less than intimidated. “You can get out of my yard, too.”
I cleared my throat. “Kinsley—”
Susan Bell approached with a disapproving glare at Kinsley. “Where is your mother? It’s about time someone had a talk with her
about your behavior. The whole neighborhood is tired of your attitude and your acting out.” Susan glanced up at me and shook her head, like we were going to agree. “I don’t know where these two came from, Dr. Daniels, but this neighborhood has gone downhill since they moved in.”
“Come down off the high horse, you old hag. This neighborhood was a shithole before we moved in and it’s still a shithole.” Kinsley bared her teeth at Susan, and I watched Susan’s fists ball up at her sides.
Stepping in, I took Kinsley’s shoulders, spun her, and nudged her back toward her house. “Inside. Please. I know for a fact that you’re already grounded. It’s probably not the best idea to make it worse.”
She started to growl, but, with my back to the group, I bared my own teeth at her. My threat was effective. She stomped off toward the house and slammed the door closed behind her.
“Good grief. That girl…” Susan fanned herself and turned to a few of the other neighborhood moms, exchanging sounds of outrage and disgust with them.
I folded my arms across my chest and turned a glare at them. “I’ve got a date to get on with. If you ladies will excuse me.”
Susan’s face turned red. “With Fern?”
As if on cue, the door behind me opened again and without turning to look, I sensed Fern moving toward me. A magnetic pull was compelling me to get closer to her. When she came to a stop beside me, she looked up at me with her big, emerald eyes. “What did she do this time?”
I wrapped my arm around her shoulders and pulled her closer. God, I’d missed her. It had only been a few hours, but the way my heart leaped with excitement at the sight of her made it seem like we hadn’t seen each other for weeks. She was beautiful. Half of her hair was up in rollers, a faded bathrobe was tied at her waist, and one of her eyes was perfectly made up—only one. Her lips were bare and beckoned me to kiss the frown right off them.
“She called me an old hag after threatening Jacob and sassing Shanice.” Susan’s whiny voice interrupted the kiss I was about to plant on Fern and I wasn’t too thrilled about it.
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