by Anya Summers
“Dammit, eight,” he growled through clenched teeth, praying he wouldn’t pass out from the pain.
Grace moved his arm again. “And this?”
“Six.”
By the time she had finished checking his arm and shoulder joint, he was sweating.
“Well, everything looks like it’s on target for healing. Let’s go take a look at the shoulder and ribs on X-ray, and then we will be done for today.”
Once in the X-ray lab, she had him lie supine on the table. It galled him that he needed her help to lie down. She took X-rays of both his shoulder and ribs before helping him back up into a sitting position.
“The ribs are looking good. Still some bruising but they are recovering nicely. That doesn’t mean you can treat them poorly, but they should heal up in another week or two. I would say you should be past the worst of it on the ribs. However, the shoulder is lagging a bit. At least it’s firmly in its socket, so there is that positive note. But you still have a ton of swelling and pain. It’s not unusual but it’s not what I want to be seeing a week from now.”
“And that means what?”
“It could be that it’s just taking your body longer to heal. You did have multiple injuries, and your body is working overtime to heal them. It could be that the spill you took last weekend jarred the shoulder enough to keep the inflammation higher than I would like it to be. If it’s all right with you, I’d like to give you a muscle relaxer injection and a steroid injection, to see if that combo helps with the swelling at all.”
“If you think it’s best, I trust you,” he murmured.
“All right, then let’s go back into the exam room. I’ll get you those shots, help you get the sling on, and we should be done for the day.”
Like hell they were done. Emmett vowed he was just getting started as he followed her back down the hall. In the exam room, she left him alone to grab the medicine. And while she was gone, he decided to do something about the wall she had erected between them. By the time he left, there was going to be no doubt in her mind that they had something more than mere doctor and patient relations.
She returned, and her demeanor was all business. But he knew better, knew the exterior calm hid a scorching passion. He barely flinched when she administered the medication—first one shot, then two.
“Those should begin working pretty swiftly. I’m going to write you another script for the ibuprofen, muscle relaxer, and painkiller. Keep taking them for a few more days to relieve the pain and swelling. I think by next Friday, you should be good with just the ibuprofen. If I’m not liking your progress by next Friday, I’m going to recommend you see an orthopedic surgeon.”
He hissed as she fit his shoulder and arm back in the sling, then helped get him into his shirt. Once he was clothed, he rose, more determined than ever. “You never came back to my cabin, Grace.”
“I didn’t think it was a good idea,” she said with a small shake of her head.
Emmett crowded her against the exam table. Christ, what he wouldn’t give for some restraints to tie her to the damn thing. The pulse in her neck fluttered rapidly. “That’s where you’re wrong. Because I can promise you that it will be so good between us, you’ll wonder why you ever tried to deny the attraction. I’ll make sure you climax so many times that you won’t be able to walk the next day.”
She gripped the ledge of the exam table as if it were a lifeline. He took that as a good sign, and boxed her in until he had her right where he wanted her.
“Emmett,” she pleaded.
He cupped her cheek and lowered his face until their mouths were half an inch apart. “Tell me you don’t want me.”
“I don—”
He cut her off and crushed his mouth over hers. She parted her lips on a gasp. Emmett invaded, pouring his need for her into his kiss. He dominated her, his mouth hungry as he slanted his lips more firmly, and delved deep inside, thrusting his tongue to tangle and dance with hers. She tasted so fucking sweet.
It took Grace a moment to respond but then she kissed him back. He growled and changed the angle once more. Hunger and need pumped through his veins. This was no gentle peck. This was claiming. It was Emmett showing her just how exquisite and carnal lovemaking would be between them.
He battered at her defenses until he felt her hands creep up around his neck and her body lean into him, surrendering to the madness—to him. Her hands gripped his hair and dug into his scalp as if she were afraid he would stop. Emmett couldn’t leave her now, couldn’t stop himself if he tried. His uninjured hand went to her skirt, drawing it up her shapely legs.
She tore her mouth from his. “We can’t.”
“Oh yes, we can. I just want to taste you. Feel your sweet pussy clench around my tongue as you cum on my mouth.” He pulled the fabric up to her waist, spied the slip of black silk covering her mound, and bit back a groan. The prim doctor was full of surprises.
“Am I going to find you wet, doc?” He nipped her bottom lip playfully.
“Yes,” she moaned. His dick twitched at her response.
“That should be yes, Sir. But we’ll get to the semantics of Dominance and submission later.” He pulled her panties aside and stroked her bare flesh. She had the prettiest cunt. Then it was his turn to groan as he dipped his fingers between her folds. “Fuck, you’re drenched.”
Shaking her head, with panic in her eyes, she whispered, “We can’t; people will hear us.”
“Hear you, you mean. I don’t mind. Just trust me, Grace, to take care of you. Put your arms around my neck. I want you up on the table, and then I want you to lie back with your thighs spread.” At his demand, she twined her arms around his neck, and they both maneuvered her onto the table. She was displaying classic submissive tendencies, and his blood boiled in excitement. He ignored the twinge of pain from the movement, as greed and desire overrode the rest.
With his foot, he moved the bottom step out to kneel upon. It would put her pretty cunt right at mouth height. Then he withdrew the stirrups. “Give me your feet, babe.”
She lifted one, and he removed the heel and let it drop down to the floor before placing her foot in the stirrup. Then he did the same thing with her right foot. Emmett eased himself down to his knees between her spread thighs and looked at the plump lips of her labia, which were slick with her cream.
With his hand, he parted her folds and flicked his tongue over her nub. Her sweet honey hit his taste buds and he groaned. Emmett explored her pussy, running his tongue through her crease, swishing it around her clit, and teasingly dipping the tip into her sheath before flicking it rapidly against her pearl. He studied Grace’s reaction to every touch and caress, learning her body as he went.
He bit down on her swollen clit.
“Oh god,” she cried, her hips jerking.
“Put your hand over your mouth since I don’t have anything to gag you with,” he commanded.
When Grace slipped her hand over her lips, pleasure swamped him. She might be untrained, but the woman was submissive. And with that in mind, he applied himself to eating her succulent pussy. With tongue and teeth, he sucked and nibbled on her clit, circling the nub, flicking over it. He added his fingers to the mix, inserting two digits in her tight sheath and feeling her clamp down on them.
He growled, fighting back his own desire.
This was about seduction, about making her so hot for him that she craved his touch. Because then, when he finally fucked her and buried his dick hilt deep, her surrender would be that much more powerful.
Emmett thrust his fingers while he teased and nipped at her swollen clit. Grace’s moans were muffled as she rocked her hips, and he cursed his inability to restrain her. But then he withdrew his fingers from her sheath and replaced them with his tongue. Wrapping his arm around her upper thigh, he rubbed her clit with his fingers and thrust his tongue deep. He reveled in her flavor, in the muted moans she emitted, in her scent.
He drove her body up, then lifted his mouth and ordered, “Remo
ve your hand from your mouth. Let me hear your moans, and come for me.”
He vigorously attacked her flesh with tongue, teeth, and fingers, keeping his gaze trained on her face, needing to see how she looked when she climaxed. At the next thrust, her back arched, and her hips bucked.
“Emmett,” she keened.
Her pussy clenched around his thrusting tongue. Her cream flooded his mouth and he lapped at her flesh while she trembled, riding the wave of her climax. She was beautiful when she orgasmed.
Emmett finally lifted his mouth from her cunt. He licked his fingers clean of her juices and used his shirt to mop up his face. That way, he’d be able to smell her on him. He rose carefully. It took him a hell of a lot longer than normal with his injuries.
Then he removed her feet from the stirrups. A dazed expression shrouded her features. And then she glanced his way. Embarrassment filled her eyes. She sat up, wriggling her skirt back into place.
He cupped her chin. “What’s going on, Grace? Talk to me.”
“I can’t believe I did this here. That I allowed you to do this. Emmett, you’re a patient. I’m crossing so many ethical boundaries. And oh god, what if Colt heard me? What if there’s someone else in the waiting room with him, and they heard me?”
“If Colt heard you, it’s no big deal. We’re Doms, all of us who work the ranch. It’s no big deal.”
“No big deal? This is my work. This place was my grandfather’s. I don’t want tongues wagging, to destroy the legacy he left me. I can’t let him down. I already did that once and I won’t do it again. It’s time for you to leave.”
She slid off the exam table, ignoring him as she put her shoes back on and straightened her clothing. Grace acted as if what had just occurred meant nothing. Her taste lingered on his tongue. His cock was straining against his pants, and she dismissed the entire thing.
To hell with that. He hauled her against him.
“Emmett, what in the world?” She squirmed.
“You’re not going to do this: pretend like there’s nothing between us. I won’t allow it.”
Her eyes slid shut. “Emmett, it’s not that, it’s just… never mind, it doesn’t matter.”
“It does to me. One of the tenets between a Dominant and submissive is honesty and communication. You’re lying both to me and yourself, and I want to know why.”
“I’m not a submissive,” Grace denied with a shake of her head.
Leaning down, he said, “Oh yes you are, doc. You followed each of my commands like a seasoned submissive. I only wish I was at full strength so that I could tie you to my bed and fuck you for hours.”
At his words, her gaze widened. “Be that as it may, you’re injured, and I’m not what you think I am.”
“We’ll see about that. Come by my cabin this weekend. I’ll prove it to you once and for all.” He traced his hand over her delicate collarbone, accentuating his dare.
“I have a lot to do. I have to work on my grandpa’s estate.”
“That’s a flimsy excuse and something you can take a night off from, and you know it. When you stop lying to yourself about what you want, you know where to find me.” And he left her standing in the exam room with her hair disheveled and her lips bruised from their erotic interlude. She would cave, the pull was too strong for her to deny it forever. He would have to continue chipping away at her resolve until then.
In the waiting room, Colt pegged him with an irate glare.
“Let’s get out of here,” Emmett said. He had to escape, otherwise he would march back into the exam room, bend Grace over, and tan her hide for lying. Infuriating, stubborn woman.
When they were seated in the cab of his pickup truck, Colt asked, “So, did you fuck her?”
He could practically hear Colt grind his teeth.
“Nope,” Emmett replied, pleased that he could rile his friend. That was what the guy got for poaching on what he considered his.
“You sure as shit did something. I heard her moans. The walls in the place are not sound proof.”
“Well, I decided to have pussy for lunch,” Emmett replied, and shot Colt a triumphant smirk.
“Son of a bitch. She let you do that in her office?”
Emmett would have shrugged but given that one shoulder was out of commission for the time being, instead, he drolly replied, “The doc wants me. And what can I say other than I plan on winning that bet? Tasted like honeyed nectar of the gods, too.” What he didn’t say was that Grace was so much more complicated than a bet. She was fighting her nature, struggling with her grandfather’s death, and there was something else he couldn’t get a read on. But he would, given time. When it came to Grace, he was going to need a boatload of patience.
“Shit. Well, there’s still time left. She might pick me before all is said and done.”
“You can try, but you will fail.”
Emmett knew he was going to have to work on his seduction, dig deeper into her psyche, and uncover the answers to Grace’s resistance. He caught a whiff of her scent and shifted in his seat. The arousal he’d finally gotten under control trumpeted back to life.
9
At the sound of the door closing, Grace raced into the waiting room on unsteady legs and found it empty.
Thank god.
She flipped the lock. She just needed a few minutes undisturbed to collect herself. Her legs resembled melted wax. Her inner thighs were damp from her climax. In all her years, she had never gotten intimate with someone while on the job. It had been a point of pride for her to avoid that, despite working in the emergency room with its hotbed of interpersonal relationships, not just with the other doctors or nurses, but also the EMTs, law enforcement officers, and firefighters who made their way through the sliding glass doors.
Grace headed into the bathroom to clean herself up as best she could. There was nothing quite like standing in your work bathroom with your skirt up around your waist and panties lowered to your knees. She used handfuls of paper towels to wash herself up, then toiled on getting her appearance reassembled into a semblance of order that didn’t scream: I just received the best oral sex ever and came screaming.
Was she submissive like Emmett asserted? Was that why he seemed to know the exact calibration of her body to send her flying?
She took a good long, hard look at herself in the mirror. Blonde hair scraped back from her face, the line of worry between her eyes that she couldn’t erase completely, lips that were still puffy from Emmett’s kisses. She didn’t want to get involved with a cowboy, not after Richard. Cowboys in her experience were lackadaisical when it came to true commitment, preferring to charm any woman out of their panties and give them a ride than be faithful. Grace realized Richard had led her on, making her believe they were heading somewhere important like living together, marriage, and one day kids when, in reality, he enjoyed picking up anything with tits on the Sixteenth Street Mall in Downtown Denver and screwing his way through the female population—in her bed while she was working twelve hour shifts patching up gunshot wounds and accident victims.
So yeah, she was biased against cowboys, but with good reason. Or at least, they had been good reasons until now.
That was why her attraction to Emmett both baffled and terrified her. Did she want Emmett? God, yes. Did she think having any sort of intimate relationship with him was smart? Absolutely not.
In her mind, striking up a relationship with him would lead to pain and heartbreak.
There was no question that the man could arouse her body and have her melting into a large puddle in seconds. Nor could she deny that she was drawn to his intense magnetism in a way she had never experienced with anyone before, not even Richard.
But what did she want from Emmett?
Sex. Lots and lots of dirty, up against the wall, pulse-pounding sex.
And therein lay her problem. Because judging by the small sampling he’d provided, Emmett would deliver in spades, even with his injuries. Her belly fluttered at the thought of him h
ealed and in full command of his stellar physique. All two hundred pounds of erotically charged, dominant alpha having his way with her. If he had pressed when she’d been on the exam table, taken her while she was still riding the high from her oral sex climax, she knew she wouldn’t have been able to deny him. That she would have had sex with him in her grandfather’s practice.
Hell, she didn’t even know if she liked the pigheaded man. Other than the fact he was a Dominant, she knew next to nothing about him. Grace didn’t have sex with men she didn’t know. They might be compatible in the bedroom, with a combustible chemistry that was off the charts, but outside it, his overbearing attitude drove her crazy.
Although… it wasn’t as if he was offering her forever.
Emmett had expressed an interest in sex, in making her his submissive, which Grace figured was like dating but for those in the BDSM lifestyle. Maybe that was what she needed at this juncture in her life: a torrid affair with a sexy as sin man who wanted to do all sorts of naughty acts with her.
Perhaps she was overthinking it and should just take what the man was offering. She wouldn’t be the first physician to meet a significant other or lover through their practice, and certainly not the last. Did it dance around some gray ethics areas? Sure it did. Was it the end of the world? No. As long as she was careful to keep the two worlds separate, as much as possible, it wouldn’t be an issue.
But what had happened in the exam room couldn’t occur again—at least, not at her place of business.
As for the rest, Grace needed time to mull over the possibility of being submissive. She had started researching the lifestyle years ago, had even brought it up while dating Richard, only to be told by him that she was better off walking the straight and narrow. That good girls didn’t let guys tie them up and fuck them.
Then again, Richard’s explanation for why he cheated had been that she was boring in the bedroom. Was it any wonder Grace was a headcase when it came to dating and sex?
After the interaction with Emmett today, she found herself questioning her existence. The ghost of her past relationship was influencing her choices, and not necessarily for the better. If she was submissive, it would explain a lot, like why it had thrilled her when Emmett took command, steamrolled right over her objections and, in a way, removed her choice. Their interlude had ridden an edge of dangerous passion that in turn had made the oral sex that much hotter.