XOXO, Winter

by Bloom, Nikki

  “Reed!” I exclaimed as he started to tickle me. “Stop it!” But instead of listening to my pleas, he just tickled me all the more, targeting those areas of my body that were extra sensitive. “I can’t…breathe…” And still, he continued his assault. I was beginning to see stars, but there was absolutely nothing I could do to stop this madman. My only option was to curl into a fetal position and pray that he’d give up sooner rather than later.

  Just when I thought I was going to pass out, he eased up. “Feel better?”

  “No,” I pouted as I laid my fist into his chest.

  “Ow,” he feigned. “Maybe I can make it up to you with a better sort of tickling.”

  “No. No more tickling!” Again, he was too fast for me to get away. This time, he grabbed me from behind. I tensed, wondering what he was going to do now that I was caught in his clutches.

  To my surprise, he slipped his hand underneath the fabric of my panties, his fingers quick to find my clit. I wasn’t wet exactly, but with a bit of elbow grease on Reed’s part, I was soaked. My panties were becoming saturated with my juices.

  I moaned as his middle finger penetrated inside my hole. He was slow at first, teasing me with the simple motion of it. Then he started to twist it this way and that.

  “Mmm.”

  “Do you like that, baby girl?” he whispered before nibbling on my earlobe.

  His thumb swept against my clit, rubbing it in circles as he added another finger to my soaking wet hole. They curled upwards, aiming to taunt that secret love button that only Reed had ever managed to find. I lifted my hips towards his hands, craving for him to penetrate even deeper. “I want you,” I breathed. “Rock me to sleep.”

  “As you wish, my lady.” The deepness of his voice echoed through my very soul, making me shiver – or was that the oncoming orgasm? I wasn’t sure anymore.

  He pulled his hand free and brought his fingers to his mouth. They glistened with my wetness. He licked them clean. “Delicious,” he cooed. “I could eat you out for an eternity and never tire of that sweet, sweet nectar.”

  “Nothing’s stopping you,” I said as I tried to roll onto his body, but he kept me pinned in place.

  “Yes, there is. You asked me to rock you to sleep and that’s exactly what I am to do.” He hooked his thumbs into my panties. He tugged on them slightly, causing the fabric to wedge itself between my ass cheeks. I wiggled a bit and then suddenly, the panties were ripped right off my body. I yelped slightly at the recoil of elastic, but the pain was only momentary because a second later, Reed was deep inside of me.

  I tugged at the hair at the back of his neck as he pushed himself as deep as he could go.

  He pulled my legs upwards and around his waist. Naturally, my ankles locked together behind his back.

  “I love you,” he whispered against my ear as he slowly started to rock against my hips.

  And it was in that instant that I learned what it really meant to make love with someone. Our bodies moved in perfect sync like we could predict exactly what the other wanted to do before they ever did it.

  I lost count of my orgasms but there was definitely quite a few of them.

  By the time Reed exploded onto my stomach, I was beyond the point of exhaustion. Already, by the time he returned with a warm washcloth, I was drifting into a deep, peaceful slumber where nothing could worry me and everything was perfect.

  “Goodnight, angel,” Reed kissed the top of my head before snuggling up beside me.

  I wanted to say those three magical words, but my drowsiness got the best of me. My lids were glued shut and there was nothing I could do to pry them open.

  29

  Reed

  A few hours later.

  I woke up and saw that it was still early. With patients to treat, I had decided to go to work that morning so long as the police officers returned to keep an eye on her. They had promised they would return shortly after we were discharged from the hospital, but by the time I was done satisfying Winter, they had yet to appear. Typical. You just can’t rely on anyone.

  Were they here now or was I going to make a firmly voiced phone call?

  I pulled back the curtain and checked the driveway. To my surprise, there they were. They shined a flashlight in my direction, blinding me with its brightness. I shielded my face with my arm and stepped back behind the protection of the curtain. From behind the door, I grabbed my bathrobe and tied the sash around my waist before heading out of the room. There were a pair of slippers waiting for me in the mudroom. I threw them on and ventured outside.

  “Sir, what are you doing?” asked the senior officer.

  “I wanted to ask how the investigation is going.”

  “We are not allowed to talk to you about such things.”

  “Semantics. You can give me a detail or two. Have you found Monroe? Victor?”

  He looked back at his partner who nodded at the silent question being asked. “We have eyes on him, yes. On Victor, too. But they need to commit a crime before we can apprehend them.”

  “Threatening my girlfriend isn’t enough?”

  “Unless you have solid proof. Hearsay isn’t enough.”

  “How much longer until you call off the case?”

  “A few days at the most,” he said.

  I ground my teeth together. If they did not arrest these men soon then they would be free to do whatever they wanted to hurt the woman of my dreams. “There has to be something we can do.”

  The officer tore into a Boston Kreme donut and shrugged. “Half of the time threats don’t amount to much. I’ve been threatened about a million times. If I ran for the hills every time it happened, I’d be a very skinny man but I’m not.”

  I didn’t particularly appreciate his humor. “Thank you for your time,” I said as a mumble before walking back inside.

  There had to be a solution to this problem. Winter was depending on me to keep her safe, but I wouldn’t be able to do that while I was working or while she was attending her classes. So, what was I supposed to do?”

  I shuffled into the kitchen and saw that Timber’s dog bowl was empty. I filled it with fresh food. The sound of it summoned him and he started to chow down, tail wagging. I gave him a pat on the back before stepping onto the back porch. The night was a cold one. While talking to the officers, I hadn’t noticed it but now that I was by myself, the bitter wind bit against the skin of my cheeks. I hugged my bathrobe tighter around my body.

  What do I do? I asked myself. If they end up harming her, I’ll never be able to forgive myself. These thoughts haunted me for a long time. I yawned, fatigue settling against my bones.

  “Time to get ready for work…” I told myself. I loved being a surgeon and saving lives, but today, I was dragging my feet. All I wanted to do was keep Winter tucked away in my loving embrace. I wanted to promise her that everything would be okay even though my faith in those words were starting to falter.

  When I returned to the bedroom, Winter was starting to wake up. “What time is it?” she asked.

  “A little past five.”

  “In the morning?”

  “Yes,” I said. “I have to go to work.”

  “Right,” she nodded. “You’ve taken too many days off for my sake.”

  “And I’d take a thousand more, but I have patients to think of. They need me.”

  “I understand.” She got up and wrapped her arms around my neck. “I couldn’t ask you to put their lives in jeopardy for my benefit. That would be horribly selfish of me.” She rose onto her tippy toes and kissed me.

  “If you tease me like this then I’m never going to have the willpower to leave,” I said before diving in for another kiss.

  “I’ll push you out that door myself if I need to.”

  “You wouldn’t.”

  “Keep stalling and I guess we’ll find out.”

  She released herself from my grasp and picked out my outfit for the day. While I worked on looping my belt into place, she buttoned up
my shirt and added some cuff links. “To complete the look,” she said.

  “Careful,” I warned. “Make me look too good and we might have a problem on our hands.”

  “And what might that be?”

  “The nurses.”

  “What about them?”

  “They’ll go gaga over me.”

  Winter rolled her eyes. “So what? I know you only have eyes for me.”

  “That’s right.” I pushed her up against the wall and allowed our lips to come together for the third time that morning. I just couldn’t get enough. This woman was the female version of morphine and I was deeply addicted. “And that’ll never change.”

  “I know.” She tossed a blue tie around my neck. “You’re on your own for this one. I’ve never been good at tying a tie.”

  “It’s pretty easy,” I said as I stood in front of the mirror. Realistically, I didn’t need the visual guidance, but I still liked to have it to make sure everything looked right.

  “I’ll start on coffee downstairs.”

  I grabbed her by the wrist and reeled her into my body. “I love you.”

  “I love you, too,” she returned with a smile. “And you do not know how good it is to hear you say that.”

  “You don’t know how good it feels to say it.” I kissed her forehead, and only then did I dare to release her. For a few seconds, I got a good view of her backside, swaying from side to side. Mmm. If only I had the time to sink my teeth into that delicious piece of ass, but looking at my watch, I was pressed for time.

  A steaming mug of coffee was waiting for me on the kitchen table. “Where’s Timber?” Winter asked as soon as I crossed the threshold. “I wanted to give him a treat, but even after I shook up the bag, he didn’t shown up.”

  “That’s strange. He usually comes running when he hears the bag.”

  “That’s what I mean.”

  I gave a whistle and we both listened, heads tilted slightly to the side, mirror images of one another.

  Silence.

  Then it dawned on me.

  I rushed over to the sliding doors, half hidden by a set of curtains. They swayed in the breeze. I cursed under my breath. “I went outside this morning and I guess I forgot to close the doors properly.”

  “You think he’s outside?” Winter was already out there, calling the dog’s name.

  “Definitely,” I pointed to a trail of muddy footprints. “Damnit. Why did I have to go and be so careless?”

  “We have to find him. There’s no telling what kind of trouble he’ll get himself in.” Winter followed the tracks and it led her straight into the woods that outlined the perimeter of my property. “You don’t have a fence back here?”

  “I usually have him on a leash.”

  “He could be anywhere,” Winter lamented. “How are we going to find him?”

  “We’ll go in my car. We know Timber thinks with his stomach, so if I had to guess, he’ll probably wind up near the butcher shop or something.”

  “I hope to God you’re right.”

  We raced to the garage and into my car. The two police officers that were supposed to be keeping watch of the place were fast asleep. The older one was even snoring. I shook my head. What was the point of having them around? If Winter was to be protected, then I needed to take matters into my own hands. Perhaps hiring a private investigator or private security would prove a good investment. I made a mental note of it as I started the car and peeled down the street.

  We drove all around the sleepy town trying to find him, but the minutes turned into an hour and still nothing. At that point, I was late for my shift.

  I pulled the car over and gave the hospital a call to tell them I might be a little late.

  “It’s always one thing after another…” Winter whispered as she looked down at her hands. “This is my fault, you know. I’ve always been a bearer of bad luck and now you’re suffering for it.”

  “No,” I said as I took her hand. “This isn’t your fault. We’ll find him and I’ll still save lives at the hospital today. I’m sure of it.”

  30

  Winter

  “Wait! I think I see him!” I got out of the car like a racehorse shooting forward onto the track. Timber was also running, chasing after a cat. A few hisses sounded as the cat dashed underneath the foundation of an abandoned building.

  He circled around the property trying to find a way to get to the cat. Frustrated, he started digging at the ground. His barking did not stop.

  “Timber!” I called out, about to cross onto the front lawn when another cat jumped out from an overgrown bush, claws at the ready. “Whoa… easy there, kitty…” Jeez, how many damned cats were on this property? No wonder Timber had made his way over here.

  For fear of having my face ripped to shreds, I halted at the sidewalk.

  Don’t make any sudden moves and maybe you’ll survive without contracting rabies from the neighborhood stray, I told myself.

  While I waited for the cat to lose interest, I glanced at the building. For some reason, it looked rather familiar. The early morning light had it painted in a strange array of oranges and pinks making it difficult for me to connect the dots.

  “Oh, come on,” I groaned as realization dawned on me. I took another step backward, but this time, it wasn’t the cat that made me do it.

  “What is it?” Reed had caught up with me.

  “Timber’s on this property.”

  “Where?”

  “Behind the house, I think.”

  “Okay, so why are we standing here then?”

  “Because Timber just had to pick the worst house in the whole neighborhood.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “This is a safe house…” I whispered as if speaking too loud might trigger the drug addicts that were sure to be shooting up inside. It didn’t matter that Timber had already woken the dead with all his barking. “It’s crawling with stray cats which is why Timber landed here but…it’s also crawling with violent lowlifes.”

  “So, what do you suggest we do?"

  “I don’t know…” I bit my bottom lip, trying to think up a plan. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed a police cruiser parked by the bus stop. They were too busy enjoying their morning coffee to notice us.

  “Maybe we could ask them for help,” suggested Reed as he followed my line of sight.

  “I doubt they’d be willing to do anything. There’s like a silent agreement between them and the folks inside. As long as they stay quiet then the cops don’t get involved. Plus, I don’t think they would risk a war with the drug lords that supply this place over our four-legged friend.”

  Bark! Bark!

  Timber returned to the front of the house.

  Reed whistled in an attempt to call him over, but he was much too concerned with all the felines that kept escaping his grasp.

  “What are you doing here? Don’t tell me, it’s finally good girl gone bad.” Victor had suddenly appeared in the doorway. Behind him stood Monroe.

  Crap. I should have known that this place belonged to Monroe and his crew.

  “Did you bring the cops here?” Victor snuffed the butt of a joint underneath his shoe and it made me flinch. “Girl, you’re just asking for it now. Messing with me, that’s one thing, but messing with the family business – that’s a whole other ball game.”

  “No, no! They were already parked there when we got here,” I said, stumbling over my words. “Our dog…” With my mouth too dry to continue, I just pointed at Timber, but he had disappeared behind a pile of trash.

  Reed positioned himself in front of me. “We’re not looking for trouble. All we want is our dog and we’ll be on our way.” Reed shuffled forward in a cautionary way. “If we could just take a look–”

  “Not going to happen,” Monroe stepped forward and placed his hands on his hips. “That pesky dog of yours is disturbing a very important business transaction of ours.” He stepped forward to the point where I could see the glint of
his firearm, tucked against his left side. “And I don’t tolerate nuisances.”

  “I don’t think you want to do this. The cops–”

  “Do you think I care about the cops?” Monroe was coming down the walkway and Victor was right there beside him. I didn’t like this – I didn’t like this one bit.

  Both Reed and I stepped back, trying to create some distance.

  Victor laughed. “Scared?” he asked. “Because you should be. The two of you fucked up a deal of a lifetime. I should be driving a Cadillac right now, but that complaint you filed against me at the police station, it got them snooping around and my client decided to back out. Do you know the money you ended up costing me – costing us?” He motioned towards his brother.

  So, that was it. Victor was working for his brother – probably as a drug dealer or something. The complaint placed him on the radar and Monroe wasn’t going to tolerate a loss in profits. That’s why he was gunning for me. Without knowing it, I had entered a world I wanted nothing to do with.

  “My brother had finally trusted me with something big and you just had to go and ruin everything with your bitching.”

  “Which means I’ve lost the trust of a good client of mine.” Monroe entered the conversation. “He was going to open up a few doors into the surrounding turf, but that’s going to be much, much harder now that he’s refusing to work with us.” He clasped his hands behind his back like all of this was some sort of casual conversation. “Now, someone has to make up for our losses and that someone is you.” He pointed straight at Reed. “Oh, I know you have the money. And I think I’ll charge an inconveniencing fee as well.”

  “Look, we don’t want any trouble–” My voice cracked as a sob ripped through my throat. This had to be some sort of nightmare.

  “Crying isn’t going to help you, little girl,” Victor snarled. “Because it’s way too late for you to make any of this right.” Somehow, he had traveled the path to the sidewalk without my noticing it. He was so close I could smell the foul stench of his breath. Suddenly, his fist was in the air like he had every intention of laying it on me. I flinched, expecting to feel the force of the impact, but instead, Reed blocked it at the very last moment.