Prognosis Incompatible

by Andrews, Amy

  Rebound sex.

  Oh yes!

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  NOW that she had tasted the sweet addictive fruit of great sex, Madeline was insatiable. She was an addict. Her body craved it. All night. And Marcus didn’t disappoint. Not even once.

  Madeline had never had such athletic sex in all her life. But, hey, she thought as she snuggled into his shoulder, listening to his deep even breathing as the first rays of dawn crept across the sky, at least she now knew she was capable of a marathon.

  But it had been more than that, it had been fun. She’d had fun. Marcus had been flirty and humorous. He had made her laugh, he had made her blush and, God help her, he had made her come more times in one night than she had ever thought possible.

  She’d never known she was capable of such an amazing feat. Sure, she’d experienced orgasms before but they’d always been hard won. Marcus had barely even touched her and she had combusted every time. How he did it she didn’t know, she didn’t care, she just never wanted him to stop.

  She couldn’t believe she had been fooling herself for an entire decade. She was a sexual being and she wanted to yell it from the rooftops. And she wanted more. As much as he could give her. She had a lot of catching up to do. She yawned and smiled as sleep finally claimed her.

  Marcus woke a couple of hours later, the weight of Madeline’s head on his chest. He looked down and her red ringlets were spread across his chest just as he had fantasised about when they had first met. Their marathon sex session in all its glorious detail came back to him and he smiled to himself.

  He hoped she wasn’t through using him for rebound sex yet.

  OK, rebound sex rules were very clear — it was a one-off deal. But it wasn’t like these rules were written anywhere and as long as they were both still on the same page, then what could it hurt?

  He toyed with one of her curls and stretched it out gently. The sun slanting through the blinds caught a golden highlight, transforming it to a strand of fine gilt thread. He dropped it and stroked his hand over her head and down the length of her hair, feeling the springiness beneath his palm.

  She murmured and he stopped, not wanting to wake her. If she was half as tired, half as exhausted as him, she was going to need to sleep for a week to get over it. He smiled again, thinking about her generosity in bed, and there was a strange tightening in his chest.

  He shifted slowly, gently displacing her, preferring not to dwell on that odd sensation. He was also experiencing a tightening elsewhere and knew it was time to get up or he and Maddy would never make it to work today. He sat on the edge of the bed and looked behind him, running his eyes up and down the length of her body. She’d rolled on her back, her legs tangled in the sheets, her stomach and breasts uncovered.

  The urge to trace a finger between her breasts and down her stomach beyond the sheet was overwhelming and he stood immediately. Striding into the en suite, he turned the cold water on hard, catching his breath as he stood under the freezing needles.

  Madeline vaguely heard the running water and slowly opened her eyes. She stretched and then curled into a ball as her internal muscles protested. The bed was empty but she could still smell Marcus’s aftershave and she hugged her body and smiled to herself as she remembered every Technicolor detail.

  She got up and wandered into the en suite. Marcus stood with his arms braced against the wall, facing the shower head, his head down, his eyes shut, the water running down his back.

  ‘Good morning,’ she said as she opened the glass shower door and stepped inside. ‘Enough room for two?’

  He opened his eyes and smiled at her and he wanted her again. ‘Of course,’ he said, making room.

  She smiled and stepped under the spray, gasping and flinching at the unexpected temperature, her body facing his. She shut her eyes and ducked her head under the water, allowing it to run all over her naked body enjoying the cold after the initial shock.

  Enjoying the feel of Marcus’s eyes on her body. Enjoying the thrill of sexual power.

  Marcus swallowed hard as he watched the water run over her breasts, the cold scrunching her nipples instantly, down her flat stomach and cling to the red curls at the juncture of her thighs. She opened her eyes and caught him staring and he didn’t care. She gave him a flirty, knowing smile and he shook his head.

  ‘Tease.’

  She grinned. ‘This water is freezing.’

  ‘I know. I needed it.’ He reached past her to add some hot.

  ‘You didn’t wake me,’ she chided.

  ‘No,’ he said, electricity thrumming through his veins, at the sight of her wet and naked and patently wanting more. ‘But it wasn’t easy.’

  ‘Well, for that, I’m going to have to punish you,’ she teased, her voice light and flirty.

  He chuckled. ‘Oh? What did you have in mind?’

  Madeline smiled at him, turned on by the mere thought of what she was about to do. She pushed him back against the shower wall and stood as far away as his erection allowed. She looked at him, holding his gaze for as long as she could bear it, and then knelt before him.

  Marcus shut his eyes and groaned loudly as her warm lips and hot mouth closed over him. If this was a punishment, he was going to be bad for ever.

  ‘Oh...my...God,’ he groaned, and gave himself up to the pleasure.

  Madeline made it to work just in time for her first appointment. Marcus had dropped her home so she could change her clothes and she had waved him goodbye reluctantly.

  Plonking her bag on her desk, she sat in her chair, absently swinging herself round and round feeling exhilarated despite her two hours’ sleep.

  She couldn’t remember feeling this alive in a long time.

  It was as if she’d been in limbo all these years, starting with her parents’ death and perpetuated by her guilt and grief over Abby. She’d stayed in an insane holding pattern with Simon for so long, and when he’d said goodbye two months ago, it had been one more person who had left her. Today she felt like she was actually moving forward with her life – thanks to Marcus.

  And she would thank him. The very first chance she got.

  Mrs Wust, her last patient before lunch, sat at the desk and Madeline was pleased she’d soon be able to take a break. Her concentration had been completely shot and more than one patient had commented on how tired she looked.

  ‘Jet lag?’ Mrs Wust enquired after the usual pleasantries.

  ‘Er, yes, must be,’ Madeline said. An image of Marcus living up to his apartment number came to mind and heat suffused her cheeks. ‘Now, let’s look at your ultrasound results, shall we?’

  Maddeline found the report on her computer. It identified a gall bladder full of stones which were clearly seen on the accompanying images.

  ‘Well, it is as I suspected, Gail. Your epigastric pain is due to gallstones. I’m afraid you’re going to need an operation.’ Madeline opened her drawer and retrieved her stationery. ‘I’ll give you a referral to a surgeon and he can discuss your options.’

  Gail’s face fell. ‘Oh, no. Isn’t there another way?’

  ‘Well, it’s done laparoscopically so the scarring and recovery time are minimised. It’s really only day surgery nowadays.’

  ‘No, I mean naturally. A friend of mine was telling me that her brother’s wife’s sister-in-law used an old-fashioned oil and lemon juice recipe to cure hers.’

  Madeline looked at Gail, her pen poised. She was the typical cholecystitis patient — fair, overweight and in her forties. Not that long ago Madeline wouldn’t have even entertained a natural remedy but a lot had changed in a week.

  She tore off the page she had been writing. ‘I’ll refer you to Dr Hunt. He’s a GP who specialises in natural therapies who’s just moved in next door. I’m sure he’ll be able to guide you.’

  She was surprised at how calm her voice sounded, given how much her hands were trembling as she wrote her neat, precise referral. She put it in an envelope and passed it over to her patient.<
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  Gail reached for it and Madeline pulled it back just in time, a plan forming in her mind. A plan that was making her squirm in her seat just thinking about it. ‘Actually, Gail, I might just drop it next door for you now and discuss your case with Dr Hunt. I’ll get him to give you a ring to arrange an appointment in his next available slot. OK?’

  After Gail had gone, Madeline rose and visited the bathroom, quickly pulling off her knickers and stuffing them into her skirt pocket.

  ‘I’ll just be next door for lunch,’ she said to Veronica with as much serenity as she could muster, given she was naked under her skirt.

  ‘OK,’ said a surprised Veronica, who was used to Madeline only ever having a quick sandwich and a cuppa at her desk.

  Madeline blushed as people in the waiting room nodded and smiled at her — did they know she wasn’t wearing any knickers, or were they just being polite and acknowledging her presence? She felt completely naked, the glide of the skirt lining over her bare bottom bordering on erotic.

  She was grateful to escape the office — Veronica had a nose for scandal and she looked well and truly on the scent - and get out into the sunshine.

  This was crazy! What was she doing?

  This really wasn’t something she ever did and Madeline wondered for a moment if she had the gumption to carry it out. But she remembered his kisses from the previous night and knew she couldn’t live another minute without feeling his lips on hers again.

  As she slid back his door, Madeline had a moment of panic that last night had been a one-off. She felt out of her depth, unsure of the etiquette and faltered.

  ‘Come on through. I’m in my office.’

  Marcus’s sexy voice was the clincher and Madeline walked towards it like a moth drawn to flame. She reached his doorway and leaned on the jamb, appreciating the view. He glanced up and smiled a sexy, dimpled smile and a hand clenched her insides.

  ‘Well, hello there,’ Marcus said, admiring the view. Maddy had tied her hair back and he remembered how it had been spread across his chest that morning when he’d woken up, and he itched to pull it out.

  ‘Hi.’ She smiled back, drinking him in.

  Neither of them spoke or moved for a while, images of last night’s nocturnal activities rendering them incapable of anything other than breathing. And even that was strained as each remembered the intimate details.

  Marcus recovered first, smiling at their stupor. ‘To what do I owe the pleasure?’ he asked, and then grinned at the way her body almost swayed at his choice of words.

  ‘I brought you this,’ Madeline said huskily, walking closer on shaky legs, tossing the referral onto his desk.

  He picked it up, inspected it for a second and glanced back up at her. ‘Is that it?’

  His voice was hoarse and Madeline’s nipples peaked at the gravely quality in anticipation. ‘No.’ She dipped her hand into her pocket. ‘These as well.’

  Taking a deep breath, she lobbed her red knickers onto his desk.

  The jolt in Marcus’s groin was instantaneous. He looked at them. Then at her. Picking them up, he unscrunched them so he could appreciate their prettiness. They were soft and silky with lace in the right places and two little bows each side holding the back and front together.

  ‘Are these spares you keep for emergencies?’ He grinned at her.

  She grinned back. ‘No, I took them off five minutes ago.’

  His grin faded and hell if it didn’t swell her head to see his pupils dilate with desire and hear his sharp intake of breath. Walking back to the door, she shut and locked it then ambled over to his side of the desk.

  Pushing his chair back from the desk, Madeline quickly straddled him. His big hands grabbed her hips holding her tight and she revelled in his arousal which was barely contained beneath his zipper.

  She grinned at him. ‘So, I’ve been thinking about these rebound rules,’ she said, reaching down and undoing the button of his shorts while she slowly rubbed herself against the coarse fabric.

  It felt so good rasping against her naked flesh.

  ‘Are they flexible? Or is rebound sex just a one-night deal?’

  Marcus swallowed hard as her hands toyed with his zip and her fingernails scraped the length of him through the fabric. His heart thudded in his chest. He couldn’t quite believe he was about to have sex in his office chair with a client only fifteen minutes away.

  He gave a half-laugh, running his hands up her bare thighs, under her skirt until he was squeezing her naked buttocks. His vision went completely black at the feel of her taut flesh and the urge to drive up into her was all he could think about. ‘Extensions can be granted.’

  ‘Good,’ she whispered, grasping his finally freed erection in her hand and swallowing his groan as she unleashed a kiss that was powered by half a day’s worth of pent-up sexual fantasy.

  By the time he pulled away they were both breathing hard.

  Marcus didn’t speak, he wasn’t capable. He didn’t even take her jacket or shirt off, just pulled her shirt out of her waistband, dispensed with the buttons, more gently than he had last night, briefly admired her matching bra before undoing the front clasp and leaning in quickly to suck a puckered nipple deeply into the warm, wet cavern of his mouth.

  Her moan urged him on and he teased the other breast with his hand working the nipple to a tortured peak, all the time excruciatingly aware of the magic her hands were weaving.

  ‘Condom,’ she gasped.

  He pulled away, breathing hard, admiring the view of her straddling him, her bare breasts heaving, her nipples dark and wet from his mouth. She looked gorgeous and wild, her green eyes bright with passion. He reached blindly into his desk drawer, not wanting to miss a second of the view as he felt around and located one.

  ‘Thank God for reps,’ he said.

  She took it, ripped it open with her teeth and covered the broad length of him in one swift movement.

  ‘You’re very good at that,’ he said.

  ‘Only that?’ she asked as she positioned herself over him and very slowly sunk down.

  ‘No,’ he said, reaching behind her and pulling her hair out of its clasp as he thrust up, causing her to moan and bite her lip as he slid in to the hilt, throbbing with need. ‘You have many talents.’

  Madeline smiled and kissed him again, his hands resuming their homage to her breasts as he thrust up into her again and again. She rode each penetration with pride, revelling in his hardness and the success of her seduction as each thrust stoked her to fever pitch.

  Her orgasm built slowly down low and deep, the angle of his entry stroking her in just the right spot, and she moved with it, perfectly in tune to his rhythm. And then he picked it up a notch and then another and then more until an explosion of sensations ricocheted inside her, twisting through her, his shoulders trembling as he joined her, the urgency of his cries mixing with the urgency of hers.

  And then as she collapsed against his chest the intensity eased, pleasure resonating in every cell and oozing from every pore. Languor spread through her muscles, her breath calmed and her pulse settled as her climax slowly ebbed away.

  Marcus waited until he got his breath back before he said, ‘Many talents.’

  Madeline laughed and reluctantly pushed herself away from the curve of his neck. She looked down at herself, half-undressed, her nipples still hard, still intimately joined with Marcus. She didn’t feel awkward or ashamed because she could tell he liked what he saw and that made her feel deliciously wanton.

  A distant voice interrupted them. ‘Er, excuse me, Doc, are you here? Is there anyone home?’

  Madeline almost injured herself she leapt up that quickly. ‘Who’s that?’ she whispered.

  ‘My twelve-thirty,’ he said, amused by the red staining her cheeks and her hurried rearranging of her clothes.

  ‘You have a twelve-thirty? Why didn’t you say something?’ she hissed. She couldn’t believe how close they’d come to being sprung by a patient.

 
; Thank God she’d locked the door.

  ‘And miss out on more rebound sex? At my work desk? Are you crazy?’ He winked, watching with great interest as Maddy jiggled around, trying to pull her clothes into some order. ‘I’ll be right out, Ted,’ he yelled.

  Madeline blushed even further. When had she become so bold? Shooting him an I’m-going-to-get-you-for-this look, she hurried to the door, unlocking and opening it. ‘Right,’ she said to Marcus in an over-bright, businesslike voice, ‘So you’ll follow up on that referral, then?’

  He grinned at her. ‘Yes, ma’am, Dr Harrington,’ he teased and then, as she went to step out of his office he murmured, ‘Oh, Maddy?’

  ‘What?’ she whispered, looking over her shoulder.

  ‘I think you forgot these,’ he said, picking up her discarded knickers from his desk and tossing them in her direction.

  Madeline, blushing furiously now, somehow managed to turn in time to catch them one-handed.

  ‘Tonight?’ he asked.

  Wild horses couldn’t have kept her away. ‘Tonight,’ she agreed as she stuffed her underwear back into her pocket and hurried away, Marcus’s sexy laughter following her down the hallway.

  Four hours later Marcus showed Gail Wust into his office.

  ‘Thank you for seeing me on such short notice, Dr Hunt,’ she said.

  ‘It’s Marcus,’ he reminded her for the second time, ‘and it was no problem. You’re lucky it’s my first week and it’ll take a little while for people to know I’m here.’

  ‘Did Dr Harrington talk to you about my case? I believe she wrote you a referral?’

  Marcus didn’t blink as he remembered their ‘talk’. ‘Yes,’ he said. ‘We spoke.’ Kind of.

  ‘She’s such a great doctor. A really sweet young woman,’ Gail chatted. ‘So polite.’

  Marcus blinked this time, thinking about how far from sweet and polite she’d been in his office four hours ago. ‘Yes,’ he said non-comittally, ‘very...sweet.’ Sweet as. ‘So, you have gallstones?’

  Gail took the bait and Marcus was relieved to get off the topic of Maddy. It was bad enough that he could still smell her perfume in the air and her scent on his clothes and had been in a state of semi-arousal all afternoon.