“You don’t because you don’t have these,” she said. Sabra hated that her breasts swayed along with her slightest movement. Their large size made them move like bowling balls under the Moo-Moo.
To her relief, Colson didn’t flinch or comment on the crude gesture. She was about to say something else when it happened.
Colson sat down on the edge of the lounger. The air stilled as he leaned in close enough to touch noses with her if he wanted to. The man whispered, “I do what I want.”
“Which is?” she managed to get out. This was before Sabra’s ability to move, breathe, or hell, blink went the way of a toddlers’ swimsuit competition after snack time. Awful.
His body heat blanketed her in a hypnotic enchantment that begged for action. She wanted to touch, connect, and be with him so bad, it almost hurt. She waited for his next move. Sabra burned through enough willpower to stave off a stampede of pageant moms at a Beauty Supply Store clearance sale.
Her deep breaths stopped. They caught in her throat. Then they transformed into shallow, phantom breaths of excitement. Colson continued to hold sway over her entirety. Sabra fought to stay calm and make herself respond like a mature woman.
Gray eyes, etched with expressions so intense she could feel them, seduced Sabra. They commanded her to stay in the cocoon of their shared intimacy. Then her eyes went all slutty and stared at his full lips.
Was that a magnet, gravity, or her stupidity pulling her in closer? Nothing audible dared transpire between them. Colson held Sabra suspended in a sexy trance of his control.
The clean but spicy musk of his natural scent played havoc with Sabra’s grasp on logic and reason. Her chest heaved in response to the way his breath kissed the cupid’s bow of her upper lip. Invisible electromagnetic impulses scintillated and coursed between and through them. The couple held fast to the moment.
Sabra’s head tilted to the side of its own power in anticipation. Her eyes closed as Sabra’s other senses came to the forefront. The scent of pure masculine compatibility flooded her nostrils. Her eyes picked up the thudding sounds of her heart pounding as it reacted to the moment.
A hair’s breadth was the best way to decide the near brush of lips she felt as he moved to whisper in her ear.
His beard tickled her cheek as he positioned himself and said, “Make sure to tell me if it hurts.”
Confusion deflated her arousal as the words snatched her out of the moment.
“If what hurts?”
“Your thigh. I’m about to pick you up to go to the bathroom,” came his easy reply.
Damn it to hell. She’d been wrong again. This man wasn’t coming onto her, he’d been moving in to ease her off the bed.
Anger flared her ugly head before Sabra could lock her back down. And here she was about to apologize. Why had she believed Bronwyn about him having intense feelings for her?
“Move, I’ve got it. Didn’t you say you have crutches for me to use? I might as well start now.”
Instead of responding or taking the hint to get the hell on away from her, Colson moved back in position. He stared at her face, smiled, and looked over at the phone resting on the table by the bed.
In total indifference to her request, he said, “Bron made sure to leave the phone charger here. From the frequent vibrations and flashing screen, it looks like you have lots of calls and texts. Seems like your friends are looking for you.”
Self-control rebounded to take over as Sabra considered how to proceed. Satisfied with herself, she allowed the measured words full of etiquette and poise to flow forth. “Yes, looks like I do. Give me a moment to check and return messages.”
He leaned back, reclined on the lounger with his legs slightly apart. Was he going to sit here looking at her with his legs in open invitation? Instead of giving into the racing thoughts and emotional confusion, Sabra focused on her phone.
Forty-eight text messages and eleven voicemails waited. One had come in a few moments ago. Sabra started with the text messages. She figured Chloe and Tilar would use that mode of communication first.
Sure enough, both women had been trying to contact her. She fired off text messages with an update and assurance she was on the mend. Next, Sabra listened to phone messages. Colson continued to sit and wait with a look of utter contentment on that chiseled face of his.
The bulk of the messages were from Chloe swearing and threatening to call the FBI if she didn’t call her back. There was one from a former client asking if she could do a quick job. The date had already passed on Saturday evening, and then there was the last call.
Sabra had to remember to breathe as Doctor Nina Hassenberg’s voice purred through the phone. The doctor said Sabra’s presentation had been the most successful the Atlanta campus had ever experienced. It was Doctor Hassenberg’s next statement that had Sabra trembling with excitement.
Sabra had to remember to breathe. The other woman said that she'd received grants totaling two-hundred eighty-five thousand dollars. Sabra had to replay the message. This time she paid close attention. Doctor Hassenberg gave her contact information. She urged Sabra to contact her to receive the grant disbursements.
She erased all the messages except for Doctor Hassenberg’s. Sabra looked up to see Colson staring at her with a lazy grin on his face.
“Is all well with your friends?” he asked as if knowing they’d been the majority of the calls.
“Yes, they’re fine. It’s me they were concerned about.”
Another flash of her phone showed incoming texts. Both Chloe and Tilar demanded calls while expressing relief. She took a moment to send texts promising to call when she had an opportunity. Her fingers flew over the keyboard explaining that she was with the doctor at the moment.
Chloe wanted to know where she was. Tilar sent a strange text reply saying that it looked like the High Priestess had been busy. Not wanting to prolong this awkward situation any longer, Sabra set her goal. She'd get up and going—today. She wanted to call Doctor Hassenberg about the grants ASAP!
“Well, let’s get after it, shall we? It is Monday morning. I’m sure you have to get ready for work,” she offered, infusing the statement with a cheery disposition.
“I work from home, and you’re my main concern for now.”
What the hell did that mean—for now?
Deciding to let that pass and cut her embarrassment to a minimum, she countered. “Great, then you’ll be able to get back to your routine as soon as I’m gone.”
“It’s my opinion that you’re not ready to put too much weight on that leg. Give yourself at least another few days off that leg to give the muscle time to continue to repair itself.”
“You don’t say,” she eyed the man looking for more than the genteel smile that rode his face. “What about my office stuff? I need to get to my storage unit to organize it.”
“I had your things brought here to the guest house out back.”
“Oh,” flummoxed by the answer, Sabra scrambled for another point to voice her case. He needed a good reason to discharge her from his care and get back to his life. Sabra needed to give him one. Before she could come up with a reasonable comeback, Colson opened his arms as if in welcome.
“Ready to get up?”
The grant news, her office equipment being here, needing to call her friends, and the persistent attraction she battled with over Colson had taken a toll on her brain's bandwidth.
Sabra gave the most straightforward reply she could muster. “Yeah, I am.”
15
Cole
“Nina, I want to thank you for letting Ms. Patterson know about her grants first thing this morning.”
Colson paced as the older woman’s voice flowed from the speakerphone in his home office. He actively ignored the blinking light indicating new messages. Monday mornings were always busy.
“Yes, I know you and the others didn’t want the young lady waiting for funds to be released. Everyone made sure to do instant transfers with comments to alert
her of their gifts post haste.”
“They did, did they?” Colson refused to give in to his curiosity by asking who all gave to Sabra.
“Yes, but my question to you is how did you know about my phone call? I left that message less than an hour ago?” Nina’s breath hissed through the connection as she paused to consider her own question. “Ah, I see. It’s so good to know that you do move fast when your heart’s treasure is at stake, don’t you young one?”
There was no way he’d admit to Nina that he’d been eavesdropping on Sabra’s voice messages without her knowledge. He’d let Sabra know about Dragon hearing soon enough. For now, he wanted to make sure Nina didn’t do anything squirrelly to make Sabra think she owed that school or Nina anything in return.
“I wanted to impress on you how serious I am about my instructions for my part of the grant and school donation. Ms. Patterson is not obligated to you, your school, or any other donors if my part is to be released. Any violations of my wishes revoke my gift to the school in addition to rescinding the grant offer.”
“Yes, Colson, don’t be so uptight. I’m fully aware of your conditions for the grant and school donation. There’s no way I’d put any of Ms. Patterson’s grant awards in jeopardy. I also like how you attempted to deflect my question. Please, honor an elder Dragoness’s request and answer—how did you find out about my call? Let me see…” She paused as if checking something he knew she didn’t need to. Dragon’s had an immaculate perception of time. “Yes, impressive indeed. It only took you twenty-seven minutes to call. I think I’ve found the key to getting you to respond to my calls and correspondences in the future. Now, tell me, dear,” she almost purred through the speaker.
“How I found out is no concern of yours. If you must know, Miss Patterson suffered a bad fall Friday night. I’ve been providing medical attention.”
“Have you, now?”
Colson didn’t like the disbelief coating Nina’s words. He wasn’t too green to take the bait to show his hand where Sabra was concerned either. This old Dragoness was sly and cunning. He was protective and passionate about keeping his relationship with Sabra to himself. He'd say nothing before Sabra was ready to move forward.
If Nina had the slightest hope, that her meddling brought he and Sabra together, their regional Dragon-shifter community would know by noon. Colson refused to become Nina’s most recent testimonial. She was always on the hunt for evidence about the effectiveness of her matchmaking.
“Colson, are you there, dear?” Nina asked.
“Yes, I’m here. I wanted to ask that you remember to keep my contribution anonymous. When you speak with Ms. Patterson.”
“Of course. I won’t say a word.”
There was something about the way Nina said that part that Colson didn’t like or trust. Oil slicks didn’t have a thing on Nina with how slippery she could be. She was the grand master of subterfuge when that old Dragoness had a mind to do what she wanted.
“Nina, I want you to give me your word and promise.”
Without hesitation, she said, “On my word, I promise not to divulge your name in conjunction with your grant.”
Leery satisfaction was all Colson could hope for with this one. He’d take what he got and move on.
“Thank you. That was the reason for the call. Thank you for taking it. I imagine your day is off to a busy start.” He slid into the small talk banter easily enough.
“Yes, as always. So, on that note, I’ll have to take my leave to attend to other pressing matters. And,” Nina paused. Colson heard her assistant’s voice in the background. “I will make sure to have Ms. Patterson’s contribution set up in a way that doesn’t lead back to you in any way.”
“Thank you,” was all Colson said as they ended the call.
Alone in his office, he took another whiff of his shirt to drink in Sabra’s fragrance. She’d made him leave to take a shower and dress. But not before he’d carried her into the shower with the promise to come back in a half-hour or so. Remembering how long it took for Sabra’s shower yesterday, Colson decided to extend the time to make sure she didn’t feel rushed.
With the call to Nina done, Colson punched the button to retrieve messages. He knocked out as much of the easy work as possible and breezed through their notes. Colson checked on recuperating clients and doled out tasks to his team of assistants. He finished and geared up for the big call.
He asked the digital voice assistant to call Bronwyn and waited. He shook his head preparing for the new antics his nigh sister had cooked up to commence. Colson took in a deep breath to make sure he achieved his top priority—make sure Ava got to school with no issues.
Five minutes into the call and Colson wanted to throw up his hands in frustration.
“Because she’s my daughter and I miss her.”
Bronwyn refused to back down. “All I’m saying is that I think you and Sabra need more time to bond before Ava comes back. Don’t you think it might be a bit much for Sabra to handle the whole Dragon-shifter thing and a kid? I’m just saying.”
Colson didn’t want to do this with Bronwyn. As far as his relationship with Sabra was concerned, it didn’t look all that promising. The woman was determined to leave him as soon as possible. He didn’t want to admit that Sabra wouldn’t be there when Ava got home and instead said, “No, it won’t be a problem having Ava here.”
“Okay, it’s your mating thrall, and I’ll trust your gut on this. What time do you want me to drop her off?”
“Wait, what? I’ll pick her up after school.”
Bronwyn let out a sigh, “Oh, sorry, forgot to tell you. I promised Ava we'd go to that accessory store all the young girls like for more bubble bath and a few other goodies. That was her treat if she went to bed on time each night.
“So, you’ve taken to bribing my kid now? Bronwyn, you can’t bribe a five-year-old to do what you want.”
“Why not, if it works?”
“Because she’ll grow up thinking all interactions are transactional. You know what? Never mind, I don’t want to have this conversation with you right now. I need to get back to Bria. She’ll be finishing up soon with her shower.”
“Ooh, how’s the mating going? Are you two—you know—bonded yet?”
“That’s both intrusive and none of your business.”
A deflated voice crawled back over the line. “So, that would be a no. Oh, Colson, what are we going to do with you? Mac has said he’ll be available to talk with you day or night. Just give him a call, will you?”
“That won’t be necessary.”
“So, you say, but hey, we’re all pulling for you.”
“Is that pity I hear?” he had to know. “I’ll have you know that unlike my brute of a cousin, I take time to get to know a lady before claiming her.”
“Of course, you do, Cole. I should have Ava home around six. Got to go—toodles!”
Colson heard his cousin’s voice in the background calling his wife as Bronwyn rushed him off the phone. She’d managed to do it again. The woman had kidnapped his daughter and dared him to do anything about it.
It wouldn’t be so bad if Ava hadn’t always been too busy playing with Uncle Mac to say more than a few words to him when he’d called over the weekend. Colson had never liked trying to have a conversation with a child over the phone but being dismissed by his own daughter for Mac had hurt a little.
He decided to take yet another loss from Bronwyn and headed back to check on Sabra. Once there, he remembered having a portable one-leg mobility scooter. He’d see if she could bear to have that much pressure on her leg and if so, have Sabra use that instead of the clunky crutches. The woman was hell-bent on getting out of here. She might as well do it rolling instead of limping.
Colson tuned into the other room to make sure Sabra was still okay. He heard her gentle humming and the shower. Colson found the never before used scooter. He worked to assemble it while he waited for Sabra to finish.
“Ugh!”
Spla
t!
The unmistakable sound of skin impacting water had him on his feet and through the bathroom door in a flash.
Sabra lay on her side in the shower, body covered in soap. He had her in his arms and then on his lap before she could process the change.
“Are you all right?” He checked her face and then moved his eyes down her naked body checking for injury or signs of blood from an external source.
After Sabra awakened earlier, Colson noticed that her menstrual flow had tapered off. She was at the end of its cycle. By his medical guesstimate, she’d have trace amounts for the next day or so, but her menses had run its course for the month.
Still stunned from the fast-moving sequence of events, Sabra blinked a few times. Once familiarity dawned in her eyes, she held his heart in her hand once more. He waited for her to give him a clue about her feeling about his intrusion.
The mist of the shower did its work as his clothes plastered themselves to his form.
“She was right,” Sabra mumbled in a breathy sigh.
He was close enough to watch her mouth form the words.
“Right about what?”
“About you.”
His breath stalled as Colson waited to see how this played out. He was holding her naked form on his lap on the floor of the shower.
Without a hint, prompt, or any other outward direction, Sabra reached up and caressed his beard. Colson relaxed some of his tension allowing himself to enjoy her unprovoked gesture.
He leaned into her touch, closed his eyes, and allowed his Dragon to feast on the feel of his mate. After a moment of basking in her show of what he hoped was affection, Colson chanced fate to open his eyes.
Big, bright, and expressive chocolate eyes watched him.
“You enjoyed that?” she asked as if confused about his response.
“Yes, I love your touch.” Throwing caution to the wind, he added, “I crave it.”
“You do?”
“Yes. I crave anything you wish to share with me.” Colson clamped his mouth shut as the tiniest microexpression of fear caused Sabra’s body to tense for the faintest moment.
Dragon’s Curvy Patient Page 18
