Dr. Perfect: A Contemporary Romance Bundle
Page 19
And just like that, he had me ready for more. My cock was only just starting to firm up, but my ass was quaking like nobody’s business. Jason was owning me, and he didn’t even realize it. Or maybe he did. Hell, I didn’t know. All I knew was that I wanted him inside me again.
I got up and went into the kitchen for a beer, trying to play it off like I was as sated as he was. Besides, I needed a moment to calm down. His nearness was doing things to me I couldn’t begin to explain. I’d never burned so hotly for anyone in my life, and I’d done enough fucking to know how rare it was to feel this way.
I chugged half of my beer before returning to the living room, trying not to look too hard at Jason’s beautiful form all laid out on the blanket. I was disturbed not only by my physical need for him but the way my heart was doing somersaults within my chest. I hadn’t been prepared for this level of emotion or the way my body craved him.
He crawled up from the blanket and walked over to me where I sat on the sofa. The fire crackled behind him as he knelt and rested his head on my lap, his arms running along the length of my thighs before encircling my bare ass. He pressed a chaste little kiss to the tip of my half-hard cock and looked up at me with wide eyes.
“Somebody enjoyed being my bottom boy,” he said playfully. And oh fuck, his words went straight to my cock.
So, bitch wasn’t the only word that did it for me. Apparently, bottom boy worked, too.
Jason shook his head, obviously pleasantly surprised by my reaction. “Getting fucked in the ass must feel pretty damn good. I’m jealous now.”
“You should be,” I said, my voice gravelly with need.
He lowered his head and took the tip of my cock into his hot mouth, and I cried out. He applied an eye-crossing amount of suction as he bobbed up and down my shaft, using his throat to work the sensitive head every time my cock bottomed out in his mouth. Jesus, he was good at sucking cock. This time, without the distraction and discomfort of the small car, he worked me even better. I wondered for the umpteenth time where he’d gotten such mad skills.
He used his magic tongue like he had before, and again I couldn’t tell what kind of sorcery he was doing down there. Whatever it was had me close to finishing in a matter of minutes.
“You’re amazing,” I whispered, winding my fingers into his hair and pulling just enough to make him hum around my dick. “Yeah, that’s it J. Suck that cock like only you can do.”
In response to the praise, his head started bobbing faster, and his tongue lapped hungrily at my sensitive flesh. Then he squeezed my ass cheeks. His fingertips dug hard into the crack and began snaking downward, inching toward my hole, and that’s all it took to have me shooting cum all down his throat.
When I was completely spent and spineless, I let my head fall heavily against the back of the sofa. “You’re a fucking blowjob ninja,” I said. “No lie.”
Jason gave a delighted laugh and rested his cheek on my thigh.
Afterward, when we lay spooning on the floor with Bill snoring softly beside us, Jason whispered, “I’m really confused right now. And scared.”
I knew what he meant. I wanted to go back in time and kick Tanner Fox’s ass, because it was all his fault. Unfortunately, that wasn’t an option, so I was going to have to figure out some other way to make Jason trust me.
And how are you going to do that, the little voice inside me whispered, when you don’t even trust yourself?
Squeezing his body tightly against mine, I kissed his hair with every ounce of tenderness I had. “Don’t be scared,” I whispered back. “I promise I won’t hurt you.”
I knew he didn’t believe me. Not yet. But I also knew I was going to make that statement true, one way or another.
18
Jason
The next morning, we had sausage biscuits on the dock. It was simple, but breakfast had never tasted so damn good. It was too cold to stay out long, so we retired to the living room, where we built a roaring fire and watched some old home movies Mark’s mom had stashed in a chest near the entertainment center.
Mark had been an adorable boy, and it was nice to get to see him in all his youthful glory as he fished off the dock with his father and played in the yard. His mother seemed much more laid back in the videos than the Lyla Johnson I knew. I remembered what Mark had said about this lifestyle doing something to a person, and I thought maybe he had a point. But then we all had our demons, and we’d all been hardened in some way by life, even those of us who didn’t have a bazillion dollars in the bank.
After a lunch of chicken sandwiches and salad, we wandered around the grounds outside for a while, marveling at the beauty of nature that was clear in every small detail out here. I thought of my parents, whose misery was palpable these days in every word spoken over the phone. They only called when they needed money, and I’d long ago moved past faulting them for it. They were who they were, and I could either help them or not. I chose to be the bigger person and send the money. One day they’d be gone, and I’d regret not doing what I could to make their lives a little better.
And that got me thinking about Mark’s mom again and how she’d seemed so different in the videos at the lake. “I think this place is magical,” I told Mark, ignoring the little voice in my head that told me I sounded like a silly child.
“I think so, too. It’s why I brought you here.”
I slipped my hand into the crook of his arm and bumped up against his side. “You’re so much sweeter than you ever let on.”
“Only with you, babe.”
Apparently, we were calling each other that now, though what it meant I had no idea. It sounded nice coming out of his mouth, and it felt just a nice saying it, so I hoped it would continue to be a thing.
Friends with benefits, I reminded myself, though the argument was beginning to sound hollow. I didn’t want to be friends with benefits. I wanted all of Mark. I wanted to keep going like this and see where we ended up in about twenty or thirty years. I knew it was wishful thinking, but it’s what I wanted. I knew that now.
“Your mom seemed different in the videos,” I said.
“Yeah,” was all he offered in response.
“What happened to our parents, do you think? Why can’t they accept us for who we are?”
Mark kicked at a stick on the ground, seeming to ponder my question. “I don’t know, man. They see what they want to see.”
“Like Brent Ward’s mother. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a woman buried more deeply in denial.”
“She just didn’t want to see the signs. Hell, even I didn’t see the signs, and I’m trained to spot that kind of thing. But you saw it.”
“I did. But I’m not Brent’s mother. I didn’t see him every day. I’d imagine it would be easy to overlook the signs if you love someone. They come in all sweaty and acting funny, jonesing for a fix. You don’t understand what’s wrong with them. You think maybe they’re sick or something. And then they get their fix, and they’re a different person. Suddenly everything is right again, and you shake your head and think maybe it was all in your mind.”
Mark froze, coming to a sudden stop right in the middle of the path we were on.
“What?” I asked in alarm. “Did you see something? A wild animal or—” He turned to me with a look of shock on his face, and my fear ratcheted up. “Mark, you’re scaring me. I’m really not used to being in the woods.”
Mark bit his lip and stared up at the sky. Then at the ground, and then the sky once more. I could practically see the cogs turning in his brain.
“You’re a genius,” he said finally. He picked me up and spun me around, which felt really freaking weird, I must say. I wasn’t used to being manhandled like that by another dude.
“How am I a genius?” I asked when he set me back down on my feet. “Ass wizard, maybe. Blowjob ninja, definitely. But genius?”
Mark ignored my attempt at sexy banter and dragged me all the way to the house by my hand. I was breathless by the time we got t
here, and so was Mark, but he was also excited as hell. I was just confused, especially when he grabbed his cell phone from the end table beside the sofa and called someone.
“Why are you being so mysterious?” I whined. “You’re freaking me out.”
“Shhhh,” he warned. “Just be quiet and listen.” After a few rings, he spoke into the phone. “Dr. Rosenfeld, you got a minute?” A pause, then, “Awesome. I have something to run by you.”
Mark put the phone on speaker and set it in the middle of the kitchen table. We took seats across from each other and stared at the phone while Rosenfeld babbled for a moment about how busy it was and how he was really hurting without his two best residents. I glanced up at Mark, surprised that Rosenfeld had included me. Then the man surprised me even further by asking how I was doing.
“He’s doing fine,” Mark said. “That’s what I wanted to talk to you about. I have an idea of what might have happened that day with Terwilliger.”
“Oh?” Rosenfeld said. “Enlighten me, then. If it vindicates Jason, I’m all ears.”
Mark smiled and pressed on. “You know the nurse who administered the pain meds?”
“Jolene Starr,” Rosenfeld supplied.
“Yes. Well, I noticed something when I came into the room that day. At first, I didn’t think much of it, but Jason just said something that made me remember it. She was sweating and acting weird when I saw her. I noticed it, but I chalked it up to being hungover since it was New Year’s Day. Roberta sent her to the pharmacy to pick up the morphine, but the order for Dilaudid was put in just after she left. That meant she had two types of pain meds when she left the pharmacy.” He paused, presumably for effect.
“Go on,” Rosenfeld prodded.
“When she came back, she looked completely different. She was no longer sweating, and she was acting like she felt much better. I remember noticing it and thinking it was odd, but again, I made some excuse in my mind. I decided maybe it had been the smell of puke that was bothering her. But that was stupid as hell. Have you ever seen anyone break out in a sweat because of a little vomit? Or act all out of sorts and then straighten right up when they leave the room? I was a fucking idiot, Dr. Rosenfeld. Her symptoms didn’t make much sense to me, so I just made excuses.”
“So, you’re saying she was high when she came back,” Rosenfeld said, coming to the same conclusion I had already reached.
“Yes. That’s exactly what I’m saying. She was exhibiting classic withdrawal symptoms when she left the room, and after she picked up a vial of morphine and a vial of Dilaudid, she was right as rain. I just can’t figure out exactly how she did it.”
Rosenfeld hummed. “It’s a bit of a stretch, but then it’s as good of an explanation as any in a mystery we can’t seem to solve.”
My heart was pounding double time. Could Mark be onto something? Could he have just saved my ass from prison? If so, then I had a lot more reason to kiss him than just the fact that he was sexy as hell.
But then hope gave way to horror, because this was Jolene we were talking about. My friend. One of the few people in the world I trusted. She wasn’t a junkie like Mark said, was she? I would have known, wouldn’t I?
I thought of Brent Ward’s mother. Of my own family. Of Mark’s family. The human mind was a powerful thing when it came to protecting itself from hard truths, even when the signs were there.
“What did Jolene say when you questioned her?” I asked, speaking up for the first time.
“Oh, Jason,” Rosenfeld said, surprise evident in his voice. “You’re there, too. I didn’t realize I was on speaker phone.” He cleared his throat. “She said you told her to give the morphine and that she hadn’t realized the patient was allergic to it. She said she was confused about the order for two pain meds, but she hadn’t bothered to question it. She just gave what you told her to.”
“That’s bullshit,” I said, feeling the sting of her betrayal lodge in my heart like a barb. “I told her specifically to give the Dilaudid, but obviously I didn’t watch her closely enough to see that she gave the wrong one. She—”
I wanted to say that she’d sold me out, but it hurt too much to say that aloud. And maybe she hadn’t. But then that meant I was still in big trouble. God, my heart couldn’t make up its mind. Which was more painful? That I’d made a deadly mistake or that I’d been betrayed by someone I’d trusted?
“It still doesn’t add up, though,” Rosenfeld said. “Jolene definitely gave the morphine because the autopsy confirmed it was in Terwilliger’s system. And she returned the Dilaudid to the pharmacy. Both medications are accounted for.” He sighed deeply. “As much as I’d like to vindicate you, Jason, the evidence doesn’t bear it out.”
Mark growled. “I know I’m right about this. That woman is a junkie, and she got a fix when she picked that medication up. Then she purposely gave Mr. Terwilliger the wrong medication to cover her tracks. I’m thinking she had to have taken the Dilaudid since Terwilliger obviously got the morphine.”
“But we have the Dilaudid, Mark,” Rosenfeld said. “We have it in our possession, locked up as evidence. How could she have taken it and returned it to the pharmacy?”
Mark ran a hand through his hair, more frustrated than I’d ever seen him. He was trying so hard to save me, and it warmed my heart to see how much it was tearing him up to come up against yet another brick wall. But then his eyes widened. “Did you confirm that the vial actually contains Dilaudid? Look at the cap and see if there’s a needle hole. Sometimes they can’t be seen at first glance, especially if you use a small enough needle.”
Rosenfeld’s voice brightened. “You may be onto something there. The morphine was given, and the Dilaudid was accounted for. The pieces fit together, so no one would have thought to check the contents.”
Mark smiled at me across the table. He seemed so damn sure he was right, he had me feeling a glimmer of hope for the first time since Rosenfeld had pulled me into his office and dropped the bomb on me.
We said our goodbyes, and Rosenfeld wished me luck. He sounded sincere, and I believed he meant it. “You two take care,” he said. “And enjoy your vacation because when you get back, I’m going to work your asses to the bone.”
After he clicked off, Mark grinned across the table at me. “He said work your asses to the bone.”
I put a hand to my mouth, feigning shock. “Do you think he knows what we’ve been doing up here?”
Mark got up and came around the table, cupping the back of my head in one of his strong hands and forcing me to look up at him. “That you worked my ass to the bone last night?”
“More like I boned your ass,” I said. “But he got a few of the words right.”
Mark bent down to plant a noisy kiss on my lips, but he snatched away from me when Rosenfeld’s voice came through the phone speaker. “I’m puking now,” he groaned. “Do I need to give you boys a lesson on how to hang up a phone? This is just awkward.”
“Rosenfeld, I—” Mark dragged in a deep breath. “I thought you ended the call.”
“I hung up, yes, but I immediately tried to make a call to get that vial checked out. You didn’t bother to end your side of the call, so you were still there, blocking me from making another call. That sometimes happens when you’re talking on a landline.”
“You could have spoken when you realized what had happened instead of eavesdropping,” Mark said.
“And miss that conversation? Not on your life. When were you planning on telling me about this?”
I decided to speak up and save Mark. “When we figured it out ourselves. It’s kind of a new development.” I glanced at Mark, hoping I was saying the right thing. I felt relieved when he nodded.
“We’re going to have to talk about this,” Rosenfeld said. “There are protocols when it comes to relationships between coworkers.”
“Why don’t you sound surprised or angry?” Mark asked.
Rosenfeld chuckled. “I’ve been wondering about you two for a long time.�
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Mark looked troubled at this news. “How? Why?”
“You and Jason are very close, Mark. So close you practically finish each other’s sentences. You play tennis together, work with each other all the time, neither one of you has ever mentioned dating anyone or being in a relationship. And everyone knows Jason is gay. He’s never been shy about letting people know. How could I not be suspicious?”
We were all silent for a few tense seconds, trying to process everything. Then Rosenfeld spoke up again. “Why do you think I was so worried about you, Mark, when this Terwilliger thing came to light and I had to put Jason on leave? I told you not to stick your neck out and get yourself in trouble, too. But then when you took leave to be with him, I pretty much knew my suspicions were correct, especially when you said you were the only family he had.”
I looked up at Mark, startled. “You said that?”
He nodded sheepishly. “Something to that effect. I mean, it wasn’t that exactly. He asked— Well, I said—” He blushed. “Yeah, that was pretty much it.”
I felt a smile creeping across my face, because holy hell this shy, flustered Mark was adorable. I just wanted to jump up and kiss those pink cheeks of his and tell him I thought of him as my family, too. That I wanted to be his family. That I’d never dared to dream that he’d felt the same about me.
Rosenfeld cleared his throat. “As much fun as this is, I need to get this Dilaudid thing taken care of. Or should we just send Jason to jail without a fight?”
“No, sir,” Mark said. “Go ahead and get that done. And thanks for everything.”
“No problem. Could you please end the call this time? I’m afraid of what I might hear if you don’t.”
We both laughed, and Mark very deliberately ended the call and then checked it three times before snatching me up by my collar and kissing me breathless.
19
Jason