by Melody Anne
“Dancing, huh?” Kian said, sounding utterly disbelieving.
“Yeah, dancing. I used to dance a lot,” she said defensively. In reality, she had two left feet and zero rhythm, but they’d never gone dancing together, so it wasn’t something he would know.
“Oh, you like to dance, huh? Show me your favorite one,” Millie said. She looked so excited, Roxie hated to disappoint the woman, but there was no way she was going to do a dance in front of them and show how very bad she was, proving herself a liar. Why couldn’t she have come up with a better lie?
“Yes, please show us,” Kian said, amusement now dripping from his voice. Millie didn’t seem aware at all.
“There’s no music. I have absolutely no rhythm without it. Maybe next time,” Roxie offered, thrilled with her excuse. That was until Kian pulled out his iPhone and smiled.
“Name the song and I can pull it up in three seconds,” he said, his voice utterly helpful. He was calling her bluff.
“Maybe the two of you can do the waltz for me. I know this room is small, but if you’re careful, it can be done,” Millie suggested.
That was the moment Roxie realized Millie hadn’t really been flirting with Kian at all, because the woman was certainly in matchmaker mode at the moment.
“This room is far too small, and I wouldn’t want to accidentally unplug something,” Roxie said. She moved into the room and came to stand beside Millie, hoping to distract the woman from her request. “Why don’t I fluff these pillows for you? They look quite lumpy.”
“That would be lovely, but then you dance,” Millie said firmly, her eyes surprisingly bright and alert. Roxie had a feeling she wasn’t getting out of this. She glanced from the corner of her eye to see Kian smugly sitting there.
“I’ll move my chair back to give you more room,” he offered. She gritted her teeth.
Roxie remembered she’d once taken a line-dance lesson just to get some socialization. Line dancing didn’t take a lot of rhythm for those beginning songs, if she remembered correctly. Some of the damn people there looked amazing, their hips and shoulders moving in sync to their feet, but there had been others like her who could barely manage to move their feet, let alone clap hands and swing hips.
“I don’t think it would be proper to play music in the hospital,” Roxie said.
“I’m the doctor in charge this afternoon. I’ll okay it,” Kian said. He was now leaning back as if he planned on getting real comfortable.
“Don’t you have patients who need you? I can do the dance for Millie. You don’t need to stay,” she said, almost begging him.
“Nope. I always make sure Millie is my last patient so I don’t have to rush away. She always tells me the best stories,” he said before looking down at Millie and winking. “I don’t know, Millie. Maybe she can’t dance, and she fibbed to us,” he said in a loud, conspiratorial voice. “What do you think?”
“Oh no, she definitely has the hips to dance. I think she’s just being shy,” Millie said.
Self-consciously, Roxie moved her hands across her hips as she thought about the conversation she’d had with Eden the other day. She wanted a mirror right now.
“Yes, she definitely has the hips,” Kian said. The hunger Roxie witnessed in Kian’s eyes as he said those words while his gaze moved steadily up and down her body sent any thoughts of being fat right out of her mind and made heat pool in her core. That wasn’t a good idea. She couldn’t even begin to have thoughts like that when it came to Kian.
And now, as Kian’s gaze took its time appraising her, she felt hunger that she’d managed to push down for years spring to life in a roaring manner that had no business consuming her.
Clenching her thighs together in fear that any movement might make things happen she really didn’t want happening in public, Roxie focused on Millie instead of Kian as she tried to calm her now-erratic breathing and rapidly beating heart.
“I haven’t danced in a while,” she said, pleading with the woman to let her off the hook.
“That’s okay; once a dancer, always a dancer,” Millie assured her. She pushed a button on her bed and sat up.
Again, Roxie wondered why she hadn’t run away when she’d had the chance. She either had to admit defeat or she had to dance. Roxie never had been one to give up, even if she knew she was going to be humiliated.
“Play ‘Watermelon Crawl,’” Roxie said through clenched teeth. She was flashing through her thankfully near-photographic memory as she tried to remember the dance. She could do this. It was just a few steps, a little side to side and front and back. She could do this, she assured herself. It had been two years, but she could do this. And she would do this without hurting the nice old woman.
Kian didn’t say a word as he pulled up the music and hit “Play.” His lips were turned up in a smug smile, and Roxie wasn’t going to allow that look to stay plastered on his face. So, she was about to humiliate herself. Wouldn’t it just be better to walk away? Nope, it wouldn’t, she assured herself.
She lined up as centered as she could in the room, then counted to eight and began the dance. Her eyes were closed as she tried to focus on the images in her head, and she felt as if she were actually doing it. She followed along with the images that felt like a television screen and danced away, and “Watermelon Crawl” played softly on Kian’s phone. She turned, did it again, turned, and did it once more.
Millie was clapping, calling out that Roxie was doing beautifully, and that gave Roxie the confidence to finish off with a little turn as the song drew to a close. Maybe she should have opened her eyes, because she did her turn and tripped on Kian’s foot, tumbling down straight into his lap.
Her eyes shot open, and her gaze was captured by his, his lips only inches from her own, her butt cushioned on his lap. Her breath caught in her throat as her eyes got trapped by his, and if she wasn’t mistaken, which she very well could be, there was a throbbing thickness beneath her butt that was making her core pulse with need, and making heat flood her body. Her nipples peaked, painfully rubbing against her bra, and for a moment, just a single moment, Roxie forgot she was in a hospital room with a patient watching them, forgot she’d left Kian with nothing more than an aloof note, forgot he wanted to take her niece away from her, forgot they’d been apart for four years.
Roxie began reaching for his lips, desperately hungry to close the small gap between them. She felt his fingers tighten on her hips where he held her and watched fire leap into his eyes. She thought of nothing but his touch . . .
That was until Millie clapped and called out, “Bravo.” Both she and Kian froze at the reminder that they weren’t alone. Roxie ripped her gaze away from Kian and gazed at Millie with a shocked expression.
“That was wonderful, darling. Please come back and do it again,” Millie said.
The old woman had to be blind, because Roxie knew she might have gotten the steps right, but even with getting them right, she had no rhythm and certainly had slaughtered the dance.
“Wonderful, just wonderful,” Millie repeated again.
“You need to take her to a proper place where she can really dance,” Millie told Kian.
“And you’ve had too much excitement for one afternoon. It’s time for rest,” Kian told her.
Roxie knew this was her only chance to escape. If she and Kian left that room together, she wasn’t sure what would happen. And right now, she was hormonal, and her head was fuzzy. She might make a wrong decision.
She didn’t even say goodbye to Millie, deciding she’d slip back in there later when she knew Kian wouldn’t be around. She liked the old woman and didn’t want to hurt her feelings. But more than that, at the moment she was fighting for her own survival, and that meant she had to get away from Kian, and she had to do it right now.
So, she rushed from the room, then speed-walked down the hallway. She was just passing the on-call rooms when a hand snagged her around the waist, and she was pulled inside the darkness.
Kian�
�s lips smashed against hers before she could even think of objecting. And protesting went out the window at the first touch of his familiar mouth.
Chapter Fifteen
Kian’s mind went blank as he pushed Roxie against the wall in the private on-call room. It was dark as midnight, and the only sounds were the rapid breaths escaping them. He was so hard and thick, he feared he’d explode from just the feeling of his clothed erection against her backside.
“Are you playing games, Roxie?” he asked, his voice low and guttural. “I know how to play, too,” he insisted. He had the front of her body pressed against the wall, his own body acting as a cage behind her. Reaching up, he stroked a finger along the curve of her jaw and felt her tense beneath his touch.
She wasn’t in any way repulsed by him. She was just as turned on as he was, and she was running. It was exactly what he should do. He had no business dragging her into this room. There was too much between them, too much lost. And their one night together already hadn’t fixed things.
Even knowing he should let her go, he wrapped his fingers in her hair and pulled her head to the side as he descended, his lips soothing her skin before his teeth sank into her flesh, his tongue wiping away the sting.
Moving his mouth up the sweet curve of her neck, he traced the outline of her ear and whispered, “Do you want me, Roxie? Do you want this ache soothed?”
A shudder racked through her body as she tensed beneath his hold. He could feel the erratic beat of her heart as it pulsed against his lips while he sucked on her neck, growing harder by the second with the need to claim her.
Never could he have forgotten how it felt when he was buried deep within her, but even after four years, his hunger had been woken up a month ago, and now he wanted more and more. He’d once taken her in every position, in every fantasy come to life, but never at the hospital. He wanted her here, where he worked, where he could walk past this room and grow hard just thinking about it. This should be the opposite of what he wanted, but he had to have her. If she denied him now, he might not be able to walk from this building, he’d be in so much pain.
“Our passion could break us. It was always so consuming, so hot,” he said, enjoying the shudder that passed through her responsive body. She couldn’t hide how she felt, no matter what she said, but Kian wouldn’t take her without her permission. She had to ask for it, had to admit she wanted him, too. Her silence wasn’t enough consent.
“Do you want to break with me, Roxie? Tell me,” he demanded as he pressed his thickness against her. “Don’t deny us this.” His voice was urgent, his need overwhelming. He didn’t care about anything else in the world at this moment; he just had to have her.
He sucked on her neck again, his hands rubbing down her sides. She squirmed against him, but he stopped waiting to hear her consent before he gave them what they wanted. He didn’t move, but his grip was loose enough for her to get away. It was hell while he waited for her decision. She pushed her backside against him and caused him even more pain, but he didn’t respond. It felt like an eternity as he waited, his hot breath caressing the smoothness of her throat.
“Yes,” she whispered so quietly he could barely hear her. Joy filled him, but he wanted more. He wanted her pleading with him.
She would beg, he decided. His hands roamed her body, sweeping across her covered skin with precise movements to make her whimper in pleasure and desire. His touch was sure, filled with purpose, and everywhere he touched responded. He peeled her clothes away, needing her naked and panting.
She lifted her arms as he tugged off her shirt and bra. He wanted the light on, wanted to see her flesh, but he wasn’t going to do anything that might break this moment, that might wake them both up to the reality of what they were doing. He touched every beautiful inch of her as he stripped away the barriers keeping him away from her hot flesh.
Soon she was naked, her body ripe and ready for him. He wanted to touch her all over. “What do you want?” he asked, his voice guttural, barely recognizable. His pants were still on, though he wrenched his shirt off. If he stripped that final barrier, he might take her too fast, end this too quickly.
She shook before him and answered. “Everywhere. Just touch me,” she begged, her words barely a whisper.
“Hmm,” he said, his lips rumbling against her skin as he sucked on her neck before turning her so her back was now against the wall. He filled his palms with the sweet weight of her breasts, her nipples hard against his palms. “Perfect,” he said in utter reverence.
He’d once memorized her perfect body, and touching her again brought those memories to the surface. She was just how he remembered her, sweet and lush and full of fire, her skin so hot to the touch he was surely getting burned.
Once again, Kian turned her and pressed his hardness against her sweet backside while he cupped her breasts, rubbing the nipples between his fingers, causing her to cry out.
“Yes, let me know how you’re feeling,” he said, the sound of her desire almost more than he could take.
She bit her lip and groaned, trying to suppress the sound.
“Don’t hold back. I want to hear you,” he demanded. He was losing more control by the second. The longer he had her in his arms, the more fried his brain became. He desperately wanted to see the look in her eyes while he squeezed her chest and she whimpered beneath his touch. But the lights were too bright in here, and he had no doubt it would kill the mood. He wasn’t taking the risk.
He squeezed her nipples again, and she cried out, this time louder. Yes! He wanted to own her total loss of control. He didn’t care if they were at the hospital; he didn’t care if someone passed by the door. He was out of his mind with lust, and he wanted her right there with him.
“Your body is amazing,” he told her. “So soft in all the right places, so firm in others. Perfection. You are utter perfection,” he said with a reverence he’d never felt with another soul. “Only you, Roxie, only you are this perfect.” Maybe he was giving this woman too much power, but at this moment, he didn’t care.
“Only you, Kian,” she said, her voice breaking, her body his—only his.
Roxie panted as he pressed his fingers more tightly over her nipples, squeezing them hard before he tugged; a whimper escaped her. It was just enough pressure to give the slightest pull of pain, with mind-boggling amounts of pleasure to follow.
She squirmed beneath him, and he could practically taste her orgasm in the air. Only he knew how to touch her, knew every nuance of how she responded to him, knew the moment her pleasure neared. He’d brought her to the brink of pleasure too many times not to know how to do it before backing off, building her explosions to molten levels.
“Please, Kian, please,” she begged. She was losing control more and more. He wouldn’t please her until she let go all the way. He wanted to own her, at least for this moment, and nothing less would be acceptable.
Needing to see her, Kian remembered the yellow corner light, and he turned her around, giving her body a shove that made her fall to the bed. She gasped as her hot body came into contact with the cold, sterile blanket. Kian stepped to the lamp and hit the switch, then turned to find her sprawled out on the bed, her legs wide, her eyes huge, her mouth panting.
“Damn,” he said, his voice choked, his body pulsing. His erection hurt as it pressed against the silk of his underwear and tented out against his scrubs. He reached for himself and squeezed, trying to relieve some of the pressure. It didn’t help.
“Spread wider,” he demanded. He wanted to look at her beauty. “Wider,” he told her, his tone harsh in his excitement. “I want to look at where I’m about to bury myself.”
He glanced at her eyes, at the utter pleasure in them, and nearly ripped off his pants and sank into her right then and there. Playtime was just about over. But Roxie always had enjoyed him making her hot and bothered before they connected. He didn’t want to displease her now.
Roxie planted her feet on the bed and spread her legs wide
open, her stomach quivering as she gripped the cool blanket beneath her. Her confidence in her smoldering body nearly made him come in his pants. He was afraid to take a step closer, afraid he was about to lose control.
With a strength he hadn’t known possible, Kian crawled onto the bed and braced himself above her, leaning down and rubbing his tongue across one sweet nipple before kissing a path across her luscious mound and swiping his tongue over the other one. He moved from nipple to nipple, licking and sucking until she buried her fingers in his hair and pulled hard.
“Do you want my mouth all over you?” he asked.
“Yes, yes, yes,” she begged, her fingers tightening in his hair.
He wanted the same. He trailed his lips down the soft curve of her stomach, his tongue dipping into her navel before he moved lower. The bed was too small, so he slid from it as he grabbed her hips and tugged her along with him, positioning her beautiful opening in front of his mouth.
The first taste of her heat had him nearly crying. She was so hot and wet, he was quickly losing his mind. He pushed her quivering thighs farther apart as he leaned in and sucked her hot flesh.
Kian gazed up Roxie’s quivering body, and their eyes met. Hers were nearly delirious in her pleasure, and he felt his tongue slip from his mouth and coat her taste over his lips, which she seemed to like as her entire body jerked from the bed. Slowly, keeping his eyes connected with hers, he leaned forward and ran his tongue along her hot slit, sliding it in a circle across her most sensitive bundle.
She twisted her head, breaking the hold he had on her eyes as she called out her pleasure and demanded more. She was on fire, and he felt the heat scorching him. Electricity sizzled through his own flesh, all stopping and pulsing in one place that demanded he finish this.
