Her pussy clenched. She was close. Part of her hated for it to end. She wished she could stay in this state of suspended bliss for eternity.
But it didn’t happen.
She shattered. Every muscle in her ass and pussy gripped and pulsed around her men.
They both slammed into her deep and held tight the moment she fell into tiny pieces, pulsing their own releases into her as they filled the room with what could only be described as animalistic sounds of release.
She smiled.
So good.
So right.
Hers.
She was complete with them, she thought, as they all caught their breath.
She collapsed on Miles’ chest, still gasping for air. “Don’t pull out,” she requested into both of their minds.
Griffen remained on his knees between both her and Miles’ legs. It had to be hard for him to stay in that position, but she needed this for a few more minutes.
The hell with the rest of the world and their staunch ideas of right and wrong. Fuck them. She would take this love and soak it up over anything else any day of the week.
She would find a way to make this work. Permanently. If she couldn’t keep her job at the hospital, she’d get another one.
That’s how determined and strong she felt now that she’d been fucked hard and reminded of her good fortune.
She smiled against Miles’ chest and relaxed her body. “I’m good now,” she whispered. “Thank you.”
Chapter Thirty
Rebecca blinked her eyes open, unsure what had awoken her. After dinner and then round two last night, she hadn’t really gotten enough sleep to be awake. It was dark out, though she sensed it was early, not late.
And then she realized what woke her.
A phone buzzed on the night stand.
Miles groaned. “What the fuck?” He must have sucked three more seconds of sleep out of the situation.
Rebecca leaned over his enormous body and flattened her hand on the phone as it buzzed again. It was hers. “Hello?” she answered groggily.
“Rebecca, thank God. It’s Marian. Two nurses called in sick. I know it’s your day off, but is there any chance…?” She kept talking. “I’m swamped here already. Seems every person in town is flooding the emergency room this morning.”
Rebecca sat up straighter, aware of the cool air in the room wafting across her naked chest. She glanced at the clock. Five forty-five.
Twelve hours ago she’d been raging against this hospital, but that wasn’t Marian’s fault. The woman was not the cause of Rebecca’s aggravation or her problems.
Rebecca had a moral compass that set her into action. “I’ll be there in twenty.”
“Bless you, hon.” Marian disconnected before Rebecca could say another word.
“You’re kidding, right?” Miles asked the pillow, barely more awake than one minute ago.
Rebecca climbed over his frame, kissing his back as she went.
Griffen reached out a hand and snagged her ankle. He groaned. “Really, baby?”
“Yep. Who’s taking me?”
They both groaned.
She snickered as she made her way across the room. “No worries. I can drive. I think I still remember how.”
Two seconds later as she flipped on the shower, two men stood in the doorway.
Twenty minutes later both men dropped her off. She rode to the hospital in between them in the front seat of Miles’ truck, and she kissed them both soundly one at a time before she got out. Fuck anyone who had issue with it. Let the hospital fire her.
She walked into the emergency room to find total chaos. It was like a full moon or something.
One thing that helped was that working kept her mind off the race she knew was about to start a few blocks away in downtown Cambridge. It smarted she wasn’t there at the starting line, but she tamped down her frustration and threw herself into her work.
Two hours later, she flinched as the gun went off for the start of the race. She could hear it from the emergency room bay where she was helping unload a stretcher.
And two minutes after that, all hell broke loose.
•●•
Miles groaned when his cell phone rang as he and Griffen returned to the condo. He pulled it out of his back pocket to find an emergency call coming from an elder in his pack, Randal Peaceman. “Shit.”
“Everything okay?” Griffen asked.
Apparently Randal had a horse in labor that wasn’t doing so well.
Miles didn’t know Randal well. The man was older, perhaps in his eighties.
Miles had always found the man to be a bit odd and rather reclusive, but he was raised to respect his elders, and he took that seriously. If the man had an animal in distress, Miles would not leave him high and dry.
With this in mind, Miles pulled up to the condo and faced Griffen. “Gotta go see a man about a horse.” He grinned.
Griffen chuckled. “How often do you use that line?”
“In my job? Nearly every day.”
“Well, check in and let me know if you need anything. Guess I’ll go back to bed.”
Miles glared at Griffen. “Sure, you do that. The rest of us will make the big bucks.”
“Riiight. Talk to me about that in the middle of ski season,” Griffen teased as he exited the truck. “Later.”
Miles headed for the reservation as soon as Griffen shut the door.
The last thing he wanted to do was drive forty-five minutes on not enough sleep, but that was his job.
As the sun peeked over the horizon, he turned up the radio and slapped his knee to the music to keep himself awake and focused as he drove. He tried to dip into Rebecca’s mind a few times, but his mate was obviously swamped because she was not available for idle chitchat.
When he pulled up and parked between Randal’s barn and his dilapidated house, he shut off the engine and watched as the older man emerged from the back of the house.
“Bartel. Thanks for coming.” Peaceman didn’t make eye contact. In fact his brow was furrowed. That wasn’t unusual by itself. After all, the man was worried about his horse, and as far as Miles knew, Randal only had one horse.
Miles approached Peaceman with an outstretched hand the older man ignored as he walked past him. It unnerved Miles a bit, and he pondered why the man had been in the house instead of the barn.
Even more perplexing was the direction Miles’ thoughts went concerning the horse. If the man had only one horse, how did it get pregnant? And if Miles wasn’t mistaken, the horse Randal owned was not female. Plus, the guy lived way out from town, secluded. He didn’t have the personality or the financial wherewithal to arrange for a breeding.
Hell, his house was falling off the frame. Miles twisted his neck to look back over his shoulder as he followed Randal. He cringed. It was a wonder the man had running water and electricity in that house. It was older than dirt. Why wasn’t anyone on the reservation keeping an eye on this man? He clearly needed more assistance than Miles could provide.
Miles followed a silent Randal into the barn and continued at his rear until they reached the last stall. An empty stall.
The barn was as quiet at its owner. There was no evidence of any animals at all.
Miles furrowed his brow and reached one hand up to scratch his head, perplexed. “Randal, where’s your horse? I’m confused.” As he turned to face the older gentleman, he found himself backing up a step at the feral look in the man’s eyes and the growl he emitted.
Then Randal lifted his hand so fast, Miles didn’t have a chance to wrap his brain around Peaceman’s intentions before the old guy jabbed a needle in Miles’ arm.
Miles jerked back, but it was too late. “What the fuck?” Whatever had been in the syringe was already going to work. He lowered himself slowly toward the ground as his mind went blank and his limbs stopped functioning properly. “Shit. Randal? What the fuck?” he repeated, his words slurring.
And then everything went black.
•●•
Rebecca stopped in her tracks as the rumbling started. She knew instantly what was happening. After all, she’d been through two earthquakes already in the last week.
But this was different.
The entire hospital shook as if some giant picked it up from the outside and swung it around and around his head.
She lost her balance and fell to the floor, grabbing onto the edge of the desk as she went down. The computer on the counter above her head slid forward as she watched in horror.
At the last second it careened the other direction and crashed to the ground.
Then there was the screaming. Adults, kids, babies, anyone with a voice box.
The vibrations from the massive earthquake didn’t let up. It seemed like forever while the walls shook, the ceiling tiles fell, and chairs skidded across the room all over the waiting area. It probably lasted less than a minute, but for anyone who’d never been through an earthquake of this magnitude, it was the most frightening experience.
Finally, the earth settled.
The screaming did not.
Rebecca jumped to her feet and took a cursory glance around the room. No one appeared to be pinned or bleeding. Scared, yes, but not dying.
Someone grabbed her arm, and she spun around to see Marian behind her. “I’m heading to the rooms behind me. Can you check the hall to the left?”
Rebecca nodded and took off at a run. So many things raced through her head. The hospital was only two stories. It was a small town, but there were approximately twenty patients in the hall Marian indicated. There were more upstairs, but the nurses up there would be handling that.
She stuck her head into each room. “You okay?” She gave each patient and any family in the room a quick glance and then raced to the next room.
By the time she made it back to the lobby, having determined no one was in imminent danger, the waiting room was packed with people who came in off the street.
The chairs had been set back upright in a random arrangement, and all of them were filled with people holding a broken limb or a gash on their arms, legs, or heads.
Mayhem. Total.
Someone ran into the emergency entrance screaming. At first Rebecca didn’t know what the man was saying, but she stepped closer as she caught the word “race.”
“Please, whoever can help. Hurry.” He pointed back out the door. “Anyone.” He made eye contact with Rebecca. “You. You’re a nurse? Please hurry.”
Marian and Cecelia came up beside Rebecca.
Marian took command. “Rebecca, you go. See what they need at the race. It just started. The participants can’t have gotten too far. Call me when you get a chance. I’ll try to round up more help and send a doctor.”
Rebecca nodded and took off behind the man before skidding to a stop and returning to the nurses’ station.
Supplies.
She glanced around, spotted someone’s duffle bag under the counter, dumped it out, and filled it with gauze, tape, antiseptic ointment, anything she could get her hands on.
And then she was running again, catching up with the man who’d come for help. “This way,” he yelled. “So many people injured. They’re going to need more than just you.”
They rounded the first corner and then the second, the noise level increasing as they reached a spot several blocks from the starting line. She knew the route well. She could have run it in her sleep.
Anyone who lived in or near the town and wasn’t at work this morning would have been at the race cheering. The casualties could be enormous.
She stopped dead as she reached the next bend and stared at the scene in front of her down a slight incline.
Bodies everywhere. The moaning. The screaming. The sounds of death and fear.
An entire building had collapsed right in the path of the race, crashing down around the participants and pinning them in the debris.
A chill like nothing she’d ever experienced raced down her spine as she realized the implications and lifted her face to the sky for a moment to thank the Native American spirit that kept her out of this catastrophe and made it possible for her to be at the scene in a helpful capacity instead of one of the injured…or dead.
She ran again, stopping at the first person she came to who held a severely broken arm and was in shock. “You.” She pointed at a man nearby who held his shirt over a gash in his head. “Come help.”
He looked at her with huge eyes for a moment and then glanced down at the woman. He nodded and scurried toward her.
“Hold her arm like this.” Rebecca showed him. “This is your job. Don’t move. Understand?”
He nodded again, swallowing as he took the arm and held it.
Rebecca could only do so much, but she knew if someone didn’t keep the blood flowing to that woman’s limb, she would lose it.
She moved to another patient. A small girl. She was crying, but not loud enough. She had a long cut down her cheek, blood running down her neck.
Rebecca grabbed some gauze from her bag and held it to the girl’s face. “Do you see your parents, honey?”
The girl shook her head. She was trembling with fear.
Rebecca met her gaze and held her cheeks. “We’re gonna help you, okay? Stay brave.” She glanced around again and found a teenage girl standing on the sidewalk, too stunned to move. “Sweetie,” Rebecca called to her, “Come here.”
The girl looked around and then pointed at herself.
“Yes. You. What’s your name?”
“Darla.”
“Great. Darla. I need your help. Can you do that?”
“Ye-yes.”
“Good. Hold this bandage and help this little girl to the hospital. Okay?”
Darla looked around frantically.
“Darla. Everyone who is able needs to help. You want this sweet girl to get medical attention, right?”
“Yes.” Darla leaned down and did as Rebecca asked.
Two down.
Rebecca stood to survey the area. So many people. Hundreds. She couldn’t do this alone.
She jogged to the next victim, and the next, and the one after that. She ordered stunned survivors to help the less fortunate.
“Rebecca. Baby.” She thought she heard Griffen in her head, but as she went to answer him telepathically, she realized the voice had been out loud.
She spun around and found him jogging toward her. He was out of breath. He stopped and pulled her into his arms tightly. “So fucking scared.”
“How did you find me?”
“Couldn’t get into your head. Went back to the hospital. They said you were here.” He stepped back. “What do you need me to do?”
“Stop blood, help people get to the hospital.” She lifted her face to his. “Where’s Miles?”
He hesitated.
“Dammit, Griffen.” She shook his arms. “Where’s Miles?”
“Not sure.” His voice was low, tender. “He got called to the reservation soon after you went to work. Some emergency. I can’t…”
“You can’t reach him,” she finished. She closed her eyes and reached out. “Miles?” Nothing.
“Maybe he’s busy. We can’t know what damage happened on that end of the lake.” Griffen gave her a squeeze. “Let’s get to work, baby.” He released her and tugged her hand.
They worked side by side for hours. The sun rose high in the sky and then dipped toward the other side. The heavens had no idea such destruction had occurred in this little slice of earth.
At some point, Griffen shoved a protein bar in Rebecca’s hand. “Eat.”
She took a bite and kept working.
“Eat,” he commanded again.
She rolled her eyes at him and took another bite.
By the afternoon, a full triage tent was running in the middle of the street. Every once in a while everyone froze while a building collapsed under the pressure or the rubble settled.
People who weren’t involved in the race were trapped inside many of the structures.
Rebecca had never seen anything like this in her life, not even on television. Such total destruction in her own town. A town she’d grown fond of. Now just piles of rubble.
When the sun fell, she was dead on her feet. She’d worked for over twelve hours without taking a break.
Griffen’s arms went around her and pulled her in tight. “Let’s go, baby.”
“We can’t. There’s still so much to do.”
“Baby, you’re exhausted. Every able-bodied medical personnel has arrived by now, even some from out of town. Look.” He lifted her face toward the tent.
It was indeed filled with doctors and nurses caring for the wounded.
“You’re no good to anyone until you’ve slept. They need you well rested.”
She nodded. He was right.
He took her hand and led her away from the havoc.
“Miles…” she reminded him. Neither of them had communicated with him all day. She choked on a sob as she considered the possibilities.
He didn’t say a word, but led her the few blocks to his condo. The streets were dark. There was no electricity. The entire triage area had been lit with generators, but now that they’d walked away…
Griffen opened the door and held her back. “Let me make sure it’s safe.” He went inside while she stood in the entrance, chewing on her lip. Worry she’d stuffed to the back of her mind for the past twelve hours now gnawed at her.
She had to take deep breaths to keep from breaking down in tears. It wouldn’t help anyone.
Griffen materialized in front of her again. “It’s safe. At least for now. Grab some things.”
“Where are we going?”
“To the reservation.”
She exhaled slowly. Thank fuck.
She hustled into the condo and stuffed a bag as if she were going away for several days. She couldn’t be sure what they would find when they reached the rez. She wanted to be prepared.
And then they ran to the truck.
Repeated attempts to contact Miles failed. It was so unusual that Rebecca fought the rising panic inside her. She tried to convince herself he was busy. Wherever he was, if the damage was anything close to what Cambridge looked like, he would have spent the entire day in a bustle of activity similar to what Rebecca and Griffen had experienced.
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