“I’ll take it if you want me to, but it won’t make them go away. They’re not hallucinations. They’re ghosts. I see them everywhere. I hear them.”
“Jennifer—”
“I understand your doubt. You’re a man of science. You don’t see the oxygen molecules in the air, but you know they’re there.”
“Oxygen molecules are real, Jennifer. They can be seen. Not with the naked eye perhaps, but—”
“They surround you, and yet you never notice, never see them. What if there’s more you don’t see?”
I caught the eye of a nurse that I vaguely recognized as she walked by.
“What is it, Doctor?”
“Can you escort Miss Carlton back to her room down on two south? I’m going to be discharging her shortly and she wants to start gathering her belongs.”
“I can take her,” volunteered Will.
“I’d like to speak to you for a moment if you don’t mind.”
“Not at all.”
“Follow me.”
Will followed me down the hall and into the doctors’ lounge.
“You won’t help her by feeding into her delusions,” I told him as soon as the door closed.
Will crossed his arms in front of his chest. “What if it’s not a delusion?”
“You want to help your sister? Then try to orient her to reality.”
Will sat down on the sofa and looked me in the eye. “I’m taking her home. I’ll make sure she gets the medications and I’ll stop validating her sightings.”
“I’ll call down a discharge order and the prescription. If you need me, call my service. Otherwise I’ll see her in my office at the regular time next week.”
Will stood up. He reached into his breast pocket, pulled out his business card and handed it to me. “I wager we’ll be seeing one another before next week,” he said. Then he was gone.
I returned to Katherine’s room and crawled back into the bed, stretching out alongside of her. She moved toward me, her body seeking out my warmth. “Katherine, love, time to wake up.”
“It’s your turn to feed the baby,” she mumbled pushing back on me slightly, her bottom pressing up against my dick.
Katherine’s breath hitched, then she released a moan that made me instantly hard. I was about to pull back, put some distance between us, when she slid one bare leg on top of mine, trapping me in place.
“Certainly hope you’re dreaming about me, love,” I whispered to the small section of back that peeked out from her hospital gown. I placed a kiss between her shoulder blades.
“Wes,” she whispered.
I was already excited, but the simple sound of my name on her lips, the intimacy of the situation, excited me even more. The closeness of her, and the way her body seemed to call for mine, even in sleep. I found myself wanting to wrap my arm around her, to cup her breast in the palm of my hand.
“God, I want you.”
Katherine stirred. I moved back, giving her room. She rolled over to face me, her eyes opening ever so slowly.
“Hi, beautiful.”
She smiled. “Morning. How’s the shoulder?”
“Fine. Well, better.” I closed my eyes and tried to will my erection away. “How did you sleep?”
“I slept well. Are you sure you’re okay?” She placed her hand casually on my stomach.
My eyes popped open.
“Yes, fine.”
“You sure?”
She’d started to trace an invisible pattern around and below my belly button. I placed my free hand over hers. “That’s not helping.”
The corners of Katherine’s mouth slipped into a satisfied smile. She shifted so that her lips barely grazed the shell of my ear and whispered, “That might depend on your point of view. What is it you want, Dr. Atherton?”
“You’re teasing me!”
“Who, me?”
“Or, torturing me is more like it!”
“I am not torturing you. You big baby.”
“No?” I took her hand in mine and slid it down to cup my cock. “Look what you’ve done. What do you expect me to do with—”
My brain was entirely short circuited by a playful squeeze.
“You want me.”
“Very much,” I admitted. “Do you want me?”
“Yes.” She licked her lips. “Yes, I want you.”
“I was so afraid that you would regret it, agreeing to come home with me.” I lifted her hand and held it to my heart.
“You promised me I wouldn’t. I’m going to hold you to that.”
“Demanding one, you are!”
“Whatever will you do with me?”
“Do with you? Let me assure you, I’ve got plans for you, Miss Lawson. Great. Big. Plans.”
Charles opened the door as we walked up.
“Let me take that, sir.” He reached for Katherine’s suitcase. “I’ll unpack for Miss Lawson. May I fix you a drink? Dinner is almost ready.”
“Dinner?” I followed Charles into the living room.
“Yes, sir. I assumed you’d prefer to dine in this evening.” He walked over to the bar where there were two crystal glasses sitting on a small silver tray. Then he picked up the bottle of scotch and began to pour. “I have an assortment of juices and soft drinks for Miss Lawson, decaffeinated, of course.”
“Water will be fine,” said Katherine. She was standing in front of the large fireplace that dominated the far wall, staring at the painting hanging above the rich mahogany mantel. Undoubtedly, she’d seen replicas of it before.
“My mother,” I said. “It was the first time she ever posed for him.”
“It’s beautiful.” Katherine accepted a glass of water from Charles. “She was beautiful.”
“It would seem that the Atherton men have a knack for finding beautiful women.” I took a sip of my scotch. “The glow of your skin in the firelight is breathtaking.”
Katherine looked back over her shoulder at me and smiled coyly. “Are you flirting with me?”
“Yes.” I sat down on the black leather sofa opposite the fireplace. “Come and join me?”
“We hardly know one another. What am I doing here?” Katherine asked, sitting next to me.
“I don’t know. It feels right, though, doesn’t it?”
“Yes. It feels right.”
“Are you hungry?”
“No. You?”
“Not yet.”
“Think I could squeeze in a bath before dinner?” she asked, fluttering her eyelashes playfully.
“Excuse me, sir.” Charles stood just outside the entrance to the living room.
“Yes?”
“Miss Lawson is unpacked. I wasn’t sure what time you wanted to dine. I prepared a simple Osso Bucco with risotto. It’s in the warming drawer.”
“I think we can take it from here, then. Miss Lawson is going to bathe before dinner. Thank you for everything.”
“Will you need me in the morning?”
I shook my head. “Take the morning off as usual.”
“Very well, sir.”
Katherine stood up, walked over to the baby grand piano in the corner of the room, and gently brushed her fingers across the keys.
“Do you play?” I asked her.
“Me? No. Will you play something for me when your shoulder is better?”
Before she could protest I removed the sling and tossed it onto the sofa. I rotated my shoulder carefully, stretching it out. “It’s almost there.”
I crossed the hardwood floor and sat down on the piano bench. Katherine came to stand behind me, gently placing her hand on my wounded shoulder.
“You were trying to hold on to me,” she said, as I began to play.
“Wish I’d done a better job of it.”
“You play brilliantly.” Katherine slid her hand from my shoulder to the nape of my neck.
I paused, then quietly turned to face her. “Come here.” I spread my knees apart, opened my arms and pulled her into an embrace.
&
nbsp; “Your arm is supposed to still be in the sling.”
“Sod the sling. I’ve been dying to do this.” I rested my forehead on her stomach. “Tell me you’re not going back to Damien.”
“Damien who?”
I looked up at her, searching out her eyes. “I’m on shaky ground here. I feel like I’m standing on the edge of this precipice and there’s a part of me that just wants to jump, feet first, and damn the consequences.”
“And the other part?”
“Well, he remembers what happened the last time I got burned. You know, that first step can be a doozy. And, if there’s no one there to catch you…”
“Go on.”
“I didn’t expect this, us. Tell me you’re not going back to Damien.”
“I’m not going back to Damien.” Katherine cupped the side of my face in the palm of her hand.
I released the breath I’d been holding and nodded. “Right then. I’m going to give you fair warning. I intend to keep you here.”
“What are you going to do? Tie me up and hold me hostage?” She laughed.
“Would you like that?”
“No!” she protested a little too loudly. “Well, maybe. I’ve never tried it before.”
“Don’t make plans for Saturday afternoon, I want to take you someplace.”
“Where?”
I stood up and reached for her hand so that I could lead her upstairs. “It’s a surprise. Ready for that bath?”
Katherine followed me up the white marble staircase. “There are three bedrooms up here. I’ve turned one into an office of sorts. This is the guest room.” I flipped on the light.
“Can I be honest with you about something?” she asked, still standing out in the hallway.
“Yes, of course.”
“Okay. I’m thinking, guestroom? Why doesn’t he want me in his room?”
“I didn’t want to push, or presume.” I took her face in my hands and kissed her softly on the lips. “I would much prefer you stay in my room. I’ll move your things.” I opened the closet door to find it essentially empty.
“What’s wrong?”
“Seems Charles didn’t put you in here after all.”
Katherine headed down the hall. “This one?”
“The next one, on the left,” he replied.
Katherine passed through the doorway and let out an audible gasp.
“What is it?”
My decidedly masculine room, the space where I spent most of my time, had been subtly transformed. Charles had scattered small candles on the shelving across from my bed that housed the television and stereo. There were more on the bedside tables, the side table next to the sofa where I stacked books and magazines. They were just about everywhere. All of them lit.
“I swear it didn’t look like this when I left.”
Katherine walked over to the antique four-poster and picked up the long red silk nightgown that Charles had laid out on top of the dark brown chenille duvet.
“Is this Charles’s idea as well?”
“He picked it up, but the idea was mine. Not that the hospital gown wasn’t attractive.”
Katherine hugged the nightgown to her breast, and sighed. “Candles. Silk nightgowns. I think I’m falling in love with Charles.”
“You bloody well better not be!” I unceremoniously pulled the nightgown from her grasp.
“So, you’re the jealous type? Good to know.”
“Bath’s in there.”
Katherine walked through the door, then leaned back out. “It’s a pretty big tub, plenty of room for two.”
“Has anyone ever told you that you’re a horrendous tease?”
“No.”
“Well, you are!” I swatted her on the bum, then followed her into the bathroom. “I’ve strict orders to take care with your blood pressure for a bit longer.”
“So, don’t increase my blood pressure.”
I tossed the nightgown over my shoulder, then rolled up my shirtsleeves. “Love, if I don’t increase your blood pressure, I’m doing something drastically wrong.”
There was a fresh arrangement of white tulips on the bathroom counter. “Charles went to a lot of trouble to make me feel comfortable. To make me feel at home.”
I put my arms around her and pulled her close. “Maybe you are home,” I said, leaning down to kiss her.
I woke with a start. It was still dark outside. The bedside clock told me it was nearly morning. Katherine was sound asleep. Last night, after her bath, we’d shared the home-cooked meal Charles had prepared. She’d insisted on loading the dishes into the dishwasher while I returned a few telephone calls. We’d climbed into bed with plans to watch a movie, only Katherine had promptly fallen asleep.
The outline of her face was barely visible on the pillow next to me. Quietly, I slipped out of the bed. The hardwood floors were cold, the air in the room colder still. I padded barefooted over to the bathroom, closed the door, then used the toilet.
Upon leaning over to flush, I noticed it, the sound of water trickling into the bath. I turned on the light to the shower stall to illuminate the space then checked the tub. It contained about a foot of water and a steady stream was continuing to trickle from the faucet.
After tightening down both taps, I reached into the tub, and untwisted the stopper. The water started to drain. Satisfied, I moved to the sink to wash my hands. Then, just as I was about to reach for the hand towel I heard the trickle again. The stopper had fallen back in place. This time I unscrewed it, pulling it out completely and setting it on the tub’s edge.
My attention was drawn to the sound of movement just outside the door. Despite my efforts to be quiet it seemed that I’d woken Katherine. I opened the door, expecting to see her up and about. Only she wasn’t, she was still in bed.
“What’s wrong?” she asked, sitting up and shielding her eyes from the light. I flipped the switch, cloaking the room once again in darkness. Then I returned to the bed.
“Nothing, love. Just went to the loo. Go back to sleep.”
“Okay,” she replied, the tone of her voice indicating she was already drifting back off.
I pulled the covers up, snuggled back into them and closed my eyes. “Thought I heard you get up. Must have been a mouse.”
She bolted upright, scaring the hell out of me. “You have mice? Can mice climb?”
I rolled over. “It’s an old building. If there is a mouse, it’s not going to bother you. It’s more afraid of you than you are of it.”
The sun was coming up now. In the dim light I could see her leaning over the edge of the bed, scanning the floor. “I doubt that,” Katherine murmured.
I couldn’t resist, I walked my fingers across the comforter and ever so lightly brushed one against her forearm.
Katherine shrieked. It was a blood-curdling, girly scream. She spun to face me. I did my best to look innocent, apparently to no avail.
“Oh, you’re in trouble now, mister!”
“Shoulder!”
Katherine squinted her eyes and began to mercilessly tickle me, lightly fingering my stomach and ribs. “So, stop moving your shoulder.”
“Stop!” I laughed, fighting to still her hands. Finally I managed to grab her wrist. “Ow!” A twinge of pain shot through my shoulder.
Katherine climbed on top of me, and straddled my hips. It was a provocative posture and the ease in which she did it seemed to make it even more so. “You don’t look like you’re really in pain.”
“Oh, but I am.” I tilted my hips up, grinding my growing erection into her pussy. I let go of one wrist, then slowly moved her hair back over her shoulder.
Katherine closed her eyes.
My hand drifted, fingers leisurely trailing down the column of her neck and across her shoulder, to the thin strap of her gown.
“I think you should spend your entire day nursing me back to health.”
“You think you’d like that?”
I hooked my finger under the silk and slid the s
trap from her shoulder, revealing the curve of her breast.
“I think I’d like that very much.”
Just as one mouthwatering nipple popped into view the telephone rang.
“Bugger! I told the service to only call for emergencies.”
“Whoever it is, fix them fast.” She snatched the bedside phone from its cradle and handed it to me. “Here.”
“Dr. Atherton… What?… No, it’s all right. I imagine he was quite insistent. Put him through.”
It was Damien.
“Will she see me?”
“It’s rather early, Damien, the sun’s barely up.”
I glanced up at Katherine. She looked almost panicked.
“I’m worried about her. How is she?”
“Katherine’s doing better.” I reached for her hand and gave it an encouraging squeeze. “She was discharged from the hospital late yesterday.”
“Thanks, I’ll call Grant’s.”
There was little point to beating around the bush.
“She’s staying with me. Let me check and see if she can come to the phone.” I placed Damien on hold. “You want to talk to him?”
“No. Yes. I don’t know. I should though, right? I mean, no sense putting it off. Except, well, as long as I put it off I don’t have to…you know.”
“Deal with it?”
“Exactly.”
“You’re babbling, love.”
Katherine bit her lower lip. “Maybe I should do this in person? I don’t want to hurt him, Wes.”
“There’s no getting around that, I’m afraid. Losing you is going to hurt. There’s also the baby.”
She placed her hand over her stomach and nodded. “I’ll talk to him. Would you mind if I asked him to come here?”
“No, but he might prefer someplace more neutral. If he does, I can drop you somewhere and wait in the car.”
I handed Katherine the phone. She climbed out of bed and took the call off hold.
“Damien? Yes, I’m here. I agree, we need to talk.” She listened for a short while then added, “Sometimes love isn’t enough.”
I climbed out of bed and slipped on a robe.
“I’ll start the coffee, give you some privacy,” I whispered before heading for the door.
The Sacrifice: Forbidden, Book 1 Page 7
