“So, I eat pie and I get moved?”
“Well, if you want to put it that way, then yes.”
“I want a window, doc.”
Dr. Stephens chuckled as he glanced around the claustrophobic room. “I’ve found that the lack of windows in this unit is a great incentive to get better. I’ll be right back.”
Nate put the lid on the segmented dinner tray. He scribbled a note thanking Mrs. Stephens for the home-cooked meal and stuck it on top before he slid the bowl into the sack.
The door swung open and the doctor came in, carrying two bowls of ice cream. “I gave the rest to the nurses. They begged and called me sir.”
Nate laughed but the sound was cynical. He and Joan had started out in a D/s relationship. It had turned into a bad marriage when he’d put a ring on her finger. He should’ve known she wasn’t taking care of their sons.
He looked at the bowl of steaming hot apple pie and melting vanilla ice cream and forced himself to take a bite. It stuck in his throat, but after a moment he managed to swallow it.
Jake had told him during their last phone conversation that Cade still wasn’t eating. At least not with the family. He said he’d seen him in the kitchen, alone, late at night eating apple pie. Katherine made sure to keep a couple pies on the counter and the cookie jar full. The same way Jake’s mother had done when they’d been boys. He’d spent hours in that kitchen with Jake and his parents. The knowledge that he’d never gather there with his sons killed his appetite.
He put the spoon down. “There you go, doc. You can truthfully tell your wife I said she makes a great apple pie, although she needs a little more cinnamon in the recipe.”
Dr. Stephens nodded. “You cook, Nate?”
“It was learn to cook or starve if my sister and I were lucky enough to have food in the cupboards.”
“My wife worked while I went to med school. Afterwards I joined the Marines and she finished school. She’s a child psychologist. Loves kids, and we’re thinking about adopting since we can’t have any of our own.”
“That’s tough.”
Dr. Stephens finished his pie. “Lots of kids need a good home.” He packed up the remains of the meal then held out a package.
“What’s this?” Nate asked.
“Therapy. Jake sent it.”
“I didn’t know you and Jake were friends.” Nate opened the package. A sketch pad and pen set slid out onto his lap. Jake had remembered his childhood dream to be an artist.
“It’ll give you something to do and strengthen your right hand.”
The door swung open and several people entered. “Looks like your ride’s here. I’ll see you in the morning.”
“Thanks for the dinner, doc.”
“Plan on eating with me several times a week. My wife just got a new cookbook.” Dr. Stephens laughed, and patted his belly. “Carry on, Marine.”
Nate chuckled.
Chapter Two
The next morning, Nate glared at the curtain that divided the room he’d been moved to the previous evening. Deep snores rattled the glass in his window, tempting him to throw something at the snoring son of a bitch who’d kept him awake all night. He was contemplating pushing the call button for the nurse when the door swung open.
The woman who strolled into the room was the most curvaceous female he’d ever seen. She was tall, maybe five feet nine with legs that went on forever. Rounded hips curved into a small waist that led up to breasts that made his hands tingle with the need to touch them. The shorts she wore showed off muscled, slightly tanned thighs and hugged a full heart-shaped ass. Curly blonde hair like Marilyn Monroe’s framed her face. She stared back at him for a moment before a beautiful smile curved her lips and lit up her soft brown eyes. She peeked behind the curtain then back at him.
He expected her to leave or wake up the snorer. Instead she grabbed a chair, pulled it over to his bed, and flopped down into it. She watched him as if she expected him to recognize her. When he didn’t say anything, she smiled.
“Hi, I’m Ny—Isabella.”
She watched him as if she expected him to recognize her. When he didn’t say anything, a delicate brow curved upward and he reluctantly introduced himself. “Nate.”
“Nice to meet you, Nate.” She smiled and crossed her bare tanned legs. “You don’t remember me, do you?”
“No.”
“Would you like to know where we met?”
Nate nodded.
“In a bar in Colombia. I was with my partner, Tony Hernandez. I had black hair back then and a great tan. You and your men led us into the jungle to a”—she hesitated—”a farm that grew a rather interesting crop.”
“How long ago was that?”
“A little over two years.”
Nate nodded as flashes of images filled his mind. “You went by Rambo back then.”
“It was a joke between Tony and me.”
Nate surprised himself by asking, “Were you and Hernandez lovers?”
She laughed, a husky sound that tightened the muscles of his stomach and sent a rush of blood to his cock.
“No. He’s married and has like half a dozen kids. Cute ones.”
He didn’t know why the information pleased him, but something about her stirred him up.
She pointed to the dividing curtain. “Have you met my uncle?”
“Only through his snores.”
She laughed. “His bed is broken and won’t adjust so he sleeps flat and snores all night. They’re bringing a new one today.”
Nate found himself staring at her. She was curvier than hell. Just the way he liked his women. When she smiled a dimple appeared on her right cheek, and his heart thumped in his chest. He would’ve thought he was having a heart attack if it wasn’t for the tent appearing in the sheet covering his lap. Damned if he didn’t feel his cheeks heat with embarrassment when she glanced at the sheet and grinned.
“You a married man, Nate?”
“No.”
“Engaged?”
“No.”
“Involved? Gay?”
“No and no.”
A second later she stood up, leaned over him, and brushed her lips over his before she sat back down. Nate was so stunned he didn’t even think to avoid her. He glanced at the IV in his arm and wondered what the hell they were giving him before he caught her staring at his lap again.
She nodded toward his cock. “I’ve had that effect on a lot of guys but you’re the first one I’ve ever wanted to maybe belong to. Mind if I see what you’ve got under there?”
When she reached for the blanket’s edge, Nate forced his right arm to move and cover his lap. “Are you always this bold?”
“No, but the moment I saw you in Colombia I knew I wanted you. I hit on you back then but you turned me down. You were all business and you carried a big gun. It really turned me on. I love a man with a”—she glanced at his lap again—”big gun.”
“I was married.”
“Was?”
“She’s dead.”
“I’m sorry, Nate.”
When she started to pick up the tote she’d carried in with her, he panicked at the thought of her leaving. “Nine months ago my car was run off the road. I hit a tree. It exploded. I was thrown clear. She died.”
“You blame yourself?”
He shook his head. “It was her lover who ran us off the road.”
She nodded. “Any kids?”
Nate ignored the question. “How about you? Married? Kids?”
“Nope. Single as the day I was born and too wild to have kids.” She smiled. “My job takes up most of my time.”
“DEA?”
“Marines first, then the DEA.” She smiled. “I still want you. Are you going to let me have you this time?”
“I usually do the chasing, pet.”
A huge grin curved her lips. “I’ve always wanted to try being a Domme. I think you know what that is, right?”
Nate nodded.
“I’d really l
ike to tie you up and play with you.”
“I’d like to see you try.”
“I’ll take that as a yes then. Thank you.”
“Never going to happen, ever.”
“We’ll see.”
The snoring stopped and Nate breathed a silent sigh of relief. Women had chased him because of his looks, but that had been before the explosion. Now he had laceration scars on his right cheek and neck and burn scars down his right side to his upper thigh. A small shudder swept through him as he realized how close he’d come to losing his dick. He bunched the sheet over his now-soft cock and stared at his uninvited guest. “Sounds like your uncle might be waking up.”
She disappeared behind the curtain. Nate heard her voice and then a gruff mumble. A second later the curtain rattled on the metal rod as she pulled it back. A man in his early sixties sat on the side of the bed, looking in his direction. He had white lines by his eyes from squinting into the sun. The top half of his forehead was lighter than the tan on his face. Signs of a man who spent most of his time wearing a hat and working outside.
“Jack, this is Nate Grant. A fellow Marine and Texan. Nate, this is my uncle, Jack Lachlan.”
“I didn’t say I was a Texan,” Nate said.
The sound of her laughter filled the room. “Your accent said it for you.”
Nate grinned. Damned if she wasn’t the most confident and engaging female he’d met in a long while. She just might be what he needed, but he’d have to be up front with her. No long-term relationships for him ever again. Get in, get what they wanted from each other, and then get out.
“So, Nate, how long you in for?” Jack asked.
“A while,” Nate said, deliberately being vague.
Jack cackled. “Typical Marine. So, tell me, Nate, oil, cattle, or horses?”
“Fertilizer.” Nate laughed. “Got out of the Marines and got a job at a fertilizer plant.”
“I’m a horse man myself, although I prefer the other end of the horse,” Jack said and laughed at his own joke. “Grew up on a ranch but my brother inherited it and lost it to the bank before he died.” He nodded toward his niece. “Raised this one ever since she was a filly.”
“Uncle Jack, don’t be telling all my secrets. Nate will think I’m difficult to get along with.” She sent a wink in Nate’s direction.
“You are difficult,” Jack said. “Stubborn, and sweet, like your mother. I told you don’t join the Marines, and you join the Marines. I told you don’t apply for that job, and you apply for it and get it. Tell me how that makes you easy to get along with, girl?”
“I’ll stop doing what you tell me not to do when you stop telling me not to do it.” She looked at Nate. “What about you? You going back to your job at the fertilizer plant when you get out of here?”
“Haven’t thought about it,” Nate said.
“Well, you’ve got plenty of time to decide,” Jack said. “Looks like you’re a couple months behind me in the recovery department. Dr. Stephens says I’m getting out of here in two, maybe three weeks.”
Nymph removed an insulated dish from the tote bag. When she opened it, the scent of hot cinnamon bread filled the air. “I brought extra, Uncle Jack. Dr. Stephens told me yesterday you might get a roommate.” She placed a roll on a plate and set it on Jack’s bed table along with a fork before she did the same for Nate and herself.
“Did you bring coffee, Nymph?” Jack asked.
“Uncle Jack, you promised not to call me that anymore,” she said as she reached in the tote and pulled out a small ice chest. “Milk. It’s good for you.” She pulled out three jugs, opened them, and stuck a straw in two of them before she set one on Nate’s table and one on Jack’s table.
Nate sent her a questioning look. “Nymph?”
She huffed and a soft blush covered her cheeks. “My parents were hippies. My mother’s maiden name was Neil. So they named me Nymph Everlove Isabella Lachlan.”
Nate chuckled. “So, your initials spell out your mother’s maiden name?”
She gave a terse nod. “I go by Isabella,” she said through gritted teeth.
Nate shook his head. “I knew a girl named Isabella once. She was sweet and shy.” His eyes ran over her. “You’re one of a kind. Nymph suits you better.”
Jack laughed then coughed. “My thoughts exactly.”
“I’ll be calling you Nymph,” Nate said before he took a bite of the roll she’d placed in front of him.
“Suit yourself.” She moved her chair so she could see both men. “I put extra icing on the rolls, Uncle Jack. Just the way we like them.” She fluttered her lashes in Nate’s direction. “How about you, Nate? You like sweet things?”
Nate knew by the grin on her lips that she wasn’t talking about icing. “Your icing needs more vanilla.”
Nymph tasted the icing. A smear remained on her bottom lip and she licked it off then grinned. “No, it’s perfect.”
“No use in arguing with her,” Jack said. “Once she makes up her mind she rarely changes it.”
“I change my mind when I’m proven wrong. Which is rare.”
Nate smiled. He’d never had a woman pursue him so openly. She told him right up front she wanted him, and he found her approach refreshing. No games, no lies, and he had a feeling that was the way she always operated. She struck him as a woman who was used to having men chase her. He wondered if any of them had been able to hold onto her for very long. That thought led him to wondering if he’d be able to hold onto her. The thought shook him up and he reminded himself he wasn’t looking for anything long-term.
Nymph smiled. “We’ll have a contest. If you’ll give me your recipe, I’ll make it and then we’ll have the nurses taste it. The winner gets a kiss.”
“It’s a deal. You bake the rolls and put your icing on half of them. I’ll do the other half myself.”
“How are you going to make the icing?”
“I have a connection. He’ll get me the ingredients and I’ll make it.”
Nymph laughed. “A secret recipe, huh?”
Nate grinned. “When I win you can admit you were wrong.”
She grinned. “When I win, I get a kiss and the loser, you, gets a consolation kiss.”
“Deal,” Nate said and she reached out and took his hand. Her hand was soft with long, slender fingers and short nails. Without thinking, he lifted it to his lips and kissed her fingers. When she smiled he released her. Damn, she was tempting.
The door swung open and a male nurse pushed a wheelchair into the room. Several aides followed him. “Mr. Johnson, it’s time for physical therapy.”
Nymph smiled at her uncle. “I’ll stay here and keep Nate company while you’re gone.”
“Don’t bug the poor man, Nymph. He’s suffered enough.” Jack laughed at his own joke. The nurse got him into a wheelchair and the aides prepared his bed to be moved.
Nymph packed up the tote. As soon as the door closed behind Jack and the nurse, she slid onto the edge of Nate’s bed and yawned. “Sorry, late night.” She yawned again.
“What kept you up?”
“I was watching someone.”
“Boring field work?”
“Yup, but I get to carry a gun.” She grinned. “A big one.” She gave him a saucy grin.
Nate chuckled. She was the biggest flirt he’d ever met. He found himself entertained and waiting to see what she would do or say next.
She yawned again. “Want to make out? It might keep me awake.”
Nate seriously considered it but rejected the idea. Her eyes were bloodshot and had dark circles beneath them. “How much sleep have you had?”
She smiled. “Got to bed at three and up at six to bake. I’ll catch a nap later. Today’s my day off.”
Nate surprised himself by patting the bed on his left side. “Take a nap now. Twenty minutes will do you a world of good.”
She laughed but accepted his offer. She snuggled up to him, careful to keep her hand away from his wounds. “A good Dom takes
care of his sub.”
“A good sub behaves. Something I don’t think you know anything about.” Nate patted her ass. “Go to sleep.”
“For the first time in my life I’m afraid.”
“What are you afraid of?”
“I’ve wanted men in the past but I’ve never wanted one of them to stay. When they left I just got on with my life. You scare me because I’ve never forgotten you and I want you to stay now. I’m afraid if I close my eyes when I open them you’ll be gone again.”
“I’m not going anywhere, but you need to know I’m not looking for a long-term relationship.”
“That’s okay. Neither am I. We’ll take it one year at a time.”
Nate laughed. “A year is your idea of a while?”
“Do you want me to go away?”
Nate thought about it for a moment. He stroked his hand down her back and over her lush bottom, then back up. The scent of cinnamon rolls and something lemony surrounded him. “I may not ever walk again.”
“I don’t believe that. I think you can do just about anything you put your mind to, but in any case my house is wheelchair friendly. Jack’s been living with me ever since he got bucked off his horse and broke his hip. He was using a wheelchair until I talked him into having surgery. He would’ve been out of here by now if he’d listened to me and done it sooner.”
“Are you trying to say I should listen to you because you know best?”
“Well, I guess you can take it that way.” Nymph moved closer. “You’re comfortable to cuddle with.” She ran her finger over his belly. “So, when you get out of here do you want to come home with me, sailor?”
Nate snorted. “I’m a Marine, baby, and I’m not getting out of here for several months. You might change your mind before then.”
Nymph leaned up and kissed him. “I won’t change my mind.” Her quick grin was followed by a fierce frown. “The nurses think you’re really hot. I’ve heard them talking about you.”
Nate ran his hand over the scars on his cheek. “They must be blind. I’m no prize.”
Nymph laughed. “You’re the kind of man women are drawn to, Nate. Tall, dark, and handsome, and the scars just make you more intriguing. I’m going to have to protect you from the nurses.”
Nate's Naughty Nymph [The Doms of Club Mystique 5] (Siren Publishing Classic) Page 3
