by Tina Beckett
She tilted her head. “Are they what?”
“The same underwear that were hanging out of your suitcase that first day?”
Her face flamed to life, remembering the circumstances of that visit. “Yes, they were.” Had she subconsciously worn them today, thinking this was where they were going to wind up?
No, there’s no way she could have planned any of this.
“They’ve haunted me for weeks.”
She laughed. “And here I was hoping you hadn’t noticed them.”
He reached down as if he were going to scoop her up in his arms, but she stopped him by stepping out of reach.
“What’s wrong?”
A lot of conflicting emotions chased across his face, making her realize he’d misunderstood why she’d moved away. “I don’t want you lifting me. Or doing anything that might make that leg act up again. That would make me very unhappy, in more ways than one.” She glanced at the bed and then went over and pulled the spread down to the halfway point. “Why don’t you lie down?”
“I am not some invalid, Amy.”
“Oh, believe me, I know that.” To hide the quick ache in her heart his words had caused, she forced a laugh and reached for his towel, whisking it away. He stood there in boxer briefs that gave very clear evidence of what he was feeling. “There. That’s more like it.”
“You are impossible.” But he said it with a smile that chased the ache away. “But there’s something else I need. In the nightstand.”
Going over to it, she opened the top drawer and found a package of condoms. He was right. They did need something. She’d almost forgotten about protection. Tossing them on the bed, she grinned at him.
“Anything else?”
He nodded. “Yes. If I promise not to do any kind of gymnastics, will you let me take an active role?”
“How active?” She needed to tread carefully.
Coming over to stand in front of her, he gripped her hips and hauled her against him. “Enough to get the job done. For both of us.” His gaze turned serious. “Don’t put me back in that walker, even in my head. I’ve been there, and I didn’t much like it.”
She hadn’t been trying to do that, but could see how he might feel a little insecure right now, since she’d been in a place of power as she’d worked on him. Something in her wanted to press the point, but an inner voice warned her that this was one battle she didn’t want to win. Because in winning, she would lose.
“An invalid is not what I think of when I look at you. But no gymnastics.”
“Not this time.”
He didn’t try to pick her up again; instead, keeping his hands on her hips, he walked her backward until the backs of her thighs hit the mattress. Then he gave her a soft push and down she went, bouncing a time or two on the soft surface. It felt luxurious and heady, and exactly what she’d been thinking of when she’d imagined being with someone.
The bed was high enough that she could picture him doing all kinds of things to her, and that was enough to make her squirm.
Maybe he sensed it, because he stood over her for a minute and then reached for the pink lace at her hips and peeled it down her thighs. She straightened her legs so he wouldn’t have to bend getting them down her calves and then they were off.
“Meu Deus. Você é a mulher mais linda do mundo.”
She wasn’t the most beautiful woman in the world, but it was nice to hear him say the words. And to hear that her dress had turned him on. And right now she couldn’t imagine being any more turned on than she was at this moment.
When he acted like he was going to bend over to kiss her, though, she planted her bare foot on his stomach. “Stay as straight as you can.”
“Bossy. So very bossy. But okay. I’ll stay all the way up here and just do...this.”
He used a leg to part her knees, then wrapped his hands around her thighs and dragged her to the edge of the bed. Then he was right there. Up close and personal.
“Better?” he asked.
“Yes.” Her body was on fire.
“But first—” he motioned to an area beside her arm “—I’m going to need that packet.”
Oh! That’s right. She opened the cardboard box and retrieved one, ripping it open and tossing it to him. He caught it with ease, and set it over her navel. Then he reached down and pulled his shirt over his head and stepped out of his briefs, while Amy unhooked her bra and flung it toward the end of the bed, where it ended up getting caught on one of the bedposts.
He sheathed himself. “Sit up, querida.”
She did what he asked and realized almost immediately why when he cupped her breasts, stroking the nipples between his fingers and squeezing.
“Ah...” Her arms went behind her to support herself, arching her back and pushing herself into his touch.
“What you do to me...”
His voice had roughened, tones lowering until they were deep-edged with need. Or at least she hoped it was.
Then he reached to cup her bottom and entered her with a quick thrust that stretched her...filled her. Her eyes might have rolled back in her head—she wasn’t quite sure. All she knew was that this was like no encounter she’d ever had before. There was normally a lot of foreplay and give and take, but Roque wasn’t interested in her doing anything evidently.
She’d been ready to sit and ride him to completion to save his leg from any pain. But what she saw on his face wasn’t pain. It was need. Lust. A bunch of things mixed up together that she didn’t understand.
What she did know was that she wanted him. Wanted this. Didn’t want it to stop.
Except it would, because she was slipping closer and closer to the edge of a cliff, and once off, there would be no going back.
She didn’t care, though. Only knew that as he continued to push into her body and then retreat that she was about as close to heaven as she was ever likely to get.
Tipping her face up, he kissed her as he continued to move, wrapping both arms around her back, using his tongue in ways that put every one of her nerve endings on high alert.
“I’ve wanted this. Almost since you arrived.”
That made two of them. “Me too.”
She wanted to say more, but the words wouldn’t form, wouldn’t come, and she was afraid if she said them she might mutter something that she couldn’t take back, so she clamped her teeth together. Then she felt him there, seeking entrance, and she pried them back apart. The second his tongue entered her mouth, it was almost too much, and her hands went to the back of his head to hold him there, even as her legs circled his back and pulled him in closer.
“Amy... I’m not going to be able to...”
One of his hands slid between their bodies, seeking something. Finding it. Squeezing and sliding his thumb over that sensitized nub of flesh.
“Go, Roque. Oh, go!” The words came out in a frantic rush that he must have recognized, because he thrust into her at a speed that drove the air from her lungs, even as the edge of that cliff rushed forward and collided with her, sending her over the edge in an instant. Her body spasmed around him as he continued to surge inside of her, giving gritted mutterings that slid past her ear and escaped into the air around them.
Still he thrust into her, taking a minute or two before he slowed, letting her sink back to the bed, where she lay nerveless and still.
He reached under her and held her tight against him as if knowing what was coming. “No. Not yet.”
She echoed those words in her head, knowing once that happened, once they came apart, she was going to be left to try to pick up the shattered pieces of her composure. And she was going to be faced with the reality of what they’d done.
She’d gotten her fling.
But she was very afraid she might have gotten something more than she bargained for—something that wouldn’t be easy to put
behind her.
All she knew was that she was going to have to try.
CHAPTER NINE
THERE WAS AN elephant in the room that someone didn’t want to talk about. And it wasn’t him. Worse, his mom told him that she’d sent Amy a card inviting her to a party she was having, but that she hadn’t yet RSVP’d. She wanted Roque to “ask” her to come—meaning, coax her into coming.
He was going to do nothing of the sort, although the phone call prompted him to do what he’d been putting off for the last two weeks, as he’d watched Amy frantically work alongside of the other members of the team and then drop just as quickly off the radar. As if she was avoiding being alone with him.
As if?
No, there was no question about what she was doing.
But today, he was headed down to the physical therapy department, where Amy was having her first session with Enzo. He intended to be there when it ended and have his say. Even though he wasn’t entirely sure what that was.
All he knew was that he hadn’t liked the way things had ended in his apartment. She’d slid out the door almost before he’d caught his breath.
The elevator doors opened and a large open room stood in front of him.
It was a beehive of activity with patients posted in different stations working on whatever task their therapist had given them.
There. He spotted Enzo.
The man gave him a quick wave. He’d passed his swallow test a couple of weeks ago with flying colors, but Roque didn’t expect anything different from his old coach. He walked toward Enzo, noticing that while Amy was also there, she didn’t quite meet his eyes when she looked at him.
Addressing Enzo, he asked, “How’s it going?”
“She hasn’t made me cry yet.”
His words came out a little garbled because of the changes they’d made to his jaw, but at least he could talk. He was doing speech therapy as well and they were all hopeful that there was no nerve damage. Krysta didn’t think there was. She’d been meticulous in her resection of everything. That muscle memory was just going to have to kick back in at some point.
And he was sure it would. It was just a matter of practice and reopening those neural pathways.
“Don’t worry, she’s still got a month and a half to work on you—there’s still plenty of time.”
However, Roque had decided he couldn’t put off his discussion with Amy any longer.
They’d done nothing morally wrong, but her attitude told him that she believed they’d made a mistake. And on some level, so did he. He just couldn’t put his finger on why.
This was a temporary assignment for her. And, actually, for him as well. So logically that should make it easier to resolve. But so far, it hadn’t.
She really had helped his leg. The day after she’d worked on it he’d only felt a tiny twinge of discomfort that had worked itself out as the day went on. So when he’d told her physical therapy could no longer help him, he’d been wrong. It had been a knee-jerk reaction to what had happened long before she came on the scene.
“I’m feeling better,” Enzo managed to get out.
Roque put his hand on his friend’s shoulder. “I’m so glad. It must feel good to be at the last part of your journey.” He remembered when he was almost done with medical school. The elation and fear he’d felt as he faced the future ahead of him.
Enzo was probably feeling some of that as well.
“He’s worked hard today. Hard enough that I’m ready to let him off the hook. At least until next week.” Amy smiled, but it was aimed at Enzo rather than him. “Make sure you do those exercises I gave you. They’ll really help get your range of motion back again.”
Enzo nodded and hopped off the table. They said their goodbyes, and Roque’s friend headed for the double doors that connected the physical therapy area with the rest of the hospital.
Once he was gone, Roque turned back to face her. “Do you have another patient right now?”
“No, that was my last one for the day.”
“Good. Do you think we can find someplace to talk?”
Her eyes closed for a second before opening. “About what?”
A muscle tightened in his jaw. “I think you know what this is about.”
“Yes, I think I do.” She sighed and this time looked at him. “Let’s take a walk.”
She started, then stopped. “How’s your leg?”
“It’s fine. And yes, before you ask, I am more than capable of walking.”
“I didn’t mean that.”
He wasn’t sure why he’d snapped at her. Maybe it was just that he missed some of that quick back-and-forth jogo de palavras they’d had before. There was no hint of that teasing manner now. Everything was stilted and formal. Professional. Just like he’d wanted. Right?
“I’m sorry. Let’s go to the pátio.”
Behind the hospital there was a small private garden area with benches where patients or relatives could get out and enjoy the sun or sit under the shade of one of the trees. It reminded him a little of his parents’ chácara with its greenery. It was also fairly private, with little chance of anyone overhearing them.
They got out to the courtyard and slowly made their way down the bricked path. “I don’t actually think I’ve been out here yet. It’s beautiful.”
“It is. I came out here a lot when I was a medical student.”
She glanced at him. “I didn’t realize you did your studies at Paulista.”
“I did. I felt like I needed a change of scenery from Rio.”
“Your parents moved here to be near you?”
“My mom’s family is from São Paulo, so she had no problem relocating. To a Brazilian—as you probably know—family is everything.”
He wasn’t quite sure how the conversation had turned in this direction, but it beat the chilly silence he’d tried to ignore for the last couple of weeks. And she’d seemed to relax into the conversation.
“I was always surprised my mom didn’t move back to Brazil after my dad died.”
“To be near your uncle, you mean?”
Maybe if he brought her thoughts back to her reasons for coming to Brazil, they could both move past the awkwardness of what had happened.
“Yes. She said she and my uncle hadn’t spoken in years, though. He disagreed with her marrying so young and so quickly and moving to the States.”
Amy hadn’t told her uncle about her mother’s death. It wasn’t the kind of news she’d wanted to break to him over the phone, especially when the man was traveling on business.
Roque wanted to keep her talking, not only because it might help them regain their footing, but also because he genuinely wanted to know. She’d come here because of her mom, to learn a little more about her roots, so maybe he could help her flesh some of that out.
“Did your mom grow up where your uncle lives now?”
“I don’t know. She didn’t talk much about her life in Brazil. As far as I know, she only came back to Brazil once to visit. When I was a baby. My uncle evidently refused to see her.”
“I bet he regrets that now.”
“I think maybe he does. At least he didn’t refuse to see me.” She sighed. “I think the problem was that my mom didn’t give him time to process what was happening between her and my dad. My dad worked for one of the major car manufacturers, which has a plant here in São Paulo. He and my mom met on one of his business trips and fell in love. Three weeks later, they were married and heading to Florida. I was born a year after that.”
“That was quick.”
Amy smiled. “That was my mom. She lived in the moment and gave herself fully to it, not looking back. Maybe that’s part of the reason why once she left Brazil, she was loath to come back.”
That thought skated through his head for a minute. So once Amy left Brazil would she d
o the same and never come back?
That sent a pang through him. But it also might mean that if Amy lived in the moment, she would be able to put what had happened between them in the past and not look back at it.
“Do you think you’ll come back to visit?”
“I think that depends on how things with my uncle go.”
Roque’s leg was starting to get tired, so he found a bench and motioned her to it. Sliding onto the seat, he stretched his leg out in front of him to ease the ache.
“So it is bothering you—I thought so.”
“Not much. It just gets tired.”
“There are some machines back at the—”
He tensed. “I don’t want to talk about the machines. I want to talk about what happened back at the apartment.”
Her chin went up and she looked him in the eye. “What about it?”
Well, he could name a whole lot of things, but since he’d brought it up, he needed to get to the crux of the issue and confront it. “Things have been awkward. And I’d like to get past that, if we can.”
“I don’t know if I can, Roque.”
The enormity of those words was a punch to the gut. But before he could formulate a response, she went on. “I’ve never had sex...well, outside of a dating relationship, and certainly never with a patient. It was unprofessional and I—”
So that’s what this was about.
“Let’s get one thing straight. I am not your patient.”
Her shoulders sagged. “I thought maybe you would wonder if I got involved with—” her hand made a little flourish in the air “—I don’t know, people like Enzo or other patients.”
Roque turned to look her in the eye. “After my injury, I had a physical therapist in Rio who wanted more from me. She tried to draw out my treatment even after I stopped making progress. Believe me, if I even sensed you were like that, you would be out of the program in a heartbeat.” He nudged her shoulder. “You didn’t take advantage of me. I wanted what happened as much as you did. We were two people who came together for one night, just like so many others before us.”
