All her instincts of self-preservation, survival and denial screamed for her to get up and run like hell.
And she might've done it. She might've actually made it off the blanket and out of the room if Niall hadn't reached out and touched her.
* * *
She sat before him, totally naked. Her skin gleamed like molten gold as candlelight danced erotically across her bare skin. For one moment she'd let down her guard and her face had been an open door to what was deep inside. In that instant, he'd glimpsed Tammy's heart. Her softness. Her strength. Her fear. She was Mother Earth, Aphrodite and Eve all rolled into one. The longing to make her his own consumed him.
He reached out and traced the rounded curve of her shoulder. She wasn't some mythical creature. Rather, she was a warm, pliant flesh-and-blood woman. He trailed his fingertips along one breast, over her nipple, lower still over her belly until he reached the soft curls between her thighs. She dropped her head back with a soft sigh.
He slipped his fingers through her curls and found her slick folds.
Her moan and her sweet heat nearly sent him over the edge. She was so hot. So wet. So ready. All he could think about was pleasing her. Slowly, he slid a finger into her tight sheath and was rewarded by her husky cry. This time he slid two fingers into her and she lifted her hips to take his fingers deeper inside, a soft mewling coming from her throat.
"More?" he asked, barely recognizing the guttural voice as his own as he withdrew his fingers.
She grasped his wrist and drew his hand to her lips. With a carnal smile she took his glistening fingers into her mouth and suckled them. Pulling them back out, she slowly, deliberately tongued his fingers. She released his hand and uttered two words. "Yes. More."
It was the most intensely erotic experience he'd ever had. The desire to please her became a fever in his blood. He pulled her mouth to his. His tongue delved her moist heat, tasting her, while he slid three fingers into her tight, silken channel. He absorbed her open-mouthed moan as he slid his fingers out and then in again. Her cries intensified, vibrating erotically against his tongue as he plunged his fingers faster and deeper into her wet heat until she screamed her release into his mouth, her nails biting into his arm, her sweet essence drenching his hand.
In the sudden, abrupt stillness, her breath mingling with his own, Niall felt Tammy's heartbeat against his fingertips still inside her, as if they were one. He felt almost hungover. He'd been totally out of control.
She reached between them and touched him, stroking the full length of him through the cotton. A shudder wracked him.
Her eyes at half-mast, she murmured, "Those black briefs are incredibly sexy, but it's time for them to go."
He levered himself on one elbow and pulled them down and off with his other hand. His sex sprang free, at full attention.
She closed her eyes briefly and opened them again, desire and hunger in their depths, a naughty smile on her face. "Oh, my."
He wouldn't have been a normal guy if he hadn't been pleased by her reaction. And he was very pleased indeed by the heat in her eyes and the appreciation in her smile. He wasn't setting any world records in the size department, but no one called him Tiny Tim, either. "It's all proportionate. I'm a big guy. I'd have looked pretty silly with a little … well, little equipment."
She stroked the length of him, her touch tightening his balls. "There's nothing silly here."
"I'm glad you're not laughing. It'd be sort of tough on the ego."
"I'm definitely not laughing." She squeezed gently but firmly and he pulsed against her palm. "You know that plan you had earlier?"
Plan? He wasn't too terribly sure of his own name right now after what they'd just done and with her touching him like that. "Hmm?"
She circled him with her fingers and stroked up and down in a slow rhythm that nearly unhinged him. "Niall?"
Yeah, that was it. That was his name. "Umm?"
"Remember that part of your plan where you were going to kiss me all over? Save that thought. I can't wait that long. I'm ready again."
He was damn sure he wasn't going to be able to wait, either. Especially if she kept this up. He ought to stop her, but it felt so incredibly good. Just a little bit longer. "I don't think I can wait for that, either."
"I want you in me this time." Raw desire underscored her words.
"That's just where I want to be." He reached behind him and pulled his wallet out of his jeans. His hands shook as he removed a condom.
She lay back and opened herself to him. He wanted her to feel as frantic as she'd made him. He slid between her slick folds but didn't enter her, rubbing his shaft against her. Once. Twice. By the third time her breath was coming in short, hard gasps. She thrust her hips up and wrapped her legs around him.
"Now," she ordered, eyes closed, lips parted.
They might've agreed to an affair, but he was more than just a warm male body. He wasn't going to obligingly do his part while she shut herself off in her own private world. He wanted all of her, not just her pertinent body parts.
"Open your eyes. Look at me. Let's go there together. Me and you."
She opened her eyes and locked her gaze on him. Slowly he entered her, inch by sweet inch.
Dear God, she was so wet. So tight. So hot. Finally, he was buried in her. Fully engaged. Her muscles clenched around him. "That feels so good."
"Yes."
He pulled out slowly and then entered her again in one long, slow stroke. "And that feels even better."
"Yes."
He reached between them and rubbed her sensitive nub. She cried out, her pleasure mingling with the harsh rasp of his breathing. He rubbed her as he drove deeper and harder into her.
They became one in a rhythm and he lost himself in the depths of her eyes, the hot sheath of her body, the sound of her passion.
Her cries grew sharper, more frantic as they approached a place without thought, only sensation and emotion.
Together they fell over the edge, soaring, spiraling, caught up in something more intense than physical release. For a man who'd traveled the world over, never rooted anywhere, Niall had found his place. He'd come home.
* * *
Tammy rolled onto her side, positive she'd never felt so good in her life. "That was quite an appetizer. But now I'm starving."
Niall wore a dazed expression, one arm beneath his head. "I'll get up in just a minute."
She lightly scraped her nail along his muscular thigh. "You're quite impressive when you're up."
"I'm glad you approve. Let me slip on my clothes and I'll make dinner."
"Don't." She stilled him with her fingers against his sheathed penis.
Niall laughed. "I thought you were hungry."
"I am. But the view will be much better if you don't dress."
"You've got a deal, on one condition. You leave yours off as well."
"Not a problem. I like being naked."
"It suits you."
She'd never had a man prepare a meal for her in the buff. Actually, she couldn't remember a man ever cooking for her before. And she'd never made love on a blanket in the middle of a kitchen floor, either.
He levered himself up and excused himself. He returned in record time. "A salmon filet and salad coming up. I have to warn you, I'm not a gourmet cook."
"That's fine. I'm not a gourmet kind of gal. And regardless of how you cook, you certainly present a gourmet view."
"You certainly know how to stroke my ego—among other things."
She reached for the "other thing" playfully and he dodged her. "You'd better concentrate on my ego if you want to eat tonight."
"Spoilsport."
"Vixen."
"Watch your tongue. You know how that affects me."
"Behave."
"Okay. Let me find some totally nonvixenish topic of conversation." She eyed him seriously. "You must be very excited about starting at the vet clinic tomorrow. I know how I felt the day I opened my business."
"It's something I've wanted for a very long time."
"Do you always get what you want?" About the time the question came out of her mouth, she remembered Mia, who was sitting on a nice sofa somewhere in Oklahoma City. "Sorry, I forgot about your ex."
"No problem. I forgot about her, too. I guess I get what I want, most of the time. Perseverance and determination make a lot of things happen. And I can be very determined." He glanced at her pointedly. "As for Mia, I think that worked out for the best. I have a newfound perspective on things. Apparently Mia knew something I didn't."
Unless she was totally clueless, he was telling her he was glad things hadn't worked out with Mia so he could be with her now. Tammy was both flattered and a little frightened. In response, she did what she did best when emotions or relationships got too close for comfort, she changed the subject rather than deal with it.
"What? Is this a man admitting he was wrong?"
"You don't think very highly of us men, do you?"
"It's just the voice of experience. But I do think highly of you." She laughed as she said it, but she realized it was true. She not only liked Niall, she respected him.
For the first time in as long as she could remember, it was fiercely important to her what someone else thought of her.
When her mother abandoned them, Tammy'd found people's pity intolerable. She'd take scorn over pity any day. She'd created and worn her bad reputation like a coat of armor. She'd deluded herself that she didn't care what people thought. The truth was, she'd felt so insecure, so inadequate, it had mattered too much.
She wasn't courting Niall's scorn or his pity, but she wanted him to know the truth. And for the first time in a long time, she felt as if Niall was someone she could trust with the truth. The thought that Dr. Schill was likely to give Niall his version of the Thanksgiving incident bothered her immensely.
"When I was married to Allen, Dr. Schill's son, we'd spend Thanksgiving Day at his parents'. It was the second year we were married. Allen and Margaret, his mother, had taken the dogs for a walk before dinner. I was in the kitchen and Ted came in. He cornered me next to the pantry and touched me. I was his son's wife and he fondled me." She shuddered at the memory of his hands on her breasts.
"The bastard."
Niall should've looked slightly ridiculous swearing and wielding a knife, butt-ass naked in his yellow and turquoise kitchen. Instead, he was about as close to a knight as Tammy had ever encountered. "You believe me?" God, please don't let her cry. She swallowed the lump in the back of her throat.
"Of course I believe you. Why wouldn't I?"
"Allen didn't." She stared at the blanket, pleating it between her fingers.
"What?"
His angry question snapped her head up. Tension corded his muscles.
"He said I had misunderstood his father or else I'd led him to believe I wanted him to touch me." It shamed her to admit it aloud. Her own husband hadn't thought enough of her to believe her, to believe in her.
"Sounds like being a bastard runs in the family." Good answer.
She smoothed out the crease in the blanket. "I've never told anyone other than Allen. But I wanted you to know the truth, in case Ted makes some snide comment about me. I know how men can be."
"Not all men are like that." He stared into her eyes, piercing her with his gaze, the same way he had earlier. Intimate, probing, knowing. "I'm glad you felt like telling me, but I would've known anyway."
That was, without a doubt, the nicest thing anyone had ever said to her. Niall, who barely knew her, believed her without hesitation or indictment. Relief washed through her. Embarrassment and self-consciousness at getting carried away and revealing so much of herself quickly followed.
"It's not a big deal. I just wanted you to know. Something smells delicious."
Niall's look told her she was perfectly transparent in her diversionary tactics. "It's my premarinated fish. It'll be served tonight with my prewashed, precut bagged salad."
"I should've brought dessert."
His look scorched her.
"You did."
* * *
7
« ^ »
"Mrs. MacAllister's cat was the last case today, sir." Trena, by far the most efficient of the three office technicians, stuck her head in his office.
"Thanks. I'll finish up these notes and call it a day." It had been a great first day. He couldn't think of a better ending to it than Tammy's massage and whatever might follow.
"Sir?" Niall glanced up again. Trena still stood in his doorway. "If you wouldn't mind, we had a stray dropped off today. I thought you might want to take a look at her."
Niall checked his watch. Six-fifteen. He was due at Tammy's office in fifteen minutes. "Where is she?"
Trena smiled, her relief evident. "She's in the back. I'll bring her up to Room 3."
"Good. I'll meet you there."
Niall looked up Tammy's office number and dialed. She answered on the second ring. Her smokey voice knotted his gut.
"Hi, Tammy. It's Niall. I've got one more case. If you can't wait, I understand." He'd understand, but he'd be sorely disappointed.
"Busy day?"
"Busy, but good. Dealing with the owners wears you out more than dealing with the animals."
"Hmm. Sounds as if you need a little TLC." His body quickened in anticipation. "How long do you think you'll be?"
"Probably another quarter hour or so."
"I'll still be here. The Closed sign is up and the front lights are off, but I'll leave the door unlocked. Just lock it behind you."
"I'll be there as soon as I can."
"No rush. I'll wait."
Niall hung up. Add patient and understanding to sexy and funny and sweet beneath her bad-girl persona.
Niall walked down the hall and firmly pushed Tammy from his mind.
"In the four years I've been here, we've never had a greyhound come through here before. She's in pretty rough shape. Jeb Barnwell found her beneath the underpass on the way out of town," Trena said, moving aside so he could take a good look at the animal.
A painfully thin brindle female cowered next to the exam table, visibly shaking. Keeping his voice to a low, soothing croon, Niall approached the dog. "Hi, girl. Let's check you out. Okay?" He squatted and methodically ran through the exam. "Pupils are dilated but then she's scared. Lots of tartar build-up on her teeth, but her gums are good. Ears just need a good cleaning. Heart sounds okay. CRT is less than one. Based on her skin turgor, she's mildly dehydrated. Probably seven to ten pounds underweight, too."
"It's hard to tell with her shaking, but she limps on the rear right leg," Trena told him.
Niall felt again. "Doesn't feel like anything's broken. She may have pulled something. According to her ear tattoo, she's three and a half years old. I bet she was retired from the track, got adopted and then somehow became separated from her owners. How'd we get her instead of the pound?" He was curious.
"Jeb has a soft spot for dogs and he figured we'd have better luck getting her back to her owners or finding a new home for her. He didn't want to take a chance on her being put to sleep. He said he'd foot the bill for her."
"Jeb sounds like a good man."
"Yes, sir, he is."
"Is she microchipped?"
"No, sir. We checked."
"Go ahead and do a fecal. Check her for heartworm. Make sure she has a good dinner. The National Greyhound Association in Kansas should have information on her. We can call tomorrow."
Although judging from the way she cowered, he suspected she'd been mistreated by whomever had her before. He hated turning innocent animals back over to unkind owners. It was one of the toughest parts of his job. "Do you know much about these dogs?"
"No, sir. They're beautiful but, like I said, we've never had one in here before."
"Elevate her food bowl and even if you have to feed her a little at a time, don't let her gobble her food." He stroked the dog's long, elegant neck.
"Yes, sir. And thank you for staying to look at her."
"I'm sure Dr. Schill would've done the same."
Despite her eyebrows hiking up her forehead, she replied blandly, "Yes, sir."
First thing in the morning, Schill had introduced him to the staff he hadn't met on his previous visit, wished him well, and taken off to uphold his end of a foursome on the golf course. And that had suited Niall just fine since he'd wanted to knock the hell out of the bastard for feeling up his daughter-in-law several years ago. Niall considered it a bonus Schill would be gone within the next three months.
Thank God he'd bought the practice and not a partnership.
"Would Dr. Schill have stayed to look at her?" He rubbed his hand down the dog's spine and her trembling subsided a bit.
Trena squared her shoulders. "No, sir."
"Then you'll find two things will be different from now on, Trena."
"Yes, sir?"
"First, I will examine any animal that needs looking at regardless of the time on the clock. It's my job and there's no emergency clinic in town. So, if an animal needs to be seen, you let me know. Got that?"
"Yes, sir." Trena smiled as she picked up the dog's leash.
"And the second thing … don't call me sir."
"Yes … okay." Her smile blossomed into a full-fledged grin on her way out the room.
Niall washed up and finished his notes for the day. On his way to the back door, Trena looked up from her stool at the lab station.
"It's nice to have you here…" Trena said from behind him, catching herself before she tacked on the sir.
"It's nice to be here. I think we're going to work well together. Are you almost through?" Trena was about the same age as his sister Lydia and he hated to think of her going into a dark parking lot on her own.
"I wanted to run her fecal and I thought I'd clean her up a bit." Trena wore a sheepish expression. "Don't worry, I'm off the clock and I'll lock up when I leave."
Niall shrugged into his jacket. "I'm not worried about whether you're on the clock. Just be careful going out into a dark parking lot."
Trena burst out laughing and then caught herself. "I'm sorry, Dr. Fortson. I appreciate your concern, but this isn't Oklahoma City. I know almost everyone here and my brother's the deputy sheriff."
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