He was back on the island. Ella had overheard the information during PT. A message on her cellphone late in the day confirmed her appointment with him the next morning. It would be her last appointment with Dr. Hottie Rock Star. Emptiness swept through her as she watched the moon rise above the palm trees surrounding her villa, wondering if she would ever see him again.
Well, that’s just so damn typical, isn’t it? Lonely single lady patient develops a huge crush on her handsome doctor. Isn’t that just what the nurses in the New York office had laughed about? I’ve become a joke, throwing myself at him on the beach that afternoon. How many women does he have to fight off every day?
She shook her head in denial of her own thoughts. Her fingers strayed to her mouth, pressing against her soft lips.
He didn’t fight me off. He kissed me like he hadn’t kissed anyone in years. He would have kissed me again if I hadn’t walked away. And he asked me to lunch.
Smiling, Ella remembered Levi sitting across from her, the feel of his fingers caressing her hand, the satisfied gleam in his eyes when she admitted there was no one in her life. She might have made the first move but he had definitely done a nice job on the follow-up.
I want to kiss him again. I want him to kiss me again. She sighed as a frisson of need rippled through her, causing a warm wetness at the apex of her thighs.
I want more with him than a few kisses and some fish tacos. I want him. Inside me.
Yawning and shivering, Ella slid the patio door closed and pulled the drapes, sending the room into darkness. Within seconds, she was snuggled and warm in her large luxurious bed, drifting into dreams of Levi and a longing she had not felt in years. Tomorrow.
Chapter Ten
Ella Anderson. 8:30 a.m. Her name was there on his schedule, staring him in the face, the initial thing Levi saw when he went into the office for his first day back from Haiti. He felt the now familiar tightening in his gut. Damn sorry state of affairs when I get hard just from the sight of her name. Resolved he would keep his desire for Ella under control, Levi slipped on his white doctor’s coat, grabbed his iPad, and headed to exam room one.
Clad in a soft white top and slim black leggings, Ella was waiting in exactly the same position as when he first met her several weeks earlier. This time she smiled when he entered the room and greeted him with a cheery “Hello, Doc, how was Haiti?”
Levi put the tablet on the counter and turned to her with as casual a smile on his face as he could manage. “It was hot, humid and really busy, thank you for asking. But, we got some really great surgical results so it was a good trip all in all.” He stepped up to the table Ella was sitting on, adding “I really missed home though, and Hersch.”
“Who is Hersch?” She cocked her head at his answer, a questioning look in her eyes.
“Oh, sorry. Hersch is my dog, a chocolate Lab.”
“I love Labs! We had a black Labrador retriever when I was growing up. Her name was Lady. God, I loved that dog. She lived to be fifteen. My mom decided to do cats after that.”
“I have a cat of sorts, too. Well, I mean I found a stray right before I left and I brought it home. Missy, my housekeeper, has pretty much adopted her. She named her Lady Marmalade, if you can believe that.”
His gut tightened even more at the sound of Ella’s infectious giggle. He cleared his throat and started to tell her he was going to grasp her arm when she burst out with “I’ll bet Hersch was pissed when you brought a dreaded cat home.”
Levi had to join in her laughter. How had she known to say exactly what Missy had said? “Well, yes, he was, which surprised me I guess—because he was a stray I brought home too. I guess I thought he’d empathize with the cat.”
She laid her pale, slim hand on his arm. “Doc, you are too much. You think a dog is going to empathize with a cat about anything? They’re like almost natural enemies.” She giggled again. “So, Hersch was a stray?”
“Yes, he was out at the animal shelter. His owners just left him when they evacuated from the hurricane a few years ago. I was dropping off some supplies and I saw him. He’s been with me for three years or so and he rules the house, me, Missy sometimes, and the sea gulls on our beach almost never.”
The examination proceeded smoothly after that and Levi pronounced Ella fully recovered from the surgery. He told her she should finish up any remaining appointments she had with Cory and cleared her to start running again, slowly and for short distances at first.
“We’re done, Ms. Anderson. You’ve been an excellent patient. I don’t think you’ll have any more problems with that shoulder but if you do, please call me or, of course, Dr. Fein, when you return to New York.” Levi shook her hand as professionally as he could given the jolt of attraction he felt when her hand slid into his.
“So, Doc, you’re not my doctor anymore?” She was still holding his hand.
“I just signed the release form so, no, I’m not your doctor anymore.”
Ella flashed a mischievous grin at him. “Well, then, how about I pay up for that lunch at the SOB? Would you like to come for dinner tonight?”
Totally taken aback, Levi just stared at her, until he saw the soft flush of embarrassment creeping up her neck, into her cheeks. She obviously thought he was looking for some polite way to refuse her invitation. He squeezed her hand before he released and spoke.
“You don’t have to do that, but, yes, I would very much like to have dinner with you tonight.”
She breathed out a sigh that sounded like she’d held her breath waiting for his answer and flashed him a broad smile. Sliding off the exam table, Ella picked up her bag and headed for the door. Glancing over her shoulder at Levi, she told him to come by Rockrose Villa at the Casa Blanca Resort around seven that evening. With that, she was gone—leaving a speechless Levi staring at the empty doorway.
Promptly at seven, Levi was ringing the doorbell of the pretty little villa. A flushed Ella opened the door and invited him inside. A white, floaty, gauzy dress swirled around her slim ankles, revealing bare feet with bright pink toenails. As she turned and headed back to the kitchen, Levi closed the door and followed her, hearing the beeping of two timers in her wake.
“Sorry,” she called out. “I can never coordinate these things. I probably should have told you I’m a terrible cook. And I even stink at re-heating.” Ella was pulling a foil-covered pan out of the oven, while the microwave above it continued to beep. Levi reached around her to swing open the microwave door. He pulled out a napkin-covered plate and set it on the counter where a bottle of red was open to breathe.
“Thanks, Doc. I am usually somewhat better coordinated but I am still getting used to this kitchen.”
“Not to worry. I lived here for several months when I first got to Mimosa Key.” Levi moved around her to grab two wine glasses and a vase from the cabinet
“Thank you again. For the flowers and the wine and the assistance.” She raised the bouquet of tropical-colored flowers to her nose and inhaled deeply. “Why don’t you take the wine with you into the dining area and I’ll bring in the food?”
“My pleasure. It smells delicious.” After running some water in the vase for the flowers, Levi grabbed the open bottle of wine and the glasses and headed for the dining area off the living room.
“Don’t compliment me. As they say, all I made was the phone order to Junonia for the special of the day. It’s a beef ragout with polenta and garlic bread. And I have salad too. Just sit down and pour the wine and we can eat in a few minutes.”
They passed an enjoyable hour, chatting and enjoying the delicious fare from the resort’s premier restaurant. Ella was an easy conversationalist, asking all the right questions without seeming like the tough district attorney she had once been. They laughed and shared stories and argued, while they did justice to all the food and an entire bottle of wine. Levi should have felt relaxed and slightly tipsy from the words and the wine. But he did not.
All he wanted was to get her clothes off and get h
is hands on her. He knew her skin was like ivory satin, pale and smooth to the touch, cool then warming as it she blushed from his hot words and hotter touches. But, still he hesitated. After what he had learned about her recent assault and had witnessed the first time he touched her, her reticence, her slight shudder, the last thing he wanted to do was frighten her or hurt her. But his hands were beginning to shake; his long, skilled fingers clenching and unclenching from pure need. Was it his imagination or was the air between them almost crackling with the energy from their pent-up attraction?
Ella brushed against his arm as she rose and took his plate to the kitchen. She looked back over her shoulder at Levi, almost as if she were gauging his reaction to her not-so-innocent touch. Is she flirting with me? He had never felt so unsure about a woman’s signals. I’m being too cautious. After all, she had grabbed him and kissed him on the beach that afternoon—a day which seemed years rather than weeks in the past.
Ella glided back into the dining area, with another bottle of red, and a seductive smile on her lips.
“Are you trying to get me drunk?” He asked, only half-joking, as she filled his glass.
“No, I’m trying to seduce you.” Her pale eyes gleamed iris blue in the candlelight, one eyebrow cocked slightly higher as if she was taken aback by the naked need revealed by her words.
“Stop trying, just do it.” He heard himself growl as he rose and took the wine bottle from her and gathering her trembling hands in his own, Levi drew Ella slowly to him, watching her eyes for the first sign of hesitation or fear. Her pupils grew large—almost eclipsing the purplish blue of her eyes. But her gaze remained steady, as a slight smile played across her generous lips. When her small breasts brushed against his shirtfront, he stopped pulling her to him. He reached for her waist, encircling her taut slimness. They stood in his loose embrace for seconds, maybe hours.
Levi wanted her, wanted her more than he could remember wanting any woman. Evidence of his desire throbbed between them. Ella took a small step forward, his erection cradled now against her soft tummy, the hard tips of her breasts pushing against his chest. Though his heart was beating so hard he couldn’t imagine feeling anything except the pounding in his chest, he felt her nipples poking him. She moved forward again, ever so slight a movement, just enough to flatten her breasts against him, just enough that he could feel the heat between her thighs, even through his jeans and her flimsy skirt.
“What now, Doc?”
“What do you mean?”
“You know what I mean.”
“No, darlin’. You need to tell me what you want, what you need.”
“Why?”
“Because you were so skittish when I met you—and rightly so.” She raised her eyebrows almost quizzically at his response.
“Ella, I was your doctor. I read your medical report. I know what happened in New York. It wasn’t that long ago that you were brutally assaulted by some strange man—some asshole, excuse my language, but that guy was an asshole. I’m glad they caught him and I hope he never gets out.”
She gave a bitter laugh. “He’ll be out in five, seven if he screws up. He’s a repeat so he probably will screw up. He’ll serve the full sentence and likely a bit more for whatever trouble he starts up in prison.” She started to pull away.
“Hey.” He said the word softly, his hands rising to cup her beautiful face, the face that haunted his dreams. “I didn’t mean to kill the mood, here. But,” he sighed and bent to kiss her forehead gently. “I don’t want to mix up the signals I think I’m getting from you. I don’t want you to get the wrong signal from me.”
“Well, Doc, what signal are you trying to send? Because right now I’m totally confused. I thought you,” she paused, her eyes darting away from his searching gaze, as if looking for reassurance in some dark corner of the room. “I thought you were attracted to me, but what I’m hearing sounds like the opening lines of a like-you-a-lot-but-not-interested brush-off.”
“Not interested?” Levi laughed. He pressed his erection into her middle. “Not interested? I was getting hard the first time I saw your bare shoulder in my examination room, and that has never happened to me before. Never. I tried to put it aside and I was doing pretty well with that until I saw you on the beach that day. God, you were so beautiful, kicking up the sand, muttering to yourself, eyes flashing. This pretty, pretty hair”—he reached up to run his fingers through her tresses—“blowing in the wind. I wanted you then. But I was your doctor so I tried to stay away. I needed to go to Haiti, yes, but I didn’t need to stay ten extra days. I was hiding. From you and from how I felt about you.” He laughed bitterly. “It didn’t work. At night, I dreamed about you. I dreamed about how it would be between us. And I put it out of my mind by operating like a fiend all day, every day I was in Haiti. I came back here resolved to get through this crush on you I’ve developed and then I saw your name on the discharge list this morning. God, Ella, I got hard just looking at your name. I stayed as professional as I could in that damn exam room even though I wanted you so bad. But, you’re not my patient any longer. I’m just a man and you are a strong, smart, funny, beautiful woman. And, hell, yes, I want you.”
Ella smiled then, the satisfied, seductive smile of a woman who has just had her desirability confirmed by the man she wants.
“So, Doc.” When he cringed at the title, she smirked and started again. “So, Levi, like I said before, what now?”
“Now we do this.” His lips descended on hers, achingly slow, achingly soft. At first just a brush, almost a sigh. When her lips softened and opened for him, he intensified the kiss. His arms wrapped firmly around her, holding her close, but giving her room to move, to break the embrace. Ella’s arms came up around Levi, pulling him into her until there was no space between them, until they touched neck to knee.
He wanted to devour her. He wanted to lift her in his arms, carry her into the dark bedroom at the end of the hall, and make love to her on a bed surrounded by flowing white gauze, with the moonlight spilling in from the patio. But, he was determined to take it slow. Until she groaned please and sank her teeth into his lower lip.
As if she weighed nothing—and she was still so very thin—he swept her up, his lips never leaving hers. She lifted her head for a moment and gazed deeply into his eyes.
“Yes, oh, yes, Levi. I’ve wanted this, too—almost from the first.” Her arms wrapped around his neck and she covered his face with kisses as he carried her down the hall.
Her bed was a welcoming oasis and the fluffy down comforter billowed then settled under their weight as he gently laid her on the bed and came to rest beside her. She turned into him immediately, her leg draping over his, her hands caressing his cheeks before tangling in hair that had grown a bit too long in Haiti. Now he rained her face with kisses trailing down to the long, slim column of her neck and her frail collarbone. He pulled her to him, marveling at the strength in her long, lean arms as they wrapped around him. As her leg wrapped tighter around his thigh, all thought of her as fragile, all concern that he needed to move slowly and gently, flew from his mind. A low moan emerged from his throat as his tongue breached her lips and swirled into her mouth.
****
Finally. Finally she thought when she tasted him teasing her. Sucking his tongue farther into the recesses of her mouth, she heard a groan. She didn’t know if it was Levi or was her—and she didn’t care.
A flurry of clothes being unbuttoned, pulled over heads, and down long legs quickly left them almost naked in each other’s arms. He leaned back to look at her and she smiled at the heat in his gaze. She was wearing nothing but two scraps of white lace that glowed almost eerily in the moonlight. Ella could not stop the grin spreading across her lips. He was a hottie, her Levi. Tanned and toned, with gray-flecked black hair lightly covering his chest, curling deliciously down his six-pack abs, and disappearing into his white boxer shorts. An impressive erection was easily visible under the thin cotton. Almost of their own volition, her fin
gers reached out to stroke him, once. Then again.
His arms were around her, his fingers expertly unhooking her bra and tearing it from her. As soon as her breasts were exposed, his mouth was on them—kissing the soft mounds—before his lips closed on one aching nipple. She arched into him, her hands tangled in his hair, his name repeating over and over again like some erotic mantra.
Need was a burning river snaking through her. She was thrashing beneath his touch, but was lulled into an anticipatory stillness when his hand reached into her panties and into her. His fingers strayed with unerring accuracy over her most sensitive spot and she strained into his touch. All the years of loneliness and need melted away as he stroked her to an orgasm that stole her breath and her sanity. It was everything she had longed for. It was not nearly enough.
As the last spasm of pleasure ebbed, Ella rolled over onto Levi. His eyes widened in surprise, then drifted closed as she settled her damp curls over his straining erection. Like a warm mist, she covered his torso with her own, her hands sweeping up his chest and out along his arms, until she clasped his hands in hers and lowered her mouth into long, slow kiss.
Levi lay still, letting Ella take control. She was rubbing along the length of him, his chest hair abrading her already swollen nipples, the wetness from her release bathing his hardness as she slid up and down. She rose, lifting herself as if as to take him inside her, and his hands, still clenched in hers, came to rest on her thighs, holding her down.
“No.”
It was like a slap in the face. No?
“No, not no. But no, wait. I need to get something, I need a condom, silly.”
Ella smiled then and laughed. “You don’t need one, I can’t get pregnant, remember?”
“I know. I haven’t exactly been a choirboy in the last few years and while I’m almost positive there would be no risk to you, I don’t want to take any chances.” So, he lifted her off him. As she lay next to him, he reached over her to find his jeans on the floor near to the bed. Within a moment, he rolled back, a shiny blue packet in his hand. In another moment, he was sheathed and crawling between her legs.
Shoulder to Lean On Page 7
