by J. H. Croix
Instead, all I could think about was Tristan. We’d had another night together last night. Right here, right now, right after a decent man asked me out to dinner, I got hot inside at the mere thought of Tristan. He was proving his point again and again and again. Last night, he’d left me boneless with his mouth and fingers. Then he’d driven me right to the edge and over again with a long, slow bout of him buried inside of me.
I couldn’t even contemplate trying to see someone else. Yet, I was starting to get more than a little worried about my heart. With a mental shove, I nudged my thoughts off that track and managed a polite smile in Jeff’s direction.
“Thank you, but no.”
Jeff didn’t miss a beat and nodded. “Understood. I suppose you have some kind of rule about not mixing research and pleasure.”
I shrugged and smiled ruefully. “Something like that.”
It wasn’t a blatant lie. I had always tried to walk that line carefully, but it wasn’t a hard and fast rule. It’s just that I couldn’t exactly say, “Actually, I’m fucking Dr. Wells and he’s ruined me for every other man. Permanently probably.”
Did I mention I was in over my head? Falling so far, so deep, I feared I might drown.
Jeff was gracious enough not to make it awkward, and we carried on with our conversation. I was showing him something in the data system when there was a sharp knock on the door.
“Come in,” Jeff called.
The door opened and Dr. Horton stood there with Tristan.
Dr. Horton was my primary contact here at the hospital, yet he’d been on leave for an extended period of time. I hadn’t quite expected him back yet.
He glanced from Jeff to me with a beaming smile. With his round glasses, his warm blue eyes and his generally jolly manner, it was impossible not to return his smile.
“Daisy, I thought we’d find you here. I was just telling Tristan it would be helpful for him to join your meeting with Jeff. As I’m sure you’ve noticed, the study he’s managing has been running like a dream,” Dr. Horton said as he stepped to me.
I stood from my chair and reached to shake his hand, but he clapped me on the shoulder instead. I felt Tristan’s eyes on me and looked up with a carefully polite smile. I only hoped my calm, professional façade belied the wild beat of my heart and the flutters spinning in my belly.
“Hello Daisy,” Tristan said with a nod, staying right where he’d stepped beside the round table.
“I didn’t expect to see you back so soon,” I said to Dr. Horton. “Of course, I’m thrilled, but I hope you didn’t cut your time off short because you missed work so much.”
Dr. Horton stepped back and flashed me a wry smile. “Ah, you do know I like my work. Actually, my wife got laid low with one of those horrible intestinal viruses on our cruise, and all she wanted to do was come home. We decided to try a different trip next year, so I’m back to work early. Not to worry though. I did have a full three months off. I’ve only returned a month early.” He paused and glanced among us. “So how are things going with this trial?” he asked, looking to Jeff.
“As you mentioned earlier,” Jeff started, obviously in reference to another conversation with Dr. Horton, “…we’ve had some challenges with the screening tools for this one. My team is also experiencing some frustrations with handling the two different computer systems.”
I stayed quiet. My opinion on the matter was Jeff didn’t appear to be insisting on the data entry needed for the medication trial. Seeing as he was part of a research project, to say that was missing the point didn’t even come close. It was a non-negotiable issue. This hadn’t come up with the trial Tristan was managing, but then I could guess Tristan to be a strong leader. Jeff had more of a cajoling manner, which I imagined led staff to think they had wiggle room.
It annoyed me to no end that I respected Tristan so much. Aside from the fact he could melt me with a look these days, he was too much of what I wanted. I politely listened as Dr. Horton, Jeff and Tristan chatted about a few issues. My presence wasn’t really necessary, but I didn’t feel like I could leave. Meanwhile, my mind wandered to Tristan and what it meant to have Dr. Horton back. We only had two weeks left of our agreed upon month, but I’d known I’d be seeing him once a week for the next six weeks. I hated thinking about it, but I’d been foolishly hanging onto those extra weeks, thinking maybe I’d get more than the month with him.
Oh God. This was bad.
“Daisy?”
Dr. Horton’s voice broke through my wandering thoughts.
“Yes?”
“I was hoping you didn’t mind continuing your weekly meetings with Tristan and Jeff for another few weeks. I’ve got some other projects to focus on and tons of catch up to do.”
My heart did a little dance. I didn’t mind meeting with Jeff, but I was downright ecstatic to have a few more chances to see Tristan once our allotted month came to an end. That’s how bad off I was.
“Of course not,” I said, focusing to keep my tone level and my expression nothing but bland and polite.
“Excellent then. You know if you need me, all you have to do is call,” Dr. Horton replied with another wide smile.
He said his goodbyes, leaving me alone with Jeff and Tristan. I glanced between them. “Was there anything else we needed to cover?” I asked, glancing toward Jeff.
“I don’t think so. I’ll follow up with my team on the data issues and make sure they stay on top of it.” He paused and looked to Tristan. “In case you didn’t know, Dr. Knight is off limits,” he said with a wink and a wry smile.
Well, this was a little awkward, along with infuriating. Before I had a chance to open my mouth, Tristan’s eyes darkened and he glared at Jeff.
“Apologize,” he said sharply.
Jeff who had just shown himself to be one of those ‘boys will be boys’ assholes looked taken aback. “Dude, I was just joking. It was a compliment, really.”
I eyed him. “Sorry, but no. I’m here in a professional capacity. There’s no reason for you to assume anything, particularly not that it should be announced I’m off limits. You asked me to dinner. I said no. End of conversation. If you thought it wasn’t about you, you can reconsider.”
Tristan’s eyes flicked from me back to Jeff. “Obviously, Dr. Knight can take care of herself. We treat all professionals professionally here. Keep that in mind in the future,” he said curtly.
I sensed he wanted to say more, but he didn’t. His jaw was clenched and his shoulders were tense. Jeff held his gaze and then looked to me. “My apologies.”
I nodded and turned away. Tristan was right behind me, opening the door and gesturing me through. We didn’t speak and started walking in the direction of his office, which was two floors up and on the opposite side of the hospital. I could feel the tension emanating from Tristan, but he didn’t say a word. We waited in silence for the elevator and then stepped in. When he hit the button for a different floor, I glanced his way.
“Your office is on floor three.”
He finally looked at me, and my heart gave a hard thump. His eyes were dark, and I could see a muscle ticking in his jaw. He glanced up to the screen above the elevator door, indicating what floor we were passing. Abruptly he hit the stop button, and the elevator whispered to a stop. Before I could ask him what he was doing, he spun to me. My back bumped against the wall as he crowded against me. The air around us instantly felt alive with a pounding, intense need. His eyes collided with mine, his gaze searching.
“Tristan, what are you…”
My words were lost in his kiss. He fit his mouth over mine, sweeping his tongue deeply inside. There was no slow build up to this kiss. Inside of mere seconds, I was burning up inside, flexing against him, my hands greedily yanking his shirt out of his slacks, so I could feel him. I groaned into his mouth once my palm slid up over the hard planes of his chest, his skin hot and sleek. He tore his mouth free, and I gulped in air. One of his hands was laced roughly into my hair, the other palm cupping my
breast.
Inside the enclosed space of the elevator, it felt as if we were all alone in the world. The sound of our breath heaving filled the space. My heartbeat drummed through my body, each beat feeding the crescendo of need rising inside of me. His forehead fell to mine as he eased his grip on my hair and sifted through it.
“Miller asked you out,” he said, a statement rather than a question.
I opened my eyes to find his right there, boring into mine. I nodded, just barely.
“I said no,” I whispered.
I have no idea why I felt the need to explain that, but I did. It’s not like Tristan and I were serious. He’d made the fact we weren’t perfectly clear. Yet, I was the one who’d asked him to stay exclusive if only for this month. I felt he had to know I would honor that.
I could hardly bear to tell him the truth—there was no way I could even imagine being with anyone other than him even beyond the end of this month. I wanted more, so much more, but it didn’t matter. I’d walked into this with my eyes wide open. We had a month for me to have as many orgasms as I could manage. Though my body was thrumming with need, I wasn’t lost in it yet. This moment felt intense, raw and intimate in a different way.
His eyes searched mine. I could feel the steady beat of his heart against my palm. Meanwhile, mine pounded so hard, I was quite certain he could hear it.
“I don’t have any say, but I’m glad you said no,” he murmured.
“Why?”
That one word literally jumped out of my mouth, so rushed was it to be heard. He was silent for a moment that stretched so long, I ached inside and out. I wanted him. So desperately and in so many ways I wasn’t supposed to want him. If only it were purely physical, it would all be so much simpler.
“Because I don’t like thinking about you with anyone else,” he finally said.
His voice was low and gruff and sent a curl of warmth around my heart. I shouldn’t have savored it, but I liked knowing he was jealous.
“You said one month.”
Again, my mouth was about ten steps ahead of my brain. I didn’t really want to debate this right now.
“I said we’d reassess in a month,” he replied, his eyes never breaking from mine.
I swallowed, trying to control the wild beat of my heart and the hope clamoring to be heard inside. There were so many things I wanted to say, but none of them made sense. Not right now. For once, my brain caught up and managed to shush me.
“Oh,” was all I could manage.
With the air heavy with need, the intimacy shimmering around us made me feel exposed. I started to get anxious. As if he could sense the shift, he dipped his head and started dropping kisses along my neck. Hot shivers raced through me, and I immediately forgot everything but this moment—his hard body pressed to mine, his cock nestled against my core, and his lips blazing fire along my skin.
The elevator suddenly started moving again. At the subtle jolt of motion, he lifted his head.
“Bloody hell,” he muttered.
He stepped back, and I quickly stepped away from where I’d been leaning against the wall. We both quickly adjusted our clothing. I thought I had everything in place until he reached over and pulled the edge of my collar over. I flushed at the brush of his fingers on my skin.
I looked up quickly, colliding with his gaze—hot, dark and locked to me. He didn’t say a word, but something flashed in the depths of his eyes. The elevator came to a stop, and he quickly stepped back, dropping his hand. The doors whisked open, and a cheerful nurse stood there with an elderly woman in a wheelchair.
“Well, hello there Dr. Wells,” the nurse said as she wheeled her patient into the elevator. Once they were inside, the nurse turned around, so the woman in the wheelchair was situated between Tristan and I. Without being asked, he leaned over and adjusted the footrests on the chair.
The woman glanced up and bestowed a smile on him. “Aren’t you a polite boy?”
I bit my lip to keep from laughing. She swung to me. She had curly gray hair, sparkling blue eyes and an impish smile.
“Well, wouldn’t you agree?” she asked me.
“Of course. Dr. Wells is definitely a polite boy.”
Her gaze bounced between us before her impish grin widened. “He’s no Dr. Wells to you, dear.”
My cheeks got hot, and I couldn’t keep my eyes from flicking to Tristan who was actually biting the inside of his cheek to keep from laughing. When I didn’t say anything, she shrugged.
“I’m old and that counts for a lot of experience. I know when I sense something. Plus, your lips are puffy. I’d bet polite Dr. Wells was kissing you, or perhaps you started it. You do look a bit bossy.”
The whole thing was so ridiculous, I started laughing. She laughed right along with me. When I caught my breath, I looked down at her. “Anything else you’d like to tell me about myself?”
She cocked her head to the side. “No dear. He’s yummy, and he likes you.”
At that, the elevator came to a whispering stop. The nurse was laughing softly as she rolled past us. Tristan caught my eyes, barely holding back his grin.
“This is my floor too. With Dr. Horton back, they put me here for the last month I’ll be here.”
I simply nodded. When I didn’t move, he arched a brow. “Aren’t we meeting?”
Sweet hell. I’d completely forgotten we actually had work to do. I gathered my dignity and followed him down the hall, wondering if perhaps we could lock the door and forget the rest of the world for a bit.
Chapter 19
Tristan
I was wound tight inside. I had perfectly respectable, professional reasons to remind Daisy we were supposed to have our weekly meeting. Our meeting was entirely unnecessary, and I damn well knew it. The data she liked to review weekly was all up to date. There wasn’t much to discuss. I’d come to learn she was on the bossy side when it came to the medication trials she managed. I actually loved that about her. If only because it turned me on.
I could’ve just let her carry on with her day. But I needed her. Now.
My cock had been rock hard since we’d entered the elevator. I was quite grateful everyone who passed by us in this wing of the hospital was either looking at their phone, or barely acknowledging us. Daisy walked beside me, her low heels clicking rhythmically on the floor. Once again, she was dressed quite appropriately. She wore a fitted black skirt that flared just above her knees, paired with a fitted cream blouse and kitten heels, which she seemed to favor. Of course, more than a cursory glance and it was impossible not to notice how the blouse strained slightly at the buttons between her breasts.
I’d bet money she was wearing a sheer silk bra with a thong to match. I’d come to learn she tended to match her lingerie with whatever she was wearing. That would mean cream silk today. Just thinking about it sent blood straight to my already hard cock and made my mouth water.
It felt like we walked forever to reach my office. I tried, oh I bloody tried, to stay in control. I closed the door behind her and locked it. I turned to see her setting her purse down on the table. She leaned over to brush something off the chair closest to her, giving me a glimpse of the valley between her breasts. The reins slipped through my fingers. I was standing right in front of her when she straightened.
Her eyes widened, and her breath drew in sharply. I managed to gather some control and held still. A fucking miracle with her this close. On the heels of a breath, I stepped to her and cupped her bottom, bringing her flush to me. Her cheeks pinkened, and her breath came in short pants.
“I want you,” I nearly growled.
Her eyes flicked up to mine. “What are you waiting for?”
At the sound of her voice, raspy with passion and tinged with her bossiness, I dipped my head and picked up right where I’d left off in the elevator. Only now I was near out of my mind with need mingling with emotion swirling inside of me. I yanked at her blouse as my lips, teeth and tongue made their way down into the valley betwee
n her breasts. The buttons gave way easily, and as expected, her bra was sheer cream silk. Her nipples were taut and pink through the silk. I laved my tongue over one and then the other, savoring her moans and the roll of her hips against me.
Fuck. I needed her, and I needed her now. I spun her around, shoving her skirt up as I did. Her foot caught on the chair leg, and I couldn’t have planned it better. She caught her balance on the table as I reflexively steadied her hips. As it was, her gorgeous bottom was exposed with her skirt flipped up over it. When I trailed my fingertip along the strip of silk that rested between her cheeks, she placed her other palm on the table and arched into my touch. The silk between her thighs was soaked.
I was usually a man who took my time. I could only manage that sometimes with Daisy. She was too tempting, too delicious, too much of everything I wanted. I hooked a finger over the edge of her panties, yanking them down swiftly where they pooled around her ankles. With the kick of a foot, she knocked them out of the way. I knelt down and stroked up her thighs with my palms, widening them slightly as I did.
Her pussy, pink and glistening from her juices was too much for me to resist. I dragged my tongue along its cleft, my fingers digging into her hips as I held her still. I meant to make her come so hard she saw stars, but she was bossy and impatient. She wiggled her hips amidst a few groans.
“Tristan, no… Oh God.”
I drew back. “No?” I asked as I sank a finger into her channel. It clenched around me.
“I want you inside,” she murmured on the heels of another moan.
“But I am,” I countered as I stretched her with another finger and stroked into her.
“It’s not enough,” she said, more strongly this time.
“You’re sure about that?” I teased with a swirl of my thumb over her clit.
“Just…fuck…me,” she murmured between gasps as her hips rolled back into my touch.
