by T. C. Clark
He groaned when her body started to shake around him. He pulled her legs higher and adjusted his angle. He needed to be deeper. He wanted to be as close as possible. Her hands moved over his back and pulled him closer. He started moving easier inside her as she grew slick.
Her body started to spasm around his. She took everything he had and gave it back to him as her hands moved over his back and locked around his neck. He leaned down and took her mouth to cover her scream just like he used to do in their small apartment so many years ago. She hated how loud she was in bed, and he knew she wanted his help to muffle her sexy noises.
She screamed into his mouth as she came around him. He gritted his teeth through the pure pleasure of having her under him. He rode out the storm as long as he could until finally, he thrust as deep as he could go and stopped. He growled as he released streams of his seed deep within her. She wrapped her body around him as he started to move again, grinding into her, trying to prolong the pleasure.
He kissed her again and again, unable to stop. He opened his mouth to say something but stopped himself. She was right; if he started talking, they would probably end up arguing or at the very least it would add unnecessary tension. He looked down at Anita, who had fallen asleep and kissed her nose.
He was still embedded in her, and he had no desire to move. He adjusted their bodies so that his weight wasn’t resting completely on her. He would savor this moment. Right now, Anita belonged to him. He would deal with any other issues later.
* * *
Anita opened her eyes and groaned. Her pager was going off. She moved and then stopped; Aidan was still inside of her. She took a deep breath and twisted and turned until she was out from under him.
What the fuck was she thinking? She’d slept with Aidan, and they hadn’t even used protection. She was on the pill, thank God, but it was still a major risk to sleep with someone like that. She forced her mind to relax. She knew Aidan was particular about his bed partners; she didn’t think he would put her at risk.
She wasn’t going to beat herself up. Sure it was dumb as hell to sleep with him, but it was done now. They were both unattached adults. She got dressed quickly. She didn’t bother waking Aidan. She needed time to get her wits back before she talked to him.
She left the on-call room and went right to the bathroom to wash up. She fixed her face and hair as best she could and went back to the nurse’s station.
“Here’s Mina’s reports so far. Just a heads up, everyone has been stopping by looking for you,” Nina said, a senior nurse on staff. She was a pretty Spanish lady who was easy to work with. “I know you said you hate having a lot of people around, but right now you’re a rock star.”
“I’m not a rock star. Let’s wait until Mina wakes up before everyone starts celebrating. The surgery went well, but the brain is a fickle thing. I won’t relax until I can speak to her myself.”
“Those are the words of a good doctor,” Nina said, patting her on the back. “Her fiancé has been by, he says he wants to thank you in person.”
Anita sighed, she should have been here instead of locked in an oncall room having sex. She’d already sent another surgeon to talk to him as soon as she finished the surgery. She didn’t like to talk to the family until she had time to pull herself together.
“I’ll stop by there in an hour or so. I want to call Sabrina and make sure everything is still okay with my other patients.”
“Hey, Dr. Walker!” a young blond man called out. She’d seen him before with Aidan. She was pretty sure he was his assistant or something like that.
“Hi,” she said cautiously.
“Have you seen Aidan?” Bryan asked, jumping straight to the point. She prayed that they couldn’t see the redness forming on her dark brown cheeks. She didn’t want to get any gossip going about the two of them.
“Oh, yeah. I think he said he was going to rest for a minute after the surgery,” Anita said lightly.
“I’ve tried to call his cell, he isn’t picking up.” He pulled out his phone and scrolled through it again.
“He may have left his cell in his locker. I’d try his pager. If he’s asleep, you may want to call a few times in a row,” she suggested. She tried to keep her tone nonchalant and focused on the papers in front of her.
“Good idea, thanks, I’ll try that again. Oh, and great job on the surgery.” Before she could say anything else, he hurried away with his face buried in his phone.
“Nina, I’m going back to the lab to go over these files, please have someone get me when Mina wakes up.”
Anita made her way back to the lab with a stupid smile on her face. Although she shouldn’t have slept with Aidan, she wasn’t going to pretend that it wasn’t fantastic. Her body had missed that man. It was a nice memory to add to the rest of the ones she’d stored from the past.
She would have to watch out for him now. She’d seen that possessive look that had passed over his face as he braced himself above her. He was starting to believe they could actually work again. She’d given that dream up a long time ago. She walked into her lab, sat down, and got to work.
* * *
Aidan picked up his pager and let out a curse. Anita was gone, and Bryan had paged five times. This couldn’t be good. He sat up and ran a hand through his hair. If she thought he would let her walk away now, she had another thing coming. It took him a few minutes to get dressed and straighten up. As soon as he walked out of the on-call room, he saw Bryan.
“What the hell, Aidan? I have ten problems waiting for you to deal with. I know I told you to take a break, but you know you can’t go far. I have one of the pediatric doctors in your office with a request for a machine that cost two million dollars.”
“I know. I’m sorry. I just went to sleep for a few minutes and then I got caught up. I guess everything with Mina got to me. Do you know where Dr. Walker went?” He walked quickly in the direction of his office, sure that Bryan was right behind him.
He would deal with all of this first, and then he would find Anita. He could still feel her scratch marks on his back. He hadn’t felt this good in a while. It was like he’d taken a vacation. The renewed energy running through him was amazing. He needed to take care of everything else on his plate so his attention could be completely focused on getting Anita back into his life on a permanent basis.
If she would give him another try, he could show her how much he’d changed. This time, things would be different. He’d felt what his life was like without her, and he knew now that it was infinitely better when they were together. He wouldn’t let her escape again.
* * *
It took a few days but Anita was satisfied that Mina was healing nicely. She was still weak, but everything looked good. Her scans were coming back clear and her cognitive tests were improving.
“Thank you, Anita. I wish you didn’t have to go so soon,” Mina whispered. Her strong Italian man was wrapped around her. He wasn’t supposed to be in the bed, but no one had the heart to tell him so.
“You’re welcome, Mina. All of your scans are looking good. I’ve prepared your team of doctors, and they will send me all of your updated reports. I’m sorry I have to leave so soon, Sabrina just called me about another patient that’s having issues at my hospital. My team there wants me to do a consult before I leave for another job. I promise you I would stay if not for that.”
She was telling the truth. Sure, she’d spent the last two days evading Aidan; she’d been lucky because of this hospital’s upcoming budget report. Every doctor here needed time with him. Although she wasn’t ready to talk, there was no way she’d abandon a patient early for personal reasons.
One of the doctors she worked with regularly had called in a favor. She wanted her to examine a patient and give her personal opinion on treatment before they moved forward. That doctor had helped her out a lot and she couldn’t say no. And, to be fair, Mina was looking good. Other than continuing to examine her scans, there was not much else she could do. Some
one else would be in charge of Mina’s rehabilitation.
“Thank you for everything,” Luca said as well. He stood and walked over to hug her. When he leaned back, he handed her a card. “If you need anything at all. I will be here, no questions asked. I know you’re a doctor and you feel like you were just doing your job. But you kept Mina alive and gave her another chance. I owe you.”
Anita shook her head, but he wouldn’t let her leave without the card. He didn’t owe her anything. She knew the risk a patient took when they signed on to do brain surgery. She always felt lucky whenever it went well. Yes, she’d practiced for hours and researched everything she could, but opening someone up was still risky every time.
She couldn’t run away without speaking to Aidan. She’d made an appointment with him later today. She’d already turned in her paperwork to HR. After she talked to Aidan, she was going to drop off her badges.
Sabrina got her a flight on the red eye. She would clean out the lab and then talk to Aidan. He deserved a goodbye. She’d already spoken to Yoel about the surgery she would be doing in Sri Lanka.
She’d received a lot of paperwork for it, and she was starting to get nervous. He couldn’t tell her who the surgery was for, but she was starting to get a bad feeling about it.
There was a bunch of words on the contracts that concerned her like redacted and confidential. She would deal with that later. She could only handle one problem at a time.
* * *
Aidan waited for three o’clock with little patience. He’d tried unsuccessfully to talk to Anita. She was elusive, and he was way too busy. Everyone needed him for something. He’d spent the last day defusing fights and approving spending budgets.
He hadn’t even thought of what he would say to her. He wished they didn’t have the past between them. Although he treasured the memories, he knew it would be the one obstacle that she’d cling to. It didn’t matter, though. She’d reawakened something inside of him. He’d conquered everything in his life using hard work and determination, and he wouldn’t lose her now.
When Bryan buzzed to warn him that she was here, he took a deep breath. When she walked in, his heart stopped. She was carrying a suitcase. She was wearing linen slacks and a light blue top. She looked ready to travel.
Her thick black hair was once again styled into a bob. His eyes devoured her openly. He would no longer try to hide what he was feeling. He couldn’t if he tried. He didn’t expect her to run. He wasn’t sure how he could stop this.
“Going somewhere, Anita?” he asked. He forced his voice to remain calm and ignored his building anger.
“Yes, now that Mina is doing well, I’m going to head back to my hospital. There is a patient there one of my friends wants me to examine before I leave to fulfill another contract. I wouldn’t leave so soon if it wasn’t for that, but Mina is doing good, and her rehabilitation team is all set to move forward with our plan.” Her eyes met his and his cock jumped. He knew she could feel the chemistry that existed between them; he could see it on her face.
She swallowed, and he stiffened. He needed her to relax and talk with him. He couldn’t bulldoze his way through this. “You did a good job with Mina.”
Her mahogany skin turned an interesting shade of red. “We did a good job with Mina. Everyone seems to forget I was a part of a team of doctors.”
“You can’t just leave. Anita, we have to talk about what happened.”
“Aidan, there’s nothing to talk about. We shouldn’t have slept together. I’m assuming it was because of the stress. But we are both adults, and it happened. I don’t regret it, but I also don’t want to repeat it.”
“I am a different man now. I’m not the boy that walked away from you. I’ve grown up, and although I had my reasons, I would never willingly leave you again. I know I haven’t given you any reason to believe me, but you can trust me. I’ve lived with you, and I lived without you, and I know my life is complete with you in it. If you give me a chance, I can prove to you that I’m worth the risk. Let me explain why I left, and let’s try to work through it. What we have is too special to lose.”
“Aidan…”
“All I’m asking is for one chance. Give me one chance.” To give her credit, she took the time to think about his words.
“No. You broke me, Aidan, in a way that I didn’t believe was possible. I loved you with everything I had once, and it wasn’t enough, and it hurt. It hurt me for so long. I can’t take another chance on you. I wouldn’t survive another round. I know you had your reasons for leaving, and I appreciate that you were honest enough to walk away with a clean break. You may have changed, but I’m still the same woman you left behind. The same girl who begged you not to go.” Anita stood with tears in her eyes. He could feel the pain coming off of her. She walked around the desk and placed a light kiss on his head. “I’m sorry this isn’t going to work, but you are a great man. I’m glad that I knew you. But this isn’t a challenge, and I don’t want you to follow me. I just want you to let me go.”
Aidan opened his mouth and closed it. He didn’t know what to say to that. He stood and took her mouth in a sweet kiss. She didn’t fight it. She let him take what he needed. When he raised his head, he let her go.
“Text me when you get home so I know you’re safe,” he said gruffly. He watched her go and sat back down. How did he move on from that? Approximately ten seconds later, his intercom went off and Bryan told him his next appointment was here. Aidan took a deep breath and cleared his throat. He would have to think hard about this. His life wouldn’t be the same without Anita in it.
Four
Boom goes the dynamite...
A few lonely months later…
* * *
Aidan sat down at the table and waited for Eden’s husband to join him. He’d gone to see Anita twice, and still nothing. She was holding her ground. She only wanted them to be friends, and he saw no way around it. He didn’t want to give up. Essentially, that’s exactly what he’d done last time.
The one plus from their time together was that he’d become her friend. They talked multiple times a week. That’s how he knew the military had pushed her to do the surgery. There was something about the situation that was off.
He didn’t know how to move forward from here. He decided to talk with the one man whose past had almost cost him the love of his life. Anyone who knew Eden would never pair her with the enormous brooding Russian. But somehow, they had made it work. She loved the man despite his mistakes.
“Hello, Aidan. What brings you to Eden’s Treasures?” Dmitri asked, taking a seat. He placed a decanter of coffee on the table and two cups. Aidan smiled; the man was a machine. Just a few months ago, two people, who had to be fellow assassins, had dropped him off at his house and ordered him to fix him. It had taken a lot of work, but he’d finally put the Russian back together again, and now look at him. If you didn’t mind the aging bruises or the stitches, he looked great.
“I have a question about how you got Eden to give you a chance.” He took a sip of hot black coffee and waited. He was willing to listen. So far he’d received zero encouragement from Anita. If they hadn’t slept together, he wouldn’t think she was interested at all.
“Oh, I see. This is about the pretty doctor who helped Mina, isn’t it?”
“Yes, it’s about her. How did you convince Eden to give you a chance? I mean, I know we can’t talk about your past, but she has to know about some of it. So what did it take?”
“You two were together before, right? Eden said you were her university honey or whatever the American term is for long-term couples in college.”
“I think you mean college sweethearts, and yes, we were. But I left her. I had family obligations and too many things on my plate…” His voice trailed off, and he shook his head firmly. “I had a lot of excuses, and I walked away from her. I regretted it, but by the time I got my head out of my ass, she was off the market. When we met each other again, all the feelings I thought I’d buried
came back. I know she feels something for me, but she says she doesn’t want to give me a chance to hurt her again.”
“And will you hurt her? Do you even know what you want?”
“I need her, Dmitri. This isn’t a game for me. I know she is what I need.”
“You said you walked away from her before. Maybe it’s time for you to give something up. If you want her, you’re going to have to prove that you are different. Go after her, Aidan. Even if it doesn’t work, at least you know you’ve put in the work.”
“I can’t go right now. I run the neuro department at the hospital…” Dmitri held up a hand to stop his words.
“Here you go with the excuses again. If you don’t really want her, then you should let her go. She’s either worth the sacrifice or she’s not. There is no way a woman like that is going to give up everything and come here to stay with a guy who broke her heart. This is your chance to show her that she means more to you than anything else.”
Aidan sat back and thought about their past relationship. Anita had always put him first. Back then she’d done all the compromising, it was time to show her how he changed.
“I hear you. If I want her, I have to prove it. She has a military surgery she’s doing in Sri Lanka. I wonder if I can get added to the team. If we were working together she couldn’t run from me.”
“Give me the specs on it and I will figure it out. I just need the base, the date, and the type of surgery and I’ll find out who you need to speak to so you can get on the case. With your background, it should be easy enough.”
“You’re going to help me?”
“Yeah, us men have to stick together. The women we’ve chosen are tough to catch, and you seem to need all the help you can get,” Dmitri said dryly.
