Our noses touch, and then our thighs. And our hearts, I would swear the beautiful twinge I feel is them uniting. This emotion inside me, flip-flopping—it must be my heart trying to meet his. I hope it’s skipping and hurdling around in jubilant leaps like mine.
“I really do love you, Mrs. Hardick. I’m a fool rushing in, who feels nothing like a fool at all. And I really do want to make love to you tonight. Tell me you want that. Please tell me you want to be with me as much as I want to be with you.”
Our lips meet, his brushing over then crushing mine as a deep groan rumbles out of him. It’s seductive and firm, rugged and full of need. Husband.
Two words holding multiple meanings come out of me in a barely-there breath. “I do.”
Chapter 48
Clue~ zero on a court *love
Hunt
A few tears, one long kiss, and an official “I do” later, we head to the main lodge, and I finger the room key in my pocket.
Mrs. Hardick.
This twenty-four-hour charade might hold more possibility than I thought. And why not? People zip to Vegas all the time and get married on a whim. Not that I want this to be a whim. In fact, I’d love it to be everything but that.
“You do realize this was all your doing?” I ask as we stroll the antique-clad halls of the resort, my arm slung over Happy’s shoulder.
“Yeah, I got that. You sure did put your twist into it.” A teasing smile creases her face. “Staking your claim?”
“Pretty much since day one.” I wink.
“This place is like nothing I’ve ever seen,” Happy says as we arrive at our suite. She picks up a vintage book from a small table outside our room, and examines the cover. “Who’s your friend anyway?”
“He’s a big-deal fertility specialist. Works with movie stars and royalty. We met in med school. He only comes here in the winter for a few weeks, hence my come-when-I-want privileges. The honeymoon suite.” I push the door open and scoop Happy up to carry her inside.
She laughs and kicks her legs, her head thrown back. Carefree. Brave. Sparkling. Then, wiggling like a bug, she jumps out of my arms seconds after I’ve kicked the door closed. Would I have liked to march her into the master bedroom and strip her down? Damn fucking straight I would have. But the furl on her brow and the way she wiggled away from me said wait.
As Happy wanders around the suite, I dig into the wine refrigerator. While I plunge a corkscrew in the top of the bottle, she sidles next to me.
“How about a glass of wine?” I ask. “You okay?”
Nibbling at her thumbnail, she says, “I’m doing cartwheels inside, if you want to know the truth. A sky-diver feeling—you ever have that? Like, maybe right now?”
“You want to know how I feel?” Hugging her, I kiss the top of her head. Then I pull back to see her eyes. “Like I’m walking on water, because this feels real to me.” I chuckle and kiss her nose. “Your eye-rolling is not the response I was hoping for.”
“I’m only rolling my eyes because we’re not really married. This isn’t real.”
“But we are. Twenty-four hours.” I entwine her arm with mine, and with both of us holding a glass, we clink rims then take sips.
“I like our rings by the way,” she tells me. “That was a nice touch. It would be a fun tattoo to have instead of a diamond. Why do people spend all that money when they could have something more permanent? Especially if you really love someone the way I love you, Mr. Hardick. How’s that for good acting?”
“Acting, huh? Seemed a little more invested. You want to love me, I can tell you do. There must be a little truth in what you said.” Wine sloshes out of my glass as I place it on the counter.
“There is.” A bubble of laughter escapes her throat as she backs up and leans against the wall. “It’s in-the-early-hours love. But I don’t have another name for it. It’s more than like. I can say that.”
“Tell me, my beautiful wife,” I whisper against her ear. “How do you want this night to go down?”
“I have no idea how this should go down.” Color stains her cheeks as she glances to her hands then back up to my mouth and my eyes. “You need to take over.”
“I’ll happily take you over, slowly, for hours. You trust me?”
“I have no reason not to, do I?”
“What if I told you I want to be the only one?” I hoist Happy onto the counter. “The first person who makes love to you and the last person you let love you? Would that panic or please you?”
“If it could be real and true, it would thrill me to pieces. But I’m not sure I live in the same land of optimism you do. I know it’s not what you want to hear. But, what if something changed? What if you did?”
“And what if I didn’t? You know exactly what I want.”
“And you know exactly what I’m afraid of. How do those two things fit together?”
Opening the buttons of her sundress then easing it over her shoulders and down her arms, I tell her, “Let’s see how we fit together right now. Maybe that’ll help you.”
“We’re doing this in the kitchen?”
“I’m going to snack on you. Then I’m going to make love to you in the bedroom. Now, lie back. I’m hungry.”
“I’m only seeing the tip of your dirty, aren’t I?”
“Happy, you’ve seen none of my dirty. You will eventually. I need to show you what a gentleman I am first. Any idiot can be dirty. But what I’m going to do and give you, how I’m going make you feel, well, let’s just say dirty will seem bleached.”
“Oh fuck,” she says.
I flip her shoes off, then nibble her calf. Sliding one hand under her ass, I grip her underwear and yank only the backside down, leaving her mostly covered.
“These look good on you. I need to work around them. Red lace, eh? Not what I would think you’d choose.”
“Just stepping outside of that comfort circle until the fucker trips me. Oh god.” She lifts her hips and moans. “What are you doing?”
“Making you feel good. You have lots of virgin in you. You’re my personal sexy amusement park with no lines.”
I drag her hips to the edge of the counter then shove the tiny bits of lace covering her breasts aside. The scent of her arousal climbs up my nose like a caged fuck that’s been waiting ten years to be released.
“How many times?” she asks as I pinch my way from nipple to nipple with one hand while I slide my other hand between her legs.
Every tiny moan, squeak, and arch of her body makes me hard as steel.
“Am I going to make you come?” I ask. “Too many to count. So many that it’ll be the only memory you call upon when you can’t sleep and need something endless to count.” I lean in and suck her clit through the lace while my fingers map her flesh on the backside.
“Your tongue, oh fuck.” She whimpers.
“Too much, Mrs. Hardick? I’ve only just begun. I’m sucking through lace. This pussy though. This is the only one for me, the only one I want.”
“Hunt.”
“Talk to me. I won’t do anything you don’t want me to. But I want to take it. Want to strip you down. Your walls, your everything. Me and you. Skin and soul. No one else, not another thought. Now, tell me. Are you ready to come for me, Happy?”
She nods, and my insides twist. Her face forms a look of pure innocence crossed with pain, love, and need.
She moans as I slip one finger under her wet lace and find her with my mouth at the same time. I rub my nose along the crease of her thigh, my mouth sucking a line along skin that’s never felt the lust of another man. Sweet, salty, musky perfection.
“Mrs. Hardick. Is your husband doing right by you…before sinking his ready-to-explode dick into you?”
She arches. A solitary cry escapes her throat, my tongue chasing her craving and need. I yank her underwear off. Then, seizing her hips, I lift her wet, swollen flesh against my mouth, and she surrenders.
Upon scooping her up in my arms, I nestle my face to her neck
. “I’m going to make love to you now. Going to take you in that bedroom, lay you down, make you mine. Permanently.”
“Yeah?” She giggles. “I guess it’s time.”
“It is about time,” I say as we enter the bedroom. “And you thought it was going to be some random cowboy. Didn’t I tell you it wouldn’t be a one-time thing?”
She laughs as I lay her on the bed and then yank my shirt off. Her eyes roam my body as I work my jeans down.
“You think you’re getting it twice?”
I ride my hand up and down my ready-to-fuck-her-yesterday erection. She scoots backward, and I climb onto the bed, crawling over her, spreading her legs to lie between them. Kissing a line down her neck, I grind against her. I’m seconds away from sliding myself in but I take my time because this is her first. Her hips thrust up to mine as I pull back to stare into her glittering eyes.
“Twice? I’m betting on maybe even three times tonight. Then tomorrow, and the next day, and day after that, and the—”
“Hunt?”
Happy freezes and I nearly jump out of my skin upon hearing the voice behind me.
“I’m so fucking sorry,” I say as I rocket off the bed and march out of the bedroom. “What the hell are you doing here?”
Chapter 49
Rainbows follow storms
Happy
My heart pounds in wild beats as I scurry to the bathroom for a towel. I wrap myself then hurry to eavesdrop at the bedroom door.
“You still have a key?” Hunt says, his voice hoarse with emotion.
“Yeah. I went to the ranch to find you. I wanted to wish you a happy birthday and give you a present.” Sela?
“You shouldn’t be traveling.” His voice is filled with concern and irritation. “Preeclampsia is dangerous. For you and your baby.”
I slam my trembling hands over my face. God, I’m a bigger idiot than seems possible. This is what brave got me. Fucked is right.
In a whiny voice, she slurs her words. “You don’t look happy to see me.”
“I’m frustrated. You’re putting yourself and your baby in jeopardy, and you’ve been drinking?”
“I just needed something to take the edge off.”
“The edge off what? Jesus, Sela! I’ve told you too many times since you got pregnant you cannot drink like you used to. Your fucking womb is not a nightclub!”
“My nerves. I haven’t been honest with you, and I wanted to tell you in person.”
My stomach twists. I gasp for air and slide down the wall. “Please,” I mouth silently. “Please don’t let this woman ask for what I think she might.” My life cannot be on rewind. Why would the universe choose this of all things for me?
“Sela, I’m with someone.”
I jump when a strike hits the wall on the other side of the door.
“I’m naming the baby Hugo.” She whimpers.
The million pieces I thought I gathered to restructure my heart shatter like glass falling from a thousand feet to land on cement.
“Why would you do that?”
“I got scared, felt trapped when I found out I was pregnant. I never messed around on you. This baby, he’s yours.”
Hunt groans. “Impossible.”
“I’ll do a blood test…it’s yours.”
“Sela… Oh Christ, you’re fucking… Happy, call nine-one-one!”
I scramble to my feet and throw the door open.
“Oh god!” Sela cries. Vomit spews from her mouth. Then she collapses.
A rancid stench fills the air as a pool of blood forms beneath her. I rifle through my bag. “Where the fuck is my phone?” I mutter, my body numb, every fiber rigid. A terrifying pain grips my throat as Hunt yells, “Happy! Christ, fucking call an ambulance. She could die! Both of them could die.”
“I can’t find it. Can’t find my phone!” I shout as I flip my bag upside down. Items fall in a jumble, and I rip through them while racing time. “I’m sorry. I must have left it at the ranch. Where’s yours? Doesn’t the suite have one?”
Sela’s arms lifelessly flop against the floor as blood spreads in rivers underneath her. Mumbling senseless strings of words, Hunt works to examine her.
“Find mine! Over there, on the counter,” Hunt barks. He points toward the kitchen, blood dripping from his hand as it shakes.
Tripping over the contents of my bag, I race to the kitchen. I dive for Hunt’s phone, and finger in 911 then scream at the voice on the other end of the line. I have no idea what I said when the call ends a minute later.
“How can I help you?” I ask Hunt. “Is she okay? Could the baby really die?”
“They could both die! She’s... I don’t fucking know. It’s too much blood.” Hunt flashes me a troubled look.
I rush to the bathroom for towels, and after offering him help again, I manage to dress myself and run outside to greet the ambulance. As they load Sela onto the gurney, I chew my lips, tears running over them. Sobs scrape my throat as Hunt cries into his hands.
When they rush out the door with Sela, Hunt grips my shoulders then palms my cheeks. “I’m sorry. I’ll—”
“Just go,” I cry out. “Go! Go with them.”
Horrible, humiliating thoughts no reasonable person should have flood my brain. My sanity has checked out, along with my heart. I’m an awful raven to be thinking the thoughts I am. She may die, the child may die, and if they don’t, I’ll lose him. God help me, I’m sick. The man I think I love just raced out the door with what? His family? Yes. It’s all he wants: a wife and children. He loved her. Does he still? I am an evil, evil raven.
“What is wrong with me?” I mutter.
On my hands and knees, I drag towels across the floor through the pool of blood. White fluff soaks up the red stain of his family. I sob in long, angry cries. For him. For her. For his child. For me, and everything I thought could be a possibility.
The one time he needs something and I’m helpless. The man who only wants to give and help and make everyone better is losing everything he wants. I don’t know where this leaves me, but I can’t worry about it right now. I don’t want to be a raven, and this is my chance to be the bravest girl ever. I can help him, I can give him what he wants: a family. I can be selfless for him, yes, that’s what he needs more than me.
Fly, little bluebird…
Chapter 50
Clue~ treading water *limbo
HUNT
A flimsy whisper of hope floats through my brain. How is it possible when I feel punched-in-the-gut, rug-pulled-out-from-under-me shocked and angry. Sweat beads on my forehead, and I rub the back of my neck. Could this be possible? Laughs, muffled chatter, and intercom pages fill the room. Squishing my temples with my hands, I bend over for air. Any air that’ll come to me.
“Hugo.” I sob against my knuckle then inhale the insipid scent hanging in the waiting room.
Is this the smell of death as I remember it? No, the smell I know was rot and decay, and that was just my insides dying. The bird and Hugo felt different. Feathers on one cheek, soft against my face. Downy wisps of hair on the other, my lifeless baby brother. This will be either a miracle or another loss.
Happy. I can’t hurt her. Christ, the pain she’s lived through. I promised her I would love her, and I do.
The tinny elevator doors slide open, and I pivot toward them. My anger and my pain are impossible to swallow over as Happy hurries toward me.
She could have left. Might still.
Air whooshes out of me as she throws her arms around my body. Brave. The girl who thought she couldn’t become it. Now the bravest of them all.
“Do you know anything?” Her wet eyes, crazed with red lines, hold an ocean of concern.
“Nothing. I’m not expecting to hear anything for a while.”
“What can I do for you? Can I get you some coffee or food?”
“Stay. Hold my hand.”
She twists a long piece of hair around two fingers as she looks past me. “You, um, you’re having a so
n?” Her brow furls. “Hugo.”
I wring my hands as she steps backward. Grinding my teeth, I say, “Apparently, I am. He was healthy at the last appointment. Damn it to hell. I should have done more.”
Happy steps toward me, squeezes my biceps, and presses her face to my chest. Every muscle in my body aches. I’m helpless, and it’s the worst feeling—along with the pain I’m surely causing her.
This is my fault. I never should have come on this trip. Sela. Seems like she never wanted this baby. Maybe all her drinking and drugs were her attempt to hurt him. A son. What will I fucking do? What an impossible situation.
After shrugging out of Happy’s hold, I slump into a nearby chair. She squats in front of me, her face pale, as she bites her lip.
“How about I find you a newspaper? Crosswords? I’ll run down to the gift shop, see if they have anything along those lines. What else? Some candy bars?” She digs into her bag and pulls her Christmas lights out. Then she plugs them into an outlet behind my chair.
I scrunch my stinging eyes shut and press my fingers to my forehead when she drapes them over my shoulders. “I can’t think straight. This isn’t what I do. I’m on the wrong side.”
“You can do this,” she says as her lips quiver. “No matter what happens, you can be brave. Look at me.” She cups my face and tears fall down her cheeks. “Sometimes you end up on the wrong side, and that’s okay. You can’t heal everyone. This isn’t your fault.”
“You’re so brave right now,” I say, taking her hand in mine, brushing my inky, drawn-on wedding ring against hers. Tears splat where our fingers meet, and I kiss them away. “You have no idea how this could affect you or us.”
“Neither of us does,” she says, her voice quivering and causing my heart to clench.
“This is that funny thing I was talking about,” she says. “None of us knows what might happen tomorrow or the next day or in ten minutes. Why did she walk into the suite seconds before we were going to make love for the first time? Chance entered a union we almost created and hand-delivered your perfect dream. She’s a woman you love, and your son is in her womb. Call me crazy, but that seems like divine intervention at its finest. Maybe it happened to make your decision easier once you found out she was carrying your son.” She yanks a sequin off the strap of her bra, and places it in my palm. “Not to mention making my decision easier.”
Of Winged Creatures & Nesting Grounds: (A Quirky, Sexy, Dirty Doctor Romance) Page 22
