She motioned her onto her stomach, then began tapping on the back of her chest to try to loosen the congestion. “What about pain?”
“My fingers and toes. It’s like a burning sensation. Also my back. It’s like a sudden spasm, but it’s deep. The pills you left help some, but I’m almost out.”
“Already? Okay, I’ll make you some more. I’ll also leave these.” She rummaged through her bag and emerged with a prescription pill bottle. “This is strong stuff, and it will make you loopy. But I guess since you probably won’t be driving a motor vehicle that’s not an issue.”
“Ugh.” She frowned as she sat up. “I don’t like the idea of losing my senses.”
“Well, which don’t you like more, losing your senses or living with pain?”
“Touché.”
Rhiannon smiled. “That’s what I thought. I’ve been thinking we could try acupuncture too, if you’re interested. But I believe for it to work best we should have someone examine your aura. If I can map the curse, maybe I can block it...”
Red shook her head as she closed her eyes and leaned back against her pillows. “It doesn’t work that way. I mean, who am I to argue with you, but don’t get your hopes up.”
“You’ve known someone who went through this before, haven’t you?”
Her eyes snapped open and one corner of her mouth lifted. “In a manner of speaking, yes, I have.”
“Well, let’s see how this goes. I have an associate of mine researching your case. If you could tell me more about the curse, maybe we could come up with something. Or the person who put the curse on you. Can we go after them?”
Pulling her blankets up to her chin, Red turned over so that her back was facing Rhiannon. “Thank you for what you’re doing. I do appreciate it.”
She bit her lip and stared at her patient with a frown. Clearly she’d been dismissed. Not a few seconds later, the door to her cell opened. Prieto stood there waiting, and she found her annoyance building as she realized the angel had been listening to them. Grabbing up her bag, she left the cell and followed him back to the place where they would transport.
Prieto deposited her at her apartment without much conversation. When he disappeared, Rhiannon tossed her doctor’s bag onto the kitchen table and then opened the refrigerator in search of sustenance. A warm smile spread across her face when she saw a box from her favorite Thai restaurant. The handwritten note on the front read: From Sandy with Love.
“That man...” Her insides tingled with a warm glow of affection. She didn’t bother heating up the food, just grabbed a fork and started eating like a starving person. Chewing a huge bite, Rhiannon made her way down the hallway towards the bedroom. She paused when she heard Sandy’s voice.
“Wee, wee, wee!”
It was all she could do to stop herself from giggling as she peered around the corner to find her super sexy boyfriend sitting on the bed, her nephew lying on his back in front of him. He was walking his fingers up Remy’s body towards his neck, sending the baby into a fit of hysterical laughter.
“What are you laughing at, you silly boy?” Sandy said in mock-anger as he lifted Remy and then rolled onto his back to hold the boy up in the air as if flying. “Look at Remy! Oh no, he’s gonna crash!” He lowered her nephew down until his nose touched Sandy’s. “Boink!”
Again Remy fell into peals of laughter.
“Seems like I might be interrupting boys’ night.”
“Hey!” Sandy sat up quickly, perching Remy across his arm. “Auntie Rhia’s home.”
The kiss her boyfriend gave her was sweet yet with a touch of promise for more. Remy meanwhile reached out for her fork, trying to bring it to his drooling mouth. “What are you doing? Are you trying to eat my supper?” She smacked an open-mouth kiss to his chubby cheek, making a sucking sound. More baby laughter had her giggling, too.
“I thought he’d be asleep,” she told Sandy before stuffing the last bite of Thai into her mouth.
“Well, we were waiting for you. I thought you’d want to say goodnight.”
“Aw.” She leaned in and gave her boyfriend another kiss. “Thanks, babe. Want me to put him down?”
“Nah, he’s ready to pass out now, so you go sit and I’ll be in there in a few.”
True to his word, Sandy wasn’t more than five minutes putting Remy to sleep. Of course, he had the powers she didn’t to settle the little one down. She was sitting on the couch, enjoying a small bowl of ice cream when he approached, brushing her hair aside to nuzzle her neck.
“Everything okay?”
“Oh, I’m just worried about this case. I don’t have any idea how to help this patient.” Even though Prieto had indicated she should keep the matter confidential, her relationship with Sandy was important enough that she’d shared with him a few of the basics about Red’s situation.
“Tough one, huh?”
She nodded, licking her spoon, then tapping it against her lips. “Yeah, tough. I keep waiting for a Grey’s Anatomy moment. You know, the doctors always get that brilliant and totally unorthodox idea to save the patient. But I’ve got nothing.”
He sat down beside her and pulled her back into his arms, letting her rest her against his chest. “There aren’t always magical solutions available... pun intended.”
“I don’t want to think about it right now. Now, I just want to sit here with you.”
“You got it, sweetheart.”
Chapter 11
The days passed in a blur for Rhiannon, turning to weeks and then a month. Learning to be a surrogate mommy on the fly wasn’t easy, especially for a practicing doctor/vet. Thank goodness she had Sandy to help, or she wasn’t sure what she would have done. As it was, she was starting to think maybe Rhetta wasn’t coming back...
... that was, until now. She fingered the note, rubbing her thumb along the bottom crease.
Dear Rhia –
I hope Remy isn’t giving you any trouble. I’ll bet you’re plenty pissed off at me, and I probably deserve it. Please, just hold on a little longer. I promise I’ll be back soon.
Rhetta
“Well, what do you think of this, eh, Rembo? Mommy says she’ll be home soon.” The tot was on her lap, fussing and slapping his hands onto the table and drooling into her leg. Taking him up into her arms, she headed for the refrigerator to start warming a bottle. A clap of thunder shook the apartment. It had been dark and gloomy all day.
About that time, a magical little tinkling sound filled the air, and a pile of sand appeared before her, transforming from feet up into the body of her lover. Sandy had a grin on his face that turned even bigger when he saw the two of them.
“Now that’s a pleasant sight to come home to.”
Rhia stared at him a minute, the jiggly baby crooked across one arm and the bottle held up in the other hand. Something about the way he said “home” made her belly flip-flop. It seemed as if they’d been playing house for the last few weeks, stand-in parents to little Remy. And part of her liked it, longed for it on a more permanent basis.
Yes, they’d joked about getting married one day, but she’d never let herself think of it as a true possibility. Sandy deserved a real family. She loved him so much that she couldn’t bear to think of denying him that.
“So how was work?” Although he was a Sandman by night, during the day he was a part-time door greeter at the local superstore. It was a job she always thought was better reserved for the senior citizen crowd, but Sandy rocked it and loved it. He was a people person at heart.
“Busy, but not bad.”
He sat down at the table and opened up a little paper bag, carefully removing the contents. She started drooling immediately. He removed not one, not two, but three fancily-boxed cupcakes, each of a different variety.
Licking her lips, she plopped down in the chair next to his and leaned Remy back into the crook of her arm. “You are too good to me, Bartholomew.”
“Yes, I am. But rest assured, you’ll owe me.”
S
he snorted a laugh, while she tried to aim the bottle nipple at the baby’s mouth, but he kept slapping it away and whining. Glancing up at Sandy. “And I always pay my debts, too.”
She fought with the little one a few minutes, then exhaled a grumble and dropped her hand limp at her side, the bottle held loose in her fingers. And that was when Remy let loose a full-fledged wail, stretching his arms and legs out and tilting his head back so that he could scream even louder.
“Remy, please just eat. You need to go to bed,” she begged, standing and bouncing him in her arms. But the baby was having none of that. Tears were pouring down his face which was contorted into a bright red frown. “This kid’s been a terror all day. Even the lavender hasn’t helped.”
Sandy reached out to take him from her, and when he did, the little one hiccupped a few times then stared as if mesmerized. “Hey.” He spoke close to Remy’s face, his tone stern. “Why are you giving Auntie Rhia a hard time? Do we need to have a man-to-man talk?”
The infant giggled even as he rubbed at his red-rimmed eyes with both fists, a clear signal he needed to sleep.
“He just keeps fighting it. Hasn’t taken a nap all day long.” Lightening flashed outside the window, followed closely by loud thunder. “Maybe he’s got cabin fever. I know I get edgy being stuck indoors.”
Sandy nodded, then carried the baby across the room to retrieve a plate and a fork. He handed them to her then gently pushed her down to sit. “Enjoy your cupcakes.”
And then he left the room with both baby and bottle. Rhiannon took her time eating each cupcake, starting with the red velvet-cream cheese and ending with the coconut-cherry. Tilting her head back, she swallowed the last bite and sighed in heavenly delight.
“Ahem.”
With a huge grin, she turned and faced Sandy. He was in the entryway between the hallway and the kitchen, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed. “Thank you so much, babe. That was delicious.”
He only nodded. “Good. Seems like you needed it.”
“Where’s Remy? Don’t tell me you got him to go to sleep.”
“Look for yourself.”
She tiptoed into the bedroom and towards the crib in the far corner. Her nephew was sound asleep, issuing a little baby snore with each breath. She reached a hand out, tempted to caress his beautiful little head, but stopped just short, not wanting to take the chance she’d wake him.
When she reentered the kitche,n she saw Sandy reading the note she’d left open on the kitchen table. He flicked it aside and offered her a sympathetic grin. “Well, at least she’s alive.”
“Pfft, screw her. She needs to get her ass back here and take care of her baby.”
“C’mon,” he said, coming up behind her and kneading his fingers into her tight shoulders. “That’s not exactly fair. We don’t know what it is she had to take care of. She was clearly nervous that night she arrived. She came to you for help and...”
“Oh no.” Pivoting, she shook her finger at him. “She did not come to me for help. Coming to me for help would have involved her telling me what was going on. Giving me the chance to use my abilities and resources for her. She came to me because she’s selfish. She came to me to use me to cover for the mess she’s gotten herself into.”
“Rhiannon, she...”
She slapped his hand away when he reached for her, interrupting his words again. “No, you don’t know her, Sandy. You are a great guy, and you always see the best in people so you can’t know, but she’s a bitch.”
She stared at him until he raised his hands in a sign of surrender, then started cleaning up the paper and crumbs left behind by her muffins. Rhia watched him, feeling a little guilty for being so stern with him. But that didn’t mean she regretted her thoughts or her words.
“You really don’t know, Sandy.” She plopped into a chair and leaned forward so that she could cradle her head in her hands. “I remember this one time when we were little, when she and her friends decided to ditch school. She could have just told me, but no, instead she sent a note that she was sick and had to go home, asking me to cover for her. I was worried, so I snuck out of class to go check on her. I was the one who got in trouble for cutting class.”
After telling the story, she realized how silly it sounded to still be upset about something so small after all these years. “I’m becoming a nervous wreck. It’s a good thing I’ll never be a mom because I clearly can’t cut it.”
Within just a few seconds, his hands were on hers, and when she looked she saw him squatting down so that he was at eye level with her. “Rhiannon Blackmeade, you’re going to make an absolutely amazing mother. It isn’t easy, it makes you tired and irritable, but it doesn’t mean you won’t make a great mom.”
Tears welled in her eyes, and she silently prayed that she wasn’t going to break down. She really didn’t want to ugly cry on his shoulder. “You know I can’t,” she murmured.
He grinned, cupping her face to wipe away a tear. “Physically giving birth isn’t the only way to be a mom, Rhia. Someday, somehow, we can become parents if we decide to. There are kids out there just dying to have a mom like you’ll be.”
She sniffed, then gasped a breath. “You think we could adopt? You’d want to raise a kid with me?”
He leaned in, lips hover close to hers. “Raising a kid with you is just one of many, many things I want to do with you.”
The suggestion in his words was clear, but then he brushed his mouth against hers and she melted, leaning forward so that she was on her knees in front of him, digging her nails into his back to pull him tight.
Chapter 12
Sandy’s tender kisses made a trail from her neck to her shoulder as both his hands grabbed her backside, squeezing and pulling her hips to his. She moaned, leaning her head back to give him better access to the skin at her throat. When she did, her hair brushed the tops of his arms, and he immediately reached up, grasping a handful of the silky brown locks and tugging them.
“Mmmm,” she murmured. “I love it when you get rough, lover.”
He didn’t speak, just continued moving lower with his mouth. Rhiannon decided to help him get to the place she knew both of them wanted, pulling her shirt quickly over her head and opening the clasp of her bra at the front. Not wasting a second, Sandy immediately latched onto her nipple, sucking hard and then teasing the swollen nub with his teeth.
“Tell me you want me,” he said, voice hoarse with desire. “Tell me you can’t wait for me to take you.”
She reached down with one hand and cupped his erection while the other popped open the button of his jeans. “I do. You know I do.”
When she had him free, she immediately took hold of his cock, never ceasing to be amazed by the smooth, hot perfection of him. His member was large and thick, pulsing as evidence of his desire for her, and she closed her eyes as she enjoyed the feel of him. “Let me taste you,” she told him, rubbing her thumb along the head of his shaft.
“No.”
When she looked at him, she saw a suggestive grin on his face. One of his hands slid around from her backside to her midriff, then plunged into the waist of her pants. “I want to feel how much you want me.”
Still kneeling, she slipped her legs apart as he sought her center, his fingers easily sliding between her folds. He circled her sensitive nub, then caressed deeper to tease her entrance.
“Satisfied?”
“Not hardly.” His hand was gone, and he motioned her to stand.
When she complied, he unbuttoned her jeans and immediately pulled them down, taking her panties with them. She stepped out of the garment then raked her fingers through his hair as she spoke.
“Your turn. Get out of those jeans.”
Sandy chuckled, “I said I wasn’t’ satisfied yet.” He turned her around so that her backside was facing him, her upper body leaning against the kitchen counter. The cold tile sent a shiver down her spine and made her nipples tighten up even more. She felt her man stand up, then he braced
one hand on top of hers.
His other hand touched her rear, then reached between her legs where he immediately pushed two fingers inside her wet hole. She thrust her hips backwards, forcing his digits even deeper inside until they rubbed the spot that made her whimper.
“Tell me how much you need me,” he whispered close to her ear, his breath disturbing the hair at her nape.
There was no way on earth she could speak at that moment because his fingers were moving in and out, stroking in a delightfully sinful way. She splayed her hands out, holding onto the counter as he worked her into oblivion. When she cried out in ecstasy, he released her hand and cupped his over her mouth to quiet the sound.
Her insides were still throbbing when he twisted her around to face him. She had no idea when he’d taken his clothes off, but there he was gloriously naked, his erection standing tall. She hopped up onto the counter and spread her legs, moaning as he slowly started to enter her.
Rhiannon pressed her lips to his, opening her mouth to rub his tongue with hers as he drove hard to lodge inside her. As he began to move, she tore her lips free, groaning deep in her throat. Sandy put one hand to the center of her chest, pushing her down so that her back was against the counter. While he steadied her hips with one hand, he tweaked her nipples with the other, continuing the steady plunging of his body into hers. It was all she could do to close her eyes and get lost in the sensations.
Then his fingers dug into her backside and she looked up, needing to see him as he exploded with release. The sight of excruciating pleasure as he gritted his teeth to keep from crying out was her undoing. She bit her lip, to stifle her moans as her own orgasm convulsed through her center.
Chapter 13
Rhiannon’s head was hanging off the back of the counter, her chest rising and falling in rapid succession. Her phone rang, and she tried to clear the sex from her mind so that she could remember where it was. Thankfully Sandy was faster, because within moments he was holding the receiver against her ear.
“Hello?” she managed to breathe.
The Werevamp Diaries: Moon Beam Dream (The Lynlee Lincoln Series Book 5) Page 5
