Sultry

by Lexi Buchanan

  I’m trying to shake myself out of whatever I’ve fallen into, when I’m nudged from behind.

  “They’re throwing their bouquets. In the foyer,” Robin shouts to us as she races out the marquee.

  “C’mon, let’s go.”

  “You’re already married,” I point out the obvious as Mia drags me up from the table.

  “I can still have some fun at your expense. You have to catch one of them Mara, and I can’t wait to see Donovan’s face when you do.”

  As Mia ushers me along with everyone into the foyer of Phoenix’s parents house, I ask, “You do realize I’m not the only unwed girl here?”

  “Of course I do.” She grins.

  What does she have planned?

  I glance at her again and she’s still grinning. She’s up to something.

  “Here, stand right there.” She maneuvers me into a spot. “Do not consider moving.”

  “Do you know something, I don’t?”

  “Maybe.”

  I’m about to reply when I spot Donovan leaning against the wall with a sexy grin on his face.

  “Oh my god, he has it just as bad as you do. Look at his grin.”

  “I’m looking.”

  “Then again you need to look ahead.”

  Mia sounds so damn excited, you’d think she wasn’t married.

  “Why are you trying to catch that shit?” Liam asks.

  “I’m not. Mara is.”

  He rolls his eyes at her excitement as she continues, “Make sure you reach for it Mara. Don’t disappoint me.”

  I grin. “Yes ma’am.”

  “Wait,” Callie shouts from the top of the stairs. “Mara, get up here a minute.”

  What?

  “Go,” Mia gives me a shove to get me moving.

  Conscience of all the wedding guests watching me walk upstairs, I really wish I’d taken my shoes off at the bottom because coming back down is going to be awkward.

  Reaching Callie, she takes my hands into hers and pulls me close. “If you don’t catch this, I’m not going to be impressed.”

  “Are you serious?” I look at her incredulous.

  “Of course I am.”

  “God, between you and Mia I’m sure I’m going to manage. Just make sure you throw it in my direction. Now can we get on with it? Everyone is watching.”

  She grins. “Yeah go, and make sure you stand near where Donovan is right now.”

  “Okay.”

  I turn and try to ignore the stares, which make me feel uncomfortable. Being center of attention isn’t me and stresses me out.

  As I put my right foot forward, I feel a crack and then I start to stumble. My heel breaks. Reaching out, my hand connects with fresh air as I completely loose my balance and start falling down the stairs. My head cracks against the wall, my legs bash into the bannister and my arm—the pain. The last thing I hear is Donovan shouting my name.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Donovan

  Watching Mara lose her balance on the stairs and then proceed to fall the rest of the way down has taken ten years off my life. I’m sure.

  Screaming her name, I push through the guests in the foyer just needing to get to my girl. Right now I don’t give a shit who knows or finds out about us because I need to be there with her.

  Breaking through everyone, I freeze. Mara is in a heap at the bottom of the stairs, unmoving. I drop to my knees by her head and smooth the hair from her face before dropping my forehead to hers. She blurs as my eyes fill with unshed tears. “Baby, please wake up,” I whisper to her. “I need you Mara.”

  “Mara. Jesus. Fuck. Get the paramedics,” Reece shouts to the room at large. “Is she breathing?” he asks.

  I raise my head knowing the minute he sees my face, he’ll know I’m in love with her. There’s no hiding it.

  “She’s breathing,” I say meeting his gaze and watch as his eyes widen.

  “Mara,” Cindy, her mom cries. She sits on the floor beside me, but I think it has more to do with her legs not managing to hold her up anymore. “Please tell me my baby is okay.”

  “I don’t,” my voice cracks, “know. I wish I did.”

  She wraps her arm around my shoulders. “She’s strong. She’ll be okay. She has to be, I need you both to give me grandchildren one day.”

  “What the fuck,” Reece cusses.

  “Now isn’t the time,” I croak as the paramedics arrive. I thank God that they were close by with a quick response time.

  “Yeah, but—”

  “Reece.” Callie pulls him up and into her arms. He holds her while she cries softly into his chest.

  Dropping my gaze, I ask one of the paramedics, “Will she be okay?”

  “Her right arms looks to be broken. Not too sure about her legs. We’re going to put a collar on her and make her as comfortable as we can to transport her to the hospital.”

  I nod in acknowledgement.

  My legs feel like jelly when Phoenix pulls me up from the floor. “What do you need?” he asks.

  “Mara.” I’m struggling with my emotions. He wraps his arms around me and just holds me tight. I grab on to the back of his jacket needing his support right now. All I can see is Mara tumbling down the stairs and feel the fear of losing her in my chest.

  “She’s going to be alright.”

  I nod and pull away from him as the paramedics start to move her.

  “There’s enough room for one in the ambulance with us.”

  I stay frozen to the floor when realization hits—I’m not going to be able to stay with her. Her mom will be going. There’s no reason why I should feel hurt that I won’t be going with her, but I do. I don’t ever want to leave her.

  Feeling hands on my arm, I turn and face her mom. She cups my face in her hands and says, “You go with her.” I shake my head. She’s her mom. “Yes. I’m going to follow, but you need to be with her. It’s you she’ll want to see when she comes around. No arguing. Just go and get in the ambulance with her.”

  Not needing telling twice, I ignore the glare Reece is throwing in my direction and shoot out of the door to follow them.

  ~*~*~*~

  Staring out of the window on the third floor of the hospital, I don’t really see anything. All my thoughts are about Mara and wondering what the hell they are doing that’s taking so damn long to assess her. We’ve been here about an hour now and the not knowing is driving me crazy.

  Mara’s mom, sisters and brother arrived within minutes of us arriving and we seem to have taken over the waiting room here at the hospital. Reece is keeping his distance from me, which is a good thing right now, but I’d rather have him by my side than miles away.

  Phoenix is here with Thalia, and had to pull his new wife away from me not too long ago. I appreciate her wanting to comfort me, but the only one I want close to me is Mara and that isn’t going to happen any time soon.

  It kills me that she’s suffering alone and doesn’t have anyone in there with her—holding her hand.

  “The Kincaid family?”

  Turning, a guy in scrubs is addressing the room at large, and my heart stops. What if she isn’t going to be okay? How the fuck am I going to handle that?

  I stay where I am, but the guy starts talking too quietly for me to hear so I walk toward them and hear him mention surgery.

  “Why does she need surgery?”

  He pauses as if undecided whether or not to talk.

  “It’s okay,” Cindy says, “he’s family.”

  Reece stays quiet but his eyes are filled with something I can’t quite decipher.

  “She’s broken her arm in a couple of places and she needs to have a pin inserted in order for it to mend quickly, and now I need to get back to her, but is someone named Donovan here?”

  “That’s me.”

  “Follow me, she keeps asking for you.”

  “When can we see her?” Reece asks.

  “We’re getting her ready for the surgery so when she’s come round and been t
ransferred to her own room, but she’s only started cooperating with us after I promised to come and find Donovan. She’s basically refusing the surgery until she’s seen him.”

  “Me and you are having words once she’s okay,” Reece growls.

  I’m sure it’s only Callie’s presence that’s preventing him from starting anything with me right now, and for that I’m thankful. The last thing Mara needs is to see her brother and myself a bit worse for wear because of our fists.

  I nod at him and then follow the doctor through the doors to go to my girl.

  Walking into the room, she has my heart beating franticly in my chest. She’s smiling at me. How can she smile at me while obviously in so much pain?

  The longer I stand staring at her, the smile she has on her face just for me starts to slip, which gets my feet moving.

  As soon as I’m close enough she grabs my hand and holds on tight. Tears form in her eyes, which probably match mine.

  A nurse shoves me into a chair that she’s just placed at the side of the bed. My knees were about to give way with relief anyway.

  “I’m okay,” she whispers.

  Shaking my head, I drop my forehead to our joined hands on the bed by her hip and kiss her knuckles. Glancing up, I’m met with her watering eyes.

  “I love you Mara,” I smile, “and it nearly killed me watching you fall.”

  “You love me?”

  Offering a wry smile, I reply, “Yeah, I do. I’ve been in love with you for two years. I’ve tried to fight my feelings for you, but you’re inside me and you’re not going to move—ever. Before this past week, the memory that always sticks in my head from back then was that hot summer when you turned sixteen. It was hotter than usual, and Reece had gotten the water guns out. I remember you, Robin and some of your friends were in shorts and bikini tops running around while Reece, Phoenix and me were attacking with the water guns. You’d disappeared from sight, but after looking around, I’d spotted you sneaking around the side of the house so I’d gone and snuck up on you. Except as I ran around the corner, I smacked into you and lost my balance, taking us both down to the ground with you on top of me. I looked into your eyes and seeing the tears in your eyes, I’d been lost. My heart has been yours since that exact moment. It had scared the shit outta me, but not anymore.”

  “A wonderful memory. Thank you for telling me that. I can’t wait for this to be over with so you can hold me close, because I really need your arms around me.”

  Standing up, I caress her cheeks with my thumbs as I lean over and kiss her on the lips. “I love you baby, and I’ll be here when you wake up. Okay?”

  “I love you too. Always.”

  I kiss her again when I see a couple of nurses coming toward us. My heart is going into a panic at having to leave her while she goes down to the OR. My need to stay with her is so strong that I’m not sure I’m going to be able to walk back to the waiting room—not able to let go of her hand.

  “We need to take her down now.” A nurse tells me. “She’ll be okay. Why don’t you go back to the waiting room and someone will come down when she’s awake.”

  I kiss her one last time, and whisper how much I love her before I watch them wheel her away from me. It feels like she’s taking my heart with her—as though someone is physically ripping it out of my chest. It hurts. It hurts a lot. I need to get out of here before I completely fall to pieces.

  Ignoring the stares around me as I weave in and out of the corridor, I push through the doors at the end and stop. Reece, her mom and everyone else who is there waiting for news on Mara is looking at me. I don’t know what to say. I’m not even sure if I tried to say something that anything would come out of my mouth.

  Her mom, Cindy, walks over to me and takes my face between her hands and gazes into my eyes. I’m pretty sure she can see how wrecked I am right now. Out of the corner of my eye, I spot Reece moving in closer and realize they all need to know how Mara is. I was able to see her, but her family hasn’t.

  “She’s okay—” my voice breaks.

  “Oh honey, come here.” Her mom pulls me into her and holds me while I cry.

  I’m a guy. I don’t cry, but I am now. The first time since my parents died. I guess the shock of everything is catching up to me, as well as relief that she’s going to be okay, when she could have been so easily taken away from me.

  “She’s a tough one, Donovan. She’ll be okay, and in a day or two she’ll be pissing everyone off because she’ll be laid up on bed rest.”

  I smile at her mom’s attempt to help me. It’s working as well. Inhaling and exhaling, I slowly pull away from her and take the napkins Callie passes to me. “Thanks.”

  “Will you be okay?”

  “I’ll be okay when Mara’s out of surgery.”

  Glancing at Reece, I can’t read his thoughts. He’s usually so open and easy to read, but now he’s wearing his poker face.

  I need to escape if only for five minutes to catch my breath and regroup the best I can for when she comes out of surgery. I promised her that I’d be here when she does and nothing and no one is going to make me break that promise. I’d be there with her, even if I hadn’t promised because she’s my everything.

  “I’ll be back in a minute.” I quickly head to the restroom and lean on the sink, letting my head drop down with my eyes closed. I need a few minutes to pull myself together before she’s back from there.

  “She’d be upset if she knew you were falling to bits worrying about her.”

  Straightening, I turn and face Reece not knowing how the hell he’s going to react to my relationship with his sister. I owe him an apology as well, but I’m not sure I’m ready to give it. I’m not really ready for this either.

  “How long?” he asks, his voice level. He doesn’t sound pissed—yet.

  “I’m not sure what you’re asking me. How long have I been with your sister or how long have I been in love with her?”

  He frowns. “You love her?”

  “I’ve been in love with her for the past couple of years,” I shove my hands into my hair, “but we’ve only been together this past week. I’ve tried so damn hard to stay away from her and until she moved to the city I thought I was okay.” I laugh. “But you know Mara. She always goes after what she wants and she’s decided that it’s me she wants.” My voice cracks again.

  “When were you planning on telling me,” he asks, moving closer.

  I’m not afraid of him. We’ve been friends for too many years for him to frighten me, but the thought of our friendship suffering causes a pain in my chest.

  “When you got back from your two nights away with Callie. None of us wanted to spoil your wedding by pissing you off. I’m not sorry for being with her. I’ve told you I love her—that’s the truth, but I am sorry we decided to wait to tell you. No matter how you would have reacted you deserved to know.”

  “Yeah, I did….Fuck…I want to be pissed as fuck with you, but, with everything that’s happened and your reaction, I can’t get there.”

  I splash my face with water to hopefully cover up my grin at his admission.

  “Don’t be a dick.” He shoves me. “I can’t get my head around the fact that you’re having…um…you know with my baby sister.”

  “Sex?”

  He scowls.

  “Don’t tell her I told you this, but I haven’t fu…um, been inside her yet.” That was a close call, but perhaps I should have left off “yet.”

  Raising an eyebrow, he glares at me. I’ve caught him by surprise.

  “You’re telling me that you haven’t messed about? You haven’t made a move on her?”

  Shaking my head, I grab some paper napkins and dry off before replying, “I’m not sure what you want me to say because I’m certainly not telling you what we’ve done, but I can assure you she’s still intact. Her first time is going to be slow and special, not quick and brutal. What do you take me for?”

  “Fuck. I knew it was only a matter of time before yo
u both hooked up.”

  “You did?” Unbelievable.

  “Yeah, I did. She’s only had eyes on you for years, and I’ve wondered about you with the looks you throw at her when you think no one is watching, and that mixed with you not wanting to hook up with anyone for longer than a night kinda made me think, you know?”

  I seriously had no idea that I was so transparent.

  “But what was all the ‘stay away from my baby sister’ about? That sounded pretty damn clear to me.”

  “Reverse psychology my friend or rather it has been more so since that thing at the museum.” He grins. “Although it was a shock seeing you with her back at the house after she’d fallen because I had no idea you were actually together.”

  “So let me get this right. All that about protecting your sister was a load of bullshit.”

  He leans a hip against the sink and faces me. “No it wasn’t bullshit, but not wanting her to get with you was because I wanted you to work for her. I figured if you had to fight to get her you’d be more likely to keep her. Like Callie and me.” He shrugs.

  I didn’t think I’d be smiling tonight at the hospital, but hearing him say that makes my heart lighter and I know it will Mara’s. I could punch him for making us feel as though we shouldn’t be together though.

  “You’re one of my best friends—like a brother to me. There isn’t any reason why I wouldn’t trust you with my sister, at least now. When she was sixteen I might have had something more to say about it, but not now. You needed to sweat before you got the girl.” He grins.

  “Fucker!”

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Mara

  Waking up slowly my whole body feels like it’s broken and my throat feels as though someone has given me a spoon of sawdust. Even breathing hurts.

  Without moving my neck, I glance out of the corner of my eye and see the machines, which are obviously monitoring me. Moving my eyes to the other side, I pause. Donovan is sitting in what looks to be a very uncomfortable chair, asleep, looking rumpled. How long has he been here? How long have I been here?

  “Donovan,” I barely manage to whisper.

  I desperately need a drink.

  Trying again, I croak, “Donovan.”