Forbidden Prescription 2: MFM Ménage Stepbrother Romance (Medical Romance)

by Brother, Stephanie

“I don’t hate the idea of being with the right person for a long time. I just hate the expectations that come along with it. I don’t want a big, fancy ceremony. I don’t want to have a huge legal battle if we decide it isn’t working anymore. I don’t want to quit my job and stay at home while you’re out there living the dream.”

  “It doesn’t have to be that way,” he said.

  “But so often, it is anyway.”

  “We have such great chemistry together,” he pointed out. “I would hate for that to go to waste.”

  “Yeah, I’ve never had a lover who’s as good as you. Not even close.”

  They thought for a moment, both silently mulling over possible solutions.

  “What if we just take things slowly?” Isabella asked. “We can be friendly, and maybe even hook up on occasion, but we don’t need to be serious or spend all of our time together. I think that things moved way too quickly the first time.”

  “I want to say yes, but I can’t wait around forever, Isabella.”

  “How about six months? We can re-evaluate things then.”

  “Four months.”

  “Five months.”

  “Deal.”

  “And if we haven’t reached a conclusion by then, we’ll cut our losses.”

  “I can work with that.”

  “Also, in that time, we will ban all talk about being stepsiblings, and we will certainly not talk about marriage or children.”

  “Fine,” he said. “Now it’s time to seal the deal.”

  He pulled Isabella into his arms, and for the second time that night, they made love. In the morning, James found a more suitable outfit for her to wear and drove her home.

  From that point forward, Isabella promised herself that the days of sleeping over and lounging at his place all morning were put on hold.

  Isabella felt a little more at ease in terms of the way things were going with James. She had him right where she wanted him. They were more than friends with benefits, but less than girlfriend and boyfriend. They could be friendly and professional at work and be deviants in the spare closets of the hospital.

  Eventually, they would have to make a decision about the future of their relationship, but that was five whole months away. For now, they could just have some fun.

  Chapter Seventeen

  “Are you two officially back together?” Jordan asked before Isabella even had a chance to say hello.

  “Keep it down,” she reminded her friend. The other interns were too close to be speaking loudly.

  “Sorry. Tell me what happened after you left,” she said, slightly quieter.

  “We’re not back together per se,” Isabella said. “We decided to take things slowly.”

  “What does that mean?”

  “It means there are no strings, no commitments, and no drama.”

  Jordan snorted. “Good luck with that.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I don’t mean to be condescending, but in how many instances has that sort of arrangement worked out for you?”

  “Okay, I don’t have a lot of experience in this department, but I think it will work this time. We were clear with our intentions, and in another five months, we’ll re-evaluate.”

  “This isn’t a post-op checkup. You’re saying that you’ve scheduled an appointment to see how your relationship is doing?”

  Isabella blushed. “I think it’s a good idea. Why not bring rationality into something that’s usually dominated by feelings?”

  Jordan waved her off. “You do what’s best for you. I’m just warning you that it’s not going to be as simple as you think it is.”

  I’ll show you, Isabella thought to herself.

  James was in charge of the interns that day, and he seemed like he was back to his usual, happy self. He could look Isabella in the eye again, but he still managed to hold off on the winking and smirking. They addressed each other by their last names and were perfectly professional. He even assigned her to a good surgery. Everything was back to normal.

  With things this good, Isabella wondered why they even had to complicate things in the first place. Just because their parents were together, it didn’t mean that they couldn’t have a good professional friendship with bonus unprofessional moments.

  That first work day since their reconciliation was great. Isabella had an extra spring in her step, and she didn’t feel distracted by James. James was in a better mood and was more patient around the interns. When they made mistakes, he calmly corrected them instead of blowing up at them.

  “Whatever you’re doing to him,” Jordan said to Isabella at lunch, “keep it up. I accidentally spilled half of a urine sample on him, and he was completely chill about it. Last week, he yelled at me because I dropped his chart on the ground. This is a big improvement.”

  “What can I say? I guess I just have that power over men.”

  “That man in particular,” Jordan noted.

  For next two weeks, Isabella and James only communicated when it was within the confines of work. They smiled at each other when they passed in the halls, and Isabella was back to taking the elevator and changing in the doctor’s lounge.

  One night, James and Isabella happened to be working the same on-call shift. Isabella was sitting around the quiet ER when James approached her.

  “Hey, come with me,” he said softly. “I have something to show you.”

  Isabella rolled her eyes. “Don’t tell me, that something is your penis?”

  He smiled, shaking his head. “No, just come with me.”

  She sighed, dropping her book on the counter. “What happens if we’re needed?”

  “Then they’ll page us. Come on.”

  She followed him up several flights of stairs and walked through empty wings of the hospital. She wondered where they were going. They passed up many of their usual closets.

  Eventually, the final staircase took them up to the roof of the hospital. It was dark except for the soft glow of a few streetlights.

  He lay down on the roof, staring straight into the sky. Hesitantly, Isabella followed suit.

  “What are we doing?” she whispered. It was unusual that they were both horizontal but he wasn’t trying to touch her.

  “There’s a meteor shower tonight. I didn’t want you to miss it.”

  They stared at the sky in silence. After a few long moments, faint streaks of light appeared in the black night.

  “Did you see that?” Isabella asked, full of wonder.

  James laughed at her enthusiastic reaction. “I had a feeling you’d enjoy this.”

  She enjoyed spending time with James because she didn’t need to fill every moment of silence with chatter. They could just be friends if they wanted to. Friends who didn’t let their emotions get in the way of their working relationship.

  “Well, we should probably go back inside,” he said once the sky was black again.

  Isabella got up and dusted the back of her scrubs. “Thanks for bringing me up here. That was really cool. I’m glad we can do stuff like this again.”

  “Me too. I really missed you, Isabella. I hope that this time, things can be different.”

  In that moment, she had an urge to grab him by the shoulders and kiss him. She wanted to be with him under the moonlight and feel his body on hers.

  Isabella bit her lip. After all, she was the one who wanted to take things slowly. It would be hypocritical to jump him when she was the one who laid out some very specific rules.

  She was just amazed that he could resist her too.

  They walked together through the dark and quiet hospital, back toward the ER. When they got back, he left her to go check on a patient, and she swore she felt his hand brush against hers.

  Focus, Isabella told herself. Now was not the time to go back on their agreement.

  She wanted to move slowly with James, but her body was sending her signals that she could not ignore. Even if sex was out of the picture for the time being, she still craved hum
an touch. She got a shiver down her spine every time he lightly traced a finger along her body. When he embraced her with his strong arms, she felt loved.

  For as long as she could remember, Isabella was not the type to enjoy a physical relationship with anyone. She shrank away whenever her mother tried to hug her as a child. She wasn’t the type of girl to give nor accept hugs from friends, and she especially didn’t cuddle with her romantic pursuits. When the deed was done, she’d get dressed, grab her things, and go.

  She couldn’t help but think that James had broken something inside her. When they slept, she curled up in his arms. No one else had ever made her feel the comfort she had when she was with him.

  The rest of her overnight shift went without incident. A few patients came in, but nothing that she couldn’t handle by herself. She sutured drunk college kids and checked out infants with a slight cough and reassured their paranoid parents. At times, the work could be repetitive, but she loved the fact that everyone who left her care was in better shape than when they arrived.

  With a little less than an hour before rounds, Isabella went back to the doctor’s lounge to shower and get ready for the new day of work. Over the rush of the shower, she heard a familiar voice speaking to her.

  “Do you have a few extra minutes to spare for a quick nap?” James asked.

  “With you?” she asked back.

  “I hope you aren’t napping with anyone else around here.”

  She wanted to say yes so badly. Isabella loved crawling on top of him in that tiny bed. Plus, she was pretty tired and wouldn’t mind actually sleeping in there.

  “Don’t tempt me,” Isabella said, shutting off the water and tightly wrapping her towel around her body.

  James took a good look at her when she stepped out of the shower. “I should ask the same of you.”

  She stared at him, not knowing what to say. Part of her wanted him to leave the room, and the other part wanted to drop her towel and get on top of him.

  “You’re doing this on purpose, aren’t you?”

  “Doing what?” he said innocently.

  “You’re trying so hard to seduce me, to make me break first. I won’t. We agreed to take things slow, and that means no touching.”

  “What difference does it make? Does it really matter who makes the first move as long as we both end up getting what we want?”

  “Of course it matters,” Isabella said. “It matters because this was all my idea in the first place. What does that say about me if I can’t stay off you for more than a few days?”

  “I don’t know what it says about you, but I like what it says about me,” he joked, wiggling his eyebrows at her.

  She giggled. “Is this the first time someone has ever said no to you?”

  “That’s not true at all,” he said. “It’s the first time someone has said no to me after a few nights in my bed, though.”

  “So that’s why you’re not handling this well.”

  “You don’t think I’m handling this well? You’re in a towel, and I’m standing over here, on my best behavior.”

  “If you say so.”

  He took a couple of steps toward her, approaching her slowly. Their faces slowly gravitated toward each other. At the last minute, he turned his head so his mouth was inches away from her ear.

  “But if we’re going to play games,” he whispered, “I will be the one to break you, not the other way around.”

  He turned on his heel and left without another word. She stood in the locker room, covered in goosebumps.

  If he wanted to play this game, Isabella was more than happy to participate. She loved a good challenge and lived for competition. She would make him crack first.

  James, too, liked to play games, and the next few weeks were filled with shameless flirting and seduction. They saw more of each other now than they ever did, because they kept trying to appear when the other was least expecting it.

  Nearly every day, there was some partial display of nudity happening in the locker room. James liked to strut his stuff in a towel slung low around his hips. He knew that Isabella lusted after the muscle definition where his hips met his pubis, and he used it to his advantage.

  She ditched her usual cotton briefs and sports bras in exchange for more seductive thongs and lacy bras. She made sure to wait until she knew James was watching before changing clothes.

  To say that things escalated would be an understatement. Subtle flirtations became full-on pornographic. Now armed with his cellphone number, she would take photos of herself in various stages of undress and send them along to him late at night. A few times, he even sent pictures back in response.

  There were a few close calls when they found themselves alone. In the past, they would have used the opportunity to hook up when they were in the vicinity of an empty room. Now, they used the privacy to speak to each other, closer than work acquaintances should. They stood so close to one another that Isabella could smell his toothpaste and James could catch whiffs of her shampoo. They never kissed, but another few inches closer, and their lips would have touched.

  They hadn’t breached the subject, but the family drama between them made things even hotter. It was perverse, but Isabella liked to daydream about hooking up in her childhood bedroom as their parents slept in their own bed across the hall. If James ever chose to stay in their home over holidays, the guest room was only a few steps away from hers.

  Their seductive mind games came to a head when she arrived in the locker room one morning to put on a little show for James. He was nowhere to be found. Instead, a little piece of paper fluttered out of her locker when she opened it.

  I think it’s about time to call a truce. Come over to my place tonight at 8:00.

  Isabella’s stomach gave a little flutter. Had she won the game? She wasn’t the type to accept a truce. She wanted him to admit to her that she was right and that he cracked under her seductive prowess.

  After work, she hurried home and put on jeans and a sweater that hung off her shoulders. He couldn’t resist that extra bit of skin. She released her hair from its bun, letting it fall down her back.

  She practically cackled with glee. She would witness his defeat at her hands, and then she could bask in the pleasure that would follow.

  Chapter Eighteen

  James opened his front door before Isabella even had the chance to knock more than once. He had been anxious for her arrival.

  “Good evening,” she greeted him as she walked through the door.

  “You look nice,” he said.

  “So do you.” He, too, had changed and was wearing dark jeans and a tight grey t-shirt. His face was covered with a miniscule length of stubble.

  “Do you want a drink?” he asked.

  “Just water for now,” she answered, sitting down on a sofa. She wanted to stay sharp in case he tried to play any more games with her.

  James brought the glass over and set it down on the table. He twisted the top off a beer.

  “What did you want to discuss?” she asked coyly, batting her eyelashes.

  “You just jump right into things, don’t you?” he said. “You don’t even want to ask how my day was or what I’ve been up to lately?”

  “No need,” she said flatly. “I see you every day. If something was especially good or bad, I think I’d know.”

  He laughed and shook his head. “I forgot you don’t do small talk.”

  She smiled back and took a sip from her glass.

  “Fine, I guess I’ll just get down to it. I have to be honest with you. The games we’ve been playing are fun, but it’s been a month, and I don’t know how much longer I can take it.”

  “Are you saying you’re giving in?” she asked hopefully.

  “I’m saying that it seems silly that it has to be a competition.”

  “Says the one who is about to lose.”

  He rolled his eyes. “If you want me to declare myself the loser, then I will. Will that make you happy?”


  “That would, actually.”

  “Fine,” he said. “I’m willing to do that. Do you know what would make me happy?”

  “What?”

  “If you’d take off your clothes right now and fuck me.”

  Her eyes were ablaze as she threw herself on top of his body. They grabbed at their clothes, undressing themselves in seconds. There was no time to make it to the bed, just feet away from them. They needed each other immediately.

  They kissed like they’d never kissed before, mouths mashed up against each other. He grabbed at her body, her skin softer and smoother than he remembered.

  “Oh, I’ve wanted you so badly. You have no idea,” he murmured, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.

  She let him enter her, and he moaned in delight.

  “Slow down,” he begged. “This is too good not to last.”

  “I thought you didn’t want to take it slow,” she cooed.

  She watched him close his eyes. He was close.

  “Fine, I’ll take it slow,” she teased.

  She pulled away and put his hand between her legs. He groaned.

  “My turn,” she whispered in his ear. He moved his fingers skillfully, making her sigh with pleasure. After a few minutes, she rolled back on top of him to finish what they started.

  “Was it worth it?” James asked Isabella as he stroked her hair.

  “All the fun and games? Absolutely,” she said. “It’s good to keep things fresh. Otherwise, things get boring.”

  “I don’t think I could ever get bored with you,” he mused.

  “Really?” she asked. “Even when I’m working all day and I go straight to bed without talking to you? You know how it goes. There’s hardly time for anything other than work and studying.”

  “Don’t act like I never see you,” he said. “I know you get a thrill when I strip down in the locker room.”

  She blushed. It was true.

  “Well,” she said, pulling her clothes back on, “I’m glad we had this talk. I feel relieved, if you know what I mean.”

  James grabbed her hand to prevent her from leaving. She landed back on the couch next to him.

  “This was great and all, but it’s not the only reason I had you over.”