Thomas's Vow

by Liliana Hart

  She’d seen the way Thomas had looked at her recently. Like he wasn’t sure he was still married to the same woman. They treated each other as polite strangers instead of going head to head as they once had.

  She’d resigned her job with the FBI after working for them since she’d been barely more than a teenager. Mostly to make amends for the sins of her father and uncle, who didn’t care who they hurt when they stole things as long as they got their share of the cut. Working for the FBI had satisfied her need for the rush, utilized her God given talents, and made her feel like she was helping in the process.

  She’d loved recovering lost and stolen artifacts and returning them to where they rightfully belonged. But the element of danger had been there, and Thomas had known that she could come back home with another gunshot wound like the first time they’d met. Or worse, she might not come back at all. So she’d resigned her position and hadn’t looked back. At least not much.

  She’d thought the change would make things easier between them. But if anything, it had driven a wedge between them, as if they no longer knew what they should say to each other. She didn’t know what was wrong—only that something was. There was a small part of her that feared he was falling out of love with her.

  “He’s just more serious than the rest of us,” Coop said, squeezing her shoulder. “He’s always liked to be able to understand every problem and wrap his head around the reasons. It’s just part of his nature. But when you drove through our fence that day with a bullet in your leg, you tossed all of that logic right out the window.”

  She snorted out a laugh and realized Cooper had said just the right thing. “He does like to plan things to death.”

  “You’ll work it out. Hey, I thought you two were going out of town this weekend. Isn’t it your anniversary?”

  “I was all packed and ready to go, but the flu had other plans for Thomas. He’s done nothing but see patients non-stop since yesterday morning. We’ll get around to celebrating eventually.”

  At least she hoped they would. She missed the feel of her husband’s hands on her, and she realized it had been almost a month since they’d made love. What had happened to them? They’d once been insatiable. And she felt the raw tingle of lust thrumming just under her skin. Maybe part of it was leftover adrenaline. But most of it was because she missed Thomas’s touch.

  She glanced at the waterproof watch on her wrist and saw it was late enough that all his patients should be gone by now. Maybe they could still salvage part of their weekend getaway. Or maybe she’d seduce him before they could make it to the car. The kids were already staying with Thomas’s brother, Dane, for the weekend. Maybe she and Thomas just needed the house to themselves and nothing but a big soft bed.

  Cat hmmed in satisfaction at the idea of seducing her husband as she followed Cooper to the parking lot. He opened the passenger side of his police Bronco and her lips twitched at the thought of willingly getting into a cop car. The times had most definitely changed, but one thing was still the same—she still had the hots for her husband. She couldn’t wait to get home.

  Chapter 8

  Thomas MacKenzie took one look at the full waiting room, and for the first time since he’d taken the position as Surrender’s only doctor, he damned every one of his patients straight to hell.

  There was no way he’d be finished in time to salvage what was left of his and Cat’s anniversary weekend. He mentally groaned at the thought of his plans going to waste. All he could hope for now was a night of perfunctory sex they’d somehow manage to fit in between patients.

  He’d had big plans for the weekend, and it had included sex—lots of sex—and nothing in his imagination had seen it as perfunctory. He wanted the wild, crazy, anytime and anywhere sex they’d had once upon a time. What had happened to those people?

  Life had gotten busy—between his practice and their children, he felt like he and Cat never got to spend any alone time together anymore. It worried him more than he wanted to admit. There’d once been a spark between them that had been undeniable, but the spark had all but flickered out.

  For years after they’d married he’d watched as Cat left on occasional jobs for the FBI with worry in his gut that she might not come back at all. But they’d made a deal. She’d been a damned good thief—maybe the best—and when the FBI needed her for something that couldn’t be passed up, she’d take the job. And he’d more than benefitted from the adrenaline she needed to burn off every time she came home.

  Just the thought of some of the amazing sexual experiences they’d had after those little stints with the other side of the law had him going rock hard. Jesus, she’d made his eyes cross and every working brain cell he’d ever had disappear—the back seat of the car, coat closets at other people’s houses, and a very memorable time in the middle of the lake where he thought they both might drown. She’d been insatiable.

  He moved his clipboard in front of his ill-fitting slacks while he listened to his receptionist say something he wasn’t even remotely paying attention to. But Cat wasn’t insatiable any more, and he was afraid it had been the adrenaline rush of doing the job instead of him that turned her on.

  He had no one to blame but himself that their relationship had changed. Cat had known how worried he’d been each time she’d left on one of the jobs she’d been contracted for, even though he never said anything. And two years ago, she’d surprised him by telling the FBI she wouldn’t take any more jobs.

  She’d smiled when she’d told him the news, but Thomas had noticed the sadness that had clouded her eyes. Not that he’d mentioned it. He’d been so damned relieved she’d quit, all he could think about was that he’d never have to worry about living the rest of his life without her.

  At first she’d kept busy with projects around the house and with their children. She’d taken to experimenting in the kitchen like a mad scientist, and it had turned out she’d been just as good with a recipe as she had with breaking and entering.

  But while she kept a smile on her face, he’d watched her carefully as the days turned into a year—and then another—until the spark for life and adventure that he’d first been drawn to was no longer there. It was all his fault. And he was determined to fix things so the old Cat would come back.

  But all of the people sitting in the tiny waiting room had other plans for him. He was working shorthanded since it was a Saturday. He normally didn’t have office hours at all on the weekend, but this bout of flu had hit Surrender hard. He’d had to beg one of his nurses and his receptionist to come in and help him out.

  “Let’s see if we can simplify this, Janeen, or we’re going to be here all night,” he told his receptionist.

  Janeen Mulroney had gone to school with his mother. Thomas had inherited her from Doc Shepherd, Surrender’s previous doctor, and Thomas was pretty sure she’d outlive him to whip the next doctor into shape. Her body was slumped with age and she’d shrunken an inch or two in the last ten years. Her sweater set was hot pink today and her jeans were rolled up to her ankles because she could never find any that were short enough. She’d put a new rinse on her hair that had turned it burnt orange and she wore her glasses on a chain around her neck.

  “Give everyone a clipboard and one of the symptom sheets on the off chance someone isn’t suffering from the flu. Margie and I can split them up,” he said, speaking of his nurse. “Give her the patients that are less severe and I’ll take the elderly and the children since they’re more likely to be worse off. I’m going to give a call to the 24-hour pharmacy over in Myrna Springs and see if I can send one of my brothers to go pick up prescriptions. Most of these people will barely be able to get home, much less drive to another town.”

  “You got it, Doc.” She held out the bottle of hand sanitizer and waited until he put his palms face up before she squirted the pump. “Your wife put a sandwich on your desk. Make sure you eat something. You haven’t had a break all day.”

  The reminder of food made his stomach g
rowl. “Will do. You’re a gem, Janeen. Don’t ever let me forget it.”

  “Darn right I am. Remember that when you sign my paycheck next week.”

  Thomas winked at her and slipped down the hall to his office. The original MacKenzie house sprawled in all directions, each generation building on to the house until it could hold an army. Or the entire MacKenzie family to be precise. His addition to the house had been to add his practice, complete with a waiting room and three exam rooms, as well as a small lab and x-ray room. It made it convenient to work out of the house, but at the same time, it was difficult to leave work behind when it was always there.

  His office was the last room at the end of the hall, and it had a connecting door to the main part of the house so he could come and go as he pleased without having to run into patients all the time. A dull throb had started behind his eyes and he hoped Cat had left a thermos of coffee on his desk along with the sandwich.

  He slipped inside his office before anyone could stop him and leaned back against the door with his eyes closed for a few seconds. When he opened them the vision that greeted him made him wonder if he wasn’t beginning to catch a fever himself.

  The clipboard in his hands clattered as it hit the floor, and Cat’s seductive smile had his blood running hot in an instant. His cock throbbed and swelled against the zipper of his jeans.

  “Jesus, Cat.” His eyes widened in surprise as he took in what she was wearing. Or what she wasn’t wearing. She sat on his desk in nothing but one of his lab coats, a pair of red fuck me shoes, and a smile. Her legs were crossed and she leaned back a little so the coat gaped open to reveal a glimpse of the plump mounds of her breasts. The red of her hair practically sizzled and looked hot to the touch as it curled riotously over her shoulders.

  “What—What are you—”

  “Cat got your tongue,” she purred. “Don’t worry. I’ll give it back later.”

  She hopped down from the edge of the desk and he felt his mouth go dry and his lungs constrict in his chest. He’d been wrong. She wasn’t completely naked under the lab coat. She also wore a pair of white panties that were barely big enough to classify as such. He’d seen dental floss that had more coverage.

  Cat let the coat fall from her shoulders so she only wore the panties and the shoes.

  “I’ve got patients. A room full of them just down the hall.”

  She arched a winged brow and smirked. “Don’t tell me you’re afraid someone might catch us? Not the fearless Thomas MacKenzie who once took me in the balcony of an opera house with hundreds of people down below.”

  Oh, he remembered. And if possible his dick spiked even harder. But those wild times were so far in the past they were barely a memory.

  “I just don’t have a lot of time right now. Maybe we could do this later.”

  She put her thumbs beneath the waistband of her panties and pushed them down so they fell to her ankles.

  “Or now is fine.”

  “You dropped your clipboard, Doctor MacKenzie. Let me help you get that.”

  Chapter 9

  Cat had almost lost her nerve. The shocked look on Thomas’s face at the sight of her felt like a rejection. She’d never had to talk him into sex before. But whether he wanted to or not, his body couldn’t lie.

  If anything over the years of their marriage, he’d become more attractive to her. He was big like all of the MacKenzie men, and his body was muscled from working on the ranch and habitual morning runs around the lake. His black hair was just recently beginning to show the first hints of silver, and after a long day of seeing patients, he had a five o’clock shadow that made him look a little bit disreputable.

  She knelt down in front of him, her eyes never leaving his, and she went to work on the buckle of his belt. His hands fisted in her hair and her eyes gleamed in triumph. There was no turning back now.

  For the second time that day her hands trembled, and she hoped he didn’t notice as she worked at the button and zipper of his jeans. She pushed them past his hips and inhaled at the sight of him, thick and long and hard. The shape of him curved up slightly and the head of his cock was flushed red and swollen. She knew how he’d feel inside of her. How he’d make her scream.

  Her tongue flicked out, tasting the salty essence that had escaped, and he groaned as his hands tightened in her hair.

  “God, Cat. Don’t tease. Suck me deep.”

  She was too greedy to play and it had been so long since she’d felt this hunger, this need, building inside of her. Her hand wrapped around the base of his cock, but her fingers and thumb didn’t touch. She squeezed and felt the power rush through her when he groaned, his head dropping back against the door.

  “Take me in,” he demanded this time, his hips thrusting against her hand that held him captive. She’d missed his taste, the texture and heat of him. It had been too long.

  She stroked him once and watched him beneath lowered lids. He was right at the edge of his control and her tongue flicked out, teasing the sensitive head of his cock. His jaw tightened and his hand wrapped around her hair, tighter and tighter, until she had no choice but to do as he wanted.

  “Ahh, fuck.”

  Cat moistened her lips and opened her mouth, surrounding the enflamed head with the wet heat of her mouth. She felt her own juices gathering between her thighs and was tempted to relieve some of the pressure there, but she held back, knowing the release would be all the sweeter with him buried deep inside of her.

  He tasted like heaven—hot sex and all male. She worked her mouth up and down his shaft, using her tongue to moisten the way, and then she relaxed her throat and took him to the hilt. His fist tightened against her scalp and she tasted the salty essence of impending release.

  She flattened her tongue and made swallowing motions against the underside of his cock, and she reached up to cup his balls and felt them tighten in her hand. His hips thrust in short strokes against her mouth and she squeezed the base of his cock, stroking him with every thrust. He’d be coming before too long. She wanted to taste him, to drink him down, and remind him of what they’d once had.

  “Enough,” he said, jerking on her hair so she had no choice but to release him.

  Cat laughed, a seductive call that had his eyes going wild with lust, and she moved to take him again.

  “I said enough.” Thomas jerked her to her feet and pushed her back against the door. “I’m going to fuck you,” he whispered wickedly against her ear, making her shiver.

  Cat gasped as he tore the panties and cried out as his fingers plunged inside of her, her release slick and hot as it drenched his hand.

  “God, Cat. So wet.”

  “Please, please— I need you now.”

  Thomas’s mouth came down on hers, and the kiss had her whimpering against his lips as she felt his need in every stroke of his tongue as it mated with hers. He lifted her, so her legs were spread wide and supported by his arms, and then she cried out as he worked the head of his cock against the entrance of her still spasming pussy.

  “Fuck me,” he gasped, so it sounded like a plea. She felt his heart thud against her chest as he pushed deeper and deeper inside of her, until she was pinned against the door and he was buried to the hilt.

  “You feel so good.” He buried his face against her neck, nipping at the sensitive skin there before soothing it with his tongue.

  Cat couldn’t catch her breath. Wasn’t sure she wanted to. Her nails dug into his shoulders and she tightened the muscles of her vagina, making him swear.

  “What are you waiting for?” she managed to say. “Fuck me. Hard.”

  She was helpless to the pure animal strength of him as he kept her trapped against the door, her legs held wide, pummeling inside of her. Her head thrashed back and forth and mewling cries escaped her lips as she felt the orgasm rip from her womb and pulse through her entire body. His mouth clamped over hers to absorb her screams as she went liquid around him. And then she felt him swell within her and the hot splash of h
is seed against her inner walls.

  It was an out of body experience. One she hadn’t felt in a long time. She smiled against his mouth as he continued to kiss her and she didn’t want to let go as he released her legs so they dropped to the floor.

  Thomas pulled out of her, and she groaned at the tenderness of her muscles. And then she felt the satisfied smile spread across her face. Her breath heaved in and out of her lungs and perspiration cooled on her skin.

  She watched him out of drowsy eyes as he propped his arms against the door to hold himself up. His eyes were almost black and still hazed with lust, and his breathing was labored.

  Cat’s legs felt like jelly and she decided she’d earned a nice long soak in the whirlpool. She stretched, feeling more relaxed and satisfied than she had in a long time. But it was short lived.

  “What the hell was that?” Thomas asked, hitching his pants up and buttoning them.

  “What are you talking about?” She picked her panties up from the floor and slipped them back on.

  “It’s not a hard question, Cat. What the hell was that?”

  Her eyes narrowed and she felt her temper start to simmer. If she looked in the mirror she knew her face would be as red as her hair.

  “Well, I thought I was seducing my husband, but I certainly won’t make that mistake again.” She pushed by him and grabbed the lab coat to cover up, not wanting to have this fight naked. She felt vulnerable enough.

  “Don’t try to turn this around. You only get that look in your eye when you’ve been out on a job. And you only fuck me like that when you’ve stolen something. Considering you haven’t fucked me like that in two years, you can imagine my suspicion.”

  She jerked back as if he’d slapped her and she felt the blood drain from her face. “That’s not true. I’ve always wanted you that way. You’re the one who stopped touching me as soon as I retired. What? Am I not exciting enough for you anymore? You can’t have it both ways, Thomas. You wanted me to quit and now all of a sudden you want nothing to do with me anymore. You just watch me like I’m some freak. And a boring one at that.”