Her tongue peeked from between her lips, licked the plumpness of her lower lip, and then drew back within. She pulled her lip into her mouth and bit down on it, her eyes boring into his. She was teasing him in the best and worst way all at the same time, subtly and overtly seductive at the drop of a hat, and flirtatious to the core. She really had no idea what she did to him—or maybe she did.
“Andrew…” His name fell silent on her breath, no more than a sigh. A plea.
He loosened the tie of his flannel pants. Eyes still connected to hers, he released the fabric to slide down his strong thighs and muscular legs. He stepped from the pile and took the last few steps from where he was to where she waited.
The unbelievable softness of her skin amazed him. How a woman could be so strong and yet so soft and tender, it was purely miraculous. His fingertips danced over her flesh. He pressed into the yielding skin of her ass cheeks, watching as her skin paled and then flared back to pink. Abby shifted from leg to leg as he touched. Walking around to face her, he looked down at the opening of her shirt. He swore he could see her heartbeat pulsing under the tender skin between the swells of her breasts.
Slipping his hands around to her rounded, perky ass, he stroked his forefingers where it met the back of her thighs, and squeezed it in his needy hands. She moaned, and pushed back slightly into his touch. Stroking further in, he reached her folds from behind. She was wet. He touched her there, and eased his finger just barely between her hot, plump center. Her body seized around his finger, and she bore down so it would go deeper.
Again she begged. “Andrew…”
The bet was forgotten. She stepped back and lowered herself to the thick throw rug closest to the fireplace, collapsing back onto her elbows. Her knees spread and her thighs opened for him. Andrew’s eyes wandered down her body. He memorized her. He did not want to lose her. The fear of such a thing already haunted him. He dropped to his knees between her legs. Her eyes pierced through him, inviting him in.
He slid his hands up from her calves, over her thighs and hips, up to the sides of her breasts, and then down again. He moved up her inner thighs this time, stopping short of her mound. She let out an eager breath when he parted her legs even farther apart. He dipped his head low and blew over her sensitive flesh. Sucking in a breath, the sound made a hiss that drove Andrew insane with need.
“Touch me, Andrew. Please…”
Her voice trailed off when his tongue made contact with her clit. He used his thumbs to gently push apart her softness while he circled her exposed nub slowly with the tip of his tongue. He circled it, fondled it, loved it. He took notice of all her body’s reactions. Without words, she told him how to love her.
She bucked under him, moaning, begging. Her sweet juices enticed him, telling him not to hold back any longer. To be sure he was delivering the utmost pleasure—his woman had to be satisfied every time, no exceptions—he licked a trail up to her breasts and laved at each nipple. Her hips bucked some more, and she pleaded for him to come inside. He wouldn’t make her wait.
Grabbing her hips with his hands, he held her still and moved back into position. He leaned closer and, holding his steely cock at the ready, eased his length between her folds. She groaned and called his name. Andrew filled her slowly, taking his time to commit to memory not only the sight of his body joining hers, but the pure sensation of the act.
She was both tight and welcoming. The warmth of her inner walls held him close, kept him snug inside of her as he began to move back and forth. She thrust her hips up in rhythm with his pace. Dropping his hands from her hips, he pressed her legs to open her wide. Without giving her warning, he pulled out completely and dipped his head back down to lick, and suck, and gently nip at her clit. She let out a yelp and her body shook. He blew on her soaking wet clit again, and shifted up to enter her again. This time she screamed, thrashing about wildly. He quickened his pace to keep up.
He repeated the moves twice until she screamed again. They were going to come. Now. Together. Harder and faster, they both pressed their bodies against each other, joining and separating. The slap of his balls echoed her tiny shrieks as she came. Her body convulsed under him when her climax seemed to send her outside her mind to another world. The sloppy sounds of making love to her filled his ears, until with a final sharp jolt, he released his warmth into her. Spent, he collapsed beside her, wrapping his arms around her tightly.
“I think you won the bet,” she whispered.
“Maybe,” he replied. “You’re amazing.”
He truly meant it. She was amazing to him, perfect for him—if only he could keep it together.
***
Abby looked up at the ceiling. It was the middle of the night. She wasn’t sure what had awoken her, but now, she couldn’t go back to sleep. Her body was relaxed, but her mind was restless. She thought of getting up and going to the library to study. Andrew looked so restful beside her. She decided to stay put. She didn’t want to wake him.
Her mind drifted to her work placement. It would start on Monday. Her schedule would be tight for the next two semesters. Two twelve-hour day shifts every week at her university’s Medical center would take her well-paced week to one that would be hectic and inflexible. She didn’t mind it at all. In fact, she looked forward to it. It meant she was that much closer to graduating, getting into the full time workforce, and able to do one of the two things she loved—face to face oncology patient care. She couldn’t wait.
Having Andrew in her life didn’t change any of it—not the way she saw it. The only unknown was where she would settle when they got more serious, and where she might look for a more permanent work arrangement after graduating. She could continue direct patient care, or work at one of the oncology research hospitals. Before Andrew, she had been looking primarily at San Francisco hospitals, and at the only hospital in Reno where the work would be challenging enough. Now, there were more unknowns, but that also meant more possibilities.
Abby felt Andrew stir beside her and turned toward him. Worry crept up her face. He was asleep, but beads of sweat covered his forehead. His fists were in tight balls beside him, stuffed full with the bedsheets. His head turned from side to side as though looking for something in his dream. This could not just be a dream. It had to be a nightmare. His face was distraught. She thought to wake him, but while she debated whether to let it pass or not, he let out a wail, and called out a name.
“Emma!” he shouted a second time. Yes. It was definitely Emma she had heard the first time. She touched his shoulder and he sprang upright.
“Andrew? Are you okay?”
His was panting. The expression on his face as he looked around transitioned from fear, to disorientation, to what she could only describe as sheer horror.
“It’s me, Andrew. It’s Abby. You were dreaming.”
She sat up and handed him one of the bottled waters on her night table. He took it, still looking terrified. She went to the bathroom and brought a towel back to bed.
“Was that a nightmare?” She asked, handing the towel to him.
He nodded.
“Are you okay now?”
He nodded again. He looked at her shyly, not quite meeting her eyes. “Did I say anything while I was dreaming?”
“Not really. You were mostly groaning, and then you shouted.”
“What did I say?”
“Just a name.”
“What name?”
“Emma.”
He stiffened up and practically jumped out of bed. “I’m sorry. Excuse me.” He rushed into the bathroom. He spent a long time in there before he came out. He walked to his closet and found a robe to wear.
“Do you have nightmares a lot?” she asked, looking over at him. He seemed so…fragile.
“Not often these days.”
“Do you want to talk about it?”
“Probably another time.” He tightened the robe around his waist. “I’ll be right back, okay?”
“Do you want som
e company?”
“I just need a minute.”
“Okay.”
Just as she guessed, he didn’t come back to bed for the rest of the night.
Chapter Thirteen
ANDREW could watch her for hours. After their run, which Abby was beginning to enjoy with him, they did some stretches in the weight room. Well, Abby did stretches. He just lifted his arms above his head and enjoyed the view. Watching her was becoming a hobby of his. She was so free spirited. It was liberating to see her in action.
She had seen him during and after a nightmare, and didn’t run for the hills the next day. To Andrew, it was a good omen. She didn’t ask him about it that morning, either. She also did not ask him why he had not come back to bed. All she did was kiss him when he had returned to his room for his phone, and she suggested they go for a run.
“Hey,” she said, looking up from some kind of sexy downward dog yoga pose stretch. “I was thinking, I’d like to go see John and Trina today.”
“Sure. When do you want to go?”
“Now?”
“Now like right now?”
“Yeah why not? We can have a nice, relaxing drive down there.”
“Sure.” He felt his body tense up as he thought of an answer. “I’ll call my local driver and see if he can come on short notice.”
“Driver? Come on, you’ve got all those cars outside. Let’s take a drive, Andrew.”
Oh God. She is not asking to take a drive with me, is she?
Think Andrew. Think.
“The thing is,” he stumbled over his words as he thought of a reasonable explanation, “I’ve got to take care of a few things with my staff this morning. Let me get those done first, and we can go afterward.”
“Okay. That could work. I’ll use the time to make some more headway on my independent study.”
“Perfect. And I might as well set it up with the driver, then.”
“Oh?”
“Yes. I prefer using a driver. We can both enjoy the scenery there and back. It’s a beautiful route.”
“All right.” She continued with her stretches.
Andrew excused himself and went to his office. He made a phone call to request the local limo service driver who worked on standby for him and his father. When finished, he stayed in his office and answered some emails. That question from Abby came from left field. It was a close call. He looked down at his hands. They were shaking. His body had practically frozen up back there. He couldn’t remember ever reacting this way to the thought of simply going for a drive. He suspected it had everything to do with the accident.
Had her friends not been in the Jeep when he had dropped them all off in Reno a few days ago, he may have reacted that way too, but even that was different. It wasn’t the same as him and Abby getting into a car, sitting side by side, alone in the car, with him driving. The image alone was disconcerting. No, it was not disconcerting—it was downright terrifying.
He could kick himself for not laying it on the line right there and then with Abby. It was the perfect opportunity to tell her everything. Maybe not perfect, but it beat springing his past on her out of the blue. When was there ever a right time to talk about something as horrific as this? He could not imagine where he would start, and how his lips and brain would recall the bloodcurdling chain of events.
I have to tell her soon.
Yes. Soon. That fleeting, non-committal and abstract time in the future. Soon was convenient. It could be pushed forward ad infinitum, but that was also the problem with soon.
Soon easily becomes too late.
That was something his mother would tell him every time he procrastinated with chores in favor of games, homework, or playtime. He should have told Abby everything before he said those three words on the plane. She deserved to know—he just had no idea how to tell her. He took a breath and continued typing. He would tell her this weekend, before she went back to San Francisco.
This weekend, but not today. He wasn’t ready to face that yet.
***
ABBY noticed Andrew stiffen up when she asked about going to see John and Trina. He did not react to the visit itself—he reacted to the part about driving. His nervousness was as clear as day with his hand instantly sliding along his mark, the way he averted his eyes, and his body shifted from one leg to the other. It only stopped when they agreed to go later. Driving? What was it about driving that made him act so weird? She wondered if this had anything to do with how he had sent the driver to pick her up each of the three times they had gone out in San Francisco. There had to be something to it.
She thought back on the other times he had reacted this way since she met him. There was their conversation about why he left the practice. He had also gotten that way when they skirted the question of relationships and family. He had a similar look during the emergency procedure on John’s arm. Maybe he was in a car accident with someone important to him—but who, and how bad was it?
She was onto something. It was a gut feeling, and she had nothing to go by—even less so because Andrew continued to be tight-lipped about his trauma—but trusted her gut implicitly. Sighing, she finished up her stretches and went for a shower. She was not going to ask him just yet. It would be too easy for him to shut down. She would wait until he told her, and hopefully that would be soon. Having to guess and come up with her own theories was no fun, not when he could simply tell her and move on.
***
ABBY looked over at Andrew as they sat at the back of the limousine. He held her hand, and looked pensively out the window.
“How are you doing?” she asked.
“I’m fine.” He looked over at her. “I’m sorry. I tend to get sucked into how beautiful around Lake Tahoe is. I’ve been down this route countless times, yet that view out there gets me every time.”
He ran a finger down her cheek, and tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear. “How about you? Are you all right?”
“Yes,” she answered, leaning on his shoulder. “It’s gorgeous outside. I can see why you love it. It’s serene, and lovely on an immense scale. It makes problems seem so small, taking in that expansive view. I guess it puts life in perspective.”
“Wow.”
She looked up at him. “What,”
“You could have read my mind verbatim just now.”
“Yeah?” she said, turning to look at him more closely.
“It’s uncanny.”
“Just don’t get too used to it, big boy,” she teased.
“Used to what?”
“To me trying to read your mind.” She kissed his lips softly. “Talking works. Remember, you can tell me anything. I won’t judge you. I promise.”
“I will keep that in mind.”
“Promise?” She hoped she was getting her point across without pushing the issue.
“Yes. I promise.”
She undid her seatbelt and slid up to sit in his lap, and snuggled in close for a minute, before getting back into her seat.
***
Abby made a big entrance into John’s recovery room. As she slipped in the door, she shouted, “How is the big teddy bear who slayed one of Lake Tahoe’s most vicious predators!”
Trina and John jumped. Trina was sitting in a chair beside John, playing cards with him on his good side.
“Hey!” Trina said first, and got up to accept Abby’s hug in her already outstretched arms.
“That’s one way to scare a patient,” John said cheerily. “How are you doing?”
“That’s for me to ask you, isn’t it?” she joked.
“Nah. I wasn’t the only casualty of Lake Tahoe, was I? Last time I saw you, you were skipping around on one good leg, remember?”
“Don’t remind me,” Abby answered, still holding Trina around her shoulder. “So how are you feeling, John?”
“Still not great, but very grateful. It could have been a whole lot worse. I get to keep my arm, plus a few pins inside for good measure.”
“Great t
o hear. You must be relieved.”
“Very. Thanks to you and Andrew. Speak of the devil, where’s the big guy?”
“He’s grabbing something in the store downstairs.” She turned to Trina. “How are the staff here? Are they taking good care of you two?”
“The best,” she answered. “The ones who have worked here for years all rave about Andrew.”
“Really? How do they know him?”
“He worked here in his late teens during college, or maybe it was over the summer. Definitely before med school. They said he was the hardest working orderly the hospital ever hired. The nurses on the floor said they’d fight over him during their shifts. Not the way you think, of course.” Trina laughed.
“Well that’s good. There’s so much to learn about the humble and quiet Andrew Carrington.”
“There isn’t that much to learn,” Andrew said, walking in with flowers behind her.
“Ahhh. See, this I why they say never to turn your back to a door,” Abby said. Trina took the flowers from Andrew, and Abby snuggled into the crook of his arm, looking up at him. “How did you sneak in here so easily?”
“Same way you did,” Trina said from the corner of the room. “Thanks for the flowers, Andrew. They’re beautiful.”
“You’re welcome.” He and Abby moved closer to John. “Are you feeling better?”
“A bit every day. I’ll be over the hump soon.”
“Good. Just remember to let them know if you need anything at all.”
“Don’t worry,” Trina piped up, smiling. “The nurses have been pampering him so much, he’ll be a needy boyfriend when he gets out of here. I can see it now. He’ll have a dinner bell beside him to summon me when he needs stuff.”
“That doesn’t sound like a bad idea,” John joked, reaching out his good arm to invite her closer.
“You wish,” she said. She feigned a grimace and sat on the edge of the bed, then leaned on his chest lovingly.
“Did you get things worked out with SFSU for the semester?” Abby asked.
“Yes we did, actually,” Trina answered. “The timing couldn’t have been better, otherwise we would have lost out on some tuition, and possibly course credits, had it been even a week or two later. We had a serious talk, and got some advice from John’s head doctor. We withdrew from school for the semester. We’ll either go back for the last semester, or wait until September, depending on how he responds to physiotherapy.”
Cabin Bear Heat Box Set: A Paranormal Fantasy Bear Shifter Romance (A Bear Shifter Romance Retelling of the Billionaire Redemption Series Book 2) Page 30
