by Marni Mann
His protective demeanor reminded me of when he had held me back from running into the street, something I’d never had before him. And when I watched his boxers fall to the floor, I wasn’t sure if I’d experienced this level of hunger either.
“Explain the expression on your face,” he said while we stood in the center of the boat.
It took me a minute to really process his question. “In the past, I’ve always been the fixer and the caregiver. You don’t need that from me, and I’m just not used to it.”
“I’ll save that for when I’m sick. I’m a horrible patient—you’ll see—and you’ll hate taking care of me.” He slid his fingers down my chest, stopping over my pounding heart. “The only thing I need from you is this.” His pressure was gentle, each pass sending shivers across me. “This relationship isn’t about you clocking in every morning and clocking out each night.” His stare intensified. “It’s about us and what we can build together.”
I breathed in the salty air as he kissed me.
“This is going to be our new life, Whitney.” He clamped down on my bottom lip, sucking it into his mouth, a low growl coming from his throat. “Now, I want to taste you in the water.”
He took me toward the back, lifting one of the seats, creating a pass-through that led us onto a platform where the motors were connected.
I sat on the open space, my feet dangling into the sea. “How deep is this?”
“About five feet.” He got in, and the water only came up to his chest.
His hands surrounded my hips, and he pulled me in. It was much warmer than the Atlantic. Still, a chill moved through me that I didn’t have time to get used to as he was swimming us away from the boat, the bottom getting deeper with each stroke. Once we were several feet away, he turned onto his back and floated. I followed, my curls soaking, the sky swallowing me from above.
I had thought the sunset was overwhelming, but there was something about the night sky that just owned me. The way the stars shot across the darkness, wishes falling each time. “Nothing is this beautiful.”
“You don’t have my view.”
I glanced at him, and his eyes were on me.
“Whitney, those stars don’t even compare to you.”
“You have this way”—I took a breath, my chest fluttering—“of constantly making me feel like I’m the only woman in the world.”
“That’s never going to change.”
I flipped around and moved on top of him, his arms and legs keeping us afloat.
“The salt tastes delicious on you,” he said, licking me off his mouth.
He took us back toward the shallow area, my hair dragging behind us, his lips working their way across my neck. Now that he didn’t have to tread, his hands could wander, reaching as low as my ass before rising to flick my hardened nipples. The wetness between my legs had nothing to do with what we were submerged in, but the way he was touching my body.
Each inch, my breath turned more labored, my sounds loudening as he continued to move us until my back was suddenly pressed against the boat. His hardness was teasing me, and I rubbed myself over his tip.
“I have a condom,” he whispered into my throat. “It’s in my wallet, back on the boat. Give me just a second—”
“No.” I stopped him from leaving. “You don’t need one.”
He leaned his head back, taking in my face. “You’re sure?”
“I’m on birth control, and I’m clean. As long as you are, I see no reason to use one.”
He cupped my cheeks, a spot that missed him every time his palms were gone. “God, I want to fucking devour you.” He lifted me higher onto his lap. “Hold the black fender behind you.”
I didn’t know the term, but I reached above my head until I found something to grip and squeezed the rubber with both hands.
With this new placement, his thumb went to my clit, brushing back and forth as he plunged inside me. Air hissed from his mouth. “You’re so tight.”
I groaned, the fullness so satisfying, the way he always found that deepness within me, caressing that spot with his crown. “Ahhh.”
He paused for a slow moment, allowing me to get used to him again before driving back in. Each time he repeated that motion, I couldn’t stop the slight screams that left me, my body feeling far too good to keep it in.
As I clenched my legs around his waist, I was able to meet him, my nails driving into the hard material to keep me from letting go. “Faster,” I begged, knowing where his speed could take me.
He pinched my nipple between his teeth, making it throb with pleasure, my clit pulsing from the pressure he gave it. My body was countering each thrust, that place he was bringing me becoming so familiar.
“Harder,” I breathed when his lips were against mine. “Caleb … please.”
He held the back of my head, using it to rock into me, and I squeezed him from the inside, swallowing his grunts.
“You have no idea how fucking good you feel.”
I couldn’t respond; I couldn’t focus on words even though I felt the same way. I was lost. Each bounce I made over his dick sending me to a space I couldn’t return from.
“Oh my God,” I roared when the sensations began to spread to every part of me, bursting through me. “Fuck me.”
“I can feel you coming.” He bit my lip. “Narrowing around me and so goddamn wet.”
Shudders were blasting across my navel, waves slapping my insides, like the ocean we were in, the peak keeping me chained until my body eventually started to come down.
“Now, I want you to do it again,” he ordered, his movements turning even more relentless, his power increasing.
I was so sensitive; every shift of his hips was sending sparks into my body, flying like the boat’s horsepower. There was no clarity, no forgiveness, no rest in pleasure, just an immediate return that began when his fingers found my clit again.
“I want to feel that tightness when I come,” he growled.
He was arching upward, and I met him in the middle, a place where he could pull away and slide back in. In that spot where we collided, I circled my hips, grinding over him, adding another layer to what was already building.
“Whitney,” he breathed. “Baby, yes … just like that.”
I was there, too, climbing faster than I could control, rushing toward the top.
Within a few pumps, he was joining my moans.
“Fuck!” he shouted against my lips, emptying himself inside me.
The release took hold, and I was quivering over him, each shock of tingles going further into my body, feeling him pump it out until only the water was moving around us.
“Mmm.” He kissed me with gentleness. “I can’t get enough of you.”
I released the rubber and clung to his shoulders, panting, trying to find myself again.
“Look up,” he whispered.
Just as I did, I saw the full moon hanging over our heads, adding to the tenderness between my legs and the fullness in my chest.
Some moments didn’t need words.
This was one.
Twenty-Six
“I have beer in the fridge,” Emily said from my phone as I walked into the break room to get my things. “Burger patties are made and waiting to be cooked, and I’m about to pop the fries into the oven, so they’ll be extra crispy when you get home.”
“You’re making this exhausted girl very, very happy.” I put the strap of my crossbody over my shoulder and settled the bag on my hip. “Should I stop and grab dessert?”
“Does a bear shit in the woods?”
I laughed and made my way into the hallway. “I have a few more things to chart, and then I’ll be on my way. I’ll text you when I leave.”
“A night of food, Sex and the City reruns, no bras, and you—I literally can’t wait.”
I sighed at the thought.
Since returning from Florida a month ago, I’d been picking up extra shifts each week. The nights I had off, I stayed at Caleb�
�s. The ones I spent at home, I was asleep before nine, too tired to even hang with my best friend after dinner.
“You have no idea how much I’m looking forward to this,” I admitted. “But I might be knocked out and drooling on your shoulder before the first episode is over. Just warning you.”
“Wouldn’t be the first time. See you soon.”
We hung up, and I stopped at the nurses’ station that was at the bend of our horseshoe-shaped unit, sitting at one of the computers. I pulled up the chart I hadn’t had time to finish earlier and began typing my notes.
I was almost finished when I heard, “Excuse me, miss. I was wondering if you could help me with something …”
The sound of Caleb’s voice caused me to glance up, meeting his handsome face and the sexiest navy suit and gold tie. The combination was enough to make me stop breathing.
“Hi.”
As he folded his hands on top of the counter, his cuff links made a scratching noise. Casual was my favorite look on him, but the way he dressed every day for work was really growing on me.
I shook my head, still shocked that he was here. “What brings you to the ortho/neuro floor, sir?” I teased. “Sciatic pain? Numbness in the bottom of your feet perhaps?”
“There’s this gorgeous nurse who’s been caring for me, and I haven’t seen her in three days.” He lowered his voice. “I can’t get her out of my mind, and it’s making me fucking crazy.” A smile moved across his captivating lips. “I was hoping if I came here, I could convince her to have dinner with me tonight.”
Even with his attention on my face, I couldn’t feel nastier in my own skin. My scrubs were stained, I reeked of antibacterial gel, and there was probably white dust in my hair from the dry shampoo I’d forgotten to shake out thirteen hours ago.
I knew I looked even worse than I felt.
Yet he was staring at me like there was nothing more beautiful.
“Caleb, if I showed up to a restaurant like this, they’d kick me out. I’m disgusting right now.”
He reached across the space that divided us, palming my cheek. My eyes briefly closed, his woodsy scent taking ahold of me, the exhaustion tugging so hard that I could use his hand as a pillow and be asleep in minutes.
“Whitney, you’re stunning, no matter what you have on or how many hours you’ve worked. And I assure you, no restaurant I ever took you to would kick you out.”
I exhaled, his compliments wrapping around me—and so did the conversation I’d just had with my best friend. “Even if I wanted to, I promised Emily a girls’ night.”
His hand stayed on my face. “How about I walk you home, then?”
“I would really love that.”
He gazed around the nurses’ station. “So, this is your office.”
“Some of it. Most of my time is spent in the patients’ rooms. Want a tour?”
“Yes.”
“Give me one second.”
After his hand left my face, I typed the rest of my notes into the chart that was still open on the screen and eventually closed out of the system, joining him on the other side of the counter. I stood near him but not within breathing distance. That only lasted a few moments before he clenched my waist and pulled me close.
“Caleb, I’m warning you, it’s not pretty over here.”
“Impossible.”
His lips went to my cheek, bringing an even stronger wind of his cologne; he not only smelled deliciously clean, but also positively ravishing.
“I could fucking devour you right here,” he whispered against my skin.
“You’re crazy.” I giggled and leaned my head back before any of my patients or administration saw us. “Come on. I’ll show you around.”
I intertwined our fingers and led him down the hallway, explaining the layout of the unit, pointing out the break room as we passed it. We were just circling around the other side when we ran into Rebecca, standing in front of a med cart. I put my arm around her shoulders, and she rested her head against my neck.
“Don’t move. I just need a quick nap.”
We both laughed, and I loosened my grip on her. “You remember Caleb?”
“Of course I do.”
He held out his arm. “It’s good to see you again, Rebecca.”
“And you,” she responded, hugging him.
“It should be a slow shift,” I told her once they were apart.
“Should be?” She put her hands on her hips. “You know what happens when you put things like that into the universe.”
“Oh God, you’ll be fine.” It was my turn to hug her, and when I was pulling away, I added, “I’ll be back in the morning to relieve you. Let me know if you want anything for breakfast.”
“In case I’m too tired to remember to text you, I’ll take an egg sandwich and the biggest coffee you can find.”
“You got it.”
“Hopefully, I’ll see you soon,” Caleb said to her before we walked away.
“You can count on it,” she responded.
I brought him down the remaining section of the hallway, showing him the clean and dirty utility closets and the additional patient rooms, halting once we reached the elevator. When we were inside, I pressed the button for the first floor and took him into the emergency department. Because the patients were much more mobile in this unit and I wanted to protect their identities, I took him through the back, so he could see the X-ray and surgical rooms.
Aside from our chat with Rebecca, he stayed extremely quiet, and I could sense him taking it all in, processing my descriptions of what I did on a daily basis. I appreciated that, and I would probably act the same way if I ever made it over to his office.
We were just turning the corner, headed to the lobby, when we ran into Fiona.
“Girl,” she sang as we approached, throwing her arms around me, “I love when you come to my neck of the woods.” She unlocked me and screeched, “Caleb,” before hugging him just as hard. “First time in the ER?” she asked him.
Caleb’s response came out as a laugh, and I answered, “He wanted to see the digs, so I showed him the most important spots—mine and yours.”
“Glad you did,” she responded. “So, what are you crazy cats up to tonight?”
“I have the morning shift tomorrow.” I yawned. “Food and falling asleep in front of the TV are about all I can handle.”
“I hear that, sister.” She pulled out her work phone, the ring echoing in the hallway. She held it to her ear, covering the microphone to say, “Catch you kids later. Nice to see you again, Caleb.”
He waved, and I blew her a kiss. Then, I took him through the main lobby and out the front entrance.
“I forgot how fun your friends are,” he said as we made our way down the sidewalk.
“They’re the best. Fiona used to work in our unit but switched to the ER about a year ago. I swear, aside from my patients, those girls are the only things that keep me going.”
“It’s got to be extremely difficult to do what you do every day. I imagine you think of your patients often, even when you’re home.”
I glanced at him as I stepped onto the road. “Throughout the years, I’ve witnessed some incredible miracles but also some tragedies that haunt me, to the point where I wake up in a cold sweat and can’t go back to bed. It’s those cases that stay with me, not the good ones.” I took a breath, feeling the tightness that was always there whenever I talked about this. “And when we lose one or they give up and stop fighting, it hurts something fierce.” My hand pressed against my heart as I thought of the patient who had coded during yesterday’s shift shortly after coming out of surgery, passing away before we could even start the paddles. “What’s worse is that many of the cases remind me of my brother, and each one I come across aches a little more.”
We reached the next intersection, and before I could press the crosswalk button, his hand was on my waist, preventing me from moving.
“Whitney, you’re the most amazing woman I’ve ever me
t.”
As he kissed me, I no longer heard the murmurs from the people who shared our sidewalk or the swishing and honking of cars as they passed. It was as though the sounds of the city had completely dissolved, and what remained were my feelings, growing immensely every second while I was completely enveloped in him.
“I’m falling so hard,” I whispered against his mouth, staring into his blue eyes that now reminded me of the rich Gulf water that we had swum through in Tampa.
“You’re not alone.” His nose pressed to mine. “I’m right there, waiting to catch you.”
The emotion was spreading into my throat. “I believe in you. More than anything.”
He kissed me again and curved his fingers through mine, taking us across the street.
As we got near the bakery, I pointed at the windows and said, “I have to pick up dessert for girls’ night.”
He grinned. “Is this the cookie place?”
“Sure is.”
We went inside, and as we waited in line, I quickly took out my phone and sent Emily a text.
Me: I’m at the bakery. Heads up, Caleb is with me, but he’s not staying. I just want to show him our place. Giving you a little warning … ya know, in case you’re braless.
Emily: Are you insane? Invite that man for dinner.
I glanced up and saw that he was also on his phone, so I turned back to mine to type.
Me: But it’s our night.
Emily: Whitney, don’t make me go all Samantha Jones on you.
Me: Okay, but just dinner, and then it’s us and reruns.
Emily: See ya soon.
I put my phone away and waited for him to look up. “Emily wants you to come for dinner. If you say no, she’s going to kill me, and then she’s going to gut you.” I scrunched my face and added, “So, don’t say no.”
He dropped his arm over my shoulders as we moved up a spot in line. “We can’t let that happen, can we?” His mouth pushed into the top of my head, where I felt him breathe me in. “To thank her, you know that means I now have to buy one of every cookie they make.”
