An Eternity in a Moment

by K Carothers

  “I probably wouldn’t have even bought the thing if I’d seen it first,” Erin admitted weakly. “It reminds me of all the sex-related injuries I’ve dealt with in the ER. Just a few months ago I took care of a woman who came in with severe vaginal bleeding that had started during sex. She told me they hadn’t done anything unusual—of course, that’s what they all say, even the guy who had a light bulb stuck in his rectum that showed up on an x-ray.”

  Luke shook his head. “The things that turn people on.”

  “You have no idea—or I guess you do. But anyway, this woman had a huge tear inside her vagina that had to be fixed in the OR. And she ended up needing a blood transfusion too. It wasn’t any normal man that could have done that. Either she was having sex with someone who should be put in a museum someday, or they’d been using something that probably looked just like that. And I do not want to end up in the ER myself under similar circumstances, Luke Mathis. I would never be able show my face there again—and your dad would not be happy.”

  “No, he’d kill me,” Luke said with a laugh. “If my mom didn’t get to me first. But I promise, if you try it there will be no permanent damage done. And no blood transfusions will be necessary.”

  “I don’t know…But in any case, I need to go use the bathroom.” Erin smiled half-heartedly. “After seeing that thing I just might be able to lock myself in there tonight.”

  Luke’s expression sobered. “Do you want me to go with you?”

  “No, I’ll just leave the door partway open.” Erin stood up with a blush of embarrassment creeping across her cheeks. “It’s yet another thing I have to work on.”

  “I’ll be right here if you need me.”

  Erin nodded, feeling her face get even hotter. Then she headed to the small bathroom and closed the door as far as she could without panic rearing its ugly head. She thought of Luke sitting out there waiting for her—how his eyes were like windows to the most beautiful summer sky—and she pushed the door closed a little farther. Her heart began to race, and her chest tightened uncomfortably, but she took slow, deep breaths and thought of Luke again. The image of him standing naked on the bed stealing batteries from the smoke alarm floated through her mind, and she couldn’t help but smile. Panic eased its grip on her, and she was able to close the door almost all the way.

  Luke was sitting on the edge of the Jacuzzi with his legs dangling in the water, and appeared deep in thought when she came out of the bathroom. But as soon as she started walking toward him he looked up and smiled at her appreciatively. “Everything okay?”

  Erin came up behind him and slid her arms tightly around his chest, burying her face in his neck and inhaling the musky, masculine scent of him. “Everything is more than okay.” She dropped an affectionate kiss on his shoulder. “And what were you thinking about so seriously? I hope it’s not that rabbit again.” She saw it was now sitting on the tile surface next to him.

  Luke swung his legs out of the water and turned to face her. “I was thinking about you,” he said, pulling her onto his lap so she sat straddling him. He was thinking about all the things he felt for her and wanted to tell her, but wasn’t sure she’d want to hear. She might think he was crazy. “Are you ready to get in?”

  Erin looked over his shoulder into the Jacuzzi, the water now filled to the brim and bubbling turbulently, and felt a frisson of fear run through her. “Can we leave the jets off?”

  “Of course.” Luke reached down and pressed the button to turn them off.

  Erin glanced into the Jacuzzi again, attempting a smile. “This should be a breeze after being in the pond.”

  “Let’s do it then.” Luke swung around and slid into the warm water, holding her firmly on his lap.

  Erin buried her face in his neck and wrapped her arms around his shoulders in an iron grip, feeling panic rush through her as the water rose over her chest and they settled to the bottom of the Jacuzzi. It wasn’t as bad as the pond, but she still struggled to maintain control of her emotions.

  Luke eased her head back and looked into her eyes, seeing the fear there. “Remember, I won’t let you go,” he softly said, and drew her mouth to his.

  Erin closed her eyes and concentrated on his lips as they brushed tenderly over hers, and it wasn’t long before she was kissing him back. The tension in her body began to subside, and she loosened her grip on his shoulders, deepening the kiss. He slid his hands down to massage her breasts under the water at the same time, and his arousal swelled between them, teasing her belly. She instinctively pushed closer, and they moved against each other in a slow, sensual dance. All the rest of her anxiety melted away, turning into white-hot desire, heightened all the more by the fear that had come before it. And with passion giving rise to a new tension inside her, she broke the kiss and reached down for him. “Make love to me, Luke.”

  He intercepted her hand and eased her off his lap instead. “I want to bury myself inside your sweet heaven, honey, more than I want to breathe. But first we’re going to have that swimming lesson.”

  “Luke!” Erin groaned.

  “Turn around and hold on to the edge of the Jacuzzi,” he commanded in a mild tone.

  Erin glanced at the water uncertainly, feeling some of her anxiety return. But after a moment she did as he said.

  Luke knelt behind her and lifted her up to the surface of the water. “Relax and let yourself float,” he whispered, trailing a path of kisses down her back. “I just want you to feel. You, the water, and pure sensation.” He reached her bottom and feathered more soft kisses over it, then lightly sank his teeth into her skin.

  Erin let out a faint exclamation of surprise, though her body responded in an entirely different way, with delicious sensations flowing straight to her core, fanning the flames of desire again. And he used his free hand to further incite the fire, sliding his fingers downward between her thighs, gently probing, stroking.

  “Luke,” Erin uttered in a low moan, kicking her legs out to move harder against him.

  “That’s it, honey.” Luke smiled. He just might teach her how to swim yet. Then he kissed his way back upward until he reached her ear, murmuring into it, “I think the rabbit wants to play too.”

  Erin nodded, not caring anymore, once again a slave to sensation. She watched him reach for the rabbit, heard him turn it on behind her, and felt him slowly push the vibrating shaft into her. The rabbit with its wildly twitching ears slid over her, and she immediately cried out as electrifying pleasure surged through her.

  “Don’t stop kicking your legs, honey,” Luke urged, holding her steady with one hand while he moved the vibrator back and forth with the other, gradually increasing the intensity. “Feel this. Remember it every time you look at the water.”

  Erin kicked her legs out, and pleasure inundated her until she almost couldn’t breathe. She was dizzy it. She was soon drowning in it. She finally couldn’t take it anymore when sensation became so acute it was almost painful. “That’s enough, Luke,” she gasped. “I want you—I want you inside me.” And without a second thought she let go of the Jacuzzi.

  Luke caught her back against him, swiftly withdrawing the vibrator. He shut it off and set it on the tile surround, then hit the button to start the jets up again, creating vibration of a different sort.

  Erin turned in his arms, her fear of the bubbling water long gone. “Now, Luke!”

  “Over here,” he said, pulling her with him to a seat built into the corner of the Jacuzzi.

  Erin climbed up onto his lap, straddling him, and didn’t think twice about the new position. As he started to push into her she sank down hard on top of him and urgently began to move, desire raging hotter than ever inside her.

  Luke cupped her bottom in his hands and thrust back with just as much need. “God, honey, I love how you feel,” he whispered tightly, spreading heated kisses on her skin. “I love touching you, tasting you. I love e
very part of you.”

  Erin moaned his name and drove against him harder, faster. “Oh God, Luke!” She clutched his shoulders in a white-knuckled grip, feeling sensation start to spin out of control. Then it exploded inside her, and she threw her head back with a helpless scream, the pleasure so exquisite, so powerful, that for a moment she thought she might actually pass out. He came with her, and their cries commingled in the room as they rode wave after wave of orgasmic sensation together.

  Erin collapsed against him with a groan afterward. “I hope I can at least swim now because I’m not going to be able to walk tomorrow.”

  Luke lifted her up and sat her across his lap. “Well, you may have just broken me, Sally Ride.”

  “You know that can actually happen,” Erin said, giving him a slightly impish smile. “When I was a resident this guy came in on New Year’s Day. He and his girlfriend broke in the New Year by—”

  “Okay, stop right there,” Luke interrupted. “I guess there is something I can’t handle hearing about after all.”

  “Oh well. My punch line was pretty soft anyway.”

  “I have no idea how to respond to that.”

  “You’re probably thinking too hard,” Erin said, tongue-in-cheek.

  Luke’s face split into a grin. “Anytime I’m near you I start thinking hard.”

  “And I like how you think,” Erin playfully responded. “Your head is quite remarkable.”

  Luke chuckled and drew her mouth to his, murmuring against her lips, “I didn’t know such a dirty mind went along with that wicked sense of humor.”

  “Neither did I.” Erin pressed a deep, sensuous kiss on his mouth. “You bring it out of me.”

  “I seem to bring a lot out of you,” Luke said, easing back. “I would never have guessed you’d be such a noisy lover either. Sex in the library is definitely out of the question.”

  Erin couldn’t help but laugh, though she felt the telltale heat of another blush on her cheeks. “I honestly never understood what all the fuss was about with sex. But I get it now. And I can see why all these people keep showing up in the ER with injuries because of it. A woman even came in once claiming she had a seizure during an orgasm, and I didn’t really believe her. You wouldn’t like that story, though. Her husband also needed treatment. They were performing oral sex on each other at the same time—they called it something, but I can’t remember what. Anyway, she had a seizure and bit down—”

  “Enough!” Luke exclaimed, and then let out a dry laugh. “I can’t believe I’m telling a woman to stop talking about oral sex. But you got me again. And they were in the 69 position, by the way. But you are officially banned from bringing up anything that has to do with the ER for the rest of the night.”

  “You better decide what we’ll talk about then, because I’m bound to get myself into trouble.”

  Luke’s expression sobered. “There is something we should talk about: We haven’t been using protection.”

  Erin smiled ruefully. “You picked the right woman to make that mistake with. The chances of me getting pregnant naturally are somewhere between slim and none—and I’m pretty sure slim died of starvation.” It was another first for her. Joking about such a painful subject was something she would never have imagined being able to do. And it was surprisingly therapeutic.

  “Well, if it turned out slim wasn’t dead, I wouldn’t consider it a mistake,” Luke said. “But that’s not really what I was thinking about. I just want you to know you don’t have to worry about catching anything from me. I’ve always been careful about that. Maybe even too careful, I guess. But my dad’s idea of sex education was taking me and my brothers into his office and showing us pictures of every STD in the book. The one that really got to me was a picture of what looked like hunks of cauliflower stuck to the guy’s parts. I’m surprised I’m not still a virgin after seeing that.”

  “Genital warts,” Erin said with laughter in her tone. And then curiously, she asked, “What do you mean about being too careful?”

  Luke’s lips twisted wryly. “I guess I’d better take that back. A person can never be too careful—like that guy in the book should’ve learned. But until now I’ve always used a condom. Every time. Even if it was probably safe not to.”

  Erin grinned. “So in a way I did kind of take your virginity, didn’t I?”

  “Saying that kind of puts my man badge in jeopardy again. But I guess you’re right—in a way.”

  “Mmmm. I think I like that idea,” she said, nestling her cheek on his shoulder.

  “Putting my man badge in jeopardy?”

  “No, taking your virginity.” Erin ran her hand slowly over his chest, enjoying the feel of his firm muscles under her fingers. “And you don’t have to worry about me either. After Peter’s infidelity I was tested for everything, and there’s been no one else since.”

  Luke didn’t want to think about her with anyone else but him, so he changed the subject. “How are you feeling?” he asked, wrapping his arms tightly around her.

  “With my fingers.” It was the response so many patients had given her over the years.

  “I mean about the water,” Luke said in amusement.

  Erin lifted her head off his shoulder and smiled up at him. “You definitely accomplished your goal, Detective. I’ll never look at water the same way again. I think if they started having swimming lessons at the community pool like the one you just gave me, every woman in town would pretend she couldn’t swim.”

  Luke chuckled. “I’d like to have more lessons like that with you.”

  “I’ll sign up for whatever lessons you want to give me. Although I’ll drown for sure if we have any more tonight. I can barely move a muscle.”

  “I’m in the same boat,” he said with a grin. “What I’d really like to do now is go lay on that bed over there and hold you. Do we have some time yet?”

  “Yes, a little while. But I need to be there for Jenna, so I can’t—”

  Luke gently pressed a finger to her lips. “I know. I’m just not quite ready to let you go yet.” But then, he knew he never would be.

  He turned off the Jacuzzi as they got out, then grabbed a towel and wrapped it around her from behind. “I’ll do the honors,” he whispered into her ear and slowly rubbed her dry.

  Erin enjoyed every moment of it. She would never have guessed such a simple act could make her feel so good, so cared for. And when he was done she picked up the other towel and started kneading it leisurely over his chest. She felt his nipples harden under her fingers and lowered the towel, giving in to the urge to taste one of them.

  Luke groaned, easing her away. “That’s enough, or you really will break me, woman. And then I won’t be able to show my face at the hospital again.” He took the towel as she laughed, and quickly finished the job. Then he led her over to the bed, and they slid under the covers together.

  Erin snuggled against him, closing her eyes with a contented smile. She wished she could suspend time forever. She was here with Luke, Jenna was doing fine for the moment, and she’d made huge strides in dealing with some of the issues that had tormented her for years. Maybe she really didn’t need a shrink. She had Luke and Jenna. They were her therapists and love was her therapy. The best therapy. All was well with the world.

  “Are you comfortable?” Luke whispered.

  She didn’t respond, and he tilted his head to look down at her face. She was sound asleep.

  He smiled and tenderly pressed a kiss into her hair, then eased back and let his own eyes slowly drift closed.

  * * *

  He crept quietly through the bushes and peered into the bedroom window behind the house. There was a lamp on next to the bed that cast its dim light over the figures writhing against each other there. So it was true, he thought. She was screwing him, too. And in her condition…It made him sick.

  The window was
closed, but he could still hear them. And he watched, spellbound, as they went at it, even as anger burned deeper and hotter inside him. By the time the bastard left he could taste it on his tongue.

  He waited in the shadow of the trees as the other man pulled out of the driveway. And when the car’s rear lights disappeared into the darkness he walked up to the front door with a duffel bag on his shoulder. Pleasure, ever so elusive, coursed through him in anticipation of what was about to happen.

  He checked the door, and his lips curved up into a cynical smile. She’d left it unlocked—an invitation for anyone to come in.

  He slowly opened the door and started to walk inside. But he came to a halt a few steps later, suddenly having second thoughts. And then after a moment he quietly backed out, easing the door closed again…

  He rang the doorbell instead. It would be more fun to make a grand entrance.

  She opened the door, and he watched the look of pleasure on her face turn to one of surprise. He could tell she thought the bastard had come back again, and now was disappointed that it was just him. It fueled his rage.

  “Why are you—?” she started to say, but he slammed his gloved fist into her mouth before she could get another word out.

  Later, when it was all over, he walked casually out the back door and disappeared into the woods. He let the demons slither back down to hide deep inside him, and was disappointed. It hadn’t been as good as he’d imagined it would be. And now there was only the dark emptiness in his soul again, the black void that couldn’t be filled.

  He slid his hand into the front pocket of his jeans and caressed the ring he’d taken from her, feeling some of the satisfaction come back for a moment. But it wasn’t enough. He wondered what else he could have done to the slut that would have made it better, that would have made it last longer.

  Chapter

  11

  Luke woke up to the pleasant sensation of Erin’s naked bottom nestled against his groin. It brought a lazy, satisfied smile to his lips, and he propped himself up on an elbow and looked down at her. She was still sound asleep.