Pressure (Valley Hospital Series Book 1) (9 page)

“Who the fuck is Brent? Who the fuck was the blonde you were all cozy with?”

“Lucy? She’s a nurse I work with. I walked her out to her car.” His eyebrows rise as if he’s finally getting the point. “It’s not what you think, Bailey. I swear I—”

“It’s not my business, Cole. I don’t want to know.” The thing is, I’m dying to know.

“I always walk out with the staff when I can. We’re in the middle of the city for Christ’s sake.” He exhales and runs his hand through his hair. The pieces are disheveled. I’ve never seen him so strung out.

“You’re not with her?” My question is filled with more hope than I care to admit to. My lips part with a relieved exhale as he shakes his head.

“No.” Our eyes meet and my lips tremble, the lump in my throat grows as I try to hold back everything I’ve kept down for the past month. He steps into the apartment and shuts the door behind him. He places his palms on either side of my cheeks and forces my gaze to meet his.

“I met Brent tonight. I threw up… after seeing you…
with her
. He’d just happen to see me, and he was making sure I was okay. That’s all.” My heart feels heavy as Cole closes his eyes.

“I’m tired of missing you.” His lids open, and it’s almost too painful to look at him. He’s just as broken as I am. His right hand remains on my cheek and his left falls to my neck, and then his fingertip trails down my arm until he wraps his strong grip around my waist. My skin instantly reacts to the familiar touch, goose bumps pucker across my arm. I drop my gaze from him. It’s too much. “Look at me, Bailey.” His hold on my waist is tight, and his right hand moves from my cheek and tangles into my hair. “I’m fucking crazy for you. This month, it’s been pure goddamn agony. I feel you, and when I close my eyes… your face, your mouth, your voice… they fucking haunt me. I can’t do it, I can’t. I’d rather submit to it.” His forehead falls against mine. “I need your chaos, Bailey. It’s not possible for me to let you go.” Cole runs the tip of his nose down my cheek; his lips hesitate, hovering over the corner of my mouth.

My lips part, breathing in the sweet breath and the desperate air he’s feeding me. “But you did.”

His lips brush against mine as he speaks. “Let me show you… let me show you how fucking far gone I am.”

Cole’s lips touch my mouth softly, once. His fingers tightening on my hip, pulling me impossibly close. I can almost taste the mint flavor of his tongue as he nips at my upper lips.

“Show me, Cole.” Being without him, it’s a losing battle. I need him just as much as he needs me. Everything else can wait.

The burn of his day old beard against my chin ignites every fire I’d tried so hard to put out. Our mouths move together in a perfect rhythm. He groans as I wrap my hands around his waist, pulling his body closer to mine.

He stops our kiss with a deep breath. “I’ve missed you… I’ve missed this.” His fingers lace with mine, and we walk to the bedroom.

He releases my hand as he shuts the bedroom door. The silence is filled with the month long ache of desire. I lift off my tank top, and my lips part with a breath as his eyes drink me in like they used to. Cole takes the last step, closing the space between us, his fingertips trail up my stomach, his hand cups my breast, and my breathing increases. I bite the side of my cheek, suppressing my moan. We unwrap each other slowly as if we’re each other’s gift. I’m bare to him, and he’s bare to me. Two people who can’t breathe without the other. His hot hands enclose around my ribcage, and he guides me backward and onto the bed. Cole’s hands run along my arms until his palms find my cheeks. He places tender kisses along my jaw, and when his lips find mine, I can hardly take it any longer.

He lifts my arms above my head and easily grips my wrist with one hand. His body heavy against mine. The weight of it, the feel of him, it isn’t something I want to try and forget ever again. And, even though my fear is there, the fear that he’d leave me breathless, alone, and broken again, having Cole here with me… it’s worth the after burn.

It’s surreal, seeing her like this, after a month of agony, after a month of pure torment. I’ve finally gotten her back. I’d been an idiot to let her go. She showed me what it was like to break boundaries, to live outside the lines, and, each day without her, I withered away. The peace I’d found in the simple pleasures of order no longer existed. Without her, I was lost, and now I have the chance to show her… show her my limits are hers to break, and I plan on taking each one of her limits as my own as well.

My hand grasps her wrist holding her down. Bailey gasps as I stroke the tip of my cock along the soft skin of her pussy. I place kisses along her jaw and bite the flesh of her shoulder. Her body is revved up, flushed, and shaking with expectation. One of my favorite things about her, the quiet she provides, it’s like the sexual tension feeds us, that whispered question—When will I soothe her ache?

“I want you to keep your hands above your head.” I release her wrists, and she does as I ask.

I kiss each breast, her stomach, and the bare skin of her pubic bone as I spread her legs. Bailey’s breathing shudders, and I slip two fingers inside her. She’s always ready for me. The feel of her on my fingers after so long, it’s a sweet relief. I can’t help but grin as she greedily pushes against each stroke. Her breathing is key. I know this body better than my own. I know its secret buttons, and, as my tongue tastes her, my lips sucking at her clit, she caves.

“Oh God, Cole.” She breaks her silence, and my small victory spurs me on. I remove my fingers and place both of my hands under her supple ass, kneading the flesh as I fuck her with my tongue. She comes fast, and the smell of her is the high I’ve been craving for far too long. I’d put myself in purgatory when I left her, and I never want to go back.

I crawl up her body; her arms are still obediently above her clutching the pillow. The palm of my hand trails up her arm; her satin skin is like nothing I’ve ever felt. I grasp her wrists again, and slowly fall, deeply inside her. Her legs wrap around my waist pulling me in deeper still. Sliding inside of her is like coming home, the slick ease, the connection… our fit… it’s perfect. My jaw clenches as I seat myself inside her. Each one of my breaths matches hers as we remain still, skin to skin. My body filling hers, the pressure builds as I feel her muscles contract around me, and I groan. I push my hips into her, and she cries out. I almost don’t want to move, I want to savor the feeling of our bodies coming together so profoundly, but she tilts her hips and I can’t help myself. I pull out and slam into her again. Each time our bodies connect the sound of it echoes in the silent air. My lips taste hers in long slow kisses.

The need to feel her touch overwhelms me, and I release her from my hold. Her small hands rest on either side my face as she looks at me with an intensity I’d never seen from her before. Our mouths crash together as I push inside her with everything that I have. Bailey takes it, each thrust, she owns me, and I’m so close to the brink as I wind my hand in her hair and my teeth rake her bottom lip.

“Come with me, Bailey. I need to feel it, feel you.” She grips my shoulder with one hand and touches herself with the other. “Fuck.” Her pussy clenches around my cock, and I can barely hold on. Her hips start to move erratically and her legs tremble. Each stroke inside her brings me closer, the muscles in my stomach twitch, and I know I’m there, teetering on the edge of control. My hand tightens its grip on her hair, her back arches, and she cries out. Her arms drape around my neck, and my arm wraps around her hips holding her as I come hard. My jaw compresses until it’s almost painful as I groan out my climax. Bailey’s body is hot and shaking against mine. I feel more like a god with her than I ever do as a doctor.

We stare at each other, and I need to see those eyes, those eyes I missed so much, on mine. I need to kiss her soft as fuck lips. I need it like a dying man needs repentance. “Is it possible that losing you taught me how to love you?”

“I-I’m not sure what you mean, Cole.”

I push a piece of her hair behind her ear. “It means that once you were gone, I was able to see my life for the fucking nightmare it was, and it showed me that the time I had with you was what I really wanted. When I saw him touch you, place his hand on you, I went fucking nuts.” I take a deep breath trying not to get upset again. “I realized that I never wanted another man to have you. It’s unreasonable and illogical, but it’s right. We’re right, Bailey. You and me… there’s not a real answer for why I feel that way… and for once… I’m okay with that.”

Bailey’s smile is brilliant as it stretches across her rosy cheeks. “Now, Dr. Larkin… don’t go falling in love with me.”

“Too late.”

in

Gravity – Book Two – A Valley Hospital Novella

Coming Soon

Beneath The Vine

PROLOGUE

Never trust yourself… in a man’s bed. That moment when everything is falling out from under you, it’s like pure fluid sound. The ache abates and your heart hammers, your voice shakes and becomes something treacherous. It belies who you were before he made you feel something greater than God. It’s as if the heat of your body will never cool without his hands. Don’t believe his whispered words, the chill along your skin a blue lit fired flame. Don’t allow yourself to make him any promises, don’t let yourself begin to think everything will always be this good.

It’s a ruse.

You’re just his last breath.

Lust is a liar… and love takes victims. 

The candlelight was dim, the soft, quiet sound of music sifting through the room, the familiar smell of cedarwood and sage made the fiction easier to swallow, made everything seem just as it should be as I moved through his apartment.

The muggy copper scent of horror hit me just as I walked through the kitchen door.

“Selene.”

His tone was flat… stark… no man should ever look so broken.

My tear filled eyes on the gun, I reached into the empty space between us. “Don’t.”

I just want to say a quick thank you to those who helped me with this project. Lucy Taylor, Teri Renee, Giovanna, Anna, Laurie B., Michelle T, Beth L. and Tracey-Lee.

Tracey-Lee, this cover is sick! I love you lady

Kathleen, thanks for your OCD, you made Dr. Larkin proud.

Amy as always, I heart you, and all your commas

Kaylene and Kim, as always my Aussie family, your keen eyes and design talent amaze me. Love you ladies.

To the reader, I hope you enjoy this. I plan to write a few books for this series, not always this couple. It will be a light, fun way to recover from my novels, as those will tend to be a darker fare. Thank for taking a chance on me!

As always my IG family… you ladies are goddesses.