Prescription for Desire (9 page)

*****

“
Goodness you taste good,”
Armand whispered, kissing the side of Raven’s neck while she sat on
the table in his examination room; he stood between her parted
thighs.

“
Thank you,” she answered
softly, caressing his head and trying not to make a sound. However,
it was hard not to as his tongue seared against her
skin.

It was the next morning after the
supply room escapade, and she wanted to ask him a question about a
patient. Upon entering the exam room, his eyes had zoomed in on her
bare legs, and when he bit his bottom lip, she knew what was going
to happen next. She gladly welcomed it. Before she could utter a
single word, he grabbed her to him and placed her on the table,
ravishing her lips with erotic kisses.

“
I thought we agreed not to
do this anymore,” he said in her ear.

“
You grabbed
me
,” she reminded
him.

“
You
came in wearing a sexy dress showcasing these sexy ass legs,”
he replied, running his hand up her leg until he reached her thigh
and gave it a squeeze. “Nice and juicy.”

“
Ha. That’s cellulite. I’m
not a spring chicken anymore.” She couldn’t believe she’d just told
him that. A few years ago, when she first noticed the cellulite,
she was upset about it. She worked out more frequently and cut back
on certain foods. She’d done everything possible so Howard wouldn’t
notice, but for some reason that fact that Armand knew didn’t
bother her.

He shook his head and pulled her legs
to him, wrapping them around his waist. “You’re as fine as
Argentine wine.” Armand lightly kissed her. “I can’t get enough of
you. It took everything I had not to break down your door last
night. The thought of you lying in bed not far away was driving me
insane.”

He continued kissing her softly,
caressing and nibbling on her lips as she sighed his name over and
over.

“
I have a patient waiting,”
she explained, reluctantly pulling away from him. “I came to ask
you a question.”

“
You just came to see me.”
He kissed her forehead before she slid off of the table, pulling
down her dress and straightening her white coat.

“
What’s your question?”
Grabbing a Kleenex, he wiped the smudged lipstick off of her chin.
Then, she took the Kleenex from him, folded it, and wiped her
lipstick off of his mouth.

“
I wanted to know if you
had time to stop in to see one of my patients. Dr. Watkins is her
regular primary, but he’s booked today. I would hate for her to
wait until a later time. Her glucose levels are high, but I figured
you would be the better person than me to discuss some options.
She’s already taking medication for something else.”

“
I’ll be on in a few
minutes.”

“
Thank you,” she said with
her hand on the doorknob. “I’ll see you later.”

He raised his eyebrow and a
provocative smile crossed his face as he stepped closer. “Really?”
He pushed a tendril of her hair off of her forehead.

His subtle touch incited goose bumps
to rise on her skin. “We should really stop this.”

“
Whatever you say,
Doc.”

However, that was easier said than
done. A few hours later, she found herself sitting right back on
his exam table.

Later on that evening, Raven and Kay
picked up the necessary supplies for the princess party and did
some shopping at the Abasto Mall.

Before heading back
to
Ghilaua
, they
decided to have dinner at Tarquino Restaurant inside of the Hub
Porteno Hotel. Raven was glad to be away from the medical facility
for a while. She was used to leaving her place of work and going
home, except the nights she spent in the on-call room at the
hospital about once, sometimes twice, a week.

“
Everything looks so good,”
Raven said, perusing over the menu. “I have no idea what to
order.”

“
And everything is good,
too. I’ve tried many of the dishes here. You really can’t go wrong
unless there’s something you don’t eat.”

“
Ha. I eat mostly
everything.”

Raven settled on the prawns for an
appetizer and salmon with ravioli for the main course. Before
coming to Argentina, she wasn’t aware of the Italian influence on
the Argentine dishes.

“
So how are you settling
into your temporary life with Doctors Unlimited?” Kay asked once
their orders had been placed.

“
So far so good. It’s
definitely different from the routine I’m used to, but no
complaints. I love my brother and didn’t hesitate to help him. Even
though it did mean leaving my patients for a spell. I needed change
of some sort. Even if I’m still doing the same thing, but I wanted
a different environment.”

“
I completely understand. I
was on the verge of retirement when I heard about the organization.
My children are grown and married, and I was recently divorced.
Like you, I wanted a change of environment, but not necessarily a
change in my career. I love being a nurse, but long hours at the
hospital became tiresome for me. This atmosphere is more relaxed
and I get to travel and see the world, experience new
cultures.”

“
Do you get to see your
children often?”

“
Oh yes, but because
they’re grown now I know they’re fine. I’m going to officially
retire soon … um, in about a year or two. Maybe get married again
…”

“
Oh. Are you seeing
someone?”

Kay blushed like a high school girl
talking about her crush, who didn’t know she was alive. “Dr.
Watkins.”

Raven almost choked on her wine.
“Really? I had no idea you two were seeing each other.” Were they
about to head into the supply room like her and Armand?

“
We don’t talk about it,
but yeah, pretty much everyone knows or suspects it. He’s ready to
move back to the States, as I am, for that’s where our children
are. My daughter just got married and she’s talking children in a
few years. I want to be there to be with my grandkids.”

Their food arrived moments later,
which Raven was happy about because she was completely
famished.

“
So how did you find out
about this place?”

“
Dr. Watkins and I used to
frequent this hotel in the beginning of our relationship when I was
scared of people finding out about us. There’s no rule, but I just
wanted to remain professional. However, when you fall for someone,
eventually you have to let your guard down. Besides, everyone saw
how he was looking at me when I first arrived. Kinda how Dr.
Phillips looks at you.”

Raven almost choked again, except this
time there wasn’t anything in her mouth. “I don’t think he looks at
me in any special way.” Okay, she knew that wasn’t true, but had
everyone else noticed as well?

Kay laughed. “I’ve been around longer
than you. That young man is smitten. I’ve worked with him for two
years now, and his whole attitude has changed in the past week and
half you’ve been here. He’s more upbeat. Trust me when I say I
haven’t seen him look at the other female staff like he looks at
you. Do you have a boyfriend back home?”

“
No. It’s just me, but I
don’t really think Dr. Phillips is interested in me. He’s always
very professional.” The more she lied, the more she knew Kay was
aware of it.

“
Mmmm … well, Dr. Phillips
is a nice guy. Nothing wrong with having a little fun while you’re
here. You just need someone to write you a prescription for desire,
and Dr. Phillips could definitely take care of that for
you.”

Raven couldn’t help but laugh out loud
and continued to deny; however, that could be exactly what she
needed. Though, the more she thought about it, she could possibly
see herself falling for a guy like him and the best thing to do was
to avoid him.

*****

The next few days Raven tried her
hardest to steer clear of Armand and not falter on their agreement
again. They’d managed not to, but it was hard since she kept
running into him. One evening she had to endure eating dinner at
the same table when hers was the only one left with an empty chair.
Luckily, she managed to keep focused on a conversation with Kay
about her family. However, Raven could sense Armand’s intense gray
eyes on her as the women conversed. She could barely eat as she
mentally attached herself in the chair so she wouldn’t pounce on
him in front of everyone. She decided to hurry and finish eating,
stating she had an important phone call to make, which was slightly
true. Cannon had left a voicemail earlier.

Moments later, she curled up on the
couch in the living area of her apartment with her computer on her
lap. The twins had decided to Skype.

“
Hey, sis.”

“
Hey. How’s everything?”
Raven was glad to see a familiar face, especially her twin brother.
While she loved all of her siblings equally, she felt a special
bond with Cannon.

“
Good.” Cannon nodded with
a smile. “I wanted to tell you that I spoke with the board recently
and the new Ob-Gyn will be there in a month, so you’ll be leaving
before you know it.”

“
Oh … that was fast,” she
said with slight disappointment in her voice, which she prayed her
twin wouldn’t pick up on.

“
Yep. They interviewed a
lot of people, but finally voted on one today. She’s going to give
her two week notice at the hospital where she works, and she has
two weeks to get her affairs together before she moves to
Ghilaua.”

“
Do you think two weeks
will be enough time for her to pack and take care of whatever
business affairs she may have?”

Cannon gave her a strange look with a
wrinkled brow. “She said it would be. Besides, I’m sure you’re
ready to come back home, aren’t you?”

She smiled. Cannon’s twin senses were
on high alert. He knew all of her facial expressions and
mannerisms, and could tell something was amiss. She was trying to
hide her discontent. She thought she had perhaps six more weeks of
being there. Even though she was trying to avoid Armand like the
black plague, deep down she really wanted to walk across the hall,
bang on his door and when he opened it, push him back to his
bedroom. For the past few nights she’d barely slept as she thought
about the doctor with the piercing gray eyes only a few hundred
feet away from her. At one point, she’d jumped up from the couch
when she heard his door open and peeked out of the peephole. She
thought he had sensed her standing there, for he turned toward her
door briefly with a slight smile before going inside his
apartment.

“
Of course, I’m ready to
come home. I miss everyone. I just wanted to make sure everything
was all set with the new Ob-Gyn before I leave.”

“
Okay. Just
checking.”

“
So how’s Yasmine?” Raven
asked, hoping to get her mind off of the fact that she was leaving
in a month. She knew there could never be any type of relationship
between her and Armand, but he’d stirred a desire in her she
couldn’t explain.

“
She’s doing well. She’s
starting to show a little more. I swear she has the cutest baby
bump you’ve ever seen. Some morning sickness, but she’s had a few
acupuncture sessions with Bria, and it seems to be working.” Their
next to youngest sibling, Dr. Bria Arrington-Vincent, was an
allergist who also specialized in holistic and Eastern medicine at
their family practice.

Cannon’s face lit up with the mention
of his wife and unborn child. Raven was truly happy for him and
Yasmine. After being apart for almost twelve years, their lives
intercrossed earlier that year while planning a wedding for their
best friends. The love they had for each other never dwindled
during their time apart, despite a bitter break up. Cannon was
almost finished with medical school when a grant he and his friends
had written was accepted to build a medical clinic in an
impoverished village in Brazil. At the time, he and Yasmine were
engaged and planning a wedding. However, Cannon realized he wasn’t
ready to get married, but he never wanted to be without her. After
they broke up, he tried to win her back and was willing to give up
going to Brazil for a year or longer, but Yasmine didn’t want to
stand in the way of his dream. Thanks to his time in Brazil, he and
his colleagues founded Doctor’s Unlimited after they completed
their residencies at Johns Hopkins Hospital.

“
I’m glad to hear Yasmine
is doing well and having an uncomplicated pregnancy …” Raven
stopped as she heard a screeching noise coming from Cannon’s side,
even though he seemed unbothered as he stretched out on the
bed.

“
Cannon, what’s that
sound?”

He smirked. “Yasmine is singing
lullabies in the shower.”

“
Oh my. Tell her to stop.
She’s scaring the baby,” Raven said, laughing.

“
Not funny,” Cannon joked.
“My Angelface sounds beautiful to me.”

“
Definitely true love. So
glad you’re happy.”

He beamed from ear to ear. “Me too.”
He cocked his head to the side. “You seem quite refreshed. I guess
a change of scenery and a different routine has worked well for
you. I knew it would.”