Chapter 11

Reed

“Hey, Josie,” I murmur as my hand caresses her backside. Her skin is red with my handprint.

She gives a tiny grunt and pushes her ass backward in perhaps a plea for another slap. My lips twitch, as does my palm.

I do nothing, though, but stroke the warmth there. “Ever think when we first met that night you knocked on my door that you’d be on your hands and knees with me lodged deep inside of you?”

Another grunt and she pushes back again.

“Or that I’d spank that pretty ass because you wanted me to?” I continue to tease her.

“Will you just move or do something?” Josie snaps irritably, and I laugh. Moving my hands to her hips so I can hold her tight and in place, I give her what she wants.

And it’s fucking good.

I thrust in and out of her with long, deep strokes, admiring the redness on her ass. I never would have taken her for that type, mainly because she possesses so much self-confidence and control and you have to give that up just a tiny bit if you want to get spanked. You have to accept the pain and work your way through it to get to the pleasure part.

So fucking good.

Josie’s head hangs and the sounds coming out of her are almost animalistic. It makes me drive in a little harder, and then she starts throwing herself back onto me. We’re back in my bed again, and the headboard is making music with the wall. I’ll admit I hate she fucking heard that from the other side of the wall in her bedroom. Perhaps I can drive those memories out of her existence the more she and I fuck.

Slipping a hand to her front side, I press a finger to her clit. Josie’s back hunches and she groans.

“Just like that, Reed,” she mumbles almost incoherently. Good thing I’m getting very used to her body and the signs she gives as she closes in on an orgasm.

I rub her faster, thrust in so deep my ass muscles clench hard, and the minute I feel her contract around me as she starts to come, it’s all over for me. I bark out a curse word or five as I grind into her, feeling the pleasure sweep through me in wave after wave of pure bliss. It seems like it goes on forever, both of us trembling through the quakes. I’m lost to the feeling, and yet so incredibly in tune with Josie’s body it’s almost surreal.

After a few moments, after I get my breath back and my body seems to want to work again, I pull out of her. She sighs with repletion and drops down to the mattress on her stomach. “You destroyed me, Olson.”

Chuckling, I scoot back on the bed, lean over to brush my lips across the red streaks on her ass. “Feeling’s mutual.”

Josie doesn’t move or make a sound, so I roll off the bed and dispose of the condom in my bathroom. When I walk back in, she’s still in the same spot and I can tell immediately that she’s asleep.

I smile and shake my head, veering away from the bed to my dresser. Taking out a pair of sweatpants, I watch Josie for a moment as she slumbers. I know she’s exhausted after being on her feet for twelve-plus hours handling emergency after emergency.

I’d had dinner ready for her when she came over. She’d stopped by her place first for a shower and came in with no makeup and hair still wet. She was pure Josie in a pair of baggy cargo pants and a tank top without a bra underneath, and that was sexy as fuck. I’d ordered Chinese and had it all laid out. We talked about her day, and it never fails to thrill me the things that she can do. She’s a jack of all trades when it comes to medicine, needing to be able to diagnose and stabilize, often in pressure-filled situations where time is of the essence. I can’t even imagine having the responsibility of someone’s life in my hands like that, and yet she seems to be able to leave it all behind. She talks openly and often with humor about her work. But I’ve also seen her bear the burden of death too when her skills just don’t make a difference.

Christ, I admire her so fucking much. Never admired a woman before, but in fairness…I never looked too deeply at them.

I’m seeing Josie through unfiltered eyes and I like everything that I’m seeing.

Fucking adore everything I’m feeling with her for sure.

Because Josie collapsed on top of my comforter, I walk over and pull the edge of it over her body so she’s warm. I turn the light off and head into my living room to watch some TV, because I’m nowhere near tired. Even as bone melting as that sex was with Josie, I walk away from her feeling energized. I’d have preferred for us to talk and laugh for a bit in bed, and then have her again, but I have to be sensitive to her needs.

Never had to do that before, but I’m finding I don’t mind. In fact, there’s something infinitely pleasurable just knowing that Josie’s in my bed sleeping, even if I’m not right there beside her.

I awaken with a start, my first thoughts being of Josie. I’m on my back on my couch and ESPN is still on the TV, the bluish tint from the screen in the dark room hurts my eyes for a moment. It hits me at once that the sound that woke me up was my front door closing and I pop up off the couch. There’s no sense in checking my bedroom, when I know without a doubt I just heard the sound of Josie slinking off to her house.

It would be a waste of time to analyze the immediate feeling of irritation that she’d do such a thing, or even try to figure out why I practically run to my door to catch up to her, so I focus instead on what I’ll say to her.

As soon as I step out onto my porch, I see Josie unlocking her door using the electronic keypad that all of our doors are equipped with so we don’t have to use keys. She turns to look at me with a guilty smile.

“Sorry,” she whispers. “I didn’t want to wake you up.”

Pulling my door shut behind me until I hear the click of the lock, I jog down my porch steps, turn left, and jog right back up hers. When I’m toe to toe with her, I return her smile, but it’s without apology and my tone is firm. “No worries. We can sleep in your bed tonight.”

Cute as a button, Josie blinks at me in confusion. “Excuse me?”

“Unlock the door, Josie,” I say with a nod to the keypad. “I’m staying over.”

“You don’t have to—”

“Unlock your door,” I repeat.

For a moment I think she’d going to argue with me, which will bring about a full-blown fight. I’m staying the night with her and that’s that.

Instead she just gives a tiny nod and turns to her keypad. As soon as the door opens, I put my hands to her shoulders and gently push her inside. I step in behind her and press my lips to the back of her head. “Go get in bed. I know you’re exhausted.”

She jerks in surprise and turns to face me. My arms fall away, and as I take in the expression on her face, I can tell she has no clue what’s going on. She probably thought the only reason I’d come over tonight was to fuck her again, and sure…stay the night.

I don’t want to freak her out too bad, and hell, maybe I don’t want to freak myself out too bad either, because I’m sure as shit not behaving normally, so I downplay it. “I know you’re exhausted, so it’s sleep for you. But the morning is a different matter and I’d like to have you close by, okay?”

Josie’s got these amazing eyebrows that are naturally arched to perfection, so it’s exaggerated when she’s calling bullshit on me. One eyebrow goes higher, while the other flattens slightly. “You want to sleep in my bed tonight so I’ll be available for you to fuck in the morning?”

“Well, yeah. Do you have a problem with that?”

She hesitates a moment, but then her face smooths out. Her smile lights up and there’s a twinkle in her eye. “Actually…I have no problem with that. Makes perfect sense, actually.”

I grin at her as I step in closer. I put my hands to her face and say, “I like the way you think, Doc.”

She gets a swift, hard kiss with just a swipe of tongue. The minute I feel her begin to melt, I release her. Turning her by her shoulders to face the staircase, I swat her ass. “Now go. Get in bed. I’m going to grab a glass of water first.”

“Okay,” she mutters, then starts up the staircase.

I pad through Josie’s living room, past her kitchen table that has a half-completed puzzle of Mount Everest. Shaking my head, I smile.

But then I notice something that I had not really paid attention to before the few times I’ve been at her place.

Her walls are bare. There are no decorative prints hanging. She has no knickknacks perched on tables or on the fireplace mantle. No magazines she’s reading laid out on the coffee table, which is bare of even a set of coasters to set a drink on.

There’s nothing in this house to indicate who Josie is, other than a jigsaw puzzle taking up real estate on her kitchen table.

Something about that makes my heart clench. Her house isn’t a home, but just a place to rest her head. It’s as sterile as the hospital she works in.

Another stab in my chest, but I try to shake it off as I rummage through her cabinets for a glass. Josie is doing exactly what she wants to do. She’s in a relationship with her career, and that’s totally fucking cool. I mean, she’s a freaking doctor who saves lives.

But still, there’s a part of me that feels sad. She doesn’t have any close friends, and I’d venture to say I’m her closest as of now. She’s got a fantastic relationship with her parents and talks to her mom a lot, but they’re from California, so she doesn’t get to see them that often. Until I insinuated myself into her life, she did nothing but work, eat, and sleep. Sleep, eat, and work.

Now she works, eats, sleeps, and fucks. I’ve added another dimension to her life, but I’m starting to wonder how much more I can add.

There is no wonder over the fact that I apparently want to add more. I dig her big time, and I’ve always been the guy who goes with the flow. I’m not scared to see where this goes. I’m not scared to have more with her.

The only question is does she want the same thing, because by the way she lives her life by outward appearances, she doesn’t seem to need much.