CHAPTER 11
“Honey, Beatrice and I are both feeling so much better. I guess we didn’t have food poisoning after all.” Elsie Renfrew looked Sarah right in the eyes and lied to her.
Sarah looked at the two gray-haired women sitting in her exam room and bit her lip to keep from laughing. Beatrice and Elsie had made an emergency appointment, the so-called emergency obviously being that their curiosity was killing them.
She’d realized it was a sham almost from the moment the two of them had come into her exam room together with guilty expressions. Both of them looked rosy from the afternoon heat, but neither one of them looked the least bit under the weather.
“No more stomach pains?” Sarah asked calmly.
The two ladies shook their gray heads at the same time.
“No more nausea?”
They kept shaking their heads as they shot beaming smiles at Sarah.
Sarah closed their patient charts and put them on the cupboard. “Okay, ladies . . . what are your questions? You two are horrible charlatans. I was worried when I heard that both of you were sick.” She gave them what she hoped was an admonishing look, but it was difficult when they were smiling up at her so innocently. Sarah knew better, but it was hard to lecture two elderly women.
“We heard about what happened to your house. We were worried,” Beatrice confessed contritely. “We haven’t seen you around town, and you didn’t play for senior bingo. You’re always there.” Beatrice sounded genuinely concerned, her eyes wide and troubled.
Sarah’s heart melted. These two might be trouble, but their concern touched her. Not even Elsie could fake the alarm Sarah could see in her sharp eyes. “I’m fine. I’ve just been busy taking care of things for the house. I’m staying with a friend.” She couldn’t tell them the truth. It was best if nobody else learned about her stalker and started talking.
“I don’t understand why someone would do something like that. Amesport is usually a safe town,” Elsie commented, her tone almost frightened.
Sarah put her arm around the elderly woman. “It is safe here, Elsie. Nothing else has happened. It was probably just a drunk tourist.” The last thing Sarah wanted was for either of these women to be afraid. They both lived alone, and she didn’t want them to be scared in their own homes. The attacker was after her and her alone.
“I’m not worried,” Beatrice said ferociously. “If I knew who did it, I’d knee him in the balls for what he did to you, just like they taught us at that self-defense class at the center.”
“Beatrice, the correct term is ‘testicles,’” Elsie corrected her friend. “Sarah’s a sweet girl. Let’s not be crude.”
It had been a while since Sarah had been called a girl, and she found it amusing that Elsie actually thought using the term “balls” was vulgar. She’d worked in a big-city hospital with a lot of gang-related incidents. There probably weren’t any really crude words that she hadn’t heard at least hundreds of times. “I appreciate that you were both concerned, but you can see that I’m fine. Next time, don’t make up a story to see me. Just stop in.” Sarah opened the exam room door, and the two women rose to leave.
“I heard you weren’t doctoring that Dante Sinclair anymore. Too bad. He’s one hot tamale,” Beatrice informed Sarah as she walked out the door. “You could have burned up the sheets with him.”
“After they get married, Beatrice,” Elsie said adamantly.
“Really, Elsie, you need to become a modern woman. Nobody waits until they’re married anymore,” Beatrice muttered informatively.
Sarah watched the interplay between the two women and almost burst into laughter.
“I thought he was the one,” Beatrice remarked, disgruntled, as she stepped into the hallway. “I was so certain. But there’s always that nice Jared Sinclair. He always stops and chats with us when we see him. I really like that boy.”
That surprised Sarah, and she wondered if Jared just couldn’t manage to get away from them when he saw them and didn’t want to be impolite. She was really wondering how he’d react to being called a boy. “I’m—”
“She’s already with me,” Dante’s low voice sounded from the doorway of the exam room across the hall. “I had to stop seeing her as a doctor.”
Sarah gawked at Dante as he joined them in the hallway and proceeded to charm the two elderly women.
“So you understand that I couldn’t see her anymore as a doctor because we’re together,” Dante told the two women, grinning charismatically at both of them.
“I knew I was right,” Beatrice chattered. “I knew you two would end up together. I told Sarah that before you even got here.”
“Did you?” Dante turned his head and raised an eyebrow at Sarah.
Sarah knew her face was flushed, and she wasn’t sure if she was flustered or angry. She’d asked Dante to stay hidden in the exam room across the hall so he didn’t make the patients uncomfortable. That had become their daily routine. She saw her patients while Dante sat across the hall with a gun and his computer to kill time.
Most of Dante’s superficial wounds were nearly healed, but his ribs had to still be tender—not that he ever complained. She might not be his physician, but at least he was in a doctor’s office in case he had any problems.
Sarah sighed as she watched Dante charm his way into the two venerable women’s hearts. She could tell by the way Beatrice and Elsie were looking at Dante that he was finagling his way into their good graces. She knew he wasn’t doing it intentionally. Not really. He was just being the Dante who was used to working in public service, and he actually chatted with them naturally and appeared to be genuinely interested in Elsie’s work at the paper and Beatrice’s self-proclaimed talent of matchmaking.
Another reason to like him! He spoils my dog and is nice to old ladies.
“Are you the friend that Sarah’s staying with?” Elsie asked stealthily, obviously hoping to get even more of a scoop.
Sarah wanted to laugh at the pseudo-affronted look on Dante’s face. “Of course not,” he answered, trying to sound insulted. “That would be highly inappropriate, and I respect Sarah,” he said emphatically.
Elsie tittered happily. “You’re such a gentleman.”
Sarah had a hard time not giggling. He’d said exactly what the ladies wanted to hear and made sure they knew he’d be offended if they even suggested she was staying with him. Obviously, he wanted people to know she had a protector, but he didn’t want anyone to know her exact location.
The ladies chattered to Dante all the way out to the reception area, where he brilliantly ushered them out the door without making them feel unwanted.
Sarah waved at the two women as they disappeared around the corner and Dante pulled the door closed.
“You realize that you just let the whole town think that we’re an item,” Sarah told Dante reproachfully.
“Good,” Dante replied with a grin. “I was hoping they’d tell everyone. That way, every man in town will know that you’re not available. It will keep me from having to beat the crap out of any guy who touches you.”
She wasn’t available? It had been ten days since Dante had shackled her to his bed and made her lose her mind. “You’re being rather presumptuous, aren’t you?”
“Not at all,” Dante answered arrogantly. “I was the man who caused your first screaming orgasm, the first man to taste your—”
Sarah slapped a hand over his mouth to stop his flow of naughty words. “Stop.” They were in the reception area of her office, for God’s sake, and her office manager was still here. Kristin had needed to be privy to some of the information regarding Sarah’s attack and knew why Dante was there. But she certainly didn’t know that Sarah slept with Dante every single night, and dreamed up all kinds of dirty fantasies both awake and asleep. Sarah couldn’t think about that night ten days ago without her panties getting moist.
Who am I kidding? Just looking at him or hearing his voice makes me melt.
Dante’s hazel eyes were pinning her with a sinfully playful look, one that she was fairly certain no woman on earth could possibly resist. Unfortunately, Sarah knew that Dante was aware of exactly how his dirty mouth affected her. He lifted her hand from his mouth slowly, kissing her palm before letting it go. “They were your last patients. Let’s go.”
Sarah turned and went into the storage closet to grab her purse and hang up her white coat and stethoscope before joining Dante by the door. For once, she didn’t argue with him about wanting to take a walk. She’d worn a new pair of shoes from the wardrobe Emily had picked out for her, and her feet were killing her. Three-inch heels? What had Emily been thinking? Sarah loved the professional skirt and blouse, but her feet were aching from standing all day in very cute but very uncomfortable shoes. Thankfully, they were the only pair of heels Emily had bought that were quite this high.
She hopped into Dante’s truck and kicked off the heels with a moan of relief.
“What’s the matter?” Dante asked, hesitating before closing the passenger door.
“Shoe torture,” she answered with a frown. “My feet hurt.”
Dante closed the passenger door quickly and jogged around to seat himself in the driver’s seat. “You don’t like the shoes?” Dante asked with a scowl as he started the engine. “We’ll get different ones.”
“No,” Sarah answered hastily. “I like them. I just don’t think three-inch heels are designed for a working physician. I think they’re supposed to be worn for leisure occasions.”
Dante chuckled as he pulled onto Main Street and headed toward the peninsula. “Why would you want to wear painful shoes when you’re supposed to be doing something pleasant?”
“You know what I mean.” Sarah shot him a small smile. “They’re for going out to dinner, or to a wedding. They aren’t made to work in all day.”
They drove in a companionable silence for a while, Sarah rubbing each of her feet to get rid of the cramping.
Finally, she approached a subject that she knew he wasn’t going to like, but something they needed to discuss. “Dante?”
“Yeah?”
“You know that we can’t live like this forever. I need to start living a normal life again. Joe says that John might not surface until he sees me going about my normal routine.”
“Not happening,” Dante snarled. “I’m not leaving you vulnerable.”
“You can’t stay here forever. And I’ve lived most of my life isolated. I’m grateful that you’re protecting me, but I have to move on from this. If putting myself back into a normal routine will help flush John out, I’ll do it.”
Dante accelerated through the gate of the peninsula so hard that his tires burned rubber. He didn’t speak as he drove into his driveway and parked the truck. Sarah waited, as usual, in the truck while Dante checked out the surroundings. He jerked open the passenger door.
“Get out,” he ordered, unfastening her seat belt with one smooth motion of his hand.
“You’re not being rational,” Sarah told him calmly as she slid out of the seat. Honestly, he’d never levelheadedly discussed the possibility of her going about her normal life again to get John to come out of hiding, but she needed him to understand. “I can’t hide forever. I need to give him an opportunity to show himself if he’s going to.”
“You go to work every day,” Dante argued irritably.
“Yes . . . with an armed guard. No offense, but you’re pretty intimidating even if he doesn’t know you carry a weapon.”
Dante unlocked the door and let her in after he’d entered first to shut down the alarm system, closing the door with more force than necessary behind her.
“I’m not putting you at risk, Sarah,” he answered, giving her an angry stare that would have scared the bejesus out of most people.
Sarah wasn’t intimidated. She knew his facial expressions, and she’d seen every one of them, from playful to homicidal. She might not have him totally figured out, but she knew he’d never hurt her, no matter how angry he might be. “It’s my choice to make,” she informed him sedately, dropping her purse on the dining room table and heading up the stairs to take a shower.
Her heart was aching as she stripped off her work clothes and tossed them into the laundry basket in the guest bathroom. Sarah usually enjoyed using Dante’s fancy shower, but she stepped into the enormous tile enclosure distracted. Water hit her from both sides and above her head, the pulsating multiple jets relaxing her as she shampooed her hair.
He’s never going to agree. I’m going to have to make this choice on my own.
Showing herself in public again would have to be her decision, and after all Dante had done for her, making that decision when he was so adamantly against it was going to hurt him. That was the last thing she wanted to do. The way he cared about her safety and protected her touched her more than she wanted to admit. Nobody had ever looked out for her the way Dante did. Lately, she’d stopped trying to analyze why he did it, and why they had the connection that they had together. She just enjoyed being with him. Still, reality was reality. He wouldn’t be here in Amesport much longer—he was nearly healed—and she’d have to deal with making the decision of how to end her isolation herself.
She rinsed conditioner from her hair as she thought about how painful it was going to be to see him go back to Los Angeles, back to a job that had nearly gotten him killed. Everything inside her rebelled at the thought, and she understood how he felt about her being in danger. She feared the same with him.
Sarah squeaked, startled as Dante entered the shower, completely nude. Before she had a chance to form a single thought, he pinned her against the tile, crowding her with his massive, muscular body, her wrists held captive over her head. Desire flowed through her body like liquid fire as she looked up at his face. His expression was volatile and feral, like a hungry predator on the prowl. His fierceness beckoned to her like a mating call, her nipples hard, her pussy flooding with wet heat, and the rest of her body trembling with need.
“First of all, I’m not leaving until that asshole is either in jail or dead. Do you understand?” His voice was grating and harsh.
“How can you—”
“Don’t talk. Don’t even try to reason with me. I’m not in a rational mood. Just tell me you understand,” he demanded, his chest rising and falling with every labored breath.
Sarah could tell he was fighting for control, but she didn’t need him to hold back. She liked him like this: dominant and urgent. Although she really didn’t understand how he could keep his promise if the situation dragged on forever, she knew that he would.
She simply nodded, not knowing exactly how he planned to stay. However, she’d learned that when Dante made a vow, he meant it.
“Second, I don’t want to risk anything happening to you. When I lost Patrick, I wanted to be dead. Then you came along and brought me back to life again. You’re mine, Sarah. I think I knew that almost from the moment I saw you. I know you’re willing to take the risk of putting yourself out there, but don’t you know losing you would kill me?”
Tears started to flow down Sarah’s cheeks as she nodded again. The intensity of his emotions was flowing from him to her, waking the same response that had been inside her for a while now. She hadn’t acknowledged it because she was afraid of getting hurt, but she knew if she lost Dante, her entire world would go dark. Her defenses shattered as the tears flowed. She wasn’t thinking analytically. Dante treated her like a woman, and she was reacting with her heart. When it came to him, it was as though her brain totally disconnected and her heart took over her thinking for her.
“Third, I need to fuck you so desperately that I can’t get myself off one more time. It’s a damn poor substitute. I need you. Lying in bed every single night and not being able to touch you has been torture. I’m healed. The only reason I didn’t fuck you was because I knew I needed to be in condition to protect you, and I needed to heal fast. I also didn’t want to do a half-assed job of satisfying you. Understand?”
Like that could really happen. Dante could satisfy her with just his touch. But she nodded anyway, her tears escaping from her eyes unchecked, the water from the shower mingling with her teardrops.
“Fourth?” she prompted after he was silent for moment, his intense stare making her squirm with carnal longing. She felt like she’d waited forever to be with this man, and she couldn’t wait a moment longer.
“There is no goddamn fourth,” he growled as his mouth covered hers.
Sarah yanked at her restrained hands as she met his tongue with a muffled cry. Dante held her spellbound, oblivious to anything happening around her except the heat of his mouth on hers, his tongue branding her. Her need to touch him was so intense that she was whimpering into his mouth again, and she jerked furiously at her wrists, unable to escape his iron hold.
“What’s wrong?” Dante demanded as he pulled his mouth from hers, panting.
“I have to touch you, Dante. Please,” she begged, needing him to release her hands so she could explore his body now that he was healed. That desire was so intense that it was actually physically painful.
“I won’t last if you do,” he warned, but he released her hands and slid his hands down her back and finally cupped the cheeks of her ass. “But I still want you to. Touch me, Sarah.”
Sarah didn’t waste any time spearing her hands through his wet hair, luxuriating in the feel of his body as she pulled his mouth to hers again. She moaned against his mouth as he nipped at her bottom lip and then licked it soothingly. Sarah shivered with pleasure as she ran her hands over his shoulders and explored the sculpted muscles of his back. His tight ass was pure perfection, and when her hands landed there, she squeezed him tightly.
“Jesus, sweetheart. You’re killing me,” Dante rasped as Sarah buried her face in his neck and nipped at his skin.
“Fuck me, Dante. I need you,” she pleaded in a husky voice next to his ear.
His big body shuddered as he pulled her into the full jets of the shower, turning her around in his arms and cradling her back against his chest. “Soon. I have to make you come first.” His voice was deep and demanding, vibrating along the sensitive flesh of her ear. “Let me show you how many ways your body can be pleasured. Have you ever touched yourself in the shower?”
Sarah shook her head fiercely, his blunt questions not even embarrassing her anymore. Her body was too heated, too desperate for Dante.
“I love seeing you like this,” Dante crooned in her ear as he cupped her breasts and pinched her nipples just hard enough for Sarah to feel a jolt of electricity shoot straight to her core. “So hot and so needy for me to make you come.”
“Yes,” she moaned, carnal desire coiled so tightly in her body that she had to find relief or die of frustration.
Dante ran a hand down her abdomen and toyed with her pussy, slowly penetrating her folds with his finger. “Touch your breasts. Do whatever feels good,” he instructed, running a fingertip up and down the slit in her folds, not quite going where she needed him.
Cupping her own breasts, Sarah pinched and stroked her nipples, still needing more. “Please,” she implored, feeling like she was going to self-destruct.
“I like watching you pleasing yourself, sweetheart. I’ve got you. Just enjoy this,” he said in a soothing voice as his fingers invaded her heat. “Christ. You’re so hot. Do you know what it does to me knowing that I’m the only man who has ever seen you like this?”
Sarah knew her core was slick, warm, and pulsating beneath his fingers. She could feel the drumming of her accelerated heartbeat in her ears as she leaned back, letting his muscular body support her. “Only you,” she agreed with a whimper.
I need more. I need more.
Dante gave her exactly what she needed as he opened her folds and exposed her throbbing clit to the jetting water, moving her body until she was a prisoner to the pounding force against the vulnerable bundle of nerves.
“Oh, God,” Sarah cried out, pinching her nipples harder as the coil in her belly started to unfurl.
Dante invaded her channel with his fingers, pumping them in and out like a lover’s cock.
“Too much. Too much,” she whimpered as she squirmed against him, but he gave her no quarter.
Dante explored her sheath with every thrust, finding and curling his fingers around a G-spot she hadn’t realized she even had, caressing the area with every stroke. Sarah’s head dropped against his shoulder as her back arched slightly, unconsciously, the pleasure nearly unbearable.
“It’s too much,” she keened. The overwhelming feel of his fingers, the hard pulsation on her clit, and the sensation of her own hands caressing her breasts was making her body writhe, desperate for relief.
“Come for me, sweetheart,” he ordered harshly.
Sarah had no choice. She unraveled, screaming Dante’s name as her body detonated, and she flew to pieces, trusting Dante to catch her as she fell.