~Jace~
She’s tempted me all night. The dress skims over her curves deliciously, showing off her cleavage. I’ve wanted to kiss her there.
So, I do.
She gasps as I drag my tongue over her sternum and up her neck.
“Keep the heels on,” I whisper against her lips before claiming them, teasing her with light kisses then deep ones, tangling my tongue with hers.
She peels the dress over her shoulders, and it drops to pool around her feet. She’s braless, wearing only a tiny scrap of lace as panties.
“I want to boost you onto this countertop and fuck you,” I inform her. A shiver rolls through her, and she nods, her mouth seeking mine as I lift her into my arms. “But I’m not going to.”
“Sad,” she pouts, making me grin.
“We need the bed for what I have in store.”
Her eyes flare with anticipation and need as I climb her stairs with her in my arms. When I reach her bed, I set her on her feet next to it.
“You’re too . . . dressed,” she informs me, but I catch her hands before they can unfasten my tie. Her eyes jump to mine as I kiss her fingertips.
“This is all about you.”
“Then I want you naked,” she insists, and I bite her fingertip, making her pupils dilate.
“I think you’ll be doing what you’re told tonight, my love.”
She doesn’t argue. Her pink lips part on a soft gasp, and as she stands before me, I drag my hands down her sides to catch the lace at her hips with my thumbs, then peel the panties down her legs. She kicks out of them. She’s finally naked, aside from the heels on her feet. I kiss her ankle and up the outside of her leg, my hand grazing the inside of the same thigh as I move, and smile when I find a she’s soaking wet between her legs.
“Good girl,” I whisper before planting an open-mouthed kiss on her hip. “This right here, Joy?”
“Mm-hmm?”
“This curvy hip is mine.”
She bites her lip, watching me as if she’s in a trance as I kiss my way over her belly to her navel and circle it with my nose. I push my fingers inside her and then still, simply filling her as my mouth feasts on her flesh.
“Sit,” I command. She follows orders well, scooting back on the bed until I’m kneeling between her legs, my fingers still inside her, and her heels planted on the linens. “Do you have any idea what you did to me tonight?”
She shakes her head no. “Tell me.”
“You make me lose myself,” I murmur, kissing up her belly to one perfect breast, the nipple tight and straining toward the ceiling. “Your body makes me ache.” I pluck the nipple with my lips. “I have a constant hard-on.”
“You’re welcome,” she whispers with a smile, and I tug the nipple again, harder this time, making her catch her breath.
“These breasts are mine, Joy.”
She nods wordlessly, and I make my way to the cleavage she’s had on display all night, dragging my nose down her smooth skin, then licking my way back up again. Her hips writhe, trying to make my fingers move and release the pressure I’m sure is building within her.
But I don’t oblige her yet. I will, in spades, just not quite yet.
“I fucking love your mouth,” I murmur against her lips, brushing against them softly. “Your lips are full and beautiful. And they feel so fucking good around my cock.”
She sticks out her tongue to brush my lower lip, and I about come in my pants.
Fuck me, she unarms me.
“This mouth is mine.”
“All yours,” she agrees before I lower my weight atop her, kissing her until we’re both breathless, then kissing her again. Her hands make their way into my hair, holding on tightly as she sighs, and I sink in deeper.
I make a come-here motion with my fingers, moving them inside her for the first time, and Joy’s hips jerk off the bed as she gasps and pulls on my hair.
“Oh, God.”
“So wet,” I whisper and trail my mouth down her jawline. “So tight. Have I mentioned how much I love your pussy?”
“Not today,” she manages, panting and writhing beneath me.
“Your pussy is what dreams are made of,” I tell her as I add my thumb to her clit and she cries out, giving in to the first orgasm of the evening, her body quaking and clenching around me. “And guess what it is?”
“Yours?”
“That’s right, baby. It’s mine.” I kiss down her body, moving quickly to replace my hand with my mouth. As soon as my tongue pushes inside her, she explodes again, crying out my name. “Good girl.”
“I can’t do any more,” she pants as she comes down from the high.
“Oh, you can. And you will.” I hurry to shrug out of my clothes, cursing myself for not doing it earlier because all I can think of now is sinking inside her until I’m blind. I kiss her leg, the underside of her knee, and smile when she whimpers. “Another hot spot?”
“My whole body is a fucking hot spot,” she says, her voice filled with confusion and frustration. “How do you do this to me?”
“It’s us, Joy.” Naked now, I cover her and cradle her head in my hands as I ease inside her as slowly as possible, giving her a moment to adjust to me. “I can guarantee you that it’s never been like this with anyone else.”
“Never,” she agrees, watching me with hot eyes as I bury myself balls-deep and brush my nose back and forth over hers. She hitches her knees up around my sides, spreading herself wider and making me sink farther into her.
“I don’t know where I end, and you begin anymore. And I’m not just talking about this.”
“I know,” she says, digging her nails into my shoulders as I begin to move. “I know.”
I link my fingers with hers and stretch our hands above her head, holding her down as I move in long, slow strokes, building us both toward orgasm. She pants, giving as good as she gets.
“Mine,” I growl, staring down into her eyes. “You. Are. Mine. All of you, every day.”
“Yes,” she says and arches her neck, drowning in her orgasm as another wave pulls her under. Her muscles bear down and milk me, and I can’t hold back any longer. I bury my face in her neck and grunt with my release.
“Mine,” I whisper before kissing her neck and letting go of her hands. She frames my face and smiles up at me.
“And you’re mine.”
“Knock-knock.”
I glance over at the front door, happily surprised to find Joy’s dad, Larry, standing at the screen, smiling at me. Nancy is sitting patiently at his side.
“Hey, come on in,” I call over. “Joy’s at work, but she should be home shortly.”
“I came to look in on this sweet girl,” he says as he looks into Angela’s whelping box and reaches in to pet the new mother behind the ears. “Look how pretty you are there. How are these babies doing?”
“Now I know where Joy gets her love of animals,” I say, wiping my hand on a towel.
“Never met an animal I didn’t like,” Larry agrees as he stands up, holding one of the puppies. Nancy sniffs and strains to see, so he shows her the little baby, then gives it a kiss on the head before giving it back to Angela. “I’m also glad that Joy isn’t here because I’d like to have a conversation with you.”
“Oh?” I cock a brow and toss the towel onto the countertop. “Would you like a beer?”
“Better not. I’m driving, and I’m a cheap date these days.” He chuckles and sits with me in the living room. “I hate to be a cliché, but I’m afraid I’m going to be anyway. I’d like to know what your intentions are with my daughter.”
I cross one ankle over a knee and take a deep breath. I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately. Hell, it’s all I think about. So, I’m confident when I hold his gaze with mine and reply, “I’m going to marry her.”
His eyes widen, and his whole face lights up. “When did you ask her?”
“Well, I haven’t yet. I should say, I want to marry her.”
“Why in the hell haven’t you asked?”
I stand now, too keyed up to sit, and pace the room. “Because I feel like I should wait until this mess with the hospital is cleared up. How can I offer Joy a future when I don’t know for sure what that future looks like?”
“Well, you’re not psychic, son. None of us knows what it looks like. Do you really think her love for you would change based on the outcome of the case?”
I turn and stare at him, surprised that he’d ask me that. “Of course, not.”
“Then I’ll ask again, what are you waiting for?”
I open my mouth, then close it again, and shrug. “I don’t know. I already bought her a ring, I’ve just been waiting for the right time.”
“Then you’re wasting time,” he says sadly. “Trust me when I say, there is less time in life than you’ll ever want. It’s never enough. I’d give anything to have just ten minutes back with my Elizabeth.”
“I know.”
“And you have the love of your life at your fingertips. If you want to marry her, marry her.”
“You make it sound so easy.”
“It is.” He shrugs. “I don’t see where it’s difficult. That girl loves you like crazy.”
“I know.”
“Elizabeth and I knew from the day Joy brought you home all those years ago. You both insisted that you were just friends, but when you left that night, Elizabeth looked at me with that soft smile she had and said, ‘He’s the one for her.’”
I swallow hard, unsure what to say.
“She just knew things like that,” he continues. “She was usually right.”
“I’m sorry she’s not here.”
He nods once. “Me too, Jace. You have no idea. So, you marry my girl, and you have babies and enjoy every damn day of your life with her. You won’t find better than her.”
“I know it.”
“Daddy,” Joy says as she comes inside. She’s carrying files and breathing hard, and I know she didn’t hear anything before coming through the door. Joy isn’t one to hover. If she wanted to know what we were saying, she would have come in and asked.
“What are you doing?”
“Just chatting with Jace,” Larry says. “I came to look in on Angela.”
“She’s doing great,” Joy says with a smile, but it’s strained, and I want to know what’s wrong. “Some of the babies’ eyes are opening.”
“I saw that,” Larry says and smiles as Joy squats to give Nancy all of the belly rubs in the world.
“Oh, I’ve missed you, sweet girl.” Nancy grunts in delight. “Yes, I have. How are you, baby girl? Her eye looks good.”
“Yep, everything has been just fine,” Larry says with a grin. “She might have gained a pound because she likes table scraps.”
“You shouldn’t feed her people food,” Joy says, not looking up from the bulldog. “But I’m sure she loves it.”
“We should go,” Larry says.
“Oh, you don’t want to stay for dinner?”
“No, I have chili on the stove at home. I just came to say hello.”
Joy gives her dad a big hug before Larry and Nancy leave. She falls onto the couch and sighs.
“Not a good day?” I ask.
“I had to send a tech home because she caught the flu from another tech, who came to work with it last week,” she says and rubs her hands over her face. “So, we’ve been short-handed, and of course, it’s a full moon, so we’re busier than normal.”
“So that’s not just a people hospital thing?” I say, sitting next to her and pulling her into my arms so I can kiss her head and give her a cuddle.
“No, I think it’s a medical thing, regardless of the species,” she says. “What’s for dinner? Please tell me I don’t have to cook.”
“Chinese takeout. It’s on the way.”
“You’re the best boyfriend ever.”
“I know.” I kiss her head again.
I’m aiming for being the best husband ever.
“Hi, Susan, it’s Joy,” Joy says into her phone from the bed. She’s curled in a ball, under the covers. They’re even pulled up over her head.
I fucking hate it when she’s sick. I can open up a chest and replace a heart, but I can’t save her from the flu.
It’s fucking ridiculous.
“I’ve succumbed to the flu,” she croaks into the phone. “Throwing up like crazy. Uh-huh. No, I’m not pregnant.”
That gives me pause.
“I have chills and aches and a fever, Susan. It’s the flu. Can you call Dr. Miller and ask her to fill in for me today? Thanks. I’ll check in tomorrow morning.”
She hangs up, and suddenly her phone is flung out from under the covers, but she’s still hiding under there.
In the past, the idea of a woman I was with being pregnant would have filled my stomach with lead and my heart with dread, but the thought of Joy being round with my baby isn’t horrible at all.
I want her to be my wife. I want to have a family with her, endure the sleepless nights and the diapers and everything else that goes along with it.
“I’m dying.”
“I’m sorry, baby.” I rush into the bathroom and wet a washcloth with cold water, then take it back to her and peel back the covers to find her sweaty beneath them. “You have a fever. Where’s your thermometer?”
“Bathroom cabinet,” she says, holding the cloth to her forehead. “Why do they bring this shit to work? I give them sick days so they will take them when they’re sick, not cash them out at the end of the year. I think I have to stop offering that option. If you don’t use your sick time, you lose it.”
“They’ll call in when they’re not sick.”
“But they’ll call when they are, and that’s the point because this is bullshit.”
I stick the thermometer in her ear and pull it back out. “Just over one hundred.”
“At least it’s not too bad,” she says with a sigh. “I’ll sleep it off and be better tomorrow.”
“If you’re lucky.” I lean down to kiss her, but she recoils.
“You can’t kiss me. You need a mask. I don’t want you to get sick.”
“I won’t,” I promise her, but she shakes her head adamantly.
“No kissing. And you can’t sleep with me. You should probably just go home until this blows over.”
“When pigs fly,” I mutter. “Go to sleep, babe. I’ll take care of Angela and get you some soup.”
At the mention of food, her eyes widen in terror, and she makes a run for the bathroom, hurling her guts out.
I wring out the washcloth and press it to her neck as she dry heaves, her whole body lifting.
“Poor baby,” I murmur, rubbing her back in circles. “I hate this.”
“Me, too,” she whimpers. “No food for now, okay?”
“No, it seems you can’t tolerate it yet, but I am getting some water and apple juice. You can sip it.”
“Okay.”
“I can’t have you dehydrated.”
“Okay.”
“Do you want me to find something on Netflix for you?”
“No, I want to sleep,” she whispers, leaning on her forearm, still poised over the toilet. I pull her into my arms and carry her back to the bed, but before I put her under the covers, I change her clothes into something cleaner and more comfortable, get a fresh washcloth, then tuck her in.
Before I can leave to fetch the water, she tugs on my hand, pulling me in for a hug.
“Thank you, Dr. Crawford. It’s handy having a doctor around when you don’t feel good.”
“I feel absolutely worthless,” I mutter. “If you needed bypass surgery, I could do that no problem. I’m not good at this part.”
“You’re amazing,” she says. “And I’m grateful. It sucks to be sick and alone, so thanks for sticking around.”
“Nowhere else I’d rather be, sweetheart. Now, let me get Angela outside and grab you some water.”
I tuck her in and hurry out of the room. I have one set of linens that she’s already sweated through in the wash, so I throw those into the dryer on my way downstairs. I let Angela outside and check on the puppies, who are starting to roam around the box and make more noise. They’re adorable. Before long, though, they won’t want to be confined to their pen.
With Angela back in with her pups, I grab a bottle of water and a glass of juice and hurry back up to the bedroom. Joy isn’t in bed.
I set the provisions down and find her wrapped around the toilet, asleep on her arms.
Poor baby.
I lift her again and tuck her into bed. She doesn’t even wake up.
With her sleeping, I set to work cleaning the toilet and the rest of the bathroom. I don’t know how long she’ll be sick, and if she’s going to spend most of the time kneeling in front of the toilet, it should be clean for her.
I shake my head as I kneel to hand-mop behind the toilet. If you’d told me a year ago that this is what I’d be doing on a Tuesday afternoon rather than saving a life in surgery, I would have called you a liar.
But I’m not sorry. I hate the circumstances, but it’s been awesome getting to know Joy in a different way and falling in love with her. Being with her almost every day.
She’s everything good in this world.
And she’s mine.