Page 25 of Cat's Outta the Bag

With my free hand, I trace little circles down her torso, leaving goosebumps in my wake. Her hips shift as my hand slides between her legs. I stay at her clit for a few minutes, slowly circling one blunt finger. She breaks our kiss to moan and throws her head back against my shoulder. I take the opportunity to bite down on her shoulder, eliciting another sweet moan. At this point, my dick is throbbing, begging to be inside her. So far, we haven't said anything, just communicated through sighs, moans, and touches. When my hand leaves her clit and grazes her slick center, she nods frantically, breaths coming quick.

I take her top leg and position it over my own, giving me just enough room to slide in. We both groan as the underside of my dick rubs against her G-spot. I can't go as deep as I want in this position, but it still feels amazing. There's no rush; the goal is to enjoy each other, not race to the finish line. I use long, languorous strokes to stoke her fire patiently. Once she's panting heavily, I kick it up a notch, reciting the titles of every movie I've been in to keep myself from coming too soon. My hand goes back to her clit, strumming it firmly. One of her hands comes to the back of my head, threading her fingers through my hair, the other clutches my hand at her clit, pressing it firmer against her.

"Jason!" she cries out as she comes suddenly. The feel of her inner muscles clenching and releasing around me sets off my orgasm. As I groan out her name, my teeth sink into her neck.

We both come down slowly. It’s only when she shifts to get a better angle to kiss me again that I slip out and realize something we both forgot. “Shit.”

"What? What's wrong?" She turns more fully, alarmed. I smooth a hand over her brow to reassure her. "I'm so sorry, Alexis. I forgot a condom. I was just so caught up in making you feel good, I didn't think."

I flop on my back, furious with myself. I've never once gone without one. While kids are definitely a possibility in the future, I know Alexis and I aren't there yet; hell, we've only just started dating. As I begin to spiral, she does the exact opposite. I almost think I'm going crazy when I hear her laugh. I sit up and look down at her incredulously; how is she being chill about this?

She smiles at me, throwing an arm over her eyes. "I'm sorry, Hollywood. I don't mean to laugh at you. I just know that we're safe. I have an IUD and just finished my period, so I'm at the stage in my cycle when I'm least likely to get pregnant. We can go to the pharmacy to get Plan B if you want to be extra safe. But as a doctor, I feel comfortable saying we're good." She pauses, reaching up and pinching my chin, "but next time, let's remember the condom. Sound ok?"

I flop back down on the bed and laugh. I went from post-orgasm high to pregnancy panic, back down to normal in like sixty seconds. I'm reeling a bit, to be honest.

"While I am very glad you aren't worried about it, it brings up a question." I shift back on my side so that I'm facing her. She rolls to do the same. I reach out and take her hand, interlacing her fingers with mine. "I don't know about you, but my feelings for you have gotten serious pretty quickly. And if you're not at the same place, that's totally fine, but I need you to know where I am at." I chance a glance at her face and see hesitation. Shit. She's not on the same page. My gut roils, feeling like I revealed too much too fast.

I go to pull away, suddenly feeling like I need to leave. But her hand clamps down on mine with strength I did not know she possessed.

"You are not leaving this bed before I say what I need to say." I nod and settle back in, my heart beating wildly in my chest.

"I've never been in a serious relationship before. I've dated a few men, mostly in college and med school, but they were never serious. I always knew they were temporary, and so did they. But with you… it's completely different. I guess what I am trying to say is that this thing between us is serious for me too. And." She hesitates, worrying her bottom lip between her teeth.

She takes a deep breath, then looks up into my eyes, and I see it. Shining through before she even says anything. “I love you too.”

“You do? Wait, you heard me? Earlier?” She nods, leaning in to kiss me quickly.

“I did, and I don’t feel bad for pretending to still be sleeping.” I can’t help but smile, giving her my own quick kiss. Damn, I love her.

"I love you," I say, kissing her again. "I love you; I love you; I love you." It's as if a dam has been broken, now that I've said it. I can't stop. She giggles in response as I continue to pepper her with kisses, tugging her down under me.

“WAIT!” I pull back, wondering what else she could say. She smiles mischievously. “Grab a condom, and I love you.” She squeals loudly as I begin to tickle her mercilessly, she knows better than to tease me like that.

Hours later, we're still in bed, though we have managed to shower, change the sheets, and give Slinky some attention. We're both currently propped up, reading quietly together, Slinky curled up in the space between us. At this moment, I see us twenty years in the future. We'll be older, a bit wiser, maybe a few grays, but we'll be happy.

I look forward to it.

Chapter 19

Alexis

We get three blissful days of peace after the gala before all hell breaks loose.

Honestly, I can’t believe it took them as long as it did to nearly tear it all down. There was always going to be a shoe to drop.

“I’m headed out!” I call from the doorway, barely catching Jason’s muffled goodbye from my bed. I can’t stop the self-satisfied smirk that creeps across my face as I lock up. Despite having to wake up way too early for my shift today, I enjoyed making Jason a babbling idiot before leaving. Nothing like leaving your boyfriend incoherent from pleasure to start your workday off right.

The drive to the hospital is thankfully quick and uneventful. At this time of day, or is it night? Either way, at this point, L.A. traffic is at its lightest, which means my commute is reasonable. I make it to the hospital in record time.

After a brief pit stop at the locker room, I head out onto the ER floor and take a deep breath, centering myself for the day. As a fourth-year resident, this is my time to shine. To show my superiors that not only do I have the academics required to practice medicine, but I have the skills too. My entire future hangs on how I finish this year, and it’s as scary as it sounds. All eyes are on me, and I can’t let myself or my family down. Not this time.

Despite having a pleasant morning with Jason and doing all my normal pre-shift routines, I still feel vaguely anxious. There’s a tight ball under my ribcage that just won’t ease, no matter how many belly breaths I take.

Ignoring the feeling, I concentrate as one of my nurses explains the head trauma case I’m seeing first. It takes a few minutes, but eventually, I’m able to sink into my doctor brain and block everything else.

***

“Uh, Doctor?” I glance up from the X-Rays I’m pulling up onto the screen and glance over at the lanky soccer player on the table. Her demeanor is completely different from when I first came in. She went from a frustrated but confident player hoping her foot wasn’t broken, to nervous in less than a minute. Before I can ask what’s wrong, I hear it.

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