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I smiled as I slid my hands down her body until I reached her thighs. I spread her wide and wasted no time as my tongue snaked out, and I licked her from back to front.

My groans and her moans were the only sounds in the room until I pushed my tongue through her folds, causing her back to arch and her nails to pierce my scalp.

“Emery!” she screamed when I pushed down on her clit with my tongue. Then I circled the nub with the tip of my tongue and sucked while I pushed a finger inside her. I felt the tremble of her thighs against my cheeks. “More, I need more.”

I added a finger into her depths and pumped in and out. When I used my teeth to bite down gently on her clit, her body shook as the orgasm took hold. I used my fingers and helped her ride out the tremors, and when her body went lax, I began my journey back up her body. When I reached her lips, she opened and allowed me to share her taste with her.

One arm held my weight as I reached down with the other hand and grasped my aching cock. I ran it through her wetness, and when the head of my cock rested against her entrance, and I felt her heat, it hit me that in my rush to get to her, I hadn’t grabbed a condom. I groaned and laid my forehead on her chest and her hands moved to run over my hair.

“What’s the matter?” she asked as her hands continued to move down until they rested on the back of my neck.

“I need to grab a condom, and I’m trying hard not to shoot my load before I even enter you.”

Mac blinked, and her eyes filled. I rolled until she laid on top of me.

“Cariño?” I said. Unsure why she had tears in her eyes. “Talk to me.”

She shook her head, pushed up and off me until she knelt on the bed beside me. I watched as she wiped at her cheeks, then took a deep breath and let it out slowly. When she looked at me, I could see the pain in her eyes.

“You can tell me anything, Mac.”

“I never planned to be in this position. But goddammit, you had to push me. When I avoided you, I didn’t do it so you would chase me. I ran the opposite direction and hoped you get tired of the chase and lose interest because I didn’t want to be here.” She pointed at the bed.

I didn’t respond, but I did run a hand over my chest where my heart was. I stared at the woman who knelt naked on my bed. The woman who for the last thirty-six hour or so, I thought felt the pull between us same as I did. I’d always been able to read people, but I’d evidently had blown it with Mac. I’d read her completely wrong.

I dropped my eyes from her face and started to rise. My plan was to get out of the bed, get dressed, and take her home. Before I was able to rise, she clasped my forearm.

“Don’t act hurt or pissed. You’re responsible for it.”

“And I’ll correct it if you let go. We can get dressed, and I’ll drive you home.”

“Oh no, you won’t.”

“Excuse me,” I said, confused about what the woman wanted. She didn’t want to be here, but she wasn’t going to let me take her home.

“It’s too late now. You wormed your arrogant ass under my skin. I was fine on my own, then you sat beside me in the diner. My first thought was I’m not sure I’m strong enough to resist him. Then you got butthurt when I said I could pay for my own lunch; I decide then that I’d been confused about what I felt.

“But you couldn’t leave me alone. Every time I turned around; there you were. Don’t get me wrong, I knew we’d run into each other because I had no intention of losing the friendships I’ve made with the girls. I was doing good, too, until Jag and River’s reception. You had to be sweet and attentive. And when your hand touched me, I felt it to my core. No one has ever made me feel that way. Being in your arms when we danced had felt fantastic and right, like I was always meant to be there.

“That was the minute for me. The minute I knew it wouldn’t be just a roll in bed to scratch an itch. Then you were gone, and I found myself glancing around for you. I wish I could say it was only when I saw the others together, but it wasn’t. I’d go to the grocery and I’d wonder what aisle I’d run into you. You have driven me crazy. But once you find out that I can’t give you everything, you’ll change your mind, and I’ll be left with the memory of you to remind me that no man could ever want me.”

“Damn it, woman. I’m more confused now. Why wouldn’t a man want you? Seriously? Fuck,Iwant you, and the last time I looked in the mirror, I’m all man.”

“I’ll never be able to give you or any man a family. I can’t have kids, Emery. And it may be shitty on my part to want it all, but I do. I’ve always achieved and obtained everything I wanted. I’ve never failed, Emery. I wanted to be a doctor. I wanted to meet and fall in love with a man. I wanted to have children. Then bam, I ran straight into a wall and it was taken away in a blink.

“And the worst part, it is my own fault I can’t have children. I was on track to becoming a trauma surgeon. The hours were grueling and long and there was so much to learn. I started experiencing cramps, then it progressed into a sharp pain in my side. At least the pain felt like it was in my side. I put off going to the doctor and getting it checked out. How stupid was that? I was going to be a doctor and ignored every sign my body was giving because I wastoobusy. It’s one of the first things I tell my patients. Listen to what your body is telling you. What a fraud I am.

“I started bleeding after a while and was left with no choice but to go. I went to the ER, and they did their thing. Tests, bloodwork, eventually a biopsy. Then the next thing I know, a surgeon is discussing my options. A partial hysterectomy versus a complete. Surgery sooner rather than later. And by the way, it could have been avoided if I’d come in when the cramping started.

“So, at twenty-three, I had a complete hysterectomy. If I’d gone to the doctor sooner, they would have biopsied one of the cysts from the one ovary where it started, and then they would have removed the one ovary when the test came back with cancer cells present. Instead, the cysts essentially popped, letting the cancer inside free. The bleeding was because the cancer moved into the inside wall of my uterus.

“I had the surgery. Recovered. Changed from wanting to be a trauma surgeon to OB/GYN, specializing in high-risk pregnancies. I figured if I couldn’t have kids, then I’d help others who were trying with no luck. I could have a practice geared toward high-risk only, but I didn’t want my days to be filled with some ups and a lot of downs. Nothing is worse for parents than to do everything right and lose the baby in the end. And as doctors, we might not show it, but the losses have an effect on us, too. I made the decision to split my skills and have a little normal no problem in pregnancy, to yearly exams, to the I will do anything required to have this baby, patients. Switching specialties, I now get to experience bringing a new life into the world, but once the delivery is over, there will never be a baby coming home with me. I’ve accepted that, but it doesn’t mean I should take that feeling away for someone else.”

I pulled Mac until she straddled me, then I cupped her face between my hands. “I’m sorry for everything you went through. But the months I’ve spent popping up where you were, had nothing to do with your ability to give me children or not. It was all you. When I saw you for the first time, I wanted you and you alone. I was drawn to you. You are who I want to get to know better. I planned to take things slow with you, but you can blame yourself if I don’t stick to that plan. And if you try to run, I’ll catch you again and remind you what you said about me being under your skin.

“You’re smart enough to know that you don’t have to give birth to a child for one to be yours. Family isn’t always about blood. Hell, my own mother didn’t have one ounce of maternal instinct inside her. Neither did my brothers’ mothers. Blood nor the ability to pop out a kid means shit if you don’t have anything to offer from here.” I laid a hand over her heart.

Mac placed one of her hands over mine. “Maybe you aren’t as arrogant as I thought.”