Page 44 of The Doctor's Promise
Noemi was nappingwhen Rafa got home, and she stirred as he pulled off his tie, kicked off his shoes and lay down beside her, tucking his arm around her waist.
“Hey, handsome.”
“Hey, pretty girl. Go back to sleep.”
Noemi shook her head. “No, my head is groggy. Wake me up, Rafa.”
He smiled and kissed her. “My pleasure.” He moved to cover her body with his, parting the robe she was wearing and kissing her throat, moving down to her breasts as she stroked his curls.
When his lips reached her belly, he suddenly blew a raspberry on her skin, and Noemi burst out laughing, the sudden release of tension welcome. Rafa grinned up at her. “Hey, you think they can hear me if I talk to them?”
“I don’t think they have ears yet, baby.” Noemi chuckled then sighed happily as his tongue traced a circle around her navel. His fingers hooked into her panties and drew them down her legs, and he hooked her knees over his shoulders.
He nipped gently at her clit with his teeth before lashing his tongue around it, teasing it until it was rock-hard and ultra-sensitive, and Noemi was writhing beneath his touch, giving herself over completely.
Rafa’s tongue dipped deep into her sodden wet cunt, and Noemi cried out. His thumb began to stroke her clit as his tongue slid along her slit and down inside her, and she felt a wave of unstoppable pleasure as she came, shivering and breathless.
She couldn’t wait any longer and demanded that he strip, freeing his demanding cock from his underwear and guiding him inside her. She lived for these moments, their bodies entwined, so close, so intimate. Rafa smiled down at her as they made love, his green eyes shining, so full of love, that she forgot anything else existed and just concentrated on him, her love.
Afterwards,they showered together and went to the kitchen to find something to eat. Bepi, already in bed when Rafa got home, began to cry—a childish nightmare—and they sat with him, reading to him until he fell asleep again. Rafa kissed his son’s forehead and smiled up at Noemi. “See,” he whispered, “you’re already a Momma.”
They were walking back to their bedroom when they heard the commotion at the front door. Rafa sighed. “It’s Zani. Go to bed, sweetheart. Let me deal with this.”
Noemi waitedfor him in the bedroom, and when he returned, she saw his face was grim. “He’s drunk and possibly high. Who the fuck knows? I put him in a cab and sent him to a hotel. No way is he staying here in that condition, not with you and Bepi in the house.”
Noemi held out her arms, and he went into them. “I swear to God,” he said, his voice muffled as he buried his face in her hair, “if I never saw him again…”
“Don’t say that,” she said gently. “Look, he’s obviously an addict. How about I talk to him, try to get him into rehab?”
“No.” Rafa looked up at her, his eyes cold. “Let him take responsibility for once. He needs to hit rock bottom before he can see it for himself.”
But what Rafa didn’t know was that when Zani hit rock bottom… he would take them with him.
20
Chapter Twenty
Noemi walked into the coffee shop on Fifth and saw Drew Ballentine waiting for her. He stood up and shook her hand. “Coffee?”
“Decaf, please.”
He was dressed more casually than last time, a vintage T-shirt and jeans—expensive designer jeans, but still, it was less ‘car salesman’ than when she first met him.
“I’m glad you decided to do this,” he said when he returned with her coffee. “Although I don’t want you to feel as if—”
“Drew, I’m having a sexual and romantic relationship with Rafael Genova.”
Rip off the Band-Aid. She watched the emotions on his face: surprise, shock, unease. Then he sighed and nodded. “Thank you for telling me.”
She couldn’t figure out how he felt. “I assure you, it only began recently, and had nothing, nothing to do with my relationship with Thomasina. I adored her; she was my patient but also my friend.”
Drew nodded, but the look in his eyes was less than warm. “I see.”
“I’m telling you this now because it was only fair that you know before you offer me any… counseling. I thank you for the offer, but I really don’t think it would be appropriate.” She tried to smile at him. “But I would like us to be friends, if that’s something you could consider? We have a common link in Bepi.”
Drew nodded. “We do, that’s obvious. Look, again, thank you for telling me. I think you’re right, I’m probably not best placed to advise you.”
“Look,” Noemi said. “I’m a big girl. If I feel I need counseling, I’ll seek it. I know how these things work. I know both you and Kit meant well, but I’m an adult. I have my family, my loved ones.”
