Dear Cupid (24 page)

Fear blended with excitement, fear that he wanted more than she was ready to give, that he would take, not just her body, but her heart. She tried to shake her head, to tell him no, but he covered her mouth with his and stole her breath, her thoughts, even her fear. All that remained was a wild wanting, a ravenous need, as he fulfilled every fantasy she’d entertained throughout the day.

Moving down her body, he suckled her breasts until the tips constricted to wet peaks against the evening air. She writhed in anticipation as he kissed a trail down her stomach. And when his mouth settled over the center of her desire, he took her places she’d only imagined, gave her pleasures beyond her dreams. Just when she thought herself beyond reason, he sheathed himself for protection, then stretched out on top of her, pinning her soft body beneath his hard planes. “I want all of you, Kate. All of you.”

The fear had only a moment to flicker back to life before he drove deep. With a gasp, she arched against him, opening her body and her heart. Later she would take time to think, to pull safely away. For now, there was only Mike, and the unbearable ecstasy of having him inside her.

A
soft whining sound stirred Kate from sleep. She rolled over and snuggled against Mike, not ready to abandon the lazy comfort of bed. The sound came again. Raising her head, she squinted against the early dawn light that filtered through the portholes. The sound seemed to be coming from the main part of the cabin.

“Mike?” She nudged him gently, reluctant to wake him but worried that some kind of alarm was going off. “Mike, what’s that noise?”

“Hmm?” His eyes cracked open a fraction. When he focused on her face, a smile tugged at his lips. “Good morning.”

He moved a hand behind her neck and pulled her down for a kiss. She started to object, but the whirring noise stopped. His lips moved against hers, gentle and sweet, as opposed to the hot demanding kisses they’d shared last night. She relaxed in his arms, giving herself up to the simple pleasure of a good-morning kiss.

He turned her onto her back, deepened the kiss for a moment, then raised his head to gaze down at her. His eyes held admiration as he brushed the hair from her face.

“Kate.” He whispered the name with reverence, as if savoring the sound. Elation and fear sparked at the depth of emotion she saw in his eyes—elation that he cared so deeply for her, fear that he would say the words out loud. She wasn’t ready to examine her own feelings, much less deal with any monumental declarations. “Kate, I—”

The sound came again, a soft but insistent whirring. “What is that?” She lifted her head, grateful for the distraction.

He glanced over his bare shoulder, then dismissed the noise. “My mobile phone. Ignore it. Kate, I—”

“Your mobile phone?” With her heart pounding, she pounced on the excuse, anything to stop Mike from saying something too intimate, something that would ruin the casual relationship they had. “Aren’t you going to answer it?”

“My voice mail will pick it up.”

“But it could be important.” She tugged at the sheets to cover her breasts. “I left your number with Linda, in case Dylan needed to get a hold of me.”

He studied her a moment. Then, with a resigned sigh, he climbed over her, and padded naked down the passageway that led to the galley. The minute he disappeared from sight, she breathed a sigh of relief. Surely he hadn’t been about to say what she thought he’d been about to say. She didn’t even want to think about words of love and commitment, of tomorrow and forever. Everything was perfect between them just the way it was. She didn’t want anything more. Not now. Not yet.

He reappeared, beautifully nude in the morning light, and a small voice way in the back of her mind asked,
Would it really be so bad to
have this man fall in love with you? Or for you to take that tumble with him?

“Kate, did you hear me?” He gave her an odd frown, and she realized he was holding the phone out to her. “I said you were right. It was Linda. She’s left three messages on voice mail.”

“What?” She stared at him numbly, as the implication came over her in waves. Her hand shook as she grabbed the phone and dialed Linda’s number. In her mind, Dylan died a thousand deaths as she waited for her friend to answer, every one violent, painful, and completely her fault. “Linda, thank God,” she breathed when her friend answered. “What’s happened?”

“Kate! I’ve been trying to get you for the past half hour. I finally gave up on your mobile and started calling Mike’s.”

“What’s wrong?”

“Dylan’s grandmother called. He’s having trouble breathing and his inhaler isn’t doing anything to turn it around. She says she doesn’t have his nebulizer to give him anything stronger.”

“What do you mean, she doesn’t have his nebulizer?” Kate asked in rising tones. “And what’s he doing with her anyway?”

“Apparently he spent the night with her.”

Fear and fury exploded in a white flash. “Where is Edward?”

“I don’t know. I was just looking up his number to call him since his mother doesn’t want to bother him so early on a Sunday morning. Get this—she wants you to come into town and deal with Dylan.”

“She wants me to drive into town?”
Kate raised a shaking hand to her brow. “If he’s having an asthma attack, he could be dead by the time I got there.”

“Oh God, Kate, are you serious?’

“Yes, I’m serious.” Why didn’t anyone but her own parents take Dylan’s condition to heart? “Look, I’ve got to call Dylan. I’ll call you back.”

She hit the off button, then fumbled to dial the number of her former in-laws, only she couldn’t figure out how to get the dial tone back. And her own phone was probably in her purse somewhere. With trembling fingers, she tried again, only to have Mike take the phone from her.

“What are you doing?” She grabbed for the phone,

“Kate!” he said in a clear voice. Taking her wrist in his hand, he waited for her to look at him. “Take a deep breath.”

“But—”

“I said take a breath.” She did, and felt dizzy for a moment, before the world settled back into place. “Now, tell me the number.”

She rattled off the number from memory. Once he’d dialed it for her, he handed her the phone. She sat, listening to it ring. And ring. Finally Edward’s mother came on the line. “Good morning, Bradshaw residence.”

“Anne, thank heavens. It’s Kate.”

“Oh, hello, Kate,” the woman said as if she hadn’t a care in the world. “I’m so glad you called. Dylan seems to be having a bit of difficulty breathing and claims he needs a treatment on his nebel—nubu-something?”

“Nebulizer,” Kate corrected. “It’s that machine that looks like a bread box. It turns his medicine into a mist. Please tell me Edward left it with you.”

“A machine? I don’t think so. He did bring in a bag of medicine. Perhaps one of those would help.”

In the background, she heard Dylan cough. The weak, raspy sound made her chest constrict in empathy. “Have you checked his air flow on the peak flow meter?”

“You know, they really need to make the numbers on those gadgets larger. How on earth is a person supposed to read such tiny print?”

“Perhaps you could get your reading glasses?” Kate suggested through gritted teeth.

“Yes, of course. Hold on a minute.”

“Anne, wait! Let me talk to Dylan while you’re hunting down your glasses.”

“Certainly.”

“Mom?” Dylan’s voice was so thin, she could barely hear him.

Oh, God.
She bit her lip to keep from crying. If only she could reach through the phone and wrap him in her arms. In some corner of her mind, she felt a hand slip over hers and remembered that Mike sat beside her. Her fingers curled instinctively around his. “Hello, Dylan,” she said in as bright a voice as she could manage. “Grandma Anne says you’re not feeling too well.”

“Chest ... hurts.” She heard him struggle to take in air past his constricted throat.

“I know, baby.” She closed her eyes, fighting back tears. “When your grandma comes back, I want you to blow as hard as you can into the tube, okay? Can you do that for Mommy?”

She heard Anne come back into the room and sat for an eternity, rocking back and forth with one hand clasping the phone to her ear, the other clinging to Mike. At last, Anne came back on the line and gave her the three readings.

No, please no!
Kate wanted to scream. How could any reasoning adult let a child become this weak without seeking help? “Anne,” she said in a deadly calm voice. “I want you to listen to me very carefully. Dylan has got to get to the hospital. I’ll call the ambulance, but I want you to keep Dylan as calm as possible until they get there.”

“An ambulance?” Anne sounded offended at the thought. “Can’t you simply drive into town with whatever it is he needs?”

“Dammit, Anne!” She gripped the phone. “I don’t have time for one of your fits of denial. Dylan has asthma. Maybe you don’t want to face that fact, but right now he needs you. Because if he gets too agitated, his air passages will close up and he won’t be able to breathe. If he can’t breathe, he’ll die. Do you understand that? Is any of this getting through to you?”

“Well, there’s hardly any need to shout.”

“My son could be dying because of your negligence, and you think there’s no need to shout?”

“Perhaps you should talk to Henry,” Anne said, clearly ready to turn the whole situation over to her husband. But then, that was how Anne dealt with most things in life.

“No,” Kate said through gritted teeth.. “I don’t need to talk to Henry.” The last thing she needed was to have Henry Bradshaw brush her off as nothing but a hysterical female and say that Dylan was fine, the boy just needed to gut it up like a man. “All I need is for you to keep my son calm until help arrives.”

“Yes, of course, but all those sirens will wake the whole neighborhood?”

“Good-bye, Anne?” Kate ended the call and this time managed to dial the phone by herself. She gave the emergency operator the Bradshaws’ address and a quick rundown of the situation.

Not until she hung up did the full impact of her emotions hit her. She covered her mouth with her hand and fought back a sob. She didn’t have time to cry. She had to get to Dylan, but he seemed a million miles away.

“Kate?” Mike rubbed his hand in small circles over her back. “Everything’s going to be fine. Just take this one step at a time.”

She nodded. “Yes. Of course. I need to call Dylan’s doctor. Tell him to meet the ambulance at the hospital. And my parents. I should call my parents.”

“Do you need me to dial for you?”

“No. I’m fine.” She straightened her back.

“All right.” He rose from the bed to dress. “Take your time down here making your calls. I’ll be topside getting us under way.”

“Mike?” she called as he started to leave. “How long will it take? To get to my car?”

He hesitated before answering. “About two hours.” Her heart fell. “I’ll get you there as fast as I can, Kate,” he promised.

But would it be fast enough?

AN
agonizing three hours later, Kate burst into the emergency room with Mike right behind her. He’d insisted on driving her in his car, since she was too shaky to be safe on the road. “Mom,” she called, seeing her parents waiting on plastic seats in the hallway.

They rose and hurried toward her, her mother reaching her first. “Katy.” Her mother’s arms enfolded her with gentle strength.

“I’m so glad you’re here,” Kate said, holding tight.

“And where else would I be, I’d like to know?” Mary Larson laughed lightly in her Irish brogue as her husband stood stoically by, offering his silent support.

Linda came up behind Kate’s parents,” her worried expression more eloquent than any words.

“How’s Dylan?” Kate asked.

“The doctor’s in with him now,” her mother answered.

“No news, then?” Kate asked.

“Humph,” Mary snorted. “Only from the nurses, when they have a moment to spare, and they seem to be having precious few of those, if you ask me.”

For the first time, Kate noticed the chaos and noise around her. Sunday mornings in an ER were usually quiet. Yet a group of bikers filled the waiting area: some pacing, some bleeding, all of them angry and cursing. One of them, the leader she supposed, stood at the admittance counter spewing obscenities at the nurse.

“Where’s Anne?” Kate asked.

“She left just a moment ago,” Mary said.

“Figures.” Kate snorted.

“Now, Katy.” Her mother took on a stern look. “Anne did a fine job getting Dylan checked in and waiting until we arrived. Truth be told, she was that upset after talking to the doctor. I suggested she go home and wait for word there with her husband.” Mary’s face softened as she tucked a curl behind Kate’s ear. “The last thing you needed to deal with was Anne Bradshaw’s hysterics on top of worrying over Dylan.”