“Don’t you have any condoms?”
He snorted. “Why on earth would I? Sweetheart, I bought a box years ago, before that first night in case you wanted them. I tossed them once I realized we didn’t need them. They’d be over five years old now.”
“Oh, right.” She sighed. “Can you get some?”
“I promise. Until then…” He kissed his way between her breasts, taking time to tease first one, then the other nipple into hard peaks. She tangled her fingers in his hair as he crept lower, taking his time, teasing her. Then his breath, hot and soft on her mound and she spread her legs wider.
“Please,” she whispered. “Please do it, sweetie.”
“Absolutely.” He teased her with the lightest of flicks of his tongue on her clit. Gently circling and tasting, making her gasp and moan for more.
He resisted her pleas to deeply plunge into her, and spent his time bringing her to the edge before pulling away and gently blowing on her mound.
“No, don’t stop!”
He laughed. “Darling, I’m going to make good use of my time. It won’t take you long to get me off, and I’m damn sure not looking for a quickie. You’re going to have to be a good girl and lay there, or I’ll tie you up.”
She moaned, shivering, then lifted her head to meet his eyes. “What if I want you to tie me up?”
“You cheeky little thing.” He swiped his tongue across her clit, making her jump. “You’d like that, wouldn’t you? If your master tied you up and kept you begging for it.”
“Mmm hmm.”
He used his lips to lightly tug on her swollen nub and she ground her hips against him. “You’d love for me to keep you like this all day, I bet. Wet and open for me to plunder.”
She gasped. “Yes!”
He teased her with one finger at her wet entrance. “I bet my little slave would do anything I asked of her if I kept her busy all day like that.”
She bucked her hips against him, trying to goad him into making her come.
He finally rewarded her with first one, then two fingers slowly stroking inside her. “Maybe we’ll have to try that one day once Master Thomas is feeling better. We’ll have Eddie and Pete watch the baby, and then Thomas and I will spend the day with our little slave tied up in bed, satisfying her masters’ every need—”
“Ah!”
He grabbed her clit with his lips as she started coming, licking and sucking it, feeling her muscles grip his fingers as he stroked her, prolonging her orgasm.
When she eventually finished, trembling and shuddering on the bed, he curled next to her and drew her into his arms. “How was that, sweetheart?”
A fine sheen of sweat covered her flesh. “Mmm hmm,” she mumbled against his chest.
He laughed, holding her tightly. “Will that tide you through until later, love?”
“Mmm hmm.”
Her hand found his stiff member and he rolled onto his back as she went down on him, taking her time.
He gently stroked the back of her head. “Oh, sweetheart, that’s fantastic.” He closed his eyes and thrust his hips in time with her mouth and lips, not bothering to hold back, knowing he would explode shortly. When she lightly stroked his sac his climax surged through him. “Get ready—” She went deeper, rolling her tongue along his shaft, and swallowing every drop he pumped out.
She knew when to stop and curled up in his arms as he kissed her. “Exquisite, my sweet. Wonderful.”
Chapter Fifteen
Two days later, Nevvie swore when she checked her calendar.
“What’s wrong, pet?” Tyler asked.
“Tommy’s got PT this morning. Home visit.”
Tom snorted in disgust. “Great. Physical Torture follows me to my own home. Fan-fucking-tastic.”
“Shut up, you. You’re getting it and you’ll like it,” she ordered. He glared. She realized what she’d said. “Well, you won’t like it, but you’re getting it, like it or not.”
Tyler stepped in. He knew Tom’s ire wasn’t at Nevvie. “Love, I can go to cardiac rehab by myself. I’ve been cleared to drive, you know.”
“But—”
“No buts. I’ll drive myself.”
Nevvie sighed. “All right. Are you sure?”
“Of course I am.”
Thomas watched them from the living room as they went through their morning routine. They checked on him one more time before heading to the bathroom. The brief surge of jealousy he felt both startled and shamed him. He loved them.
On the heels of that, rage that he was stuck in a body that no longer worked the way it had. Yes, he was damned lucky he wasn’t dead or more severely disabled, but they had to treat him like a fucking baby and he hated that shit with an ever-lovin’ passion. Fuck, he couldn’t even button his own goddamn shirts, could barely write his name.
Yes the doctors warned him about this, said it most likely would get better with time and rehab, but it still sucked.
And how was it going to be between them now? They’d asked him to sleep in bed but neither of them had tried to be intimate with him, afraid of hurting him, treating him like some fragile doll. Could he even have the kind of relationship with either of them that they’d had before?
Had they been doing it at night without him? Not that his body seemed interested in that anyway.
Jesus, what’s wrong with me?
He tried to watch TV and not think about why their shower was taking so long when Nevvie appeared wearing her robe, her hair wrapped in a towel.
Coming to check on him.
“Do you need anything?”
Guilt flashed over to irritation. “No, I’m fine, dammit.”
She blinked. Before he could apologize for the bite in his tone she nodded. “Okay, Tommy,” she softly said, then quickly returned to their bedroom and shut the door behind her.
Dammit. He’d done it again. He saw the pain in her face, caused by his words. She deserved better than that from him. She’d been through so much trying to hold it together for them when they’d promised to take care of her.
He heard a car outside and a moment later, the doorbell rang.
“Come on in,” he hollered. “It’s open.”
A young woman—jeez, couldn’t be any older than her early twenties—stuck her head in. “Hi, I’m with the home health care team. Mr. Kinsey?”
He pointed to his leg. “I sure as hell ain’t Pegleg Pete,” he quipped. “Come on in, honey.”
She blushed a little but walked in, a large tote slung over her shoulder. She crossed into the living room, sticking her hand out in greeting. “Hi, I’m Jennifer,” she said with a nervous smile.
She must be new at this.
“Hi, Jennifer. Are you here for my daily dose of torture?”
She laughed. “I’ve heard it called worse but yes, I am.”
The bedroom door opened and Nevvie raced out. She was now dressed in shorts and a blouse. “Tommy? Are you okay?” She pulled up when she saw Jennifer. “Hi.”
“Nev, this is Jennifer from the home health care place,” Tommy explained. “The physical torturer.”
“Oh, good.”
Tyler walked out of the bedroom and kissed Nevvie. “I need to fly or I’ll be late. I’ll check the mail for you, love,” he said. He glanced at Thomas. “Have fun,” he said with a wink.
“Fuck you, Ty,” he groused.
“Later, if you’re good,” he joked as he left.
Jennifer apparently didn’t know what to think of that comment, so she acted like she didn’t hear it.
Nevvie shook her head at Tyler’s departure. “Did you need my help?” she asked the girl.
“Oh, no. I’m going to do a preliminary evaluation and then start some range of motion exercises with him today.”
Nevvie started to say something when the baby cried. “Okay, call me if you need me.” Nevvie disappeared down the hall, leaving them alone.
The girl sat next to Thomas on the couch, asking questions, making notes on a form. Fifteen minutes later, she put her clipboard down. “Okay, let’s see what we’ve got.” She looked at his leg and started carefully checking his range of motion.
“How long you been torturing people, sugar?” he quipped. “You don’t look like you’ve been out of school long.”
She smiled. “I’m three months out of my internship.”
“So how does a girl get into this kind of gig? Are you a closet sadist or dominatrix?”
She blushed again, reminding Thomas of how Nevvie used to blush when she first came to work for them years earlier, flushing at their compliments and endearments. “I couldn’t have made it in nursing school. A friend of my mom’s was doing this, it seemed interesting.”
He chatted with her while she worked. She wasn’t nearly as cute as Nevvie but…
The way she paid attention to him, it wasn’t like the nurses in the hospital with cool efficiency and practiced rapport.
They neared the end of the hour. Nevvie had been in and out, taking care of Adam and working in his office on stuff for the business. The session had been painful, but not nearly as bad as he’d expected. Jennifer tried to be as gentle as she could and still do the exercises.
“Well,” she said. “I’ll be coming in three times a week at first, then we’ll see how you do and progress from there.”
“So you’ll be back the day after tomorrow?” He didn’t understand the uncomfortably expectant thump in his chest at that thought.
“Yep.” She started packing her things, then finally asked the question he’d expected. “Was that really Tyler Paulson? The man here earlier?”
“Yep, that’s Ty. The evil genius himself.”
“Wow. I’ve read all his books. I thought I’d heard that he was… Um, well that’s really neat. Are you friends or related?”
Thomas blinked, not understanding her question at first.
He certainly didn’t understand his response. “We’ve known each other for a long time.”
“His wife’s pretty. Seems very nice.”
Dangerous territory here, Tommy boy. What the
fuck
are you doing?
“Yes, she is. That’s Nevvie.”
Say it. Say it, stupid!
Jennifer smiled. “Well, I need to get to my next appointment. I’ll see you Wednesday, day after tomorrow. Same time.”
He nodded, stunned. “Okay. Looking forward to it.”
She stood to go while his heart hammered in his chest.
What the fuck?
What the
fuck
was wrong with him? He wasn’t even attracted to her.
As Jennifer prepared to leave, Nevvie appeared, Adam on her hip. “All done?”
“Yes, Mrs. Paulson. I told Thomas I’d be back the day after tomorrow, same time. Three times a week at first.” She looked at the baby. “He’s adorable. Wow, he’s got Mr. Paulson’s blue eyes, doesn’t he?”
Nevvie smiled while Thomas cringed inside. What had he done? What was he thinking of doing?
“Yes, he does,” Nevvie said. “Ty’s spooky blue eyes. Right, Tommy?”
He swallowed hard. “Yeah, he sure does.”
* * * *
Thomas hated himself, withdrew into an angry shell. They wouldn’t want him anymore anyway, would they? Ty could have the girl, he already had the baby. He knew damn well Adam was Ty’s biological son. No Kinsey baby ever had eyes looking like that. And he was the spitting image of Ty without a doubt. It didn’t matter how much he loved Adam, he technically wasn’t that baby’s father.
Nevvie and Tyler tried to talk to him that afternoon and evening and he blew them off, focused on the TV. When Nevvie brought Adam out to him for dinner, he shook his head.
“No, just leave me alone, please. I’m…I’m in pain from this morning.” Thomas tried to ignore her hurt look.
“Are you sure? He wants to spend time with his daddy.”
Then go take him to Tyler,
he thought, but bit it back before he could say it. “Not tonight.”
She sicced Tyler on him a little later. The evil genius sat on the coffee table and stared at him until Thomas finally looked at him.
“What do you want?”
“What’s wrong?” Tyler quietly asked.
“I want to be left alone, that’s what’s fucking wrong. I want to be able to walk to the goddamn bathroom to take a piss without needing a fucking crane to get off the couch. I want my life back.”
“Please talk to us. We’re worried about you.”
“I just told you what I want. Leave. Me. Alone.”
He mentally swore at Ty’s hurt look but refused to apologize. He wanted to be left alone. They asked what he wanted, he told them, and they didn’t give it to him.
Before Nevvie went to bed she came out to check on Tommy one last time. “Can I get you anything?”
“No.”
He didn’t miss the hurt in her eyes, the way they suddenly looked too bright, like unshed tears were building up, struggling for release.
“Okay, Tommy,” she softly said. “I’ll leave the door open. If you need me, call me. Are you sure you don’t want to be in bed with—”
“I’m fine.”
She nodded, then with her head bowed, she turned and left. He’d hurt her feelings he knew, but wouldn’t take the words back.
He settled in for a long, restless night channel surfing.
* * * *
It turned out Tyler had cardiac rehab on Wednesday morning. He’d stayed mostly clear of Thomas all day Tuesday, but sat on the couch next to him before Jennifer arrived.
“Are you all right, love?”
“I’m fine. I just want life to get back to normal. That’s all.” That wasn’t all but he damn sure wasn’t going to admit that he looked forward to Jennifer’s visit.
He didn’t even want to admit it to himself.
“Can I get you anything? Something to drink?”
“No. Just go to your appointment.”
With wounded eyes, Tyler leaned over and kissed him. Thomas guiltily kissed him back.
Nevvie walked into the kitchen with the baby. Tyler was about to kiss her good-bye when the doorbell rang.
She walked with Tyler to the front door and they let Jennifer in.
“Back to torture the patient some more, are we?” Tyler joked. Thomas knew from the forced joviality in Tyler’s voice that he still stung from their earlier exchange.
She smiled. “That’s me. I wanted to tell you, Mr. Paulson, I love your books. I’ve read all of them.”
“Why, thank you! That’s very sweet of you to say.” He leaned over and kissed Nevvie and Adam. “Do I need to stop at the store, sweetheart?”
“No, I’ve got everything I need for dinner tonight.”