Authors: Marteeka Karland
11
One Night Forever
his actions, only a calm civility as if this were an
everyday occurrence.
“Ariel Wilson.” She took his offered greeting and
strong fingers closed around her much smaller hand.
Ariel was struck how much it looked like a child’s hand
in an adult’s, he was that much bigger. His grip was
firm, but gentle and all too brief. In the perfect spot
under the street lamp, the stranger gave her a great
view of exactly whom she was dealing with. Ariel
admired the sculpted muscles of his arm, the veins
curling around his forearm and biceps. His chest was
heavily muscled and his abdomen rippled with
strength when he moved. A dark dusting of hair teased
his skin and made her wonder if it was as silky as it
looked. She was so lost in admiring his masculine
beauty, she missed his question until she looked back
at his face. His eyes danced with amusement. Damn
her hormones. She was torn between sorrow for the
lost life she’d had with Tom and desire for an absolute
stranger. Ridiculous. She was definitely losing her
mind.
“I beg your pardon?” Ariel’s face heated. Grateful
for her dark skin, she ducked her head hoping her hair
would cover her embarrassment. Lord, the man was
seriously fine! She had noticed the way he put his body
between hers and Tom’s car. Now, though he stood
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close, he was careful to keep out of her personal space.
Obviously, he was a considerate man, maybe even a bit
protective. That thought sent another wave of heat
coursing through her, and she was immediately
ashamed of her reaction. Tom might be the kind of
person to sleep with anyone who’d let him, but she
wasn’t.
“I asked where you were going.” He didn’t seem
perturbed or annoyed that she hadn’t been paying
attention to his words, only slightly amused. Ariel was
certain her reaction wasn’t unusual to him. Women
probably fell all over this man all the time.
“To my sister’s,” she finally managed, pulling
herself together. It was too bad, really. Under different
circumstances, she would have liked to meet this man.
He had a look about him. A look that said he protected
what was his with his life, and never betrayed those he
loved. Something Tom would never understand.
Unshed tears threatened to spill once again, but she
swallowed hard and held on to them by sheer
willpower. “It’s just a couple of blocks down the
street.”
“Let’s go then. The sooner you get there, the
sooner I can get back to bed.” There was amusement
in his voice, but also a sexy gleam in his eye. The
image of that big body sprawled between satin sheets
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One Night Forever
sprang to mind and Ariel’s knees went weak. She
seriously needed to take a cold shower. She could only
attribute her wayward thoughts to an over-infestation
of hormones and a healthy dose of disappointment in
the male species as a general rule. She
wanted
this
man to be different because he was so seriously good
to look at. It would be a waste of a good man for him
to be the same kind of asshole as Tom.
She sighed and let Damien escort her down the
block to her sister’s house. He stood at the bottom of
the steps leading to the porch while Ariel rang the
doorbell. A couple minutes later, her sister, Gretta
peeked through the curtain before flinging the door
open wide. “What the hell are you doing out at this
time of night? It’s dangerous for a woman out by
herself!”
“Not to worry, Gretta. I looked after your sister.”
Gretta looked past Ariel to Damien. “What
happened?”
“All I know is there was a guy making a bunch of
racket and I put a stop to it. I need my beauty sleep,
after all.”
Gretta snorted. “You’re drop dead gorgeous and
you know it. Now, get away before I call the cops and
have you arrested for indecent exposure. And don't
forget about clinic tomorrow. We missed it last week,
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Marteeka Karland
and you know how the women at the senior citizens
center love you.”
Damien's chuckle made Ariel's body tremor and
heat erotically. She didn't want to be affected by him,
but there didn't seem to be any stopping herself. At
this point, she didn't really care. She just wanted to get
inside where it was safe to break down without making
a fool of herself.
"No sweat, Gretta. I missed our weekly
appointment as much as the ladies did. Besides, they
feed me on Mondays. There's nothing like a good
home-cooked meal." He patted his belly in obvious
appreciation and licked his lips. Ariel found herself
mesmerized by the action. She had to blink a couple of
times to shake the vision of those perfect lips closing
around her nipple...
Ariel shook herself. “I appreciate your help. I’m
sorry Tom disturbed your sleep.”
Damien winked at her as if they shared a secret
of some kind. For some silly, girlish reason, it made
her feel special. She immediately tamped down the
unwanted emotion. “Any time, sugar.”
Lord, there was that absolutely sexy Southern
drawl. How could any red-blooded woman resist such
a man? Especially as vulnerable as she currently was.
Ariel knew she could absolutely make it on her own,
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One Night Forever
but having a man who was as genuine as Damien
seemed
to be was the stuff fantasies were made of.
Tom had never been that considerate of her. She was
completely out of her mind and stupid beyond reason
to have allowed herself to become pregnant. She’d love
the child as much as any mother possibly could, but it
stung that she hadn’t shared this joy with a man
worthy of such love. She was pregnant with another
man’s child. Even if Damien turned out to be the man
of her dreams, there was no way he would start a
relationship of any kind with her, and she couldn’t
blame him. That just opened up all kinds of
possibilities. None of them good.
With another glance over her shoulder at the
most gorgeous man she was likely ever to meet, Ariel
entered her sister’s home. She let Gretta close and lock
the door before dissolving into tears.
16
Chapter Two
Seven months later
Ariel looked in the mirror with a critical eye. At
thirty-three and a half weeks pregnant, her body was
grossly bent out of shape, to her way of thinking. Her
belly stood out farther than her breasts, which were
even now growing well beyond their small A cup
before her pregnancy. She had dark circles under her
eyes, and let’s not forget the stretch marks. And
morning, noon, and night sickness. No, pregnancy did
not agree with her.
Sighing, she finished dressing, remembering
wistfully how she’d ended up here. Oh, she could
hardly wait for her daughter to make her appearance,
but she wished it would happen under different
circumstances. Her lawyer had called that morning
with the news that Tom had signed the papers
relinquishing all parental rights. It had been a
horrible, bitter battle, but she was finally free of the
lying, cheating son of a bitch. It also meant her
daughter would grow up without a father.
In order to finish school, Ariel had left the
hospital she loved and settled for a small, twenty-four
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One Night Forever
hour clinic. It was rewarding, just not what she’d
expected after nursing school. Still, she had made the
change and was gradually finding her niche, especially
after the Jackson brothers and Lilly took over the
place. It didn’t take long before she felt right at home.
In the clinic, she took blood pressures,
temperatures, and blood samples from patients as well
as giving medicine and vaccines. She was on her feet
the vast majority of the day, and it was becoming
increasingly difficult on her. She needed to find a way
to stay off her feet even a little throughout the day, but
her job was demanding and the place was always busy.
Today was no exception.
“Ariel, you need to rest. Sit down before you fall
down,” Lilly Miller-Jackson admonished softly. Lilly
was the new office manager and wife to one of the two
owners of the clinic, though Ariel didn't know which
one. The three of them seemed to have an...unusual
relationship. “It’s not good for you to be working so
hard.”
Ariel managed a tentative smile. “I’m fine. If I
don’t keep going, I’ll be off my feet completely, and
I’ve still got a few more weeks to go.”
“I absolutely will not have you hurting yourself
because of this place. It’s not that important. You and
your daughter are.” The tender way Lilly caressed her
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arm was almost Ariel’s undoing. Gretta waited on her
hand and foot when she got home, but her sister
wasn’t the sentimental type. She was the take-charge
type and sometimes she was just too much to handle.
Lilly, on the other hand, was gentle and careful, always
doing things that made Ariel’s life a little easier.
“Don’t worry so much about me.” Ariel patted
the woman’s hand, truly grateful she did make a fuss
over her, though too proud to admit it. “I have a few
more things to do and I’ll take a break.”
“See that you do.” Lilly raised an eyebrow at her.
Her expression said she knew Ariel probably wouldn’t
take that break, but she was letting it go for now.
The day showed no signs of letting up. She’d
been so busy and preoccupied with her current task,
she ran into the new doctor, literally, before she’d
actually met him. The next thing she new she found
herself in the arms of a god.
It took a couple of seconds to pull herself
together, but when she did, her heart skipped a beat,
then hammered in her chest painfully. “Damien?”
His gaze swept her from head to toe, not
flinching at her expanding middle. In fact, his face
gave nothing away. He looked intensely at her, as if
looking for something. His hands held her firmly at
her waist, preventing her from falling. As they stood
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One Night Forever
there, he moved one hand around her abdomen in a
gentle caress. Ariel nearly dissolved into tears at the
tender gesture, despite his hard gaze.
This
was how it
was supposed to be. She didn’t need a man to protect
and nurture her, but she desperately wanted one. A
man like Damien Carter.
He looked different than he had that fateful
night they met. His hair was still long, but he’d pulled
it into a tie at the back of his neck, taming it, if only
slightly. Those silver-blue eyes held the same soul-
penetrating quality and saw too much by half. Then
she noticed the broad expanse of his chest and the
dusting of dark curls peeking from the V in his tunic
not to mention biceps that bulged in the restraining
short sleeves. She hadn’t forgotten the impact he’d had
on her, the memory hadn’t faded even slightly. Her
insides melted as she stood there. With everything else
going on in her life, that itself was a miracle. In that
one moment, the night they met came rushing back.
The instant attraction she had for him. The grief and
humiliation of Tom’s betrayal. Her embarrassment at
the entire situation had kept her awake at night. Well,
that
and
her vivid imagination and all the naughty
things she did to his body in her dreams.
“Excuse me,” he muttered. His gaze seemed to
swallow her it was so intense. “Did I hurt you?” he
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Marteeka Karland
asked, those disturbing eyes dropping again to the
swell of her abdomen. His hand still caressed her. The
babe moved under his touch as if she was equally as
aware of the man.
“No,” she replied a bit breathlessly. “I wasn’t
watching where I was going.”
“You look tired. Are you sure you’re okay?” The
concern in his voice nearly caused her to break down