She stuck her head out the door, shouting to anyone on the sidewalk. “Help! Call 911!” she shrieked.
Then she rushed to Bob.
On her knees, she smacked his plump, pallid cheeks. “Bob! Bob, can you hear me!?” she panted, expecting an answer.
There was no sign of breathing. “No. No. No!”
She aligned her palms to the center of his chest and started compressions, afraid she was hurting him more than helping. Her arms were tired after two minutes, but she kept going.
The door flung open and a variety of feet circled her.
“Back off everyone!” Nick took over, kneeling beside. “I got it from here.”
Too shocked for tears or words, she simply watched him work until the EMTs showed up with the right equipment to kick-start Bob’s heart.
“Clear!” Then after a long hush, “He’s breathing!” They whisked Bob away on the gurney, and the crowd dispersed.
“Take a deep breath.” Nick rubbed her back as she sat hunched over in the barber chair with her head in her hands. “He oughta be fine.”
No amount of oxygen would shake this icky feeling.
“I’ll take you to the hospital.”
“Yeah, um, okay. I should, uh…call Sophia.”
“Relax. I’ll handle it.”
Lily slipped on her coat with his help, and he carried her backpack slung over his shoulder. He took the keys from her shaking fingers and locked the shop, while she held Nicole’s tiny hand.
On phantom feet, she followed him to his truck. He belted the little girl in the backseat while Lily climbed into the passenger side.
“Bob nearly died.” Her eyes felt wet, and her hands were still trembling. “Even though I knew what to do, I was, like, frozen. But then, I dunno what happened. I just did it. Like you taught me. And to think I almost didn’t come to work today.”
“Lucky you did.”
Lily snorted. “Luckier you showed up.”
His warm hand squeezed her fingers. “You kept his heart pumping. If he were there for two minutes without blood to the brain, he’d be worse off than a few broken ribs. You did all the right things. You saved Bob.”
She drew a shaky break and nodded, refusing to release his hand.
“Lily…about last night…after we just had a great weekend, and an amazing date, my ex comes to town and wrecks everything.”
“Don’t be silly. It’s not your fault. I’m glad Nicole is all right. Why don’t you drop me at the hospital, and you can take her home.”
They glanced at the child smiling in the backseat, oblivious to the drama.
“Like the safety seat? It’s a loaner from the police department. The officer brought it over last night.”
“When’s her dad coming?”
“I told Tristan not to rush since she’s safe. I should have asked you first if it’s okay she stays another night. Maybe two.”
“Of course it’s okay.”
“It’ll be good practice for us.” Nick winked with a smile, then put the truck in Drive.
When they arrived at the hospital, Lily’s head was still spinning, so Nick went to speak with the doctors, while she stayed in the lobby with the child napping in the crook of her arm.
She struggled to stay awake, focusing on the big clock over the silver ER doors, unable to stop the constant yawning.
Finally, her vision grew blurry so she rested her eyes…
Then a firm hand shaking her shoulder jolted her.
“Oh, Nick! How’s Bob? I want to see him.”
“He’s resting. We’ll come back tomorrow. The chief called Sophia. There’s nothing for you to do tonight.”
Nick carried Nicole in one arm and wrapped the other around Lily’s shoulder and they went home.
Chapter Seventeen
Nick laid Nicole on his bed, and Lily went to work changing the saturated diaper. As much as he liked kids, the true extent of his knowledge was limited to riling them up then handing them back to their parents. Having Lily’s backup right now was a godsend. Parenthood would be a breeze.
After surrounding Nicole with pillows and taking turns kissing her warm cherub cheeks, they crept into the living room.
Lily turned on the radio and plopped on the couch, while Nick lit a fresh log.
Kneeling before the hearth, he felt her eyes on him, making him conscious of his every move. He glanced over his shoulder and caught her molten stare. She made him feel things he never imagined, as if he was something special. It warmed him from the inside out.
It was more than the romantic ambiance of a slow burning fire, and Keith Richards and the Stones in the background stoking his carnal mood. It was the chemistry of Lily’s quiet company and the hum of her body’s vibration mingling with his, like a silent dance of the souls. Just being with her was more than enough to keep him happy.
“Well.” He sighed after a hectic twenty-four hours. “Things oughta warm up in a minute.”
In more ways than one
. She made room for him on the couch and placed her petite feet in his lap, and he massaged her heels covered in fuzzy socks. He liked everything about her, especially her smallness, which made him feel larger than life.
“That feels
so
good.” She sank back against the armrest. “God, next time I get a charley horse you can rub it out for me.”
You could rub it out for me, too
, only his wicked libido wasn’t thinking of a charley horse. Watching her face wince in a glorious mix of pleasure-pain thrilled him to know he could make her feel this way. He could make her feel even better, but he’d wait until they could be alone without a toddler in the other room.
“You really know your way around a baby-bottom, changing diapers and all.” He pressed his fingers firmly into her arches.
“It’s not exactly rocket science. Just wiping a tiny tush,” she answered with a moan and heavy eyelids. “By the way, we should get more milk. And whatever she eats.”
“Want me to run out now?”
She shook her head. “Nuh-uh, no way, I don’t want you going anywhere. We can make it until tomorrow. Maybe we can take her to the toy store, too. She’s gotta be a little homesick by now.”
“That’s a good idea. You sure you don’t mind if she stays here?”
“Not at all. Unless, of course, the new owner kicks me out, then we’ll all be looking for a place to sleep. But I don’t want you to go.
Ever
.” The depth of her words reached her eyes, despite the latest drama. This was no ordinary love or passing fling. This was it.
“About the house…I, uh, don’t wanna wear out the welcome.” The urge to reveal his secret plan was getting harder to curb.
She silenced him with her index finger against his mouth. “That’ll never happen. Trust me.” When she straddled his hips and dropped kisses from earlobe to earlobe, under his chin, across his adam’s apple, his groin twitched to life. “I want you to stay,” she whispered against his skin.
“I’m not going anywhere, sugar.” With this raging erection, he’d be lucky if he could stand up. He could’ve stopped her—would’ve stopped her—if he wanted to. But he didn’t. “You better watch out. You’re making me hard right now.” Her power worked like kryptonite.
“I know,” she breathed, grinding against his jeans. “I can feel it…feel you. Wanna feel me?”
“Yeah.” He nodded, just as John Lennon’s voice floated into the ether, singing the first line: “
So, this is Christmas…
” He’d never listen to the song the same way again.
She put his hand between her thighs; moist heat radiated through her sweatpants. She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him so tenderly he thought he might explode.
So, this is Christmas
.
Then she just stopped.
“What?” He examined the drunken smile in her eyes.
“It’s just…it feels like forever since I’ve been so happy. I forgot how good it could be.”
“How good it could be? Or how good it
is
?”
“It
is
good. Isn’t it?”
“It’ll only get better, I promise, as soon as Nicole is back where she belongs.”
Lily stood up, tugging his arm. “Let’s go.”
“Let’s stay.” He pulled her back to the couch.
She shook her head. “Nuh-uh. You’re coming with me. Dontcha wanna practice making that baby you were talking about?”
****
Lily couldn’t stop the baby-making remark from slipping out. She was too turned on; she couldn’t turn back if she tried. She didn’t want a
gentle
man right now. She wanted Nick’s rough and rugged side. Needed to feel him skin-to-skin before she burst.
She lured him to her room and flung him on the bed.
With a familiar smirk curled upon his kissable lips, he fell backward on the mattress, making the old metal frame squeak under his weight. “It’s so cold in your room.”
“Not for long.” She pressed her back to the door until it clicked shut. Then hit the wall switch that turned off the bedside lamp. The streetlight outside her window cast enough of a soft glow to find her target. She yanked off his boots and—despite the urge to fling them—placed them quietly on the floor, not wanting to wake the child across the hall. “A little healthy friction will warm us up, don’t you think?”
She sucked in a brave breath as she peeled her sweatshirt over her head, then kicked off her pants. No way would she waste another night not knowing what it was like to make love to this man.
Her vigorous fingers went straight to work on his belt buckle and zipper, then tossed his jeans aside.
“In a hurry?” The ribbon of light danced in his bemused eyes.
“A little.” Every minute without Nick inside her body was like a cold, lonely eternity.
Unwrapping him like a Christmas present, she attacked the shirt buttons and helped him out of the sleeves, then tore off his undershirt. Leaving him in nothing but boxer-briefs and socks, she straddled his hips. His fingers worked the clasp of her bra with an experienced touch.
“Oh, yeah,” he murmured with lustful enthusiasm, catching the tip of one aching bud in his mouth.
His suckling sent a shock through her system. When his teeth sank into her tender tip, she squealed from the pleasure-pain. It was raw and animalistic and everything she expected from such a potent man.
“Oh, God.” She pulled her breast from his mouth and collapsed on top of him, rubbing her bare skin against his mat of chest hair.
She reached between his legs to stroke the massive erection under his tight briefs, and he pulled her against him, groaning with need. Her cushioned curves coupled with his sinewy strength created a magnetic force—her yin to his yang. With his hands all over her body, she couldn’t pry herself away even if she tried.
“Are you sure you’re ready?” he rasped.
Parked on his bulge that was thicker than a roll of half-dollar coins, she breathed against his ear, “You’re
really
gonna doubt me now?”
“Hell no.” He flipped her onto her back, swapping positions with ease. “I hope you don’t mind but I like being on top.”
She ought to be scared to death for starting this. But she felt fantastic, like floating on a champagne cloud. She stretched out languidly on the flimsy old mattress.
“Let’s get rid of these.” He plucked her slouching socks. “And these.” He peeled down her panties, an inch at a time, teasing her, when all she wanted was for him to tear them off. His knuckles grazed her inner thighs, going up one then down the other.
Her over-sensitized nerves sizzled like hot bubbles popping under her skin. She clamped her lips shut to stifle her shriek and pressed her hips to the blanket. When he spread her legs wide, bending a knee over each of his shoulders, she crushed her eyelids together, peeking through her lashes, awaiting his next move.
“Hmm, flexible.” With his face between her thighs, he smacked his lips like some kind of starving beast. “Mind if I go down on you first?”
Lily held her breath. “Uhh, okay, why not?”
He chuckled. “That doesn’t sound like a yes.”
“It’s just…I’m not used to someone’s face in my…crotch.”
“Well, you better get used to it.” He took her foot and massaged the insole.
Her whole body arched at the exquisite touch, more sensual than his previous foot rub. When he dropped kisses along her instep, over her ankle, and up her calf, she squeaked. She’d never been kissed behind the knee before and she loved it.
Once he covered the right leg, he started the same treatment on the left, beginning with her toes. She fought the urge to giggle by clenching the sheet. By the time he finished lavishing both legs her head was swirling.
Then his lips worked their way toward the aching valley between her thighs, stealing a taste with his tongue.
“Wait!” She nearly catapulted off the bed trying to escape, but his arms kept her locked in place.
He poked up his head for a moment to say, “Too late,” before diving down again and putting his warm mouth against her. His fingers parted the fleshy folds as he lapped slow, easy, and deep, tickling her sweet spot with his extraordinary kiss.
All she could do was hang on and enjoy the magnificent ride, moaning in ecstasy. Her misty mind was a double rainbow of light, a crowded void filled with everything and nothing at all. Just Nick. His mouth. Her body.
Mark never did this. Until now, she had no idea why anyone would ever do this. It was nothing like she imagined it to be, making her shatter into an endless sea of stars behind her eyelids.
“No more. I can’t take it. Please, stop.” Instinct had her stiffening her leg muscles around his head.
“Just relax. Let me finish.”
“Oh, but it feels so-so… Ooh-ooh-ooh…”
She restrained her scream while he worked her body into a willowy, pliable tizzy with his lips, teeth and tongue. It was a sensual tug-of-war. She pushed her pelvis into his face while tugging his head away from her crotch—ending in a climactic collision unlike anything she’d ever known. She struggled to open her eyes blurred by bliss.
He inched up to meet her gaze, his smile glistening with her wet heat. Panting, from the hard labor of making love with his mouth, or his overall pent-up sexual frustration—or both—he asked, “Are you ready for the real deal?”
Her attention fell from his face to the unfathomably enormous phallus with a droplet of moisture glistening from the pink tip. From her vantage point, it was massive, like a roll of cookie dough, or just looked that way from this angle. It made her vibrator look like a bread stick. She was no virgin, but still, it was hard to believe the size of the fully erect, naked thing. Harder to imagine how it would fit inside her.