She brought one bag up, locked the door, and starting stripping down. "Come shower with me."
"That's the best idea I've heard in an age." Adrian climbed up off the bed, listening to his bones creak.
"I have lots of them." She'd been outside, her tan looked amazing.
"You do." He went to her, sliding his arms around her waist. "God, you're lovely."
"Do you think so?" She blushed for him, such a girl.
"I do. I always have."
She was more confident now. More amazing than ever. Calleigh leaned up, her lips pressed against his, moving slowly as she gave him the kiss he'd been wanting for days.
Adrian moaned, shifting against her, his hands starting to move. He knew all of her hot spots, knew how to get her going fast. She moaned his name into his lips, her hands hot on his chest. Adrian kissed her with everything in him. He needed her so bad.
Her nipples dragged along his chest and her hands dug into his hips. God, she was hotter than a summer sidewalk. He loved how she fit against him, how his cock rubbed her soft belly, even through his jeans.
"I need you, Ades. It's been weeks." She took his hand, brought it to her soft, damp curls.
"I know, baby girl. I know." He pushed her toward the bed instead of the shower, helping her stretch out. Then he stripped down, needing to be naked with her. She was propped up on one elbow, watching him, and he could smell her -- citrus and musk.
She was just fucking beautiful. Curvy and strong with the smoothest skin.
Adrian loved how she'd fought for him, wanted him. Made a man a little... Well, it gave him a swelled head of sorts.
"Come here, Ades. Prove you missed me."
"Fuck, yeah." He went to her, stretching out on top of her. He needed her more than his next breath.
One of her legs wrapped around his hip, and her lips brushed his. His hand slid down to her hip, curving around to her butt. So soft. She moaned for him, the sound deep and rich and needy.
"Pretty girl." He kissed her throat, the tops of her breasts.
"Mmm. All tanned for you."
Tanned and luscious, he thought. "You have a good vacation, baby?" The tan made her all but glow.
"Uh-huh. Would have been better with y'all, but it was good."
"Oh, how fun would that be? We should go to the beach," he said.
"Oh, I'd like that."
His lips brushed her nipple and he gasped. "Me, too. I'd love it." Her in a bikini. Packer would go nuts. Packer loved the beaches back in Oz, too.
"We can go for Christmas break. You and me and Pack."
"Sound good, baby." He rubbed against her, his cock sliding between her thighs.
"Good. Not now. Now it's you and me."
"Just us." He kissed her jaw line, the spot under her ear.
"Mmmhmm. Just us." Soft and willing underneath him.
Adrian couldn't wait any more. He had to be inside her. Just had to. Adrian pulled back, spreading her legs wider, settling in.
"Yes. Yes, Ades. Please." She was so wet that he slid in, her walls clinging to his cock.
"Baby." He stopped a moment, trying to breathe. "Oh, god."
"Mmmhmm." Her hips moved, body sliding on his prick.
"Calleigh." God, he loved being inside her. She felt like nothing else, ever. Like a lock to his key, which was a cliché, but there it was.
"Love you." Her lips were against his ear, against his jaw.
"Yes. Oh. Yeah." Adrian moved faster, his hips rolling, his ass clenched hard to get good thrust.
Her hands were all over him like a cheap suit, nails digging in a little, scraping over his skin. Adrian shifted to get a better angle before moving faster, driving them higher and higher.
"Oh, Jesus. Ades!" Her hand slipped between them, fingers rubbing her clit but good.
"Come on, baby. I've got to-- we have to hurry."
"Uh-huh." He felt her, clenching around him, jerking on his prick.
Oh, thank god. His balls drew up and his eyes rolled and Adrian poured maybe three days of tension right into Calleigh's body. She hummed for him, held him as he slumped down on her.
"Thank you, baby girl." He nuzzled at her neck, licking salt from her skin.
"Love you." She held on tight.
"Yes." They needed a shower, and they probably needed to talk. He was just so tired, though, and she was so warm and perfect.
"Sleep, Ades. Rest a little."
"Stay with me?" He knew she should get back to Pack, but he had to leave soon.
"I promise."
"Thanks, baby." Adrian settled in even better, his breath deepening, his eyes dropping closed. Right before he fell asleep -- a good, deep sleep for the first time in days -- he felt her lips on his temple, easing him down.
***
Calleigh had left Adrian still sleeping hard at six a.m. and headed to the hospital, wearing a pair of jeans and a comfy T-shirt, something she could help out in. They'd be wanting Packer up and moving today, using the toilet, all that good stuff. She figured he'd hate having her help, but a friendly face was better than a stranger.
The wing Packer was in was still quiet, the nurses on duty telling her that visiting hours weren't open yet. Now, it was amazing what happened when she told them she was an RN. She slid into his room, careful not to wake him, and checked his vitals.
Bless his heart, he was one giant bruise. The collarbone was going to be a bitch. Ultimately it would be worse than the leg considering what he did for a living.
She took his blood pressure as carefully as she could, recording the numbers. Not bad.
Those long eyelashes fluttered, Packer's lips moving a little.
"Shh. You're okay, Pack. I've got you."
"Cal..." He swallowed and tried again. "Calleigh?"
Well, that was a fabulous sign. He knew who she was, and considering how little time they'd spent together, that meant he was fairly aware.
"That's right, lover. Ades called and I came running." Ridiculous, but true.
He blinked, his eyes dark as night. "Calleigh? It really is you, huh, luv?"
"It is. How're you doing?" She leaned down, kissed his cheek.
"Fair, I reckon." He grinned a little, just enough to pull his mouth. "You look good."
"Thank you. You look like hammered shit." She winked, got the glass of water from his bedside table and held the straw to his mouth.
He drank just enough to get everything wet, not enough to make him sick. She got the feeling he'd been down this road before. "Adrian? He all right? Did he ride?"
"Yeah, yeah, he did. He did good. Eighth overall."
"Good on him." Packer swallowed again, like he was testing his lips and tongue. "How'm I doing?"
"Not bad. Two pins. Leg looks good. Clavicle's going to take longer to heal than that."
"Yeah." He grimaced. "This bed is for shit."
"I've got the truck. I'll be able to take you home in a couple days." She figured she could stay at Packer's at least until Adrian got back on a long break, surely, and if he needed his space sooner, she'd step back and punt.
Selling the house hadn't been her smartest decision, but at the time, she'd figured she'd never ever need it again.
"Yeah?" He grinned a little. "All that time alone with me. Whatever will we do?"
"I'm betting one of us sleeps a lot and knits his bones." She winked at him, smoothed the hair off his forehead.
"Yeah." His eyelids drooped, his words slurring a little.
"Shh. Sleep. I got your vitals. You'll get another pain pill in an hour or so."
"When can I have a cigarette?" He was trying valiantly, but he was fading back into sleep.
Calleigh chuckled, patted his hand. "Soon."
"'Kay. Thanks, luv. For coming. Din' mean it." Then he was asleep, his body relaxing a little.
As soon as he was good and asleep, Calleigh got her stuff together. Time to get one more snuggle in with her Ades before they both came back up.
"
Fucking hell." Packer lay on the floor like an overturned turtle, completely unable to push himself up now that he was down. The leg was bad enough, but the collarbone was evil incarnate.
Goddamn, he was tired of sleeping in the big chair in the lounge instead of bed. He was tired of Adrian being a voice on the phone, and he was fucking tired of Calleigh acting like all she was to him was a bloody nursemaid and someone to answer Rob's fucking questions. Hell, Calleigh was sleeping on the fucking couch in the front room like she was a stranger. It just made no fucking sense.
"Are you down there on purpose or would you like to get up?" She'd put up with him screaming at her for every bump the entire drive down; she'd fed him, bathed him. Now she was looking at him like he was a fool.
Maybe he was.
"No, I think I'll just stay down here. Can't manage to walk."
She chuckled softly, then knelt down next to him. "You'll get cold."
"I will. I'll atrophy, too." He'd just waste away, and that would be sad.
"Not on my watch." One hand slid down his arm, the touch so fucking good. "Come on. I'll help you get up and I'll feed you. I made chili."
"Yeah?" He liked her cooking so far. She'd made a lot of soup, but hardly ever the same kind twice. He loved the chicken tortilla stuff, all spicy and tomato and cheese.
"Yep. Cornbread, too." She wore sweats and tank tops a lot. He'd seen her in jeans and boots, too, out checking the cattle, like he needed someone to do that. He had a guy living in a trailer in the acreage by the road that rode fence, fed, all that shit. She cowboyed up pretty good.
"I like your cornbread." Her cornbread was actually a revelation. She made it in cast iron, and it got crunchy bits on the outside... Heaven. He was starting to see the benefits of Texas, beyond the land thing.
"I know." Her hands kept moving on him, just letting him feel something good.
"Well, I reckon I should get up." She was strong as anything, too. She'd get him upright.
"Okay, then, come on." She knew how to do it, to get him up and stable.
They got him to his feet, and he only bellowed once. Then he was back in his fucking chair, his leg up, all his pillows arranged. He was going to go insane.
"Your face is going to stick like that." She got him his remote, a TV tray, then brought chili and milk and cornbread for him.
"It can't be much worse, luv." Packer sighed. "Sorry. I know I'm bad company."
"No biggie. In my line of work, most people are grumpy." She pulled her bright red hair back into a ponytail. "Holler if you need me; I'm going to clean up the kitchen."
"I'm not a job." He snarled it at her, and he was sorry for it, really. But he needed to say it.
Her eyes went wide, and he could see the hurt for a half second, then it was gone. "No, you're not."
Packer reached for her with his good hand, grabbing her wrist when she tried to turn away. "Sorry, luv. I really am. Did I tell you I didn't mean it? What you heard in the hotel? I was blowing off steam."
She nodded, but her eyes didn't meet his. "I know. It's okay. It's a lot, to have somebody extra around all the time."
"Extra?" He shook his head, which sent his collarbone to twinging. "Luv, you're Adrian's wife. That's not the same."
She did look at him this time. "No, it's not, but it's still the truth. At least over the last few years, y'all were the couple. I get it. I wasn't sure you'd let me tag along and play. I was tickled you did."
"Tag along..." God. He was a right bastard, if that was how she felt. "I thought it was pretty clear how much I liked you along."
"You were. We had fun. If you ever let that collarbone heal, hopefully we can do it again." She squeezed his hand, then pulled away. "You need to eat before that chili gets cold. I didn't make enough for extra this time."
"Okay." Damn it, he was tired. He wanted to argue with her some more, but he didn't have the energy to do it.
She kissed his temple, her lips warm, soft.
Oh, that was far better. Packer grinned. "Now, that I like."
Calleigh chuckled for him, her breast warm and soft against his shoulder. "Horndog."
"I am. I can't help it." He yawned hugely, his jaw popping. "A tired one."
"Well, turkey. Eat. Then you can take your pills and rest."
"'Kay. I-- thank you, Calleigh. I know you don't have to be here." He wanted her to know that it meant a lot to him.
"Sure I do." She smiled at him, then headed out -- to do dishes and then get on the damnable treadmill again, he'd bet. He heard it all hours of the day and night. She was in his workout room all the damned time.
Adrian's ringtone sounded and he grabbed his phone.
"Mate! You sound better!" Adrian said.
"I'm fucking miserable and don't you forget it, Chook." It was so good to hear Adrian's voice.
"Is our girl being mean to you?"
"No. No, she's not. She's not being all that nice, though." She wouldn't spend any time with him. She avoided him. It was making him crazed.
Adrian's laughter surprised him a little. "Ah. Nurse Calleigh. She's a tough broad, that one, but it's nice to be able to snarl at her and not have her burst into tears."
"Well, yeah. I hate to eat alone, though." Not to mention the fact that his one arm didn't work.
"You asked her to come sit, then? Because she's sounding a little lost when I talk to her."
"No. I didn't think she wanted to." Okay, half the time he couldn't stay awake once she fed him.
"Ah. Well, you might. Or not. Whatever, mate. Miss having you about, though."
All of a sudden he missed Adrian with a seriousness that made him ache. "Miss you, too, Chook, Really."
"I know."
He just barely caught sight of Calleigh, her ponytail bobbing as she disappeared. There were his pills in a little juice glass, waiting for him.
Packer blinked. Damn. She didn't have to run off. "You want to talk to Adrian, love?"
"It's okay. He'll call."
"She's making me crazy. Shoot me. I can't jack off, I can't work out..."
"Get Calleigh to help you, Pack. She's got great hands." Adrian's voice lowered. "I'd help, if I was there."
Oh. His body made a valiant attempt to come to attention. "I know. I do. Soon, yeah?"
"Two weeks and I'm home for ten days. Calleigh says you'll be in your own bed way before then."
"I hope so. The chair is old. Not as bad as the hospital, though."
"Eh, you should be here. This hotel is so nasty that Calleigh'd be sleeping in the truck."
"Better or worse than the van?" The old van they used to travel in was always the gold standard of ew.
"Worse. It smells like Hank's socks."
"Oh, you poor baby. How is Hank?"
"Good. He's riding second right now. Joa's on top at the moment."
"No shit?" Wow. Joa was good, but there was always someone who came out above him.
"For now, yeah." Adrian sighed. "The guys want pizza again."
Adrian got tired of the weird assed pizza Cotton and Garrick and Kynan dared each other to eat.
"So go have a burger. See if you can find that Landon kid." Adrian liked Landon, weird little Cajun that he was.
"Yeah. Yeah, maybe. What do you have?"
"Chili and cornbread." He knew Adrian would be jealous.
"No way! She's cooking for you?"
"Yep. Is that good?" He knew it tasted good, but he wasn’t sure if it was a good sign.
"God, yes. Otherwise you get canned."
"Oh." He wondered how he could get fired in this situation, then he realized Adrian meant tinned food. "Oh! Well, good on me, then."
"You know it." Adrian sighed for him. "Talk to her a little, huh? She wants to get to know you."
"Okay, Chook. I'll be good." He would try. Sometimes he wasn't good at good. He was a right grumpy bastard.
"Now, mate. I didn't say that..."
He laughed, knowing how Adrian would want him to be very bad. "I'll see you soon, huh?"
"Yeah, mate. Take care."
"I will. Ride good."
They hung up, and he heard Calleigh's cell ring.
"Hey, Ades. Huh? No. No, I'm trying to be helpful, but I think he'll be happier when you're back. Hmm? Running a lot. Cooking some." Her voice trailed off. She had closed herself in the workout room, and Packer didn't figure he ought to intrude. She'd let him be, after all.
Something was going to have to give, though. Packer had a bad feeling that it was going to be his sanity.
***
Packer had the most uncomfortable, evil couch on earth in his front room -- it was huge, overstuffed, leather, and completely wrong for sleeping on. Calliegh'd been on it nine days, and she'd finally figured out, if she slept with all her upper body curled on the arm, she could manage.
It was a weird situation -- Packer missed Adrian so much, and she spent a lot of time wondering if maybe she'd made a mistake, trying to be with Packer, too, because she could have feelings for him and he put up with her because she was Adrian's wife and maybe she wasn't good at that either, because Adrian had been doing fine without her and...
She sighed and checked the clock. Three a.m.
Go. To. Sleep.
This sort of thing took time, right? Right. There wasn't a textbook and there wasn't a support system and if she wanted them, then, damn it, she was going to have to work it out.
After she slept.
For fuck's sake, she had to give Pack's foreman money for feed and run for groceries and see if someone in town could fix the front step of the ranch house.
About twenty to four she got up, took a Valium with a glass of orange juice, and soon she was sound asleep. When she woke up, the sun was shining, and her left boob was stuck to the couch. And Packer was staring at her.
"I. Hey." She blinked, trying to get her shit together. "Mornin'."
"Why are you on the couch?" He sounded grumpy.
"I was sleeping."
"I know that, woman. What I don't know is why."
She sat up, straightened her tank top, and tried to unfuddle herself. "It was nighttime. Jesus, I need coffee. You want a cup?"
"I'll take some, yeah." He was standing. Not too steady, but up on his own. "I mean, why weren't you in the bed?"
"Huh? There's only the one." Besides, he hadn't offered and the guest bedrooms were filled with boxes of stuff, mostly Adrian's. She grabbed a pair of shorts from her suitcase, pushed it back behind the big chair.
"Uh-huh." He raised one dark brow. "It's not gross or anything. Why aren't you... Christ. Is that your suitcase?" He was glaring full-on now.
"Yeah..." She tugged her shorts on, trying to figure out what the fuck she'd done wrong.
"There's room for your shit in the closet!" He grimaced, like the shouting had hurt him.
"I'm sorry." She wasn't sure why he was so pissed off; her suitcase wasn't in anyone's way. "I'll put it away in a second."
Jesus. She headed for the kitchen, trying to keep her shit together, trying not to just have a meltdown.
"Calleigh." He called to her, and she could hear the thump of his big cast on the floor. "Damn it, would you come back here?"
She took a deep breath, counted to five, then turned and headed back, catching him by the waist as he tottered. "I've got you."
His good hand landed on her shoulder. "You shouldn't feel like you aren't welcome here, luv."
"I just..." She didn't know what to do and she didn't know how not to fuck things up. "I'm just trying to help out, make things easier."
"You are. Helping. But you're not some hired wench, love. You need to be comfortable, too." He sighed, shook his head. "Can we sit?"
"Okay. Sure." She led him to his chair, frowning when he shook his head. "The couch wasn't as comfy for you..."
"Well, then come on and let's go sit in the bedroom." He stared at the chair a moment. "I'm getting a real hate-on for the chair."
"I bet." She let her hand slide across his lower back, massaging a little. It felt so good for her to touch him in some way that wasn't impersonal and nurse-like.
He led her into the bedroom and she got him settled, got pillows propped around him. Then he held out his good hand and pulled her down when she took it. He grunted with what sounded like satisfaction.
She didn't know what to say, so she didn't say anything. Truthfully she could just lie down right here and sleep.
Packer yawned hugely, so big she heard his jaw pop. "C'mere, luv." He pulled her just close enough to give her a little kiss.
"Oh." She wanted to cuddle in, to rest for a little while. She was so fucking tired.
"Mmmhmm. Feels so good." Packer sounded happy, a little fuzzy.
"Not hurting you?"