18. Carter
Chapter 18
Carter
J une’s warm body curled into mine, her legs slipping between mine like a lifeline. Her head nestled on my shoulder, and her hand rested softly on my chest, the weight of it grounding me. Each breath she took resounded in the tranquil room. The rise and fall of her body pressed against me, a serene comfort that I didn’t deserve.
The hotel’s alarm clock cast a faint red glow over the room, cutting through the shadows like a distant warning light. Outside, doors clicked shut in the hallway, the sounds slipping through the paper-thin walls. No doubt, the temporary neighbors heard every gasp and moan that slipped from her lips.
I drew in a slow breath, my chest rising beneath her, causing her to shift, her body tipping away from me. She rolled, the back of her hand wiping her mouth with a limp arm as she turned her back to me, mumbling incoherent words.
Viiiirrrrrbbbbb.
Viirrbb. Virrrb.
I groaned, reaching for my phone as it buzzed on the edge of the nightstand. I dragged it to my ear and exhaled. “Hello?”
“Dr. Morgan, it’s Felicity.” Clearing my throat, I glanced back at June, her breaths at a steady pace, the lean angles of her back making my cock swell. “Give me one second.” I tossed the sheets off, pulled on a pair of pants, and stepped out of the hotel room. “What’s going on?”
“We are getting slammed here. I need you to come in and assist.”
I pinched the bridge of my bruised nose and winced. “Felicity, I’m on vacation. My time doesn’t end until Thursday afternoon.”
“I know. I know. I’m sorry. And I wouldn’t ask if it wasn’t important. But we have a backlog, and we are falling behind. The sheriff’s department is on my ass and—“
“Whoa.” I breathed out. “Slow down. It’s six in the morning, and I had a long night.” I leaned against the wall, tucking my hand into my pocket, wanting a repeat button. “One thing at a time.”
“Sure. Right. Sorry. I’ve been up all night on a sixteen-hour shift, and the espresso shots are kicking in.”
My brows hiked. “How many times have I told you to lay off of those while working? You have a sloppy hand. Remember the Tesco debacle?”
“Yes. Sorry. I know. It’s just that—“
“Stop giving me excuses and tell me what’s going on.” My molars ground together as a family of five ambled past me, their suitcases rolling behind them. I gave them a courtesy smile. “Start from the beginning.”
“It’s a logistical nightmare.” Papers rattled in the background like she’d stacked them together and plopped them on some surface beside her. “St. Mercy’s coolers had a catastrophic failure. The department reached out, asking if we could take some excess waiting for processing until the coolers got fixed... or, in this case, replaced.”
“So ask the surrounding hospitals if they can help take the load off.”
“I have. They’re at capacity.”
I frowned. “All of them?”
“Yes.”
“Okay, and you’re behind because why?”
“The system overloaded. IT is working on it, but I have to do all the paperwork by hand.”
“So you have excess cases without a working computer system?”
“Correct.”
I sighed. “Without help? ”
“I have the other technicians helping with the papers and borrowed a few transcriptionists from the hospitals. But I have fifteen autopsies that need processing today. The bloodwork can’t be entered into the system... because I don’t have a system, and the sheriff is down my throat because of the big murder case involving one of their own.” She gasped as though she ran out of breath.
“Relax, Felicity.” I leaned against the wall, staring at the closed door where she slept. “Can’t the hospital send over a few to help since they are twiddling their thumbs without a cooler?”
“Again.” She breathed into the phone. “They are busy attending to everyone else. It’s like I got thrown to the wayside. No one cares about Felicity Grant.”
My molars grated together, creating an abhorrent noise. “I can be there in ten hours. That’s the best I can do.”
“Oh, my God. You’re a lifesaver. Really. I wouldn’t have called you if it wasn’t important, but you know how I can’t tolerate so much activity at once. It stimulates my prefrontal cortex, and I short circuit like a robot on iRobot.”
“Felicity?”
“Yeah- hmm .”
“Get your work done, and I’ll see you tonight.”
“Right, boss man. Thank you. You’re a godsend. No, really—“ Her voice trailed away as I pulled the phone from my ear and hung up.
“Dammit.” Tipping my head against the wall, I breathed out through my nose, my eyes closed .
As if I don’t have enough to deal with.
Flipping through the contacts on my phone, I tapped Rooster’s number and let it ring.
“This is Rooster.”
“I need a favor.”
“I’m all ears, Carter. But you do know it’s six in the morning?”
“Yeah. Sorry, it can’t wait.” I nodded. “I need you to look into a few houses for me.”
“Not happy with yours already?”
“ Heh, no. This is for...” Girlfriend? Friend? Goddess... “I have a family moving into town, and I want to set them up near me.”
“Alright. Got an idea on house size, specs, needs, wants, desires?”
I frowned. “It’s an older couple. No kids. They currently live in a two-bedroom cabin that has been theirs from the fifties.”
“And they’re moving away from it? Damn. Alright. Price range?”
“Doesn’t matter. Just find something and get back to me. I want the papers signed and completed within thirty days.”
“ Oof. You know, that’s kind of pushing it. It all depends on the sellers and everything accepting your offer—“
“Rooster. I get it. I want you to do what you can to bring it to a close ASAP.”
“You know I’ll do my best.”
“That’s all I ask for.” I hung up and stepped back into the hotel room, my adrenaline rising, making me amped for a dreaded eight-hour car ride.
“ Mmm .“ June stretched her arms above her head, her toes pointed beneath the sheets. “Where did you go so early?”
“Work.” I held up my phone and then pocketed it. “Speaking of... I hate to rush this...” Crawling onto the bed, I braced myself above her and kissed her button nose. “But we need to leave. The office is in crisis mode, and they need my help.”
She frowned as she pulled her arms free and wrapped them around my neck. “You need to work right away?”
“Unfortunately.” I nuzzled into her neck. “But it’ll be the evening by the time we get home, and you can settle down, watch a movie, or take that bath you wanted.”
She groaned with a dizzying smile. “After what you put me through last night. I could use a jacuzzi.”
“I’ve got that too.”
Her brows jumped. “Made something of yourself, eh, Carter Morgan?”
“You could say that.” I nibbled on her neck, drinking in her honeyed scent. “Come on.” I pulled away, my raging hard-on trapped in a linen prison, and slapped her thigh. “We need to get food in your belly, and the breakfast bar just opened up downstairs.”
“Oh, pancakes sound divine.”
“Sorry, only waffles. But I promise I’ll make you pancakes tomorrow morning.”
She smiled, lighting up the room as though she possessed the power of the sun. “I’ll hold you to it.” Flipping the sheets off her body, she dug through her bag of clothes and tossed a shirt over her head as I found mine, her nipples pebbling against the fabric.
“I think we need to get you some undergarments.” I pulled the shirt on and stared at her nipples.
She frowned and glanced down at her slender frame. “Why? You don’t like me being naked anymore?”
I groaned and stepped into her, enclosing my arms around her waist and lifting her into the air. “Quite the opposite.”
She bound her legs around me, her fingers tracing the rough edge of my week-old scruff, and then kissed me, so soft and delicate, like a whisper that wouldn’t stir even a sleeping child. “So it drives you crazy?”
“You know it does.” I ground my hips into her, letting my hard cock rub against her skin, her center wetting my pants.
“Well, you’re going to have to live with it now. I’ve grown accustomed to going commando.”
We stood in silence, my hands braced beneath her ass, my gaze darting to the clock.
Do we have time?
I need to be inside her.
It’s not like I have to be there in ten hours on the dot.
A smile broke my lips, and I tossed her onto the bed. She squealed as I unzipped my pants, and I buried myself between her legs in one rough thrust, riding her scent into oblivion.