Chapter 36 The Medic
The Medic
Luke
Everyone is sleeping when I sneak out of my house and drive over to Harper’s. My father’s flight isn’t until the morning, and the sounds of him fucking that woman carry through the house. At least I escaped the dinner table before he came.
Fucking asshole.
I find a spot down the block to park and slip into Harper’s house. I listen for an alarm beeping. Harper said her mother would install a security system, but they apparently haven’t gotten around to it. Jack can get them set up this week.
The low glow of the TV set and the hum of voices comes from the living room. As I creep through, a lamp switches on. I freeze.
“You might as well come have a seat for a moment, Luke.” Harper’s mother. Fuck.
Time to face the music. I blow out a breath and walk into the lighted area, taking a seat in the armchair. Parents don’t usually make me nervous, but she’s not like most parents I know. This time I’m definitely caught.
Wincing from the ache in my side, I relax into the chair and lean my elbows on my knees.
“You got hurt?” Jennifer Davidson is a grown-up version of Harper with a few differences aside from her age. Her nose is a little wider, and she has a scar beside her lip. She has on long pajama pants and a cotton t-shirt.
Did she know she would catch one of us sneaking in tonight? Or did she know it would be me?
“Yes, ma’am.” I clasp my hands between my knees.
She gives me this look that instantly makes my back straighten. “Did you have it looked at?”
“No, ma’am. It’s fine.”
“Yeah, fuck that.” Jennifer stands and gestures toward the kitchen. “The lighting is better in here.”
She flips a few light switches as I slowly follow her into the kitchen. I don’t know what the hell is going on. But I just basically walked into her house uninvited so she’s leading this interrogation.
An emergency medical kit sits on the island. Maybe she did figure I’d be the one creeping in. Opening it, she pulls out a couple of latex gloves. “Show me.”
Fuck it. She’s not kicking me out. Yet.
I pull my t-shirt up to show her my bruised side. She’s shorter than me but most people are. She comes in close, and I get a hint of coconut before pain fires through me as she pokes at the bruises.
“Feels like your ribs are intact. Does it hurt to breathe?”
“No.” My teeth clench at the pain.
“Any blood in your urine?”
“No.”
Her dark eyes look at me sternly. “Is that all? Or did you get another injury?”
“I hit my head,” I admit. I’m not sure why, but her authority carries weight. At least more than my father’s and the other adults in my life.
Maybe she just thinks I got into a fight.
She grabs a chair and gestures for me to sit down. I feel compelled to follow her directions. When I sit in front of her, her fingers comb through my hair, looking for wounds.
“I remember you.” Her words are soft.
I say nothing, because what can I say? I don’t know what she remembers.
“The first time you were two. A toddler fracture and nursemaid’s elbow.” Her fingers find the sore spot, and I hiss in a breath. “The second time you were five. Bruises on your back and hips. You’d fallen down some stairs. Again.”
My lips press together. I don’t remember those times, but I remember the times after that.
Her fingers gently check the wound. “When you were eight, he got more inventive. Boys roughhousing was the new excuse.”
She touches the scar that ER visit left behind. “I tried to reason with the attending doctor, but he laughed me off. That’s the last time I was allowed to see you.”
She steps back and looks me over for more injuries. “Anywhere else?”
I shake my head. My breathing is a little shallow. As a kid, I never spoke out. I knew better. My dad had everyone in his pocket.
“You’ll live.” Her gloves snap as she takes them off and throws them away. “Have you taken any painkillers?”
I shake my head again. She goes to the cabinet and pulls out a glass, filling it with water. She picks up a medicine bottle and pours out two pills.
“I assume Harper told you about what I said. You staying in the guest room?” She holds out the glass and pills which I take.
“Yes, ma’am.” I’m not supposed to be here tonight. Her mom is here. She’s safe, but I can’t seem to stay away. I wasn’t sleeping at home, not without her curled up next to me.
“In the morning, I’ll forget to check on her, but I expect to find you or Caden in the guest bedrooms on mornings I get home from work.”
My brow furrows. I expected her to send me home. She sighs at my confusion.
“Go up to bed, Luke. Don’t make me regret this.” She puts away the things in her emergency bag.
“Thank you, ma’am.”
“If you’re going to sleep here, you might as well call me Jennifer.” Her brown eyes meet mine, and I see that fierce protectiveness I’ve seen in Harper’s. “I hate the word ma’am.”
“Thank you, Jennifer.”
“Good night, Luke.”
Half in a daze, I climb the stairs and slip into Harper’s room.
The soft glow of the computer screen reveals her.
She’s in the center of her bed with the sheet kicked off.
I half expect Jennifer to storm in and yell at me in front of Harper to make a point.
It’s something my dad might have done when I was younger.
I sit in Harper’s chair and slip off my shoes while I listen to Jennifer come up the stairs and pause for a second outside Harper’s door. My breath catches, but she keeps going down the hall until I hear her door shut.
It doesn’t make sense, but I’m too tired to care at this point. This is a gift I won’t refuse. I undress down to my boxers before joining Harper on the bed. She rolls to me and snuggles against me as I pull the sheet over us.
When I glance at the computer screen, I see Nico watching. He and I are going to need to have a talk and soon. If I can deal with my jealousy and not take it out on any of the others, he sure as hell can deal with his, if for no other reason than how it affects Harper.
She cares for all of us.
He closes his eyes and rolls away. I release my breath and sink into her warmth.
Harper
I’m surrounded by warmth and Luke’s soft seductive scent. My fingers press against the solid muscle beneath them. I expected him to come to my bed. I even waited up so I could talk to him, but I must have fallen asleep at some point.
“Luke,” I whisper.
He breathes out as he pulls me tighter against him. I’m on his right side, half-draped over him, so at least I’m not pressing into his bruise. I press a kiss to his chest before falling back to sleep.
The next time I wake my alarm is going off. I try to reach my nightstand, but Luke’s arm is heavy around my waist, and he draws me back against him. He’s curled around me. I turn to look at his face, but his eyes are closed.
“I need to turn off my alarm before it wakes my mom,” I whisper.
“She knows I’m here. Hit snooze,” he murmurs.
“What?” I straighten like she’s in the room and seeing us like this, but my room is empty. He releases me enough to grab my phone. I hit my snooze, but I’m not relaxed, like she’ll come through that door and question my life choices.
“Your mom caught me sneaking in last night.” He draws me in tighter against his body. “Relax, Harper. She said she wouldn’t check this morning.”
What the actual fuck. “Yeah, I’m going to require more information, Death.”
He breathes out, tickling the hair around my ear. “If I have to explain it, I’ll fuck you while I do so. If you want more sleep, I’ll tell you in the shower. While I fuck you.”
I shake my head. “Fine. I’ll sleep.”
But I don’t, even as he relaxes behind me. I can’t get my heart to stop pounding. How much is my mom actually aware of? I thought we were being careful and getting away with things. But obviously not.
How did she know they would sneak in last night? She talked about other nights when she wasn’t here. Does she assume I’m that reckless or that the guys are?
I must doze a little because when my alarm rings again, Luke’s arm loosens as he rolls to his back. I grab my phone and shut the alarm off.
“So, we probably shouldn’t shower together.” I meet his pale eyes. It’s one thing to creep around and have sex and sleep together. But it’s weird if my mom knows he slept here and then we have sex. It’s like I’m taking advantage of her.
Sliding off the bed, Luke grabs me and lifts me against him.
“Put me down,” I whisper.
“Not happening, princess. We snoozed. We both need a quick shower, so let’s get it done.” He pushes the bathroom door open with his foot and releases me as he closes the door.
“Luke...” I’ve got to talk some sense into him. But how do I reason with him when every inch of him is perfectly molded muscle?
He turns on the shower and then backs me against the wall with his hands on either side of my head. Fuck, I love this feeling of being vulnerable to him. Did they make me crave this or was this already something programmed in me?
His hard cock stretches his boxers, and the bruise on his side still looks nasty. I tip my head up, and our eyes collide. My heart beats a little harder, a little wilder.
When he captures my lips, any resistance I might have had melts. He grabs my tank top and lifts it until he releases my mouth to tug it over my head. He recaptures my mouth as his warm chest presses against mine.
I moan into his mouth. I’m helpless to resist him. My nipples harden into tight achy peaks. His hands push my shorts and panties down as mine work on his boxers. When he lifts me, I wrap around him.
“Your mom stopped me last night and wanted to look over my bruise.” He sets me on my feet in the shower, handing me the shampoo bottle. I fill my hands and hand it to him. As he puts shampoo in his hands, I raise up on my toes and shampoo his hair.
Our wet bodies slide against each other, making tingles float through me.
“Go on.” I try to say casually but my voice deepens with desire.
Gently, he lathers my hair. “She checked my side and my head.”
He releases a sigh as I push him back into the water so we can rinse. When we step back, I grab the conditioner and pour a little in my hand and then more in his for my hair.
“She said she expects to find one of us in the guest bedroom when she gets home at six in the morning.” His fingers linger in my hair, rubbing the conditioner in the strands. He stills, and his eyes capture mine. “She remembers me.”
I tip my head. “Remembers?”
He drops his hands to my hips. “When I was a kid, probably whatever nanny I had brought me into the ER when my father took things too far.”
Feeling his tension, I massage the back of his neck. He closes his eyes as he leans into my touch.
“Your mom said when she tried to say something, they stopped letting her work on me.” His blue eyes find mine. “I didn’t think anyone cared.”
I can imagine my mom fighting for any child. “I care.”
He smiles, but it doesn’t quite reach his eyes. “You’re too soft. You care about us when we set out to use you.”
“Are you still using me, Luke?” I ask softly as I maneuver us back under the water to rinse.
He tips his head back and rinses out his hair before changing sides so I can get my hair rinsed. His fingers work through my hair to help. They’re strong and soothing.
He grabs my soap and lathers it in his hands. “Would you believe me if I said no?”
My heart skips a little. There’s something vulnerable in his eyes as he washes me. His bare hands stroking over my body. Awareness trickles through me with everywhere his hands touch.
“Yes, because you don’t lie to me.” I grab the soap and quickly get to work on scrubbing him down. But I take my time to work on his chest and abs and stroking his hard cock with my soapy hands.
By the time we’re finished, we’re both panting. His eyes have darkened. He draws me under the water to rinse off before backing me against the wall. He lifts my legs and I wrap around him again. I need him, crave him.
He stills against me.
“I’m not sure what we’re doing now, but I need to protect you. I need you to help me sleep. It feels wrong when you aren’t in my arms.” Our eyes are locked. His cock nudges at my entrance before he thrusts into me deep. “You’re ours, princess.”
I gasp as his cock stretches me. Part of me whispers for now. But my heart thumps, buying in to the sweet things they say and the lengths they’re willing to go to make sure I’m with them in the next chapter of our lives.
But it’s still so early. Here in this moment though, I’m his.
I give in to the feelings swelling inside me as our eyes lock, and we rock together, chasing our release. It feels like too much, too intimate, after all the things we’ve done together.
When his forehead touches mine, his pale blue eyes are almost black with desire. He’s here with me. He wants to be here with me. Maybe it’s time to really let that sink in.
His hand slips between us and circles my clit. My lips part as he pushes me higher and higher.
“Luke,” I whisper. I’m falling, and he’s there with me as I come around his cock and he fills me. We strain to get as close as possible as my pussy convulses around him.
Together we breathe as we come back down to earth.
When he kisses me, for a second, everything feels perfect. He helps me back to my feet, and we rinse and wash a little before we grab towels.
As I’m drying off, he sighs.
“My father.” He wraps the towel around his waist and touches me like he can’t bear not to.
I swallow because I’m not sure I’m ready to hear what his father wants. That guy gives me the creeps.
“Your father took something he wants back.” Luke searches my eyes as I process what he’s saying.
“My father?” My brain melts down a little. Not able to comprehend. My father isn’t a part of my life. I don’t even know where he went. He’s never reached out. Never tried to be part of my life.
Luke cups my cheek. “He worked for my dad, and when he disappeared, he took something important to my father.”
“What?”
“I don’t know, princess, but we’re going to find out.”