37. Logan
Logan
“This makes no sense!” I say, growing more frustrated by the second. It definitely doesn’t help that Chase and I’s conversation got interrupted at lunch, leaving things unresolved. I’m worried about him, and it’s shortening my fuse.
“Look, I know you’ve flown in worse weather,” the aviation director says. “Before we merged, this call would belong to me. But when they restructured, they stripped me of that power. If they ground you, there’s nothing I can do.”
I hold out the phone with the call from dispatch still connected.
“Tell that to the lady who’s bleeding out on a back road down south and needs a fucking helicopter to save her life.” Putting the phone to my ear, I tell dispatch to stand by, then look back at my boss. “Give me their number,” I demand.
“Whose number?”
“The person whose call it is. I’m going to relay every detail you and I just sat here and listened to while they try to tell me a little wind and rain are enough to keep me on the ground.
Don’t you remember that shitstorm I flew in a few months ago?
I should have been grounded then, but you sent me out. ”
“You know I can’t give you that number. We’ll both lose our jobs.”
I think back over some of the runs I’ve made. All I’ve wanted was for this job to matter, and tonight it does.
With my mind made up, I look my boss dead in the eye and say, “If the paycheck takes precedence over a patient, maybe we should.”
I need him to leave. I need him to get the hell out of my flight locker so I can pull on my flight suit, disobey orders, and get to the woman who needs to be airlifted to safety.
I knew I was crossing a line when I accused my boss of valuing his paycheck over the patient, but as it turns out, that’s exactly the reason they tried to ground me.
More budget cuts meant they didn’t want to pay for the fuel to get my chopper to the crash site and back.
It was as busy a flight day as I thought it would be based on what I saw when I drove into the hospital.
I went anyway.
The weather was a nonfactor. EMS loaded my patient, and one of them even rode back with me to monitor her after learning I’d come out alone.
Once I touch down on the roof of the hospital, they can’t turn her away. The trauma team is standing at the ready, and I recognize Dr. Porter at the front, as usual. While the team straps the patient down, I apologize.
“I was told not to go out for her, but she’s someone’s daughter, mother, sister, friend. Do what you can. I’ll take the heat.”
Dr. Porter nods, and I know it’s the only acknowledgment I’m going to get.
Hell, it’s all I need.
I finish the restock and head to the flight locker to strip out of my flight suit when my boss bursts through the doors.
“What the fuck was that, Kirkland?” he shouts. “You think it’s funny to disobey orders and make me get my ass chewed out in the middle of the goddamn night just to remind you that you don’t have the authority to run off with a helicopter whenever you please?”
“Funny isn’t the word I’d use to describe a woman whose femoral artery was severed, and the help she needed was being kept from her due to fucking budget cuts,” I snarl.
“Cut the shit, Kirkland. We can’t save everyone. You know that,” Mark fires.
“No, we can’t. But we could save her,” I reply, pushing my flight suit down my legs and stepping out of my shoes to fully remove it.
“Look, Logan, the stunt you pulled in Montana to save your friend’s life was heroic. We admired that, but—”
“But it was only heroic because it didn’t cost you a dime,” I finish for him.
“I’m sorry, but the CEO wants me to let you go, effective immediately.”
I stare at him with wide eyes.
“For doing my damn job? Make it make sense, Mark.”
I can’t lose my job. It’s not like there’s a ton of opportunities for helicopter pilots around here.
Besides, Chase and I are finally getting somewhere.
I just told him I could support him if he switches residency programs. I need this job.
I don’t want to run anymore. I don’t want to move on to the next thing.
I want to stay here… with him. I want to help save lives, like he does.
My panic is rising.
I don’t want to let Chase down.
“I’m sorry,” Mark continues. “David doesn’t want a wildcard on the team. He needs to know his orders will be followed without question.”
“But that’s insane. I fucking saved her life!” I bellow in the small space. I know I should shut my damn mouth. Yelling at my boss isn’t going to help me keep my job, but dammit, they’re wrong. This is wrong.
“My hands are tied, Logan. Clean out your locker and head home. You’re done.”
It only took sixteen minutes after landing for them to fire me.
I am terrified to tell Chase. Mostly because it means crushing his dreams.
When I get home, I push my bedroom door open, set my bag down, and head straight into my bathroom for a quick shower. As soon as the day…well, night…is washed off me, I towel myself dry, slip into clean boxers, and climb into—
A huge, warm body is sprawled across my bed.
Chase.
He’s still asleep as I carefully slide in beside him, but he instinctively throws an arm across my chest and burrows into my side.
I rub my hand along the thick forearm now draped across my body. A second later, his lips find my skin, and I smile.
Sneaky bastard.
“You forget where your room is?” I tease quietly.
“No, but I like yours better because it smells like you.”
My heart threatens to fucking explode.
“Does it?” I ask, my whisper full of gravel, giving away the emotions I feel.
“Mmhm,” Chase hums, skimming his hand across my body.
“Keep doing that, and neither of us will be sleeping for the foreseeable future,” I warn, pushing the shitshow that was my night to the back of my mind. Chase’s body heat helps my tension melt away.
“Just making sure you’re really here,” he says, his words getting trapped in my armpit as he nuzzles closer.
“I’m really here,” I confirm, holding him to me tightly, doing my best to convey that he’s not alone, he’s safe, and he’s always welcome in my arms.
When I wake up four hours later, his side of the bed is empty. After brushing my teeth, I grab a T-shirt and have it slipped halfway over my head when warm hands land on my torso.
The cheesy grin Chase gives me causes my own smile to spread across my face as my head pokes through the neck hole.
“I see no need for this,” Chase says, pulling my shirt back off.
“So, you’d have me show up to Stone and Hanlon’s wedding weekend in nothing but my boxers?” I ask, settling my hands on Chase’s pecs. Seems fair since he’s touching me.
Chase stares at me, breathing heavily through his nostrils.
I’m about to ask him what’s wrong when he asks, “Can I kiss you?”
“You don’t have to ask, Chase. You can kiss me anytime you want to,” I inform him, dragging the knuckle of my index finger across his lips.
“Yeah?”
I nod. “Yeah.”
He leans into my space, and I welcome him eagerly.
That damn throaty growl of his makes the butterflies bypass my stomach and head straight for my fucking balls.
His hands reach behind me to cup my ass as I willingly grind against him.
Chase devours my mouth, making me believe he’s been starving for this as much as I have. There’s no hesitation, no second-guessing, no embarrassment about what he wants.
And it’s so fucking hot.
I roll my hips against him, practically climbing him as I claw at his shirt, needing to feel his skin against mine.
Chase chuckles.
“We need to hit the road,” he says.
“Then you shouldn’t have started this.”
As soon as his shirt lands on the floor next to mine, my fingers begin working the button on his jeans, ravenous for this man.
Chase doesn’t stop me, but I slow my movements anyway.
“What’s wrong?” he asks.
“You’re sure about this?” I hold up a hand before he can answer because I’m not done yet. “You just ended an eight-year relationship. Don’t you want time to—”
“Date?” he asks, cutting me off. “‘Figure things out’?”
“I was going to say heal,” I tell him.
He chews on his bottom lip.
“This probably makes me the world’s biggest asshole, but I’m not heartbroken.
If anything, I feel relieved. Like, maybe I’d put pressure on myself to be the perfect boyfriend, or I’d somehow come to believe that being in a stable relationship made me a better man and a better doctor. It completed the image, you know?”
I nod.
“You’re a good enough man and doctor on your own, Chase. You don’t need anyone to make you better, and you certainly don’t have to portray some image. You just have to be you.”
“I’m learning that. It’s hard to undo a lifetime of expectations, though.”
“One day at a time,” I tell him.
“It’s easier with you,” he admits, leaning down to kiss me again.
Understanding that he doesn’t want to talk anymore, I focus my attention on getting his pants down. Once I unzip his jeans, I hook my fingers in the waistband of both his jeans and his boxers and begin to push them down slowly.
So slowly he can tell exactly what I want and has plenty of time to stop me.
But he doesn’t.
As soon as his cock springs free, I can’t hold myself back. I’m already dropping to my knees as I tell him I’m going to put it in my mouth.
Thankfully, he’s on board with this plan, and he already has one hand threaded through the hair on the back of my head, drawing me closer.
“Yes, please,” he whines in a strained whisper.
I don’t bother teasing him because I’m an impatient bastard when it comes to Chase Matthews, and we’ve both waited long enough.
Surging forward, I pull the entire head of his hard cock into my mouth.
“Ahh!” he cries above me, pitching forward. He catches himself with a hand on the bed, but the movement drives him farther down my throat.
That’s it, baby. Give it to me, I think to myself as my air supply disappears for a brief second.
With my hands on his thighs, I can feel the restraint Chase is trying to show by the way the muscles in his thighs are corded and tight. Wanting him to relax, I pull off his dick and move around on my knees on the floor to spin our position so the backs of his legs are against the edge of my bed.
Then I push until he sits.
Chase instinctively spreads his knees wide and leans back to get a better view as I take his cock in my hand and guide it past my lips.
“Ohmygod that mouth of yours,” Chase pants above me.
Grinning like a damn fool, I suck deeper and bob faster, using my other hand to tug on his balls. His knees spread wider still, telling me he likes what I’m doing.
Taking a chance, I dip my hand lower.
He’s sitting on his ass, so access isn’t great, but I can get close enough to apply pressure.
As soon as my finger finds his hole, Chase lets out a low moan and thrusts his hips forward.
The muscles in my own ass are burning from the angle, but I don’t dare let up. With one hand now cupping his balls while my finger massages his hole, my other hand is working in tandem with my mouth, shuttling up and down his gorgeous cock.
I groan as precum pours from him, appeasing my taste buds.
“Oh fuck, Logan.”
Ah, music to my ears.
Chase’s fingers tighten in my hair.
“Ungh, gonna come,” he announces a second before his stomach muscles contract, slinging his torso upright so he’s practically folded in half over me as he releases into my mouth.
I suck him greedily until finally, he’s tapping my head, trying to get me to back off his sensitive flesh.
But I need more.
I need to come right fucking now.
Discarding my boxers, I crawl up Chase’s body as he slides back on the bed, clearly willing to give me what I want.
It doesn’t matter that his spent cock is deflating; the friction from dry humping him will be enough to set me off, just like before. Planting my knees on either side of his thighs, I let out a harsh breath as I rut against him, dragging my rigid length across his body.
Suddenly, Chase’s hands are on my ass, pushing me up his torso.
“Where do you want me?” I ask, trying to help him.
“In my mouth.”
My cock bounces in anticipation, but I ignore it.
“You’re sure? There’s no pressure here, Chase.”
“I know, Logan. I want to. Don’t deny me,” he adds with a smirk.
“Wouldn’t fucking dream of it,” I tell him, climbing higher and wrapping my fingers over the edge of the headboard.
It’s an awkward angle and won’t be comfortable for Chase, but I’m holding on by a thread as it is. At least it won’t take long.
I try to position my hips so it’s a little easier for him to take me, but before I can, Chase picks his head up off the pillow and chokes himself on my cock.
I pull my hips back immediately.
“Easy,” I command.
He nods and drops his head back onto the pillow, allowing me to feed him my dick at this better angle.
Chase hums around the head as his tongue explores the underside, making my ass clench. The move lifts me off him just a little, and as I settle back down, he grips my hips, pushing and pulling me so I’m fucking his face. The range of motion stays shallow, but he’s hitting the most sensitive parts.
Looking down, I have a bird’s-eye view of my dick disappearing into his mouth, and it’s fucking glorious. I brush his hair back so I can grip the short strands.
“If you don’t want to swallow, that’s cool, but I’ll need to move right now,” I inform him, the on-ramping happening even quicker than I’d anticipated.
His hands grip me harder, holding me firmly in place.
“Chase…fuck…”
“Mmm,” he hums, kicking me right over the edge.
My entire body trembles as my orgasm tears through me. I’m barely conscious enough to make sure I don’t choke him, wanting to drive my cock so far down his throat I’m in his stomach, but since he has control of my hips, I let myself go and trust him to control the depth.
As soon as the last shiver of pleasure races down my spine, I sink down to the mattress and roll off Chase.
“So…that was okay then?” Chase asks, rolling to his side to look at me.
Moving closer, I lick the corner of his mouth, where a drop of my cum still rests.
“That was way better than okay.”
Grinning, Chase rolls away from me.
“Now we need to get going.”
The reminder that I’m going to be face-to-face with Stone soon still makes me nervous, but a lot less so with Chase by my side.