18. Chapter 18
eighteen
“Yes, we asked Stella to tell her parents if Mona shows up and to ask her not to hide again,” Amanda said to Patrick on the phone.
They’d made it back to the car just before the rain hit, and Amanda made the call before Gene even started the engine. He could feel her bubbling excitement. She could barely sit still in her seat as she spoke.
“No, she didn’t know Mona’s last name, but we now know we’re looking for two children,” she replied to whatever Patrick said. “How do we find them, Patrick? Can we establish a search party? How do we go about doing that?”
Her nose scrunched with worry as she listened to his answer. He wondered what Patrick said that made Amanda upset.
Thank goodness the storm had blown north of them, and they were only experiencing a bit of rain. It would be extra dangerous for those kids if the storm had hit them.
“Stella thinks they have a tent, but we don’t know that for sure,” she said. “They’re out there in the dark woods, wet and scared.”
After a pause, she replied in a resigned tone, “I understand. No, I do. Please let me know as soon as you can. I’d appreciate it. Thanks.”
Amanda hung up and fell back against her seat with an exaggerated sigh.
“What did Patrick say?” Gene asked.
“He’ll need to verify Stella’s story himself and write an official report before he can request a search party. And so far, this entire case has been unofficial based on my story.”
Gene understood Amanda’s frustration, but also Patrick’s limitation.
She gestured to the rain. “Mona and her brother are out there in this.”
“I know,” Gene agreed. “But we can’t search in the dark, either. We’ll risk injuries and getting lost, too.”
Amanda didn’t respond, but she knew he was right.
“Listen, at least the storm missed us,” he added. “So far, based on what we’ve learned from Stella, Mona seemed to have planned on hiding. She brought supplies. Let’s hope it includes a tent and portable lights. And it sounded like the food Stella gave her should last them for at least another day. Mona sounds smart. I bet she picked this place because it has access to water and bathroom facilities. There are also plenty of pavilions they could seek shelter under.”
“You’re assuming a lot about a fifteen-year-old,” Amanda said. “She’s old enough to know basic safety.” He nodded. “Mona is also an older sister who, I’m guessing, is protecting her younger brother. She’ll make sure they’re safe.”
Gene was the oldest out of three children. Always having to be the responsible one hadn’t been fun, but he took it seriously. If push came to shove, he’d do anything to protect his brother and sister. Taking an example from Amanda, he had a gut feeling Mona would do the same.
“I hope so,” Amanda said. “Patrick will let us know when he gets the green light for an assist from the K-9 unit to do a search.”
Gene reached for her hand and squeezed. “That’s good. Even if we don’t get the K-9, you and I will return tomorrow and look for them.”
Amanda nodded and turned her hand so they were palm-to-palm and returned his squeeze.
“We’ll find them, one way or another.”
They picked up a pizza before they drove back to Amanda’s duplex. By the time they got there, her mood seemed to have perked back up.
“Run for it,” Gene said. “Go. I’ve got the pizza.”
The three of them dashed for the porch. Though it wasn’t a storm with strong gusts, it was still a pour.
“Don’t let the pizza get wet!”
Amanda laughed as she got under the roof after Loki, who shook himself, spraying water all around him.
Gene covered the pizza box as much as possible with his body, but he still got drenched.
“Pizza’s good. Me, not so much.”
He was glad to see the laughter on Amanda’s face. It warmed his chilled body.
“We’ll put the clothes in the wash.” She unlocked the door. “Shoes stay outside.”
“I’m gonna drip all over your floor,” he warned.
“Easy enough to dry, but…” She scanned him. “Here, take Loki and give me the pizza. Take off your T-shirt and wring it out over the edge of the porch. I’ll be right back with towels.”
Amanda popped back out when he finished wringing his T-shirt as she’d instructed. She gave his chest an appreciative scan before throwing him a towel, then crouched down to dry her dog.
Gene rubbed the towel on his hair with a smirk.
“You realize you’re throwing fuel into the gossip, don’t you?”
“What?”
He side-eyed the next door unit without turning his head. Amanda followed his direction to Miss Lydia’s window.
“Hi, Miss Lydia!” Amanda waved. “How are you today?”
The door opened and Miss Lydia showed up at the threshold with a grin.
“I’m fine, dear. It looks like you’re having a good day.”
“We are actually.”
“You’re gonna get a chill standing around out here like that, young man,” Miss Lydia warned Gene, though the smile on her face was far from disapproval.
“I am feeling a little exposed,” Gene grinned.
“We’re about to head inside and have dinner,” Amanda said, finishing with Loki and allowing him inside. “Have a good night, Miss Lydia.”
“Have fun,” the old lady said, throwing them a cheeky smile before closing her door.
With a shared quiet laugh, Amanda and Gene rushed inside Amanda’s unit. Loki was already busy eating his dinner from the automated feeding bowl.
“The washer is straight down the hall.” She led him straight toward the back. Amanda pulled open an accordion door to the washer and dryer set and pulled a cord for a light. “Drop your clothes in,” she instructed. “I’ll be right back.”
Gene stripped his wet clothes and wrapped the towel around his waist just a second before Amanda emerged from her room in a bathrobe. She added her wet clothes in and started the machine. But instead of moving away, she just stood there watching the water filling the tub.
“What’s on your mind?” Gene asked, sensing her change of mood.
She gave out a small chuckle. “Sorry. I can’t get those kids out of my mind.”
Gene stepped closer to stroke her arm.
“We’ll find them. You feel it in your gut, right?”
“Yeah.”
“Your feelings are never wrong. You told me that.”
She nodded, this time with more vigor.
“Yeah, we’ll find them.” She leaned back against his chest. “Thank you for sticking with me on this.”
Gene kissed her temple. “I’m sorry I ever doubted you.”
“I almost doubted myself.” She gave a small shrug. “In hindsight, I don’t blame you for worrying. But if you hadn’t gone to Patrick for help, we wouldn’t have the sketch, and Stella wouldn’t have recognized Mona.”
“It was your intuition that kept you going,” Gene said. “Do you get these feelings about everything?”
Amanda turned to face him. She gazed up into his eyes as she slowly ran her hands over his chest.
“For the important stuff, yes.”
Amanda tried not to drool at the fine, almost-naked specimen standing in front of her. But it proved to be impossible, even when she was worried about those kids in the woods. Dr. Rowland might claim he had little time for a life outside work, but he sure had time for the gym.
He didn’t get those pecs and abs from lifting syringes.
Gene didn’t move a muscle when Amanda had turned in his arms to face him. His eyes studied her as her fingers explored the expanse of his chest and ran through the sprinkles of dark hair on it. If she didn’t feel his heart beating faster, she’d think he didn’t react to her touch at all.
“I know you’re a man of science, but do you ever get that strange sensation in your belly when something feels right?” Amanda asked. “Or wrong?”
He lightly put his hands on her hips. “I rely as much on my instincts as I do on science.”
“What is your instinct telling you now?”
“It’s telling me to follow your lead.”
A smile tugged at his mouth as his gaze fell to her lips.
Amanda stood on her tiptoes and kissed him. She fully expected him to sweep her off her feet and take over once she made the first move. But Gene returned her exploratory kiss with a gentle nudge of his own. Unlike the last time they’d kissed, he seemed to hold back his passion.
“I need a shower,” she whispered against his lips.
His grip on her hips tightened. “Me, too.”
“Want to join me?”
“Absolutely.”
Gene smiled, spread his hands over her buttocks and heaved her up.
Amanda instinctively wrapped her legs around his waist, knowing in her heart this felt right. She would worry how it would feel tomorrow or at the end of his three-month stint when that time came.
Gene carried her to the bathroom, showing her whatever weight he’d been bench-pressing; it was worth the work. He let her legs slide to the floor as he turned on the shower.
“I don’t think you’ll need this for now.” Amanda didn’t want to wait for the water to get warm. She flicked off the towel that barred her from the full enjoyment of his body.
“Doctor, what a pity to hide that body under scrubs all day.”
Her eyes roamed the masculine display in front of her. Gene Rowland was full of surprises. He might be all cinnamon roll with his clothes on—attentive, gentle, even sweet—but once stripped, he was the type of man who could turn a good girl bad.
“Is that…?” She ran her index finger just above the dip of that sexy male pelvis. Then she laughed when she got a closer look at it. “…a Band-aid tattoo?”
It was actually two heart Band-aids overlapped on each other. It was both sexy and cute.
“Were you dared to get that?” Amanda asked with an amused smile.
Gene chuckled. “No. It’s a reminder that sometimes a doctor’s work isn’t all complex procedures.”
“Sometimes it’s just a cute Band-aid over a boo-boo?”
Amanda stepped closer as she caressed the discussed tattoo. She felt him shiver under her touch.
“Something like that.” He kissed the tip of her nose. “Do you have any tattoos I’ll discover, Miss Amanda?”
“You’ve seen me naked.”
“You’ve been naked in front of me, but I have never really seen you naked.”
Gene pulled the sash of her robe and slowly pushed the garment off her shoulders and let it drop in a heavy heap by her feet. He rubbed his hands over her arms as he took in his fill of her breasts.
Amanda chuckled. “It kinda bruised my ego how clinical you were while I was having impure thoughts the whole time you were taking care of me.”
“It’s called self-preservation. Do you know hard it was not to look at your gorgeous body?” He dragged the fingers over her shoulder to the swell of her breast. “Do you know how tempted I was to inch closer when I pulled your panties up your thighs? Your scent called to me.”
“I remember,” Amanda purred. “If you had made your move then, I don’t think I would’ve resisted.”
“I’d never thought about crossing the line before.”
Gene lifted her into the tub, and under the spray of water.
He took her mouth with a hunger she came to recognize and crave from him. His tongue easily parted her lips and communed with hers, sending her body to the first state of pleasure. Her mind blanked as all she wanted was to feel him against her.
The crisp hair on his leg brushed against her inner thighs, sending thrills throughout her body. The feel of his hard cock against the most intimate part of her body made her melt like butter. She was so ready for him to fill her.
How do I want him this much?
“Gene.”
Amanda ran a hand down his spine to his firm ass, encouraging him to speed things up, but he had a different plan.
Gene took the bar of soap, lathered it up, and rubbed it over her back. “Hygiene, first.”
He grinned at her.
Amanda laughed. “This is what I get for trying to sleep with a doctor.”
“Oh, is that what you’re trying to do?” he teased as he ran his hands over the globes of her ass. His fingers boldly separated the crease, making her whole nether region clench in delicious tension. “I don’t think you’re the good girl everyone in town thinks you are.”
“Oh, I am. But good girls like a damn good cock inside them, too.” She repaid his touch with a thorough stroke of his member from the base of his balls all the way to the tip of his bulbous head. “And I want yours in me.”
Gene swallowed a low groan, but didn’t miss a beat. He spun her around, then pulled her back against him.
With his hardness pressed against her ass, he whispered in her ear, “In good time, darling.”
“Tease,” she hissed.
Gene sucked on the erogenous zone just under her ear, and Amanda’s words turned into a sigh. When his slippery hands cupped her breasts, her nipples hardened into peaks, eager for his teasing.