12. Chapter 12
Ifroze, aware of Justin’s big body, blocking me in. His hand down the front of my pants, fingers deep inside me.
I stared up at him, wide-eyed. I expected to see the same dread and anxiety mirrored in his eyes, but he only smiled.
His thumb flicked against my center and I jolted.
“What are you doing? Stop.”
“You don’t want me to,” he withdrew his fingers, slowly. Only to push them back inside.
I gasped.
“Dr. Kingston?”
“Everything’s fine Midge,” Justin called, his eyes laughing. “Katie got up a bit too fast. She seems to have a headache. I think she needs to rest a bit longer. I’m going to watch over her.”
I bit down on my lip as he thrust in and out of me, his thumb rubbing my clit.
More shuffling from outside the room. “Are you sure? I could watch her.”
Justin slid another finger between my folds. “No, that’s all right. I’ve got her. I can take care of my little girl. I know what she needs.”
Our eyes locked.
It was another level of intimacy and vulnerability I’d never experienced. I’d never had a guy stare me in the eye while he fucked me with his fingers. I felt completely naked and I still had clothes on.
“Well,” said Midge through the door. “If you’re sure.”
“Oh,” said Justin. “I’m positive. Happy to do it in fact.”
Wiseass.
I was panting by the time her footsteps faded. His fingers pumping in and out of me, the tips dragging against my g-spot, sending sparks down my skin.
“Now, where were we?” He pretended to think. “Oh yes, you, thinking about me while touching yourself. Did it feel like this?”
No, because I’d never been this turned on. The idea of being caught by Midge amped my body up, every nerve wide awake and humming.
“Hm?” he probed, and I knew if I didn’t answer he’d stop. I needed to remember that when the tables were turned.
“No,” I moaned. I shut my eyes as my climax built, my body trembling on the edge.
“Tell me, what was it like?”
My fingers dug into his sides, anchoring myself. “Quiet,” I said, exasperated. “It was quiet.”
He laughed. “So, you only make noise for your Daddy?”
Oh god, it sounded so dirty to hear him say it. “Yes,” I answered, because I knew that was what he wanted to hear.
He made a pleased noise in the back of his throat. His body pressed closer, his lips sealing over mine as his fingers thrust deeper. His hips moved against me, driving his hand tighter against us. The heel of his hand replaced his thumb and the pressure on my clit peaked.
I broke away to bury my head into his shoulder, muffling my cry against his coat. My whole body clenching and shaking.
“Shh,” his other arm came around me, his hand stroking my hair, keeping me tucked against him. “I got you. You were breathtaking.”
A shudder went through me, and he rode me through the aftershocks of my climax.
“See,” he said sometime later, eyes dark with desire. “I told you I’d get you to come first.”
“I told you, you should’ve brought a jacket,” Zoe admonished over the phone while I huddled under the blanket in my room, miserable.
“Being cold is not how I got sick, Zoe,” I sounded like a nasally child. My throat was killing me, and my head throbbed with every beat of my heart. “I’m pretty sure I got it from one of the other servers, she was sniffling the entire shift.”
“I still think it was from the sudden chill we got in the wind. Fall is finally coming.”
“Fall doesn’t exist in California. It’s summer and less summer here. That’s it.”
Zoe scoffed. “Whatever, I’m going to bust out my boots and scarfs and no one can stop me. By the way, I took notes from today’s class for you, did you want me to drop them off? I can bring you some soup.”
“No, it’s fine. I’m fine. I’m going to take the day and catch up on some sleep.” I’d already called the clinic.
“Are you sure you don’t want any company?”
“Thanks, Zoe, but really, I’m fine. It’s just a cold.”
After a few more goodbyes, we hung up. The Ramirez house was blissfully quiet, being sick on a weekday had its perks. No one around to yell or shout or stomp down the hallway. No slamming doors.
I took a sip of the water by my bed and winced at the pain it caused going down. The crinkled bag of crackers next to it looking less and less appetizing by the second. They’d felt like razor blades going down my throat.
But I hadn’t eaten all day.
Maybe I should’ve taken Zoe up on her offer of soup. It sounded wonderful, but I didn’t want her going out of her way for me. I’d be fine. Maybe I could crumble up some crackers into my water and make my own soggy cracker soup.
Ew.
Propping my phone up on the side of my bed, I threw on a movie and stared aimlessly at the screen.
A faint chime had my eyes snapping open, my phone screen was black. Faint voices were coming from within the house, footsteps going in numerous directions.
I’d fallen asleep.
The sound of the doorbell must’ve woken me.
I flopped onto my back, throwing an arm over my eyes.
The lack of hydration during my nap had turned my throat from a 7 to an 11 on the pain scale. It burned like fire and I couldn’t breathe through my nose.
I needed to take something. I needed to eat.
There was a packet of mac and cheese in my cupboard in the kitchen. The sound of silverware clinking kept me horizontal. I didn’t want to go out there. I didn’t even want to get up.
You can do it, I cheered myself on. This was no different than the fever I’d run two years ago.
I’d had no one to take care of me then either, just me and my once but no longer cream colored, fleece blanket—a gift from my mother one birthday.
I’m pretty sure it’d been a freebie from her make-up store, but at the time, I hadn’t cared.
A knock on my door startled me from my memories.
I didn’t want to talk to anyone, being sick always put me in a mood. A really shitty one.
I burrowed under my blanket, the worn material not even fuzzy anymore, but it was comfortable and familiar.
Three distinct knocks came again.
I glared at the door.
The Ramirez’s were usually pretty good about leaving me to my own devices. If they were knocking it must be important.
Taking a deep breath through my mouth, I rolled out of bed. The single movement took more energy than expected and by the time I got to my door, I felt winded.
Whatever oxygen was left in my lungs rushed out when Justin’s piercing blue eyes met mine.
I froze, my mind went right back to the two of us in his clinic, his hand between my legs, his lips on mine.
If I wasn’t flushed before, I certainly was now.
“Justin,” I croaked. “What’re you doing here?” His button up was sans tie, the first two buttons undone, exposing the delicious expanse of his neck. The soft gray coloring highlighted his sun kissed skin and I could only imagine how horrible and pale I looked.
He lifted his hand, a large paper bag clutched between his fingers. “I brought soup.”
My mouth hung open. “I don’t need soup.”
Before I could step in the way, his eyes zeroed in on the bedside table, where my dinner of saltines and water sat.
“Consider it a selfish act, Katie,” he walked right by me.
Please come in. Don’t mind me.
“I need you better and back at the clinic.”
“Funny, considering you told me you didn’t need me there last week.” Right before he’d given me the best orgasm of my life.
He arched one perfectly sculpted brow. “Does this mean you’re going to accept my offer to pay for your schooling?”
He had me and he knew it.
“That’s what I thought,” he looked around, and for some reason it made me nervous. I didn’t have much; toiletries, some strewn about tops, a picture of me and Zoe our freshman summer.
It all probably looked so mundane to him.
Soon to be a graduate and I could fit all my possessions into a black plastic bag.
I’d never traveled, despite Zoe offering to pay for me to go with her on her family’s crazy trips, and the only expensive thing I owned was my top of the line laptop.
A lump on my credit card I was happy to chip away at.
It wasn’t much, but it was mine, and the thought of Justin judging it, left a sick feeling in my stomach. Or maybe that was the flu.
His eyes landed on my shut laptop, the sticker on top reading, “Hello, Sweetie.”
The corner of his mouth lifted. “Eleven was my favorite too.”
No way.
I blinked.
Justin Kingston was not a Dr. Who fan.
When all I could do was stare at him, he frowned, concern coming into his eyes. “Are you running a fever?”
Before I could stop him, the back of his hand connected to my forehead.
The simple contact shouldn’t have sent a bolt of lust straight through me, but it did. Every time Justin was near, my body crackled. It was frustrating and terrifying.
The most platonic gestures were suddenly felt through my whole body, every nerve inside me waking up.
“You’re a little warm,” his hand disappeared, and he started to make himself at home on the edge of my bed.
I took one step before whipping around and shutting the door to my room. No need for an audience.
I wanted to tell him to leave, but the scent of chicken noodle soup penetrated my stuffy nose and...
“Is that…?”
“Fresh bread? I picked it up, thought you might like it instead of crackers.”
Next, he pulled out two different kinds of juice along with a box of tea bags.
An elephant had taken up residence on my chest.
I couldn’t breathe. I could only stand and stare as he took out an array of medicines and started to tidy up my side table, turning it into its own version of a dinner table and pharmacy.
My throat clogged, and it had nothing to do with the cold I was fighting.
For as long as I could remember, I’d been taking care of myself when I’d been sick.
Unless I went to school and then got sent to the nurse’s office.
Which had happened once in seventh grade, but my mom hadn’t answered the phone then either and I’d spent the day with a cold compress on my head and my tummy full of cookies.
“You didn’t have to do all this,” I finally got my voice working.
Justin’s stare was flat. “I want to do this, Katie. Now get over here,” he crooked his finger and a shiver raced down my spine.
I shook my head. It wasn’t safe for me to get close to him.
My whole body craved this man and I had no idea why. The very act of him bringing me soup made my eyes well up. I was a wreck. I couldn’t keep him at arm’s length feeling like this. I didn’t have it in me, but if I didn’t keep him away, it’d only hurt more later.
Was this all an angle?
I wasn’t na?ve enough to think two sexual acts between us meant anything.
I would not be that girl, the one that read too much into something.
“If you don’t come over here, I’m going to walk over there and get you.”
I jolted, narrowing my eyes so he knew I didn’t appreciate his high-handedness. “I don’t need a babysitter.”
“You couldn’t afford my rates anyway.”
I bit my tongue, to keep from smiling.
Damnit. The fact that he was here—that he’d brought all these goodies, made me feel warm and fuzzy inside.
For once I would enjoy the pampering.
“Don’t even think about making this a habit,” I warned, approaching the bed.
Something came and went behind his eyes, too fast for me to make out, but the smile on his face dimmed. “This should’ve been a habit. Nothing about this should be abnormal.”
I stopped a foot away and shooed him off my bed. I would never get any rest with him sharing my queen-sized bed. Even him sitting on it, made the usually too large space feel small.
He dutifully got to his feet and circled me, swapping our positions, me seated at the side of the bed and him standing by the nightstand.
I tucked my feet back under the blankets. “You act like you were dating my mom when I was a kid. I didn’t need to be looked after my last year in high school.”
“Everyone needs someone in their life.”
No, they didn’t. It made you reliant, dependent on someone that could fail you—disappoint you.
I kept my thoughts to myself and instead busied my hands with the container of soup. This was definitely better than the canned soup I would’ve gotten at the store. The vegetables looked fresh, the noodles were thick cut, and the chicken wasn’t squished into cubes.
A spoon appeared in front of my face.
Justin stood over me, napkins in one hand, spoon in the other. His towering frame made me feel even more fragile sitting in my bed.
“Thanks,” I mumbled and took the spoon. He stayed where he was while I took a few mouthfuls.
The warm liquid soothed my throat and my stomach instantly felt better.
It had started to cramp from lack of food.
“You don’t have to stay and look after me,” I said when I couldn’t stand the quiet that settled over us.
He ignored me.
Not surprising.
What was surprising was the two pills he held out to me, along with an opened bottle of orange juice. “Here. Take this.”
I held my tongue about calling him a mother hen. Who knew?
Once the pills were washed down, I opened my mouth and lifted my tongue as if needing an inspection just to screw with him and his overbearingness. “Satisfied?”
He crossed his arms over his wide chest. “Hardly.”
I cleared my throat. Can’t say I didn’t walk into that one. “Are you going to stand there the whole time?”
“Are you offering me a place to sit?”
Despite my better judgement, I patted the empty space next to me.