Chapter 45 - Mary
Mary
As soon as she steps inside the door, I know something is off.
Not because she is louder, quieter, or much of anything else that she usually isn’t.
Her behavior is the same. The keys go into the bowl, the coat onto the hook, her bag on top of the cabinet, and then her heels come off.
But there is a certain gravity in it. A pull I can’t describe but feel all the way from the couch.
I’m already moving toward her when her eyes find mine, and in that moment, it is as if the clouds lift and the sun breaks through. Her lips twitch. Not into a smile, not exactly, but into something that softens her face.
“Amor.”
It feels as if the word relieves something in her, and when my arms come around her, she presses her forehead against mine and sighs deeply.
“Rough day, baby?”
I feel her grip me a little tighter as a strangled hum comes out. When she frowns, I feel it against my skin, and I immediately lean back to look at her. This isn’t her usual rough-day demeanor. It’s not about a patient.
“What happened?”
She draws in a deep breath and clenches her jaw, making the muscle in it roll, before her eyes find mine.
“We need to talk.”
My eyes are stinging, and I have to force myself to take deep breaths when Cat sits down on the other side of the couch. The small space between us already feels like a divide as big as the Grand Canyon. My heart thuds. What is happening right now? Why does she look so worried?
“Baby, are you okay? Please tell me you’re not sick or anything.”
“Sick?” Her eyes widen, and she lets out a surprised huff. “Ay, no, amor, perdón. Nothing like that.”
She is quick to apologize and reaches for my hand. As soon as our fingers touch, I feel myself calm down. I let out a shuddering breath and meet her gaze again, nodding at her to continue. Her small smile falters instantly, and she nods again.
“Claro. Amor, something happened last week, and I wasn’t sure how to tell you. That was stupid of me because I should’ve just said it.”
“Said what? You are making me nervous, Cat. What is going on?”
I search her face desperately, trying to find something to hold on to. Something to ground me, to anchor me to this world. When her gaze remains steady on mine, I can breathe again. Still with me.
“Do you remember Alex?”
“Your ex from med school?”
She flinches slightly but nods.
“Yes. She… she transferred to Inova. She showed up last week, during rotations. I swear to God, Maria, I didn’t know she was coming. I went to Daniel about it, and apparently, I missed a memo during the—well, I missed it, and suddenly, there she was.”
“O…kay,” I stammer, uncertain of how this makes me feel. “And you didn’t… know how to tell me?”
She nods, and her face instantly flushes. She curls her fingers tighter around mine, but she doesn’t look away.
“Yes, I’m sorry about that, amor. I felt ambushed and overwhelmed.”
“Because you still have feelings for her?”
“No. No! Not like that.”
“Then like what, Cat?”
I squeeze her back softly and tilt my head. I am not asking her to reassure me, but asking her to understand. She visibly relaxes, and she allows herself a brief moment to close her eyes and take a deep breath.
“When I saw her, I instantly felt small again. It was how she used to make me feel when we were dating.”
It feels like a hand wraps around my throat, constricting my breathing. The edges of my sight fray as Cat’s face comes into razor-sharp focus.
“Small?”
Cat nods, and I feel the heat in my chest, my blood boiling under the surface.
I know most people see an ice queen when they look at her, but Katherina is one of the most sensitive people I know.
She feels everything with an intensity that would freak out nearly anyone.
It is easy to abuse that when you know where to poke.
“Small how?”
“The way she says things, criticizes me, it’s… it wasn’t healthy. And for a second, I felt like I was thrown back into those moments.”
I nod slowly. It’s a totally human response, one that I understand very well.
“Thank you for telling me, baby.” I bring her hands to my lips and kiss them. “How do you feel now? Is there anything—”
She shakes her head once, so sharply that I instantly grow quiet.
“I put a stop to it,” she replies as her jaw ticks once again.
“A stop to it?”
My stomach feels like it’s falling again, for entirely different reasons. I move a little closer to her, boring my eyes into her brown ones.
“She tried to… to…”
“Kiss you…” I whisper as I pull back.
Cat’s fingers wrap around my wrist instantly. Her eyes flash, but not with the shame or guilt that I expected to see. No. There is a glint of determination in them, just as there is in the way she is holding me.
“She tried, but I pushed her away before she could. I warned her I will go to HR if she ever tries anything like that again. Maria, all I could think about was you.” Her nostrils flare with the jolt of anger that shoots through her. “She won’t tarnish this, us. I won’t let her.”
The question of whether she wanted to kiss her back dies before it even reaches my lips. She just answered it. She just answered all of it. I lunge forward, holding her face between my hands, and kiss her hard. All my love for her pours into this moment.
She gasps in surprise, but her hands land on my hips, holding me firmly in place.
When our tongues brush, her fingers dig deeper into me, and I moan inside her mouth.
I feel Cat shudder when she slides her hands under me and lays me down in one smooth motion.
My leg instantly curls around her as if I want to keep her in place, keep her close to me.
You do. Her lips ghost over mine. They feel soft, warm, and inviting. All of Cat feels like that.
“Siempre.”
She whispers it so softly that it is barely audible, but I hear it. And more than that, I feel the weight of it, even if I don’t understand its meaning.
“Katherina,” I beg, the sound vibrating between the two of us.
She lets out a low, possessive growl and nips at my bottom lip.
My back arches into her touch, making her increase her hold on me, and then her hands and mouth are everywhere.
She kisses me right below my ear, making my eyes roll back as her hands glide down my sides.
Her fingers move over me, light as feathers, and every inch of my skin feels like it is on fire.
“Mía,” she hums, and I instantly feel the heat pool low.
“Yours,” I breathe back, making her smirk against my skin.
She removes my top and trails her mouth down my neck with warm, soft kisses, each one an offer instead of a claim, until I press my fingers into her shoulders.
“More,” I pant close to her ear, and I feel her shiver.
She hasn’t even touched me yet, but I am already out of breath. My body is responding in anticipation of what is yet to come, and the ache is almost unbearable now. I’ve never considered myself insatiable or impatient, but right now, I need to feel her inside of me. I need all of her.
Cat’s eyes glint hungrily at me, and she obeys without a single objection. I can feel it in the energy that is suspended between us. She wants this just as much as I do. Maybe even more.
She nips my side, and when my hips buck up, she removes my pants in a motion so smooth that I gasp for air. I let out a chuckle as she discards them somewhere on the floor, already forgotten before they hit the ground, but it dies on my lips when she pulls my leg over her shoulder.
“Baby,” I gasp, but she shushes me.
Her face is so close to my core that she must be able to smell me, to smell what she is doing to me.
My panties are drenched, and I am surprised that my need for her is not dripping down my thighs yet.
I whimper and bring my fingers down to take them off, but she stops me with a single shake of her head.
I freeze as she bends over, pushes her mouth against me, and takes the lacy fabric between her teeth.
She slowly pulls it to one side before releasing it and dragging her tongue along the length of me in one unexpected lick.
Cat’s eyes dart up to mine when I let out a loud moan. As soon as we look at each other, a playful glint appears in them, and she bends her head back down. I’ve not seen this side of her yet, this hungry, almost feral need, but I find that I like it, too. Very, very much.
There is no teasing. Neither of us would be able to stand that in this moment.
Not while our bodies are longing for each other as much as our souls are intertwining.
Cat drinks in my taste and then dips her tongue deep inside me.
The sensation sends a shiver down my spine, and I suck in a hard breath.
I feel the muffled chuckle more than I hear it, but I gasp again before I can reply because she presses her tongue flat against me.
She works me until I become pliable in her hands, begging her for more while also wanting to stay in this moment forever. I’m craving the release without wanting this to stop.
My muscles are both soft and tense at the same time, and when Cat leans back, she looks at me as if I am her favorite work of art.
A desperate mew falls from my lips, and I instantly feel my cheeks flush with embarrassment, but she lets out another chuckle.
Clearly pleased with herself, she watches me, her eyes turning a little darker, and then she moves so fast that I barely have time to process what is happening.
Before I can even blink, I am flipped onto my stomach, and she is guiding my hips upward. The cold air presses against my heated center and sends a new jolt of need through me. I look back at Cat, who bends over to kiss my neck and my shoulders before pressing me down with her hand.
She looks at me, giving me time to process and to respond if I feel the need.
For a moment, I do, as the sensation of her pinning me down overwhelms me.
But then I realize this is Katherina, the woman I love, the woman I trust. The woman who chooses me, over and over again.
She would never do anything to hurt me, and in knowing that, I trust her with my most vulnerable parts.
Her lips curl up into a grin when she sees me settle, and she nods more to herself than at me, satisfied with my consent. We don’t need to say it out loud anymore. She can read my body like no one else, but she never stops checking. Never stops asking. In more ways than one.
“More, you said?” She grins deviously, and I can only nod.
“I’ll give you more,” she groans needily.
She pulls me back onto three of her fingers and slides deep inside of me.
The sudden sensation of her filling me up like that is so overwhelming that I nearly come from the feeling alone.
When she starts thrusting hard and fast, I need her to steady me because I am completely done for.
But the way she holds on to me tells me she won’t let go. Not now, not when it matters, not ever.
She curls her fingers and tips me over the edge. I come, hard and shuddering, with her name on my lips..