Marion Lennox - The Doctor & the Runaway Heiress

She smiled, finding shared laughter. Somehow she’d kept her voice steady. Somehow she’d made herself sound like she was telling the truth.

She didn’t want commitment?

She was under control?

There was an illusion. The truth was that even though she was now independent, since last Sunday night her life had spun totally out of control, and Riley Chase was making it a thousand times worse. Oh, it was no fault of Riley’s. She didn’t even mind.

In truth, for the first time in her life she was out of control and she was loving it.

‘So are you intending to kiss me again?’ she teased. ‘Because I’m getting a bit uncomfortable. I’m not sure if you’ve noticed but I’m lying on your chest and it’s not quite as comfortable as that nice, soft mattress you’re lying on.’

‘Then let’s fix that,’ he growled, and swung her over so they lay side by side. And she was being kissed as she’d never been kissed in her life.

Riley was kissing her, tasting her, exploring her.

Riley was loving her.

And all that must be said had been said. Hesitations were gone.

She closed her eyes, savouring the feel of him, the taste, the touch. His hands were working their magic on her skin, knowing every inch of her, and every tiny movement sent shivers of sensual pleasure through her entire body.

She arched back and he found the clips of her bra. It finally fell away and she loved that it did. His fingers cupped the soft swell of her breasts, tracing her nipples, making her sigh with sheer, unmitigated pleasure.

She wanted closer. She had his buttons undone now-how had she done that? She hardly knew but his shirt was gone and she loved that it was gone. The feel of her skin against his… the strength of his body… the sheer maleness of him… It was taking her breath away.

The moonlight washed through the window, and the sight of his body was making her dizzy. His body heat, the touch of his mouth, the feel of his hands…

She was starting to burn.

His breathing was becoming ragged, and she gloried in it, gloried that he was feeling as she was. This was mutual need. Mutual pleasure. This was right, she thought, in some far recess of her mind. This man had given her her life, and this… it felt like giving life in return.

Her hair was tumbled on his face. He tucked her curls behind her ears and then tugged her tight so he could reclaim her mouth.

Oh, his mouth…

It wasn’t enough. He was kissing her everywhere, a rain of kisses, her neck, her shoulders, her breasts, and the feeling was so breathtaking she could hardly take in air. Was that what was making her light-headed? She felt like she was floating, and he with her.

She was moving to another place. Moving to another life?

Her breasts were moulding to his chest as his hands tugged at her hips. Her clothing had disappeared entirely. Excellent, but fair was fair. She found the zipper of his jeans and tugged, and then her fingers returned to where the zip had been.

The night was swirling. Her mind was swirling.

Somehow she was shedding a skin, being hauled from her old life into this, the new.

Oh, the feel of him. The joy. He was discovering every secret of her body. She felt herself arch with sheer animal pleasure, abandoning herself to him entirely. He could do anything he wanted with her and she could do the same to him. For this night anything was possible.

The nightmares had faded to nothing. The terror that had lingered was gone, dissolved in Riley’s heat, Riley’s body, Riley’s need.

Her need.

Skin against skin.

She couldn’t get close enough.

She was on fire.

‘Riley.’ She heard herself moan but it wasn’t her voice. It was a stranger, a woman Riley was loving. She heard the aching need and wondered at it. ‘Riley.’

‘My beautiful girl…’

And he was up and over her, his dark eyes gleaming in the moonlight. ‘Are you indeed sure?’

Was she sure? For answer she reached and held his hips, she centred him, she tugged…

He was hers.

The night was dissolving around her. Riley…

‘Pippa.’ His voice was a husky whisper, in her ear. He was taking her slowly, with languorous pleasure, forcing her to wait, forcing himself to wait.

Riley.

This was where she was meant to be. This was her heart, her home, her centre.

This man.

He was a part of her, merged with her, one. Their bodies were riding each other, but there was no physical effort. Her mind was as clear as the stars outside. She came and came again but she didn’t lose sight of Riley for one moment.

How could she close her eyes? She marvelled at his body as he moved within her. His raw strength. His muscles, delineated, beautiful.

Riley. For tonight, her man.

He was deep within her, and her body was taking her rhythm from his. He could take her anywhere he wished. He could love her for ever. This moment…

And the next.

For it went on and on, building, building, and she felt herself weeping with joy. She wept and she held his beautiful body and finally, wondrously, she felt him surge within her-and she knew nothing could ever be the same again. When finally he lay back, spent, when she lay on his chest and felt his heartbeat merged with hers, when she felt his fingers run through her hair with tenderness and wonder and love…

She knew the nightmares wouldn’t return.

She knew he’d brought her out from the far side.

She just wasn’t exactly sure he’d come out with her.

She slept, cradled in his arms, warm, secure, safe.

Pippa.

What had he done?

He’d slept with her.

He’d made love with her.

He’d never meant to. She’d been his patient. She was his colleague.

She’d woken in mid-nightmare. He’d come to comfort her and he’d taken her.

Or she’d taken him.

It was her need as well as his. What had happened had been the culmination of a need so basic it was almost past comprehension, past his ability to judge on right and wrong.

Because right now, lying in the dark with Pippa’s naked body curled against him, it felt right. How could there be anything wrong with something that had felt so inevitable?

It didn’t feel like he was holding Pippa. It felt like he was holding a part of himself. If something was to wrench her away right now, it’d hurt like tearing a part of himself away.

He turned his head a little and his face was in her hair. He was smelling the faint clean scent of her. She murmured a little in her sleep, her hand shifted, sought, held. His fingers were entwined in hers.

Pippa.

He was lying in the dark, holding his woman in his arms.

He closed his eyes and a peace he’d never felt before settled over him.

Right or wrong, for now, for this moment, Dr Riley Chase had come home.

SHE woke and he was gone.

She lay in the filtered dawn light and forced herself to absorb the fact without panic. She was trying to figure where she was, what had happened, what was real and what was dream.

She was naked. The bed smelled of love-making. There was a strong indentation in the pillow crushed beside hers. She rolled over and buried her face in the linen, thinking she could smell him.

She’d made love to Riley Chase.

She’d taken him…

She closed her eyes, letting the sensations of the night before unfold, reveal themselves, sort themselves into some sort of order.

She’d had a nightmare. Riley had come in to comfort her. She’d pulled him to her and she’d made love.

Talk about needy…

She should be mortified to her socks, only she wasn’t wearing socks. She was wearing nothing at all.

It felt excellent.

Her body felt new, like she’d done one of those crazy rebirth things she’d heard about. She smiled a little at that, thinking rebirth. Yes, she could have lain in a foetal position and pretended to be pushed, with a birth coach telling her exactly what to do. Or she could have taken Riley to her. She could have allowed him to take her. She could have woken feeling this…

Excellent.

Though maybe a bit sore. They’d woken during the night and made love again. And again.

She stirred and stretched and smiled. The tangerine of the desert sunrise was calling. Life was calling.

She flung off her bedclothes, headed for the shower, and went to find Riley.

Gerry had passed an excellent night. His leg was looking good and he wanted to leave, but the exceedingly large brace fastened from thigh to ankle was stopping him. Riley wasn’t about to remove it any time soon. Gerry’s wound was large and penetrating, there was access for infection everywhere, and he needed to stay right where he was.

‘The nerves were millimetres away from being severed,’ he told him. ‘And you’re not out of the woods yet.’ No need to mention the two dangers were unrelated. ‘I haven’t saved your leg only to have you come back with gangrene or worse. You’re staying in this bed for a week and we’ll hear no more about it.’

He left the room grinning, and made his way to Amy’s room. His grin faded.

Amy was cradling Baby Riley and she was crying.

‘She won’t feed,’ she said. ‘My boobs hurt, they’re that full, but she won’t feed. I fed her at midnight and she hardly drank anything and now she just wants to sleep.’

‘Hi.’ Pippa was suddenly in the room with them. She was a colleague, Riley told himself, trying hard to greet her as a colleague. But… How could she look so… neat? The last time he’d seen her…

Let’s not go there.

‘Problem?’ Pippa asked, heading for the bed, professional even if he wasn’t. Amy was cradling her baby against her breast. ‘Hey, Baby Riley, who’s a sweetheart?’ She looked at Amy’s swollen breasts, glanced at Amy’s face, and Riley thought she had an instant appreciation of the situation.