“Did I hear something about a career change?” Jake asked the next day in that deep, coaxing tone. Leave it to him to want to see her at the best—or possibly the worst time ever.
He’d just gotten back into town and showed up at the hospital, surprising her. Not only was he earlier than expected, but he’d somehow managed to hear about her job and track her down.
Curse that phone finder. And leave it to Jake’s ole pal Scott to spill the beans. For a detective, Scott spreads news faster than Twitter.
Good luck finding that remote, buddy.
It was hard enough resisting Jake’s boyish grin, rugged jaw, and delectable lips. But those darkening hazel eyes always did Kathryn in. It was as if they existed just to expose every last secret hidden deep within her.
But she wasn’t ready to share this one. Not yet.
What if I don’t like it? What if it’s just one of a dozen things I try? What if it means working less and less with Jake?
Leave it to him to want to see her at the best—or possibly the worst time ever. He’d just gotten back into town and here he is. Not only was he earlier than expected, but he’d tracked her down.
Curse that phone finder.
Kathryn checked her watch. Five minutes before she had to start. “Change might be too strong a word. More of an add-on.”
“Like whipped cream?”
This man will be the death of me.
It wasn’t just that her thumping pulse was making it hard to concentrate, or that that sensual rumble to his voice always lit a match right between her legs. It was the heat it evoked, that slow burn rising steadily up her neck and cheeks that meant every stranger in this class would see right through her.
“There’s that beautiful blush I live for,” he said a little loudly as two nurses walked past them.
Timidly, Kathryn smiled. Her reaction to the sight of him rippled through her body, the slow burn of lava landing straight at her core. His dark T-shirt exposed every cut of his arms and his lickable tattoos, and his jeans presented themselves in a way that demanded removal. Stat.
The second his hand cradled her neck and his lips lowered to hers, it was over. Each slow pass of his mouth against hers was torture and ownership. Jake was lust incarnate.
And I. Can’t. Breathe.
His strong arms wrapped around her were all that were holding her up.
“Phlebotomy?” he asked.
Her body tensed, giving her the strength to stand up straight. “What?”
How did he—
Jake pivoted her body just enough to see the words written across the whiteboard hanging on the door next to them. welcome to basics of phlebotomy.
“Heading to class, Nurse Chase?” he asked.
She cleared her throat. “Teaching, actually. It’s just a trial run,” she said modestly, circling a finger along his chest but not meeting his gaze.
Two fingers lifted her chin. “I have a feeling you’re going to love it.”
“The phone-finder app got you to the hospital. But how did you know I was here exactly?”
“I have my ways.” Jake’s sexy half smile widened. “The spoils of working in cyber security. And using Google Alerts. It notified me that a very hot teacher was expected, which gave me just enough time to sign up.”
“I’m on the internet?” That was fast. But then again, no one ever accused Carter Reeves of wasting time. Wait. “Did you say sign up?”
Confused, she watched as Jake fished something from his back pocket. This class was for entry-level medical personnel, mostly nursing students. All registered in one way or another with a medical practice or hospital.
As he retrieved a sticker and peeled it from its backing, she couldn’t object. The man proudly slapped the nametag to his chest.
“EMT Russo reporting for class, ma’am.”
A suspicious smile twisted on her face. This class was also offered to emergency medical technicians, both for newbies and those needing recertification. Jake’s volunteer work with the local fire department depended on him keeping current.
“Your certification is due?”
“At the end of the year. Gotta go. Looks crowded, and I need to find a seat.” Rushed, he left her with a quick peck before strolling in.
Sucking in a tense breath, Kathryn let it out and stalled to avoid waltzing in with him.
One-one-thousand. Two-one-thousand. An adequate amount of time to not announce to the entire world that her fiancé was in the class.
Said fiancé took a seat in the back, but still managed to lock eyes with her as she headed to the lectern at the front.
A binder was waiting for her. The you’ll do great! note was an unusually sweet gesture from Carter, one she rarely experienced when she’d worked for him, and never as his wife. After fanning through the two-hundred-page play-by-play that looked like someone had busily downloaded Wikipedia, Kathryn chalked it up as a waste of three perfectly good trees and chucked it aside.
“Welcome to Basics of Phlebotomy,” she said. “I’m Kathryn Chase, and I’ll be giving you life lessons in how to poke, prod, and make pincushions of fellow human beings. Or what I affectionately refer to as Vampire 101.”
The mild laughter from her small audience was appreciated, but the goal was to get these nursing students to relax.
“Today, we’re going over the basics. By the time we finish the course, you’ll be able to draw blood, give injections, set up intravenous lines, and administer IV medications. Today’s goal is pretty straightforward. Be as pain-free as possible as we stick each other.”
It only took a breath before several hands shot up.
“On . . . each other?” Trepidation laced the voice of the student, and Kathryn smiled warmly at him.
“It’s the best way to understand, because you’ll be more careful on each other than you would a stranger. And no matter how small a needle is, it hurts. Add to that that the fear of needles is a top-ten American fear, affecting over one in six adults. This exercise helps us strengthen our need to heal with our bonds as people. When you give a shot, remember the very first requirement in a hospital is that we ‘should do the sick no harm.’”
“Florence Nightingale,” a tall, slender woman with jet-black hair announced from the back, recognizing the quote.
The woman sat in the seat next to Jake’s, which allowed Kathryn to step a little closer. It also let her read the woman’s nametag. Andi. Remembering each student’s name before the end of today’s lesson was Kathryn’s goal.
Short dark hair. Brown eyes. Tallest girl in the room. Andi with an i.
Two down, twenty-eight to go.
“I’ll go over a few techniques that will help you with the harder sticks, and then we’ll pair off.”
After going over the basic course content, as well as the tips and tricks for how to find a vein using Jake as her demonstration model, Kathryn let the teams get to work, encouraging them to move at a comfortable pace.
It was a proud moment when you nudged the little birds from the nest, then watched them jab each other in the arm and still meet each other’s gaze with warm smiles and encouragement. It was how she and Julian had first met. Lifelong besties to this day.
The memory made her smile.
“Don’t worry, Andi,” Jake said, reassuring his partner as the color drained from her face. “I don’t mind needles. Pain is my mistress. Go on. It’ll be fine.”
“Okay.” Andi took several seconds finding just the right angle as Jake sent Kathryn a confident wink. Followed by a yelp.
Kathryn smothered a laugh, stepping in.
“Mistress troubles?” she asked, instantly recognizing the issue. “You’re doing great. Ease back just a hair, Andi, but don’t change angles or wiggle the needle. You’ve overshot the vein, but you can still salvage it without sticking him again.”
Kathryn watched her protégé move through the steps. Jake’s skeptical brow didn’t go unnoticed, but Kathryn was confident. “Now try.”
Andi drew the smallest amount of blood, keeping her grip steady as she squealed. “It worked.”
“Now, go ahead and finish. What do you do next?”
Andi rattled off the steps. “Undo the tourniquet. Apply light pressure but don’t fold the arm. Folding equals bruising.”
“Great job.” Kathryn scanned the progress of the other teams around the room and noted they were all wrapping up. “Nice work, everyone. See you in a few days.”
She stood watching as her new students filed out of the room, waving good-bye to the last one. Except for Jake.
“A few days, huh?”
Jake’s words feathered along the skin of her neck, a hum lingering in their wake. His finger barely brushed the underside of her ass as the students cleared out. “Can I offer you a lift, Teach?”
When she turned around to face him, his thumb glided against her full lower lip. It spent no time there, setting a gentle course across her blouse to the pucker of her nipple. Her head fell back until she remembered where they were, and her gaze snapped to the door.
No one there. Thank God. It would be just like Carter to drop by, though.
“Come on,” Jake whispered, looping his arm around her waist.
It was a relief, them heading for the door. There, they stopped as he closed the door and locked it.
“I offered you a lift.” His palm caressed the wall. “Right here should do.”
Wide-eyed, Kathryn blinked for a good, long minute. “Here?”
Jake scooped her ass into the cradle of his arms. Her legs wrapped around him, completely betraying her better sense, because resisting this man? Not happening.
“Just giving you a little taste of things to come, kitten.” The tug of his teeth on her earlobe ensured she was only picking up about half of whatever he was saying.
“Hmm?” She moaned, the hard press of his dick taunting her sex.
Her thighs widened. His zipper was down. And the skirt that six minutes ago was worn with a sense of professionalism and elegance could now be appreciated for its easy access. After two weeks of Kathryn and Jake being apart, nothing was keeping the thick, hard length of him from entering.
Nothing but several rattles of the doorknob, followed by an insistent knock-knock-knock.
“Crap. I think that’s the next class wanting this room.” Kathryn panted, dropping her head to his shoulder.
Jake’s chuckle was warm against her neck. “Then I guess I’ll give you the other kind of lift. Home.”
“I’m pretty sure you drove here. Traffic from Boulder must have been nonexistent.”
“Boulder?” he asked before quickly saying, “Yes. Boulder. No traffic at all.”
He eased her feet to the floor, then hurried to tuck in his shirt and straighten his clothes. Kathryn followed suit in the hope no one could see nearly had sex written all over their appearance.
Kathryn opened the door, stone-faced and serious, greeting the small crowd of students who filed quickly into the class.
“There’s got to be an empty room somewhere,” she joked, but her scans up and down the hall caught the distinctive walk and charisma of a certain new department head. Whirling around, she whispered urgently to Jake, “Let’s go home.”
Growling, he narrowed his eyes. “Have you been good, kitten?”
With her ex heading straight for them, Kathryn said honestly, “No. I’ve been very, very bad.”
Driving home separately, Kathryn pulled into the garage, trailing Jake by a few minutes at the most, even though the man had a lead foot.
But his absence when she walked inside was noticed. Jake not being there immediately to open her door, whisk her inside, and ravage her body relentlessly was unusual.
And after two weeks apart, it was inconceivable.
Unless, he had a surprise waiting. More than likely, she’d be walking into a fragrant sea of dozens of roses, champagne, and chocolate-covered strawberries.
Maybe it was time she gave him a little surprise of her own for once. And as she had to walk in on her own two feet, she might as well make the most of it.
It only took her a second to peel away her clothes, tug off her ponytail holder, and tousle her hair for that perfect please, for the love of God, fuck me already look.
Confident, she smiled wide and breezed inside. “Jake?”
Jake’s gaze swept over her body, and he bolted up and rushed between naked-as-a-jaybird Kathryn and Armani-clad Paco Robles, the right-hand man to Alex Drake, CEO of Drake Global Industries.
Simultaneously, Kathryn and Paco screamed in horror, though it could be argued that Paco’s scream was an octave higher. Paco was a powerful man whose friendship with Kathryn was debatably longer than it was with Jake, though both bonds were equally as strong.
“Look, baby,” Jake said with a forced smile. “Paco decided to surprise us since he knew I’d be returning to town today.”
Nothing spelled suspicious like Jake calling her baby. It was actually the first time Jake had ever referred to Kathryn as baby, which reeked of code, some little hint-hint between the two men. But looking Paco up and down, Kathryn decided there was no way it was bro code.
Jake hiding a lover? Ridiculous. Paco was her ride or die. As evidenced by him handing Jake his blazer to wrap Kathryn in. So, she filed it under further research and moved on.
Secondly, Kathryn already suspected that Jake had been in town for the past two weeks, rather than out of town as he’d said. Which was fine. There were times in their work they couldn’t divulge super-secret stuff like missions and whereabouts to each other. In Jake’s work, national interests might be at stake, which was fair enough. But that would mean that Paco was there for something else.
Whatever the reason, at the very moment, it didn’t matter.
“Paco,” Kathryn said, shyly remaining behind Jake. “It’s great to see you, but no call or text is unusual.”
“I call it impulsive.”
“How long are you in town?”
“A . . . few days.”
Why does his statement sound more like a question? And what was with the uncertain glance at Jake?
Before Kathryn could ask with her outside voice, Jake jumped in.
“I think what Kathryn’s subtly trying to say is we love you, but unless it’s urgent—”
“It’s not,” Paco said, already headed toward the door to make his way out.
“Wait,” Kathryn said. “You dropped by, and you always have an agenda when you drop by.”
“You’re so suspicious,” Paco said, stalling.
“I’m always right,” Kathryn said, knotting the oversized sleeves and crossing her arms in a knowing stance.
Paco exchanged a glance with Jake before replying. “You’re right. My room key is in that jacket. Bring them both to the Broadmoor tomorrow. Spa day, just you and me. I’ll text you the time.”
Squealing, she lost all interest in grilling Father Christmas and accepted.
Having deposited a wonderful gift, Paco was out the door, giving Jake the freedom to whisk Kathryn against his chest and take two stairs at a time on their way to the bedroom.
“I thought he would never leave,” Jake said.
Before Kathryn could ask any one of the dozen questions she had about what had just happened, Jake’s lips were on hers, crushing her mouth in dominant desire. His kiss was impatient and demanding, his rough bristles burning needy tracks along her mouth and neck, his fingers smoothing the blazer from her shoulders.
Jake didn’t say a word, letting Kathryn strip his clothes away and massage across the muscles of his chest, down the granite features of his abs, tracing along the sexy V of his thighs until her hands were heavy with the thickness of his cock.
Hauling her body to his, Jake had her settled into position centered on the bed, her thighs spread to welcome him. Under the intensity of his gaze, any curiosities and doubts dissipated, leaving only room for Jake.
With a last deep kiss along her lips, his head moved down, dipping between her legs, rough stubbled nips along her inner thighs, and soothing hungry licks that were too close to undoing her.
“Jake,” she whimpered, but he wasn’t stopping.
Desperate, she gripped his hair, scraped his back and neck, and rocked her hips to the rhythm of each hungry, invasive lick. Each perfect touch. Chasing a climax that shredded her utterly and completely apart.
Two weeks without him, and it wasn’t enough.
Her orgasm went on and on as he nipped and lapped, sucked and licked her swollen pussy and sensitive clit. But it was his finger, pressing inside and gliding in long strokes to coax another wave of pleasure. One more long, hard lick was all it took.
“Now, kitten,” he demanded.
Her body gave in harder and faster than the first time, like the eternity of fourteen days crashed in wave upon wave of want and desire. Shuddering, her breaths were frantic, each breath out a shaky, fragile gasp.
“Jake.”
As he moved up her body, each kiss reminded her how much she loved him. Her fingers always found the scars across his torso, dusting them with the lightest touch. Knowing he was hers. His bristles teased along the tight peak of her nipple, and the heat of his thick head barely slid to the entrance of her core when she bucked forward.
Jake pulled away, leaving Kathryn in a heaving pile of moans and sighs.
“You said you’ve been very, very bad. I’ll be taking my time with your sweet pussy.”
His smug grin had her thrusting again, aching for a cock he was keeping just out of reach.
“The technical term is murder,” she teased, panting her words. “And it’s not like I’m the only one.”
His half smile was delicious, even more so when it was covering her mouth. He moved away quickly, avoiding her accusatory smirk, intent on distracting her. His teeth were punishing as he grazed one nipple and pinched another. With the tip of his cock in position, he worked his thick hardness in, gliding up and down her walls, filling her before dragging himself out.
With Jake determined to blissfully torture her to death, she had no choice but to take every inch however he chose to give it to her. It didn’t last. Within a few thrusts, he plunged deeper, harder, forcing her legs wider, crashing into her until his cries drowned out her own.
When his body finally collapsed on hers and his thundering heartbeat gentled, she heard the only words that jolted her already frantic pulse.
“I love you, kitten. My future wife.”