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CHARITY ROLLED OVER and stretched out her long legs. The cool sheets did not diminish the heat burning inside of her. Elijah had done this. His delicious mouth, his smooth skin running over his lean, taunt muscles... and those capable hands. No wonder he was an excellent surgeon. The things he could do with those fingers. A moan escaped between her lips. She needed to stop thinking about him or there would be no sleeping tonight. Why was she concerned about sleep? Hadn’t Elijah said he’d come by after he finished at the hospital? Damn that stranger for choking in the hotel hall and Dr. Elijah running to save him. Had the guy not swallowed the nut, Elijah and Charity would be in this bed right now and he’d be stoking and smothering the fire inside her she couldn’t control.
Stop it! she hollered at her brain. Elijah had saved that guy’s life and all she could think about was his hands on her, not their miraculous ability to save lives. She flung the thin sheet off and jumped out of the bed. She wore only a black bra and matching lace undies. She’d put them on when she had slipped into a dress and planned on going to Elijah’s house. Except he had surprised her and shown up at her hotel room. There had been an undercurrent running between the two of them all day – since they had met, actually – and the sparks needed to be sated.
She grabbed a cold bottle of water from the fridge and drank half of it. Wiping a small dribble from her lip, she checked her watch. A little over an hour ago Elijah had gone with the ambulance. Now out of the tangle of the sheets, her mind cleared slightly. He had gone and done a freakin’ tracheotomy right in the hotel hallway! Like it was nothing! Back in med school, Charity had performed one on a pig. It didn’t even come close to comparing. She’d saved the pig and been the first to finish in her class back then. Julie, Simon, and Alex had taken her out that night and they got beyond drunk. It seemed ridiculous to compare the two procedures.
Two days after she’d done the pig trach, her mother had called and asked her to come home. She’d never returned to school, and when Alex didn’t bother to show up at her mother’s funeral three months later, she stopped answering his calls and texts. She had no idea what hospital he worked at now or if he had his own practice. He had talent so she assumed he’d gone into surgery. She had worked at a number of hospitals, raising money for them, but had not come across his name. Maybe he went by Alexander now instead of Alex. It shouldn’t matter; his last name hadn’t changed.
A soft rap against her door sent her heart racing and she forgot all about reminiscing about the past. Glancing down, her cheeks burned. She couldn’t answer the door like some wanton woman. She grabbed a white T-shirt from the drawer and slipped it on over her head. Peering through the door’s eyeglass, it took everything not to rip the door off and knock Elijah over in the hallway.
He stood, slightly unsure of himself, with a hand running over his slightly damp spiked hair. He always appeared so confident and relaxed; to see him as nervous as she felt made her want him more.
She flipped the lock and opened the hotel room door. “Hey.” She leaned against the doorframe, enjoying the slight feeling of empowerment she had. She knew he wouldn’t come in until she invited him.
His piercing blue eyes met hers and he smiled. “I wasn’t sure...” His mouth stopped when his gaze slid down the length of her body and then back up. He swallowed.
“How’d the surgery go?” She grew strength out of his struggling. She wanted him, but he wanted her just as bad.
“G-Good.” His head shook slightly, as if he was trying to clear his thoughts and focus on her questions. “It went very well.”
“And you showered.” She pointed at his damp hair. He now wore blue jeans and a white shirt similar to hers.
“So did you.” He grinned and pointed at her top. “You know, you really shouldn’t answer the door dressed like that.” His confidence had returned.
“Why not?” She straightened and looked down. Seriously? Her black bra and panties clearly showed through the thin white shirt. Whatever modesty she’d been trying to maintain had gone out the window. Now she looked the part of the tease. “Oh crap, I didn’t even realize,” she muttered.
“Pardon?”
She leaned forward and let her fingers curl around the cotton material of his shirt near his neck. She tugged it gently but firmly. “Get in here...”
Elijah needed no further encouragement. In two steps he was inside the room, his arms finding their way around her waist. She wrapped hers around his neck and intertwined her fingers together. Their lips met. Both wet and hungry for what had started before and had not been finished. The heat inside of her burned hotter and sent tingling sensations between her legs and deep into her belly. She could feel herself grow moist from his kisses and the knowledge of what was about to happen.
“You... are... incredibly sexy,” Elijah whispered between kisses. His hands trailed up and down her back, along the side of her ribcage, and one found its way to curve perfectly around her breast. He traced the lace and found her nipple through the fabric. It hardened with his touch. He groaned deep in his throat.
Charity’s mind whirled; she couldn’t think straight. She had wanted him from the first time they had met but tried to ignore the feelings. This was a bad idea. No. If something felt this good, it couldn’t be wrong. He may be a playboy, but she wasn’t looking for a serious relationship. Was she? Right now she just wanted those very capable hands to find their way under her shirt. She let gravity pull her hands away from the back of his neck and trail down the front of his shirt, her nails slightly scratching the hardness of the muscles beneath it. Her pinkies found the front belt loops of his jeans and she tugged them toward her. The only way to lessen the yearning between her legs was to have him pressed firmly against her. It didn’t stop the ache, but seemed to dampen it momentarily.
As their kisses deepened, her fingers traced along the top rim of his jeans and found their way to his glutes. They were tight and muscular, just as she’d imagined. A firmness in the front of his jeans nudged against her inner thigh. It only excited her more.
When Elijah’s lips left hers, Charity opened her eyes. He stared at her, his mouth slightly open and his chest rising and falling as if he’d just been running. The hunger in his bright blue eyes burned with an intensity she understood.
She reached for his shirt and he helped her pull it off. He kept his arms at his sides and didn’t move as she ran her hands over his chest and abdomen. His smooth skin grew hot under her touch. She lightly pressed her lips along his collarbone and against his neck. He shuddered and she smiled as she kissed him. She was in control. She found her way back to his mouth and her hands trailed down to his jeans. She fumbled to undo the button. His hands covered hers as she undid it, and as she pulled the zipper down, her knuckles grazed the hardness of his penis.
He pulled her hands away and this time, she groaned in frustration. He smiled against their kisses. “My turn,” he whispered. He grabbed the hem of her shirt, lifted it off and tossed it against the wall.
Charity tried to stand still as his eyes travelled down and then back up her body. They left an invisible trail of desire inside of her.
“Wow,” he whispered in awe. “You’re beautiful.”
“You’re not so bad yourself.” She grinned when he met her gaze. She touched the ink on his arm. “I like your tattoo. I ha—”
His lips crushed against hers before she could finish. Elijah picked her up and carried her the few steps to the bed. He gently laid her down, his lips never leaving hers. His tongue found its way into her mouth and she nearly lost it when his body pressed against hers. His bare chest against hers drove her delirious. She wanted to rip his jeans off and have him inside of her. The thought alone made her groan out loud.
“Sorry.” Elijah rolled off and lay beside her. “I didn’t mean to crush you.”
“You aren’t.” She didn’t like the cool air that replaced his warm skin.
He bent his elbow and rested his head on his hand. The fingers on his free hand traced down from her lips to her neck and down between her breasts. He cupped and squeezed her breast until the nipple grew hard and then let his fingers trail over to her other breast and reached inside her bra. He played and stroked her nipple until that one grew hard.
Charity ran her tongue over her lips and her eyes closed. She felt Elijah’s warm breath against her neck and he whispered in her ear, “I’m going to bring you to heaven and back...”
His lips and tongue pressed against her earlobe and down her neck. He kissed both of her breasts and ran his tongue over the lace against one of her nipples. “I want to rip this bra off you but you look too damn sexy in it.” He left a blazing trail of hot kisses down her stomach. He paused as reached the black lace of her panties. His finger traced a small part of her skin, near her right hipbone. It sent tingles deep down inside her. He tugged the band of her panties down slightly. He lifted his face away from her skin, and paused. “You have my tattoo.”
Charity sat up on her elbows and glanced down. She grinned. She liked the way he sounded a little awestruck when he said it. “I tried to tell you before but your lips cut me off.” She glanced down where his finger outlined the shape of the Caduceus.
Elijah glanced at his arm and down at her ink. “Even the style of the wings and the rod–”
“Of Asclepius is the same.” Charity finished for him and laughed. “I noticed yours earlier tonight in the hallway. It’s a bit freaky to have the exact same tattoo of the medical symbol but even scarier that we used the same wings and rod. I based mine on an ancient Greek design.”
“I picked mine because I liked the snake head rod.”
“Seriously?”
He chuckled. “Sort of. I saw an antique charcoal drawing and loved it. I made a copy and got the ink after I graduated med school. You?”
“After my first surgery in residence. I got lucky with a surgery most third years fight for, and I got to do it on my own.” She had been ecstatic and so in love with becoming a doctor back then.
He rested his chin lightly on her stomach, angled so he could face her. “Why did you switch careers?”
She stared down at his handsome face. His tousled hair and half naked body gave seduction a new meaning. She didn’t want to talk; she wanted him.
His eyes, with their eyebrows raised in question, changed their meaning and he gave her a sly, sexy grin.
It dawned on her then that while she’d been mesmerized by his good looks, she had started pressing her hips up against his body again and again. Apparently her body knew what it wanted more than her head did.
He pressed his soft lips against her stomach and let his tongue circle her belly button. He leaned to his left and let his body weight shift to his left knee and elbow as he brought his head back level to hers. As he spoke, his hand circled the inside of her leg. His fingers brushed the skin of her inner thighs but would not touch the one spot begging to be touched. “Too much talking?” he teased.
Charity let her head fall back against the pillow. Her sigh turned into a moan when Elijah’s hand rubbed over her panties, in the center of her heat and desire.
