His low groan makes me shiver as he grips my ass to tilt me for an even better angle. I dig my fingers into the muscles of his back, needing to hold on to him, to keep him close, to ride the waves of this exquisite perfection for as long as I possibly can.
He tightens his arms around me and picks up the pace. “Carmen.” The face that has become so dear to me in the time we’ve spent together is tight with tension. His eyes are heated as he gazes at me, and his lips are swollen from our frantic kisses.
I tighten my internal muscles around his cock, and he groans in the second before he pushes deep into me to find his release.
“Holy shit, woman,” he says, gasping. “You finished me off before I had the chance to tend to you.”
“You tended to me beforehand.”
“Still . . . I don’t want you feeling cheated.”
“Trust me. That’s the last thing I feel right now.”
He kisses my cheek and the end of my nose before finding my lips in another soft, sweet, sexy kiss. “What’re you feeling right now?”
“Wiped out. Exhilarated. Happy. Relieved.”
His left brow lifts ever so slightly. “You’re relieved?”
“I didn’t cry.”
“Did you think you might?”
“I wasn’t sure what to expect.”
He brushes a strand of hair back from my face and tucks it behind my ear. “Thank you for choosing me to take this big step with you. I’m honored to be the first.”
My eyes fill, but these aren’t sad tears. They’re “life goes on” tears, and yes, that’s a thing. “I’m glad I waited for you.”
“I’m so glad you did, too.”
Thinking about him possibly leaving if the board doesn’t grant privileges leaves me feeling deflated.
He traces the outline of my mouth with his fingertip. “What caused the frown?”
“Did I frown?”
Nodding, he kisses me until I smile again. “What’re you thinking?”
“About how we’re starting something without knowing where you’ll be in a month.”
“And that worries you.”
“Kind of. I don’t go around having sex with random people.”
He scowls playfully. “I would hope not.”
“I guess what I’m trying to say is that this, what we did, spending time together . . . It means something to me.”
“It does to me, too. Like I said, from the first minute I saw you waiting for me outside the hospital, I was interested. And then when I had to bail you out of jail—”
I slap his back lightly. “Stop! Oh my God! You can’t make that part of our story.”
“Too late. It’s already one of the best parts of our story. I’ll never forget how cute you were in that cell while you tried not to freak the fuck out.”
“I was freaking the fuck out! From the second the cop stopped me.”
Laughter lights up his face and makes my mouth water with lust. I already want him again. “Cutest jailbird I ever met.”
I cover my ears. “Lalalala. I can’t hear you, and if you ever tell my grandmothers or parents that I was in jail, I’ll never speak to you again.”
“I do so love a juicy bit of blackmail. I suppose you’ll have to continue kissing me, frequently, to ensure my silence.”
“You wouldn’t dare!”
He points to his lips. “Better to not risk it.”
Scowling, I push my lips hard against his.
Rocking with silent laughter, he wraps an arm around my neck to keep me anchored to him. “Yes,” he says, his words muffled, “like that, only sweeter.” He works on me until I yield to his persuasive lips and tongue, lost in a sea of desire that overtakes me once again.
I can’t get enough of him or the way he makes me feel. I forgot the euphoric high that comes with connecting to someone this way. He withdraws only long enough to roll on a new condom before rejoining our bodies. As he makes love to me again, I surrender completely to the experience and the shuddering orgasm that rocks through both of us at the same time.
“You’ve bought my silence for another hour, sweet Carmen.” His words, whispered against my neck, make me smile as I run my fingers through his hair.
I come back to reality slowly, my heart and mind resisting anything that would take me out of the most perfect moment I’ve experienced since I lost Tony. I glance at the clock. It’s ten fifty-five.
“The news. We have to watch. They’re going to air the interview.”
He groans. “I don’t want to watch it.”
I give his shoulder a gentle push. “We have to watch it.”
“Ugh.” He withdraws from me and sits back against my sofa, blatantly unashamed of his nakedness while I’m hit with a fierce bout of shyness as I grasp my discarded T-shirt from the floor and put it back on. I turn on the TV to NBC 6 and scurry to the bathroom to clean up.
My hair is a wild nest of curls, mascara is smudged under my eyes and my lips are red and swollen from desperate kisses. I look as if I’ve been thoroughly ravished, and I decide it’s a good look on me. I clean the makeup off my face, put my wild hair up in a bun and use the toilet before rejoining him in the living room.
I’m praying this interview doesn’t make anything worse.
CHAPTER 17
CARMEN
While I was gone, he put on his boxers. He stands to kiss me before taking a turn in the bathroom.
“Jason, hurry. They just said we’re going to meet Miami’s newest neurosurgeon after the break.”
When he returns, I notice the tension is back in his shoulders and face. He sits next to me but keeps a bit of distance between us, as if steeling himself for whatever he’s about to see and hear.
I place a hand on his back, wishing there was something more I could do to put him at ease.
He gifts me with a small smile while keeping his eyes on the TV.
“Our own Desiree Rivera spent some time today with Dr. Jason Northrup, Miami’s newest pediatric neurosurgeon, and learned he’s already making an impact in our community. Desiree?”
“Thank you, Jim, and indeed you’re right about that. I met Dr. Northrup today at the Our Lady of Charity free clinic in Little Havana where he was spending the day volunteering his time and expertise to a wide range of patients. But his day at the clinic took an unexpected turn when Sofia Diaz and her son, Mateo, arrived, hoping to be seen by the doctor.”
Desiree’s live shot cuts to the footage she and her team recorded at the clinic, which shows Jason with patients and the line outside the door. It then shifts to Miami-Dade and an interview with Sofia Diaz, who’s weeping as she details the surgery Jason performed on her son.
“He’s been very sick.” Sofia dabs at her eyes with a tissue as she speaks in halting English. “I hoped the doctor would tell me he had a virus, but Dr. Northrup took one look at my Mateo and called for rescue to bring him to Miami-Dade. They did an MRI and found he had a cancerous brain tumor. Dr. Northrup operated on him, and . . .” Her voice breaks. “He saved his life,” she says in a soft whisper.
A shot of Mateo resting in his hospital bed is shown. He looks so tiny and defenseless in the big bed.