It was all stuff I knew. Of course it wasn’t my fault, yet somehow my brain had made it seem that way. This was survivor’s guilt at its most destructive, and now that I had RJ to guide me through the fog, I knew everything would eventually be all right. My heart beat faster as a surge of voltage awakened it.
“I am grateful.”
“For what, Dani? Say it.”
“For you,” I replied, my voice strengthening. “And to be alive.”
“I’m grateful for the same things.”
“Good,” I shouted.
He answered back with his own shout. “Why are we yelling?”
“I don’t know,” I continued at the top of my lungs. “But I like it. The pressure was building. You popped the cork. And now I’m gonna blow!”
“Okay,” he mused, a smile jumping to his lips. “Should I get out of the way?”
Lifting to my knees, I leaned over and smacked a kiss to his lips before tossing my arms to the sides and screaming. Seconds later, the door was flung open and my horrified mother rushed toward me, her eyes flooded with panic.
“It’s okay.” RJ held his hands out to stop her.
“No. No, it’s not okay.”
“Yes, Gladys. She needs this. Let her empty the bottle.”
And they did, both waiting patiently until my throat was raw and I collapsed to the side, laughing.
“I’m just so confused,” my mother said.
I reached my hand out to her, and when she grabbed it, I pulled her down and gave her a hug. “I love you. Have I told you that lately?”
Her tense body began to loosen. “No. I don’t believe you have.”
“Well, I love you,” I said, kissing her cheek. “Thank you for everything, Mom. Now I’m ready to go home.”
28
Dani: Doctor Dani
It should have been a grand experience—me gliding into the stately mansion while attentive staff fussed over my every need.
“Park over there,” RJ instructed.
“Behind the shrubs?”
“Yes.”
I eyed him but said nothing as I pulled into the dirt, my fancy new Bronco getting her first real taste of adversity. RJ steered me along the outskirts of the property, welcoming me to my new digs through the back door. Again, weird, but I’d never been to his house before and just figured it was sort of a ‘garage’ entrance. It wasn’t until he began tiptoeing through the kitchen—on crutches—that I realized something was up.
“What’s going…”
My question was interrupted when RJ abruptly pushed me into the pantry and slapped a hand over my mouth, his lips puckered in a ‘shush.’
I squawked indignantly, prying his fingers back. “If you don’t explain what’s going on right now, I’m going to scream… and then I’m going to knee you in the nuts.”
RJ didn’t take my threat lightly. “My nurse,” he whispered. “Julio. He’s pissed. Left me like eighty messages.”
“So what? He’s your nurse, not Heather! The RJ I know doesn’t hide in a pantry the size of my old apartment because he’s afraid of the hired help. Who is he, Freddie Krueger?”
The door suddenly blew open, and we both screamed like we were on Elm Street. A short, disgruntled dude in swim trunks stood in the entrance to the pantry.
“Oh, hey, Julio,” RJ said, quickly recovering from the shock. “Just getting a snack. Nice to see you threw a shirt on.”
RJ hopped past his nurse and into the kitchen. I followed right behind, having no clue what was currently happening but feeling like I was in the middle of a domestic dispute.
“You were getting a snack in the dark?” Julio questioned.
“Yes,” RJ confirmed. “It’s more fun that way. A surprise every time—like snack roulette.”
Julio narrowed in on RJ. “I do not appreciate you leaving…”
“Actually, Julio, sorry to interrupt, but Dani can’t keep her hands off me, so we’ll have to discuss this in the morning.”
I wanted to punch him for putting me in an awkward position, but instead I dutifully followed after RJ because the house was massive enough that I would’ve gotten lost without him.
“Thanks a lot, Chad!” I smacked him in the pecs. “Now I have to find a new place to live.”
“You’re not going anywhere,” he said, reaching around my back and tugging me to him. “Until I have you quaking on my bed.”
“You sound confident in your skills,” I teased, biting his luscious bottom lip as my hand dipped to his pants and I took a firm grip of his manhood. He groaned, pulling the shirt over my head before reconnecting our lips. “But I’m a finicky climaxer.”
I could feel his lips curving against mine. “You won’t be tonight.”
“All right, well, I’m rooting for you,” I said between kisses.
“No need. You’ll see.”
He was so confident in his skillset that I almost believed him. The fact of the matter was, while I was a whiz with a vibrator, I’d always struggled to achieve orgasmic bliss with the Jeremys. But I was more than willing to give the studly pop star a try.
“Bed,” I instructed, walking him backward until his legs touched the bed. Dislodging the crutches from under his arms, I pushed him back onto the mattress and wasted no time climbing on top of him and straddling his waist. I leaned over, hands on either side of his head, staring into his lustful eyes. Lifting his head, he took a swipe at my lips with his tongue.
“Do you want me?” I purred, teasing him by rotating my hips over his ever-expanding erection. That I’d worn a skirt with itty bitty silk panties today seemed almost like divine intervention.
He answered by unhooking the clasp of my bra and setting my breasts free. But they weren’t really, because RJ’s calloused hands were on them in seconds, using his thumb to gently brush against my nipples. I sucked in my lower lip, gripping his chest and grinding deeper onto him. He winced.
I froze. “Did I hurt you?”
“No,” he lied. “Don’t stop.”
“RJ, you’re fresh out of the hospital. Still breakable.”
He thrust his pulsing dick between my legs; the only thing keeping it from penetrating me was the fact that it was still in his pants. “Does that feel breakable to you?”
“No,” I whispered in his ear, squeezing my thighs around him.
He dragged in a sharp breath. “So, stop worrying about me.”
“Okay. But I’d feel better if I did a real quick health exam on you,” I said, tilting his face toward me, and when he opened his mouth to protest, I stopped him with a finger to his lips. “Yes, just as I suspected. You appear winded. Dr. Dani prescribes mouth to mouth resuscitation.”
I lowered my lips to his, inhaling him long and deep. He caught on to the game in record time, slipping his tongue into the resuscitation efforts, a giant no-no in every medical personnel’s survival playbook. But this doctor didn’t mind, the forbidden excitement of RJ reaching all the way to my core. I was living out a fantasy millions of girls around the world could only dream of. And he’d sought me out, coming to my house to win me back. He was mine for the taking.