The rebel doctors secret.., p.12
The Rebel Doctor's Secret Child, page 12
As if Knox understood that this was something she was sensitive about, he reached back and took her hand, pulling her up beside the two of them. Then he did something that was totally unexpected. Taking out his phone, then smiling at Ally’s teacher, who had been hovering around the parents and students, he waved her over to the three of them. “Do you mind taking a picture for me?”
Ally’s teacher took the phone as Knox turned Bree toward the camera while draping his arm across her shoulder and positioning Ally between the two of them. If Bree’s smile was a little watery when the teacher handed the phone back to him, he didn’t comment.
“This is Aunt Bree’s boyfriend, Dr. Knox,” Ally said, introducing him to her teacher.
“I...ah...” Bree tried to get the denial out of her lips, but the words were jumbled up inside her brain as she tried to recover from her niece’s words. Looking over at Knox for help, she watched as he introduced himself and shook the woman’s hand, never once denying Ally’s statement. By the time Bree could form a half-witted sentence, the teacher had moved on to another student.
When Knox suggested that they stop at the same pizza place they had visited before, Ally immediately set to getting Bree to agree. It was easy for Bree to see why Ally thought of Knox as her boyfriend. Bree had spent more time out with Knox in the past three weeks than she’d spent with any other man since she’d had Ally.
As they ate, she watched as Ally and Knox laughed at a show on the screen above their table. She had never noticed before, but the two of them had a similar laugh. One of those whole-body laughs where their grins were wide and their eyes crinkled in the corners. She couldn’t help but laugh, too, even though she wasn’t watching the show. She only had eyes for the two of them as they clowned around with each other. With everything in her heart, she wished she could freeze that moment. There were so many things that would be changing soon, for all of them. But she didn’t want to think about that tonight. Tonight she was going to just enjoy them being together like this. If a part of her was pretending that the three of them were just a normal family out for the night, who did that hurt?
When Knox looked over at her, his eyes shining with happiness, she picked up her glass of wine and took a sip before giving him a smile. He was a good man. An honest man. A caring man. One that worked in underprivileged communities when he could work in any OB/GYN clinic in the country. And it was already clear that he loved Ally just as much as she did. What more could she ask for as a father for her niece?
That was why after he carried the sleeping little girl into her bedroom and helped Bree get her tucked into bed for the night, she decided that he deserved some one-on-one time with his daughter.
“I’ve got the early-evening shift at the bar Saturday night. Would you like to watch Ally for me?” she asked as they stopped at the door.
“Of course, I’ll keep Ally. What time do you want me here?” Knox said. It almost hurt Bree to see how happy her request made him. It was like giving a starving man a piece of bread. He’d been like this since the moment he’d found out Ally was his.
“If you could be here at four-thirty I can make it in by five. I’m only working till eleven. I take the early-evening shift so my usual babysitter isn’t too late getting home. She just lives across the street, but she’s older and her husband doesn’t like her out any later than midnight.” Bree had always thought it was more that Fran’s husband couldn’t sleep himself until his wife came home. Not that she minded. She knew that she had been lucky to have so many people to help her out with Ally over the years.
“I’ll be here,” Knox said. He opened his mouth to say something else, then stopped.
“What is it?” she asked. “If you have something else planned, it’s okay.”
“No. I’m not on call this weekend. There’s nothing I’d rather do Saturday night.”
He stepped closer to her and placed a light kiss on her lips, lingering there for only a second, resting his forehead against hers. Before she could react, he’d stepped away. “Thank you for this evening.”
She watched as he made his way to where a car waited for him and she wondered what he would have said if she’d had the nerve to ask him to stay the night instead of taking a hired service back to the office to get his own car. If the look in his eyes before he’d left was any indication, she was pretty sure he would have stayed. And she would have been glad to let him.
CHAPTER TEN
KNOX LOOKED AROUND what had been Bree’s orderly living room. He hadn’t known what to expect, but the stack of books and pile of games that lay open around the room wasn’t it. Though Ally had never appeared to be a low-energy child, she’d been more energetic than usual. Maybe it had been the ice cream he’d brought for dessert. Or the sprinkles that they’d added when Ally had shown him where her aunt hid them.
Looking at the clock, he knew he had only moments to get the mess cleaned up before Bree arrived. He didn’t want to give her the impression that he couldn’t handle taking care of his eight-year-old daughter. He needed her to see him as a capable parent. He had a lot to make up to both Bree and Ally. He didn’t know how he was going to do it, but he would spend the rest of his life trying.
As the front door opened, he stacked the last of the board games together. Turning, he saw that the smiling Bree that had left just hours ago now looked like she couldn’t take another step. The laughter that had been in her eyes when she’d been warning Knox of all the ways Ally would try to escape her bedtime was gone. Her mascara was just smudges under her eyes now and there was nothing left of the pretty pink lipstick that he’d been thinking about since the moment she’d walked out.
“Hard night?” he asked. He hadn’t made it a secret that he didn’t like her working as much as she was, but he knew she wouldn’t appreciate his concern. He would have to be very careful when he approached the subject.
“It was bachelorette party central tonight. There had to be at least ten of them that came in. The place was packed,” Bree said, landing on the couch before slipping her shoes off.
Knox watched as she wiggled her toes back and forth as if trying to return the circulation to them. He sat down on the rug in front of her and pulled off her simple white socks and began to massage the pale pink polished toes.
“What are you doing?” Bree asked. He looked up to see her eyes closed, and the muscles of her tired face relaxing.
“My father used to do this for my mother when they’d had a long night on stage. She said it helped her unwind. Is it working?”
Instead of answering, she let out a moan, then stretched her legs out farther, arching her back and burrowing into the couch. Something inside him awakened with that sound. His mind went to places he’d been avoiding since the day they’d kissed at the ranch. When she arched her back and burrowed deeper into the couch, he forced himself to concentrate on what he was doing. Then his hands moved up to the calves of her legs and the tension in her body disappeared. His hands reached the backs of her knees and he looked up to see Bree watching him, her eyelids barely opened. When she didn’t tell him to stop, he continued.
Unfortunately, his own body was tightening with each stroke of his hands across her soft skin. Desire ran through his system, the heat of it flooding his veins. His heartbeat drummed to a different beat in his chest, each beat becoming faster and faster. What had started as a way to comfort Bree had turned on him. His body was now as tight as a guitar string. He didn’t know when he’d ever been this aroused.
Then his hands slid higher, brushing against the tattered hem of her denim shorts, and Bree let out a gasp before arching her back again.
“Do you want me to stop?” he asked as he came up on his knees, his eyes even with hers.
“No, please don’t stop,” she said, her hands tentatively coming up to rest on his chest. She bit her lower lip then looked up at him, an innocence and trust in her eyes that had his body going into overdrive. Bree had always been a woman of secrets to him, always holding back something even as she smiled and laughed and looked so innocent. He wanted to know all her secrets tonight, especially the ones her body held.
He moved over her and slowly lowered himself until their lips touched. She tasted of sunshine and honey and when her tongue welcomed his, he couldn’t resist the pleasure there. They tangled, released and then tangled again, his mouth wanting more and more as it caught each moan she gave him.
When her hands reached for the hem of his T-shirt, he scooped her up off the couch and carried her toward the bedroom. Her green eyes seemed to shine in the darkness as they left the light of the living room and headed down the hall. When her mouth moved up his neck, he had to stop and lean against the wall. “If you don’t stop, we won’t make it to your bed.”
“Really,” she said, surprise and a sweet, sexy smile dancing across her swollen lips before they returned to torturing him as they moved down to his collarbone.
“Behave,” he said as he gritted his teeth and forced his feet to start moving again. Only the presence of his daughter in the room down the hall kept him moving forward.
He made it to the door of her room, pushed it open and unceremoniously dumped her in the middle of the bed. He finished stripping his shirt off and then paused at the sight of Bree staring at him. When she came up on her knees and put her hands on his belt buckle, his whole body went rock-hard.
“I don’t know exactly how to do all this, but I think I can handle it,” she said. Her hand began to undo his belt while her lips trailed soft kisses down his chest. What was she saying? That she was innocent? That couldn’t be; she was only four years younger than him. He was suddenly out of his depth.
“Are you saying that you’re a virgin?” he asked, his head swimming from the possibility.
Bree’s hands stilled and she sat back on her heels. “Is that a problem?”
There was a vulnerability in her voice that shook loose every protective instinct in his body. “No, sweetheart, it’s not a problem. It’s a privilege. I just need to know. I don’t want to hurt you.”
“Okay,” she said, her hands less sure as they fumbled with his belt now. His hands covered hers and he bent down to kiss her. The desire that had almost consumed them earlier returned as he nibbled at her lips until she was moaning again.
While this would be a first for Bree, it would also be a first for him. The women he’d been involved with before had always been as experienced as him. Even his first lover, one of his parents’ crew members and a few years older, had been skilled in the art of making love. He wanted to make this special for both of them, but especially for her. He knew in his heart that this was a memory he would always treasure. He wanted to have a memory just as precious as she was.
When Bree finished removing his belt, he let her unzip his jeans, but stilled her hand when it closed around him, wrapping his around hers. Her grip tightened and he moaned as he locked her eyes onto his, his hips rocking against her hand. “This is what you do to me, Bree.”
As his control began to crumble, he removed her hands and raised them over her head. “Stay like this.”
He thought she’d protest, but she kept her arms up as he peeled her T-shirt off her body, uncovering a pale pink bra that displayed softly rounded breasts. Her skin was a pale pink that reminded him of peaches and cream and he knew it would taste just as sweet. Unable to help himself, he bent and licked the top of each breast. The shiver that ran through her body, transferring itself to him... His body shaking, he held himself in check. He removed her bra, his mind taking in each curve. He laid her down and undid her shorts, while his lips sprinkled kisses over her breasts then down her abdomen. Time stood still for a moment as he spread her legs. When he looked into her eyes and saw not only desire, but trust, too, his heart filled his chest with an emotion he had never shared with another person.
“Do you know how special you are, Bree Rogers? Do you have any idea what you have done to me?” he asked.
“I just know that I want you,” Bree whispered back to him. “Is that enough?”
He didn’t answer her back. For now it would have to be enough. But when he bent his head and tasted her most private places, he knew that this night with Bree would never be enough for him.
* * *
Bree’s mind tried to wrap around the reality of the moment while her body flooded with sensations that it had never experienced. Finding Knox waiting for her when she’d come home had seemed so right tonight. And when his hands had begun their lazy exploration of her legs as he’d massaged each aching spot, she’d been overcome with a desire for more as every nerve ending in her body called out to be touched by him. She’d arched into his touch as her body had cried out for more. Just more. But of what?
When his lips had touched her, she’d thought, This is it. This is what I need. But still, that hadn’t been enough.
Now, as she lay there with all her innocence exposed to him, the desire for something more was almost painful. He lowered his head and gently kissed the inside of her thigh, and her body almost bucked off the bed. Never had her body been so sensitive. She bit her lip as his lips lazily moved inside her thigh. And then his hands parted her and her breath caught as his tongue raked across her center.
Her hands clutched his head, her fingers tangling in his curls, and her body came off the bed as she was suddenly inundated with sensations that wanted to overwhelm her. It felt like every nerve ending she had was too sensitive. Knox’s hands joined her mouth as he left no part of her unscathed as he tormented her with a pleasure that built until she wanted to scream. She tried to tell him it was too much, but the words died in her throat as the pleasure inside her body began to build. As the orgasm hit her, she grabbed on to it, embracing it. Her world shattered and she knew everything about her had suddenly changed.
When her mind righted itself, she opened her eyes to find Knox staring down at her. With her brain still jumbled, she could only get out the most important of words. “More.”
“Are you sure?” Knox asked, his face set in hard lines, his body hard against hers, his breaths coming just as fast as hers.
“Please,” she said as she lifted a hand to his cheek. He wouldn’t understand that she had never been with another man because there had never been one she’d wanted to share her first time with, until now. “I want this. With you.”
Even as relaxed as she was, her body tightened as she watched him roll on a condom he’d produced from his jeans. He was as beautiful a man undressed as he was dressed. Uncertainty filled her, along with fear that she’d disappoint him. Of course, she knew the mechanics and she’d read enough on the subject to know what to expect.
But when he entered her, so gently, she found a new desire as he filled her. If there was pain, the pleasure overrode it. And when he began to move inside her, she let her body respond, holding nothing back from him.
As a new climax, this one even stronger than the one before, began to build inside her, she opened her eyes and found his eyes fixed on hers. A scream tore through her and his mouth sealed over hers as they both rode the orgasm out together. Yes, her world was definitely never going to be the same again.
* * *
“I have to go,” Knox whispered in Bree’s ear, brushing her hair aside as he applied a soft kiss to her neck.
Bree opened her eyes and saw the clock. It was almost five. Her mind tried to remember the day. Was she at the clinic or the hospital today? No. She’d worked the night before. Before...
Her eyes popped open and she took in her surroundings. She was in her bed. The sun had begun to come up, casting shadows between the dark curtains on her windows, and she could see a pile of clothes scattered across the wooden plank floors.
She’d worked last night at the bar and when she’d come home Knox had been there. More memories of the night returned, explaining why she was in her bed and why Knox was bending over her.
She’d slept with Knox. She wouldn’t regret it. It had been perfect. Knox had been perfect. Not that she was really surprised. The attraction between them, though she’d tried to ignore it, had been growing for a while.
But still, he was the father of her niece: the one person who could take her away from Bree. How would it affect Ally if she ended up involved with him? And shouldn’t she feel some kind of guilt for the fact that her sister had once been, though shortly, involved with Knox? It was a complication that they didn’t need in a relationship that was already complicated both emotionally and legally. It was just too bad that her body and her heart hadn’t come up with that information before things had gotten this far.
There was so much between them that had to be settled before they could address any of this. But instead of sitting up and facing all of it, she closed her eyes and pretended to fall back off to sleep. When Knox kissed her forehead before leaving, she curled deeper into the bed covers. Maybe if she buried herself deep enough, she could just this once enjoy her memories of the night before she had to face the consequences that would come with the day.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
MONDAY MORNING, Bree walked into Legacy Women’s Clinic cautiously. She’d never had the experience that other women talked about as far as the awkward mornings when you saw someone you’d slept with. There’d been no walks of shame for her. While the other college girls had been hooking up with guys, she’d been raising her niece. She didn’t know how to handle things like this. She didn’t want to embarrass herself or Knox by making too much of the fact that they had slept together. But how did she do that when what they’d shared had been earth-shattering to her? How did she act all nonchalant when she knew just seeing him would bring up memories of the night they had shared?
