Doctor For Keeps

He smiled to keep from moaning. “Is this how you like to be touched?”

“Yes.” She sounded breathless. God knew he was. If she was this responsive to such a simple touch, what would she be like when he really got down to business?

He took a mental step back. His gut instinct told him he might be making one giant mistake if he went any further. Then she reached up and unbuttoned the top button of her blouse, severing his last shred of resistance.

Removing her hand from the placket, he undid the remaining buttons at a snail’s pace, not only to draw out the tension, but also to allow her to stop him. When she didn’t, he pushed aside the blouse to reveal a silky champagne-colored camisole, no bra underneath. He cupped her breast again. The material felt cool to his palm, but he wanted to experience her warmth underneath the fabric.

She stood very still and for a moment he thought she might reconsider. Taking her back in his arms, Rick kissed her, then slipped one hand under the silk. Warm, supple flesh filled his palm. The muscles in his gut tensed as he struggled for control.

He broke the kiss and removed his hand from beneath the camisole in order to catch his breath and gather his scattered thoughts. Right now he should stop, the hardest thing he had done in a long time.

She brought her lips to his ear and whispered, “Make love to me.”

Oh, hell, she was making this damned difficult. How could he be a gentleman with someone so desirable in his arms, begging for his attention? He considered they were simply two consenting adults with normal biological urges. That’s what he kept telling himself, but he realized it was more. She was more than he had bargained for.

“Are you sure?” he asked, meeting her deep green eyes, bright with desire.

“Very sure.”

She sounded sure, but he had to know. And he had well-practiced ways of finding out. Then, if she chose to run, he’d show her the door and head for the shower.

Rick reached down and undid the button on the side of the sarong skirt. The flap fell to one side, revealing another button. He had to look down to undo it. Randi looked down as well, and together they watched the drama unfold while he released the last remaining obstacle. The skirt slipped easily down her narrow hips and fell in a heap on the floor at her feet. His eyes never left hers as he knelt and removed her sandals, one at a time, then stood.

Rick’s attention now focused on the scrap of white lace barely covering the dark shading at the juncture of Randi’s thighs. He slipped a finger just below the elastic. Her breath caught, and he looked up to find her eyes tightly closed.

“Randi, open your eyes.”

She did as he commanded, and she still had that same look, half-innocent, half-needy.

“Are you sure you want this?” Normally he would just let nature take its course. For some reason, he needed to hear her say it again.

“Positive.” Although her voice was unsteady, she looked as ready as he felt. She also looked tousled and incredibly sexy, her lips swollen from his kiss, her cheeks the color of his mother’s prized tea roses. A few wisps of her gold-brown hair ruffled in the breeze filtering in through the window.

She was an extraordinary, desirable woman, and he wanted her more than he should. His life was a mess, but he didn’t want to think about that now. Randi would help him forget, at least for a while.

In one swift move, Rick brought her tightly against him. He thrust upward and nestled in the cradle of her thighs. He kissed her with all the desire he felt.

Randi’s body went limp in his arms. Afraid she might actually join her skirt on the floor, he said, “Come to bed with me.” Of course, once they got to that point, he might have one hell of a time maintaining his resolve to take it slow.

She sent him a shaky smile. “That’s a good idea.”

Taking her by the hand, he led her into Mark and Angie’s room, now washed in the subtle glow of moonlight. He could only guess what the unsuspecting couple would think if they knew what he intended to do in their bed. Of course, Mark would give him a high five for his sexual prowess. Angie would give him a lecture on his rogue ways.

He could almost hear his best friend’s wife scolding him about his lack of commitment, reminding him how very few relationships he’d had. She would stress the fact it was way past time for him to think about settling down. But he couldn’t settle down, not now. Not until he’d done all that he could to fulfill the promise he’d made so long ago. Until he atoned for his myriad sins.

He felt a twinge of regret that his life couldn’t include a serious relationship. Especially with this woman.

This angel.

The sight of Randi clad only in white lace panties and champagne silk camisole, her long hair flowing over her breasts, chased away the arguments racing around his head.

He fumbled with his fly for what seemed an interminable amount of time. God, he hadn’t been this unsure since he was sixteen and in the throes of raging hormones. Nor had he experienced such a physical rush. A desperate, impatient need that threatened his practiced control. He had learned to use his hands with calm efficiency, but right now he couldn’t even tackle the damned zipper.

Randi continued to study him with wild-eyed wonder, seeming unfazed by the delay. He wished he could say the same for himself.

Once he finally undid his fly, he snaked out of his slacks and tossed them across the room along with his misgivings. He sat beside Miranda on the bed and plied her with whisper kisses before lying back with her in his arms. He shifted until they were lying face-to-face, body to body.

Raising up on a bent elbow, he watched her expression melt into pure desire as he nudged her hair aside and drew lazy circles around her breasts through the silk. He slowly lifted the camisole.

“You’re perfect,” he said as he feathered his thumb across the beaded tip of one flawless breast.

She rolled to her back and stared at the ceiling. “No, I’m not.”

Rick noted the pain in her tone and wondered what jerk had crushed her sense of self-worth. Probably some idiot who preferred more than a mouthful to boost his over-inflated ego. He was determined to convince her otherwise.

He moved above her and said, “Yes, you are,” then placed a kiss between her breasts before drawing one peak between his lips.

She arched her back, thrusting her chest forward, and released a pleasured moan. Rick ached with the all-consuming need to be inside her, but he was determined to take it slow.

He raised his head and found her lips again, relishing the feel of the dampness on her breast where his mouth had been. Brushing his knuckles back and forth against her lower belly, he again found the band at her hips. In one smooth move, he slipped his hand underneath the lace, tamping down the urge to rip the scrap of material away.

Rick broke the kiss and watched her face to gauge her reaction. She kept her eyes closed and her lips parted, drawing in a quick gasp when he delved into her feminine folds and found her center with the pad of his thumb.

“You feel good,” he whispered as he stroked her flesh, centering on the soft bud that blossomed beneath his fingertip. “You’re perfect here, too.”

Randi made a small sound in her throat that carried him to the brink of losing control. He kissed her temple, her cheek, her lips, as he quickened his touch.

“Rick…” His name rode out on a gasp, and her bottom lip trembled. She grasped the folds of the comforter and writhed beneath his ardent touch.

He brought his lips to her ear and whispered words of encouragement. “It’s okay, Randi. Just let go for me. Let go.”

She tilted her head back and released a soft cry. Her whole body shook against his side.

Rick stilled, surprised by the fact that she had gone over the edge after only a few touches. Either this angel was a lot hotter than he imagined, or as innocent as he had first assumed.

His conscience wouldn’t let him believe the latter.

Randi grabbed his shoulders and tried to pull him to her. “Easy, querida,” he said, trying to gentle her with soft kisses.

“I need you.” The desperation in her voice drove him wild. He was tempted to answer her plea right then, but he couldn’t. Not yet. Not until he saw to his responsibility.

“I need you, too,” he said. “But there’s something I have to do first.”

It occurred to him that he hadn’t even thought to bring protection. His work hadn’t afforded him much of a social—much less sexual—life of late. Luckily, he remembered seeing a box of condoms in the medicine cabinet. Good old Mark had come through for him again, and he didn’t even know it. Nor would he.

Rick stood, stripped out of his briefs, and headed toward the bathroom. “I’ve got to get a condom. I’ll be right back. Don’t go anywhere.”

Miranda couldn’t have left, even if she’d wanted to. Her whole body had melted into a pool of molten heat. As a nurse, she certainly wasn’t ignorant in the ways of male and female lovemaking. But as a woman, she could never have imagined Rick’s abilities. And better still, he was concerned with safe sex, something she could more than appreciate. Something she should have considered. But he had stripped her of all common sense when he’d stripped away her clothes. She had only considered the way he made her feel, like a truly sexual being for the first time in her life.