Forever Sheltered (19 page)

I glanced at the clock in her room. 6:30. My crotch tightened. Tina would be arriving.

I squeezed Cynthia’s arm. “I’ll be back again in a little while,” I said. “Angela, you’ll be here until eight?”

The woman nodded.

The halls were fairly quiet as I made my way through the ward. Saturday night. I had definitely spent more weekends in hospitals than out with friends. Even in med school, when we all knew our free time was about to end, we didn’t party much. By the time you got there, the majority of the wild kids were elsewhere. The med students had to blow off steam, certainly, but they didn’t tend to do it with raucous weekend parties.

I buzzed into the surgical wing. The hall was empty. A few rooms were operational farther down, probably lengthy surgeries, the type that took twelve or more hours, a few late-afternoon scheduled ones, and possibly an emergency or two. But most routine work was long over.

I paused in front of the door to Surgical Suite B. I assumed Tina’s badge would get her access back here. If she wasn’t in the suite, I’d go back out to catch her and get her through.

The door lever clicked as I pushed it down. I let my eyes adjust to the lower light, scanning the room to see if Tina had made it in.

Then I saw her.

She lay on her side on one of the gurneys, her head propped up on one elbow. Her outfit wasn’t like anything I had seen her in before, or would have even imagined. Very short black leather skirt. Spike-heel boots to her knee, leaving plenty of leg in between. A top that could best be described as a crisscross of straps. I expected any movement to reveal something delicious.

Her hair was down, crinkly instead of sleek.

“Hello, doctor,” she said. “You might want to lock the door.”

I whirled around and twisted the latch. I took a second to get myself together and turned back to Tina.

She was sitting up now, one leg crossed over the other, the black boot swinging. “You’re way over there,” she said.

I headed for her, trying to take normal, measured steps, but I wound up hurtling in her direction, and the second I made it, pressing my mouth to hers like a dying man.

I ran my hand along the crazy shirt, fingering the straps. Built inside were little cups that acted as a bra, but that was nothing to pull away. I shoved them aside and leaned down, that naked exposed breast in my mouth as fast as I could get it there.

She arched against me, and I remembered all the exquisite sounds she had made the night before.

I pushed her legs apart so I could get closer. My hand closed over a naked knee, then up.

Another luscious surprise. Nothing in the way there.

My fingers slipped inside her. She was wet as hell already. Her face pressed into my neck, keeping her from crying out.

I had a good feel for what worked for her, and I plumbed every bit of that knowledge. She tightened against me, her hips moving with me. She was so close, her breathing fast.

I withdrew, and she let out a tiny squeal. I jerked her forward, closer to the edge of the gurney. She got it, and reached to unbuckle my pants. I groaned as she reached inside the boxers and the cool air hit my skin.

She scooted even closer, tugging a condom from inside her shirt. She ripped the package open and rolled the circle along the length of me.

I could barely stand it, so anxious for her.

Tina surveyed her work and sat back a little, wrapping her legs around my waist. I pushed her skirt up and out of the way and just dove in with one sharp plunge.

She gasped, leaning back, propped on her hands, one sweet breast exposed between the straps of her shirt. I felt completely out of control, trying to hang on as I held her hips, working inside her. I reached between us and circled the nub.

Tina closed her eyes, keeping our rhythm, but I could feel her muscles closing around me. She tried to keep quiet, but little sounds escaped. When she started to orgasm, I knew the difference in the pitch.

As she gripped the mattress on the gurney, I let go and released into her, breath ragged. Jesus. She sat up and held on to me, rocking against me as our bodies pulsed together.

I clasped her, letting our heart rates settle at the same time. I was still inside her, and didn’t want to withdraw, to move on with the work shift. For the first time since I became a doctor, I wanted to blow everything off and do what I wanted. Normal life. A regular job you could just skip for a mental health day.

“Your patients, doctor. They’ll be waiting,” Tina said, her breathing back to normal but her voice still catching.

I squeezed her. People had told me this could happen. A girl could just snare you. I would never have believed it until now. I pressed my lips into her hair, loose and wild. “Can I see you after my shift? Will you be up?”

She laughed a little and pulled away. “At midnight? I dare say the party will just be getting started.”

I nodded. “Tomorrow, then?”

She ran her thumbs along my cheeks. “Let me know when you leave here. We’ll figure something out.”

I kissed her again, long and deep and thoroughly. We were still joined. I didn’t want to pull away.

But Tina dropped her legs and moved back. She produced a tissue. “I thought of everything,” she said.

She had. Except for how I was supposed to concentrate after
this
.

Chapter 35: Tina

I took a taxi to the restaurant to meet Jenny, Corabelle, and a couple of her friends. I almost went home to change my outfit before going out. I had worn a hooded jacket through the hospital so nobody would recognize me in this crazy getup, left over from my goth days.

But I didn’t really have time to stop, nor did I want to spend the extra money to go out of the way. So, I headed straight to Romeo’s.

The restaurant was boisterous and full of amazing smells. I spotted the girls at a big table in the back corner and threaded through the patrons all trying to talk over one another.

“She made it!” Jenny said, passing me a glass of wine. “And look at those boots! Mama mia!”

I unzipped the hoodie and flashed them the shirt. They all erupted in a chorus of hoots. “Wow, Tina!” Corabelle said. “Have you come out of your shell or what?”

I slid into a chair next to Jenny. “No shells around here. I’ve just been a respectable working girl since I’ve been in San Diego,” I said.

“Must be the doctor’s influence bringing you back around.” Jenny elbowed me. “You’ll have to tell us what happened on the Pink Monster.”

The other girls looked confused. Corabelle explained about the sofa. She introduced Melody and Kate. The conversation turned to the menu, and I was relieved not to have to give a blow-by-blow of Darion’s visit. I wanted to keep him to myself for now, like a luscious secret.

“Hey, Cora,” Jenny said, “tell us about the honeymoon. Where are you and Gavin going?”

Corabelle blushed a little, which I found amusing. Gavin was crazy all over her whenever they were together. Jenny and I had discovered them in a tangle on more than one occasion.

Both the girls were very open about their sex lives. I wasn’t used to tight girlfriends. I had friends here and there. And we went to clubs and partied and hung out, but there was nobody I’d call particularly close. Some of them were weirded out over my refusal to be in a relationship. And eventually they’d all pair off, and having an extra single girl around wasn’t fun.

But Corabelle and Jenny were fine with whatever. Jenny in particular was a man-hopper, so she and I saw eye to eye on that.

Work had been enough. And now there was Darion.

Corabelle described their plan to take a cruise down the coast into Mexico. “Turns out it isn’t expensive at all to do that, and my parents are paying for it,” she said.

Ever practical, that girl. “How’s Manuelito?” I asked.

“He’s good. I think his mom will end up working stateside soon, and it will get a lot easier.”

Jenny swirled her wine glass. “I still don’t see how you can stand having her around.”

Corabelle shrugged. “Sometimes you have to accept what life hands you.”

I wished I could confess my suspicion that Darion was Cynthia’s father to the girls, but like our moments in Surgical Suite B, it seemed better to just keep it to myself.

“You girls are getting waaaay too serious,” Jenny said. “We are here tonight to parTAY before Corabelle gets all tied up in the land of mortgages and minivans.”

She lifted her wine glass. “Here’s to all of us banging man-meat as hot as Gavin.”

Everyone laughed as we clinked our glasses together.

After dinner, Jenny jumped up and announced she had a surprise. Her director boyfriend had sent a limo to fetch us to his party.

“We haven’t paid the check,” Corabelle said as Jenny pulled her from her chair.

“Already taken care of,” Jenny said. “Let’s GO!”

I downed my glass, wondering what sort of insanity Jenny was about to drag us into. I hadn’t gotten any messages from Darion, but he said he’d be on shift until midnight. I figured any hospital would be pretty crazy on a Saturday night.

The sleek limo waited outside the restaurant. Jenny crawled in first, then the other girls. I wondered if I should skip this part. I felt distracted and anxious to see Darion. But Jenny reached through the open door and dragged me inside.

The seat wrapped around the perimeter. Everyone was cast blue from a twist of neon on the ceiling. Corabelle handed me a glass of champagne. “Here we go!” she said.

Jenny leaned in excitedly. “All right, everyone has to confess the craziest place they’ve had sex.” She set the empty champagne bottle on the floor and spun it. It landed on Melody.

“I’m a virgin,” Melody said

“What!” Jenny said. “WHAT?” She glanced around. “We’ve got to do something about that!”

“Jenny!” Corabelle said. “Some people wait for the right guy!”

Melody nodded. “Just hasn’t happened.”

Jenny looked outraged. “The right guy is the one with a functional penis!”

“It’ll happen,” Kate said.

“Don’t tell me you’re a virgin too!” Jenny said. “I’m going to schedule an intervention!”

“Not everyone likes sex with strangers like you do,” Corabelle said.

“But it’s good for your metabolism!” Jenny said. “It’s the fountain of youth! The magic elixir! It’s the meaning of life, the universe, and everything!”

“Nope, I’m quite sure that is 32,” Melody said with a giggle.

“42,” Corabelle corrected.

I sat back and sipped the bubbly. Jenny was really on a roll. “Give us yours, Jen,” I said. “Craziest place for you.”

Jenny stared up at the neon. “There are several contenders,” she said. “Could be on a water tower.”

“No way!” Melody said.

“I’m not afraid of heights,” Jenny said. “But it might have been on the Pirates ride at Disneyland.”

Corabelle covered her face with her hands. “Please tell me there were no kids on the boat.”

“We were alone,” Jenny said, “and the ride broke down right in the middle of the cannonball fight.” She spun a lock of pink hair around a finger. “Works great for covering up other noise.”

We all cried out in a chorus of “Noooo.”

“But,” Jenny said, holding up her glass, “what might take the cake would be the time I got caught with a boy in the locker room in high school and we were sent to the principal.”

“You did it in a locker room?” Kate asked.

“Oh, sure, lots of times,” Jenny said. “But this time we finished up in the principal’s office.”

“You didn’t!” Corabelle said.

“Oh, yes I did,” Jenny said. “Didn’t get caught either. High school boys, you know.” She looked around the room. “Kinda quick on the draw.”

“I did it at a funeral once,” Kate said. “Nobody I knew. My boyfriend’s second cousin.”

Jenny cast a quick glance at Corabelle. She and I both knew Gavin had left Corabelle four years ago during their baby’s funeral. We didn’t want to bring down the evening.

“Now that’s something,” Jenny said. “You didn’t worry about lightning striking?”

“Oh, no,” Kate said. “Mainly we worried that someone would figure out we were the ones who broke the communion cup. We were in the sacristy and knocked it right off the rail.”

Everyone laughed at that, including Corabelle. Jenny relaxed. “All right, Corabelle, cough it up. We know you and Gavin are like rabbits. I’ve seen both of you naked so many times I could probably claim alimony as a sister wife.”

Corabelle sipped her glass innocently. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I’m wearing white at my wedding!”

Another chorus of laughter.

“You’re not getting out of this one,” Jenny said. She took away Corabelle’s champagne, prompting an unhappy “Hey!”

Jenny held it away. “You’ll get your booze back when you tell us where you’ve most nefariously done the deed.”

Corabelle’s black hair was loose and wild, a chaos of curls. It was rare I saw her without it tied back in a ponytail. “Well, it might have been on the fifty-yard line at our high school stadium.”

“Turf burns!” Jenny yelped, handing her back the glass. “Or it might have been…”

“In an emergency room after Gavin broke his arm.”

“What!” Melody cried. “There had to be dozens of people right nearby.”

“Indeed,” Corabelle said. “Just on the other side of the curtain.”

“Wait,” Jenny said. Headlights coming through the window cut across her face. “Let me get this straight. He breaks his arm. He’s in some pain. And so you two decide, oh, let’s get busy?” She leaned toward Corabelle. “That’s crazier than me.”

Corabelle sipped her champagne. “We had too long of a wait to get discharged,” she said demurely. “He was a little looped out on pain meds.”

“You took advantage of him!” Jenny toasted her. “Now that’s my kind of story!”

She turned to me. “So, Tina. You and the doctor are on the move. Surely you can trump Corabelle’s ER story.”

I’m not sure what came over me, if it was the booze or all the talk, or missing Darion, or not having breathed a word about him this whole time, but I found myself saying, “I just straddled the good doctor an hour ago on a gurney in Surgical Suite B.”

The resounding squeals could have shattered glass.