Kiss From a Rose (5 page)

After four days of recuperating in the hospital, Marcus, the whiniest patient Jenna had ever seen, was discharged to the delight of more than just Jenna. The only time she could visit him was in the evening and if they got five minutes before someone came in with well wishes it was a fluke. Although his mother sat vigil during the day, when she learned of Jenna she’d leave for dinner and return promptly at seven so the three of them could get to know each other better.

The discharge though was a hundred percent on Jenna.

“I think I’ve gotten all your gift baskets in the back of my car.”

“You left a few for the clerks and nurses right?”

“The three you said, yes. And they appreciate it.”

“All right Officer Peterson, time to head out,” an orderly said as she pushed a wheelchair into the room.

“No, I’m walking out of here.”

“Look mule, it’s policy. Don’t make me call security.”

This orderly was the only one Jenna liked. She wasn’t taking crap from anyone, but her care and commitment was evident to all.

“I’m going to bring my car around,” Jenna said, then stood by Marcus who leaned on his cane. “The sooner your ass gets in that chair, the sooner I bring you home. Think about that.”

Marcus turned and plopped into the chair, but slapped Jenna’s ass as she left the room with a vase of white roses in her arms.

“Save it for when we get home, Peterson.”

Getting to know a guy was great, she thought, except when people are talking all around you and you can only think about nibbling every inch of him. Then there were Marcus’ hands that could find a way to wander unbenounced to anyone else. His long fingers tickled the inside of her thigh from her knee to just the edge. Skirts could be fun, especially if you crossed your legs at the ankle. He never overstepped or ventured too far, except when it came to her heart, and that thankfully would change tonight.

When Marcus was buckled in Jenna turned to him and for the first time their relationship—if that’s what it was—felt real. Panic set in about ten seconds later.

“I don’t even know where you live.”

“Good thing I do or I’d never get home.”

“What’s going to happen now?”

“I thought you and I already agreed on what was going to happen.”

“I didn’t bring any clothes.”

“You being naked isn’t going to upset me.”

“I have to work in the morning.”

“Then let’s go to your place.”

“But you don’t have any clothes.”

“Do you mind me being naked?”

Just the mere mention of Marcus naked sent heat directly to her core. When his hand brushed her cheek and he leaned in to capture her lips, deciding whose home to go to became secondary to getting his ass naked.

“Take me home,” he whispered, causing his lips to brush against hers. “Yours or mine as long as there is no one there but us.”

Jenna’s apartment was by the Walker Art Museum on the eighteenth floor. She’d held out until an apartment facing the Minneapolis skyline opened up. With only a week until Daylight Savings Time the early darkening skies on the clear night set up the most romantic of views. The IDS, Norwest, and Foshay buildings, and those surrounding with a mix mash of random lights were like their own sky full of twinkling stars.

Marcus had gone to freshen up in her bathroom as she ordered dinner delivery from a local Italian restaurant. Right as she hung up body heat engulfed her when Marcus slid in behind and placed his arms around her belly. His cane rested against her sliding glass door, and she felt his weight even though he was trying to put it all on his right leg.

“Which do you prefer, manmade or natural skyline?” he asked as he presented her with one of his white roses.

“Man made ones are just our way of mimicking God.”

“You’re religious?”

“I observe certain things.”

“Hmm.” Marcus kissed her neck and she felt him stiffen against her backside. “The doctor said as long as I take things slow I can return to normal activities.”

“Are you saying I have to be gentle with you?”

“Pain with pleasure isn’t that bad.”

“I wouldn’t know.”

“With how you talk about handcuffs I thought for sure—”

Jenna pulled away from the embrace and crossed to the kitchen to retrieve plates, setting the rose on the counter.

“Did I say something wrong?”

“Um…no…it’s just…” Jenna set two plates on the kitchen bar and looked up. “You’re a cop and it was something I thought would be relatable. I’m not into being tied up and spanked. If I gave you that impression—”

Marcus took her in his arms and kissed her as they tumbled to find a base. His tongue swept along hers and she clawed at his back.

“You didn’t. I’ve never restrained someone I wasn’t arresting. That was the only thing I was worried about with you. It made me think you were looking for someone to do things I couldn’t possibly do… Well, not until we had built up a huge amount of trust between us.”

“Oh, good.”

“There is one thing I do want to do though.”

“And that is?” she asked with a quirked grin.

Marcus put his hands on her hips and lifted her to the counter as if she weighed no more than a coffee cup. With a few light kisses to her lips he explored her neck and she felt her buttons popping on her blouse. The roughness of his hands mixed with the gentleness of his touch as he released her tingling breasts from her bra. Her blouse slid down her arms and pooled around her ass.

“What was it you said about nature being symmetrical?” he asked as he picked up the blooming rose and let the velvet petals lightly brush her skin between her breasts. It trailed down to her belly then back up to circle each breast. The rose petals were cold yet teasing against her flesh, while his hand, warm and firm, satisfied her need for connection.

Her breath turned ragged as she became lost watching his face change with every newly explored part of her body. He bit his bottom lip as his large hand cupped her hips, then glided up her stomach as she lay out on the cold granite. Slowly his long arm reached all the way to her neck. There was no rush. He was savoring the feel of her as much as she enjoyed the scorching heat of his touch.

Cupping her neck he brought her up and placed the rose on her throbbing lips. The cool kiss from the rose only enhanced her desire for his lips. Leaning down she became the aggressor and claimed his mouth as her own. His kiss was like his tease—slow, sensual, and making Jenna ache to have him inside her.

“Delicious,” he whispered against her lips, and she clenched from the memory from before surgery.

Nibbling his way down her neck her perked nipple stung with a sweet pleasure as he rolled the hardened flesh between his fingers until the warmth of his mouth took over.

“Pleasure with pain,” she moaned, holding his head in her hands and bringing her lips to the top of his head.

She could feel him smile against her breast as his now free hands pushed her skirt up her thighs. Strong fingers went from powerful to delicate as they removed her lace thong. Her core ached as he suckled her breast and plunged two fingers inside her. With firm strokes he teased an orgasm to the brink, only to pull back, lick her nipple, and use his thumb to ever so slightly tease her clit.

When he stood and looked down at her she smiled. He moved a stool to the end of the island, then brought her naked ass to the edge of the counter. Placing a leg on each of his shoulders Jenna inhaled in anticipation. The confident grin on his face made every nerve go off as his tongue moistened his top lip. Jenna’s head fell back and his fell forward. Taking her sex into his mouth he teased and sucked on her clit as his fingers returned to their rhythm.

A third finger stretched Jenna’s aching pussy and she was to the point he could have done anything he wanted to her. Her breasts ached, her belly began to spasm, and the screams Marcus unlocked from deep inside made her wonder how she’d lived this long and never reached a climax that made colors come alive. Her head thrashed to the side and when she couldn’t take any more he swiped from her anus to the tip of her clit and flicked.

Electrical charges worked their way up and down her body while her heels dug in his back. Locking his body in place she began thrusting her hips up to meet his amazing face as moans of pleasure came from both of them. He lifted his lidded eyes and gazed up at her body.

“You’re delicious. Is it too late to cancel that dinner you ordered?”

“Something tells me you’re going to need the carbs tonight,” Jenna panted right as the buzzer rang.

****

While Jenna quickly smoothed out her skirt and buttoned her top to meet the delivery guy, Marcus cleaned himself up and swept up the rose petals and broken dishware that somehow they both hadn’t noticed. For him it wasn’t a surprise. The taste and feel of a good woman brought a singular focus into his mind. Jenna had probably thrown the dishes mid-orgasm.

“I hope that wasn’t your good China,” he teased as he emptied the last of the dustpan into the garbage.

“Did they even match?” she teased back, then bounded to him and on tiptoed feet kissed his lips.

“Someone’s happy.”

“Shocking what a couple of orgasms can do to a girl’s disposition.”

“I liked you before. Be careful, I might just fall in love.”

There was no might and as careful as Marcus had been the second he saw Jenna standing at the edge of his ER bed, he was in love. She came to see him because she was worried. She cared and wanted him to be safe. It wasn’t like his ex Badge Bunny Shelly who seemed jealous of Les’ wife when they’d both got t-boned by a drunk driver. Marcus didn’t even need to be checked out, but Les had to have stitches and be watched overnight. Shelly had been disappointed he hadn’t been injured. While he could see in Jenna’s eyes she wished he’d never been in harm’s way.

Jenna was right. The others had been girls and she was a woman. Better yet she was his woman; at least, that was how it seemed.

“Suddenly I want to be dangerous,” Jenna replied and slid her hand over Marcus’ thigh, then took his hand in hers. “Come on to the couch, we can eat there.”

“That’s not dangerous.”

“I told you, you’ll need carbs to get through this night.”

She dished them each a piece of lasagna, put some salad on their plates, and laid the garlic cheese bread on the coffee table.

“Since I need to carb up, tell me, what did you mean when you said you can see centuries?”

“You remembered.” Jenna smiled and settled in. “Well, as an architect you want to plan a building that will stand the test of time.” She took a bite of her pasta and continued after swallowing. “There’s this church in Cambridge England at the University built in the thirteenth century. They used these amazing oak beams in the ceiling. Flash ahead about eight hundred years. The beams are rotting and need to be replaced. Between cost and finding the type of thick oak beams the church wasn’t sure what they were going to do.”

“Then an architect came to the rescue and showed them steel,” Marcus mocked.

“No. The original architect knew the beams wouldn’t last forever and would need to be replaced by the same strong oak.”

“So what happened? He hid them in the basement or something.”

“No, he planted trees all around the church yard. They were eight hundred years old, strong, thick oaks ready to be harvested to replace the old beams. All the church members would need to do was plant new acorns around the church and make sure they grew. By having a vision of the future the church will stand now and forever.”

“That’s not true.”

“Yes it is. I have to look at not only material costs, but its strength, longevity. Will it last in a Minnesota winter or in the heat of Las Vegas. Wherever I’m designing for. Is the foundation strong enough to build something that can last for my lifetime and a thousand after me.”

“Is that how you approach everything?”

“Long term, you mean?”

“Yes.”

She sat back and took a few more bites.

“I don’t want to come off as one of those girls.”

“What girls?”

“You know. The ones that have you married before you finish your first sentence.”

“So you’re saying you don’t have us married?”

“Relationships are weird. First there’s attraction. Do I want to see this person naked and have them touching me?”

“Since you gave me your number I assume I passed the first test.”

Jenna put their plates on the coffee table, hiked up her skirt, then straddled Marcus’ hips.

“I’m pretty sure you got extra credit,” she said as she stripped off his t-shirt and tossed it to the floor.

Her eyes glided over his naked chest, stopping at his tattooed copy of his badge on his left peck.

“I like it,” she said as she rubbed her thumb under his badge number.

With her arms wrapped around his neck she began rocking her hips.

“What comes next?”

“Besides you?” she teased. “Second there’s the conversation. Is he intelligent? Does he make me laugh?”