Page 73

I release my balls to fist the sheet next to my hips, which are now pistoning as I stroke hard.
My hands gripping her hips.
My mouth lowering to hers.
My dick sinking into her warmth ...
My cock explodes onto my stomach and hands as my breath rasps harshly in the empty room. I stretch my arm to the side and grab a wad of tissues to clean up the majority of the mess. Once I’m certain my cum isn’t going to drip on the floors, I make my way into the bathroom and wipe myself down with a warm washcloth.
Staring into the mirror, I know I’ve only taken off the initial ache. Until I have Laura spread beneath me, fulfillment is going to be empty. Making my way back to my bed, I flop back onto the mattress, cursing my pillows viciously.
“I really need to do something about those before Laura sleeps here,” I mutter aloud, allowing my thoughts to travel to how well Laura would fit curled against my side. Hell, she fits beautifully with both of us—Bailey and I as a unit.
There’s something healing in her touch. Her touch, which has only barely skimmed mine, has dug down deep. The good doctor trying to mend broken pieces of what’s left of my heart? Maybe.
Jonathan Lockwood’s words float through my mind. “My sister’s mission in life is to heal people. She took an oath to do just that. It almost got her killed.”
A surge of protectiveness wells inside me. The rough edges of my heart, which haven’t fit together correctly in years, try to align themselves but can’t quite do it. They need someone to smooth them.
Could she be the one to do that? Or maybe she doesn’t see me as a man, just as Bailey’s father. I scowl. What has she done to show me I might mean more than being a patient’s father?
On that less-than-cheerful thought, I punch my hated pillow and try to find sleep.
I welcome when Laura follows me there.
Chapter
Thirty-Eight
My knees are tucked against my chest as I sit up in bed in my room. I wrap my arms around my legs and stare out the window into the night, resting my chin against my knees.
I’m not afraid of sleep, nor was I woken by panic.
It was something completely unexpected—an undiluted desire for Liam Payne.
When he infiltrated my dreams tonight, it wasn’t to save me. It was to tempt me. His smooth hand over my bare shoulder, slipping the thin silk strap of my camisole off my shoulder before his mouth trailed behind it.
His mouth slipped over one pebbled nipple before his tongue pressed it against the roof of his mouth and he suckled.
Hard.
I moaned aloud, jerking myself awake. Holy hell, it wasn’t just my heart throbbing. I could almost feel his heart synchronizing against mine, the power of the blood rushing through our veins.
Desire.
I’m not so foolish I haven’t caught the occasional glances he’s tried to hide from Bailey, from me. The banked heat in his gaze when I’ve turned my head and caught him admiring my body.
But what has me awake is the fact there is more than my own pleasure at stake. There’s the trust of a seven-year-old girl on the line and the fact the last time I didn’t do my job properly, someone got hurt.
So for now, I’ll ignore it. I care too much about Bailey’s happiness and well-being for what could be nothing more than an inappropriate lust for her father. I just need to let the quivers racing through my body caused by my dream pass. Then I’ll try to capture a few more hours of sleep before I face them both again.
I’m just uncertain how much longer I’ll be able to hide how I’m beginning to feel.
Then, just as I’m about to be lulled back to sleep, I scream.
And scream.
An hour later, I’m being held by my father even as I confess to Uncle Keene, “I’ve never been so grateful Kalie and Grace are out for the night with dates as I am right now.”