Page 61 of Bad Bishop

“Fine,” he bit out, still staring me down. “But you operate under the assumption she’s a virgin.”

The doctor offered him a withering look. “Do you take me for an idiot?”

“Absolutely. Case in point, you’re arguing with me.” He shook my touch off him. “I’m watching you,Doc.”

Tiernan didn’t care about me. I had to constantly remind myself of that. But ever since I stitched him up, I seemed to have gained his respect. There was an unspoken agreement between us, that we’d look after each other, at least physically.

After a few more questions, Dr. Lockerby took out something that looked like a curling iron and put a huge condom on it. She slathered it with a clear gel. Her lips moved, but I was too flustered to follow them. I pressed my knees together harder, scooting up the examination table.

No.

No. No. No. No. No.

“We need five minutes,” my husband announced.

The doctor stood up and shuffled out of the room, looking none too pleased about the delay.

I cast my tear-filled gaze at his face. My heart was pounding so hard it thrummed between my ears.

“You don’t have to do this.”

I shook my head. It needed to be done.

“No one can hurt you anymore,Gealach. Remember that.”

Taking a deep breath, I stretched my open palm in his direction. He hesitated before lacing our fingers together, giving me a firm squeeze. His skin was rough and coarse,hot. Still staring at me, he opened his mouth to call the doctor back.

Dr. Lockerby returned. I allowed her to slip my feet into the stirrups and buried my face in Tiernan’s neck. He smelled so good, I felt heady and drunk. The doctor’s device poked at my entrance, cold and foreign, and I gulped down my hiccups, determined not to cry.

The device slowly slipped inside me, penetrating my sensitive flesh. It was met with resistance. My muscles clamped around it, pushing it back, refusing to surrender.

It burned so badly I stopped breathing altogether.

After a few seconds, Tiernan nudged me from his neck and pinched my chin with his fingers, looking me in the eye. “Hey. The doctor asked that you try to relax.”

Easier said than done, but I nodded, my eyes clinging to his face desperately.

I sucked in a breath, feeling full and stretched and uncomfortable. Pressing my lips together to suppress a scream, I focused on the hard planes of my husband’s face, trying to picture him doing this to me with his penis. From the glimpse I’d caught the night he was with Becky, his thing was the size of a Dyson Airwrap.

“Release those muscles for me, Lila.” His thumb stroked my cheek. Soft, soft,soft.

For me.

My muscles uncurled of their own accord, accepting the device. Dr. Lockerby slipped in a few more inches.

He held my stare, and when I remembered he always seemed to read my mind, I blushed from the crown of my head to my little toes, because I imagined him there instead of the device.

And…I wasn’t repulsed by it. Not at all.

Tiernan scrubbed his thumb back and forth along my knuckles, using his other hand to smooth away flyaways from my forehead. “That’s it. Good girl,” he fussed. “I knew you could take it. You’re doing so good. I’m proud of you.”

He gave me more words in a span of two minutes than he did the entire duration of our marriage. And I basked in them like a flower in the sun. Something behind my breastbone fluttered. A combination of desire, warmth, and pride. I swallowed down a small moan of pleasure.

My body squeezed back at the device, but no longer because it didn’t want it there.

I noticed the doctor swiveling on her round chair toward a small screen and reluctantly ripped my gaze from Tiernan to see what she was saying.

“Well, Mr. and Mrs. Callaghan, there is certainly a heartbeat, and a healthy one.” She pointed at a white dot on the screen that kept flicking on and off.