Doctor Holliday (Doctors of Eastport General)

Chapter 16

Friday, December 15 th

Keaton

Lucy’s body was aflame under his touch. His hands roamed with greed but also tenderness. He stroked and pinched and played, always listening, always attuned to her pleasure. Lying sideways over his bed, in nothing but the boots, she was a wet dream. Keaton played her body like an instrument, giving her everything to lead her over the edge.

He hoped she had lost count of the orgasms, that his touch, his kiss, had rendered her speechless, paralyzed with pleasure. With her head tipped back and her eyes closed, she panted as she moved with him and soared over him.

She watched him undress and roll on a condom, and then they were tangled in the sheets. Keaton drove her over the edge again and again, making sure she felt every stroke, just as she had asked. When her body quivered beneath him, and she looped her arms around the back of his neck, he gave in to his own pleasure and let the thrilling release take him under. He ducked his head to rest on her shoulder, pressed his lips to her neck, and basked in the aftermath of the orgasm.

“Thirty-three condoms left,” she whispered.

Keaton snorted softly and lifted his head to look her in the eyes.

“I might need a little recovery time, Dr. Holliday.”

“Need me to revive you? A little mouth to mouth, maybe?”

He kissed the corner of her mouth.

“I think you did whip, by the way.” She grinned.

“No nay-nay?” He smoothed his fingers over her face, as thrilled to study her cheekbones, her lips, her dark eyes that now glittered with satisfaction, as he had been moments before to study her curves.

“There mighta been a nay-nay,” she confessed with a laugh.

“Mm-hmm. Pretty sure that was you.”

“Might’ve been.”

“Are you cold?” He moved his hand, touching the goosebumps on her arm, over her belly.

“I’m a little bit of everything right now,” she admitted.

“Everything good?”

“Everything good,” she repeated with a nod.

Keaton pushed himself up just enough to reach for the top sheet to cover them. He stopped when he realized she was still wearing the boots.

“Take off your shoes and stay a little while?” He looked up at her.

“Please.” She laughed as he slid down her body and knelt at her feet. “I love your body.”

Keaton locked eyes with her as he lifted her leg and unzipped the first boot.

“That all you want from me?” he teased as he gave a gentle tug and pulled the black leather from her foot. He dropped the boot and cupped her calf in his hand. Lucy stared at him for a few moments and finally shook her head.

“I really don’t think it is,” she whispered. “This feels like it could be more.”

Keaton removed her other boot, grabbed the top sheet, and then lay back beside her again.

“Should I not have said that?” she finally asked him.

“It does feel like more.” His voice was gruff. He rolled onto his back and urged her to curl into him. Lucy rested her head on his chest. “And I’m a grown man, lying here beside you, afraid to say the wrong thing and jinx whatever this good thing is.”

“Can I ask you something?”

Keaton covered her hand with his on his chest. “You can ask me anything.”

“What happened between you and Ruby’s mom?”

“Money.”

Lucy nodded against his chest, as if that said it all.

“We started fighting about bills. And money. It bled into her job being more important than mine. She claimed she was supporting us, and I was bleeding the piggy bank dry.” He shrugged and draped his arm around her waist. “Money was tight sometimes, but not all the time.”

“Once you start picking about that kind of thing, it grows, though,” she said quietly.

“It does. And it did.” He nodded. “It got so bad, we fought about what to fix for dinner or who left the TV remote in the kitchen. It was ugly enough that it was bad for Ruby.”

“I get it.”

“What about you?” He lifted his head and brushed a kiss over her hair.

“Mmm.” She sighed. “Married a guy I was in medical school with. We had fun for a while, ya know? But, once we were married, and especially after I got pregnant, he didn’t want me to finish school. Didn’t want me to work. He even made comments that he was the better student, that he would be the better doctor. So it made sense that I should stay home with Callie.”

“Wow.”

“Yeah. We weren’t married long. I love my daughter fiercely, but I wasn’t about to give up my school and career plans.”

“You shouldn’t have to. You shouldn’t have to change who you are for anyone.”

“And I won’t.”

He heard the subtle, but firm warning in her tone. While Keaton had no intention of asking Lucy to change anything for him, he did wonder how far she would go with him, how deep she might fall. Or if he was walking into a relationship where they lived separate lives and occasionally spent time together.

After the divorce, after Alyssa was gone, he never thought of marriage again. His main focus had been Ruby, and he would still do anything for his daughter. But Ruby had proved to be resilient, and splitting up with Alyssa had been the right thing for their daughter. Alyssa was happy; they were amicable enough that he was glad she was happy. Ruby was thriving. So maybe now it was okay for Keaton to think about his future and what his happiness looked like.

But did he want marriage? Did he want someone to pal around with for movies and dinners out? Or did he want someone to come home to at night, to share his days with, to hold while he slept?

And more importantly, if he did want more, if he did want to spend most of his free time with Lucy—when she was free, of course—would she want the same thing?

“I know Callie’s eighteen,” she said softly, “but I don’t think I feel right being away all night. With you.”

He had expected her to say that. And as much as he hated the thought of dressing, of watching Lucy cover her creamy, pale skin, her delicious curves, and the two of them going back out into the cold night, he liked that she felt she should go home to her daughter.

“Okay.” He rolled over to his side and cupped her chin in his hand. “You say the word, and I’ll drive you home.”

“What time is it?” she whispered. “I think I can probably stay until midnight.”

They shared a chuckle, but Lucy pushed at him gently until he flipped over to lie on his back again. She eased her leg over him and moved to straddle him.

“You’re gonna need more condoms.”

“I am?” He smoothed his hands up her sides and locked eyes with her as she combed the hair back from his face. “We’ve only used one so far.”

“Mmm. Well, if we use two a night, that’s only going to last us seventeen days.”

Her words burrowed into him, under his skin, and into his blood, making his body burn for her.

“And I have the sneaky feeling, you could probably do a little more than that,” she whispered as she leaned over to brush her lips over his.

“Damn right I can.” He caught her hand in his and lifted her fingers to his mouth to nip at them. If this was her way of suggesting she wanted to be around for a while, Keaton would show her just exactly how much he loved that idea.