inside her, and with one final thrust and one hell of a shout, he climaxed while she held him close.
He felt as though he'd just died and been reborn. The orgasm was the most amazing thing he'd ever experienced. He'd never
let himself go like this. He'd always held a part of himself back, but with Michelle, that hadn't been possible. It took long minutes for both of them to recover. He knew he had to be crushing her, but he couldn't find the strength to move away.
Michelle couldn't stop caressing him. She loved the feel of his smooth skin under her fingertips. He was all muscle and strength and yet so very gentle with her. Her fingers trailed down his spine, then slowly moved back up.
Her heart beat against her chest as though it were pounding to get out. She laughed over the absurdity of the idea.
The sound of her lusty laugh made him smile. Bracing his weight with his arms on either side of her, he lifted his head from the crook of her neck so he could look into her eyes. 'What's so funny?'
'Loving you is going to be the death of me. I can see the headlines now: 'Sex kills surgeon.''
He frowned. 'That's not funny.''
She wrapped her arms around his neck, leaned up and kissed him. 'Yes, it is.'
'You've got to stay strong because we've got nine hundred ninety-nine more to go, and I can't let you fall apart before we're finished.'
'Finished doing what?'
That sparkle came into his eyes again, and she began to smile in anticipation.
'Acting out my fantasies.'
She did laugh then. 'A thousand?'
'Oh, yeah. At least a thousand.'
'You've got quite an active imagination, Mr. Buchanan. There are places you can go to get help. They're called sex therapy clinics.'
He grinned. 'You were all the therapy I needed.'
'I was happy I could help.'
'What about you, Michelle? Didn't you ever have fantasies?'
'Yes,' she admitted. 'But mine weren't as creative. I kept having the same one over and over again.'
He nuzzled the crook of her neck. 'Tell me about it.'
'It's sort of a variation on what just happened,' she said softly. 'But in my fantasy…'
He lifted his head again. 'What?'
'I scoop you up and toss you on the bed.'
Then he laughed. 'I outweigh you by about two hundred pounds,' he exaggerated.
'We surgeons develop incredible upper-body strength from cracking ribs and cutting through bones,' she teased.
'Okay, I'm willing. If you want to pick me up…'
He stopped when she shook her head. 'I'd blow a disc,' she explained. 'I only told you about the fantasy so you'd know…'
'What?'
'You aren't always going to be calling the shots.'
'Meaning?'
'It's my turn to drive you wild.'
'We'll see about that.' He kissed her again, hard and fast, then got out of bed and lifted her into his arms. 'I'm hot,'
he announced.
'Already?'
Her fingers threaded through his tousled hair, trying to restore order to the soft strands.
'Not that kind of hot, but if you keep that up…'
'Where are we going?'
'I'm sweaty hot. Let's take a shower.'
She was so content and sleepy now, she would have agreed to do anything he suggested. 'I'll scrub your back and you may
scrub mine.'
'No, I want to scrub your front, and you can-'
She put her hand over his mouth. 'I get the picture.'
Ten minutes later they were both squeaky clean. The water had turned cold, but that didn't squelch their passion. Feeling
devilish, she leaned up on tiptoes and whispered her fantasy into his ear. She went into detail, and when she was finished,
Theo was amazed he could still stand.
She pushed him back against the tile, then began to drive him out of his mind with hot, wet kisses as she slowly worked her
way down his slick body.
He didn't have the strength to carry her back to bed. They haphazardly dried each other between ardent kisses. Exhausted
from their lovemaking, they fell into bed. Theo rolled onto his back. She propped herself up on one elbow and traced the outline
of the tiny scar from his appendectomy.
Then she leaned down and gently kissed it. His eyes were closed, but he was smiling. 'Do you do that to all your patients?'
'Kiss their scars?'
'Uh-huh.'
'Absolutely. I have to.'
He yawned. 'How come?'
'It's part of the oath I took. Kiss it and make it better.'
She pulled the sheet up as she rolled onto her back and closed her eyes. She was falling into a deep sleep when Theo nudged her.
'Michelle?'
'Hmm?'
'I found your best feature.'
'What is it?' she asked in a sleepy whisper.
He tugged the sheet down and put his hand on her breast. If she hadn't been so tired, she would have asked him to explain why men had such an obsession with breasts, but then she suddenly realized just where his hand was pressed and tears sprang into her eyes. How could she not love this man?
He had placed his hand over her heart.
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
Michelle didn't wake up until ten-fifteen the following morning. She stretched, then rolled over and hugged the pillow Theo had used. She closed her eyes again while she thought about the night they had shared. In the midst of her recollections, the sleep cleared from her mind and the day intruded. It was ten-fifteen, and she was supposed to have met her friends at the clinic at
eight. Mary Ann was going to kill her. Was she sitting in her car waiting? No, of course not. She would have driven to the house.
Twenty minutes later, Michelle was ready to go. Dressed in a pair of khaki shorts and a sleeveless blue blouse, she put on ankle socks and one tennis shoe. She ran down the stairs, then paused in the laundry room to
