'We won't ever be again,' he vowed, so shockingly close to begging he had to forcibly close his mouth.
'There's five weeks left,' she said very softly.
'I want every one of them.'
'That's what I promised you. But… for the rest of tonight I think I'd like to be alone.'
Suddenly he wished he'd negotiated the
And while he was at it, he should have negotiated for more everything, since unlike all of his other sexual escapades-of which there hadn't been as many as he'd liked to think-he wanted more. Lots more.
'Good night, Luke.'
He wished he could see her face, but she'd stepped into the shadows. Apparently he was the only one here dwelling over their decision. Not good. Not good at all. 'Good night, Faith.'
Faith didn't know what she expected the next night. She got out of the bath and put on a robe as she thought about it. Would Luke come, even though it was a weeknight?
Or would he wait until the next weekend, until after they'd worked together all day? Certainly the weekend would be more convenient for him, because she imagined his busy schedule wouldn't permit him much of a personal life on the weekdays, plus certainly he wouldn't want to see her again so soon-
Her doorbell rang and she nearly swallowed her tongue.
Oh God. He'd come.
No. No, it couldn't be Luke, he'd just seen her yesterday, surely he wouldn't want to…
The surge of hope and joy that whipped through her was nothing short of pathetic.
But it turned out to be Shelby, dressed to the nines in a little black cocktail dress and heels, her blond hair artfully piled on top of her head. She held a casserole dish. 'Here,' she said. 'I made extra. High on the protein, no sugar.'
Faith took the delicious-smelling dish. 'You cooked for me in that?'
'No, I cooked for my date.' She let out a wicked grin. 'He's getting a casserole dish, too, but for him, I also made dessert.'
'Hey, I want dessert.'
'His comes in black silk,' she said with a low, throaty laugh. 'So you'll have to make up your own-' Breaking off, she glanced over her shoulder at the sound of someone coming up the stairs. Her smile turned speculative as Luke came into view. 'Well, look at that… you might get your own dessert after all.'
Luke lifted a brow at that comment. He wore black as well, but not silk; black jeans, a black T-shirt, and in the moonlight looked tall, dark and devastatingly handsome.
'Dr. Walker…' Shelby turned back to Faith and jerked her eyebrows so high they disappeared into her hair. 'Just what Faith ordered.' With a laugh at her own inside joke, she leaned close to Faith and kissed her on the cheek. 'I'd say have a good evening, sweetie, but I can see that you most definitely will. Nightie, night. Don't do anything I wouldn't do now… well, on second thought, there's nothing I wouldn't do, so have at it.'
Faith listened to Shelby's heels clicking as she walked off into the night, her heart starting a heavy beat of anticipation.
'That smells good,' Luke said into the silence, gesturing to the casserole she held. 'You going to share?'
She eyed him. 'You didn't come over here to eat.'
'No, but we're going to.'
'My blood sugar is fine at the moment.'
'Good. After we eat, I'm going to remove every stitch of clothing you're wearing.'
He said it so conversationally, it took the words a moment to sink in. Once they did, her heart kicked into an even higher gear.
'And then… I'm going to make you wild.'
'Awfully cocky,' she managed evenly though her thighs tightened. So did her nipples.
'Yeah. I'm going to make you scream, too,' He said this softly, silkily, and stepped even closer, still not touching her in any way.
And still her pulse doubled.
Tripled.
'I'm, um, not really much of a screamer,' she said, quite proud of the fact her voice hardly quivered at all, though she was having a huge amount of trouble breathing and her knees had liquefied.
Holding her gaze prisoner, he took advantage of the fact that her hands were full of the hot casserole dish and tugged on her robe, completely exposing one bare breast.
Her gasp echoed around them.
'Mmm,' rumbled from his throat. Then one big warm hand cupped the fullness, plumping it up for his seeking mouth, which was warm and greedy.
Staggering back a step, she hit the doorway.
'Hold on to our dinner now,' he said around his mouthful, and using his teeth, gently plucked at her nipple. 'Still got a grip on it, Faith?'
She whimpered and locked her knees together to keep from falling.
'Faith?'
'Y-yes.'
'That's a girl.'
And he locked the door behind them, after which he proceeded to make good on his promise to remove every stitch she wore, make her wild… and make her scream.
Chapter 11
For the next few weeks Luke raced through his days at the hospital, enjoying his work as much as ever.
And enjoying his time off more than ever.
In the physicians' lounge after a particularly long shift, he gathered his things, shoveling them into his duffel bag, his mind already racing to the night ahead.
He thought he'd take Faith out for dinner, then planned on a delectable dessert by moonlight-Faith by moonlight.
'You out of here, Dr. Walker?'
Luke shouldered his bag and turned to face Dr. Nicole Mann, one of the youngest and most acclaimed new doctors they had. 'That I am.'
She was dark-haired and petite, and incredibly dedicated to her job at the hospital, specifically working for him in the E.R. The day Luke had been 'sentenced' to work at the clinic, she'd come by his office-the only one to do so-offering her sympathy. She, more than anyone here on staff, understood his passion, and felt it as her own.
'You seem… lighter on your feet these days.' She tilted her head, studying him for a moment with a little smile touching her mouth. 'And, dare I say it, even happy. You get another promotion I didn't hear about?'
'No.'
'You done working at Healing Waters?'
'No.'
'Well, then.' She smiled expectantly. 'What's your secret?'
Faith, he nearly said, and bit his tongue. She wasn't what was making him feel like dancing down the hospital hallways. Nope, it was…
Ah, hell.
It was Faith.
'Maybe it's because you have only three weeks left at the clinic.'
