Riding the Line (25 page)
A scraping noise behind her made Robyn turn. Dr Walsh stood in the doorway, a faint smile on her mouth.
‘Hi, Robyn, what’s up?’
‘Nothing much. How’s Leda doing?’
Dr Walsh sighed. ‘That’s what I wanted to talk to you about. Do you want to do it here or in my office?’
Robyn let go of Leda’s hand and turned her chair to face the door. ‘Here is fine. It’s not as if she’s going to react to what we’re saying is it?’
Dr Walsh pulled up a chair and sat down, her rumpled blue scrubs settling about her ample frame. ‘While you were away Leda stopped being able to chew and swallow food again so we had to feed her completely intravenously.’
‘Yeah, I noticed the new bag of fluid. Do you know why?’
‘No, but it follows a pattern of gradual lessening of function we’ve been seeing over the past three or four months.’
‘Are you saying she’s getting worse?’
‘I’m saying she’s not functioning so well. It’s almost impossible to predict what that means. You know that. Dealing with patients in a vegetative state is a black art. She could stay like this for years, improve slightly again or get worse.’
Robyn took a deep breath. ‘So there’s nothing you can do for her.’
Dr Walsh’s smile was bittersweet. ‘We’ll do what we always do: stop her getting bed sores, watch out for pneumonia and try any new techniques that pop up.’ She got to her feet. ‘That’s all we’ve got, babe.’
The new nurse appeared behind Dr Walsh, a clipboard in her hand. She glanced at Robyn and then smiled. ‘You’re Robyn Sparrow, right?’
‘I was. But in here I’m just Leda’s sister.’
‘Such a terrible tragedy for your family.’
‘Yeah.’ Robyn tried to keep smiling.
‘To think the poor little love’s been like this for almost five years . . .’
‘Yeah.’
The nurse wiped at her eyes. ‘I hear that no one else visits apart from you and that you pay the bills.’
Robyn stared hard at her sister’s serene face and tried to ignore the sympathy emanating from the nurse. She hated it when people felt sorry for her. Leda was the only one who deserved sympathy.
‘Um, Lisa? Perhaps you’d better take this form back to Dr Taylor?’ Dr Walsh walked across and took up position beside Robyn and Leda’s raised bed.
‘Sure, I almost forgot.’ The nurse smiled brightly at Robyn. ‘So nice to meet you. Perhaps I can get your autograph next time?’
Robyn couldn’t bring herself to speak as the nurse went out of the room. Dr Walsh covered her hand with her own.
‘I’m sorry. I’ll get someone else to work with your sister.’
‘Is she good?’
‘She’s one of the best.’
‘Then it’s OK. I’ll deal with her. I know how hard it is to get good help around here.’
‘That’s something else I’ve been meaning to talk to you about.’ Dr Walsh sighed. ‘The hospital might be closing this department down. It’s incredibly costly to run and they say they just don’t have the money to do it anymore.’
Robyn grabbed the metal frame of the bed to steady herself as visions of her sister being cast out on the street threatened to overwhelm her. She’d only managed to find this place for Leda after a great deal of searching. Leda’s health insurance paid most of the costs; she’d always been the most financially prudent of the sisters. But Robyn still had to find the rest of the money herself. When it had become obvious that Leda wasn’t going to come out of her coma, no one else in her family had cared enough to make decisions for her.
All the decisions had been left to Robyn, who had taken over responsibility for her sister. It was during that period she’d finally sobered up, stopped giving her mother money and taken over her own finances. Shame it had taken her sister’s near death to force her to grow up.
Robyn made herself focus on the problem at hand. Although the facility was small, it had a great reputation for its high standard of care.
‘What would happen to Leda?’
‘It’s OK, there are several options.’ Dr Walsh patted her hand. ‘We’d do our best to find another special unit for her in another hospital or care home. If the worst came to the worst, she could live with you and the services would come to your house.’
‘When will you know for sure?’
‘By the end of the year. So there’s no need to worry just yet, things do change.’
‘They certainly do.’
Robyn knew that even if they did find another care facility, the rates would probably go up and Leda’s insurance wouldn’t cover them. So much for her dream of going to college . . .
Dr Walsh nudged her. ‘I heard you talking to Leda about a new beau. What’s he like?’
‘No one says “beau” anymore, do they?’
Dr Walsh smiled. ‘I do.’
Robyn squirmed uncomfortably. ‘I wouldn’t exactly say he’s my boyfriend, just a really nice guy I know.’
‘You should bring him here. Introduce him to Leda.’
‘I told her I’d do that. He’d probably be delighted to meet her.’
‘Really?’
Robyn focused on Leda’s calm face. ‘Yeah. He’s that kind of guy.’
Dr Walsh stood up. ‘Sounds like a keeper to me.’
‘I suppose he is.’
‘Don’t let caring for Leda stop you living your own life, Robyn. I bet she wouldn’t have wanted that.’
After Dr Walsh left, Robyn continued to hold her sister’s hand. Somehow she knew that Dakota wouldn’t be awkward or afraid with Leda like Damien had been on his one brief visit. Dakota was way too nice for that. Leda would’ve liked him too.
Robyn brushed at two wet spots on Leda’s sheet and realized she was crying. So she’d finally recognized that Dakota was the perfect guy for her and now she’d have to give him up. There was no way in hell she could hold on to Dakota and fulfill her promises to Leda. A sick feeling filled her stomach. With this new threat looming over her sister, she would have to suck it up, go back to Damien and take whatever crappy job he offered her.
Chapter Eighteen
‘Can we just stay in tonight?’
Dakota looked up from the ball game he was watching on TV to find Robyn leaning against the doorway of the bathroom.
‘Are you still tired, honey?’ He searched her face, realized from the redness of her eyes that she must have been crying. He hated that he couldn’t just ask her to tell him why without her putting up her defenses. ‘You sure look it.’
‘Thanks, that makes me feel a lot better.’
‘Let’s get room service, then. You liked the chicken sandwich, right?’ He called the number and placed the order while Robyn continued to watch him from the door. When he hung up, she came around the couch and slumped down next to him. He put his arm around her shoulders and lightly kissed her cheek. He was too relieved she was still with him to want to probe too deeply into her state of mind. For some reason, he felt like she was slipping away from him again.
‘You always look beautiful to me.’
She elbowed him in the ribs. ‘Too late and too corny.’
He chuckled and settled her closer against him relishing the sweet fragrance of her newly washed hair and her own unique scent.
‘It’s cool having Jay and the production company footing the hotel bill.’ He pointed at his cowboy boots. ‘Or should I say
booting
the bill?’
booting
the bill?’
‘You’re so not funny.’ Robyn grabbed the remote and turned off the TV.
‘Then how come you’re trying not to laugh?’
She glanced up at him, the suspicion of a smile on her lips. ‘I’m laughing at you, not with you.’
He clutched at his heart. ‘Now you’ve hurt my feelings.’
‘You don’t have feelings. You’re a man.’
With a growl he encircled her in his arms and carefully rolled her on to the floor.
‘I have feelings.’ He stared down into her eyes and couldn’t look away. ‘I have strong feelings for you, anyway.’
She licked her lips. ‘Don’t say that.’
‘Why not?’
‘Because your timing sucks.’
‘So would tomorrow at six be any better?’
She turned her head away. ‘As I keep telling you, I’m not in a good place in my life. I can’t handle anything heavy.’
He shifted his weight, leant into her, his hips aligned with hers and her legs spread open wide by his.
‘Dakota . . .’
He kissed her mouth, kissed her until she started to kiss him back, her tongue entangling with his and drawing his deeper. He slid a hand into her hair, cradled her skull in his palm and held her steady. After a long while he lifted his head.
‘Why won’t you give me a chance to prove you wrong?’
‘Because I like you, OK? Because I don’t want to drag you down with me.’ She sighed. ‘And you’re doing it again. Starting a serious conversation when I’m lusting after your body. It’s so not fair.’
‘It’s the only time I have your full attention, honey, and I’ll take whatever chances I get.’
She touched his cheek, brushed her fingertips over his already swollen lips. ‘How about you just shut up and let me show you how I feel about you tonight?’
Her answer was so unexpected he found himself simply staring at her. His cock filled out so fast it jammed against the zipper of his jeans.
‘What exactly do you mean?’
She exhaled loudly. ‘God, you are the most annoying man I’ve ever met. I’m offering you every sexual favor a guy could ever want and you’re stopping to ask for details.’
‘But I like to know what I’m getting.’
‘It’s not room service, Dakota, there’s no menu, just me.’
He rolled off her on to the floor and stretched his arms out over his head. ‘OK.’
‘OK, what?’
‘I’m ready for you to do what you want with me.’ He fluttered his eyelashes at her. ‘Be gentle.’
Her answering smile was full of delicious promise as she straddled him. ‘I don’t think you need gentle, Dakota. I think you need to be mastered.’
She removed his soft leather belt, looped it around the leg of the heavy iron coffee table and used it to secure his wrists together. He tried to wriggle his hands free and realized she’d tied him up real tight. Good thing he’d taken off his shirt earlier. In the mood Robyn was in, she might have been tempted to cut it off him.
Her fingers walked across his chest and settled over his nipples. His whole body jerked as she rolled his hardened flesh between her finger and thumb. A dull stab of desire shot straight to Dakota’s cock adding to his growing anticipation. When Robyn bent her head and licked his nipples he groaned.
‘Take some clothes off for me, honey.’
She raised her eyebrows. ‘You’re not supposed to be talking. Say one more thing and I’ll have to gag you.’
He stared at her, fought the uneasy excitement her words stirred in him. Talking and fucking were his two favorite things to do together. How the hell was he supposed to keep quiet? He licked his lips and closed them tightly together.
Robyn smiled and removed her T-shirt. His mouth went dry when he saw her breasts encased in black silk and lace. She leant over him until her bra brushed his mouth.
‘How about you use your mouth for something more important than talking?’
He moved his head, seeking her nipple and focused his attention on sucking her through the satin. Her hips moved against his, rubbing his jeans-covered cock against the smooth cotton of her capris. He groaned as she gave him her other breast and then suckled that one too. It was weird not having his hands on her, made him feel less in control, more vulnerable to her touch. Not that he minded. If this was what it took to make her trust him in bed, it was worth it.
She sat back and he simply stared at her breasts: the black satin darkened by his mouth, her hardened nipples clinging to the wet fabric. She knelt up and shimmied out of her capris and panties, her gaze intent on him, her cheeks flushed. God, she looked so fucking beautiful he wanted to take her to bed and keep her there for the rest of their lives.
‘I think I’ve found another use for your mouth.’
He held his breath as she crawled up his chest and positioned herself over his face. He breathed in the scent of her arousal, tried to lick her, couldn’t quite reach. He strained upward, lifting his head to make the intimate contact he craved.
She moaned and lowered herself down until his tongue finally met her wet and swollen flesh. He licked all of her in long luscious strokes until her taste filled his mouth and cream flooded out of her. She undulated against him, one hand clenched on his shoulder, her nails digging deeper with every sweep of his tongue.
He rimmed her opening, used the tip of his tongue to penetrate her and then flicked her clit in a hard fast rhythm that made her gasp and strain above him. God, he wanted to grab her hips and hold her in place but he couldn’t, he could only pray that she’d let him make her come before she denied him this intimate pleasure. His tongue stabbed at her clit as her juices ran into his mouth. The sound of her gasps and the slick wetness mirrored the frantic beating of his heart and the throb of his cock.
Other books
Between Two Tiron by Rebecca Airies
Rites of Spring by Diana Peterfreund
The Runaway Countess by Amanda McCabe
The Crocodile Nest by Des Hunt
Magic's Design by Adams, Cat
The Case of the Photo Finish by Carolyn Keene
The Syndicate by Shelena Shorts
The Wager by Rachel Van Dyken
The Orchard of Hope by Amy Neftzger
Watercolours by Adrienne Ferreira
