Temptation Ridge (12 page)

Then she kicked off her shoes. She was staying.

Taking her hand, he led her to the bed where he sat on the edge, looking up at her. He gave her hand a gentle tug, bringing her down on his lap. His arms around her waist, hers around his neck, they were lost in deep, wet kisses that lasted forever. She felt his hand brush against her breast and it sent shivers rippling through her. He held her there, his hands on her waist while her hands moved behind her neck to the zipper of her dress, slowly inching it down. He lifted his hands to meet hers, pulling the zipper the rest of the way. She pulled the soft, gold silk forward, off her shoulders and down until it fell to her waist, leaving her only in her small, lacy bra. “God, you’re beautiful,” he whispered, burying his face in satin and lace, kissing her through the undergarment.

She held his face against her, resting her cheek against his soft hair. “I’ve lost my mind,” she said against his ear. She slipped her hands down and began to work the buttons
on his shirt, opening it, sliding her hands across his hard, hairless chest. “I’ve completely lost my mind.”

“I can stop,” he said. “If this isn’t what you want, all you have to do is say so. As a courtesy, you might want to say so pretty soon.”

“Don’t stop,” she said. Beneath her, through the sheer fabric of a silk dress and small, thin panties, she could feel him growing hard against her, and pleasure shot through her as she moved against him.

With his hands on her bottom, he pulled her against him, his erection still tucked into his pants. She pressed herself harder into his lap, causing him to growl deep in his throat. He claimed her mouth once more as he made the bra disappear, crushing her breasts against his bare chest. Her breasts felt heavy and needy and she was already starting to ache in the place that had gone empty and unsatisfied for so long. All she could think about was feeling good, feeling loved, feeling full.

Cameron reclined on the bed, lowering her carefully beside him. He kissed her as he filled his hands with her breasts. He lowered his lips to her nipples to kiss then run a tongue over each one, then gently suck, drawing a low, wonderful moan of pleasure from her. Back on her lips, feeling her tongue come into his mouth, it was his turn to moan. She was so delicious. Her mouth was slick velvet and he made a long, slow sweep of the inside.

He ran a hand over her hip and down, slipping it under her dress. Then he pulled the dress down and she lifted her hips to help. It went down over her knees and she kicked it off into a pile of golden silk on the floor. There was just the tiniest pair of panties underneath and he placed a gentle hand over her soft mound. “I want to get past these panties. Tell me it’s okay,” he said, his voice raspy.

“Yes,” she whispered.

He slipped his hand inside the fabric. “You’ve been hurting for a while, haven’t you, baby?” he asked.

“Don’t spoil this.”

“Let’s talk about what I can do to help,” he said, tugging off her panties and parting her legs with his hand. His long, gentle fingers reached until he found the place that was dark and wet and it made him groan softly, deeply. He slipped lower. He found the hard, sensitive knot with his fingers and she gasped; he covered her opened mouth with his and went to work on that vulnerable little spot. Instant response—he loved it. He pulled her tongue into his mouth as he slid a finger inside her, letting his thumb make slow circles around her clitoris. “God,” she said, pushing against his hand.

“You’re perfect,” he whispered against her lips. “Go ahead, sweetheart. Take it—it’s free. Feel better.”

Her hips began to rock against his hand and he sank his finger deeper while his thumb pressed harder against her. He moved over that tender little knot and in no time at all her hips rose, her breath caught and her entire bottom clenched, bathing his hand in the most wonderful spasms. Instant orgasm. And a powerful one that held her in its possession for a long, shuddering moment until she fell back into his embrace. He stilled his hand, but didn’t remove it. He just kissed her little gasping lips, soft and sweet and slow, sensuously sucking on them while she caught her breath. And finally, as her breathing normalized, he slowly pulled his hand away.

“I think you needed that,” he said.

“Ohhhh,” she answered.

He chuckled. “Better?”

“You have no idea.”

“Oh, I have a pretty good idea,” he said with a soft laugh.

“Why’d you do that?” she asked him.

“That was what you needed. Anything more has to be what you want. I’m not going to take advantage of you.”

“You haven’t,” she said.

“You about ready to let me out of my pants?”

She ran her hands down his chest to his belly. Her hands went to his belt, unbuckled it, undid the button on his pants and slid down the zipper.

“God bless you,” he said in a grateful breath. She took him in her hand and he trembled involuntarily, it felt so good. “Brandy, I have to get protection for us. Give me a second.” He went quickly for the shaving kit, kicking off his shoes as he returned. He grabbed a condom out of the box, let his shirt fall from his shoulders and dropped his pants, getting rid of them. Sheathed and ready, he knelt on the bed. He leaned over to press his lips against hers and said, “Anything you want. Any way you say. It’s still your turn.”

She answered by opening up to him. He knelt between her legs and gently filled her with his aching erection, pushing inside slowly. She moved with him, arching against him, and he groaned with the effort it took to hold back. It had been a very long time for him, which had the disadvantage of making him a less than astonishing lover. He struggled, and welcomed the struggle. Making this a night of no regrets for her was all that mattered. He was in some kind of trance, amazed by how pure and right she felt, how familiar, like he’d been in this place before. The way she met him, thrust for thrust, was natural and felt as though they’d practiced this coupling for years.

He couldn’t remember feeling like this before and he wondered if he’d just lost his mind. Then he thought, is it possible there really is one true mate for every man? For every
woman? Do you search for years and then stumble onto the right one? The one who smells, tastes and feels perfect?

He pushed deeply, moving in long slow strokes, listening to the little purrs and sighs that told him he was on the right spot. Her hips began to move in rhythm with his and then as her pace picked up, he pushed harder, faster, deeper. He was hanging on for dear life, giving her a chance to grab on to another orgasm before he’d let himself cash in. It didn’t take her long; she was sexually charged. She lifted her hips against him, her breath caught and he felt her close around him, pulsing. “Oh, yeah,” he whispered. With a shudder, he let go, joining her in a thundering climax.

As she collapsed beneath him, he held her, running his hands over her soft body in a tender caress while she recovered. He was reluctant to let go of her, reluctant to leave her body. He stayed there for a long time, holding his weight off her slender frame, and finally he slipped out, but he kept his arms around her for a while longer.

“You okay, honey?” he asked.

“Hmm. Okay.”

“How’d I score on number one?” he asked her.

She chuckled softly in spite of herself. “If there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s a mistake to praise a man’s performance in bed.”

“You were wonderful,” he said. “Phenomenal. Like a furnace, a blast furnace. Hot and strong. God. I thought I was going to faint,” he said.

She laughed. “You weren’t too bad.”

“Thanks. Just out of curiosity, why is it number one?”

She shrugged. “I guess I couldn’t think of a compromise. This is an awful important part of being a couple.”

“It is,” he agreed. He kissed her cheek and said, “Excuse
me for just a minute.” He withdrew to the bathroom. When he came back, he was wearing a frown and a towel around his hips. He sat on the bed beside her. “Brandy, I have to tell you something. The condom—it broke.”

“Jesus,” she said in a weak breath.

“It’s okay—I’ll tell you exactly what to do. I’m a doctor. There’s emergency birth control for exactly this kind of problem. If you’ll see your doctor on Monday, he or she can prescribe something to prevent a pregnancy. If you can’t get an appointment, you can come to my office Monday and I’ll write you a scrip.”

“I’m on the pill,” she said.

“Well, that’s a relief,” he said. “Damn, I’m sorry, honey. We should sue the hotel.”

“It’ll be all right, won’t it?”

“You should be fine. I take real cautious care of myself—you haven’t been exposed to anything.” He brushed the hair back from her brow. “I’m so sorry. The last thing I wanted was for you to be worried about anything. Especially now that I know everything you’ve been through.”

She smiled at him. “Aren’t you worried that you’ve been exposed to something? You don’t know me.”

“I can take care of my concerns.” He smiled. “I get a real good deal on lab tests, if I feel they’re in order.”

“No reason you should believe me, but it was necessary for me to be completely checked over after my… After he moved out. Quite a while ago.”

“Thanks for telling me that, Brandy.” He lowered himself to the bed and gathered her up in his arms. “As long as you’re all right, that’s all that concerns me right now. As far as I’m concerned, you have everything on the list covered. Very nicely.”

“This should never end,” she said.

“It doesn’t have to,” he said, kissing her neck. “God knows, I don’t want it to.”

“But it will,” she said, a hint of sadness in her tone.

“That’s up to you. I’d like to know more of you.”

“I’ll have to think about that,” she said.

“You think,” he said. “I’ll try to offer incentives.” His hands began to move and she moaned, instantly responsive to his touch. He was on the rise again, and it was obvious against her thigh.

She said, “Do you think the next condom will hold?”

“I don’t think it much matters. Now.”

It was a very long time before they slept. He made love to her again and again, each time sweeter, more satisfying than the time before. It shouldn’t have been so effortless, so right, but it was. For someone who had been tense and frightened, she had shed her inhibitions quickly and unfolded at his touch, responding to him with a heat and passion that surprised and thrilled him. The level of physical intimacy was greater than he expected, more profound than he’d imagined. He’d had his share of one-night stands, but he couldn’t remember one that felt like this. He wanted more of this woman, and not just more of her in bed.

In the morning, early, when the sun was barely up, she was awake and touching him. “I have to go now,” she whispered.

“Not yet,” he said, reaching for her. “Not yet.”

She ran a hand along the hair at his temple. “It was a beautiful night, but I have to go.”

“I want to see you again,” he said. “Tell me how to get in touch with you.”

“My life is so messed up right now,” she said. “You have to understand that much, or last night couldn’t have happened…”

“I’m not afraid of a little mess…”

“Let me go and do the things I have to do, straighten things out a little, then get in touch with you. Can you do that?”

He kissed her deeply. “I think if we spent more time together, we could fall in love. I want to know if that could happen. I have a real good feeling about us.”

She couldn’t help but laugh at him. “Cameron, you picked me up in a bar…”

“I know. What a piece of luck. When does something that great happen? I don’t want to let you go.”

“You’re not going to try to keep me from leaving, are you?”

“Of course not, but I’d like to call for breakfast. If you won’t stay, I at least want to see you again. Take you out, talk to you…”

“Write down your number. Or give me a business card,” she said.

“Tell me your last name. Give me a number if not an address. You know you don’t have to be afraid of me.”

She sighed and put a soft hand against his cheek. “It’s really important that I feel in control right now. Please understand?”

He thought briefly, then smiled at her. He gave her a little kiss and got out of bed. He found her bra and panties on the floor and picked them up to hand to her. His trousers were flung across a chair and he slipped into them, sans underwear, while she put on her dainties. Then he held her soft, gold dress for her and helped her into it, turning her around to zip up the back. Next he pulled his wallet from his back pocket, flipped it open and produced a business card. “I want you to feel safe and in control, just like you were last night. All night. Go ahead, have me checked out.” He pressed it into her hand.

“Maybe you’ll want to have
me
checked out,” she said with a soft smile.

“No,” he said, shaking his head. “I’m going to let you tell me everything you want me to know. That’s a better place to start.”

“Thank you,” she whispered.

“Don’t make me wait too long, Brandy,” he said. “Even if I can’t see you until you get your affairs in order, I’d like to talk to you. Just touch base, that’s all. Let me know you’re okay. I promise, I’ll be patient for the rest.”

She smiled and said, “Sure. How could I not?”

O
ctober flew into the mountains and in the first couple of weeks provided a rainbow of color around Virgin River. Mel, Jack and their friends had been back from Joe’s wedding in Grants Pass for two weeks and fall was crisp in the air, the nights cold and the hillsides in full autumn bloom, fiery-colored leaves scattered amid towering green pines.

Doc was at the computer behind the reception desk when Mel came in from the kitchen. “Kids are settled into naps,” she said. “What are you doing?”

“Playing around,” he said. “I’ve been meaning to ask you—any word on Cheryl Chreighton?”

Mel shook her head. “It’s confidential treatment. If Cheryl didn’t put us on the list to call her, we can’t get through, can’t get information. I called to ask how she was doing and was told I wasn’t on her list—which tells me she’s probably still there. I could go speak to her mother, but I don’t know about that. Her mother is—”

“She’s not well, and she’s not the least neighborly,” Doc said. “Mean as a snake, if you ask me. If I were Cheryl, the mother wouldn’t be on my list.”

“I was going to say exactly that, but much more nicely,”
Mel said, smiling. Doc seldom minced words. “Are you going to be around for an hour or two?”

He looked at her over the top of his specs. “Looking to get out of here for a while?”

“I don’t want to put you out, but they’re asleep in the kitchen…”

Doc looked back at the computer. “I’ve never been put off by the children. That’s some of your best work.”

She laughed at him. “If I didn’t agree, I’d get a little pissy that you don’t give me half that much credit for my actual practitioner work.”

“Your head is big enough,” he barked. “Go. Take a break. I’ll holler when they wake up.”

“Are you sure? Because if your arthritis or acid reflux is bothering you at all…”

“Not much bothers me besides you,” he said. “Tell Jack it’s getting time to get on that river.”

“He’s on the porch at the bar, tying off flies. I think he’s way ahead of you.”

When it wasn’t appointment day at the clinic, Mel took the kids with her to work. Because David was getting around much faster and fussier, he spent a lot more time with his father than her. Jack would take his son with him on errands to buy supplies for the bar or even keep him in the backpack while he served, but he would have his early-afternoon bottle with his mom at the clinic, then a nap in the playpen kept in Doc’s kitchen. Emma, after nursing, would have her nap at the same time as her brother in the little Port-a-Crib, also in the kitchen.

Of course, Doc was more than happy to comfort, change and jiggle Mel’s kids. He adored them. He grumbled a little about babysitting, but he never once refused. In fact, if she
tried to get someone else to stand in, he seemed disappointed. Maybe offended, as if he’d been considered too old.

This was just such a typical day, a beautiful mid-October afternoon. Mel left the sleeping kids in Doc’s charge at about one-thirty and found Jack on the porch of his bar, tying off beautiful, feathery flies. Fishing season was starting to get good—the fall was excellent for salmon, sturgeon and trout. Jack was an amazing angler.

“Things have been really interesting in your little bar,” Mel said.

“A little tense and steamy.” He laughed. “Think someone should take Luke aside and warn him about this place?”

“I thought you’d finally learned your lesson,” she teased him. “You’ve been in the business of almost every romantic relationship in this town….”

“Yeah, but this one’s different. The second Shelby saw him, it was a target lock on. She wants him. Can you see the struggle on his face? He’s getting lines.”

“Yeah, what’s that about?” Mel asked. “She’s adorable. You’d think he’d be thrilled.”

“Well, the first night he met her he said he took one look at her and thought he was going to be arrested. He might be having a little trouble with her age.”

“Phooey,” Mel said. “There’s quite a nice difference in our ages.” She grabbed his thigh. “I’m catching up with you, however.”

“Then there’s the general,” Jack said. “Kind of intimidating…”

“Oh, Walt’s a pussycat,” she said. “And I think he likes Luke. They have the army in common.”

“Luke’s either going to give in or explode,” Jack said.

“How do you know he hasn’t? Given in.”

“Have you taken a good look at him? At his posture, his
eyes? Believe me, he’d be a lot looser. He hasn’t unloaded in a long time.”

“Jack!” she said.

“And the funny thing is, Shelby’s downright serene,” Jack said, completely ignoring his wife’s scold. “She’s a very unusual woman.”

“What do you mean?”

“Have you looked at yourself in the mirror when it’s been a long time for us?” he asked. “It’s all over your face when you need to be taken care of.” He grinned at her.

“It is
not!
” she said, giving him a whack on the arm. But she laughed at him, and secretly knew he was right. She also knew why Shelby didn’t look that way. Shelby, virginal, hadn’t been satisfied by a man yet; she didn’t ache with longing for her lover. “It’s hardly ever been a long time for us,” she pointed out.

“Which is how I like it,” he said. “Then take the general,” he said. “Talk about a satisfied man…”

“You can’t possibly know that. Walt neither looks nor acts any differently than he ever did,” she insisted.

“The general looks like a beautiful woman moved in next door and he’s doing his best to be a good neighbor. He’s got a twinkle in his eye and a very sly grin.”

Mel turned toward him and narrowed her eyes. “Do you really think you know what facial expressions correspond exactly to a man’s getting laid?”

“I do,” he said with a smile. “In fact, I consider myself something of an expert.”

She sat with him for an hour, talking mostly about the new budding romances. In fact, a lot of people were preoccupied with that. No one knew what was going on outside the bar, but Shelby and Luke were there frequently for a beer, sometimes dinner as well, and they were insep
arable. They tended to look at each other as though they’d been waiting days to be together just for that little while.

By contrast, the general was seen around town a little less, leaving people to wonder if he wasn’t spending that time with the movie star down the road.

It was three o’clock when the empty school bus barreled through town, Molly headed for her pickups. Like all little towns in the area, she had kids at elementary, middle and high schools to gather up at the end of the school day and bring back to town. It was a long day for the farm and ranch kids whose parents drove them into town to meet the bus in the morning, picking them up in the afternoon. As she passed the bar, she gave the bus horn a blast and waved at Mel and Jack on the porch.

“That woman is going to heaven,” Mel said. “My idea of hell is being trapped in a school bus full of noisy, bratty kids twice a day. I don’t know how she does it.”

Mel glanced at her watch; you could set it by Molly’s bus run. Her kids were due to wake from their naps and she ambled across the street to the clinic. Her pace was leisurely; it was a perfect autumn day. When she neared the porch, she heard her children crying. In itself, that wasn’t a bad sign—they could be just waking up. But Doc would usually alert them if he knew they were nearby. Absent that, he would comfort the little ones.

Something was wrong. She knew it at once, felt it in her gut, and ten steps before Doc’s porch she broke into a dead run. Up the steps, through the door, and what she saw threw her into a panic. Doc was sprawled, facedown, on the floor. Little Emma, only five months old, was right beside him, lying on her back, her face red with pain or fear or both. David, still in his playpen in the kitchen, was screaming loudly.

She honestly didn’t know who to reach for first, Doc or Emma. Emma was crying, so she was at least conscious, while Doc was motionless. She did what her instincts seemed to always urge her to do—she turned at the opened front door and screamed, “Jaaaacccckkkk!”

He had seen her break into a run up to the porch and inside. He was already on his way. By the time she screamed for him, he was there, totally in tune with her, sensing her. When she saw him coming, she lifted Emma right into his arms. Then she went to Doc, tucking his left arm to his side so she could roll him onto his back and into a supine position. “See if Emma’s all right,” she shouted to Jack. “He might’ve dropped her as he fell.”

When she got Doc on his back, his eyes were open and sightless. She checked him quickly—no pulse, no breath. “Oh, goddamn,” she said right before starting cardiopulmonary resuscitation. She began by tilting his head back, made sure his airway was clear and blew into his lungs twice—two long breaths. Next she pressed the crossed palms of her hands on his sternum to try to get his heart started and asked Jack, “Is she okay?”

“I think so,” Jack said helplessly. “She’s pissed off but not bruised or bleeding.”

Mel covered Doc’s mouth with hers and blew into his lungs again. Then, during thirty more cardiac compressions, she asked. “Any lumps on the head?”

Jack ran a hand over Emma’s smooth, bald head. “Don’t see anything.”

Mel finished pumping and went for the respiratory inflations again. Then, breathless, she said, “Check David, and if he’s okay, call someone. Mercy Air,” she said. “I need the defibrillator. I need my bag.”

Jack bolted for the kitchen. David was standing in his
playpen, screaming. The second he saw Jack his cries turned to little gasps and he reached a hand toward him. “Da!” he yelled. “Da!”

“Hang in there, buddy,” Jack said, laying Emma in her crib. He ran back to the front of the clinic, found Mel’s bag behind the reception desk and placed it beside her, open. Then he ran to the treatment room, grabbed the case that held the defibrillator and took it to her. By the time he got back, she had ripped Doc’s shirt open.

“Aw, Jesus, Doc,” she groaned, breathing into him again.

Jack was picking up the phone when he heard the sound of heavy, running footfalls and Preacher stopped short in the opened doorway. He took a quick look, assessed and ran into the clinic, kneeling opposite Mel. She was counting. “I can help,” he said, brushing her hands away to take over the chest compressions.

Mel immediately flipped open the defibrillator case and turned on the switch. The portable defibrillator was the same as the type carried on commercial air carriers with patches as opposed to paddles. She put the patches on Doc’s chest and said, “Pay attention for the shock, Preach.” The machine purred and a mechanical voice came from it.
Assessing patient. Stand by. Clear for shock.
“Clear!” Mel said. Preacher pulled back his hands and Mel pressed the button, delivering the jolt. She felt for a pulse. No response. “Dammit, Doc,” she muttered.

Mel dug around in her bag while Preacher pushed air into the old man’s lungs, then resumed compressions. She started an IV quickly and attached a bag of Ringer’s, holding it high. It was taken out of her hands by Jack, automatically assisting. She then examined the labels of two vials and drew two syringes. She added epinephrine to the IV. Next, the atropine.

Jack was beside her, crouched, holding the Ringer’s over his head. “Airlift’s on the way. I called Shelby to help. And June Hudson in Grace Valley.”

“That’s all you can do,” Mel said, taking the bag of Ringer’s. “Bring me an IV stand from the treatment room so you can take care of the kids.” When he returned and hung up the bag, she switched on the machine again. “Shocking, Preach.” The mechanical voice alerted them.
Assessing patient. Stand by. Clear for shock.
“Clear!” Preacher pulled back his hands and Mel pressed the button again. Doc’s body arched with the jolt.

Mel put the stethoscope in her ears, listening to his chest. “Jesus, Doc, don’t do this,” she said. “God, I
need
you!” She brushed Preacher’s hands away and began her own chest compressions. “Breathe for him on thirty—two big breaths,” she told Preacher. “Ten, eleven, twelve…”

Mel wasn’t even aware that the kids had stopped crying. Jack stood behind her, holding them both against him. Mel tried another eppie, shocked him twice more, listened to his chest. He was completely unresponsive. By the time she could hear the sound of rotor blades, tears were running down her cheeks, falling onto Doc’s chest, and she wouldn’t stop compressing. Preacher sat back on his heels. “Don’t stop!” she barked at him. Slowly, the big man leaned forward and put two more useless breaths into the old man.

“How can you
do
this?” Mel cried to the lifeless form beneath her hands.

Paramedics ran into the clinic and took their places on either side of Doc, scooting Preacher and Mel out of the way. They rushed through a quick assessment while Mel rattled off what drugs had been administered, how many times she’d used the defibrillator. The electrodes for a
portable electrocardiogram were attached to his chest as compressions were continued.

Mel backed away and came up against Jack and the kids. He held one on each hip. She turned against his chest. He can’t just die like that, she thought in despair. David had been crying so hard that his breath came in jagged little hiccups of emotion and he buried his wet face in his father’s shoulder. Mel took Emma into her arms, looked her over briefly to be sure she was all right, then her attention was again focused on the paramedics’ resuscitation.

Minutes passed as they worked on him. Shelby arrived, running up the porch steps and into the clinic. “Take the baby,” Jack said. “We found her on the floor beside Doc. I think he might’ve dropped her as he fell. Neither one of us has had a chance to undress her and look her over closely, but she seems okay.”

Shelby took the baby out of the reception area and a few minutes later she was back, holding a now-quiet baby against her shoulder. “I took all her clothes off and she seems to be fine. No bumps or marks or anything.”

“He might’ve felt it coming and laid her on the floor,” Mel said. “He wasn’t on top of her.” She turned her watery eyes up to Jack. “Which could’ve killed her.”