The Game of Seduction (Arrington Family Series) (16 page)

“That’s right, baby. Go ahead and put it inside you.”

But she didn’t. Instead, her breasts grazed on his stomach as her body scooted down his. Her tongue was warm and wet against his chest and then glided toward his stomach and twirled around his belly button. He held his breath at the thought of where it was going to go next. Bria gave amazing blow jobs, and he trembled at the thought of her placing her mouth right where he wanted it.

The more she licked and teased, the more he wanted to rip the handcuffs off, turn her over, and bury himself inside her, filling her to the hilt. She was driving him insane, torturing him and sending electrifying shocks through his body. No woman had ever made him feel as alive as Bria had, and even though half his senses had been cut off, he could feel her desire for him through her sensual and tender kisses.

“That’s my baby!” he shouted so loud that he heard himself through the earplugs when she placed the tip of her tongue on the tip of his penis. She licked around the head and ran a finger gently down the shaft. Then the warmth of her mouth covered the entire head and slid down as far as she could until it touched the back of her throat.

“Dammit, Bree. You know I like to watch and run my fingers through your hair. I’m going to …” he stopped when a tremor from his body shook him like an earthquake. “Get you back.”

She continued to slide her mouth up and down over his hard erection, taking it far as she could before lifting it out of her mouth only to slide down again. Her hands palmed his sides as he began to thrust up to meet her mouth. He felt himself about to explode and wondered what the heck Bria would do. She wasn’t one to swallow.

“Baby, I’m about to come. Hard.”

He jerked, squirmed, and spilled into her mouth as she continued to suck him. He shouted out some curse words he couldn’t even hear. He felt Bria lift off of him and a hand reach under the pillow. She undid the handcuffs, removed the blindfold, and the earplugs.

“Hey, baby,” she said as she straddled his chest.

“Hey yourself.” He wrapped his hands around her waist. “You’re something else, you know that?”

She scooted down his body and rested her head on his chest. “I wanted to welcome you back home.”

Home. He’d honestly never thought about settling down and making a home with anyone since Terri up and left him. It was no longer in his plans, but lying with Bria and hearing the word “home” made perfect sense. He imagined walking through the front door with Bria in the kitchen—telling the chef what to cook, of course—and a couple of kids and a dog running toward him like Dino from
The Flintstones
. He smiled. He could definitely see himself spending the rest of his life with Bria.

“Really? You wanted to welcome me home?” He kissed and nuzzled her forehead.

“I missed you.”

“I think you just missed my penis.” He kissed her forehead again and ran a hand down her long hair that had spread in a wild, sexy way.

“Ha! That too. But seriously, did you enjoy yourself?”

“Yes, and as soon as I reenergize, you will too.”

Chapter Twelve

“Dr. Francis, thank you for seeing me on such short notice. I’d never had chest pains like that before and got worried.”

“No problem, Joe. I’m glad you came, but I’m extremely relieved that it’s just a little indigestion. Your cholesterol and blood pressure levels are where they need to be.”

“That’s good to know. With Kelly just finding out she’s pregnant, the last thing I need to hear is that I have heart problems. I want to be around to show my son how to play football or watch my daughter at her ballet recital.”

Dr. Francis smiled. He was pleased to know Joe’s wife was finally pregnant because they had tried for a few years.

“Congrats! Did Dr. Raven confirm everything or is it too early?”

“Yes, she did. Kelly was just here yesterday. She’s only about a month along. We’re so ecstatic. With the rounds of fertility treatments with Dr. Raven along with the acupuncture and other suggestions from Dr. Bria, Kelly was pregnant in no time.”

Dr. Francis was shocked to hear Bria’s name, but in a way he wasn’t for his daughter always found some way to offer her opinion on alternative methods.

Dr. Francis cleared his throat. “Which acupuncturist did Dr. Bria refer you to?”

Joe shook his head. “She did it herself every other Saturday here or sometimes at our home. Is she back from vacation? I would love to thank her. She really went out of her way for us. That’s one reason why we love Arrington Family Specialists. It’s rare to find doctors that go the extra mile the way you and your family have.”

Dr. Francis almost cursed but held it in. He’d deal with his daughters later. Instead, he put on a sincere smile for he was truly happy for Joe and his wife.

“Congrats, man,” he said, extending his hand to shake Joe’s. He walked Joe out to the waiting area. Dr. Francis checked Raven’s schedule, saw that she didn’t have any patients, and marched straight back to her office.

*****

Bria sat on a barstool in the oversized gourmet kitchen while Rasheed stirred his signature tomato sauce. She sipped red wine and swayed back and forth to the sounds of Corrine Bailey Rae. Bria’s month vacation was coming to an end in the next week. Taylor had offered her a position of her practice, but Bria didn’t know if she wanted it or not. She missed working with her parents and her siblings. If there was some way she could convince her father to meet her halfway that would be perfect. She thought about opening her own practice, but she enjoyed the camaraderie of working with her family.

She smiled as she watched Rasheed sauté the onions and bell peppers for the ground beef. He’d given the night off to the chef. They were supposed to go to dinner, but a rainstorm kept them in for the evening. She was glad she had one aspect of her life figured out. She had a man that cared for her and adored her. They hadn’t used the L word yet, and that was fine with her. She didn’t want to move too fast with Rasheed like she had with her ex-fiancé. They’d met and gotten engaged within the year. She blamed the stress of her residency and needed an outlet. She was almost relieved when he cheated and got someone else pregnant. He’d blamed it on the fact that she was always at the hospital and never had time for him. But deep down she knew she never loved him and loving the man who was in front of her made that fact even more of a reality.

“Baby, come taste my tomato sauce. I think it may need some more garlic.” Rasheed held out the spoon for her, and she hopped off of the stool to sample his sauce.

“This is superb. I’m glad one of us can cook.”

“Girl, I can’t wait to dig into the salad you made.” He pulled her close to him and started to slow dance. “You remember New Year’s Eve when we danced?”

“Yes.” She reached up on her tippy toes to kiss his lips but could only reach his chin. He bent down and met her lips.

“You remember how you were seducing me on the dance floor?”

“Of course.”

“Was that your plan all along?” he asked with a sly smile.

“No, but I wanted you that night, and I had to have you.” They kissed slow and deep, their tongues moving along with the music as well.

“Do you need to have me right now, because we can eat later?” He picked her up.

She looked over his shoulder at the stove. “Um … I really hate to stop you, but the sauce is boiling and some has splattered on the backsplash.”

They laughed, and he put her down to tend to his sauce. Her phone vibrated from the island. She smiled when she saw Raven’s pretty face on her screen.

“Hey big sis. Miss me?”

Raven let out a sigh. “I do, but that’s not why I’m calling.”

Bria could sense the seriousness in her tone. “What happened?”

“Daddy knows about our sessions with Kelly.”

Bria’s heart dropped. She wasn’t expecting Raven to say that.

“Wait!” She placed her hand over her heart and walked out of the kitchen to the family room and plopped down on the floor in front of the fireplace where she had laid out a blanket so she and Rasheed could eat dinner there. His couches hadn’t arrived yet, but she preferred to sit in front of the fireplace. “Are you sure? How is that possible?”

“Her husband Joe came by today for a check-up or something with Daddy and told Daddy that Kelly was pregnant.”

“Well, that’s good she finally got pregnant. She’s been trying for awhile.”

“Joe went on and on about how you and I were to be congratulated especially you because you did acupuncture treatments at the office on Saturdays.”

Bria sighed. She was going to eventually tell her father on her own if the results were positive. It never occurred to her that he may find out some other way.

“Bria, he’s livid. Mother and I told him to calm down before he calls you. Cannon and Sean have your back. We all do. Cannon tried to reason with Daddy, but he told us all to get out of his office. He had an emergency surgery this evening, so I don’t expect him to call you tonight. Just be prepared.”

“For what? His wrath?” Bria said sarcastically. She looked up and saw Rasheed standing above her with a glass of wine and a concerned expression. “Hold on, Rave. Daddy knows about the acupuncture treatments I’ve been doing,” she said to Rasheed. He sat behind her on the floor and pulled her close to him. His warm embrace always made her feel better.

“Are you still considering moving to Atlanta?”

“Honestly, I don’t want to. I love working with our family, but Daddy has to understand how I feel about alternative methods. I mean, we just witnessed firsthand that it can work.” She sipped her wine and snuggled closer to Rasheed. He kissed the top of her hair. She loved when he did that.

“I tried explaining that to him, but he ignored me and mumbled something about voodoo who doo.”

“Yes, I had that conversation with him before I left Memphis. Like Cannon said, Daddy is approaching seventy and doesn’t understand all of these new methods. Heck, I had to convince you at one point.”

“Well, I just wanted to pre-warn you before he calls. I’ll let you get back to Mr. Vincent.”

After Bria hung up and turned off her cell phone, she leaned back in Rasheed’s arms and stared at the roaring fire. They sat silently for a few moments rocking back and forth to the music in the background. Rasheed broke the silence first.

“What are you going to do?”

“I don’t know. I’d been contemplating telling Daddy myself. I know I don’t want to work for Taylor. Nothing against her or her wonderful practice, but being there these past few weeks made me realize how much I love working with my family at our practice. But now that Daddy has concrete evidence that I’ve been sneaking around behind his back and doing acupuncture, it changes things. I know he knew I would offer suggestions to patients but nothing past that. I don’t want him to think that he can’t trust me.”

She stopped as the tears flowed down her cheeks. Rasheed turned her toward him and wiped them away with the bottom of his shirt.

“Baby, don’t cry. Your Daddy loves and trusts you.”

 “I just want to do what’s best for my patients. That’s why I’m a doctor. Heck, he’s the reason why. For as long as I can remember, he’s instilled in me and my siblings to work hard and find the best way to care for our patients. That’s what I’ve been doing. I took an oath.”

She sobbed in his chest as he rocked her back and forth, rubbing her back in circular motions and kissing her forehead.

“What can I do to make my baby feel better?” he asked. “You know I hate to see you upset. You’ve been stressing over this for as long as I’ve known you.”

She dried her tears on his shirt again and looked up at his concerned face. The sincerity in his voice made her smile.

“Is that a smile I see on my baby’s face?” He kissed her forehead. “You know I’m here for you to offer support and encouragement. If you want your own practice to do whatever you want, I’ll buy you one. Whatever it takes to make you happy, Bree.”

“Rasheed, while that’s very nice of you, you know I’d never take money from you. But you being here and saying such sweet things makes me feel better, baby. Plus, your spaghetti smells so good. Can I have some?”

“Coming right up, my dear.” He kissed her on the lips and headed off to the kitchen.

Bria grabbed her wine and decided to turn her cell phone back on. She wasn’t going to run from her father. Whatever he had to say, she would listen to him before telling him how she felt once again.

*****

Bria let the warm water cascade over her in the shower. She’d had a restless night thinking about her father and what she was going to do about either staying at the family’s practice and accepting the fact that she may not be able to incorporate alternative options or starting a small practice of her own. She had some money saved and maybe if her father bought her out, she could rent office space. She would never take money from Rasheed. That was completely out of the question.

She lathered up her hair and massaged the shampoo into her scalp for ten minutes. She rinsed it thoroughly, turned off the shower and dried off before adding conditioner to her hair and placing a plastic shower cap over it.

The ringing of her cell phone startled her because it was “Daddy” by Beyonce. Bria took a deep breath and swiped the phone off of the bathroom counter.

“Hello?” She tried to keep her voice steady and even but she heard a crack and hoped her father didn’t.

“Hello, Bria. We need to have a talk.” His voice was serious and direct.

“Okay.” She threw on her bathrobe and walked to the chaise lounge in the bedroom.

“I’m assuming Raven has informed you that I’m aware of the procedures you’ve been performing for Kelly Turner.”

“Yes, sir. I’ve spoken to Raven.”

“And you’re also aware that Mrs. Turner is pregnant.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Well, Mrs. Turner stopped by my office an hour ago to tell me how happy she is and that we’re all wonderful physicians, especially you. She said you’re patient, caring, and take your job seriously. She wants to continue to work with you throughout her pregnancy along with Raven, of course.”