Twice Tempted (6 page)

“She’s coming back to my house.”  Jason
said.  “I’ll make sure she gets some rest and takes her medication.”

“Good.  Expect some bruising and tenderness
around her ribs but if it isn’t feeling at least a little better in a few days,
bring her back to the hospital.  We’ll do more x-rays.”

He walked to the bed and shook Lucy’s
shoulder lightly.  “Ms. Reid?”

“What’s up Doc?”  Lucy opened her eyes and
blinked at him.

“I’m going to discharge you now.  Your
boyfriend is going to take you home and I’ve already told him you need to be on
strict bed rest for a couple of days.”

“So I shouldn’t practice my gymnastic
routine, is that what you’re saying?”  Lucy asked.

The doctor laughed.  “That’s exactly what
I’m saying.”  He pulled the sheet down to the end of the bed.

“Fine.  But when I don’t make the Olympics,
I’m sending my coach your way.  He’s Russian and kind of mean.”  Lucy warned.

The doctor laughed again. “I’ll be on the
lookout for him.  I’m going to have the nurse take your IV out and then you can
head home but first, I want to take one more look at your ribs.”

“Okey dokey.”  Lucy reached out and snagged
Jason’s hand as the doctor lifted her hospital gown to just below her breasts. 
Jason sucked in his breath.  Her right side was swollen and the telltale signs
of deep bruising had already risen on her skin.  Her formerly pale skin was
covered in dark purple splotches and Lucy watched with interest as the doctor
probed gently at her side.

She winced and squeezed Jason’s hand
tightly when the doctor probed a little lower.  “Ouch!”

“Sorry.”  The doctor murmured.  He examined
the large bruise on her left thigh.  Jason could feel the rage rising in him
when he realized the bruise was in the shape of a boot print. 

“He kicked me after I fell down.”  Lucy
said matter-of-factly.

The doctor examined her face last, pushing
gently on the bruising around her eye, shining a small pen light into her
pupils and feeling both sides of her jaw. 

“You’re very lucky that he didn’t break
anything.”  He told her gravely.  “In fact, based on the bruising, I can’t
believe he didn’t break or at least crack a rib.”

Lucy rubbed her round tummy.  “It’s the
extra layer of padding.  It not only keeps me warm in the winter but also
protects me from attempted muggings.  The next time someone gives me a dirty
look for eating a second cheeseburger I’m just gonna tell them it’s a defense
mechanism against random muggings.”

The doctor burst out laughing and patted
her arm gently before pulling her hospital gown back down.  “Take care Ms. Reid
and don’t hesitate to come back if you’re feeling worse or the swelling doesn’t
go down after a few days.”

* * *

“This isn’t Heather and Jerry’s house.”  Lucy
had dozed off in the truck and it wasn’t until he had her standing in the front
hallway of his house that she had realized where she was.

“I thought I was supposed to go to
Jerry’s.  Heather said I could stay with them for a few days.”  She allowed
Jason to pull her shoes off, holding on to his back for support as she lifted
one foot and then the other.

“I told them I would take you to my house
instead.”  He straightened and slipped her jacket off.

“That’s nice.  You’re so nice.”  She patted
his cheek and he took her hand and led her carefully to his bedroom.

As he undressed her down to her panties she
stared dreamily at his bed.  “There’s your bed.  I’ve missed your bed.”

She reached out and brushed her hand across
it.  “Hello bed.”

The cat jumped up on to the bed and she
gave a soft squeak of delight.  “There’s your cat.  I’ve missed your cat. 
Hello Lenny!”

She reached to pet him and the cat bumped
his head under her fingers, purring loudly.

“Lenny likes me.”  She announced.

“He does.”  Jason agreed.  “C’mon honey,
let’s get you into bed.”

“Yes, lets.”  She winked at him and traced
her hand down his chest before cupping his penis.  “There’s your cock.  I’ve
missed your cock.  Hello Jason’s cock.”

Despite his guilt and his worry for her, he
couldn’t help laughing.  “Not for that little Lucy.  You need rest.”

She snorted, swaying a little.  “I’m fine. 
It’ll take more than a mugging from a man in a really awful shirt to stop me. 
Hey, did I tell you how awful his shirt was?”

“You did honey.”  Jason pulled back the
covers and she climbed gingerly into the bed, flinching a little and holding on
to her side.

“It was really, really bad.”  She lay back
in his bed and stared up at him.  “Promise me you’ll never wear plaid Jason.”

“Okay.”

“Say it – say I promise I’ll never wear
plaid Lucy.”

“I promise I’ll never wear plaid Lucy.”

“Thank God.”  She blew her breath out in a
soft little rush as he sat down on the bed beside her.

“Are you hungry honey?”

She shrugged.  “Maybe.  I could probably
eat some waffles.”

“How about I make you some soup instead?”

“Sure.”

He stood and she grabbed his hand.  “Don’t
leave me!”

“I won’t honey.”

She cocked her head at him; her dark eyes
were rimmed with red and tired looking.  “Say I promise I’ll never leave you
Lucy.”

“I promise I’ll never leave you Lucy.”

“Good.”  Her eyes slipped closed and he
stood where he was for a moment, wondering if he should try and get her to eat
something or just let her sleep.

Lenny, purring loudly, curled up against
her hip and she opened her eyes and smiled.  “Lenny likes me.”

“I know.  Do you want that soup?”

She shook her head.  “No.  I’m tired.”

“I’ll let you get some sleep; I’ll be in
the living room if you need me okay?”

“Please lie down with me.”  She suddenly
pleaded.  “I don’t want to be alone.  Will you stay?”

“Of course.”  He quickly stripped off his
clothes and slipped into the bed beside her.  She turned carefully on to her
left side and curled into his body, putting her arm around his waist and
snuggling her head into his shoulder.

He rested his hand on her hip and kissed
the top of her head.  God he had missed her.  Her rejection had nearly torn him
apart but it had done nothing to stop his love for her.  Not that she would
believe that.  He had treated her so horribly this week; he had been furious
with her and had taken his pain out on her.

“I’m sorry I was so awful to you this week.” 
He whispered.  It was a lame apology but he didn’t know what else to say.

She shrugged.  “It’s fine.  I upset you and
made you sad.”

She was quiet for a while and he shifted a
little closer to her.  She tipped her head back and squinted at him.  “Jason?”

“Yeah?”

“Are you still in love with me?”

“Yeah, I am.”

A look of relief crossed her face and she
dropped a soft kiss on his bare chest.  “That’s so nice.  You’re so nice.”

She squinted up at him again.  “Shall I
tell you a secret Jason?”

“Yes, tell me.”

“I’m in love with you.  I lied before
because I was scared and I didn’t understand how I could fall in love with you
so quickly.”  She whispered.

His heart began a crazy, jumbled beat in
his chest as she looked at him solemnly.

“Promise you won’t tell anyone.”

“I won’t.”  His voice was suddenly raspy.

“Say it – say I promise I won’t tell anyone
you’re in love with me Lucy.”

“I promise I won’t tell anyone you’re in
love with me Lucy.”  He repeated obediently.  He couldn’t stop the huge smile
from crossing his face and he could barely hear her whispered reply over the
roar of his pulse in his ears.

“Good.  I love you Jason.”

“I love you too Lucy.”  He pulled her
closer as her head dropped to his chest with a heavy thud and she slipped into
sleep.

Lucy lay perfectly still.  She could hear
the faint sound of the ocean and she frowned.  Why could she hear the ocean
from her apartment?  And why did her body hurt so badly? 

She moved her arms experimentally.  It
brought a shooting pain through her side and she groaned quietly.  A truck
started rumbling right next to her ear and she opened her eyes and squinted in
the late afternoon sun.

Yellow eyes were staring into hers and the
truck suddenly got louder. 

“Lenny?”  She whispered.  The cat meowed
softly and bumped his head against her face as his purring reached a level of
sound roughly as loud as a bomb.  She grunted with pain and pushed him away as
everything that had happened came flooding back in a hot rush.

“Oh shit.”  She muttered.  She was in
Jason’s house.  He had picked her up from the hospital and brought her back
here, and while under the influence of some incredibly awesome pain relief
medication she had told him that she loved him.  Double shit. 

Turning her head slowly she stared at
Jason’s sleeping form.  Dammit, she did love him.  There was no point in
denying it.  She sighed and moving carefully and slowly, she sat up and swung
her legs over the edge of the bed.  She took careful stock of herself.  Her eye
hurt as did her thigh, she examined the boot mark briefly, but it was her side
that hurt the most.  She looked down at her ribs, sucking in her breath at the
dark bruising.  It was even worse now than it had been this morning.

She stared out the window of Jason’s
bedroom as Lenny purred and rubbed against her bare back.  She felt grimy and
gross and moving quietly so she wouldn’t wake Jason, she slid off the bed and
limped out of his room and down to the bathroom.

She took a long, hot shower, using Jason’s
shampoo to wash her hair and his soap to gingerly wash her bruised body.  The
hot water helped ease both her stiffness and aching and by the time she had
wrapped herself in a towel and stepped out of the tub, she was starting to feel
almost human again.

She swiped the steam off the mirror and
stared horrified at her reflection.  Her eye was horribly swollen and it was
bloodshot and bruised.  There was a deep split on her bottom lip and the right
side of her jaw was puffy and dark with bruising.

“Ugh.”  She whispered.

The door to the bathroom opened and Jason,
wearing just his jeans, stared at her anxiously.  “Are you okay?”

She nodded and turned her face away,
tugging nervously at the towel around her body.  “Yeah.”

He stepped into the small room and gently
turned her face towards his.  “You should eat something and take some more
medication.  Are you in pain?”

“Yeah, a little.  It’s mostly my side that
hurts.”

He pulled a t-shirt from a hook on the back
of the door and helped her into it before leading her into the living room.  He
wrapped her in a blanket and made her sit on the couch as he heated up soup for
her.

He brought the steaming bowl of soup to her
and gave her an apologetic grin.  “It’s just from a can.”

“It’s fine.  It smells good.”  She wasn’t
lying but the pain in her side was starting to be so bad that she felt sick to
her stomach.  She wasn’t sure she could eat anything.

“Lucy?  You’re very pale.”  Jason knelt
beside her as, her hand shaking, she spooned some soup into her mouth.

“I’m okay.”  She ate a few spoonfuls of
soup before pushing it away.

He frowned.  “You need to eat more honey.”

“I’m full.”  She whispered.

He nodded and handed her a glass of water
and two white pills.  “Here, take these.  It will help with the pain.”

She swallowed the pills obediently and then
sat back on the couch, flinching a little at the stab of pain in her ribs.

“Do you remember what happened Lucy?” 
Jason asked softly.

“Yeah.  I do.”  She sighed. 

“I’m so sorry honey.  It’s my fault.  If I
hadn’t made you stay late – “

“Stop Jason.  It wasn’t your fault.  You
needed the document.”

“I didn’t.”  He whispered miserably.  “I
just couldn’t stand the thought of you going to the bar with Carlos so I used
the document as a reason to make you stay and then you were – were attacked. 
I’m so sorry.”

He looked so miserable and upset that her
heart ached for him.  She reached out and cupped his face gently.  “It’s okay
Jason.  Really.  How could you have known what would happen?”

He placed a soft kiss in the palm of her
hand before squeezing it lightly.  “Do you remember what happened after I
brought you home from the hospital?”  He asked hesitantly.

She paused.  She was tempted to lie and say
that she couldn’t remember but she couldn’t bring herself to do that to him.

“Yes, I remember.”

He didn’t reply and she gave a nervous
little laugh.  “The things people will say while they’re under the influence of
drugs huh?”

A look of hurt crossed his face but he
masked it quickly and smiled gamely at her.  “Yeah, I figured it was the pills
talking.”

He went to stand up and she grabbed his hand. 
“Jason, wait!”

She took a deep breath.  “It wasn’t just
the pills talking.  I do love you.”

He released his breath in a harsh little
rush.  “Really?”

“Yes, really.”  She scowled at him.  “I
love you – dammit.”

He laughed.  “Can I just say I’m really
enjoying this romantic side of you Lucy.”

“Shut it you.”  She sighed.  “We’ve both
gone completely crazy Jason. You know that right?”

“I know I’m crazy about you.”

“Jason, I – I’m not ready for other people
to know about this. Do you understand?”

He nodded.  “I do.  We can keep it quiet.
I’m a private person anyway.”

She sighed with relief and then rubbed her
side again.  “Thank you.”

He stood and helped her to her feet.  “You
need some more rest.”

He led her back to his bedroom and helped
her into the bed.  The meds were starting to kick in and although they weren’t
as powerful as the IV ones, the pain in her side was rapidly diminishing and
her eyelids were growing heavy.

“Stay with me.”  She sighed.

“Always.”  He whispered as he joined her in
the bed.

* * *

Lucy, wrapped in a blanket and sitting on
the futon on the deck, watched as Jason waded out of the water, his surf board under
one muscular arm.  He was dressed in a full body wetsuit but she had still been
shocked when he had told her he was going surfing.

He joined her on the deck, stripping off
his wetsuit and dressing in track pants and a t-shirt before dropping on to the
futon beside her.

“Aren’t you freezing?”  She asked
curiously.  It was early September and the days had turned cool.  She could
only imagine how cold the water had been. 

He laughed and shook his head so that she
was sprinkled with water from his hair.  “It’s refreshing.”

She wiped the cold drops of water off her
face.  “You’re insane.”

“Certifiably.”  He agreed.  He examined her
face carefully.  It had been a week since he had brought her home from the
hospital.  The split in her lip had healed but there was still fading yellow bruising
around her eye.  Her side was a colourful mess of greens and yellows and
purples but the colour was back in her face and she had stopped taking the
medication for pain.

She turned her head.  “Ugh – don’t look at
me that closely.  My face still looks like road kill.”

“Your face looks beautiful.”  He turned her
face back to his and kissed her mouth lightly.  “Are you going back to work on
Monday?”

She nodded.  “Yes.”

“Are you sure you should go back this
quickly?”

She laughed and gave him a sarcastic
salute.  “Yes sir.  I’m feeling much better.”

He growled playfully at her.  “Don’t make
me spank you for impudence.”

Her breath caught in her throat as a slow
pulse of pleasure moved from her stomach and straight to her crotch.  She had
been at Jason’s house for the entire week.  He had taken her home to grab
clothes and toiletries but she hadn’t even considered staying there.  She
wanted to be with him, needed to be with him, and they hadn’t even discussed
it.  He had simply found her suitcase in the closet and helped her pack her
things.

She had slept each night in his bed and wrapped
in his arms, but the pain had tampered her desire.  Today, feeling normal and
pain-free for the first time since the mugging, she was very aware of Jason’s
warmth and hard body sitting so closely to her on the futon.

She took a deep breath and gave him a shaky
smile.  “Who called earlier?”

“Jerry.  He wondered how you were doing and
if you were coming back to work on Monday.  I told him I thought you were but
that I would call him if you needed more time.”

“Did he – did he ask why I was still at
your house?”

He shook his head.  “Nope.”

She didn’t reply and he squeezed her knee
through the blanket.  “Are you hungry?”

“Yes.”  She was hungry but it wasn’t for
food.

“I can make you some waffles if you’d
like.”

She glanced to the house on the right. 
“Are your neighbours still on holidays?”

“Nah.  They got back two weeks ago.  I
think they’re gone for the weekend though.  Their daughter is getting married.”

He squeezed her knee again.  “I’ll get
started on the waffles.”

“I’m not hungry for waffles.”  She gave him
a slow and sexy smile and Jason’s cock immediately hardened in his pants.  He
was aching for her; a week of sleeping next to her warm body, of listening to
her soft voice and watching her live in his house like she belonged there had
kept him in a constant state of arousal.  Afraid of hurting her he had ignored
his need even when it became obvious that she was healed.  He wasn’t just
worried about hurting her physically.  Despite her proclamation of love, things
still felt fragile between them and he didn’t want to do anything that would
upset her.

She unwrapped the blanket and laid down on
the futon, resting her head on the pillow before placing one foot on the floor
of the deck and sliding the other behind his back.  She was wearing one of his
t-shirts and, he swallowed thickly at the sight of her naked core, nothing
else.  She crooked her finger at him.  “Come here handsome.”

“Lucy, are you sure?  I don’t want to hurt
you.”

“You won’t.”  She smiled again at him. 
“I’m freezing Jason – warm me up.”

He covered her body with his own, resting
on his knees between her open thighs so he didn’t put any pressure on her
ribs.  He kissed her forehead.  “We should go inside.  It’s too cold out here
for you.”

She kissed him before whispering against
his lips.  “No, I want you to take me out here.  Make me feel good Jason. 
Please.”

He wrapped the blanket around the both of
them until they were cocooned in its warmth and, balancing carefully on his
knees and one hand, dipped his other hand between her legs.  She was soaking
wet already and he looked at her in surprise.

She grinned.  “Watching you walk out of the
ocean in that skin-tight wetsuit got me all hot and bothered.”

He dipped his head and kissed her tenderly
as she reached between them and tugged at the waistband of his track pants
until his cock sprung free.  She wrapped her hand around it.  Her fingers were
cold but her mouth and body were warm and he swelled in her hand.

“Lucy…” He moaned as she stroked his shaft
with long, hard pulls.  “I need to get a condom.”

She wiggled her free hand out of the
blanket and reached under the pillow.  There was the crinkling of a wrapper and
she showed him the condom.

“Do you just carry one of those around with
you all the time now Ms. Reid?”  He arched his eyebrow at her and she giggled.

“Only when I’m around you Mr. Young.”

She released him long enough to tear open
the condom and slide it onto his throbbing erection.  He moaned again.  Just
the feel of her fingers sliding the condom on was almost enough to make him
come and he thrust his hips hungrily against her as he kissed her deeply.

“You make me so hot.”  She whispered.  “I’m
close to coming and you’ve barely touched me.”

He groaned.  “Quickly little Lucy.  I need
you.”

She guided his cock into her pussy, both of
them sighing with pleasure as he slid easily into her slick warmth.

He pushed in and out of her in a slow, deep
rhythm as she moaned softly beneath him.  “That’s so good Jason.  Right there;
just like that.”  She breathed into his ear. 

He could feel her hard nipples brushing
against his chest even through their clothing and he groaned and thrust a
little harder into her.