Page 98 of Breached

“It’s cold!” she complained, but gasped when I slid inside, not waiting for her to be ready. She felt like heaven. Warm, tight, and velvet. “Oh, so good.” Her head dropped to my shoulder as she purred. I slid my hands down her back, massaging as I went.

“This is my favorite place in the world,” I confessed, giving her a flick of my hips. “You and me and nothing between us.”

“In more ways than one,” she murmured, referring to the fact that I was bareback inside her.

I grinned and swooped down and kissed her hard. “The best way to have you.”

I took her gorgeous bottom in my hands and began to rock her against me so she could feel everything as I ground myself into her. This woman had somehow fought through my many walls and helped me see I was worthy of love. I never thought I’d be this lucky.

“Paul,” she wrapped her arms around me and pressed her hot mouth against my neck as she held on, “more!”

Grabbing her leg, I hiked it over my hip and changed angles, watching her neck strain as she tried to hold on.

“All mine to love,” I grunted as we both let go and I gave her everything I could offer. The idea of Nicole carrying our baby was a mission I took very seriously and one I was willing to work on multiple times a day. I chuckled, and she looked up at me.

“What?”

I flicked my hips, showing her I wasn’t finished with her yet.

“Oh, no,” she laughed as I lifted her off the counter and into the shower for round three.

The next morning, I woke up early and slipped out to let Nicole sleep. Cole had advised that General Bruce wanted us to take some time to settle back into the house with our families and get a little R&R, so I guessed everyone took him at his word, as there was no sign of anyone. I figured it was also good for the docs, Eve and Ollie, to have time to get into the swing of things as well.

“Morning,” I whispered to Cathy, one of the kitchen staff, as I poured myself a cup of coffee. I took it over to the window and looked out at the lake, thinking how calm everything seemed. I spotted Doc Roberts sitting in a chair down on the dock with one of the pups. It was a beautiful morning, and I could hear the loons on the water. “How long has Doc Roberts been up?”

“Maybe twenty?” she said as she rolled some pastry dough.

“I’ll think I’ll join him.” I left her to her work and slipped out of the dining room doors. Careful not to spill my coffee, I walked down the deck stairs and followed the lawn to the dock.

I tried to tread lightly, but my boots still announced my arrival as I walked on the wooden surface. Doc Roberts was a man of few words in the morning. I knew he liked his silence. He always said there was something about just being still and listening to the world and that people rarely took the time to do it. He said it was good for the mind, body, and spirit.

I glanced at him and saw his smile as he stared at the water. Wellington, the golden retriever, had his head resting on his thigh. The trees were perfectly mirrored in the glass lake, and except for a little mist above the lowest peak, nothing moved. The loon’s call was the only sound that dared break the silence, and even that was soft and smooth. They didn’t cause a ripple in the water. I was sure they, too, were here for peace. It was as perfect a morning as you could get.

I replayed once again Doc’s words about how he viewed me, and I thought I’d like to do the same for him. Life was too short not to share the good we saw in people. I decided to tell him, even at the risk of breaking his morning serenity.

I tapped my finger against my steaming mug and went for it.

“You might not remember this,” I said just above a whisper, and he blinked as I must have pulled him back to the present, “but when I first came to Shadows, I was lost. My father was hunting me down for money, and I was carrying more anger than sense. In our first session, you said something I’ll never forget. You said, ‘You’re here now, son, and you can be whoever you want to be. Just make sure whoever you choose to become is someone worth living up to.’ I want you to know, the man I chose to be like…was you. Your patience. Your strength. Your kindness. All of it.” My voice wavered despite my effort to steady it. “I want to say thank you for being that person for me.”

He didn’t move, and neither did I. Doc never had a problem with people and emotion, but when it was directed at him, he became reserved and digested it internally. It would be later that I would hear how he felt in some way. That was fine—that was how most men operated—minus Mark, of course.

I didn’t expect a reply. I just sipped my coffee and went back to enjoying the view. A fish jumped out of the water and sent a series of ripples toward the loons, who barely took notice.

Wellington started to whimper. I reached down absently to pat him. He still had his head glued to Doc’s thigh.

“Hey, boy, you good?” I rubbed his head, and he whimpered again. I squatted down next to him and looked at Doc, and then I saw what the pup did. “No!” It was like a stab to the chest, “Oh, Doc, not you, too.” I dropped my head and squeezed my eyes shut. I wanted to cry, I wanted to scream, I wanted to curse the world for taking another of our loved ones. But as quickly as the hurt filled me, a sense of peace washed over me. Almost like he was telling me he was all right because he was with his Abigail again, among his loved ones. I sat down on the dock next to Wellington and stroked his ear. “It’s okay, Welly. Let’s just sit here together for a few more minutes.”

It had been eight days since Dr. Roberts passed. General Bruce stepped up to the plate and made the trip back to Shadows the moment he heard. He helped with arrangements and did whatever he could to help. We could all pretty much write the handbook on how to get that kind of shit done, but he was really helpful, and it was nice to have someone take the burden off the family.

Doc Roberts had left us in good hands with Eve and Ollie. They had already become family and were invaluable, as Doc knew full well they would be.

Ollie asked me if he could share with everyone what I’d felt in that moment by the lake, that Doc was right where he wanted to be, and we all knew it was true. It didn’t make it any easier, as we all missed him so much. Then Eve told us he had left a letter in her office for the house to read. She said he must have known his time was near. It was decided we’d all sit together and listen to Cole read it that evening.

“More potatoes?” Nicole asked me as she held out the platter.

“No, thanks.” I took them from her and handed them to Zack. He’d been heartbroken by the death of his old friend and had brought dinner for everyone to allow the staff a much-needed night off. He was incredibly thoughtful like that.

Catalina put down her fork with a clang. “I just want a jolt to the system, like give me some kind of emotion other than this hollow feeling,” she cried, and Mike took her hand.