Page 92 of Holiday Love
There she is…a me I’ve never met before. Wide brown eyes dilated with lust, red lips swollen from kissing. Hair wild. I push back against Teddy’s hand, my hips rolling instinctively, just as he slips a finger into me. I moan, my chest heaving, but keep my eyes open. The reflection catches the way I press into him, the way his eyes stay locked on me in the mirror, watchingmewatchinghim.
“That feels good, right there,” I murmur.
“I know,” Teddy chuckles, like it’s his own private joke. He moves his finger in and out, adding a second while I push against him, panting and moaning, losing myself in the moment.
“Look at you, Hellcat.” He kisses along my neck, watching in the mirror and whispering as he goes. “This is how I see you, alive, vibrant, lit up like you swallowed the stars, my Helen.”
He takes his tip and rubs it against my entrance, coating it with my desire. I want him so badly I might actually go crazy, so when he pauses to put on a condom I plead, “Don’t stop, don’t stop touching me.”
A dark chuckle. “I like you needy for me.” He does as I ask, one hand on me while he rips the wrapper with his teeth and rolls the condom on. He strokes himself, meeting my eyes in the mirror. I can see how they glaze with lust.
“You ready?” he asks, stepping behind me and widening my legs with his foot. I nod, robbed of speech by the sight of him, so strong and steady.
Teddy holds my hips tight as he pushes into me slowly, grounding. I keep my eyes locked on his in the mirror, letting him see that I’m okay. That I like it, the feeling of his body inside of mine. Once he’s fully seated inside me, he slumps with his forehead on my back.
“Perfect. Just like I remembered,” he says, more to himself than to me.
He straightens and slams into me so hard I cry out, not in pain but in pleasure. Teddy pushes into me, moving fast over and over. Squeezing the barso hard my knuckles turn white, I meet his every movement with my own. The rhythm builds, every movement a give and take between us. Teddy’s mouth is on my shoulder, his breath hot and uneven. His hands wrap around me, one at my breast, squeezing gently, and the other at my hip, holding me in place. It’s sensory overload, feeling him inside of me while simultaneously witnessing the expressions of ecstasy that cross our faces in the mirror. How sweat gathers on our brows, how Teddy bites his lips as he gets closer, how my hands tremble. Pleasure builds between us in thick, heavy waves.
I’m lifted onto my toes, pressed close to the glass, everything magnified as my body spirals, moving at a desperate pace. We reach the peak together and cry out as one, unraveling at the same time. Sparks of pleasure rocket through my body. Warmth, hotter than the sun, spreads through every limb as they go tense, then slack. Teddy holds on through it, riding the wave with me, breathing ragged against my skin. I rest my head against the cool glass as the aftershocks hit. Teddy’s gasping behind me. Both of his hands have dropped to my waist like I’m the only thing holding him upright.
“You see it now?” he whispers, voice strained.
I meet his eyes in the mirror and nod, unable to speak.
“You see how gorgeous you are when you’re mine?”
Mine.
We stay like that for a minute, both of us fighting for breath. Then he kisses my shoulder and eases out. I can’t move. I’m immobilized, wrung out from that orgasm. Teddy disposes of the condom, then he’s back. He hooks me around the waist and draws me toward the bed until my legs hit the mattress. With tender care, he lays me down on my back and crawls in after me, drawing the blankets up to cover our nakedness.
“You okay?” he asks, concern softening his voice.
All this time, I haven’t said anything, and I realize it’s starting to worry him, which isn’t what I want. It’s just I’m lost in my head right now, overwhelmed by the fact that after all this time I’m here. With him.
I roll onto my side, facing him, and reach up to brush his hair back from where it lays tangled over his forehead. “Better than okay.”
That makes him smile, bright and wide. He lets out a satisfied sigh. “Good.”
I expect him to want to talk, to do a debriefing of all the events of the night, which is fine, but part of me doesn’t know what to say. I have to process it, everything that’s happened, which takes time. Like he understands without my explaining, Teddy snuggles closer, pulling me into his arms. He whispers into my hair, “As long as you’re happy. That’s all I need.”
There are no more words after that, just dreams and his arms wrapped around me, tight like he has no intention of letting go.
Chapter forty-one
Helen
I’ve been in this hospital boardroom many times before, just always on the other side of the table. The side where I interviewed medical students, drafted ER protocols, and reviewed departmental budgets. It’s strange to be here now, on the side whereI’mthe one being questioned.
Three people sit before me, two men and a woman, with their paper cups of coffee and laminated nametags. I don’t need to look at their names. These are all doctors I know well, that I’ve worked with for years, which makes it hard not to feel like this is unfair. I want to yell at them, “You know me. You know how hard I work, how I respect the rules, how I would never break them unless I felt it was necessary.”
I don’t say any of those things, though. Instead, I wait patiently with my hands in my lap.
Dr. North, the chair of the Physician Privileges Committee, clears his throat and for a moment I regret turning down Teddy’s offer to come support me. I’d left him and Jamie at my place. Teddy was poring over a practice test, while Jamie read aloud from flash cards in overly dramatic accents like he was the lead actor in a production of Shakespeare in the Park. The countdown is on. Three more days until they take the test for the Coast Guard.
I shift in my seat while Dr. North reads the hospital protocol regarding not treating friends and family. He moves on to the accusations against me.
“Dr. Chu,” he says, “do you have a rebuttal statement prepared to give to the committee? We'd like to know why you treated the patient, despite policy.”
