Chapter 1

One

Aron

I 'm paid not to think with my heart and instead react with my brain, but fear grips my guts tight, making the latter impossible.

Fear and panic to be precise. What if I've waited too long? Please let her be unharmed.

Balancing the phone between a shoulder and my ear, I sign off on a few medical charts the head nurse shoves into my hands.

I sign the last of the forms and turn my attention back to the phone. "Where is she now? How bad are her injuries? When did she arrive here at the hospital?"

I pelt Samuel, my best friend, with rapid-fire questions about his sister, my feet already moving down the corridor toward the emergency room. My pulse roars in my ears.

Please let her be okay.

I catch a hint of strawberry lingering in the hallways and I'm suddenly transported to a time I'll never forget. The night I almost took her as mine. The night she spread herself under me and I bared my darkest secret.

My Willow—my angel, my obsession.

It was also the night she ran from me.

That was two years ago. Her eighteenth birthday. A day meant to be special but I royally screwed up for the both of us.

"Slow down, man, she was mugged not murdered. She was banged up in the subway station and I think she might have a concussion. She has a few scrapes and bruises for sure. I told her to go to the hospital where you're at but we both know that girl can break a leg and think she's fine."

Sam's voice pulls me out of the past. Irritation erodes at the base of my friend's love for his sister and I feel it too. Only my irritation is from not being there to protect her from getting hurt in the first place.

And Sam is right. His sister took stubbornness and one-upped it to a whole other level.

Not that Sam would know, but I bet the redheaded spitfire didn't like being told to come visit me given our past. Willow and I have a secret history that goes back years. Some good, like our shared slow dancing under the summer stars on her seventeenth birthday. But mostly bad in the way of her being way too young for a man in my position and age. I hold the title of most eligible bachelor and top surgeon in the city, and I'm almost twice her age.

But none of that seems to faze her in the slightest. Since turning sixteen my best friend's little sister took to seducing me as a new hobby. So I kept my distance but there was no outrunning one Willow Pierce. I tried. But despite her advances, I kept my hands and wicked ideas to myself.

But I had eyes and a heart despite being called Doctor Cold and Calculated by my staff.

I tuck my fantasies away and sustain myself with the fact that I made a choice a long time ago. Last time I felt her body against mine was heaven and hell. I would have thrown away my entire career the second the board found out their head surgeon bedded and impregnated an eighteen-year-old at the time. But I would have done it willingly. For her.

Everything about the woman made my cock swell and throb with bone-deep need to have her in my arms, my bed, my home. I didn't need to lay eyes on her to feel the burn of need fill my veins.

"How long ago was she mugged?"

I can hear a hesitance on the other end with a few stutters before Sam's voice comes through the speaker. "Maybe twenty minutes? I've been trying to call you and her. You both seriously suck at answering!"

I pick up speed, shoving through a pair of swinging doors to the gasped surprise of nurses. "You could have called the hospital."

"And I would still be on hold. Plus, try taking your phone off vibrate every once in a while, man."

"I was in surgery."

"Look, I don't think anything serious happened. But I couldn't tell, honestly. I'm just worried. She said she'd go but she's not answering her phone now."

Fuck. She could be passed out in some taxi somewhere with God knows what happening to her.

"Will you check on her? Let me know?"

"Keep your phone close," I grunt and shove mine in my pocket. I weave my way to where Willow will most likely be. If she decides to take her brother's advice.

I'm in the prime of my life, successful and I've worked long and hard to get to where I am in my medical field. And if my friends are to be believed, I should have a new bedmate every night of the week. But I don't chase ass. That's for younger men. Boys who need to learn how to enjoy a woman before they graduate to manhood.

They can keep the random piece of nightly pussy. I'm not into that. All I want is her . Wearing my ring and round with my baby. Nothing nor no one else interests me.

I discreetly adjust myself as I storm down the last stretch of the hospital corridor.

Fear wars with ire at anyone laying a hand on her. But I am more pissed she'd been only blocks from me and I couldn't do a goddamn thing to protect her.

Years of fending off awkward teenage advances, I'd visited Sam at their parents' Florida home on her eighteenth birthday to find the awkward teenager had transformed into a graceful, strong-willed woman who was about to leave home to accept a dance scholarship with the most prestigious ballet school.

Gone were her fumbling attempts at kissing me and her stumbling efforts to flirt. At the time I never would have imagined I'd find myself longing for the good old days where she looked at me like a lovesick schoolgirl. But all traces of that girl had disappeared. In her place was a young woman who brought out a protective streak I'd never known I possessed. I found myself wanting to pummel more than one over-eager frat boy trying to steal the birthday girl away from me.

Her long auburn hair dancing on a summer breeze and her gentle curves and long, strong legs shown off in a skimpy, emerald green bikini were my weakness. And still are.

She had me feeling a whole lot of things I had no right feeling back then.

By the time I had to head back to New York a week later, I realized I didn't want to leave without staking my claim. But despite her new maturity, I knew I needed to walk and give her a chance at building her own life. She didn't need what I wanted with her at such a young age.

But she took the decision out of my hands. I stayed in the Pierce's guest house and I guess temptation proved to be too much for her, too.

One Year Earlier

"I just wanted you to know this is your last chance, hotshot."

I stir awake to find Willow's curvy body sitting on the edge of my bed. My teasing, redheaded obsession looks nervous in the low light, but I hear none of it in her strong, sweet voice.

The scent of her strawberry shampoo pulls me from a restless sleep, and I groan a throaty sound of appreciation.

"Do you hear me, Aron? I'm tired of all the flirty winks and playful pats on my ass."

Fuck. It takes me a minute to realize it's really her beside me and not just the remnants of my dreams. The way she speaks to me has my cock turning rock solid. The way her cheeks flush and that soft, pretty pink tongue pokes out to wet her lips makes pre-cum drip liberally from my swollen head. I can feel it wet my stomach. I reach over and flick on the bedside lamp, throwing us both in soft shadows.

The comforter is kicked off and I only have a sheet draped over my naked lower half. Florida in the dead of summer is hot as fuck and the air conditioning unit can only do so much. Plus, I'd fallen asleep stroking myself to the dream of finally sinking into Willow's wet heat. Something tells me she's never taken a man between those legs and the idea of being the first to part those honey-coated lips and stretching her wide with my cock has me harder than I've ever been in my life.

And it seems shooting off two loads did nothing for my insatiable appetite. I'm hard again and tenting the sheet. By how wide her eyes are there's no way she doesn't notice.

So I reach down and fist my length and work it in slow strokes. Heaven help me, those flushed cheeks turn a burning red and she looks away as if seeing me hard and ready isn't what she snuck into my room for in the first place.

"Aron." My name is a whisper on her lips.

I reach out with my other hand and turn her face toward me. "Baby, you better say what you came for or leave. If your brother finds you in here..."

"I'm here to say my piece before you leave. I spent most of my high school years twisting myself in knots trying to get you to notice me."

"And it's why I stayed away. For the most part."

She drags her lower lips between her teeth, eyes darting to where I'm stroking my cock. I'm done playing. She wants a man, well, she better get used to seeing what she does to one.

"I don't know if you noticed or not, but I'm not some high school kid with a crush, Aron. I've grown."

I cock a brow and smirk. "I've noticed."

She holds a hand up. "I just wanted to tell you that this is your chance. I'm here. I'm done waiting. You want this, well so do I. I want you to take my virginity. Tonight."

I wish.

Her voice rises as she speaks, agitation clear on her pretty face. I reach out and gently rub her bare arm in an attempt to soothe her. "Willow," I begin. But my words dry up once she stands and I take full notice of what she's wearing. How the hell am I supposed to resist that?

Purple silk clings to every feminine curve on her body and I hold my breath as she slips her thumbs into the belt of her robe, loosening the knot. Hard nipples press against the fabric, telling me she's bare beneath that flimsy piece of cloth.

Fuck me. She peels back a lapel even an inch and I won't be able to tell her no any longer.

"Don't Willow me , Doctor Hamilton"

I hold my breath.

Off comes the robe in a puddle of purple to reveal lickable tan lines laid against creamy breasts and deep berry-red nipples my mouth waters to taste.

"I might have grown up since we last saw each other but I'm still the same girl who wants to follow you anywhere. Do anything for you. With you..."

She grabs the sheets and rips it off to find my cock in hand. One heartbeat she's on the bed leaning over me with a hand on my chest.

The hope in her eyes has me wanting to forget boundaries and all the little voices in my head saying this is a bad idea.

I grasp her hand, trapping it there. Pretty blue eyes stare down at me wide with wonder, and a shimmer of nervousness a blind man could pick up on.

She had to feel the thundering beat of my heart at her words. Of all the ways I'd imagined us getting together, her coming to me like this never occurred to me. God, she said exactly what I wanted to hear.

But I know we can't. Before I slip between those pretty thighs she needs to know it's not just sex or a quickie that I want.

In a single motion, I flip her over to where I'm on top, her naked body splayed out beneath me like a banquet of the world's finest delicacies. And all for me.

Only me.

Vibrant red hair fans out over white sheets. She's a vision of beauty I can't stop looking at.

She has that succulent, wet lip caught between her teeth again.

Somehow, I keep myself in check and my brain functioning when all I really want is to lose myself in her scent and taste.

"I want you to know what you're getting into with me, Willow. I'm not a quick fuck and leave kinda guy. When I take you, I want you bare and taking my seed. I want to see your nipples pierced and wearing my jewels and this pussy dripping with my milk. And one time won't be enough. No, my sweet Willow." I spread her thighs and slip between them, groaning into her neck when my cock rests over her wetness. I can barely concentrate on words with the way her warmth feels.

But I have to.

"Do you see why this won't work? Your life is just starting."

Her eyes grow wide and her lip pops free from her teeth.

"Do you want that? Pregnant with my child and wearing my jewels in those pretty nipples before you've had a chance to live?"

"Who says that's not living? Are you telling me you know better than me what I want? Arrogant bastard!"

There's heat in her words, but she wraps her legs around my waist, causing my cock to fully rest between her folds. Not enter her sweet temptation, but so so fucking close.

My muscles begin to shake from the amount of force it takes to hold myself in line.

I lean down and wrap my lips around one candy-hard tip, drawing it in. Savoring the sweetness before replacing it with a juicy pop.

She arches into my touch and I clamp down, grating my teeth over the puckered tip.

"Aron," she gasps, burying her fingers in my hair, pulling me back to her.

Somehow, I pull back. How I don't know, but I push to my knees and grip my steel rod, cum dripping from the swollen head.

She looks up at me with her blue eyes shining. Her breath hitches and that gives me the answer I need, like it or not.

But that didn't mean I couldn't have a taste. I leaned down and kissed her fiercely with all the hunger that had built over the last week, years even of watching and never touching. I nip her bottom lip just hard enough to sting before stroking over the spot with my tongue. I slid my hands down to her waist and groaned at the feel of her soft, silky curves under my hands.

Then I'd moved quickly, slipping my hand behind her knees and pushing them to her chest. I spread them wide revealing every inch of her perfect body to me.

"Aron," she whispers faintly, uncertainty shining bright in her eyes.

"Shh."

Her parted lips close as her eyes widen, confusion and unmistaken desire flashing in their depths.

She was on the fence. If I continue, I know she will let me do every nasty thing I can think of to her delicious, sinfully sweet body. But I can't do that to her.

"Aron." My name comes thick with a hint of bewilderment from her mouth.

I bury my face between her legs, clamp her ass cheeks in my hands and feast. Fuck yes! I've wanted her juices on my tongue for ages. Before it was legal, but not too long. I'm not a fucking monster. I growl as I drag my tongue over her virgin slit, dipping the tip in to gather more of her irresistible honey. My eyes roll shut. Pain from the constant need and finally getting my craving eased—not satisfied, never satisfied with Willow—mixed with desperation for more.

I stretch my powerful body over her, loop my arms around her legs and spread her pussy lips wide.

"Aron, for God's sake, Oh, yes!"

My lips surround her clit and I pull, sucking it with a firm pressure. Surprise makes her buck in my hold, but I don't let up. I flick my tongue at the tiny bud and slip a finger then two into her virgin channel, working the walls with just enough speed that I have her coming all over my face.

A scream tears from her lips and I push to my knees, panting twice as hard as she is. My cock juts out, angry with the need to bury myself inside her.

I make sure her eyes are open and on me when I bring my fingers to my mouth and suck them clean of her juices.

Her luminous eyes stare up at me in awe and in that one innocent look my lust-dazed fog clears.

Son of a bitch.

I grab the sheet and scrub my face. "You need to leave now and you can take all that damn infatuation you have with me and lose it. I'm not a man looking for some puppy love romance," I snarl.

"Aron." Seeing confusion and hurt splash across her face makes me feel like a real ass, but I don't want five years to pass and she looks back at this moment and blames me for her poor decisions.

Better to stop it now.

I clench my teeth and force out my next words. "You're too young to know what you need. But we both know it sure as shit isn't me. No go and for fucks sake stay the hell away from me."

I climb off the bed and toss the robe on the mattress.

It's a damn crime to look on as tears swim in those pretty eyes filled with passion only seconds ago.

I cross the few feet between us and bring my hands down on her shoulders. "Leave and forget about me, Willow. I'm begging you. Find someone your own damn age. If you care at all for your future and your family's peace of mind, never put yourself in my way again." My voice is calm and in total contrast to the raging storm churning inside me. "Because next time I won't care. I'll take what I want and the consequences be fucking damned."

Fiery eyes blaze up at me and at first, I'm not entirely certain she heard what I said.

"Go to hell, Aron!" Despite her tears, her voice is strong and steady.

Well, that answered that.

"I know what you're trying to do. But it didn't work. You didn't make me afraid of you. Or want you any less." She tugs at the sides of the robe, locking away her beauty. Her chest shudders with heavy breaths. When she looks at me again, fury and rage replace every ounce of passion once flushing those cheeks a pretty red.

"But you'll get your wish. I'll never bother you again. You see, I'm old enough to know what I want, and I want you. You don't believe me. You think it's only puppy love or infatuation, well, that's not my problem now is it. But don't worry you'll never see me again, because I hate you, Aron. Now and forever."

Tears stream down her face as she turns and flees the room.

And that was the last time I saw Willow Pierce, the woman who'd somehow stolen my heart and soul with her heartbroken, tear-stained face and scathing promise.

Until tonight.