Chapter 3

3

HALEY

O kay Haley, keep calm. Don't make this any weirder than it already is!

Waiting in the starkly clean—if a little dated—lobby, I can't keep my pulse in check. I'm already regretting accepting a ride from my doctor, who just so happens to be the father of my annoying ex. That's already strange, but add in the fact that the doctor is wildly attractive and that I'm incredibly drawn to him. Like a moth to a tall, dark, handsome flame.

And now I'm going to be trapped in a car with him. Maybe I'll get lucky and he'll drive an enormous SUV or something. But I'm not banking on that possibility. He seems more like a sports car type of guy, anyway.

I just don't know what to do with myself. The second the doctor walked in, it was like Alex ceased to exist, and ever since, he's been so prominently on my mind that I can barely even concentrate on my illness.

Dr. Harvey—Hugh—was right in that my biggest problem was dehydration, and after that was fixed and my nausea was banished by a few pills, I almost felt like myself again. Which is great, but without the barrier of feeling like crap, my burning need to be closer to Hugh is stronger than ever. I have no excuse to ignore it anymore.

I still don't feel great, though, and I'm almost swaying on my feet from tiredness when I see Hugh exit the swinging doors leading to the back of the hospital, heading in my direction. All at once, I'm caught up in the whirlwind of my attraction to him and that weirdly magnetic pull that exists between the two of us. Never before have I had any sort of medical fetish or the hots for a man in a lab coat, but Hugh has changed everything for me. Except…I don't think I feel that way about any other doctor type, just him.

When he accidentally grazed my nipple while listening to my heart, I thought I might go nuclear right then and there, exploding into a cloud of white light. I have never, never felt a raw need like that. Up until that second, desire had been a foreign concept to me. Not anymore, though.

And now it's back, watching him stalk towards me like he's on a mission, long legs and stride giving him a powerful, unshakeable air. Just looking at Hugh makes me feel safe and protected, which is ridiculous. I've just met him, and he's my doctor!

Ugh. I really need to get myself under control.

"Haley," he rumbles. "Ready to go?"

I nod, fingers crinkling the paper prescription bag nervously. "Yup. Ready."

His mouth quirks up at one corner as he leads me out of the revolving door and into the dark parking lot. "Do you always regress to single-word sentences when you're nervous?"

"No," I insist, mildly offended that he picked up on that so quickly. When I realize that I'm proving his point, I quickly add, "I'm not nervous, anyway. Just sick, remember?"

"Hmm." Hugh fishes a set of keys from his coat pocket, hitting a button and making the lights on a jet-black Land Rover flash. "Whatever you say, Haley."

My embarrassment is somewhat lessened seeing that he really is driving a bigger car, so I won't be basically thigh-to-thigh with the giant man. I take advantage of our silence to look him over again, feeling the flutters of a crush coming to life inside me. He's just so large and broad, and I can't stop imagining what it would be like to be held against that hard chest. The whiffs of his cologne I had gotten back in the treatment room, warm amber spice, had almost made my eyes roll back into my head in pleasure. God, everything about him is making me lose my marbles. The sooner I get home, the better.

Hugh is silent on the car ride back to my apartment, and I fill the time by listing all the reasons I can't be into this man. Number one, first and foremost, he's my ex-boyfriend's dad . Absolutely, wildly inappropriate…and deliciously taboo in a way I didn't know I was into. But that doesn't matter! It's still bad!

Second, he's my doctor. Something tells me that Hugh Harvey has never worried about things like rules or reputation, but that doesn't mean I should be swayed by any sort of seduction he throws my way. Not that he will…I have no proof that he's into me. Just my potentially crazy ideas.

Third, even if I don't know his exact age, I know that if he's Alex's dad, then he's probably quite a bit older than me. We're both adults, even if I'm young, but still…the age issue might not be as big of a problem as the other two points, but it doesn't exactly scream ‘appropriate partner for Haley' either.

"Haley…" Hugh fills the silence with my name. "We're here."

Surprised, I look out the tinted window and see that we really are at my apartment already. A part of me is disappointed, but a bigger part of me is so tired that my head is spinning with relief at being just a few dozen feet from my bed.

I open the car door handle, murmuring thanks, only to find that, as soon as my feet hit the pavement, my head isn't spinning from relief. I'm honest to God dizzy and about to hit the ground…

Hugh is there faster than I could have anticipated and is already tucking me back into the Land Rover, concern making his jaw tight. "Why didn't you tell me you were still feeling faint?"

"I guess I didn't notice…" I can feel my eyelids fluttering, but I'm confused by the fact that he's climbing back into the driver's seat. "Where are we going? Can't you just help me inside?"

"No. I need to keep an eye on you. Which means that you're coming home with me." Hugh's tone leaves no room for argument. But I try anyway.

"I really don't think that's okay!" I protest weakly.

"What kind of man would I be if I left you alone, sick and on the verge of unconsciousness?" He jerks his head to the side in a gesture of denial. "Absolutely not. You're staying with me tonight. You can thank your stubbornness for not speaking up while we were still at the hospital for that."

"But I felt fine at the hospital." The complaints don't stop because I really don't think I should be going to my ex-boyfriend's doctor dad's house! All sorts of alarm bells are going off in my head, but underneath it all is a sense of comfort knowing I won't be alone.

Hugh gives me the impression that no one tells him no and that he's not going to start with me. This is his world, and I'm just living in it. For better or worse.

"Just relax," I hear him tell me as I close my eyes and rest my head on the leather seat. "Let me take care of you."

"Okay…" is all l can muster before the spinning feeling comes back. "But I'm going back home as soon as possible."

His chuckle has a dark edge to it. "Sure you are, sweetheart. Sure you are."

Hugh's house is on the outskirts of town, a deceptively reasonably sized ranch, that looks like any other in the dark. The view of the beautiful Washington vistas must be amazing during the day since the house is a ways off the beaten path, but as he pulls the Rover into the driveway, all I can see is the stars above.

The luxury of the house becomes apparent as soon as we head up the walkway. And when I say we, I mean Hugh, who has insisted on carrying me bridal style into the house. It should be humiliating, but instead, it gives me a thrill to be held so close to him. Hugh is warm, smells incredible, and there isn't a single doubt in my mind that he could carry me for miles if he wanted to.

As soon as we're close to the home, all of the motion sensor lights come on, illuminating a modern cream and dark brown wooden exterior and perfectly manicured front gardens. Something tells me that Hugh isn't into flowers, but he spares no expense to have someone else keeping his front yard looking flawless.

He holds his phone up to the smart lock and it clicks open, the inside of the house lighting up just like the outside once we take a single step inside. Since it's evening, the lights that kick on are a warm, dim yellow. Just enough for me to see that his style is just as modern and clean as the outside of the building led me to believe. There aren't many personal touches, the sign of a man that hasn't really settled in. It makes my chest ache to think that Hugh doesn't feel at home in this beautiful house or that he's living all alone.

"Can you walk?" he rumbles, and I feel the words in his chest. "I want to get some things ready for you."

"Yes," I tell him, even though I'm not positive. Hugh carries me to a stool in front of the open kitchen breakfast bar and deposits me on it, telling me to wait for him and not move. I watch as he leaves for the back of the house, shrugging his coat off and hanging it by the door, followed by the stethoscope around his neck.

It doesn't take him long to return, pulling a bottle of water out of the refrigerator for me and insisting I drink as he leads me to the guest room. As soon as he opens the door, I can smell lavender in the air.

"I ran you a bath," Hugh explains. "Hospitals leave everyone feeling grimy from my experience."

"Ha. Well, thank you," I stumble over my words, taking in the luxurious bedroom and attached en suite bathroom. "You have a beautiful home, by the way."

I can feel Hugh behind me, the heat rolling off his body as his hands land on my shoulders. "I didn't think so until about ten minutes ago,"

Gulping, I turn, seeing the way his head is tilted down toward me. There's still the haze of dizziness over me, and it makes me stumble the tiniest bit. Hugh immediately frowns, making me sit on the edge of the bed, and returns with a huge bottle of an electrolyte sports drink.

"Drink this, take your bath, and try to get some rest," he tells me, still standing much too close for someone that is supposed to be strictly professional. "You're fine to take another nausea pill before bed. It will help you sleep, too."

He looks conflicted, like he doesn't want to leave, contenting himself with tucking a piece of my hair behind my ear and letting his fingers linger. "Give me your phone number, sweetheart, and I'll be a call away if you need me." I do as he asks, and Hugh finally forces himself to leave me, even if a part of me doesn't want him to go. "Goodnight, sweetheart."

"Goodnight," I whisper as the door shuts, leaving me in this opulent bedroom in an almost stranger's house. A stranger that feels so familiar it's ridiculous.

The warm bath is calling me, and I'm eager to wash off the fever sweat. I grab my sports drink, kick off my shoes, and walk barefoot to the bathroom. After undressing and before I slip into the water, I check my phone—sixteen messages from Alex and one from Hugh.

I delete Alex's and open Hugh's, which reads, Remember, just a phone call away. For anything.

Anything, huh? It might make me crazy, but I believe him. I really do.

Morning comes and goes, and it's not until late afternoon that I wake up. After the first few minutes of discombobulation from not knowing where I am, I relax, settling back into the soft mattress with a sigh. I check my phone, realizing I have work in a few hours, and lay my hands over my stomach, expecting it to protest my wakefulness at any moment.

Except…it doesn't. I feel good. Great, actually. Well rested, clean, and starving.

That's when the smell of coffee and bacon hit me. I am out of bed before I know it, moving like a zombie to grab the robe Hugh had left on the bathroom counter for me last night, along with a brand-new toothbrush.

I brush my teeth and hair, tying the robe over the t-shirt that had been waiting on the bed for me after my bath. I feel a rush of heat knowing that Hugh was in my room while I was stark naked in the bath just a door away, but I was thankful for the clean shirt to sleep in. He's so much taller than me that it falls to my thighs, but I'm thankful the robe is also there for extra coverage.

The inside of the house is even more beautiful than it was in the daylight, everything clean and obviously expensive. I find Hugh in the kitchen, in just a pair of silky black sleep pants, cooking bacon on the glass-top stove. My mouth is watering, and less for breakfast and more for the expanse of tan skin that the cook is displaying for me right now. I'm standing here as if I've been stunned, and if I wasn't staring at his naked chest, I would have seen Hugh's mouth quirk up in a smirk.

"Hungry?" he asks playfully.

The words, "God, yes" almost spill from my mouth before I can stop them, but I manage to get myself under control at the last second. Instead, I just bite my bottom lip and nod, forcing my gaze to his face instead. It doesn't help me much. He's so handsome that it threatens to take my breath away. In the afternoon sun pouring through the kitchen windows, I can clearly see the heavy shadow of stubble on his jaw and his slightly mussed sleep hair.

"Well, I hope you have an appetite, sweetheart, because I risked my skin cooking this bacon for you." He rubs his chest as he pulls the meat from the pan with his other hand. "It's been a while since I've made it, and I forgot that a shirt is usually recommended."

Giggling, I slide onto the breakfast bar stool and let him set the plate in front of me. He's made eggs and bacon and pours me a full mug of coffee, adding in the obscene amount of milk and sugar that I request.

"I realize it's a little heavy for someone getting over a stomach virus, but something tells me you haven't eaten much in the last few days. If it's too much, I can make you some toast."

I already have half a strip of bacon in my mouth when he says this, and I shake my head before swallowing. "No, you're right. I'm really hungry."

Hugh drags his eyes over my body, eyelids lowering. "Me too."

Gulping, I cover the flush of my cheeks by taking a long drink of the sweetened coffee, watching out of the corner of my eye as he makes his own plate and eats it standing up. Hugh leans against the counter, looking so different from the clean-cut doctor from last night that it's jarring. He's packed with muscle, and there's a patch of dark chest hair that thins out and leads down his ripped stomach before disappearing beneath his pants.

"Thank you for letting me stay last night," I say softly once I'm finished eating, letting Hugh take the plate and place it in the sink before I can even consider standing and doing it for myself. "I don't think any other doctor would have been so caring, especially for someone he was treating for free."

Hugh drags a hand through his short, dark hair. "I'm not your doctor anymore, Haley. That part of our relationship is done and over with."

His words strike me like a bolt of lightning. "...relationship?"

"Haley…" Hugh's voice deepens. "Do I really have to say it out loud?" He leans on the marble counter across from me, the muscles of his arms bulging. "I want you."

Heat rushes from the top of my head to my toes. "You do?"

"Yes. And you want me too, don't you?"

I can't breathe. The air in here is so thin all of a sudden. I form a denial, but when my lips shape the words, they betray me. "Y-yes."

His smile isn't playful anymore. It's predatory, his white teeth bright against his bronze skin. "Such a brave girl for admitting it. You surprise me, Haley." Now Hugh is stalking around the counter towards me. "I like a woman that can surprise me. It's very, very rare."

I freeze when he puts a finger under my chin and tilts it up so I'm looking at him, our faces dangerously close together. I have a million responses in my head, but they all die a quick death when he lowers his mouth to mine in the softest brush of lips.

I suck in a shocked breath but, for some reason, don't pull away. I feel his nose brush against mine when he says, "Do you want to know how you surprise me, Haley?"

I nod, dazed.

"Because through all of this, you haven't been too frightened to continue, not once. And that's why you aren't pulling away from me now, isn't it? All that bravery."

Now Hugh kisses me in full, changing from a single finger to gripping my jaw, turning my face in just the right way to make sure he has the best access possible to me. Everything I see and hear just becomes static, all of my senses zeroing in on the feeling of Hugh's kiss and how it makes my stomach clench and my heart race.

A part of me knows I shouldn't be doing this, but that just makes me want to even more. Hugh is demanding without being overbearing, tightening his grip when I don't open my lips fast enough for him so his tongue can sweep in. I'm hesitant, but he teases me until I respond, giving in to the recklessness that he clearly wants from me. Wrapping my arms around his neck, I let Hugh pull me closer to him. All the while, his mouth never leaves mine, our kiss a battle of teeth and tongues.

Forgetting myself, and the fact that I'm not wearing panties under the overly-long shirt he had given me to sleep in, I link my legs around his waist as he pushes against me. Immediately, I feel totally bare against his silk sleep pants and the obvious erection beneath them, but Hugh doesn't let me pull away when the shock of it hits.

"Don't run," he murmurs against my mouth. "Don't run, Haley. You know you want this too."

That's the crazy thing. I do want it! This primal need that is building inside me is so totally foreign that I don't know what else to do but chase it. Every time he speaks to me in that deep voice or drags his lips over mine, it just gets harder to ignore. I want him, in ways that I've never wanted anything. It makes me feel like I'm burning inside, desperate for more touch, more contact, and I feel so empty.

Mindlessly, I let out a whimper or agreement and Hugh rewards me by grinding against my bare core, pants so thin I can feel the very shape of him. The low-key burning inside of me becomes an inferno, and this time, it's me who deepens the kiss, desperate for all the connection I can get. There's a little voice in the back of my head screaming that it's too much, too fast, but it's very, very small. Drowning it out is the part of me that's starving for Hugh and the way his mouth is drifting from my lips, down my jaw, and to the sensitive skin of my neck.

"I like smelling my soap on you," he says against my skin, "and seeing you in my home. Imagining you sleeping just a room away last night had me losing my mind."

He punctuates the end of his sentence by grinding against me again, and a moan falls out of my mouth, unbidden. Resisting him is impossible. Not that I'd want to. I'm all too curious about the steel bar between his legs, even if a part of me is also terrified by the idea of it.

I've got my head thrown back when he reaches my collarbone with his mouth, tongue running along the hollow of it before moving lower to my chest proper. My nipples go hard in an instant, clearly visible against the thin t-shirt fabric, and Hugh notices. I'm only keeping my balance with my arms around his neck, and I can't lean back far enough for his taste, so he lifts me with his hands around my waist without warning. I yelp, surprised, but before I can process what's happening he's sat me on the marble countertop, and I'm steady.

Pleased, Hugh smirks, stepping back a few steps so he can get a good look at me. Reluctantly, I release him from the cage of my legs, but then it occurs to me that I'm still not wearing any panties, and I'm suddenly bare to him with my legs spread. I go to snap my knees together, embarrassed, but he growls and grabs each one of them in his huge hands, rasping, "No. Don't hide. I want to see you."

The good doctor doesn't rush but looks me over for at least two entire minutes until I'm shifting on the counter under his gaze. Finally, he lets out a low, dark laugh, "God, you are so unbelievably fucking sexy wearing my shirt, robe, and nothing else. Like you're all mine."

I am. I'm yours. I think frantically, my thoughts a jumbled mess. I want fewer of these minutes apart because they're leaving me room to think. And I don't want to think. I just want to feel.

The logical part of my brain snarks, You don't want to think about your ex's dad looking at your naked pussy? I wonder why?

I push the thought far away, but it leaves a crack in my resolve. If he doesn't hurry up and touch me again…

I shouldn't have even worried. Hugh surges forward to claim my mouth in a kiss again that's almost punishing in its intensity. All of those opposing thoughts wink out of existence and need takes their place. I've got my hands in his hair, my back arched to press my chest against him, but when I try to lock my legs around Hugh again, I find that he's still holding my knees.

It makes my stomach drop and warmth boil up inside of me. Why won't he let me go? I want to feel all of his body against all of mine. Then, an idea so salacious creeps in—he's keeping me open for him because he wants a closer look.

Maybe even…a taste?

My own carnal thoughts have me moaning into his mouth, which makes Hugh nip my bottom lip before beginning his descent down my body with his mouth once more. He moves quicker this time, and before I know it, his mouth is closing over one of my shirt-covered nipples, hot and wet even through the fabric. I gasp, goosebumps blooming on my skin like a million little flowers. Hugh adds teeth, but only gently, and the heat in my belly begins to morph into something much more demanding.

"Lift your shirt for me," he demands, and I obey. "Good girl," Hugh praises, and I only have a moment to feel the cool kitchen air on my exposed belly and breasts before he's sucking a nipple into his mouth, nothing between my flesh and his tongue this time.

Oh. My. God. I'm going to lose my mind, it feels so good, whipping pleasure up in me like a storm. I feel his tongue and teeth on my nipples as he moves from one to the other, still holding my knees open, but the sensations are building in my core instead. Wetness flows the more he sucks and nipples, and my moans fill the high-ceilinged room.

When he starts to move away from my chest, lips tracing a line down my fluttering stomach, I instinctively know where he's headed. I should stop him.

But I don't.

I should tell him I'm a virgin before we get too far into this, but I don't want us to lose the momentum. The idea that he might put his mouth there is so hot and tempting that I can't bring myself to ruin it.

So, we exchange no words, just sounds and touches, as Hugh's mouth reaches my inner thighs and kisses an unstoppable path to the junction of them. I'm soaking at this point, shirt halfway fallen as I brace myself with my hands behind me, and I'm breathing like I've run a marathon. I can't believe this is about to happen!

Finally, finally, he kisses the seam of my pussy lips softly, almost reverently. Like he's kissing my mouth. Slowly, he adds his tongue to the mixture, parting me with slow laps. I feel like I'm liquid, no longer solid, watching his dark head between my legs and feeling the first touch of his tongue inside of me.

Hugh still holds my knees wide open, and I can't move, just sit there and be open for him. He flattens his tongue and licks me from my entrance to my clit and back again, over and over. Each time he hits my clit, I jerk, the pleasure of it a snap of sensation I'm still not prepared for. The heat that has been building low in my stomach tightens and spreads, creeping into my legs and up my chest until I feel like I'm owned by it. Soon enough, I know it will explode, and I'm not prepared for it. But I can't think, can't protest. Only feel.

When Hugh stops his exploration of my pussy and finally concentrates on my clit, my back arches and my legs start to shake. He makes circles around it with his tongue, interwoven with slow, wet kisses, and then back to circling. It's maddening, amazing, and is leading me towards a peak that is totally new.

I can feel my legs shaking, one of my hands snaking forward and burying in his hair, needing some sort of connection so badly. Now he starts to suck at my clit, his right hand drifting from my knee and towards my pussy, fingers circling my entrance as he gives me the most intense sensations of my entire life. I'm so lost in the orgasm that's rapidly approaching that I barely notice as he starts to slip the first finger inside me, but as soon as he's less than an inch in, my body clenches hard around the intrusion. Hugh doesn't stop but eases up on the sucking, which makes me want to cry. God, I'm so close!

But he's determined to have his finger in me and works it in slowly. He adds a second, which has me panting from the brand-new feelings, but the thickness of his digits is almost intimidating. I don't realize until too late that my body is going to tell him what my words haven't been able to yet—that I'm a virgin.

He hits the barrier inside me and pauses, looking up from between my legs with those brilliant eyes, lips wet from my juices. "Sweetheart…I had no idea."

"Don't stop," I beg, still shaking. "Please, it doesn't matter, I'm so close. "

Hugh thinks for a second, but then a wicked look comes into his eyes. Wicked and triumphant. "I'm going to make sure you come, Haley, but I'm also going to get you ready for when you give yourself to me fully."

"What–?" I barely have time to ask before he pushes through my barrier with his two fingers at the same time he latches onto my clit again with his lips. My mouth falls open at the quick shock of pain, body tensing, but the pleasure from his tongue is so overpowering that the pain can't last but a single breath.

I don't have time to think about what his words mean or the fact that he's clearly planning on fucking me for real in the near future. Every ounce of concentration zeroes in on his mouth sucking at my clit and his fingers slowly pumping in and out of me, curling to hit that secret pleasure spot on my inner walls that have me almost sobbing from how good it feels. The pain is a distant memory already, my hips moving of their own accord as my climax looms closer and closer.

"I'm going to… I'm–" I babble, everything condensing and then exploding inside of me like a supernova. I feel my walls clenching around his fingers, spasming as Hugh continues to lick and suck me through my orgasm. It's the most intense thing I've felt in my entire life, and I think I'm having an out-of-body experience as every muscle in me tenses and releases.

Slowly, I start to relax, the white-hot pleasure dimming to something warm and dreamy as Hugh moves from where he has been kneeling to clutch my body in his arms. He kisses my mouth, and I can taste myself on his lips.

It isn't until he comes closer, body to body, that I realize he's still as hard as stone. Feeling languid and wonderful, I move to touch him where he clearly needs it most, but his hand closes over my wrist in an unbreakable grip.

"No," Hugh insists. "This was for you, and now I think you need to rest."

My eyebrows draw together. "But–"

"No buts. No arguing. I'm running you another bath and then you're going back to bed for a few hours to recover."

I try to wiggle out of his arms. "Hugh, I'm not a child. I can make my own decisions on when I need to sleep!"

"You," he lowers his face to mine, kissing me fiercely before continuing, "are not going to argue with me. Understand? You're in my domain right now, sweetheart, and you're going to listen."

I want to argue, but on the other hand…I'm pretty tired, and giving myself over to his care has a draw I didn't expect. "Okay…okay. But I'm going home tonight."

His mouth quirks. "We'll see about that, sweet Haley."