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“I know, baby. I know. I’m sorry.” He continued to kiss me, then he rocked his hips and the pleasure started again. “Ride it out. I’ll take care of you, honey. I swear it.”
With those words, I rocked my hips, moving with him to put the friction on my clit that I desperately needed. A few seconds later, one last explosive orgasm rushed through me. I screamed, gripping Atticus as tightly as I could until the wave passed.
When it did, I finally ran out of energy and a lazy, exhausted lethargy settled over me. Atticus let go of my hands and rolled us over so that he was on his back with me draped over his side. He kept saying soothing things, but my brain had shut down along with my body.
As Atticus continued to whisper to me, I started to drift. For the first time in longer than I could remember, I welcomed sleep, knowing that as long as I was with Atticus Benedict, I was safe. No one could hurt me. No one could force me to do anything I didn’t want to. I thought Atticus was saying something similar to me, reaffirming my own thoughts.
I knew there would be hell to pay later with Ettore and Marco, but right now I was with Atticus. His voice was so soothing, his body warm and wrapped around me like a protective cocoon. I took one last, deep breath before surrendering to sleep and the embrace of Atticus Benedict.
* * *
Bullet
My balls fucking ached. I’d fallen asleep with the most passionate, beautiful woman I’d ever met. I’d pleasured her until she’d begged me to fuck her and I had held back as much as I could. I’d promised her from the beginning I wouldn’t fuck her and I hadn’t. She’d thrown one over on me when she’d kissed me the second we’d walked into the house, though. I went a lot further than I’d intended to, but I’d done my level best to pleasure her as much as I was capable.
As I slowly came awake, becoming aware of more than just my blue balls and morning wood, I realized I no longer had a warm woman in my arms.
I reached over to the other side of the bed. The pillow and sheets were cool and I groaned. CeCe had been gone for a while.
“Fuck.” I lay back with a thud, beating myself up for being all kinds of stupid. I’d likely scared her off. I’d known I needed to go gently with her, to help her realize I didn’t bring her here for the use of her body.
The first rays of sunlight pierced through the curtains, casting a warm glow that failed to chase away the chill creeping into my heart.
“CeCe?” I called out, my voice thick with sleep and worry, as I sat up in bed. The echoes of our passionate night still clung to my skin, but the absence of her presence made it all feel like some cruel fantasy.
Silence greeted me, its mocking whispers tightening around my chest like a steel band. A cold sweat broke out on my forehead as I threw off the sheets and stumbled out of bed, a heavy dread sitting in the pit of my stomach.
“Damn it,” I muttered, pulling on my jeans and scanning the room for any signs of her departure. “She’s done a fuckin’ Houdini.”
I moved through the house, my heart pounding in my ears, hoping against hope that she’d simply wandered off to explore or take in the ocean view. But as I flung open the front door, the bitter taste of disappointment settled on my tongue. She was gone, vanished without a trace, leaving nothing behind but the ghost of her touch.
“Son of a bitch,” I growled, slamming my fist against the doorframe. Pain jarred up my arm, but I welcomed it. “You really did a fuckin’ number on me, didn’t you, little CeCe?”
More than my desire for her, a stronger need to keep her safe rose to the fore and threatened to consume me. Everything in me wanted to go hunting.
But I couldn’t. I knew I couldn’t keep a kitten who didn’t want to be kept. I’d see her again. When I did, we’d get a few things fucking straight.
Like how she was never in the fuck going back to Ettore Alfonso, even if it meant I had to raze the entire Italian mafia on the lower Eastern seaboard.
Chapter Five
Bullet
Mrs. Singleton was supposed to be released today if they got her pump ready and she was comfortable using it. I had made it my personal mission today to do what I had to in order for the elderly woman to be comfortable with her treatment. She deserved to have the best care I could give her, but my attention to Mrs. Singleton wasn’t purely selfless. I was trying to distract myself from the fact that I hadn’t seen CeCe in seven days.
I worked seven on, seven off. The night I’d spent with CeCe had been the end of my last day on shift. In the following days, I’d gone to the Goddamned café every fucking night, and no CeCe. She might have missed one or two days, but not more. Not unless she was avoiding me. While that was certainly possible, I didn’t think she’d completely ghost me. If for no other reason than she loved that fucking chocolate pie.
As I walked into the dictation room, I picked up my tablet, checking the status of Mrs. Singleton’s insulin pump. I wanted to speak with her before she left and reassure her I’d be by to check on her every day.
“You’ve only got three to sign off on, Atticus.” Dr. Mason was in his late fifties or early sixties. He was very much old school in that he liked to get to know his patients. He was one of the most intelligent clinical doctors I’d ever had the pleasure of working with. “Two will be going home. You already know Mrs. Singleton. By the way…” He grinned at me as we passed the room of the woman in question. “Thank you for convincing her to get the insulin pump. I hope you intend to follow through with your promises to her.” Yeah, the other man was calling me out, making sure I wasn’t just blowing smoke up the old woman’s ass.
“I do.” I shrugged. “I’ll have all the time in the world when I turn in my resignation.”
That caught the other man by surprise. “Atticus? Surely you’re not leaving. We need you here.”
“I can’t anymore, John. This whole place has been one fuckup after another.”
“I know they put some residents and interns under you, but it won’t be for long.”
