“If that’s it, I’d say you’re doing pretty well.”
Dinner progressed with ease, and as it was ending, I realized I had never followed up with her about what was happening with work and days off.
“Shit, Audra, I can’t believe I forgot to ask, are you clear to take the days off work?”
She rolled her eyes and shrugged her shoulders, “Yes, and No. They weren’t happy with me, but I reminded them I pick up shifts all the time for repeat day-of no-shows. I also confided in our charge nurse about the stalking situation. She already knew about the bricks because cops are in and out of the ER so much, and small-town gossip spreads. So did I get a full blessing and pat on the ass to have a good time? No. But will I have a job when I get back? Yes.” She got up and grabbed our plates to take them to the sink, and I followed with the remaining food and dishes.
“That’s good news.” I was glad the trip wouldn’t put her in a bad spot..
“Yeah…” her voice trailed off as she yawned, even though it sounded like she was going to say more. “So, I need to head to bed soon. What’s our plan?”
I assumed it was an obvious answer, but apparently not. “You’re welcome to set up shop wherever you want. Guest room, my room, butterfly garden, gym, couch. Anywhere.”
Since I was so close to her, she playfully hit my chest. “You know what I mean.”
“Well, I don’t know. Are you going to set rules out and then try to make me break them?” My mouth curled up into something between a smile and a dare.
Her cheeks flushed up immediately. “Alright, I deserved that. I just lost control. Something that seems to be happening quite a bit with you, Sir Donovan?” She gasped and pulled her hand up over her mouth to cover it.
“What did you just say?” My brows furrowed in confusion, as I’m sure I had a weird smile on my face. “Did you just call meSirDonovan?”
She stuttered and tipped her head to the ceiling while her hand was still covering her mouth.
“What is that about?”
She returned her eyes to mine and took her hand off her mouth as her head shook no.
“Please go on,” I pushed, amused by the revelation.
“You can’t kill me, or let Maeve know I spilled the beans.”
“Okay,” I agreed, genuinely confused by this.
“Oof,” she shook her head, with a nervous laugh. “It’s … it’s what we call you. You’re so proper. Or always came across as so proper. Now I know you’re not always that way.” Heat flashed on her face for a moment. “It’s just … Ugh. I’m sorry. I mean, it rolls off the tongue nicely. It was just something we all started calling you as a joke, and it stuck. You can’t deny it sounds good, and you’re kind of like royalty, ya know?”
“Not in the least. You’re the one with the last name King,” I countered. For a second, I got nervous they had looked at mypast, and that’s why she was referring to me as royalty, but that didn’t seem to be the case.
“It’s not an insult. It just kind of happened with the girls one night.”
“So you’re telling me you’ve been discussing me?” Her face flushed red. “Any other nicknames you have for me?”
“No. Are you going to keep calling me Chaos?”
“Absolutely.” I reached out to pull her into me, and she came willingly. “So, are you coming into the cloud bed tonight?” I looked down at her. Even if I had to keep myself in check, I enjoyed having her closeness, warmth, and sweet scent next to me.
“Just a sleep?” she smiled up at me.
I took the opportunity to bend down and lightly graze her lips with mine. Mostly because I couldn’t stop myself. “Just a sleep, Chaos.” Keeping my lips right in front of hers, I could feel her breath.
“And maybe just a kiss,” she whispered. With that, she closed the millimeters between us and kissed me hard. She sought entrance into my mouth, and I gladly opened up to dance in a rhythm that was equal parts question and promise. God, there weren’t words to describe this, I was addicted. She pulled away, and I didn’t miss how blown her pupils were. I wasn’t sure when we were going to take the next step, but if kissing her felt like this, I couldn’t even imagine what being buried inside of this woman was going to feel like.
We had to be up at 4:45 a.m. to make it to the airfield by 6 a.m., so we needed to get some rest. But she was firing off rapid questions about New York, too excited to calm down. When I finally shooed her to the bathroom to get ready, I checked a couple of work emails while I waited my turn. The click of thedoor opening brought my eyes up, but when I saw her, I almost choked. She had thin, tiny, sleep shorts on and some kind of tank top thing that did nothing to hide her amazing tits. I shamelessly raked my eyes over every curve, and despite my pep talk, my mind wandered off track real fucking quick. If I liked looking at her in my baggy clothes, this was a million times better. Audra King was a work of art. I went into my closet, trying to will my erection away, and pulled my shirt off, leaving just my black athletic shorts on.
The moment I climbed into bed, she rolled toward me waiting for my arm to go around her, and, God, it was satisfying. We continued our conversion about New York for a bit, and as we quietly chatted, I stroked her hair and her back mindlessly.
“Donovan, can I ask you about something that’s been bugging me?” My hand stopped at the abrupt question. “The other day, when we were at my house after the brick incident, you said you were sorry for causing this. What did you mean?”
“You said that you’ve dated and hooked up with other people, and there was nothing from him. But as soon as we started talking, he seemed to have snapped. I guess I’m feeling guilty that I’m the one to bring this on,” I admitted.
