for me.
“I love you.”
A tear slipped from her eye, rolling into the mass of curls spread around her head like a halo.
“I love you, Ian.” She grasped my neck, bowing her back. “Love me now.”
I covered her mouth with mine and began to move. I rocked with her, our bodies moving as if they had done this dance a thousand times. We surged and ebbed as my thrusts intensified. I was lost in a vortex of sensation. Her soft skin, the clutch of her around me, her hot breaths drifting over my skin. My name being gasped in her throaty voice, the feel of her legs around me. Pulling me closer. She cried out as her body spasmed in bliss. I sped up, my orgasm barreling down on me. I clasped her tight, all reason leaving me as I gave in to the pleasure, moaning her name and coming endlessly.
Until I was spent. Until I collapsed on her chest, floating and mindless.
She nuzzled my head. I attempted to move, my body not cooperating.
“Stay,” she pleaded. “I need to feel you for a few moments.”
I managed to lift my head. “I never want to leave.”
She ran her hand through my hair, a smile that took my breath away lighting her face.
“Then don’t.”
Six months later
I slipped into the apartment, trying to be quiet. One of my fellow doctors had been called away on a family emergency, so I’d worked a double shift to cover him. It was almost five in the morning, and I knew my girls would be asleep, although Chloe would wake up in the next couple of hours.
I rounded the corner and stopped with a grin. Sam was asleep on the sofa, her laptop open, a cup of cold tea sitting beside her. I knew she was against a deadline and had no doubt taken advantage of the fact that I was occupied to finish the manuscript she was working on.
I looked around the room, still amazed this was my life now. Once I had made love with her, I knew I was never letting Sam go. Her gentle personality, her caring ways, her laugh, her smile, the way she mothered Chloe—everything about her drew me in. And I adored Chloe. The two of us were buddies and, along with Stitch, had many adventures in the park, the pool downstairs, and the playground.
I had even nursed Chloe through a bad case of the flu, calling in favors to cover my shifts at the hospital. Worry I’d never comprehended before hounded me as I fought to bring down her fever and stop her nausea. She wasn’t just a patient, and I wasn’t just a doctor. When the fever broke and she fell into a restful sleep, I had almost broken down, finally understanding what a parent experienced bringing their child into the hospital. It made me a better doctor. I had always been compassionate, but now it was tempered with empathy. It was a great lesson to learn.
While Chloe recovered, I stayed close. As I sat on the sofa with her one day, she looked up at me, her dark eyes pleading.
“You stay here with us, okay?”
I grappled to find the right words, looking to Sam to help me out. She surprised me when she smiled. “Mommy and Ian will talk about that, okay, Chloe?”
“Okay.” Chloe patted my hand. “I like it when you’re here. It makes me and Stitch happy.”
So did I. After a brief discussion with Sam, I began spending more time with them and staying over, allowing Chloe to get used to having me around. When a three-bedroom place opened up in the same building, Sam had slipped the listing in front of me, looking nervous. I had kissed her long and hard, then called the manager. There was no discussion needed. My girls were it for me, and I was ready. We moved in together the following month, and my life became a dizzy calendar of all things Chloe, Sam, and me.
I kneeled in front of Sam and gazed at her. I had some news to share with her, and I wanted to tell her before Chloe woke up. I slipped her laptop onto the table and leaned forward, nuzzling her mouth. I felt her smile as she woke, her lips moving with mine effortlessly.
“You’re home.”
“I am.”
She cupped my face. “You must be so tired.”
“I grabbed a nap. I see you’ve been working too.”
“Yeah, I finished the manuscript and sent it back.”
I quirked my eyebrows. “A