STORY EXCERPT

Paris Cottrell moved against the hallway wall with one of her boyfriends, Mick Ryder, as two EMTs rushed in with a five-year-old child on a stretcher, whose blonde curls were drenched in blood.

Mick’s brother, her other boyfriend, was the on-call resident in the ER. “What do we have?”

One of the EMTs said, “The child was in her mother’s car when a drunk driver ran a red light and hit them in the side.”

Having been an RN for the past year, Paris knew how critical this situation was.

Before Dustin could act to save the girl, a crazed man with a gun bolted in through the Ambulance-only doors and grabbed Paris, placing the barrel to her temple.

She saw Dustin and Mick turn their attention away from the child to the deranged man. Her heart skipped several beats. She’d already been in a few tough spots in her single year nursing career, but this one topped them all.

“Nobody move a muscle.” Sweating profusely, the addict’s skeletal frame shook from obvious withdrawal, but his hold on her didn’t falter and the gun remained pressed to her head.

Assessing the horrible circumstance, she forced her mind to calm down. What can I do? The little girl needs attention now.

“Relax, buddy,” Mick said, trying to diffuse the situation and clearly looking for an opportunity to pull her free of the gunman.

“You fucking relax, cowboy.” His arms were covered in needle marks, both old and fresh. “Oxycontin. I want all you have.” The man coughed several times, but kept his hold on her firm. “Now. Or this bitch will hit the floor. Do you fucking hear me?”

Even though terrified, being a nurse, Paris knew every second that passed jeopardized the chance of the child’s survival. “Dustin, the girl.”

The drug addict screamed. “Shut up, bitch.”

She heard the doors’ locking mechanisms engage. The hospital’s security had to be aware of what was happening to them, and was likely already in motion implementing the procedures for this kind of event.

She tried to wiggle free, her stare remaining fixed on the blonde girl’s ragged dress. Any moment, there should be a team of armed men arriving. But time wasn’t on the poor child’s side. “Please, Dustin. Help her. Please.”

He didn’t respond. When she looked into his gray eyes, she saw his familiar determination mingled with a rage that rarely came to the surface in him.

Dustin’s kept his tone low and nonthreatening. “You want Oxycontin. Put the gun down. I’ll get you all you want.”

“Fuck you, Doc. I’ll give you to the count of ten to produce what I want. If you fail, this bitch’s brains will splatter the walls of your precious hospital. One. Two. Three. Four.”

“Don’t do this, mister. There’s another way.” Paris realized the little girl’s breaths were getting shallower.

“Five. Six. Seven. Eight.”

She balled up her hand into a fist and slammed it into the man’s groin while stomping her stiletto as hard as she could onto his shoe.

The guy doubled over, his hold on her loosening.

She twisted free of the creep.

Mick and Dustin slammed the bastard to the floor.

She rushed to the little girl’s side, whose pulse was ragged. She turned to the two EMTs. “Let’s get her away from here and into ER.”

They nodded and wheeled the little girl through the double doors with her following.

Even though she could hear the fight continuing behind her, all her attention was on the child. Pulling from all her nursing experience and her pre-med classes, she began working on the tiny patient.

The EMTs assisted her.

She heard a gunshot and felt her heart skip several beats. She prayed that Dustin and Mick hadn’t been hit, but couldn’t look to see. All her focus had to be on the little girl. This was where she was needed most. She and the two EMTs worked frantically on their patient.

After several heart-wrenching moments, one of the EMTs turned to her. “Doctor, her blood pressure is back to normal.”

“You did it,” the other one said with a smile. “She’s stable now.”

“We did it. And I’m not a doctor.” Though I’ve been accepted to the University of Nevada’s medical school. “I am an RN.”

“But you should be a doctor.” Dustin entered the ER with Mick, pushing a stretcher with the addict, who was now in restraints, into the space. “Are you okay, Paris?”

She nodded. “Just a little shaken. And how about you and Mick? Are you guys okay?”

“We’re fine.” Mick’s green eyes were wide with relief. He put his arm around her. “You’re shaking, honey.”

“I didn’t realize it until now, but I’ll be okay.”

A security guard rushed in, addressing Dustin. “Way to take down that guy, Doc. We caught it all on the cameras. The police are on their way, doctor.”

“Where is everyone else, Sal?”

“We cleared the area the second we spotted the gunman enter the hospital. Protocol, you know.”

“Get them back here as soon as possible.” Dustin frowned. “We’ve got a mess on our hands.”

Paris could hear sirens approaching. “Sounds like more is coming, too.”

Sal nodded, grabbing his walkie-talkie. “All secure in ER. Please send the staff back. Who are these two, Doc?” He pointed to her and Mick.

“My brother, Mick. And this is Paris Cottrell, a brilliant woman. She’s an RN who helped out with our little patient during this crisis.”

Hearing Dustin refer to her that way filled her with pride.

ADULT EXCERPT

“Mick, please. Let’s don’t think about tomorrow.”

He smiled and crawled in next to her. “The best thing to happen is to get you to stop thinking, baby. That brilliant mind of yours is spinning like crazy. I plan on helping you with that.” He pressed his lips to hers, sending his tongue into her willing mouth.

She closed her eyes, enjoying the taste of his lips. Dizzy with heat, she kissed him back, sending her arms around his neck. The intensity of her desire, which had been buried for so long, flooded out of her. He moved on top of her, his weight pinning her down. She wrapped her legs around his muscled frame, and though still fully clothed, felt her pussy get wet and her clit begin to tingle.

“I love you, Paris.” He kissed her neck, sending shivers up and down her spine. “I’ve never stopped loving you. I will never stop loving you. Never. You’re mine.”

“I love you, too. I love you so very much.”

He cupped her breasts through her top and began kneading them gently. Her nipples began to ache. She could feel them scraping against the fabric of her bra.

More kissing. Intense. Powerful. Demanding.

Her lips throbbed and swelled against his. Her pulled her top over her head and unclasped her bra. When her breasts were free of any constriction, Mick bent down and licked her nipples, making her get even wetter. His hands wandered up and down her sides, over her abdomen, and around her breasts as he began sucking on her breasts.

Her breathing became ragged and shallow. His caresses with his fingers and lips seemed to take every one of her breaths away.

He captured her one of her nipples between his teeth, delivering a little sting that reminded her he was a Dom. It evoked a hot shiver that shot all the way down to her clit.

With trembling hands, she began unbuttoning his shirt. How long had it been since she’d been intimate with him? Five years. Five long years.

Now that she was crazed in his arms, she couldn’t wait to feel his rock-solid chest. “It’s been so long since I’ve touched you.”

He smiled, rolled to his side, and pulled his shirt off. “Touch me, baby.”

She ran her fingertips over his pecs and down his ripped abdomen. “My God, you’re even more muscled than before.”

He nuzzled her neck. “Ranching does that to a man. I want to see more of your gorgeous body, too, sweetheart.” He removed the remainder of her clothes.

When he pulled her jeans off, leaving her in only her panties, she felt a sudden flush of heat roll through her. She hadn’t been naked in front of him in a long time. Hell, she hadn’t been naked in front of anyone.

As his gaze went up and down her body, she felt a little tremble inside her. “My God, Paris. You’re even more beautiful than before.”

She grinned. “You’re just saying that. How in the world would you remember what I looked like?”

“I could never forget anything about you. Your body is perfection.” He bent over her, and his hot breath skated over her skin. “You’re everything that I’ve ever needed or wanted.” His lips moved down her stomach, and the fire inside her grew.

When his mouth touched her pussy, the blaze became an inferno.

She reached between his legs and felt his massive cock through his jeans. Using her other hand, she unbuttoned the top button of his 501s. The long wait was over.

Mick’s tongue circled her clit but never touched, which drove her insane. He fingered her damp pussy until she was writhing on the bed.

When she unbuttoned the last of his Levi’s buttons, she pulled down his briefs and wrapped her fingers around his thick shaft. She pumped on his dick as he continued licking her into a frenzy of need. Her heartbeats came faster and faster as did her breaths.

“That feels so good. Oh God, Mickey.”

“You haven’t called me that in a very long time, sweetheart. I love it when you do.”

He raked his tongue over her swollen folds and then captured her clit between his lips, applying the perfect pressure that sent her over the edge. The orgasm erupted and she felt a flood of sensations, electric and hot, rush through her. Her entire body shook as he parted her pussy’s lips with his fingers and sent two of them into her channel.

Sliding her fingers up and down his cock, she touched its tip and felt a pearly drop. “I want to taste you, too, Mickey.”

He pulled his jeans all the way off and tossed them to the floor. Then he swung around on the mattress until they were in the perfect sixty-nine position. “I need to kiss you more, sweetheart.”

She gazed as his cock, which was right in front of her. So very hard. Ten inches. She cupped his heavy balls and squeezed softly.

He growled his approval. “Yes, baby. That’s it. Just right.”