Mysterious Gift (3 page)

Chapter Five

“Mr. Wakefield. Can I get you something?” Robin stood in the doorway, feeling like a dozen humming birds were trapped in her chest. She hadn’t been able to get the man out of her mind for the past two days. When he rang for help just now, she’d almost run over the other nurse to get to his room first.

“Yes. A bathrobe, slippers, and your strong young body ah, what’s your name?” He was grinning at her.

“Robin Guyer.” She felt a blush roll up her neck and onto her face. Damn her fair-skinned genes. She walked over, opened the closet door, and brought the articles to him. “Are you sure you’re strong enough to get out of bed, Mr. Wakefield?”

“Not yet, but I’m working on it. The doc said I could go home tomorrow if I can walk up and down the hallway by myself.”

Her heart tumbled in her chest. Too soon, too soon! She wanted to—no, had to—get to know this man better and find out if he really could help with her problem.

He put on the robe and shoved his feet in the slippers. Robin draped his arm around her shoulders and circled his broad back with her arm. He gasped.

“Are you okay? Did I hurt you?” She could hardly speak. His muscular torso was firm. When he stood, he was a good head taller than she was. He leaned heavily on her shoulders, resting. His scent was clean and masculine, and she had to bite her lip to keep from throwing him back onto the bed.

“No, I’m fine, Robin. I just got dizzy for a moment. Let’s go for a walk.”

His face was pale and his eyes glazed. He licked his lips and stared at her. She couldn’t help but wonder if he felt the same strong attraction that she did.

Brian dragged his feet at first but by the third time around the hallway, he was stronger. He hadn’t said much, and Robin couldn’t help but wonder if he had remembered his words from the emergency room and was embarrassed.

“Want to go around one more time?” She smiled up at him.

“No, I think that’s enough for now. Thank you.” He turned and started into his room, then turned again. “What time are you off duty tonight?”

“Six o’clock. Why?”

He glanced up and down the hallway. “If you can come back tonight, later, after visiting hours, I’d love to help you with your problem.” He winked, turned, and walked into his room.

Her face felt as if it were on fire. Her nipples strained against the lace of her bra. Her female essence was warm and moist. The thought of Brian Wakefield’s cock being inside of her almost made her come. That was the problem. She could usually get right to the point of orgasm then for some reason, nothing.

She went back to the nursing station to see what other chores needed to be taken care of. Right now, she had to do something to take her mind off of Brian Wakefield.

“Aren’t you the brave one?” Cerise stood by the chart rack with a scowl on her face.

“What do you mean?”

“Didn’t you hear? Oh, right, you were off work.” Cerise came closer and lowered her voice. “I went to give him a bath two days ago, and he exposed himself to me and tried to grab me.” The woman’s face was a mask of righteous indignation. She leaned even closer. Her breath smelling like coffee, she whispered in Robin’s ear. “He grabbed my crotch and tried to pull me into bed with him.”

Robin pulled back and looked at the other nurse. She had to struggle to keep a look of concern on her face. Everyone on the floor knew about Cerise and her escapades. More than once, she’d been warned to stop hitting on the handsome not-too-ill male patients. Robin knew about the lottery, too.

“Wow, are you all right? Maybe you should talk to someone, one of the psychiatrists or something.”

“No, I’m okay. Just watch yourself. That man is a sex maniac.”

I certainly hope so
. “I will. Thanks for the warning.” She went off to check on her patients while mentally thinking of a sexy outfit to wear for her late-night tryst. One thing was for sure. She wasn’t about to bother with underwear.

Chapter Six

Brian had made himself walk up and down the hallway several times during the day, being careful not to touch anyone. His headache was still there, but manageable. He felt stronger every time he moved, but his memory remained in a fog. Perhaps getting back to his condo would trigger his memories. He hoped to remember his past life before he contacted Phelps. He couldn’t wait to learn to control his psychic thoughts and visions. Walking with Robin this morning had been shear torture. The instant she’d touched him, visions, or ideas, or some damn thing had flooded his mind. He tried mentally humming a tune to block them out, and that seemed to help some.

The lawyer, Strauss, had left him an extra key for his condo and money for a cab. Generous of the old weasel, but at least he could get to his place. He’d been puzzled why no more people had shown up to identify him. He was going to ask Strauss, but he’d touched the old bastard and everything had gone out of his mind except the betrayal. He didn’t think he had family, but no friends? That seemed odd.

An orderly came for him in the late afternoon and took him to x-ray. The technician was cagy but finally admitted that it appeared the fracture had started to heal. He just had to be careful not to fall or get hit on his head again, or he’d be in real trouble.

Now that he’d been up and around, he was restless and ready to get out of the hospital. A volunteer brought his dinner, placed it on his tray, and carefully avoided touching him. Word must have gotten all over the hospital. Fine. He really didn’t want to know all the minute details of strangers’ lives. He flicked on the television and dug in. His fork stopped halfway to his mouth. A picture of his bastard lawyer popped up behind the newsreader.

“Friends and family of Nathan Strauss are puzzled as to why the successful lawyer took his own life today. Strauss opened a window in his office on the twentieth floor of the Symphony Towers Building and jumped to his death about three o’clock this afternoon. Strauss, age sixty-three, left no note.”

The phone rang. Brian jerked and spilled gravy on his pajamas. He tossed his fork on the plate and grabbed the phone on its third ring.

“Phelps, here. Just a quick word. We’ve taken care of that little problem of yours. Ticket and instructions on the dining room table of your condo. We’ll be in touch.”

Before he had a chance to reply, the dial tone buzzed in his ear. Taken care of his problem? Oh, God. They’d killed Strauss. Or made him commit suicide. The people at the institute had already gotten his money back, so why had they killed the guy? Was this the way they went around the world doing good with their psychic powers?

His stomach in knots, he pushed his mostly uneaten dinner away. He hadn’t actually committed to go to the WIAPT. They couldn’t make him go, could they? But still, he had to find a way to control his new psychic powers. Confusion clouded his mind and made his head ache.

He decided to take one more walk around the floor, get ready for bed, take a pill, and sleep. Tomorrow would be a better day.

* * * * *

The click of the lock being set on his door brought Brian awake. Faint moonlight filled his room. He heard feet shuffling and saw a dark figure moving toward his bed. The light smell of jasmine surrounded him. Someone bumped into his bed and tried to stifle a curse. Then he remembered…Robin.

He closed his eyes and pretended to sleep. He heard her slither out of her clothes and felt the bed dip as she climbed up beside him. Her firm breasts pressed against his arm, and he stifled a gasp. The hard nubs of her nipples pushed against the cloth of his pajamas. Soft lips nibbled and kissed him below his ear. A hand snaked under his hospital gown and made lazy circles in his chest hair before trailing lower. By the time it reached the drawstring on his pajama bottoms, his erection pulsed against the material.

“Robin.”

“Mmm, did I wake you?” Her breath smelled of peppermints. She snuggled closer and let her fingers dip lower. “Are you ready to give me my first lesson?”

He grasped her hand and moved it onto his throbbing cock. “What do you think?” In one quick motion, he threw back the covers and flipped her onto her back.

He ripped his gown off and tossed it on the floor before covering her lips with his. His tongue teased until she opened to him. The kiss deepened. Thoughts and images flooded his brain. To stop the distraction, he hummed.

She sighed and moaned beneath him. He felt her thoughts and knew his humming vibrated against her skin and drove her wild. He planted little kisses on his soft skin of her neck, lower and lower until he captured one rosebud nipple and sucked.

He reached beneath her and caressed her firm butt. His erection pulsed painfully. He wanted to be inside of her, he
had
to be inside her, but first he’d make her come. Sliding even lower, he gently spread her legs. He planted butterfly kisses on her warm skin until he reached her soft patch of curly hair. He kissed the insides of her thighs, and she whimpered. His teased her essence with his tongue and slipped inside. Her climax almost knocked them both off the bed.

Grinning, he climbed up to claim her mouth once more. He positioned himself and started to slide into the warm, welcoming wetness.

She froze.

A vision invaded his mind. An image of Robin as a chubby little girl, frowning at the camera. Later, in high school, sitting alone in front of the television, eating ice cream. In nursing school, standing in the back row for her graduation photo to hide her bulk.

“Oh, baby, no. Don’t be ashamed of your body, ever. It’s beautiful, and it always was.” He gritted his teeth against his own need while he kissed her eyelids. Carefully, he put the head of his cock next to her clit and stroked her. He hoped to hell he was turning her on again, because she was driving him wild. She began to relax beneath him, and he slipped inside. He hesitated a second, the lack of condoms utmost in his mind. Then he knew. She was on the pill.

She took the length of him and sighed. Soon, she was rocking beneath him. She wrapped her legs around his waist. In one thunderous crescendo, they came together.

He wasn’t sure, but he thought they’d made enough noise to wake the entire hospital. Collapsing next to her, half on top of her to keep from sliding off the narrow bed, he said, “See, I knew you weren’t frigid.” He pushed damp hair off her forehead.

Her eyes were closed, and her lips turned up in a smile. A shaft of moonlight flowed in the window, lighting her face. He wanted her in his life.

“How can I ever thank you?” she whispered. “That was wonderful.”

“My pleasure, ma’am. I’m happy to oblige, anytime. Just give me a couple of minutes to recover.”

“Much as I’d love that, I think I’d better get out of here before someone finds me in bed with a patient. I don’t want to lose my job.” She stretched and sat up. Red curls fell around her elfin face, and he had to use every bit of his willpower to keep from pushing her back onto the bed and having her again. “If there’s ever anything I can do for you, Brian...”

“Matter of fact, there is. My memory is still pretty foggy, so I’d appreciate it if you could come home with me tomorrow, just for a couple of days. I’m not sure if I’ll get my memory back or not, and I don’t want to be alone right now. Can you do that? You can be my private nurse. I’ll pay you, of course.”

“Why, Mr. Wakefield, I believe you just want to take advantage of me again, and again, and…”

“You say that as if it’s a bad thing.”

They both laughed.

“Sure, I’ll be happy to help you out. I have vacation time saved up. What time are you being released tomorrow?”

“Dr. Morton said after lunch. Will that give you enough time?”

“I’ll take my vacation days and tell the supervisor you asked for me to be your private duty nurse.” She slipped out of bed and pulled on her clothes.

“Oh, a private nurse. Does that mean you’ll be giving me baths?” Just the thought made him grow hard again.

Robin grabbed his cock and stroked it. “Oh, yes. I think you’ll need a lot of baths after I get done with you.” With a quick kiss, she was gone.

Chapter Seven

Robin bounced into the hospital the next morning a half hour early for her shift, happier than she’d ever been. She hadn’t been able to sleep the rest of the night after returning home from the hospital, but had lain in bed, thinking of Brian Wakefield. He was not only handsome, but also caring and gentle. She knew it was silly and way too soon, but she felt herself falling for the delightful man. Somehow, he knew she’d been ashamed of her body for years because she’d been so overweight. Even after she started working and had slimmed down, she couldn’t bring herself to let a man see her naked. No wonder she’d been frigid. Well, that was in the past now.

“Morning everyone.” She tossed her purse and sweater into her locker. “Mattie in her office?”

One of the night nurses going off duty mumbled yes between yawns. Robin hurried to the head nurse’s office and knocked lightly on the door.

“Hi, Robin, come on in. What can I do for you?”

“I need to take the rest of my vacation days, starting this afternoon.”

Mattie sat back in her chair. “You know we need more warning that that. I have nurses to schedule and shifts to cover. What’s the emergency?” She shoved a pen into the topknot of her hair.

“I have a chance to do some private duty nursing, and I really need the money.” She had no intention of taking a dime from Brian after what he’d done for her last night, but she had to have some kind of excuse.

A sigh escaped from Mattie’s enormous bosom. “Well, I guess I can handle it. How much time do you need?”

“I have a week vacation due, and that should be enough.” Enough time to be sure she never again froze up around a man. She couldn’t wait to spend time with Brian.

Mattie pulled a sheaf of papers out of her bottom drawer. “Where did you find a job, anyhow? Oh, no, let me guess. The handsome Mr. Wakefield.”

“Yup. He wants me to be with him for a few days in case he falls or has a relapse.”
Or needs some mind-blowing sex
. “It should be an easy job.”

“Well, I can’t blame you. From what I hear through the grapevine, he’s rich as Midas. Go ahead, get to work. I’ll track you down and get your signature later.”

“Thanks.” Robin almost skipped down the hallway to her station. She was going to stop in and give Brian the good news, but he was with Dr. Morton and the interns. She managed to catch his eye and gave him the thumbs up.

Humming a happy tune, she starting doing her chores.