9781631052347OnCallKenyan (20 page)

Katherine
still couldn’t get the sound of her heart thumping in her ear to stop. A zing
of awareness zipped through her body when AJ walked into the room. Even behind
the bushy beard and the long hair, she could still see her AJ. It was her AJ in
a mountain cave man version. The embers of love simmering low in her body
flared to life at the sound of his voice. She had hoped he hadn’t seen the
panic in her eyes. The worst part was when she had to bring up Lyle. No doubt
that was the reason he chased her out of the room. But she couldn’t forget the
look of desire as his eyes swept from her head to her toe, the burning trail
touched her like warm flesh. Maybe there was hope after all.

“I
heard he’s back.” Lyle didn’t say AJ’s name. To him AJ was like a myth such as
little children were told about to scare them into obedience. Saying his name
out loud would be like calling up the myth.

“Yes,
AJ is back.” Katherine craned her neck to look over his shoulder. She was
standing at the nurse’s station a few meters away from Catalella’s room. She
had hoped to catch AJ when he left, and maybe force him into talking to her.
But now Lyle was here, she was watching and hoping AJ wouldn’t catch them
together.

“Are
the two of you getting back together?”

“I
don’t know.” She shivered with fright when she realized that was the truth. She
didn’t know if AJ had used those months away to forget about her. What if he
had another woman? Katherine saw AJ walk out of Catalella’s room and tried to
escape, but he had already seen her. Any attempt to hide or run away would be
admitting guilt to something she wasn’t really doing. But when Lyle reached to
take her hand she drew back and shot him a menacing look. What the hell was he
trying to do?

“Lyle.”
AJ’s voice boomed in greeting. “I just want to thank you for what you did for
my sister.”

“You
should thank Katherine here, she wouldn’t give up even when the girl
flat-lined,” Lyle said.

Katherine
felt the warmth creep into her cheeks, but she didn’t dare move away from AJ’s
perusal. “It was Catalella, I couldn’t give up.”

“Thank
you. She asked for you.” When AJ smiled at her for the first time since he
arrived, Katherine thought she would crumble to the ground. Relief was what she
felt—maybe they did have a chance. “My family and I are going home for a while.
I need to get some sleep before I meet up with her oncologist.”

“I’ll
tell Doctor Chaplain to expect you.”

“Thanks
again, kitty
kat
.” AJ winked at her before turning
away and leaving with his family.

“The
nerve of that guy.” Lyle hissed, once AJ was out of hearing range. “He thinks
he can just come back after ignoring you for almost two years, wink at you and
you’ll fall into his arms.”

“If he
had held out his arms I would have climbed into them,” Katherine spat back. “AJ
is the love of my life. I don’t care how long it takes me to get him to realize
that. I’ll wait.”

“Like I
have been waiting?”

“I
didn’t ask you to.” Katherine did feel bad for Lyle wasting his time and
intentions on her. She didn’t encourage him but after a few months of being
chased around the hospital she figured he wouldn’t give up.

His
persistence had been one of the reasons she’d decided to branch into a
different department of medicine for her fellowship. Soon she would take her
board exams and get him out of her hair. “I need to go see Catalella.”

“I
thought you were going to follow your master home.”

Katherine
resented the tone in his voice. But his words did make her think. Which home
would AJ go to?

Chapter
Nineteen

Katherine’s
hand shook as she slotted her key in the lock. She felt so nervous. The whole
day she had been pining about AJ having gone to his parents’ home, and now she
was nervous about opening her front door. She hadn’t seen him again that day,
but Catalella had told her he had been in later in the afternoon. Maybe he was
trying to avoid her. “Get a grip, Katherine,” she chastised herself as she
walked through the front door.

“I
didn’t know you talked to yourself.”

Katherine
froze when she saw AJ in their little living room, his shirt off as he watched
the game. It was like he had never left. Inhaling deeply she caught the scent
of him. Finally her home felt and smelled right again. Forcing herself to stay
in control of herself, she shut the door behind her and tried to appear
unaffected. But she was sure AJ could hear the strong thudding of her heart
from where he sat. His hard, muscled frame made her insides shudder and relax
at the same time as warmth pooled in her stomach.

“Katherine?”

“
Mmh
?” She looked away from his chest and into his eyes. The
amused grin AJ gave her told her that she had been caught staring. She turned
away, not willing to let AJ see her turn crimson.

“There
is a pizza in the kitchen. I’m going to bed.”

“Goodnight.”
What else was she to say? ‘Stay so we can talk about the last few months’, or
‘Hold me because I can’t stand another minute without your arms around me?’
Goodnight was the only thing she could think of saying at the moment. Katherine
ate her food in the silence which she had become accustomed to, in the
loneliness that seemed to track and follow her into every aspect of her life.
She stepped into the shower and under the hot pellets of water, even the
drumming sounds of water hitting her skin couldn’t fill the silence. How long
was she going to let solitude haunt her?

Not a
second longer.

Katherine
pulled on one of AJ’s clean T-shirts, and quickly dried her hair. She didn’t
take a moment to think about what she was going to do next. She marched toward
AJ’s bedroom and opened the door. Even in the semi-darkness she could see the
inviting warmth in the depth of his brown eyes. His gaze never left hers as she
walked toward him, climbed on the bed and straddled him. Whatever would happen
next would be his call. Katherine was content with feeling his powerful body
between her legs and the muscles in his chest beneath her touch.

“You
shaved your hair and your beard. I love the goatee by the way.”

AJ only
responded with a grunt. He raised himself into a sitting position without
toppling Katherine. He rested his back on the head board and studied Katherine.
She wasn’t going to pull away. She wasn’t going to let any little doubt in her
mind ruin this moment for her. If AJ was only comfortable with holding her, she
would accept that. She was desperate for his touch.

She
felt his hands rest on her bare thighs, and Katherine forced herself to control
the violent shudder of pleasure he brought her. She wanted to kiss him, to feel
the intensity their sparring lips had once given them. Her body froze,
terrified of moving lest he interpreted her shivering as a discouragement. If
she could, she would break out in song and dance and cheer him to the finish
line. AJ’s strong hands crept under the T-shirt and smoothed over her back. She
wanted to beg but didn’t want to put him off by being desperate.

Katherine
wiggled her ass when she felt his desire grow. Did she really need the
foreplay? She had the mind to yank his flannel pants down and sit on his
erection just to please her demanding desire. But she wanted to give AJ time to
acquaint himself with her body once again.

Luckily
for her, his patience seemed to snap when she wiggled her ass once more. In a
second he had pulled the shirt off and had her on her back. His lips came
crushing down on hers and they locked in an erotic sparring dance.

“I
missed you so much.” His lips whispered over the surface of hers. He left a
trail of kisses on her neck, cheek and brought his lips to her ear. His breath
was warm as he whispered, “My kitty
kat
.” His lips
alighted near the pulse point in her throat, gently brushing the exposed skin.
The gentle brush of his lips were enthralling, lighting the lamps of desire in
every inch of her body. She felt his lips part then the trace of his tongue as
he tasted her.

“Forgive
me.” AJ breathed out as he pulled back. Katherine almost let out a yell of
protest. AJ climbed off the bed and chucked his pants before climbing on again.
He positioned himself between her legs, with his knees forcing them even wider.
“I wanted to take my time with you, but I can’t. It’s been too long. Right now
it’s going to be hard and fast, but the second time it will be slow.”

Katherine
could feel herself drip, as AJ’s hardness teased her entrance. She could see by
the way his muscles bunched up in his shoulders and the way he tried to control
his breathing he was trying to restrain his desire for her. But Katherine didn’t
want a tamed version of him. She knew it would probably hurt—AJ had been away
for a long time. But she would gladly take the pain with the desire. Catching
him off guard, Katherine planted her hands on his firm ass and lifted her hips.
With all the force she could master she drove him inside her. Her climax took
her by surprise.

She heard AJ groan his approval, then chuckle and curse. “I
can’t…”

His
voice trailed off but Katherine understood what he meant. He couldn’t restrain
himself anymore. AJ hooked her knee on his elbow and pushed her leg forward as
he hammered into her with abandon. Katherine threw her head back as a wave of
her second orgasm built within her belly. When it crashed into her, she
couldn’t help the satisfied shriek that escaped her lips.

Katherine
stretched out, her sore muscles and joints a reminder of the love she and AJ
had been making all night. She turned toward AJ and was met by a solid wall
of—air. Disappointment rushed through her. AJ was supposed to be there cuddling
her as she woke up, but he wasn’t. Katherine jumped off the bed and caught her
reflection in the floor length mirror. A cheeky giggle escaped her lips as she
studied the hand prints AJ had left on her. Her thighs felt sore, her vagina
felt sore, no wonder he kept apologizing. She wore the bruises, proud of her
battle scar.

“AJ!”
Katherine walked out of the bedroom butt naked, hoping to convince AJ into
another round of lovemaking. But the echo in the apartment let her know she was
alone.

* * *
*

AJ
hated leaving the apartment when Katherine was still asleep. He had missed the
contented, peaceful look on her face once she was sexually sated and enjoying
her sleep. He couldn’t bring himself to wake her up. He had kept her up all
night, and was rough and hard with her. AJ couldn’t help himself. Once she
entered the room his desire and passion had taken over. He had tried to rein it
in, even tried to ignore her but that only lasted for a second. Even now, he
wished he was still in bed with her.

But the
call from Catalella’s oncologist had him running out of the apartment. They
were scrutinizing her state of mind because of the attempted suicide. Dr.
Chaplain was under advisement from the Transplant Committee to postpone her
procedure. He had been with the committee the whole morning trying to convince
them to go ahead with the procedure.

“Hey!
You sneaked out on me.” AJ turned toward the sound of Katherine’s voice.

“I’m
sorry.” He gave her one of his prize-winning lopsided grins. “I don’t want you
to take this the wrong way, but did you take the pill?”

“I will
and of course…of course I understand why you would want to make sure. I didn’t
handle our first pregnancy the best way.”

AJ had
to cut her off. He didn’t want to focus on the past. “I just want us to start
over on the right foot. I don’t want us in a situation that we are not ready
for. Besides, you have too much on your plate right now, career wise. Fixing
hearts and delivering babies.”

“Starting
over.” she chewed down on her bottom lip in thought. “Does that mean no sex?”

AJ felt
the warmth crawl into his body as he laughed. He missed laughing like this,
especially with Katherine. “Of course not. I wouldn’t punish myself like that.”

“So why
did you run out on me?”

“They
want to postpone Catalella’s procedure. They don’t think she is in the right
frame of mind. Whose idea was it not to put her in a 51/50?”

“Mine.
I didn’t think she needed it. It was a damn mistake, and she doesn’t exhibit
any psychological problems that would make me worry for her safety. Why?”

“Katherine,
can I talk to you for a minute?”

AJ
looked over Katherine’s head and there was Lyle. He definitely hadn’t missed
him and the way he would have acted around Katherine while he’d been out of the
country. But now he was back and would have to figure out how he was going to
interact with Lyle without wanting to punch him. AJ leaned down and planted a
kiss on Katherine’s cheek. “Find me when you are done. I’ll be in Catalella’s
room.”

* * *
*

Katherine
couldn’t help the headache coming on. It was always a result of being in the
same space as AJ and Lyle. Trying not to upset AJ and also not hurting Lyle’s
feelings was too much to do in the same moment. She held onto AJ’s hand as he
began to walk away, pulling him back for a kiss on the lips. “It’s your bone
marrow. It doesn’t matter if you are giving it to a crazy guy down the street.
If we must we’ll just take her to a different hospital.”

“Where
would I be without you?”

“Djibouti,”
Lyle put in.

“I’ll
see you later?” Katherine nodded trying not to pay attention to the evil eye AJ
shot Lyle.

In AJ’s
absence, Katherine thought she had formed a civil friendship with Lyle. She
never went out with him, or promised him any romantic relationship, but she had
thought they had moved past the hostility. Watching AJ’s strong back walking
away from her, his strong back muscles and cute butt had a calming effect on
her.

“I see
you jumped into bed with him as soon as his flight touched the ground,” Lyle
snipped.

“And it
was the best night of my life,” Katherine spat out. She saw Lyle wince and
immediately regretted what she’d said. But somehow she needed to get her point
across. “Listen, I don’t understand why you are so mad. AJ and I—”

“You
are not together!” Katherine’s eyes widened as she saw Lyle in a new light. He
looked almost crazy. “He left you. He just packed up his shit and went to a
different continent, to get away from you!”

“No!
The chief explained it to me. He had already committed to the program and AJ
always keeps his word.”

“Then
why didn’t he ask you to go with him?”

The
question she wanted answered was why AJ had never told her about the Doctors
Without Borders trip the moment it was offered to him. Sure, at the point they
weren’t really dating. But it was common courtesy.

“He
didn’t even let you know he was leaving.”

“He
couldn’t reach me.” Katherine thought it beat saying,
My mommy wouldn’t let me talk to him.
“This is the thing, what I do
with my life and who I do it with is none of your business. Now, if you don’t
mind, I need to go.”

“Don’t
leave. I came to tell you your father is here. He thinks he had a heart attack.
We are running tests on him right now.”

When
the shock wore off, anger claimed her. The blood rushed through her veins the
thumping echoing in her ears. Through clenched teeth she snarled out, “You
waited until now to tell me my father’s had a heart attack?”

“I just—”

“You
just what! You’re just more interested in what happens between my legs than
what happens with my father’s heart.”

“Katherine,
you don’t need to get vulgar.”

“Just
show me where he is.”

Katherine
rushed Lyle down the halls. She walked blindly and so quickly she didn’t notice
Lyle stop until he called her name. Walking into the room she staggered at the
sight of her family. She hadn’t seen them for almost two years.

Her mother
hovered over her father who lay back in a bed. Duke paced in a corner, his
phone glued to his ear. Yvonne sat in a chair, her hand on her swollen belly,
and Christopher sat at the foot of the bed, seemingly not interested in what
was going on. Only Christian wasn’t there. Otherwise it would have been a
perfect family reunion.

“Why
are you here?” Her mother’s glare almost made her turn around and leave the
room.

“I get
that you’re pissed at Mom, but why did you shut Duke and me out?” Christopher
pouted as he reached in for a hug.