Cain (10 page)

Cain mumbled something. She was sure as
she was standing there that she didn’t want to know, but he left
her. She turned on the water tap full blast to drown out any sounds
she might make and sat down to pee. But not before sticking her
tongue out at the man on the other side of the door.

Julie started crying in earnest. While
she didn’t hurt as badly now—the moving around had loosened
muscles—she did know without a doubt Cain wouldn’t be letting her
leave like she wanted. To be honest, she wasn’t sure she’d get very
far like this. Her head was pounding like a jackhammer had moved
in. When she flushed and stood up, the room titled dangerously. She
was afraid for all her bravado, she was going to fall and hit her
poor head again.

Turning off the water, Julie could hear
Cain talking to someone. When she opened the door, she noticed that
he was still on his phone and Mrs. Webb was gone. Julie made her
way back to the bed, but didn’t sit down.

Reaching for her shoes with her feet,
she ignored Cain. She felt that was the best way to win an argument
with him. She began working her shoe onto her foot as he
spoke.

“
This is a house separate
from the main house. I won’t...you can stay here for as long as you
want. No one...I won’t bother you.”

“
I don’t want anything
from you, including this house. I was doing just fine until you
stepped into my life and tried to take it over. Are you this bossy
with everyone?”

“
Yes.”

She looked at him sharply. She could
almost hear humor in his voice, but didn’t know him that well. He
looked like a man who didn’t find humor in much. Then he continued
and she wanted to bash his head in again.

“
You do remember why I
stepped into your life, don’t you? You were lying in a pool of your
own blood. I couldn’t do anything but help you.”

“
I want to leave. I
don’t...you just don’t understand. There are things going on that
you couldn’t understand.” There are things going on that even she
didn’t understand, but didn’t think he’d appreciate her knowing
that.

Cain started pacing. He looked like a
caged lion, all muscles and long limbs. When he stopped sharply and
turned to her, she just knew that she wasn’t going to like whatever
it was he’d thought of. “You could be carrying my child. I don’t
want it to be born in a box somewhere. And before you get pissed
again, Quinn told me you can’t go back to the clinic. What happens
if you’re pregnant, Julie? Would you want to raise a baby like you
currently live?”

Julie turned her back to him. Yes, she
thought, what if? A baby would make things more...well, more
everything. Not to mention it would be unsafe for them both. And
she wasn’t stupid, no matter what this man thought of her. She knew
she had no choice. She had to stay. “I’ll stay until I know for
sure about your kid. But you need to stay away from me. You aren’t
my boss and I don’t need you seeing after me. The nurse, Mrs. Webb,
she doesn’t have to watch me. I gave you my word. I don’t need a
sitter.”

“
No, Julie. I’m your
doctor. And like it or not, I owe you. I’ll see you once a day
until you’re healed. Then when the time is right, I’ll take you
somewhere and we’ll have a pregnancy test performed. And Mrs. Webb
is staying. She needs a place to stay as much as you do. She’ll
make sure you’re eating right and taking care.”

Julie continued to stare out the
window, anywhere but at him. She knew that if she really wanted to,
she could leave. But he was right. If there was a child, she
couldn’t carry it and raise it on the streets. She was too sore
right now to even think about protecting herself, much less a
child.

Without turning back to him, she
nodded. She waited for him to say more, to say anything, but after
about a minute, he simply left the room. Moving across the room to
the window seat, Julie sat on it gingerly and stared unseeing out
into the night. She wondered how long it would take to figure out
if she was pregnant or not.

~~~

Cain went into the kitchen to find Mrs.
Webb. He wanted to leave the house and scream and howl at the moon.
But he knew that he needed to thank the elderly nurse first. She
stood when he entered the room.

“
The little miss, is she
all right, Dr. Waite? The poor mite, looked all done in, she did. I
hope you gave her something for the pain.”

Pain. Cain had been so pissed at her
he’d forgotten to ask if she wanted anything for pain. He doubted
that she’d admit to him that she was in pain, but he still should
have asked.

“
No, I didn’t...she
is...she and I, we fight more than we talk. I’ll leave you
something if you could please see that she gets it for me. I’d be
very grateful.”

“
Of course, sir. ‘Twill be
a pleasure. I know you said she was hurt and that she needed
tending, but well, sir, if you don’t mind me asking, why don’t you
have her with you? You being in love with her and all.”

Cain looked at Mrs. Webb. In love? With
Julie? He didn’t think so. She was, why, most of the time he wanted
to strangle her, but love her? No, that couldn’t be
right.

Cain was back at the main house before
he realized it. He couldn’t remember if he answered Mrs. Webb or
even left her anything for Julie’s pain. He couldn’t even remember
walking across the driveway and coming to his room. He was staring
out into the night when he realized that he thought maybe he just
might love the little twit. Now he had to figure out what the hell
to do about it.

Looking at the bedside clock when his
phone rang, he nearly didn’t answer the private number. His family
and a few friends were the only ones who had it. Coming to realize
what his feelings for Julie were had him doubting his own sanity.
So when he barked his name into the phone, he couldn’t help but
flush when laughter greeted his rudeness.

“
It has to be a woman to
have you sounding like a bear with his foot in a trap. They do that
to you so often you check your feet regularly to see if you still
have two. I’m assuming it’s a woman because you’re the only man I
know that has five of the most beautiful sisters ever created and
still doesn’t have a clue.”

Cain decided that the next time he saw
Damon Grant, he was going to knock the older man on his flipping
ass. “If you just called to be a pain in my ass then I have others
here that are more than willing to do that. It’s two in the
morning, Damon, what the fuck do you want?”

Damon’s laughter didn’t improve his
mood. Cain nearly hung up on the man. He didn’t need this right
now.

“
Oh, Cain, I want so much.
But I digress. I want you to come and be my partner at the office.
I had to wait until your forms came through, impressive by the way,
and your transcripts. First in your class at med school, class
president, the list is as long as it is impressive. What do you
say?”

Cain felt behind him for the chair and
sat even though he hadn’t found it. The floor hit his ass hard. It
was cold and unforgiving, but he didn’t feel a thing.

“
You want me to come and
work for you? In your practice?” Cain heard the squeak in his voice
and was grateful when Damon didn’t mention it.

“
No. I want you to be my
partner—as equals. I know you just got bought out by the other firm
in Maine. Too bad about that. But they only had good things to say
about you. Phillip said you’d make a great partner and told me that
I’d be a stupid man to let you go. And we both know that I’m not a
stupid man.”

Cain tried in vain to wrap his head
around what Damon was saying to him. He and his partners had parted
on good terms. They wanted to go in a more modern way of seeing
patients, stacking them three deep so they could see more patients
in less time. Cain preferred the old ways, seeing each patient for
as long as they wanted or even needed. He didn’t think the other
way was going to save them any money in the long run.

“
No. No, you’re not
stupid. Why? I mean, why me and why now?” Cain thought about his
sister. “Quinn put you up to this, didn’t she? I’m going to pound
her ass but good when I find her.” Cain could hear Damon’s laughter
again.

“
Ah, Cain my boy, you
always were a distrusting sort of young man. Not that I blame you.
You didn’t have much reason at all to trust, did you? But no, this
is a legitimate offer I’m giving you. I’d genuinely like for you to
become my partner.”

Cain had always dreamed of becoming
Damon’s partner, his equal, ever since he’d set his leg as a
teenager. Damon had been beyond kind to the younger Cain, making
sure that Cain had had his pain under control and managed before
he’d let him go. And when Cain had started crying when the pain
became overwhelming, Damon had simply let him, not saying anything
neither then nor now.

“
Yes. I would be honored
to work with you. You have...I can’t believe this. Thank you,
Damon. I won’t let you down.”

“
I know you won’t, son.
Come by the office tomorrow around noon. We’ll go and get some
lunch and iron out the details. Devin will be my attorney, of
course, and if you trust him, he can finalize the paperwork for us
as soon as possible. I’m happy to have you aboard.”

After they hung up, Cain sat on the
floor for several minutes before he jumped up and went down the
stairs. He wanted to tell Julie. No, he needed to tell her. Going
into the kitchen, there she stood with her shirt in her hands and
his t-shirt on her body.

~CHAPTER ELEVEN~

Julie looked at Cain. She had only just
come in the door, needed to use his washer to clean her only other
pair of pants and shirts. She started to back toward the door
again. “I didn’t mean to wake you. There isn’t any washer next door
and I needed to get these...I should leave.” She back closer to the
door and was nearly there when he moved.

“
No.”

That single word made her heart race
and her blood heat and rush through her body. It hadn’t sounded so
much like a command as it did a plea. She pulled her clothes closer
to her and moved two steps back from his body, now trapping her
against the counter.

“
I was just coming to see
you.” Now his voice was soft and rough.

Need rippled through her body. Sharp
and hot. When he gently ran is fingers down her injured cheek, she
had to close her eyes against the overwhelming feelings that raced
over and through her.

“
I thought you’d be.” She
had to swallow hard to continue. “I thought you’d be asleep by
now.”

“
No. Julie, I want you.”
His voice was just a whisper of a sound, a breath away from her
mouth. She could see him leaning closer to her, his hand gently
cupping the back of her head and bringing her forward.

“
We can’t do this,” she
heard herself say as she licked her suddenly dry lips. Her body
wasn’t listening to her. Her hands moved up his chest and to his
neck without her permission. When his mouth was close enough that
she could feel his hot breath on her lips, she knew she was lost,
knew that he was going to make love to her again. And she just
couldn’t make herself pull away from him.

Cain’s mouth covered hers, gently
brushing hers the first time, then the second brush a little
firmer. When he passed over her the third time, he ran his tongue
along her moistened lips and groaned. Even as he slanted his mouth
fully over hers, she knew that she was lost.

Julie felt him savor her, his mouth
almost worshipped in his tenderness. But her body needed his now,
needed his with an urgency that nearly consumed her. She was
afraid. Afraid of him and what he would mean, what it would mean
for them to become lovers.

“
Cain, please, we
can’t…”

When Cain lifted her by her ass and sat
her onto the counter behind her, she wrapped her legs around him,
his fullness and hardness pressed against her. She suddenly became
aware of her near naked state. Pressing her closer, she realized he
knew it too. Cain buried his cock into her soft folds, leaving her
no doubt that his needs were as sharp as hers.

As he rocked into her, her groan
slipped from her mouth. When he lifted her again, she instinctively
wrapped her legs tighter around him, pulling him closer, his mouth
never leaving hers. He was moving her toward the stairs, up to his
room. She needed to try just one more time.

“
We can’t do this. You
don’t even like me,” she growled at him, her voice husky and
soft.

“
If you don’t want me as
badly as I do you, then say so. That’s the only way that I’m
stopping now. The only way you’re going to get me to put you down
and walk away.” He stared at her, waiting.

Julie couldn’t do it. She knew that she
couldn’t walk away, nor could she let him. Leaning back into his
mouth, she wrapped her hands deep into his hair and put all that
she could into her kiss. Her body rocked hard into his even as she
knew she was making a mistake. But she needed him.

Suddenly, they were in his bedroom
again. He lowered her to his bed and he followed her down. When her
back touched the bed, he reached between them and began working at
the buttons down the front of the shirt she had on. Finally, in
obvious frustration, he ripped it open and buttons scattered
everywhere.