The Best Medicine (14 page)

Finally, when Scott didn’t think he could get any harder, he jerked her thong roughly to the side, tearing it in the process, before pushing completely into her. The warmth he experienced once inside her was like nothing he’d ever felt—their bodies conducting heat from one person to the other. He slid perfectly in and out, listening to the sound of her moans and heavy breaths as his hands guided her hips to match the rhythm of his own.

“Jesus, Scott, this feels so good. I don’t know how much more of it I can take.”

Scott leaned down, his chest against her back, as he spoke softly but sternly into her ear. “You’ll take whatever I give you.”

But Scott wasn’t entirely sure how much more he could give. The way her hair fell over her face as it pressed against the table, the feel of her flesh under his fingertips, how fucking tight she was around him . . . it was almost too much. He wasn’t sure how long he got lost in the beat of their bodies moving in time to each other. But eventually Lauren’s voice pulled him out of his pleasurable trance.

“I’m gonna come, Scott. Fuck, make me come. Please,” she pleaded.

Scott sped up his pace at Lauren’s request, reaching around to stroke her clit with just the right amount of pressure to push her over the edge. In moments, her body quaked beneath him, her back vibrating as she moaned her release.

He continued to rock his body into hers until he felt his orgasm build uncontrollably. Even though he needed to feel himself let go—needed to feel the relief his climax would provide—he didn’t
want
to. He pumped into her a few more times before he felt himself explode. But as much as he enjoyed Lauren milking every last drop from him as he thrust more slowly inside her, he hated it too. Because he didn’t want it to end.

It all felt too fucking good.

Autoimmune Disorder

Nothing Gold was a large bar that took on a club vibe after nine p.m. on weekends. It was one of Scott’s favorite spots to pick up women, which made him wonder why the hell he’d decided that it would make a good venue for his friends to hang out with Lauren and hers. Especially after Thursday night. He’d been replaying every detail of their sexcapade for the past two days, and his dick had gotten hard every time. After it was over, they’d put themselves back together, and he’d walked her to her car. Then Lauren had planted a kiss on him that was a promise for more. And Goddamn, did he want more.

“Scale of one to ten, how hot are these chicks?” Xavier asked as he took a sip of his beer.

“Depends on your taste,” Scott replied as he covertly eyed the doorway.

“You know my taste.”

Alex watched Scott intently, obviously interested in the answer.

“If you care so much, why didn’t you ask before you agreed to come? It’s a little late to be picky now. Besides, I didn’t invite them here for you to try to bang them all. They’re a fun group to hang out with.”

Xavier looked skeptical. “Fun means ugly.”

“Jesus Christ, you really are a bastard. Fine. There are four of them. Quinn is the girl-next-door type, dark red hair, freckles, very pretty. Simone is African-American, taller than the others, and curvy in all the right places. Cass is blond, bold, and beautiful. But she reminds me of a praying mantis: she’s awesome to look at, but just may bite your head off after she’s done with you. And lastly there’s Lauren.”

The guys looked at him with expectant eyes. When he didn’t continue, Alex spoke. “And Lauren is?”

“Off limits.” Scott took a long drink of his beer and looked again toward the door. Thankfully the girls chose that moment to make an appearance, so he didn’t have to deal with any shit from Xavier or Alex. He hadn’t told them anything about Lauren. When he’d called to see if they wanted to hang out with some girls, they’d both accepted without much explanation on his part. But he also knew that if either of them tried to hit on her, he wouldn’t react well, so putting it out there seemed like his best course of action.

Lauren spotted him and led the girls toward them. “Hey,” she said as she made her way to him.

“Hey,” he replied. Scott looked at her for a moment, probably a second longer than could be considered casual appraisal, before snapping out of it and introducing the girls to his friends.

“Thanks for meeting up with us,” Cass said. “I mean,
I’m sure you could’ve thought of someone else to do—I mean some
thing
else. It was nice of you to include us.” Her lips quirked up slightly as she looked pointedly between Scott and Lauren.

Yup, definitely a praying mantis.
“What could be better than hanging out with you beautiful ladies?” Scott replied, kicking up the wattage on his smile.

“I bet you say that to all the girls,” Cass teased. “Let’s find out. Lauren—”

“So what are you guys drinking?” Lauren interrupted, clearly trying to prevent Cass from continuing.

Scott had to admit that he liked Cass the best out of Lo’s friends. She was definitely a board-certified cock twister, but she did it in a way that was humorous instead of offensive.
I bet she’d give Xavier a run for his money.
But when Scott’s eyes wandered to his buddies, it was Alex who seemed to be edging his way closer to Cass.
Interesting.
“Blue Moon.” Scott set his beer down on the high top table they were standing around. “What would you all like? I’ll go get it at the bar.”

“That’s okay,” Lauren replied with that smile he couldn’t get enough of. “We’ll go up. Be right back.”

Scott watched the girls walk away before reaching for his beer. When he did, he noticed his friends staring at him. “What?” he asked.

“Nothing,” Xavier replied.

“Not a thing,” Alex added.

“Yeah, fuck off. Both of you.”

Alex and Xavier burst out laughing. Scott knew that, between his warning for them to stay away from Lauren and the way he looked at her, there was no way they weren’t on to him.

“You said you work with her, right?” Alex asked tentatively.

Scott knew where he was heading. “Yeah, but not for long. Only until the semester’s over.”

Scott’s explanation didn’t satisfy Alex’s curiosity. “Nice. Banging a college chick.”

The guys kept their eyes on Scott, waiting for him to expand on his single word response. He heaved out a sigh. “She’s finishing up her master’s this spring. I’m not
that
desperate to go trolling college campuses looking for women.”

“It’s a little unlike you to shit where you sleep though, buddy,” Xavier said.

Scott grimaced slightly at Xavier’s choice of words, but understood what he was saying. Scott had never done this with someone he had to see in his day-to-day life. But how was he supposed to explain it to them? Say that Lauren was different? That he couldn’t fucking resist her? That would only prompt more questions, and he was over answering their questions when he couldn’t even answer his own. “First time for everything,” he replied coolly.

“Hey there,” a soft, breathy voice said from behind him.

Scott watched Alex and Xavier, who were facing the interloper, reach for their beers and take huge gulps, the international guy signal for “You’re not going to like what you see when you turn around.” Scott took a deep breath before spinning around. The girl standing in front of him was shorter than Lauren, and not nearly as pleasing to the eye. She was built kind of like a football, with dark-blond curly hair and heavy eye makeup. Scott may
have spent many years as a playboy, but he still wasn’t a total asshole. While he wasn’t into this girl, he had no interest in hurting her feelings. “Hey,” he said. “How are you?”

“Better now. I was looking at you from across the bar and my friends finally told me to just come over and introduce myself. I’m Bethany.”

Scott stretched out his hand toward her. “Hi, Bethany. I’m Scott. And this is Xavier and Alex.”

“Hmm,” she purred. “What are a bunch of handsome men like you up to tonight?”

Scott suddenly wondered what the hell was keeping Lauren. His eyes darted toward the bar, where he saw that Lo and her friends had already gotten their drinks and were talking to a few other girls.
Hurry up, Lo.
“Just meeting up with some people. What about you?”

Bethany moved closer to him, which made Scott lean back into the table. “We’re just looking for a good time. Any suggestions for where we can find one?”

Fuck, this girl is forward.
“Um, I’m not sure,” Scott stammered, unsure of how exactly to respond.

Bethany’s hand came up and rested on his forearm. “Oh, come on. I bet you can think of something.” Her voice had lowered, and Scott assumed she was trying to be seductive, but it just made her sound manly. Like how he imagined a lumberjack or bounty hunter would sound.

He looked back in Lo’s direction again, and this time his eyes caught hers. She tilted her head and looked at him curiously, as though she could tell something was off. He widened his eyes and gave a brief look down, trying to signal that her help was needed.
Now
.

She seemed to get the message as she turned to say something to the girls, who then began walking toward the guys.

Bethany’s hand started sliding up and down Scott’s arm, and he was just about to tell her that the feel of her hand on his skin was about as appealing as getting a mole removed when he finally felt a hand wrap around his waist.

“Hey, baby. Sorry it took us so long. The bar’s packed. Who’s your friend?” Lauren’s voice was sweet and calm.

Bethany quickly retracted her hand and glared at Scott. He gave a brief look around to his friends. Lauren’s girls had formed a female power wall around them. Quinn and Simone were flanking Xavier while Cass pressed herself into Alex’s side. He also couldn’t ignore the shit-eating grin on Alex’s face.
He has no fucking game.
“Uh, Bethany. This is Bethany. She came over while we were waiting for you girls to come back. Bethany, this is my girlfriend Lauren.”

Lauren stretched out a hand toward Bethany, which the woman reluctantly shook. “Nice to meet you, Bethany. I hope our boys were being nice to you. They tend to get a little flirty with pretty girls.”

Scott noticed how Lauren avoided explicitly lying, and he wasn’t sure how she managed it.

Bethany’s face was a mass of confusion. She clearly couldn’t figure Lauren out.

Welcome to the club, Bethany.

But Lauren’s smile was genuine, and Bethany seemed to accept her words as a sincere compliment rather than as a sarcastic slight. “Yeah, they’ve been nice enough.”

Scott didn’t know how Lauren did it. She was just . . .
so
good
with people. She could’ve come over and been a catty bitch to get rid of Bethany, but that just wasn’t her style. She knew exactly what to say so that the woman wouldn’t be defensive or embarrassed. He was in awe of her.

“Well, good. I wouldn’t want to have to bitch him out in front of a bar full of people.” Lauren smiled at Bethany.

“Don’t think she wouldn’t, Bethany. Lauren’s great at causing a scene,” Cass teased.

“It’s true,” Lauren agreed.

Bethany released a small laugh before she excused herself from them. But as she walked away, she turned and gave Scott a long and indecent once-over. Clearly, Lauren’s kindness wasn’t going to be enough to deter Bethany.

Once Scott’s stalker was out of eyesight, Lauren’s hand dropped from his waist. Scott immediately missed it. He leaned down, bringing his mouth to Lauren’s ear. “I like when you put your hands on me.” His voice was playful, but damn if he didn’t mean what he said.

Lauren leaned into him a little. “Oh, really?” she asked.

Scott pulled back slightly so he could look her in the eyes. “Yes, really.”

“Trust me, Dr. Scott. I’ve barely begun to put my hands on you.”

And fuck if the entire room didn’t fade away with her words. It was like they were the only two in the place, the chemistry crackling between them like a fuse. He wanted her hands on him in that moment more than he wanted his next breath. But he also wanted her to want to keep them there. For a long time. And it was that uncomfortable
thought that forced him back into reality. This thing with Lauren could never go there.
Would
never go there because Scott just wasn’t that guy. “That’s a promise I’ll hold you to,” he said as he took a step away from her. He turned toward the table to pick up his beer and was surprised to see Cass and Alex engaged in conversation.
Maybe the old boy does still have a little something up his sleeve.

They all spent the next hour or so bullshitting. The liquor was flowing, and Scott watched as Lauren’s face took on a tipsy glow. He was surprised by how great things were going. Their friends got along well and had a good time sharing outrageous stories about one another.

Then some song by Justin Timberlake came on and Simone yelled that it was her “jam” and that they needed to go dance.

The guys stayed rooted to their spots, but the girls headed off toward the large dance floor. They found an open spot and began moving their bodies in ways that should be illegal. Especially Lauren.

Scott watched her. She had rhythm—that was for sure.

“You got it bad.”

Scott turned around to stare at his friends. “What do you mean?”

“You can’t take your eyes off her,” Alex said.

Scott turned back around. “You know how I am. Once I see something I want, I don’t sleep on it.”

“Yeah, I guess that’s true,” Xavier chuckled. “Just seems that you might want to keep this one around for a while.”

Scott steeled his voice. “Not sure why you’d think that. I’m going to get another beer. You guys need anything?”

The guys said that they were good, so Scott took off
for the bar. As he waited for the bartender to bring him his change, he felt a body brush next to him. He looked down.
Shit.

“Just thought I’d stop by and see if you changed your mind,” Bethany said in her scary, deep voice.

“About what?” Scott replied shortly. His tolerance was quickly waning.

“About having a girlfriend.”

Scott huffed out a laugh. “No, I don’t think so.”

“Pity,” Bethany said with mock sincerity. “It seems that she’s changed her mind about you.”

“What are you talking about?”

Bethany turned and looked at the dance floor. Scott’s eyes followed her line of sight. And what he saw made his heart hammer in his chest and his blood boil. Lauren was still dancing with her girls, but a group of guys had moved in on them. And one of the pricks had his hands on Lauren’s hips, trying to pull her closer to him.

Scott didn’t say anything more to Bethany. He was moving before he even realized it. Reaching Lauren, he grabbed her waist more roughly than he intended and pulled her to him so quickly that she collided into him, her hands hitting his chest to brace herself against the impact. He half expected her to be pissed at his harsh handling, but he relaxed when she registered what had happened and slid her hands over his pecs and around his neck. Scott pulled her closer to him and rested his chin against her temple. “Move on,” he barked at the guy behind Lo.

“What was that about?” she asked so softly, he barely heard her over the music.

“Bethany came back. I had to set her straight.” Scott
couldn’t admit the real reason he’d barged over there and virtually pissed on Lauren’s leg to mark his territory.

“She’s still looking at us. You’d better watch your back. She looks like the type to peep in windows and make voodoo dolls.”

Laughter rumbled in Scott’s chest. “Then I guess you should watch your back too.”

Lauren laughed too, and the two of them continued to move to the music. It was an up-tempo song, and they ground into each other with quick movements, though they kept each other close. They stayed that way for two more songs, bumping, grinding, and laughing. Scott couldn’t remember the last time he’d had such a good time.

Then the DJ played a song Scott had actually heard before: Clean Bandit’s “Rather Be.”