Edge of Disaster Read online

  I felt his mouth moving against my neck before I heard the words, “Good morning gorgeous.”

  “Good morning to you.”

  I turned over so I could see him. His hair was mussed and that unruly lock fell across his forehead. His smoky eyes were soft and sexy. He brushed my hair off of my face and moved to kiss me.

  “Stop. I need to brush my teeth.”

  “So do I.”

  That didn’t stop him from moving in to kiss me. And the thing is, it didn’t bother me at all. Then his hands moved all over my body and soon we were moving to a steady rhythm of our own. In the middle of it all, he stopped suddenly and flipped us over, putting me on top.

  “I have a serious need to watch you make love to me,” he said. His eyes were half closed and he ran his tongue along his lower lip, as if her were anticipating tasting something really special. I leaned over him and touched his lip with my tongue and he groaned. He thrust into me, hard, so I sat up and started to move my hips, catching his motion. He laced his fingers with mine and brought my hand down to my sex.

  “Touch yourself Alexia. I want to watch you.”

  My eyes almost popped out of my head, as I pulled my hand away.

  “I...I can’t do that!” I protested in shock.

  “Yes, you can. Do it for me. Please. It turns me on just to think about it. But to see it, with me inside of you, would be amazing.” He guided my hand back down to that spot. “Please. I’ll help you. Just like this.” He started a light circular motion, his fingers on top of mine, but before long, his hand was gone and I was doing it to myself as he watched.

  I could feel the tension building and threatening to burst when he said, “Open your eyes Alexia and come for me sweetheart.”

  The second I looked at him, my orgasm erupted and I was calling his name, collapsing onto his chest.

  “That’s right babe, you look so amazing when you come. Christ, I’ve never seen anything so fucking beautiful.”

  I was being cradled by him as his hands moved up and down my back, while he kept whispering love words in my ear.

  When I had my wits back again, I raised myself on my elbows and just stared at him. I wanted to tell him a million things, but I didn’t dare let myself because it was way too soon to talk about this kind of stuff. So I did something else instead. I began to do to him what he did to me the night before. I worshipped his body with my hands, mouth and tongue, licking, sucking, nibbling and kissing every inch of him. When I got to the very best part, I took him into my mouth and pleasured him until he was pulling my hair and fisting the sheets.

  “Jesus Alexia, you’re going to put me into oblivion. I knew I was right.”

  “About what?”

  “Your mouth. It was made for kissing. And not just my lips sweetheart. Come here.”

  I crawled up from the end of the bed and he grabbed me so I ended up on top of him.

  “One day,” he said.

  “What?” I asked in confusion.

  “One day you’ll stay here. Forever.”

  I laughed.

  “I’m not kidding Alexia. I’m serious.”

  His eyes didn’t leave mine for a millisecond. He didn’t even blink.

  “I don’t think I...”

  He interrupted me. “I’m not asking you to think. You’re going to marry me one day Alexia. Don’t worry sweetheart, I’m a patient man and I’m willing to wait for you to work out your issues. Notice I said your issues, because that’s what they are.”

  My jaw hit the floor and I didn’t know what to say or do. I couldn’t breathe.

  “I guess I’ve shocked you.” He still hadn’t looked away.

  I just nodded. My voice had disappeared. I couldn’t seem to find it. I wanted to say something, anything. He’d said what I’d been thinking, but I was stupefied to hear it put into words.

  “You don’t need to say anything and I hope I didn’t just scare the shit out of you.”

  “No! You didn’t. I was thinking along those same lines but I thought I was being ridiculous. But this is so fast Pearce. You have to know that. As much as I feel for you, I know it is. This scares me. We scare me. I’ve been fucked up for so long. I want us to be together one day, but only when I’m healthy and over all this shit. Just look what happened during the night. I’m still dealing with that damn attack on top of all this other stuff.”

  “I’m sorry. And now I’ve dumped this on you.”

  “Don’t think of it as that. This is a beautiful thing. I’ve never felt this way before.”

  “Even about Peter?”

  “One of the things I felt the guiltiest about over his death was that damn argument we had. He wanted to get married and I didn’t. Yeah, I loved him, but not enough to marry him. That’s why I carried this guilt for so long.”

  “Shit Alexia. I’m so sorry.”

  “Me too. But Pearce, I’ve never felt like this toward anyone. You’re my first.”

  He grabbed my face and kissed me hard.

  “Then can we be exclusive?” he asked.

  “I already think of you as mine. I just want us to take this a bit slower.” He smiled and it felt like sunshine bathing my body in its warmth.

  “You have plans for today?” he asked.

  “Only with you.”

  “Good. Lets shower and then I want to take you somewhere.”

  “Where?”

  “Huh uh. It’s a surprise.”

  He tugged my hand and I followed him to his massive shower. I thought we’d never get out of there. About an hour later, we emerged scrubbed, shaved, shampooed, conditioned, and, thoroughly loved as well.

  While we were getting dressed, I told him about my Christmas present from Lisbeth. He informed me he’d heard about it from his grandmother. I was shocked.

  “Alexia, this is Charleston. Not much goes on south of Broad without everyone knowing about it. Especially if it has to do with Lisbeth and my grandmother. They are best friends you know.”

  He was right. I hadn’t thought about it, but south of Broad, or SOB, where all the blue bloods lived was a well known gossip arena.

  “So?” he asked.

  “So what?”

  “Aren’t you going to ask?”

  “Ask what?”

  “Ask what my grandmother said.”

  I hadn’t even thought about that. “Okay, I’ll take the bait.”

  “Let me see if I can get it right. She said, ‘Pearce, you know your friend Alexia must be mighty special if Lisbeth bought her a brand new Toyota Highlander for Christmas. You know that Lisbeth Rhett Dubose Rutledge doesn’t let loose of a penny unless someone forces her to.’ I think I got it right.”

  I bent over in a fit of the giggles. It wasn’t so much what he said, it was how he said it. He used a high soprano-like voice with an exaggerated Charleston accent.

  “Oh my God! I wish I had recorded that. You were perfection. And that accent!” I was still laughing so hard that my sides were beginning to hurt.

  “Honey, growing up here...you know it comes with the territory. I had to temper it when I left here and went to Duke. My patients couldn’t understand me.”

  “I bet! Chicago was probably even worse.”

  “No, by that time, I’d learned to hide it.”

  “Well, Dr. Middleton, I think it’s mighty sexy.”

  “Hmm, do you now?” He grabbed me and bent me backward over his arm and kissed me. I grabbed his shirt and pulled him to me. It started out as a fun kiss but quickly turned into a heated, passion filled one, as I hugged him tightly to me.

  “We’ll never get out of here if we don’t stop now,” I said against his mouth.

  “I know,” he said back against mine.

  We reluctantly let go and headed out the door.

  CHAPTER TEN

  Pearce pulled into my driveway and we walked into the house.

  “Wear something warm and bring a sweater and a jacket,” he called to me.

  “Come in and tell me
what’ll be best.”

  He searched my closet and pulled out a light sweater and then a heavier one to layer on top. Then he looked through my coats and pulled my Barbour jacket off the rack and said, “Let’s go.”

  We headed to his car when I remembered that I promised Lisbeth I’d check in on her. “Oh wait. I promised I’d check on Lisbeth today. Part of my job. Do you mind?”

  “Not a bit.”

  “Come on then. She’d love to see you,” I said with a grin.

  We headed to her back door and we let ourselves in.

  “Lisbeth. Are you here?”

  I walked through and found her in her favorite sitting area, reading the paper. She was thrilled to see Pearce, especially since he flirted shamelessly with her. We didn’t stay too long and I promised to check on her the next day.

  We got in his car and Pearce made a couple of stops, one at the Harris Teeter grocery store and another at a local wine shop. Then he headed to the City Marina and parked.

  As we walked along the dock, everyone recognized Pearce. I had a pretty good idea of where we were headed, but when I saw our final destination, I almost peed my pants.

  “Um, you could’ve given me a little warning, Pearce.”

  “Why?”

  “Well, this is huge.”

  “Don’t worry, I have someone captaining today. We can sit back and enjoy the ride.”

  “Pearce, I’m not worried. I’m intimidated.”

  He immediately stopped what he was doing and set all the stuff he was carrying on the dock. Turning to me he took me into his arms and said, “Don’t ever be intimidated by any of this. It’s all stuff Alexia. Materialistic shit. You, on the other hand, are priceless. If anyone should be intimidated, it’s me.” Then he hugged me and held me in his arms for a moment.

  Suddenly we heard a voice from above saying, “Dr. Middleton, do you need a hand?”

  “Hey Jack! No thanks, I’ve got this. We’ll be up in a second.” Then Pearce looked at me and said, “Ready?”

  I nodded and he helped me board the “TSCSC.”

  “I have to ask. What’s TSCSC?”

  “Promise not to laugh?”

  “I promise.”

  “When I got this thing, I couldn’t figure out what to name it. I suck at picking out creative names so I just used the initials for trauma surgeon, Charleston, SC. I know, it’s pretty lame.”

  I couldn’t help it. I bit my lips trying to hold the laughter in but it didn’t work. I ended up spurting it out of my mouth.

  “You too, huh? I’ve gotten more grief from everyone I know about that. I’ll make a deal with you. If you can come up with anything better, have at it. I’m tired of getting hell from everyone.”

  We walked aboard and I gasped when I looked around. The boat wasn’t like anything I’d imagined. You could live on this thing. It was beautiful. Soft colors, comfortable furnishings, modern kitchen appliances. There were two staterooms, but the master bedroom was huge.

  Pearce put all the food away and Jack readied the boat for departure. I sat on the upper deck and watched. We headed out into the Charleston harbor and made our way past the jetties. It was a beautiful day, warm with clear blue skies and the breeze was gentle so the seas were calm.

  We finally passed the C2 buoy, which was the final marking of the passage into Charleston. We’d been in open water and I stood out on the deck next to Pearce and he had his arm around my waist. It was a great feeling of freedom and the boat skimmed across the sea. The sea birds soared in the air above and in the distance, every now and then, you could see some kind of fish jump.

  “Are you hungry?”

  “Starved. We forgot about breakfast.”

  “No, we didn’t. I had you for breakfast.”

  My face heated up in remembrance of our early morning love making session.

  “Alexia, I love saying things that make you blush.”

  I opened my mouth to respond but was met with his lips as he quickly kissed me. I turned in his arms and kissed him back. He moaned into my mouth and I entwined my fingers in his hair.

  He pulled back and asked, “Are you trying to distract me because you’re doing a damn fine job of it?”

  I just laughed and said, “You deserve it after that remark.”

  “Come on, let’s eat. I can’t have you starving on me.”

  We went below and he started pulling out all sorts of food. Cheeses, crusty breads, some she crab soup, fruit and benne seed wafers.

  He heated up the soup in the microwave and served everything else.

  “Wine, San Pellegrino, water?”

  “Wine and San Pellegrino please.”

  He poured our drinks and he put everything on a tray and we took it all back up top so we could enjoy the view and the lovely day.

  As we ate, we talked. I asked about his family and he told me he had two brothers and a sister. He was second to the oldest and his sister was the youngest. That’s who he was with the night I saw him in Camellia’s. She was spoiled rotten and could be a pain in the ass, but he thought we’d get along great. He adored his family; it was easy to see.

  I told him about mine. How they pretty much dumped me after Peter’s death. Blamed me for it all. Didn’t want to know anything about what happened. They just knew I was driving and we’d been fighting and that was enough for them. I told him even my sister dumped me. That was why I moved out of Virginia.

  He wanted to know how I ended up in Charleston. I told him it was because of Terri. We were college roommates at the University of Virginia. She was from here and always claimed she would move back to Charleston after she graduated. She did. So when Peter died, she was the only one who stuck by me. She ended up persuading me to move here.

  I looked at him and smiled. “You know, it took me a while, but now I know it was the best decision I ever made.”

  He tucked a piece of fly away hair behind my ear and kissed me there. Then he whispered, “I couldn’t agree with you more.”

  We ate some more but he noticed I hadn’t touched my soup.

  He dipped his spoon in his and held it out and said, “Open up.”

  I did as he ordered and he slipped the spoon in my mouth and I thought I’d died and gone to heaven.

  “Oh shit. Oh fuck, that is un-fucking-believable.”

  He roared. “Haven’t you ever had she crab soup?”

  “No! I didn’t know what the hell it was but was too embarrassed to ask.”

  He slipped another spoonful into my mouth.

  “Oh my God. Holy fuck. This is orgasmic.”

  He threw back his head and started laughing so hard, I thought he was going to bust the table. He pounded it with his fist.

  “Give me that damn bowl and spoon.” I grabbed it from him and wolfed the rest of the soup down.

  He stared at me with a stupid grin on his face. “Honey, I love to see a woman who’s not afraid to eat.”

  “Well then, you’ll be thrilled with me because as I’ve just demonstrated, I’m a pig with absolutely no table manners and I’m unashamedly proud of my appetite.”

  “Kiss me.”

  I did as he asked and suddenly I was on his lap, my hands tangled in his hair and his hands under my sweater. Then he was standing up and carrying me down below and we found ourselves in one of the staterooms, naked, in bed, making mad, crazy love.

  I was on top, straddling him and he suddenly sat up and we were face to face. He scooted to the edge of the bed so he could drop his legs over the side.

  “I need to be close to your face. I want to touch your mouth, your lips, your neck. God Alexia, you drive me crazy with need for you.”

  “Oh Pearce, I can’t begin to tell you how I feel. I don’t think there are words for it.”

  He moved within me and I moaned.

  “The sounds you make when I’m inside of you just drive me insane.”

  He groaned and talk about sounds. If he wasn’t the sexiest man alive, there wasn’t one.

&nb
sp; My arms were around his neck and I bent my head to his shoulder.

  “No, I have to see your face. I need to see you Alexia. Don’t hide your face from me.”

  I lifted my head and held his face in my hands. “I’m not hiding from you. I would never hide from you. I love you Pearce.”

  Shitfuckdamnhell! I said the L word.

  I hadn’t meant to say that. It just slipped out.

  My eyes grew wide and probably looked like they were going to pop right out of my head. I froze.

  “Say it again,” he said hoarsely as his gaze penetrated mine.

  “What?” I evaded him.

  “Don’t you dare run from me now Alexia. Say it again!” he commanded.

  All the while he was still moving inside of me and I was ready to come. I couldn’t believe I had said that and he was demanding I say it again.

  “Fuck it! I love you Pearce!”

  “I love you too. That’s why I want you to marry me.”

  As soon as the words left his mouth I climaxed, and then he followed me. We didn’t move or say anything for a while. We just sat there, locked in each other’s arms, holding on tightly.

  “I’m not ever going anywhere Alexia. I won’t ever leave. I won’t ever stray. I’ll always be yours, faithful to the very end.”

  Shit. He was too fucking good to be true.

  I felt my face becoming slick with my tears, as they dripped down my cheeks.

  He took my face in his hands and said, “I mean it Alexia. I’ll be yours forever. So you see, it doesn’t matter if you say yes or no...if we take it slow or fast. You have me whether you want me or not.” He wiped my tears with the pads of his thumbs. “Don’t cry beautiful. It hurts my heart when you do.”

  “Oh Pearce. I’m so fucking scared. I’ve never gotten anything right in my life. I want to marry you but I’m so afraid I’ll fuck it up, just like I’ve fucked up everything else. The last thing I ever want to do is to mess things up with you.”

  “Why do you think you’ll fuck it up?”

  “I don’t know. I just have this knack for doing that.”

  “No you don’t. You just think you do. But tell you what. Let’s take it a day at a time. When you’re ready, you say the word. But like I said, I’m not going anywhere. Okay?”