Chapter 18

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 headboard 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 was enthralling, lighting the lamps of desire in every inch of her body. She felt his lip’s 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 handprints 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 dumb 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 fathers 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.

“I’m sorry, Toffer. How are you?” She let out a giggle when her feet lifted off the ground. Katherine looked on and waited for Duke to realize she was around. And when that didn’t happen, she waved at her sister in-law and walked toward her father’s bed where Lyle was standing. Lyle handed her the chart, and she couldn’t help the smile that crept on her lips.

“Trust you to find your father’s heart attack funny.” The steel on the tip of her mother’s tongue slashed through her.

“It’s nice to see you too, Mother. I am only guessing here, but are you the one who diagnosed father’s heart attack?” Caroline had a way of exaggerating. A molehill to her was a mountain. And when she shrugged as if it was obvious, Katherine couldn’t help but laugh. Cautiously she stepped beside her father. Chancing rejection she leaned own and kissed his cheek. “How are you, Daddy?”

“According to your mother I’m having a heart attack. But I’ve missed you.” He smiled at her, and she was relieved.

“Well, I guess I can start coming around more. Plus, you didn’t have a heart attack, just a severe case of indigestion. The discomfort you probably felt on your chest was heartburn. We’ll prescribe you some antacids and send you home.”

“I knew it,” Harold grumbled. “Promise me you’ll come for dinner tomorrow. It’s Sunday. I’m sure you won’t have much to do.”

“And you can bring your doctor friend,” Caroline piped in.

“A second ago you thought Daddy was on his death bed, now you are playing match maker?” Katherine snorted. “I’ll be there, Daddy, alone.”

“But I’m inviting your friend.”

“Don’t give him any ideas. I’m seeing someone else.”

“Oh? Who?”

“The same guy you tried to run off a year and a half ago. You see, Mum, I’m worth fighting for.” Katherine gave her father a quick kiss and started to leave when Duke called her. “Dear God, Duke, it’s a miracle. The phone does detach from your ear.”

“Very funny, Kat. I was wondering if you would mind giving Yvonne an ultra-sound.”

“No!”

“I don’t mind.” Katherine frowned at the pregnant woman when she realized they had both spoken at the same time but with different answers. “I seriously don’t mind. I have a few minutes to spare.”

“I’m just—I’m not wearing the right outfit.”

“Okay.” Katherine had never had the time or patience to try and decipher anything coming out of Yvonne’s mouth. There was nothing about the woman’s entrance into their family that made sense. She was apparently Duke’s one night stand that turned up pregnant. There were to odd things about that statement, Katherine never knew Duke to have one-night stands, or to be careless and the supposedly pregnant woman didn’t act like one. Katherine still couldn’t believe that her father had allowed her to stay around as long as she had. The amniotic DNA test seemed to have satisfied their patriarch. Katherine did not have time for her. And if she didn’t want Katherine to give her an ultra-sound then even easier. She didn’t know what they would say to each other during those few moments. “I’ll see you guys tomorrow.”