“Kiss me,” she whispered.
He dropped down on top of her, slipped one hand underneath her, and pressed his lips to hers. His balls tightened as he felt the rushing train of his climax approaching. Her tongue wound with his, and all he could think of was being alive. The only thing that mattered at this moment was being here with Elizabeth, being one with her, losing himself within her, inside her as she moaned against his lips. Her * convulsed around him, and then she was coming and so was he. He tightened his hold on her and let go, groaning as he came with hard thrusts, burying his face in her neck and knowing there was no one he could let go with like this but Elizabeth.
After, he kissed her neck and her earlobe, and tunneled his fingers in her hair before lifting up to look at her.
“Thank you.”
She smoothed her fingers over his brow. “You’re welcome.”
Instead of jumping out of bed to grab a shower and change of clothes, he pulled her against him, stroked her hair, and kissed the back of her neck.
“Do you need to go? Do you have work to do?” he asked.
“Nothing that can’t wait.” She turned to face him, pulled the covers up over them both, and laid her head on his chest. “Sleep, Gavin.”
He was out as soon as he closed his eyes.
TWENTY
ELIZABETH HAD BEEN GLUED TO GAVIN’S SIDE FOR THE past two weeks. She’d told him there was nothing so pressing with her work that it couldn’t be rescheduled or handled by phone and laptop.
The Rivers understood his dilemma with his father and had pulled someone up from the minor leagues to take his place at first base. There was no way Gavin was going to leave his father’s side right now.
The surgery went fine, thank God. Seeing his father after had just about done him in. Hooked up to oxygen and IVs and beeping machines, his formerly robust, rock of a father had been reduced to something Gavin hadn’t wanted to admit.
His father was human. Vulnerable. He could die. Mortality wasn’t something Gavin ever wanted to think about, especially where his parents were concerned. It wasn’t time yet. It wouldn’t be time for a while. A long while.
He spent every second he could at the hospital, helping his mother out until she told him he was becoming annoying, which was okay because he knew how stressed she was. Between him, Mick, Tara, and Jenna, they made sure she was never alone. One of them always stood by her. His dad slept a lot after the surgery, or at least he tried to. When he wasn’t sleeping, he was either being poked and prodded by the nursing staff or hauled off somewhere for some test.
How the hell were patients supposed to recover in the hospital when the staff never let them sleep?
They’d dragged his dad’s ass out of bed the day after surgery, something that surprised the hell out of Gavin. He and Mick even questioned the nursing staff about it, and Mick went on the hunt for the cardiac surgeon, certain the nurses were out of their goddamned minds. But the staff assured them the sooner they got his dad out of the bed and walking around, the quicker he would recover.
Four days post surgery, his father was walking up and down the halls, no longer connected to tubes or IVs, and eating solid food again, something his dad was damned happy about. He’d been anxious to go home. The doctor had said maybe the next day if he continued to be a pain in the ass and a medical miracle, and performed as well as he had been. His dad said he’d run around the damn nurse’s station if that’s what it took to get him discharged.
That made Gavin smile. His dad cranky and impatient? Yeah, that sounded normal to him.
True to his word, his father had walked the entire floor. They’d discharged him the next day.
Maybe his mother could get some sleep at home.
They’d been home for three days, all of them going in and out all day long. Jenna, Tara, and Elizabeth had made a grocery store run the day they’d brought his dad home so Mom wouldn’t have to worry about having food in the house. Since Dad wouldn’t be able to take the stairs for a while, they’d set up the downstairs guest room as their master bedroom for the time being, something Dad hated but he’d just have to deal with. At least he was home, and he was happy about that.
Not that Mom was going to let him prop his feet up in his favorite chair and veg. She had him up twice a day for walks around the house and in the backyard, the best he could do the first week. She was like a drill sergeant. She had his schedule mapped out and knew what to feed him, knew what his exercise schedule was down to the hour and minute of the day, knew what pills he was supposed to take and when his doctors’ appointments were. And she at least allowed her kids to help.
Jenna had gone back to manning the bar since they’d enlisted aunts, uncles, and cousins to take over while they were standing vigil at the hospital. The bar didn’t run itself, though, and Jenna was itching to get back to work.