Lightning Strikes Part 3 - Mary Baxter Lynn

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her, though neither said a word. Once in the hall, she began walking. He matched her step-by-step until she stopped and stared up at him. “Look, Noah—”

      It happened so fast that she couldn’t have prevented it even if she’d had warning. Making a feral sound, he grabbed her by the arm, then with his free hand opened the door nearest them, which happened to be a linen closet, and pushed her inside.

      “What?”

      “Shh, don’t talk.”

      “But—”

      This time his lips cut off her words as they slanted over hers with unerring and hot accuracy.

      For a horrified moment, Amanda was too stunned to react. Taking advantage of that weakness, he delved his tongue into her mouth. She squirmed and tried to turn her head, but to no avail. Her head and back merely clashed with the solidity of the wall behind her.

      Using her inability to go anywhere as an added advantage, his fingers strayed to the exposed column of her throat. She jerked her lips from beneath his.

      “Noah—” she cried, her breathing laboring along with her heart, “this is…crazy.”

      “Crazy or not, we both want it.”

      “No.”

      “Yes,” he ground out, dipping his hand inside her blouse.

      The room spun. She had to stop him, she told herself, but she didn’t have the strength or the ammunition, not when he was touching her like this. Besides, her body was betraying her, the softness of her blouse giving way to allow his hand to have freedom to probe, to roam at will.

      “You want me. Admit it,” he whispered.

      “Noah—”

      He ignored his name that came out on a sob, too busy lifting her hand to her breasts, then covering that hand with one of his own.

      Oh, God! Amanda felt as if all the air had been sucked from her body.

      “Now, can you deny it?” he rasped. “Your nipples are betraying you.”

      “Please—” she begged, but for what she didn’t know.

      “Please what? Please touch you here? And here?” His voice had taken on a feverish pitch.

      He shoved back her coat, then placed his fingers at the top of her blouse and yanked. Buttons popped, then pinged on the floor, freeing her breasts and stomach.

      She cried out in protest, but it failed to deter his hands and lips from seeking the bare, heated flesh. Trembling all over, she fought the emotions rising inside her, knowing now she’d already lost the battle.

      She ached to give in, especially when his breath mingled with hers at the same time a hand ran down her leg and lifted her skirt.

      Her eyes fluttered shut as he continued to tease, to nibble at her lips, feeling confident that he was in control of this sexual game.

      But she knew he was not without his own vulnerabilities, that much of his so-called control had underpinnings of clay. Like hers, his senses were boiling, and only when he was inside her would he be satisfied.

      And he didn’t let up. He continued to torment them both, thrusting his hips against hers. She felt his arousal hard and full when he began moving, rubbing…

      The movement was like a sudden, static shock. Their groans became one as she stopped fighting, giving in to the needs invading her body. He’d won. On fire, and throwing caution to the wind, she imprisoned his tongue in her mouth and sucked.

      “Amanda!” he groaned later.

      It was in that moment she felt his fingers nudge her legs apart.

      Chapter Twenty

      “Has anyone heard from Dr. Sloane? Have they found her daughter yet?”

      Amanda shook her head at her friend, Doris, then said, “No, and I’m worried, too, even though I haven’t tried to call her.”

      “You probably wouldn’t have gotten through,” Nurse Liz Roberts said.

      Saturday afternoon’s pace in ER remained slow, despite the fact that the rain continued, though not with the same vengeance as the night before. Still, no one was holding their breath, as at any time a new string of emergencies could erupt.

      For now, most of the ER staff, in addition to Doris, were in the lounge having some much-needed refreshments.

      “You’re right about that,” Amanda added, “though I can’t believe Victoria hasn’t been rescued by now.”

      “Well, she hasn’t.”

      All eyes turned and watched as Jerry strode into the room, a smile on his wide, clownlike face. Amanda tried not to concentrate on the skin that hung under his neck like a second chin.

      Why hadn’t she noticed that before? If he had been a woman, she mused, he would’ve had plastic surgery. Suddenly angry at her inane meandering, Amanda blurted out, “How do you know she hasn’t been rescued from the cave?” During the night, Karen had gotten a call that her daughter had slipped into a newly-formed cave, created by the mudslides.

      “I heard it on the radio just now.” Jerry headed straight for the candy machine. When he’d punched in the number, he turned back around. “Actually, it’s the talk of the town.”

      “Gosh, how awful,” Liz said. “I wish there was something we could do.” She made a face. “Karen is part of our extended family, and there’s nothing we can do for her.”

      “I know,” Amanda put in. “And like you, I feel so helpless.”

      “She does have Cassidy to lean on,” Doris said, dipping into her bag of potato chips, then crunching loudly.

      “Don’t be too sure about that,” Liz said in a frank tone. “He’s never been thrilled with this job or the hours.”

      “Let’s not get off on their private lives, okay?” Amanda didn’t want to sound like a saint, yet she wasn’t about to gossip about a cohort and her marital problems.

      “Besides,” she added, “I can’t imagine them not pulling together in a crisis of this magnitude. My God, their child’s life is in jeopardy.”

      “You’re right,” Liz replied, slightly red-faced. “I guess I’m being too judgmental. It’s just that Karen is such a nice person, and I want all the best for her.”

      “We all do,” Doris said.

      As if he were feeling left out, Jerry chimed in, changing the subject. “The missing Sloane kid’s not the only one who’s making the news.”

      Amanda stiffened. “Oh? You haven’t by chance heard anything about Randi Howell, have you?”

      “Nope.” Jerry rubbed his burred head. “But that’s right—she’s missing, too. Cut out before the ‘I do’s.’”

      Amanda shot him a sharp glance. “I guess that’s one way of putting it.”

      Jerry shrugged. “Well, it’s the truth, or at least that’s the story going around.”

      “Maybe, maybe not,” Amanda said, again uncomfortable discussing hospital personnel or their families. Where Noah was concerned, that doubled. When she thought about him and what had almost taken place between them in the linen closet, she literally panicked.

      “Surely Noah knows something by now,” Doris said. “I should make a mental note to ask him.”

      “All I can say is that I hope Randi’s all right.” Amanda walked to the window, fighting off the desire to leave the hospital and never come back. That was how disjointed and distraught she was. Noah’s unexpected come-on to her had jerked a knot in her life that she couldn’t

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