Radclyffe - Turn Back Time

Pearce closed her eyes and listened to their voices, wanting just a few more moments of simple happiness.

v "Here you go," Wynter said, settling Ronnie into one of the booster seats at Mina's kitchen table next to the other children. She put the backpack with Ronnie's favorite toys, coloring books, and trucks on the floor. "I should be back in the morning tomorrow unless there's a heavy OR schedule. I'll call you."

"That's fine," Mina said automatically.

Wynter kissed Mina's cheek. "Thanks. Bye."

Mina glanced at the clock, then at Wynter. "You're early and you're leaving without breakfast?"

"I've got a few things to do before I leave for work."

"Uh-huh." Mina narrowed her eyes. "Nice try." She poured milk into three cereal bowls and set them in front of the kids. "Give."

Wynter moved closer to Mina where she stood by the sink and lowered her voice. "I have company."

"Company." Mina's voice rose with interest. "You don't say. And just who might that be?"

"Look, I'll tell you all about it--"

"You just bet you will. But for now, I want the name."

Wynter blushed. "Pearce."

Mina's expression grew serious. "All-night kind of company?"

"Yes."

"And everything's all right?"

"Everything's great." Wynter knew she was grinning like an idiot, but she couldn't stop.

"I wasn't asking about that , but I'm certainly glad to hear it," Mina said with arch playfulness. "Call me later when you get a break."

"I'm really okay. She's wonderful." Wynter clasped Mina's hand.

"You don't have to worry about me."

"You know I'd be doing the same thing if she were some stud muffin, so don't try to make more out of it than it is. Call me later."

Wynter nodded. "I will. Promise."

Smiling, Mina watched Wynter hurry away, thinking that there wasn't all that much difference between players of the male and female varieties--the game still seemed to be the same.

v "Hey," Wynter said, leaning down to kiss Pearce on the mouth.

"Time to wake up."

Pearce opened her eyes, blinked once, then caught Wynter around the waist and pulled her down onto the bed. "I'm awake."

Laughing, Wynter got a hand between them and pushed Pearce away. "I'm dressed, and you need a shower, and we have to be at the hospital in forty-five minutes."

"Where's Ronnie?"

"Next door having breakfast."

Pearce frowned. "How did I miss that?"

Wynter grinned and tapped Pearce's chin. "I guess someone did you in last night."

"Oh yeah?" Pearce growled and flipped Wynter over onto her back. Then she straddled her hips and pinned her wrists to the bed.

"Says who?"

Wynter looked up, stunned. It was the first time she'd seen Pearce nude in full light. Her hands and mouth and body knew the softness, the curves and planes, of Pearce's form. They were indelibly marked on her consciousness. But now she could see the delicate arch of her collarbones, the teasing sway of her breasts, and the tight inviting curve of her abdomen as it swept down to the bend in her thighs. Trembling, she touched the pale white line in the center of Pearce's lower lip. "It's a good thing I ran into you. Without this tiny scar, I'd worry that you weren't human. You're almost too beautiful to look at."

Shaking her head, Pearce leaned down and kissed Wynter on the mouth, then the angle of her jaw, then her neck. "Should I worry that your judgment seems to be impaired, considering that you're on call for my service today?"

"I should've kissed you four years ago."

Pearce released Wynter's hands and pulled her up until they sat facing one another, her hips between Wynter's spread legs, her knees bent over Wynter's thighs. She clasped her lightly around the waist.

"Why?"

"Because I wanted to. Because I wanted you."

"Did you ever think you were--"

"No," Wynter said with a sigh, resting her cheek on Pearce's shoulder, her hands on Pearce's thighs. "And I don't know why, except by the time I had a chance to think about the fact that my life wasn't going the way I wanted it to go, I was already married. And when I saw you that first time, Ronnie was coming."

"Just because you slept with me last night doesn't mean you're--"

"Don't." Wynter lifted her head. "Don't try to convince me that what I'm feeling is an accident."

Pearce swept her fingers through Wynter's hair, then lifted it as it flowed over the back of her hand and kissed Wynter's neck just above the angle of her shoulder. "I wasn't trying to. But it's a big change."

"Not a change. A discovery." Wynter clasped the back of Pearce's neck, pressing Pearce's mouth harder against her skin. "I love your mouth on me. I love your hands on me. I love your hands inside of me."

She moaned as Pearce's teeth closed on the muscle in her neck. "What do you think that says about me?" She squeezed Pearce's neck harder and whispered, "Suck me."

Gasping at the small point of pain, Wynter dropped her head back, urging Pearce on. "I love the way you get wet for me. I love how hard your nipples are when you're excited. I love feeling you come when I touch you. When I touch you." She moaned. "God, that feels so good."

Pearce pulled away, her chest heaving. "Fuck. You make me so crazy, I don't know what I'm doing half the time." Tenderly, she kissed the mark she had left. "Sorry."

"I'm just sorry we don't have time for more." Wynter kissed her hungrily, thrusting her tongue into Pearce's mouth, then pulling away just as abruptly. "I want you so much right now."

"We can't go back," Pearce said, running her thumb over Wynter's mouth. "And we can't make up for lost time overnight." She grinned.

"I'm not entirely certain I can even walk."

Wynter smiled, her lips full and flushed with arousal. "Good."

With a sudden powerful thrust of her hips, she dislodged Pearce, who landed on her back on the bed with a surprised grunt. "Go shower. If we're late for rounds, the senior resident will be pissed."

"Tease!" Pearce made a grab for her. "The senior resident's already pissed."

Laughing, Wynter rolled off the bed and danced out of reach.

"Then I guess it's a good thing you can't run."

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

Pearce carried her coffee to the round table in the far corner of the cafeteria where Wynter waited with Bruce, who had been on call Saturday night. Wynter looked up and smiled at her, and Pearce felt a flutter in her chest. She grinned, her eyes traveling from Wynter's face down her body. She frowned when she saw the bruise low on Wynter's neck, exposed by the vee of her scrub shirt. She raised her eyebrows and tugged at her own shirt, mimicking covering part of her throat. Wynter blushed and adjusted hers. Remembering exactly how that bruise had gotten there, Pearce had to admit to a small surge of pleasure. As she sat down, she saw Bruce staring at her with a pensive expression on his face. She met his eyes and held them until he looked away. Then she took her list from her shirt pocket, unfolded it carefully, and set it in front of her. "Okay. From the top."

After they'd run the list of patients and Bruce had left for home, she and Wynter were the only ones remaining at the table. "Tired?"

"A little." Wynter smiled. "Good tired."

"Hopefully today will be slow and you'll have a chance to catch a little sleep."

"Are there any admissions this afternoon?" In recent years, insurance companies had revamped their reimbursement scale to force physicians to bring patients into the hospital on the day of surgery rather than admitting them the afternoon before and keeping them overnight prior to their procedures. When previously there had been a dozen or more patients admitted to the hospital in the afternoon for surgery the next day, now there often were none.