"What's up, doc?"
"We've got some great news about your mother," he announces, and I can hear the bubble of excitement in his voice as he says it.
My head jerks back in surprise. "What?"
"We've reviewed her condition," he goes on, "and we believe that the doctors at her previous treatment center may have misdiagnosed her condition."
"What kind of mistake?" I lean forward eagerly, urging him to go on. Urging him to tell me what I want to hear more than anything in the world.
"We still need to run more tests, of course," he warns, "but we are starting to conclude that your mother's condition may not be terminal."
My mouth drops open and I stare at him incredulously. No. Way. No fucking way. I can't be that lucky. To be handed this, like some kind of redemption after everything that's happened. I feel as though my heart is going to explode with joy. I fight the urge to throw my arms around him. I roll back my shoulders so I'm standing up straight.
"Thank you," I nod, and glance over my shoulder at the closed door. "Do you mind if … do you mind if I tell them?"
"Of course not," he smiles kindly. "But do let them know this is the preliminary stage. We've got a lot more to do before we can give her a clean bill of health."
"I know," I return his smile, so wide it feels as though my face will crack in two. "Thank you. Thank you."
"You're welcome." He nods a couple of time. "By the way, do you think my son can have your autograph. He's nine years old and you're one of his greatest heroes."
With a massive grin, I take my baseball cap off, reaching over, pull a pen from the doctor's coat pocket.
"His name is James," the doctor says.
I sign my cap and hand it over to him. He is so eager and excited he literally snatches it from me, but I don't think I have ever been happier to give someone an autograph before. He thanks me profusely and heads back down the corridor. I place my hand against the door, pause for a second, and then open it. This is going to be the best part of my day. My month. My year. My life. I step into the room with my family, and they all clock the look on my face at the same moment.
Chapter Twelve
Reese
Another morning, another unfamiliar place for me to wake up in, but this time, the fact I'm somewhere new doesn't throw me. In fact, it sends a shiver of joy down my back. I turn over to see Drake lying next to me, fast asleep and sprawled across the luxurious covers of his massive bed.
It was last night that I officially moved into his apartment in the city. His place is great because it's less than an hour's drive from where Morgan is staying so I can be closer to her. I don't know how much longer Morgan must stay in the hospital, but I hope she will be discharged soon. Now that we have found out her condition is treatable, I can't wait for her to start living her life again.
Drake drove down to pick up all my stuff, and we took a road trip across the country together. It's something I will remember forever. It was like a dream. The sun was shining, and the wind was in my hair. We talked, we laughed, we ate, and when we just couldn't keep our hands off each other anymore, we stopped along the way and fell on each other like hungry animals. I still remember how I laid on my back on the hot hood of the car and stared at the blue, blue sky while he ate me out.
Just thinking about it now makes me feel that little flutter in my stomach again. Funny, but even though it's still early days, we've already been through so much that it feels like we have passed years together.
When we got back last night I didn't even bother to unpack. I managed to chow down some take-out before my eyes drooped shut. Drake carried me to bed and we had gentle sex. It was slow, languorous, and utterly delicious.
I stretch luxuriously and feel myself relax with satisfaction. This is it. This is what I've been looking for all my life. A new life in the city, and the chance to do whatever I want with it.
Drake rolls over and throws his arm over my waist. I turn to find him smiling wickedly at me. He lowers his mouth and plants a kiss on my bare shoulder. I shiver at his touch, even though the sunlight is streaming through the enormous window opposite the bed, and warming the room.
"Morning, Sexy," I murmur, and flirtatiously flip myself over so I'm facing away from him.
He wraps an arm around my waist and pulls me close so that I feel his erection pressing up against my ass. I bury my face into the pillow and smile to myself, shifting my butt back and forth against him. He lets out a small groan and kisses my neck, running his teeth sensually against my skin. I can already feel myself growing slick between my legs, and wonder if I just move myself this way a little, and then that, and then …
It worked. Before I know it, he's inside me, with his cock firmly planted inside my pussy as he gently begins to move in and out of me. I bite my lip and close my eyes as his hand roams up to pinch and tug at my nipples. I feel his breath, hot and ragged, against my ear, and his cock, thick and strong inside me. I love the way he takes his time, taunting and teasing me until he knows I can't take a moment more of it.
"I could get used to waking up like this," he murmurs softly, and I reach back to take his hand and guide it down in between my legs. I'm happy to hand over my whole body to this man, to let him take complete control and drive me to levels of pleasure I didn't even think were possible before I met him. His fingers deftly find my clit, and I let out a small groan as he begins to work his magic. I turn my head to look at him. He smiles against my skin, shark-like, and thrusts so deeply into me it makes my mouth open in a soundless cry.
He holds himself inside me as he continues to play with my clit. My muscles throb and pulse around his morning wood. With a whimper of need, I press my hips as far back as I can, trying to meet him when he thrusts again.
After only a couple of minutes of him inside me, I feel my toes curling and my muscles tightening as my orgasm approaches. Already? I guess my brain has not woken up properly and is free from the fog that usually comes after a day of studies and all the shitty stuff that life throws at you. At this moment, all I have in my head is him, inside me, taking what is his.
"Ah!" I cry out as the climax begins, washing over me in mellow waves that arch my body and tightens my muscles.
"Jesus, Reese," he growls in my ear. "You feel so fucking good when you cum."
I only manage a small, incoherent moan in response, but he's too lost in me to mind; thrusting and playing with my clit through it all. When it is, over I let my head drift down onto the pillow dreamily. He places his large hand on my hip to hold me steady and fucks me hard. Every thrust sends another little shudder of pleasure through my system.
A few seconds later, he finishes inside of me, his fingers digging into my hips, pushing himself as deeply as he can. He lets out a gasp, then flips me over in one swift movement. I look up at him. His skin glows golden in the morning light. He plants a kiss on the side of my mouth, pulls back, and smiles.
"Well, good morning to you too." He raises his eyebrows at me, and I raise mine back.
We both laugh at the same moment, and he wraps his arms around me and draws me into his chest. I nuzzle into him contentedly. I know that things don't get much better than this.
Chapter Thirteen
Reese
Feeling happy, ridiculously so, I put my key in the door and push it open. It's been a week since I moved in with Drake and I'm still floating on a cloud of joy. The apartment is quiet. Drake is out visiting with his agent about a sponsorship deal for a new sneakers company. He's glad to be back training again, even though he comes home every night exhausted. A couple of times he tried to sneak me into the locker rooms again, in the hopes of re-enacting our kinky first-time meeting, but we've had no luck so far. There have always been people around. Sometimes I wonder how fate works. How easily I got in and found him alone the first time, but now it's almost impossible to find a moment when it is quiet.
I dump my keys on the side table and kick off my formal shoes. I've just returned from an interview at one of the colleges I hope to attend in the new year. I've always been wary about pursuing something away from Dad and Morgan, for fear that they would need me, or that something would happen while I was out of town.
But, now that Drake has provided Morgan with the best care in the world, I don't have to worry about them like I used to. I just visited Morgan yesterday evening and she is improving in leaps and bounds. We could go out for a walk in the grounds of the hospital. It was slow, and Morgan needed to get back into the wheelchair half way through, but it was wonderful to see the color had come back into her face and the new bounce in her step. If all goes well, Dad will be able to take her home in a couple of weeks.