Sweet Torture Read online

  “We’ll blame the drugs.” Not the fact that he’s waking up from anesthesia and recalling a night from five years ago.

  Owen’s demanding I return to be his nurse? Going ballistic because he thinks I left? Why? Is he so egotistical he hasn’t gotten over being left in the middle of the night without a goodbye?

  Martha laughs when she sees me approach the nurse’s station. “You weren’t gone long, missy. Let me guess. The bossy bastard in room six sent someone to get you?”

  “The sister.”

  “I figured as much when I saw her scampering out of his room. Guess he prefers a pretty, young thing over this old, wrinkled lady. Can’t say I blame him.”

  Already half past the hour so vitals are due again. “Thanks for keeping an eye on him for me.”

  “No problem. Maybe you’ll get some downtime for a lunch break after you discharge him.”

  “Maybe.” Doubtful. There’s always another to replace the one you send out the door.

  I stop at the curtain to Owen’s room before entering. Deep breath in, Ashlyn. Exhale slowly.

  It really pisses me off he still has this kind of effect on me five years after the fact. One encounter. One damn night five years ago and the man can still wreck me today.

  Fate is unkind to me. Why the hell couldn’t his body have gone to shit after he stopped playing college ball? Why does he still have to be so damn hot?

  Fuck being hot. It doesn’t make up for being an asshole.

  “What’s the matter, Ashlyn? Trying to think of a way to explain what you did?”

  What. The. Actual. Fuck?

  I yank the curtain back and march to his bedside, my hands fisted at my side. “What I did? I know you didn’t actually just say that to me.”

  “That got your attention, huh?” His mouth tugs at one corner and the adjacent eye narrows as his brow arches.

  Holy shit. Jacob makes that exact face…every time the little shit is up to no good.

  And now Owen Bliss is up to no good. I’m sure of it.

  Like father, like son.

  Chapter 3

  Owen Bliss

  I could barely keep my eyes open when Ashlyn was in my room earlier. But not now. I’m awake, fully alert, and we’re going to talk about how it’s possible we spent the most spectacular night together and then she walked out the door without a fucking word. “No more pretending you don’t know who I am?”

  She crosses her arms over her chest and her right brow rises. “I wasn’t pretending. I had no idea who you were when the surgery nurse rolled you into recovery from the OR.”

  Does she think I’m stupid? “I highly doubt the surgery nurse dumped a patient on you without telling you my name?” I hold up my armband. “Even if she didn’t, it’s clearly written right here and all over my chart.”

  She works her bottom jaw back and forth as she shakes her head. “Of course she told me who you were but the name Owen Bliss means nothing to me; I never knew your last name.”

  “How could you not?” Everyone at school knew me. Every. One. But she didn’t go to UT.

  “You introduced yourself as Owen that night. That was it. No last name.” She didn’t try to find out who I was? That stings.

  “Your last name is Shepherd. Ask me how I know.” Ashlyn needs to understand that I didn’t wake up to an empty bed the next morning and just say to hell with her. That night meant something to me. And it hurts to know it meant so little to her.

  She points to her name badge. “Shepherd. It’s clearly right here so I don’t have to ask.”

  “I’ve known you were Ashlyn Shepherd for five years. How? I spent the following Monday tracking down your friend Brittany so I could find out what happened. Why you took off on me like that.”

  “And her response was…?”

  Why is she being so sharp with me? I’m not the one who left. “She said you thought I was an asshole and never wanted to see me again. Told me to leave you alone and never show up in your life.”

  Her arms are still crossed as she stares a hole through me. “Yup. That’s exactly right.”

  “I don’t understand. We had a great night, or at least I thought we did.”

  She laughs but I don’t mistake it for amusement. “I guess it was a great night for you. You got laid.”

  Oh hell, no. She doesn’t get to play that card with me. “You make it sound like I took advantage of you. Do I need to remind you that you’re the one who started taking off my clothes first?”

  She lowers her voice. “Only after I woke up with you between my legs.”

  “I went down and ate your pussy until you were coming all over my face. The way you screamed my name sort of left me with the impression that it was a great night for you too.”

  “Oh my God.” She flaps her hands like a new bird trying to takeoff in flight. “Shh. You can’t say things like that. Anyone walking by can hear every little sound behind this curtain.”

  “I’ll say a lot more than that if you don’t tell me what happened.” Yeah. I’ll threaten to announce a lot of things if it earns the answers I’ve been wanting for so long.

  She uncrosses her arms and places her hands on her hips. “I made a trip to the bathroom and was approached by your girlfriend in the hallway. She confronted me about sleeping with you. Do you have any idea how humiliating that was for me?”

  Not possible. I fucked a lot of chicks while I was at UT but I never had a steady girl. “What did she look like?”

  “Redhead. Several inches taller than me. Super skinny.”

  Alexandra. I can’t believe that bitch is behind ruining my night with Ashlyn. Maybe even ruining what could have been something really good between us. “She wasn’t my girlfriend. She was my stalker.”

  Ashlyn’s eyes soften and her fists relax. “Your stalker?”

  “Yeah. Alexandra was a baseball groupie. Screwed anything with a bat or ball but she became obsessed with me. I had to take out a restraining order not long after I met you because she wouldn’t take no for an answer.”

  Ashlyn steps backward until her body is pressed against the wall. “All this time was a misunderstanding? No way.”

  “I swear I didn’t have a girlfriend the night we met. But if I had, I can promise you it wouldn’t have been that whore.” No way I could ever date someone who’d been reamed out by most of my teammates.

  Ashlyn closes her eyes, tilts her chin upward, and presses the back of her head against the wall. “I’ve been wrong all this time?”

  “It isn’t possible for you to have been more wrong.”

  She covers her face with her hands and bends at the waist. Like she’s going to be sick. “I don’t know what to say.”

  “That’s an easy one. Say you’ll go out with me.”

  She straightens and puts her hand to her chest as she looks at me. Her expression is so…dire. “You don’t understand. So many things have happened. So much you don’t know about.”

  I don’t understand what that means. What has happened? What don’t I know? “Then tell me over dinner.”

  “I don’t think I can do that.”

  I see the turmoil within her hazel eyes and I want to make it go away. “Of course you can. We’ll share a meal, and we’ll talk.”

  She closes her eyes and shakes her head. “I need time to think about it.”

  “It’s just a meal, Ashlyn. There’s not really a lot to consider except where we want to eat.”

  “I wish that were true.” She comes to my bedside and pushes the button on the blood pressure machine. “I need to look at your dressing again.”

  She leans over me and pulls back the hospital gown. She smells like heaven and I can’t resist reaching out and squeezing her hip. I need her to remember how good we were together. How good it felt to be with me. “I’ve thought about you so much since that night. Have you thought about me?”

  Her eyes abandon my bandage and her hazels lock with my blues. “Every single day,” she whispers.

&
nbsp; Fuck. She has no idea how badly I wanted to hear that. Needed to hear that.

  My hand abandons her hip and slides between her thighs. She’s going to remember what it was like to scream my name.

  “Owen, you can’t do that in here. Anyone could walk in.” Her attempt to push my hand away is weak.

  “Have you thought about me touching you here? Fingering your clit like I did that night?” I rub the top of her pussy through her uniform.

  She closes her eyes and her words come out as a whisper. “All the time.”

  “Have you thought about me eating you? My tongue fucking your hole and then licking your clit? My fingers fucking you until your pussy comes all over my face?”

  “Oh my God.” Her eyes tighten. “Yes.”

  I move my fingers faster. Harder. “You want to cum so bad right now, don’t you, Ashlyn?”

  She grinds against my fingers. “Yesss.”

  “And you will.” I take my hand from between her legs and push it down the front of her scrub pants and panties. The motion isn’t the smoothest since I’m using my non-dominant hand but it’ll have to do.

  Her eyes pop open and she stares at me wide-eyed. She looks at the curtain and then back at me. “You can’t do that in here. Someone could come in and see.”

  “But they’re not because I’m going to be fast.” I quickly find her clit and rub it. “Stop talking, Ashlyn, and let this happen. Close your eyes and tune out the worry and fear. Just feel me and what I’m doing to you.” She closes her eyes and her breathing quickly turns to panting. “I want you to say my name when you come. Understand?”

  She bites her bottom lip and nods as her increasing breath makes her nostrils flare and retract.

  She’s slick so my fingers glide inside her easily but the fit is snug. “You’re still virgin-tight. How many men have had this pussy since you gave me your virginity?” Her eyes open and she stares at me, saying nothing. “Did you think I wouldn’t know?”

  Her eyes close again but she doesn’t answer. “Tell me, Ashlyn. How many fuckers have been inside you?”

  She shakes her head from side to side. “Only you.”

  Motherfucker. All this time and no one else has had her. I’m going to keep it that way. She may not know it yet but she is MINE.

  “Remember that night, Ashlyn. Think about what it was like to have my cock moving in and out of your tight little cunt. It was so good, baby. Remember how hard I came inside you? You were the only girl I’d ever done that with and you still are.”

  I felt like I’d lost my fucking mind. I couldn’t stop myself from filling her with every drop of cum I had inside me. And when it ran out of her, I rubbed it into the skin on her belly. Marking her. Making her mine. I was like a fucking caveman.

  “It’s starting.” Her pussy quivers and then grips my fingers at least a half-dozen times. “Oh, O… wen.”

  “That’s it, Ash. Say my name while you come.”

  “Owen. Owen.” Her voice is raspy. Breathless. And all I can think about is how much better it would sound if she were underneath me with my cock coming inside her.

  She grabs the side rail of my hospital bed and her knuckles turn white as she spirals down from her orgasmic high. “Oh my God.”

  I take my hand out of her panties and bring it to my nose before licking my fingers clean. “You smell and taste so damn good. Even better than I remember. I didn’t think that was possible.”

  “I cannot believe you just did that. In here.” She can pretend to be appalled if she wants but I know she loved coming. Who doesn’t?

  Ashlyn straightens but I grasp the front of her nursing jacket and pull her down so we’re face-to-face. I press a close-mouthed kiss against her lips. “I want to fuck you so bad.”

  She quickly looks at the curtain and back to me. “No way that’s happening in here,” she whispers.

  “Maybe not but trust me when I say it is going to happen.”

  “You’re just so sure of yourself.”

  “No, sweetheart. I’m sure of us. And I refuse to let you walk out of my life a second time.”

  Ashlyn jerks and stands erect when the curtain is suddenly yanked open by my doctor. “Mr. Bliss. How are you feeling?”

  Ashlyn’s here. I just made her come. “I can’t begin to tell you how great I am right now.”

  “I like hearing that. Want to be discharged home?”

  “Only if I can take this pretty nurse with me.”

  Dr. Hall puts his arm around Ashlyn and squeezes her shoulder. “I’m afraid we need to keep this one around.” What the fuck is that about? He needs to take his hands off her right now.

  “Any concerns or questions for me?”

  Plenty but none to do with my surgery. “No.”

  “All right then. I’ll write discharge orders and Shep will get you out of here as quickly as possible.” Shep?

  Ashlyn has taken on her nursing demeanor again. “I’ll come back to discharge you out of here as soon as Dr. Hall is finished writing orders.”

  No way I’m leaving here without some answers. “Can you stay and help me to the bathroom?”

  “Of course.”

  “I’ll leave the discharge orders at the nursing station for you.”

  “Yes, sir.” Ashlyn elevates the head of the bed and lowers the side rail. “Sit on the side with your feet on the floor before trying to stand.”

  I turn and my legs brush hers. “What the fuck was all that?”

  Her head tilts to the side and her eyes narrow. “What was what?”

  Her disgruntled expression tells me she knows exactly what I’m talking about. And she doesn’t appreciate being questioned about it. “Him putting his hands on you?”

  “I don’t owe you any kind of explanation.”

  “Are you fucking around with him?” It looked to me like that wasn’t the first time he put his hands on her. In fact, he looked damn comfortable doing it.

  “Do you feel dizzy or lightheaded?”

  “I feel pissed off.”

  “Owen, I haven’t seen you in five years. You don’t get to be pissed off because some other man touches me.”

  Boy, is she ever wrong. “You think that because you’ve yet to see things for what they are.”

  “How are things exactly?”

  I know it’s irrational to roll into her life and two hours later expect her to understand and accept that she is mine. But it is what it is. She is mine whether she realizes it or not. “I’m the only one who touches you. No one else.”

  She laughs but I’m not joking. “Do you have any idea how overbearing and bossy and controlling that sounds?”

  “I damn sure do. And I mean every word.” She’s so tiny we’re almost face-to-face as I sit on the side of the bed. “You are mine, Ashlyn.” I push my hand between her legs. “And your pussy is mine.” All I need is a little healing time and I’ll show her how possessive I am of it.

  She shoves at my hand with a little more effort this time. “Owen, not again.”

  “Because you don’t want me to or because you’re afraid someone will walk in?”

  She ignores my question. “Do you feel like standing?”

  I feel like doing a lot more than standing. “I’m fine.”

  “OK but take it slow. Sometimes you think you’re all right until you stand.” I slowly rise. I’m steady as a rock but I don’t forgo the opportunity to put my hand on Ashlyn’s arm just so I can touch her. “You’re all right to walk?”

  “All good.”

  She loops her arm through mine and walks beside me but stops at the bathroom door. “Still in good shape?”

  If I say yes she’s going to tell me to go by myself. “Maybe a little woozy now.”

  “Is that so?” This woman has sarcasm mastered perfectly.

  “Possibly.”

  She rolls her eyes. “I know you’re lying, but as your nurse, I can’t opt not to go with you.”

  That’s right, Ashlyn. I have you over a barrel. But
I’d much rather have you bent over a bed.

  I shrug. “Gotta do what you gotta do. Job requirements and all.”

  “Come on, then.” She escorts me into the bathroom and then moves back to stand in the doorway, arms crossed. Damn, you’d think she’d have a little better attitude toward me, considering how hard I just made her cum. “Go ahead. Do your thing.”

  “I will but not until you shut the door.” Gotcha again, Ashlyn.

  “I can’t be with you behind a closed door.” Bullshit.

  “I’m the patient and I would like a little privacy while I take a piss. I think everyone would agree that’s a legitimate reason for shutting the door.” Let’s see her argue that point.

  She sighs and pulls the door closed. “Hurry up before someone comes in.”

  I look over my shoulder and grin when I catch Ashlyn checking out my ass. “Like what you see back there?”

  She quickly looks away. “No different from every other backside I see.”

  “I doubt that.” I’m an athlete—very fit and firm in all the right places. I know I have a great ass. And she knows it too even if she won’t admit it.

  I finish and move to the sink to wash my hand. I wet it and squirt soap in my palm. A difficult task to do one-handed. “Help, please?”

  She steps forward to assist me, lathering my hand, and I can’t resist lacing my fingers through hers.

  She goes motionless. “Owen…”

  “You’re about to kick me out of here. You haven’t told me if I’ll ever see you again or not. Let me have this moment, if only fleeting.” Holding her hand isn’t enough. I need more. A lot more.

  She shakes her head as she moves my hand back and forth under the running water. “This is a surgery center. I can’t do this here.” She yanks a paper towel from the dispenser. “I’ve already let you do far too much. Definitely grounds for termination if anyone knew.”

  She reaches for my hand but it’s already wrapped around her waist, pulling her against me.

  We’re facing the mirror—her back pressed against my front, my hard cock poking against her ass. “You feel that, Ashlyn? That’s what you do to me.”