Always (11 page)

      As desperately as he wanted this, he was determined to make it as wonderful for Taylor as he knew it would be for him. She cried out his name and her body went stiff for a few silent moments.

      "That was..."

      "Did I hurt you?" he asked.

      Her eyes were half-closed as she reached for him, shaking her head. "Wonderful."

      "I..." He looked down at himself, the red tip of his penis ready and waiting. "I..."

      She reached for him, wrapping her fingers around his shaft. "Now."

      A shudder of anticipation and apprehension rippled through him as she guided him to her soft folds. She was slick and wet and hot, and it was all he could do to prevent himself from plunging deep and hard and fast.

      She eased her legs behind his and held him against her, easing him into her one torturous millimeter at a time. Gordon held his breath, allowing her to set the pace.

      Her expression was a cross between wonder and pain. He'd heard it was always painful for a woman the first time. "I...I think I have to push harder now."

      She nodded and bit her lower lip.

      "Taylor." He held himself back and kissed her, then stared deeply into her eyes, summoning his courage. "We can stop now...if you want."
Even if it kills me.

      She shook her head and wrapped her legs around him tighter, drawing him inward. "I want you to do it."

      He buried himself inside her, aware of something hot and wet running between them. Pleasure like he'd never known before coiled within him, urging him to drive into her again and again, but he held himself frozen and searched her eyes. "Did I hurt you?" He could barely breathe, let alone speak.

      "A little." She wrapped her arms around his neck. "But it's better now."

      Better was a weak word to describe what he felt with his body buried deeply inside Taylor's. Ecstasy came close, but still couldn't do this miracle justice. She clung to him as he stroked the length of her, urging him to move harder and faster. The muscles inside her massaged and held him, torturing him with the promise of something he could barely imagine.

      Everything he had culminated where their bodies were joined. A molten rush exploded from him and he stiffened and spasmed against and into her.

      Breathless and dripping with sweat, he slumped over her. "Wow." Bracing his hands on either side of her, he looked down and saw tears in her eyes. "I hurt you."

      She shook her head and buried her face against his chest. "I just love you so much," she murmured. "So much it scares me."

      "I love you, too." He stood and saw the huge stain of her virgin's blood on the blanket, magnifying the significance of what they'd just shared. A woman only gave herself once this way. He could never return what she'd given him today, and it was a gift he would always cherish.

      Afterward, he bathed her in the creek as the sun slowly sank behind the mountain. Then they dressed and drove back to town for the fireworks, vowing to always love one another.

      No matter what...

      Gordon awoke with a start, sunlight streaming through the slats on his shutters. He glanced down at the tented sheet and realized he needed his ritual swim for more reasons than one this morning. Raking his fingers through his hair, he padded barefoot to his closet and retrieved a large box from the top shelf. Carefully, he sat it on his bed and lifted the lid, revealing an envelope of photos–all of Taylor–and a piece of ribbon she'd worn in her hair. Then he folded back the tissue paper to reveal the old blanket. He'd washed it many times, terrified his mother would see the stain and demand an explanation.

      He hadn't known then that bloodstains required cold water, so his repeated hot water washings had merely set the stain permanently. Unfolding the soft blue blanket, he exposed the rusty stain, wondering why he'd kept it all these years.

      The bittersweet ache spread through his chest as he refolded the blanket and returned it to his closet. The stain was permanent.

      Taylor's love was not.

*
 
*
 
*

      Taylor checked the contents of her medical bag. With the box of supplies she'd left at the clinic the day before, she should be all set to begin her medical career. She grabbed one more slug of coffee, then headed out the back door to her VW.

      Before she reached the car, an eerie pricking sensation crept up the back of her neck. Slowing her pace, she looked around the backyard, expecting to find someone watching her. When she saw no one, she laughed it off and continued toward the car.

      All the gravel on the drive had washed away over the years, leaving bare dirt in its place. She noticed the prints immediately. Bear prints.

      Her heart pressed against her throat and she held her breath. An icy chill swooped through her body. Her forehead went numb, her lips tingled, terror gripped her.

      She was ten again and hiding in an abandoned shack from a wounded bear. The beast had spotted her when she lagged behind the other Girl Scouts and chased her to the inadequate shelter. Growling and snarling, the bear had tried to push the building down while Taylor screamed and prayed with all her might, until the Girl Scout leader and all the parents and girls had made enough noise to drive the bear away.

      And now there were bear tracks around her car. In town.

      Her gaze darted around the yard again, over her shoulder, then she bolted for the car and slammed the door. Inside, she rested her forehead against the steering wheel, waiting for her breathing to return to normal.

      It wasn't unheard of for bears to come down into town this time of year, usually foraging through garbage cans and draining hummingbird feeders. Tonight, she would park her car in front of the house. Closer to the door. And she'd stop at the hardware store and get a new sensor for the motion detector. That would help.

      Her sanity slowly returned and she started the car, then backed out of the drive. So far, her stay in Digby had been one disaster after another, and she'd barely begun her three year tour of duty. Well, she couldn't exactly call dinner a disaster. All things considered, it had gone rather well.

      Except for that incident out on Vista Road....

      Heat flooded her cheeks as she dropped the car into first, then started down the hill toward Drumond Avenue and the clinic. And Gordon.

      Warmth invaded more than her face as she remembered how her body had reacted to touching his last night. She rolled down the window and the early morning air flowed through the tiny car, cooling her cheeks and the rest of her body within seconds.

      "I can do this," she muttered, turning the corner onto Drumond. She dropped the car to a lower gear and crept toward the veterinary clinic. "I can do this."

      Gritting her teeth, she swung the car into a parking space at the back of the building, beside Gordon's Jeep. She sat staring at Henrietta for several seconds, then she drew a deep breath, girded her resolve, and opened the door.

      "I can do this. I
will
do this." Medical bag in tow, she used the key Gordon had given her to open the back door. Inside, she blinked and waited for her eyes to adjust to being out of the bright Rocky Mountain sunshine.

      "Morning, Taylor," Sue called, buzzing down the hallway in high gear. "Gordon's in surgery most of the morning."

      "Good morning." How could anyone move that fast this early?
Ryan must've gotten it from his mother
. Taylor needed more coffee, then she'd have to talk to Sue about the logistics of getting her patients back to her exam room. She would also need to pay Sue something for all the extra work. After all, she was a single mother.

      That part still confused Taylor, but she refused to think about it now. Today, she had to play doctor for real. She stowed her medical bag in what would pass as her office for now, then went in search of the coffee pot she'd spotted yesterday. The aroma reached her long before she found it. She removed a cup from a hook and filled it with the rich brown liquid, reminding herself to bring her insulated mug tomorrow, so she'd have something with a lid.

      Taking a long sip, she leaned against the counter for a moment and remembered what Sue had said a few minutes ago. If Gordon was in surgery all morning, then he probably wouldn't have a waiting room full of furry, four-footed patients scheduled. Maybe she would have one of her own. Or two.

      Though this type of medicine wasn't what she really wanted to practice, she still wanted to be useful and busy. Plus, this was her first independent experience as a physician. She smiled and lifted her coffee cup in a mock toast to her first day on the job.

      "Taylor, there you are." Sue popped her head around the corner. "We have an emergency." The woman vanished as quickly as she'd appeared, leaving Taylor no choice but to follow.

      She saw Sue turn into one of the exam rooms, and Taylor raced down the hall after her, wondering why she hadn't put the patient in Taylor's office. Pausing in the doorway, she saw the reason. Approximately seventy-five pounds of golden fur was sprawled out on a stainless steel table.

      "Wha–"

      "Is it bad?" a woman asked from across the room.

      Taylor's gaze took in the woman's dark glasses and realized the dog was this woman's eyes. "What happened?" She shoved up her sleeves and went to the patient, forgetting its species for now. As long as it wasn't a bear, she could handle it.

      "She was trying to protect me," the woman sobbed. "There was a bro-broken window at the store."

      Sue was still applying pressure to the animal's hind leg. "The dog put herself between her and the glass." Her eyes were moist and imploring when she looked up at Taylor. "She needs stitches and Gordon's tied up for at least another hour."

      "I..." Taylor looked from the woman to the dog, then nodded. "Can you ask Gordon what to give the dog as a sedative and how much?"

      Taylor placed her own hand over the gauze pad on the dog's wound, amazed at how still and quiet the animal was. "Good girl," she said, telling herself that stitching up a dog's leg was no different than a hairy human one. She'd have Sue help her shave a little fur away, then they'd take care of the injury. "What's her name?"

      "Goldie," the owner said. "I'm Sally Bradshaw."

      "Are you related to the mayor?"
 

      "Tom is my brother. I live with his family."

      Taylor pulled a corner of the gauze away and peeked. Sue was right about the stitches. The glass had sliced a deep gash that wouldn't stop bleeding on its own. The dog flinched and whimpered when she reapplied the pressure, but made no effort to rise. "You can go stand by Goldie's head if you wish, Sally."

      The woman rose from her chair and felt her way along the wall to the table, then rested her hands on Goldie's head. "There's my girl," she cooed.
 

      Taylor's first patient might be a dog, but in many ways Sally was also her patient. Goldie was Sally's eyes and she was injured. In a roundabout way, she was treating a human.

      "I think she's going to be fine, Sally," Taylor said. "Once we get this wound stitched and the bleeding stopped, it will be a matter of making sure she doesn't get an infection."

      "That's good." Sally stroked the dog's head. "She's very healthy."

      "I can see that, which is why I'm confident she'll be all right."

      "Is...is her leg damaged?"
 

      "I can't be entirely certain there's no soft tissue damage, but time will tell." Taylor drew a deep breath. "We can take an x-ray to make sure there are no broken bones, too, though that's unlikely with this type of injury."

      "Thank you, Doctor."

      "You're welcome." And she was.

      Sue came in with a metal tray which included a filled syringe and everything necessary to stitch the wound. A short time later, the dog was dozing, the wound bandaged, and Sally sat in her chair right beside the exam table, her hand resting on Goldie's neck.

      Taylor pulled off her gloves and dropped them into the red container in the corner. She met Sue's gaze and the woman nodded. "You done good, Doc."

      Satisfaction eased through Taylor, along with something she hadn't felt since high school. A bond with Sue Wheeler. "Thanks. So did you."

      "I'd like to stay here with Goldie," Sally said.

      "Sure," Sue said. "I called your brother, and he'll be here any minute."

      "Thank you," Sally said.

      "I'd like to have Gordon look at her before you take her home anyway, and make sure the sedative has worn off." Taylor didn't doubt her ability at stitching simple wounds, but Goldie was a canine, after all.

      "Looks to me like you have things well in hand, Doctor."

      The male voice startled Taylor and her breath caught. She swallowed hard and met Gordon's approving gaze. "Thanks."