Page 100 of Paging Dr. VanRyan

I smiled and ran my finger down her cheek. “You love my stubborn head. Both of them.”

She laughed. “I do. Most of the time anyway.”

“I want to be with you,” I murmured. “Being so close and not being able to touch you the way I want is killing me.”

She took my hand and kissed it, holding it to her face. “You want words, Dr. VanRyan? When you’ve fully recovered, I am going to be all over you. My mouth around your cock. My tongue down your throat. I’m going to lick and suck every inch of you. Then I’m going to ride you until you beg and plead for me to come with you. I’m going to rock your world. When you’re better. When we’re alone. Until then, rein it in, big man.”

I swallowed, her words echoing in my head.

Jesus.

“Ah, yeah. Good words.”

“You asked for them.”

“I guess I need to go back to my condo soon.”

“I guess so. And get clearance from your surgeon.”

“On it.”

“Go to sleep, Matthew.”

“I love you.”

I felt her smile on my skin.

“I know.”

CHAPTER 24

MATTHEW

Ilooked around my condo with a contented sigh. I had enjoyed being spoiled by my mother, but I was glad to be home.

It was the first time I had been alone since I’d woken up from surgery. Someone was always around. Now, there was no noise in the background. No quiet conversations happening between my parents. No worried glances as I shuffled from room to room.

I was feeling better. Walking straighter. My incision didn’t ache all the time. The stitches had come out yesterday, which helped. I preferred the irritating itch to the pull of the thread.

And I informed my parents it was time for them to go back to Port Albany. To the life they were creating there. I could look after myself now. Bathe, cook, do simple chores like washing a coffee cup or tossing a few things in the laundry. Driving was still off-limits, but I had an Uber account.

Work was weeks away. So were many other things, but I was on the mend.

Coming home was the first step. Getting Maddy alone with me here was the second.

We had been spending as much time together as possible. We talked a lot. She told me about the grueling schedule, how some days she was sure she was failing. Other days, she didn’t know how she was going to make it through another long day of schoolwork and practicum.

“I was so exhausted once, I fell asleep at the table,” she confessed. “Jill found me head down, face in my scrambled eggs, snoring away.”

The image made me laugh.

I told her how often I wanted to reach out, talk to her. Hear her voice.

“I used to play a video I had taken of you sleeping one night. I’d lay the phone beside me and pretend it was real and you were there,” I told her. “The sound of your breathing helped me.”

That made her cry, but she nodded in understanding.

“So often, I wanted to hear your voice too. I picked up my phone at least a hundred times to call you. But I couldn’t.”