Turning the Tide (Eastern Shore Swingers, #5) Read online

  When his eyes fluttered open, he felt an overwhelming compulsion to be honest with her. “The truth is, I want you so bad...but I’m afraid.” There, he said it. Sort of.

  “Afraid?” Her gaze bored into him, trying to read his thoughts.

  He blew out a breath and then sucked in another. “I haven’t done it in so long, I don’t even know if my...uh...equipment will work.”

  It looked as though she was fighting the urge to laugh. She reached down and cupped his manhood through his baggy khaki shorts. “I have no doubt that everything is in working order.”

  He’d already been semi-erect just from having her on his lap, but that maneuver made his cock spring to attention. Her lips spread as she felt him grow in her hands, and she fisted his rock-hard shaft through the thin material seconds later. “Oh, yes, seems to be in fine working order.”

  He winced, not in pain but in need. His balls felt like they might explode every time he became aroused, growing more and more desperate the longer he went without relief—and it had been a couple of days now.

  “Why don’t you let me return the favor from last night?” She slid down from his lap onto the floor, perching between his knees.

  “What do you mean?” His back straightened, and his hands clenched the armrests of the chair.

  “Well, you’re not the only one who is out of practice,” she explained. “I’d love to see if I still have the oral skills I used to brag about all the time.”

  He huffed out another breath as his cock pressed into the zipper of his shorts. “Why do you want to do that? What about...work and...” He gasped, unable to finish the rest of his sentence when she unfastened the button on his shorts and lowered the zipper.

  “What about it?” Her voice came out all sultry and smooth. “I want to make you come, Luke, like you made me come last night. I want to feel you in my mouth.”

  I might come just from her dirty talk, he worried as she lowered the waistband of his boxer briefs and freed his thick, throbbing cock. He was so engorged, he nearly felt lightheaded from the lack of blood to his brain.

  “Oh my god, you’re so fucking thick...” She glanced from his shaft, which she was fisting and slowly stroking, up to his eyes. “I’ve never seen a cock this thick before.”

  “Really?” he barely eked out. Her touch felt like magic. If she moved any faster, he was going to combust.

  “I don’t even know if my mouth will fit around it,” she said, “but I’m going to give it a shot anyway.”

  He sucked in a sharp breath as she leaned in and ran the tip of her tongue up his length, rumbling over the veins popping out. “Mmmmm,” he groaned when she began to swallow down the few inches of him she could manage.

  His wife would never go down on him—it’d been even longer than ten years since he’d been on the receiving end of a blow job.

  No, I’m not going to think about her. I’m going to enjoy this. Fuuuuuuck.

  Connie held him there in her mouth for a moment, her lips stretching to their maximum width around him. His hands moved from the armrests of the chair to her shoulders as he rocked his hips toward her, trying to make her move again. As soon as she resumed running her mouth up and down his shaft, the muscles in his thighs tensed.

  He looked down at her, her blonde head bobbing up and down on him, her cheeks hollowed out. She let out a series of sexy, wanton moans as she tried to take him deeper, moving her hand down to cup and gently squeeze his balls like she was coaxing the cum from them. He groaned as he threw his head back. The sensations coursing through his body felt like a universe of stars exploding, all of that energy collecting deep in his balls. Moments later, it rocketed up his shaft and shot out so forcefully, he felt like his whole body had blasted off into outer space.

  Connie sputtered as she received days’ worth of his spawn, but she swallowed it down like a pro, licking her lips to ensure she gathered every last drop from around her mouth. When he opened his eyes, she sat back on her heels, a victorious smile spreading her rosy cheeks.

  EIGHT

  Where there is marriage without love...there will be love without marriage. – Benjamin Franklin

  “Fine, but when you get home, we need to talk,” Luke said, annoyed with how his wife seemed to be talking to three other people while they were trying to have a conversation.

  Supposedly, his mother-in-law had taken ill while Barbara was visiting, and that was why she hadn’t returned his phone calls. She’d been at the hospital with her sister and daughter, taking turns vigilantly watching over the matriarch of the O’Rourke family. She was coming home later that afternoon while he was still at work.

  “Hey,” came a voice outside his office door. He held up a finger to let whoever was there—it seemed to be Beverly, judging by the one syllable greeting—that he’d be with them in a moment.

  “Will you be home for dinner?” he tried to clarify. He heard Barbara chattering with whoever else was in the room. “Barbara?” Silence.

  He took a deep breath and balanced the phone against his ear as he pinched the bridge of his nose between his thumb and forefinger, trying to ward off the headache that was starting up behind his eyes. “I have a patient waiting, okay? Just let me know if I need to make dinner or not.”

  She finally mumbled something and then “goodbye” before the call was disconnected.

  At least she finally responded, he thought, though he hadn’t gotten answers to any of his questions. As soon as he started to ask her about the accounts, she went off on a tangent, covering the well-trod ground of how all he cared about was himself, and he didn’t give one shit about her mother, who might have had a heart attack.

  Of course, his mother-in-law did not have a heart attack. She had merely stayed overnight in the hospital for observation. But that definitely makes me the bad guy here, he thought with a headshake before returning his attention to whoever was at his door.

  “Yes?” he called from his desk, not able to scrounge up the energy to go to the door.

  “Is everything okay?” Beverly asked as she slipped inside. She was wearing a mustard yellow dress with a vibrant black and white geometric pattern. It only exacerbated his headache.

  He nodded as he blew out a breath. “Sorry. It’s Monday, you know?”

  “Tell me about it.” She crossed her arms over her chest. “Jim just called in sick.”

  Luke groaned. “Alright. Have you called his patients?”

  “He was hoping you could see the ones I couldn’t get ahold of in time.” She rolled her eyes as though she realized what a pain it would be to squeeze in extra patients when he already had a full load of his own. He guessed this meant he was definitely not getting to see his accountant or lawyer today.

  “When is his first appointment?”

  “She’s waiting in Room 4 right now,” Beverly answered.

  “Of course she is. Okay. I’ve got patients in 3 and 6 right now too.”

  “And there are three more in the waiting room.”

  “Oh, this is a Monday alright,” he said with a sigh. Beverly gave him a sympathetic smile and hurried back to the reception area.

  In the hallway, he nearly collided with Connie, who was leaving Room 4. “I’m so sorry,” he whispered under his breath as he caught a whiff of her light citrusy perfume. He didn’t mean to breathe it in so deeply, but he instantly conjured memories of her on her knees pleasuring him the day before. The way she slurped up his cum, her eyes begging for more, was permanently etched on his brain.

  It had been the most memorable orgasm he’d had in ten years.

  And the only one he’d shared with someone else.

  Plus, he and Connie had come to an agreement after a little deliberation. They were going to be professional at work and friends outside work.

  “What about sex?” he had asked, not able to keep the hopeful tone out of his voice.

  “We’ll see about that,” she’d said with a teasing wink. He had a feeling she wanted it as badly as he di
d.

  He’d pulled her into his arms and claimed her lips with his own. She’d swooned in his embrace and he’d pushed her up against the wall, driving his tongue into her mouth to stake out his territory. When they both finally came up for air, she was rendered speechless for a full minute or two.

  “Damn, give the man one orgasm, and all the sudden he’s Casanova,” she joked.

  “Your sister gave me some advice, you know,” he admitted before she gathered up her things to leave.

  “Oh, yeah? What was that?” Her eyebrows arched with curiosity.

  “She told me once I got the green light, I should be more assertive, more dominant. She said many women love that.”

  “Oh.” Her eyes widened—and he wasn’t sure if it was from surprise her sister would give that advice or surprise that he was considering it.

  “So, what do you think of that?” He’d brushed a fingertip down her cheek and reveled in the way she shivered in response.

  “I think that’s solid advice.” She looked up into his eyes with a smile.

  “So I’m just waiting for my green light...”

  She looked for a moment like she was going to say something, but instead she just raised up on her tiptoes to plant a kiss on his cheek. “See you tomorrow.”

  That entire scene echoed in his mind just from one whiff of her perfume. And now he had to go into the exam room and pretend like his mind was clear, when it was anything but clear. He chastised his manhood for getting riled up by what was nothing more than a memory as he grabbed the patient’s chart from the door and headed inside to see how Ginny Moore was doing after her sinus surgery.

  He wasn’t able to make an appointment with either his accountant or lawyer until the end of the week. “Goddammit!” He slammed the phone down on the receiver when he noticed Connie lurking at his office door. It was the first time since he’d passed her in the hallway earlier in the morning that he’d seen her all day. It had been a whirlwind morning of swirling in and out of exam rooms like a tornado. He only hoped his path had been helpful instead of destructive.

  “Everything okay?” She poked her head through the doorway.

  He gestured for her to come in, and when she paused at the door, he nodded, confirming her request to shut it. She sat down in the chair across from him. “So, did she come home last night?”

  He shook his head. When his gaze swept up her simple blue scrubs and to her hair, which was clipped up high on the crown of her head, he forgot all about his situation with Barbara. All he could think about was clearing off his desk, picking Connie up and spreading her across it. He’d love to have his way with her right here in his office in the middle of work, forcing her to stifle her screams of ecstasy.

  Damn it, where did that come from?

  He couldn’t recall ever having thoughts like that at work. That’s not me. I’ve always been able to keep focused on my job.

  He’d had a variety of nurses throughout the years, and even before he had his own practice, he’d known dozens, maybe hundreds of nurses during his internships and residency, and he never once felt distracted from his job. Many of them had been beautiful. Some had even flirted with him—back when he still knew what flirting was. But he was married. And he always took his wedding vows seriously.

  Then Connie came along, and for some reason those vows seemed to fly out the window.

  It was all Cap’s fault.

  Cap.

  “Cap,” he repeated the name that had just sprang to mind.

  “What?” She looked at him, incredulous that he’d be bringing up his friend’s name when the two of them were alone together.

  “Sorry, sorry.” He shrugged as he snapped back to the present. “My mind has been all over the place this morning trying to figure out what I should do, and I was actually going to call Cap for some advice. He’s never steered me wrong—”

  “Haha, nice pun,” she tossed back at him, her blue eyes sparkling.

  “Oh, right, because he’s a boat captain. Very clever.” He returned her smile.

  She winked. “You’re the one who said it.”

  Even though he was completely uncertain about his future and what was going on with his wife and his bank accounts, he found it nearly impossible to be stressed out or unhappy when Connie was around. She was not only the sole nurse to ever distract him from his job, but being around her was like he’d taken a happy pill. She was a drug. And he was becoming an addict.

  “Do you want me to leave?” She squinted, trying to read his thoughts when he slipped into the deep recesses of his mind again.

  “No, no, stay. Let me call Cap, and then we can order in some lunch,” he suggested.

  “Should I check with Beverly and the other ladies first? I don’t want anyone to become suspicious—”

  “Right, yes. Yes, do that.” He nodded. Dammit, she’s much better at this than me. If he wasn’t careful, the entire office was going to know about their secret tryst before the end of the day. He really needed to keep it a secret. All of these ladies knew Barbara. And what would Jim say? He’d probably want to let Connie go. And he thought they had some pretty serious anti-fraternization language in their partnership agreement anyway. Maybe he should take a look at that.

  I need to call Cap, he reminded himself as Connie slipped out the door still wearing her infectious smile. He couldn’t control his own grin as he whipped out his phone and dialed the boat captain who had never steered him wrong’s number.

  “Hey, Doc, how’s it hangin’?” came Cap’s raspy Eastern Shore-accented voice.

  “Is this a bad time?” He never knew when Cap would be tied up with his work or with his brood—he and his wife had infant twins and their older brother.

  “Nope, somehow Leah and I just got all three kids down for an afternoon nap at the same time, and now we’re sitting here looking at each other like we don’t know what the hell to do.”

  “Oh, well, you should probably be taking advantage of the alone time,” Luke suggested. “Would be a helluva lot better than talking to me.”

  “As soon as we get off the phone, then,” Cap said with a chuckle.

  “Do you have time to grab a drink later today? Maybe five o’clock down at M.R. Ducks?” He was mentally crossing his fingers. He wanted to have a strategy for facing Barbara when she finally got home.

  “Just a sec. Let me ask the boss.” There was a muffled sound as Cap evidently checked with his wife. Luke was surprised a man like Cap would refer to his wife as “the boss,” but he was sure he meant it in a cheeky way. “Sure,” he came back on the line. “We’ve got a babysitter coming over tonight to watch the kids so we can go to our staff meeting at the club. But we could swing by and have a drink first—or you could come to the club for a drink. Do you mind if Leah’s there?”

  “No, of course not. If you’re going to be at the club, I don’t mind coming there.” He hadn’t seen Leah since the couple’s wedding several years ago now. She hadn’t been at The Factory the past two weekends when he’d visited.

  “See you then,” Cap confirmed, suddenly in a hurry to go seduce his wife. Luke smiled at the thought. Hey, at least someone is getting some. He still had a dozen patients to see.

  He’d somehow survived the dozen patients, along with bites of his lunch in between exams. Connie managed to come find him when the day was winding down.

  “So...did you get ahold of Cap?”

  He nodded. “Meeting him and Leah at the club for a drink. You wanna come?”

  She widened her eyes, then cast a furtive glance over her shoulder as Jasmine and Beverly crossed from the lounge into the reception area. “Lower your voice,” she whispered as soon as the two ladies were out of sight.

  “Sorry,” he whispered back. “Do you want to come?”

  “Of course I do, but you have to be more careful,” she admonished him.

  “I’m just brand new to this covert operation thing. I’ve never had an affair before,” he admitted, still whispering.


  “Do NOT say that word!” she said between clenched teeth. “You don’t have cameras in here, do you?” Her eyes flashed up to the ceiling and then all around the perimeter of the hallway.

  He shook his head. “Only in the reception area and parking lot.”

  “Okay, good.” Her expression softened. “I’ll meet you there. I’m going to leave now so it doesn’t look like we are leaving together.”

  “You think of everything. How’d you get so good at this?” His brows furrowed as he considered what other experience she had with affairs.

  She rolled her eyes and headed back to the lounge to retrieve her purse before heading out the back door. As Luke pivoted to return to his office, he noticed Beverly standing at the end of the hallway staring straight at him with a quizzical expression on her face.

  The sun was dipping lower, and it was that time of day when everything was bathed in golden sunlight. The days were getting longer, and it looked like the landscaper had put the finishing touches on the new pool, which was to be christened at the pool party on Saturday.

  “So, hey, what’s up?” Cap greeted them at the front door. Connie had waited in her car for Luke to arrive so she could accompany him.

  “Let’s get at least one drink under our belts, and then I’ll fill you in,” Luke said as he gestured for Connie to enter before him.

  “Hi, Connie!” Leah called from across the lobby. “How’s it going? How’s the new job?”

  Connie headed over toward the tall strawberry blonde, and they began to do that thing women do when they catch up after not seeing each other for a while—basically losing track of all else around them.

  Cap guided Luke over to the bar and poured a generous serving of whiskey. “Cheers,” he said as he lifted his own glass up.

  Luke raised his glass as well, and then it was down the hatch, burning away his inhibitions along with the lining of his esophagus. “Damn. I don’t normally drink it straight,” he groaned, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. “Hit me again.” He pushed his shot glass in Cap’s direction.