Carolina Moon

the most flexible of hours and letting her study when things were quiet, she’d never have made it this far.
    He was her hero, and she’d once had a wonderfully painful crush on him. Now she only hoped to one day be as good and clever a veterinarian as he was.
    “Finals coming up. I got so much in my head it feels like it’s going to burst. I’ll take these babies out, Doc Wade.” She hefted the basket full of puppies. “What should I tell Miz Betrum about Sadie?”
    “She can pick her up later this afternoon. Tell her around four. Oh, and ask her not to give that last pup away. I’ve got a line on someone.”
    “Will do. Is it all right if I take lunch now? We’re clear for an hour, and I thought I’d go study some in the park.”
    “Go ahead.” He turned to the sink to scrub his hands. “Take the full hour, Maxine. Let’s see how much more you can fit in that brain of yours.”
    “Thanks.”
    He was going to be sorry to lose her. Which Wade imagined he would as soon as she had a degree hot in her hand. It wasn’t going to be easy to find someone as competent, as willing, or as good with the animals, who could also type, deal with frantic pet owners, and answer the phone.
    But life moved on.
    He started toward the back to check on Sadie just as Faith came in the rear door.
    “Dr. Mooney. Just who I was looking for.”
    “I’m easy to find this time of day.”
    “Well, me, I’m just passing through.”
    He cocked an eyebrow. “That’s quite a dress for just passing through.”
    “Oh.” She ran a finger down the soft cotton fabric of the thin-strapped, fully skirted number in bold poppy red. “Like it? I’m in a red kind of mood.” She shook her hair back, sent out seductive clouds of scent. Stepping forward, she skimmed her hands up his chest, over his shoulders. “Guess what I’ve got on under it?”
    Every time, he thought, like a finger snap, just one look at her had him ready to beg. “Why don’t you give me a hint?”
    “You’re such a smart man. Got that college degree and those letters after your name.” She took his hand, and covered with hers, trailed it up her thigh. “I bet you could find out right quick.”
    “Jesus.” His blood took a violent panther’s leap. “You go walking around town with next to nothing on?”
    “And you and me, we’re the only ones who know.” She leaned forward, her eyes bright on his, and nipped his lower lip. “Whatcha gonna do about it, Wade?”
    “Come upstairs.”
    “Too far.” With a throaty laugh, she nudged the door open behind him. “I want you now. And I want you fast.”
    The dog slept quietly, her breathing regular. The room smelled of canine and antiseptic. The old chair where he spent many hours watching over patients was pricked with hair shed from countless dogs and cats.
    “I haven’t locked up.”
    “Let’s live dangerously.” She flipped open the button of his jeans, dragged down the zipper. “Why, look what I found.” She wrapped her hand around him, watched his melted chocolate eyes go blurry before he crushed his mouth on hers.
    The sly excitement she’d felt when dressing, when driving into town knowing she’d go to him, seduce him, turned into something tangled and needy. Nearly painful.
    “Take me someplace.” She arched back while his mouth fed on her throat. “Take me someplace hot and dark and wild. I need to go. Hurry and take me there.”
    The jagged edge of her desperation knifed through his blood, leaving him raw. There was nothing tame between them when they came together like this, nothing soft, nothing sweet. When she was panting his name and her hands were on him, he forgot he wanted the soft and sweet.
    All he wanted was Faith.
    He tossed up the red skirts, gripped her hips. She was hot and she was wet and seemed to clamp over him like a greedy jaw when he drove himself into her.
    She wrapped one leg around his waist and moaned, long and deep. He filled the empty places. It didn’t matter if it was only for the moment, if the emptiness came back. He filled them, and no one else ever had.
    Harsh animal pants, the solid, rhythmic thud of body against body, bodies against wood, and the slick strong feel of him pounding into her. She let go, with a small, strangled cry in her throat as the orgasm sprang free. She always came fast and hard with Wade, such a surprise, such a lovely little shock to the system.
    Then it would start again, slower, deeper, a long and gradual rip that opened