“Dana, call 911.” I barked rushing over to the man who was already down on the floor with eyes rolling into the back of his head. Patrons cleared the floor and I went down with him.
“Oh honey, I think I got this.” Dana pushed me out of the way and handed me her purse. It was difficult to relinquish giving orders, but this wasn’t my ER, this was Dana’s office. It was in my nature in more ways than one to take over, but watching my girl handle this changed something for me.
“You’re the boss, Rossi.” I grabbed my phone making the call to 911 and keeping the crowd around us controlled so she could do her thing uninterrupted. The guy’s date stood helpless crying and the manager barked at folks to get back. Dana was in the zone and I thought it best to not interrupt her unless she needed something from me.
Dana checked him over and he wasn’t breathing or responsive. He’d pretty much dropped like a lead weight to the floor giving us no time to assess. She checked his pulse next shaking her head. “Give me my mouth guard.” She shook her hand out and I fished it from her small purse handing it to her. She looped the ends over his ears and began giving rescue breaths and chest compressions lacing her fingers together. She hummed a song I couldn’t make out keeping tempo on the chest compressions and breaths.
It didn’t surprise me how ready she was in the moment. Only a paramedic carried a mouth guard the way a cop carried his gun off duty. She was sexy as fuck working this patient over.
“You got this baby.” I encouraged her. She didn’t need me to double check his pulse second guessing her. I trusted her. Keeping the wailing girlfriend at bay became my job. It couldn’t have been more than five minutes when a paramedic team rushed in pushing past patrons who’d been sipping beer and watching the show.
“Shit, Dana?” One of the guys said. He vaguely looked familiar but in the ER I saw a lot of paramedics come through. Only Dana stood out for me.
“He’s not breathing Ricky.” She kept up the compressions until the guys got in place to relieve her. Once they had him, I reached down to pull her back up into my arms.
“You okay?” I spun her into my embrace and tilted her chin up to look in her eyes. Her pupils were dilated and her chest heaved a little out of breath. My hand slipped down to cup her cheek and my thumb casually rested against her carotid artery massaging her neck and counting her pulse. She was feeling the effects of the adrenaline rush and it was fucking hot to see her in the zone.
Her hand reached up to grab mine and she smiled wickedly rubbing her thumb against my wrist in a counter move that made me chuff out a laugh. “Yeah, I’m good, Avari.” She heaved a sigh and rested her head against my chest. I moved her out of the guys’ way now that they had our dinner patient on a stretcher and loaded him out to the ambulance.
I kissed her on her sweaty forehead tasting the salt and finding myself thirsty for more.
3
Dana
“You did a good job.” Brandon brushed back my loose hair, now messy from the effort over a hundred chest compressions take and I swallowed back the nervousness. The drop from the adrenaline high left me shaken and insecure. This never happened while I was working. I hazarded a guess it was because I was standing next to the premier emergency cardiac specialist in Missouri and I had pretty much pushed him out of the way to administer CPR. I wasn’t sure how Brandon felt about that, most guys I knew would take it as a blow to their ego.
“Can we get out of here?” I asked glancing around. Our meal looked cold and the drinks were likely watered down by now even though the manager offered us carte blanch for saving the guy’s life. I didn’t want to end our date but I didn’t want to hang around here where I felt the prying eyes of the patrons and random strangers thanking us for saving the man’s life. He wasn’t out of the woods yet, but I didn’t feel like getting into it. We would have done it for anyone but this wasn’t getting out the office so to speak for an actual date.
“I’d like that. Your place or mine?” His eyes bored into my face as if he were cataloging my features, his eyes darted attempting to read me. The adrenaline high wore off leaving me ready to sink into Brandon Avari’s capable arms and the last place I wanted to do that was here at a restaurant in a less than fresh jumper and wedges.
“I have a roommate.” Not that she was home or would even care but something about asking Dr. Brandon Avari into my personal sacred space seemed too much too soon. I probably had panties hanging from a lampshade while my closet exploded in my search to find this outfit earlier. In fact I was sure of it and decided to hold off on showing him my less than organized side he was treated to while at work.
He nodded understanding. “Mine then.” Brandon grabbed my hand as he’d done before, except this wasn’t the emergency room and we weren’t with a patient and I wasn’t looking to pull away for a change. His hand gripping mine felt exhilarating and the usual nervous suspects seemed to fade away when he buckled me into his fancy car.
He drove a bright blue Porsche convertible and lived in the Central West End in a two story Tudor style townhouse that made my shared studio with Elsa look like a broom closet. Brandon didn’t give me time to compare spaces because he pulled me inside the darkened house and ushered me into his master bedroom up the stairs. His hands gripped my waist bunching my jumper up in his fingers pulling it taught as his body leaned into mine forcing my legs to back up until they collided with the edge of the bed. I really regretted not wearing that dress now.
“Is this okay, Dana?” Surprised he was still asking, I nodded my head and let my hands cup his strong jaw under my fingers feeling his barely there stubble over the angles. His head rested against mine and his arms caged me in. “Unless you have a dying urge to listen to vinyl records downstairs on separate couches I’m gonna need a verbal answer, baby. Speak now or forever hold your peace.”
I giggled. “I want this. I want this so very much.” My brilliant commentary spurred him on and he hoisted me up and tossed me back on the bed crawling over my body. I loved his caveman growl. I loved the weight of his body pressing mine down into the bed. He wasn’t taking orders, he was about to give them and I waited eagerly. Heat seeped through his clothes as he kneeled up and ripped off his tie while unbuttoning his cuffs. His eyes remained focused on me and I helped to pull his shirt up and out of his trousers. My fingers fumbled with his belt buckle and yanked it through loops with a snapping whoosh. It was sexy as hell.
“Careful, Ms. Rossi. I don’t know if you’re ready for that just yet.” His hand pushed me back between my breasts and I lay back on the bed cocooned in a duvet cover. His body was backlit from the bathroom glow behind him and I could see the confident smirk etched into the angles of his face.
“Maybe I’ve been waiting too long, Avari.” Boldly I snapped the belt at him. Two could play at this game and I wanted this bad.
His eyes narrowed, “Oh, you’re gonna get it.”
Feeling spunky I said, “Still waiting hot shot.” I wrapped my legs around his torso pulling him in closer.
“I feel like I should warn you.” He nipped kisses along my neck before untangling my limbs from him.
“Warn me? Sounds ominous.” I reached behind me to untie the halter top. His hand reached behind and slowly pulled the rest down helping me wiggle out of my outfit. Note to self, pick something easier to remove before sexual activities because this wa
s torture.
He huffed, his eyes scanning the room and then my face as he spoke in a serious tone.
“I like a certain amount of control. I function that way at work and in my relationships.” He pulled my outfit off gripping the panties with it. Cool air covered my breasts making me shiver under his assessing glare. I watched his eyes dilate with interest.