VANGUARD(77)

“Open up!” Anjali demanded from the hallway. “You both need to take your meds. And I want Sophie in the infirmary for a checkup.” Sophie sat up and started hunting for a shirt. “Don’t try to pretend you’re asleep; the whole hallway could hear you wailing Michael’s name a few minutes ago.” She froze in horror. “If you don’t open up, I’m coming in to get you.”

“Christ, Anjali. Hold your horses!” She finally found Michael’s shirt and pulled it on. Cursing, she unlocked the door and threw it open. Anjali opened her mouth, then closed it again, stifling a giggle. Sophie scowled.

“You made a scene in the hall so you could laugh at me?”

“No. I’m sorry. It’s just that…” Anjali gestured to the room, and Sophie turned to look at it. It was a shambles. Michael’s jeans hung over the back of her desk chair. She’d knocked everything off the bedside table earlier. Pens, pencils, notebooks, and water bottles littered the floor. And of course, the unholy mess beside the garbage can. She turned back, blushing.

“Uh, yeah…well…”

“We’ll catch up later.” Anjali’s face softened. “I’m staying back today. Can you drop around the infirmary before lunch so I can check you out?”

“I promise.”

Anjali glanced over Sophie’s shoulder at the lump under the blankets. “You too, Dr. Nariovsky-Trent,” she ordered coldly. “Dr. Patel will conduct your examination.” Michael grunted in response.

“I’ll see you in about an hour, Anjali.” Sophie started closing the door, a little more firmly than usual.

“Glad you liked the nightgown!” Anjali shouted just as the door banged shut.

She groaned, seeing the crumpled bundle of white silk dangling from the edge of her desk. Michael emerged from under the covers and started to laugh at her expression. She glared at him.

“So fierce.” He patted the bed beside him. “Come here. I desire you even more when you are angry, you know.” She smiled in spite of herself and lay down beside him. He stroked her hair gently. “I suppose we cannot spend another day in here alone, can we? I have not even begun to have enough of you.” His lips started to brush along her neck, causing her body to shiver in delight, despite how much pleasure he had already brought her in the last twenty-four hours.

“I wish we could. But there is much to do if we’re to leave the country in the next few days.” She ran her hand over his scrubby hair. “We’ll have time together tonight. And eventually, we’ll have to slow down or I won’t be able to walk.”

Michael laughed. She’d never heard him laugh so much in the past, not even in GYL.





-





“So?” said Anjali as she took Sophie’s blood pressure.

“So what?”

“How was last night?” Anjali smiled as Sophie’s face reddened. “That good, huh?” The doctor pulled the cuff off her arm and handed Sophie her antibiotics with a bottle of water. “Down the hatch,” she instructed. Over the lip of the bottle, she could see Anjali watching to make sure she took all the pills.

“It was the best night of my life.” She felt enormous relief that Anjali hadn’t asked her to take off her clothes for the examination. Her fair skin was covered in bite marks and scratches, and she’d spotted a chain of bruises around her hips where he’d gripped her. She’d marked him similarly.

Sex with Michael was intense, glorious, and occasionally rough – just like him.

“I’m glad.” Anjali leaned down into her field of vision and took her hand. “It’s okay, really. We’ve been friends for a long time. You’ve had to listen to me all these years about your boss. You’re entitled to gossip about your sex life for a change.” She paused. “I’m not a big fan of Michael right now, but you can still talk to me about him.”

“It’s like everything for the first time all over again.” Sophie hesitated, not sure how to put her feelings into words. “Like every man who came before was practice for him. No one else knows me like he does.” Anjali took her temperature, recording the result on the chart. “The sex is insanely good.”

“I figured as much.” Anjali didn’t bother to hide her grin. “Just try to remember you’ve both been ill. And you especially – no backdoor action for some weeks to come.”