Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ Between You and Me ❯ Chapter 2 ( Chapter 2 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

It took me forever to write these chaps. Spend like 4 hrs on them! Plz be nice and review! Thankies! And guys, thanks, I asked for 5 reviews not one million! Haha! But I'm glad.

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Unable to stand the feeling of Dr. Shields' disapproving eyes on the back of her head, Serena fled the cafeteria a minute later. She brushed bagel crumbs off her shirt and studied the ground as she rushed through the doorway, determined to pretend she didn't see him.

In the hall, she said her good-bye to Amy, who was on her way back to pediatrics. “Are we still going shopping?”

Amy gave her a thumbs-up as she pushed the UP button for the elevator. “I need your moral support. Bathing suit shopping is the single most traumatizing experience in a woman's life. I can't think why I ever thought living next to the beach was a good idea.” She gestured up and down her lean frame. “I always feel about as sexy as a number two pencil in a bathing suit. I'm just as flat as one.”

“Oh, please.” Serena rolled her eyes and laughed at Amy's exaggeration. Amy was thin, but Serena had spent a childhood shopping in the Pretty Plus department, it was hard for her to dredge up a lot of sympathy. She tended to be round in strategic places like her behind and her chest, another undesirable result of being short. Or more likely it was related to hating exercise, and loving ice cream.

Whatever the cause, for the most part weighing more than the media portrayal of perfect didn't bother her. She had no idea in self-inflicted starvation, but sometimes she did feel

A bit longing for a man to give her the so-called Look. She was reasonably attractive, with a cute figure if you went for curves, yet guys always treated her with a best-buds kind of attitude and frankly, she was tired of it.

But being tired of it, and knowing how to fix it, were two separate things. She had no clue how to address the problem without completely altering her personality, learning the art of smoldering looks, and undergoing outpatients liposuction. Since none of these choices appealed to her, it seems she was doomed to remain man's best friend.

With a final wave toward Amy, she pushed her way into the surgical room and approached bed three.

“Mr. Davidson, how are you feeling?” Serena leaned over the gurney bed and studied his complexion, putting Darien out of her mind with effort.

Even at seventy-two, Mr. Davidson was one of their livelier patients, and she was confident the knee replacement surgery he had just undergone would have him back on the golf course in no time.

Mr. Davidson's case had been the fifth or so total knees she has assisted Darien on, and despite the fact that Dr. Sheinberg had allowed her to perform the surgery in the past, Darien never did. She had been hopeful that Darien would let her operate on Mr. Davidson, but he had merely taken over without a word. At this rate she'd need her own knee replacement surgery by the time Darien decided she was ready to operate.

Mr. Davidson's eyes focused on her sharply, despite having awakened from the procedure only two hours earlier. “Doing fine, Dr. Moon. Just a few more hours of sleep, then I'm ready to test this metal out.”

She smiled, since she knew he was kidding. At least she hoped he was kidding. She checked his hemovac for blood. “You know you're going to have intense physical therapy ahead of you. No jumping and dancing a jig now, you hear?”

He winked at her, his complexion rosy and healthy. “Yes, ma'am.”

She gave his good leg a squeeze through the blanket. Charlie Davidson was a real character. “That's more like it.”

It was time like these, when she was talking with patients, that she worried in the back of her mind that surgery wasn't for her. Not that she should be doing something whimsical, despite what Amy thought. But that she would be more suited to the people-oriented areas of general practice or pediatrics.

(Okay, sometimes I have no idea what I'm talking about, so BITE ME!)

However, she had chosen surgery, specifically orthopedic surgery to specialize in, and there was no going back now. It just wasn't acceptable to change your mind in the second year of your residency. Of course, she hadn't really chosen surgery, her father had, but she had to make the best of it.

She knew what she would be good at it, and had handled her case with Dr. Sheinberg well. Then Darien joined the ortho group and she had morphed into a stammering, clumsy comedy act.

Mr. Davidson said, “You know the only reason I'm even here is for the hospital food and to see your pretty face everyday.” He gave her a cheeky grin.

She couldn't help but smile as she checked his vitals. “That an awful lot pain to go through just to see me and get a meal.”

“What pain? I'm not in any pain.” “Wait until the anesthetic from surgery wears off,” she warned him, once again amazed at the man's vigor. His blood pressure was just as it should be.

He shrugged. “Then I'll have the nurse get me those little blue pills. Those work.” He impatiently shoved the IV tubing out of his way. “But enough about me. Let's talked about you. I see you're not wearing a wedding ring.”

Making a notation of vitals on his charts, she looked up, amused. “Don't you think I'm a little young for you?”

He laughed, which dissolved into a post-surgical cough.

“I made you cough.” She said cheerfully. “That's good. It clears your lungs.” She helped him into a sitting position.

“You're not my type,” he said it with a grin as he caught his breath. “Never went in for blondes myself. No, I was thinking about my grandson. He's your age, a lawyer, looks like that Tom Cruise fellow the girls are always raving about.” (cough Seiya cough)

Serena dropped his chart back on the foot of the bed. Shaking her head, she held up her hand and laughed. “No thank you.”

She wasn't lonely enough to succumb to blind dates arranged by medical patients. “Now, if you be good, the nurse will arrange for you to be moved to your room on the floor, and let your wife pop in to see you. I'll stop by first thing in the morning to make sure you're behaving.”

With a wave and a smile, Serena turned to leave and connected with something solid. She knew immediately it was Darien's chest, since she had mentally catalogued every inch of his body.

Well, not every inch.

Some she'd had to leave to her vivid imagination.

Her check brushed against his hard, muscular pectorals beneath his light blue scrub shirt before she darted back quickly to avoid further contact. Which had her colliding with her patient's bedside tray, spilling his cup of water and knocking his glasses on the floor.

“Oh! Sorry Mr. Davidson.” She quickly retrieved the glasses and stood up in time to see Darien sighed with long-suffering patience.

She suspected he was tired of her clumsiness. As if she were enjoying it.

“Mr. Davidson is doing well. BP and oxygen levels normal.” She gave him a wide smile.

(For those of you who don't know what BP is, it's Blood Pressure)

It was a skill she had perfected, smiling like a demented flight attendant even in the face of cold disapproval.

He ignored her and proceeded to check all the readings that Serena had just recorded on the chart. She stood there silently, feeling humiliation slide into anger. Surely he though her capable of doing a simple BP read? A second-week nursing student could do that.

“How are you feeling Mr. Davidson?” Darien said in a clipped voice as his eyes ran over the IV bag and heart rate monitor.

“Fine, just sleepy. You're not going to ask me the same question Dr. Moon just did, are you?” Mr. Davidson's smiled was considerably less warm than the one he'd given Serena. “Because if it's all the same to you, I'd rather catch a shut-eye.”

So there. Serena felt a juvenile satisfaction.

“That's a great idea. We'll just see about moving you up to your room.”

She'd had beaten him to that, too. Serena said, in a patented cheerful voice, “I've already arranged it. Third floor is on their way to transport him.”

He paused in the act of flicking his bangs out of his eye. “Well, aren't you the busy little bee?” (I know I'm making Darien a jack-ass but please bear with me!)

It shouldn't bother her, she knew. It was a casual light comment he might have made to anyone, and she didn't imagine he intended to sound patronizing. But given her current mood, of frustration, it rankled too much to let slip without a comment.

“Buzz, buzz,” she said, capping her words off with another bright smile.

His eyes narrowed.

He gestured for them to leave, glancing at Mr. Davidson who seemed to be sleeping, or trying to anyway.

Conscious of Darien following right behind her, she pushed through the doors of the recovery room and stepped out into the halls. She wondered if he intended to shadow her on her rounds, something he only did on occasion. Too bad she couldn't go home and clean the oven instead. With a tooth-brush. That sounded as fun.

A moment later he fell in step beside her, and touched her elbow. Serena came to a screeching halt, an embarrassing little gasp slipping out of her mouth. Yikes. Why the hell was he touching her?

“Can I speak to you a moment?” he said. When she darted a glance over at him, he was frowning.

“Um, sure, of course.” Like she was going to tell her boss no.

“In private.”

Serena felt her lip drop down to the area of her chest as she stared at him. “No problem.”

She was in trouble. There was no other explanation. He was going to fire her and suggest she take her drop-and-spill act on the road with Carrot Top.

“Your office?” She suggested, trying to sound like the mature adult she sometimes was. She couldn't prevent a little wheezing sound from escaping her mouth though.

Darien looked around the empty hallway and shook his head. “That's halfway across the building. Let's just go in here.”

And he opened the door to the supply room and gestured for her to step inside.

A darkened room

Alone.

Again.

In private.

The underwear image returned, full force. Her body flushed, and her nipples perked up. He closed the door behind them.

Just think of something else, that's what she needed to do. Picture all those student loans that had to be repaid.

It wasn't helping. Serena was breathing hard and sweating between her breasts when Darien turned around and gave her a slow, curious once-over.

Even when he flicked the lights on, bathing her in artificial brightness, it didn't help dispel her anxiety. Sexual tension. Yep. Amy was right again.

“Is something wrong?” she forced herself to say. He folded his arms across his broad chest and reached a hand to rub his chin. Serena could see he hadn't shaved that morning, and he had an attractive, earthy stubble under his bottom lip.

“Are you getting enough sleep, Dr. Moon? Are the shifts too demanding?”

Her first thought was that she had unflattering dark circles under her eyes, but then she realized he was probably referring to her klutziness.

“I'm fine,” she said immediately, in what she hoped was a confident voice. “I can handle the schedule perfectly well, it's not a problem.”

The shifts were at brutal times, but that was expected at this stage in her career. She had known all of that going in med school.

Chewing her lip she chanted to herself, Don't fire me, don't fire me, please, I'll stop thinking lustful thoughts about you and will no longer sneak glances at your crotch…

“I have to admit I'm a little puzzled. On paper, you're an excellent physician, with top med school grades.”

Serena relaxed a little. It was true. She'd worked her not-so-small butt off in med school.

“But I haven't seen any evidence of that in my time here.” Whoops. Staring at the floor, heart pounding, she hedged.

“I don't know what you mean. Has a patient or staff member complained about me?” He shook his head, stepping back a foot to lean against the shelving unit holding the blanket and gown. “That's not what I mean. It's just that you seemed distracted. You're always fumbling around, dropping things.”

Grateful for the dim room hiding her burning cheeks, Serena pressed her lips together, and tried to figure out how to reassure him she wasn't total dipshit.

“I'm not clumsy when it counts, with the patients, so does it really matter? My mother didn't name me Grace, after all.” She gave a little laugh.

There was a prolonged silence. Darien narrowed his eyes, studying her so intimately that she fought the urge to squirm. And the man wondered why she was dropping things. Her whole body was vibrating with lust under his scrutiny.

She always thought he would have made a great cop. Interrogation and intimidation wouldn't have been a struggle for him. Whenever he looked at her like that, she felt the need to confess to everything but third-world poverty.

“If you're having problems, you should discuss them with someone. Any one of the staff doctors would be willing to listen and help you.” He tugged his bottom lip in a gesture that made her mouth go dry.

What would it feel like to have that mouth on her? So serious, so concentrated, do determined? She shivered.

“I would listen, Serena. You could tell me if something was wrong.” His voice was low, persuasive, and at the sound of her name tripping off his tongue so softly, she swallowed hard.

He had never called her Serena before. “I don't have any problems, Dr. Shields, I promised.”

“Boyfriend trouble, maybe? A recent breakup or a guy who…mistreats you?” This conversation was going from awkward to absurd. He seemed determined to find an explanation for her behavior, but she could hardly tell him the truth.

That she wanted him so bad he scattered her thoughts like pool balls in the first break of the game.

“No. I don't have a boyfriend. And if I did, I would never let that interfere with my work here at the hospital.” And on that point she was firm. Never was she anything less than confident in her contact with patients, despite Darien's unnerving presence. She knew her job.

It was all those pesky things like walking and carrying that seemed to be a struggle for her.

He stood up, taking a step forward, towering over her, his manner coaxing. “Sometimes we don't mean for things to interfere. But something…someone distracts us, and we fund our concentration broken.”

Crap she was caught. He knew she wanted him to throw her down on the nearest gurney and have his way with her. This was horrible. This was like body odor. Embarrassing and difficult to cover once it's been discovered.

“I…” she said in a breathless voice that sounded like she'd been hitting the helium on her lunch hour. “I don't know what you mean.”

“Don't you?” Another step and he was right in front of her, close enough to touch, in smelling distance. He wore no cologne, and his scent was a mix of antiseptic soap and musky man.

Which made her wonder what she smelled like to him. Probably like sweaty fear, or sexually aroused, which she was. Jeez, she didn't even know which would be worse. Under the circumstances, both were mortifying. Lifting her arm subtly for a little armpit air condition circulation, she cleared her throat as she touched her neck.

How could he have figured she was attracted to him? How the hell could he know? And what exactly was he going to do about it? Force her to confess she wanted him? She rather undergo a hysterectomy without anesthetic. (Means she would rather have her uterus remove without that numb crap.)

Unless, just maybe she was right about The Look and he was interested in her. Then she'd be an idiot not to tell him he made her ache with want, and despite her recent embarrassing track record, Serena was no idiot.

The trick was figuring out whether he was or he wasn't. Darien knew he needed to stop. Put an end to this conversation and walk out with his rules intact. But he couldn't. Serena was too appealing. She was ripe and round and breathing a little hard in the hushed small room, her eyes wide.

“I don't know what you mean, I really, really, don't, I swear, nothing is bothering me.” Ignoring the ways her words were tumbling over each other, he reached out and ran his thumb across her bottom lip, enjoying the soft full flesh under his touch. The gesture startled her, if the two-foot leap she made was any indication. But he didn't care. “Dr. Shields?”

“Call me Darien.” He didn't want to be a doctor right this minute. He wanted to be a man. A man who was going to kiss the sexy women in front of him.

He'd told himself wouldn't kiss her until she shown interest, and so maybe alarm couldn't classified as such, but she wasn't smacking his hand away either.

“Darien…” She licked her lips. “We have a problem.” His finger stopped sliding across her cheekbone as Serena realized what she said and giggled. (It was originally Houston, we have a problem)

“I guess you've heard that one before, huh?” There was a bright sparkle in her eyes, so adorable that he couldn't bring himself to be annoyed the way he was when someone made an Apollo 13 reference. “Once or twice.” Or a thousand times. He'd lost count.

Leaning forward, he kissed the corner of her mouth, then the other. A little gasp left her, but she didn't move away. Her lips were soft and moist from wetting them with her tongue, and they fell open as he brushed over her a third time. Right in the center, flush on her mouth with his.

Serena sighed, her mouth receptive to him, relaxed. She tasted like apple juice, sweet and ripe, willing, and he fought to keep his eyes open and his hands off her body as he pulled back.

This wasn't what he had intended to do with her in here. He had meant to clear the air, make sure she didn't have a more serious problem than chronic klutziness. But he couldn't be sorry that he'd kissed her.

Nor did her feel sorry for what he was about to propose. “The problem is, Serena, is that you're driving me crazy.”

“I am?” She shook her head, flustered, eyes unfocused. “Oh right, with all the dropping and tripping. I don't mean to, you know, it just happens.”

“That's not what I meant” He buried his nose in the hair by her ear and breathe in deeply. Strawberries. Damn. She was practically a fruit farm. “I meant you're driving me crazy because I want you.”

“Want me?” Her breath hitched, and he felt goose bumps rising on her jaw and neck, but she still didn't pull away. “Want me for what?” That she could innocently, made him hard.

“I want you for this.” He plunged his hand into her hair, drew her flush up to him, and gave her a real kiss. A lip-sliding, mouth-open, tongue-tasting kiss that had them both panting and wide-eyed.

“Oh,” she said, looking up at him before darting her eyes over to the closed door to the hallway.

He could hear the standards hustle-bustle, voices carrying down the hall as business went on as usual in the hospital. This was risky, inappropriate, and he was still new on staff. He should care that someone could walk in at any second, but he didn't.

“Are you serious?” she asked. Seriously out of his mind with lust. “Very, I'm attracted to you, Serena, and we need to discuss what we're going to do about it.” Serena gave an awkward laugh. “I thought you couldn't stand me.”

Had she just missed the kiss he'd given her? “Hardly. Now tell me that you're attracted to me, too.” So he could lean her against that door to prevent a possible interruption and kiss her again.

Serena worried her bottom lip with her teeth then gave another heartfelt sigh. “Okay, here's the thing. I am something of a klutz, but I've never been this bad before and it's all your fault.”

Her fingers gripped his shirt and pushed him lightly to emphasize her point. “I feel like you're always watching, waiting for me to screw up, and I've had this sort of ridiculous crush on you.”

Her cheeks were pink, eyes wide, and Darien kept quiet, liking the sound of this, wanting to hear where this could go. Desire punched him in the gut at her admission that she was attracted to him.

“Silly, really, because you're…” She waved her hand around in front of him. “And I'm…” Gesturing to herself, she blew a loud breath out of the corner of her mouth.

Ha had no idea what that was supposed to mean, and he was about to ask her, when she glanced at the door again.

“But anyway, I don't think this is the place to discuss this.” Serena step back out of his reach. He took her hand, pulling her to a stop, not about to let her escape now that he'd gotten a teasing taste of her. She had admitted she was attracted to him as well, and that was just the green light he'd been looking for.

He knew he should let her go. He should forget he had started this and walk out of here with his sanity intact. Except that he would go crazy if he couldn't have Serena. The ache was too strong, too burning, deep inside where it plagued him and distracted him every minute in her presence.

He had to have her. “Have dinner with me tonight. Then spend the night.”

“What?” She stopped trying to tug her arm out of his hand and gaped at him. So it wasn't pretty. It wasn't charming, it wasn't skilled or poetic or coaxing.

It was the truth.

Put badly before her.

He didn't want any misunderstanding. This was sex and nothing more. This was about fucking her out of his system so he could get back to more important things like his patients.

Serena knew she should be big-time insulted. Darien was standing there, calm as you can be, offering her dinner and a quick dive under the sheets. She was too confused to know how act, having a little experience up until now with men proposing hot, passionate flings.

It seemed she had been right about The Look. But The Look didn't come with anything else. She was still convinced he didn't particularly like her, and it was even possible his attraction to her angered him.

All of which were serious red flags to grab her dignity and run out of this room.

Yet here she still was.

Turned on and seriously considering his offer. After all, how many times in her life was she going to have a gorgeous, dark-haired surgeon claiming he had to have her? She was betting this was the one and only.

Serena studied his face, looking for signs of dishonesty or entrapment. Maybe this was an ethic test. Surgeon boss offers sex-drenched one night together, possibly jeopardizing your career. Do you take him up on it? “You don't mince words, do you?”

“I want you, you want me. I don't see any reasons to wait.” He ran his finger through her hair. “It's getting damned awkward between us here at the hospital, don't you think?”

“And sleeping together would fix that?” she asked in amazement, picturing herself slinking into the hospital after a night of carnal passion with Darien Shields. If she was nervous now, she'd be an absolute marshmallow then.

He smiled. Oh, no. He'd never smile at her before, and it was a sexy caressing little lift of the corner of his mouth. A smile that would have her pressed down against the wall dropping her drawers if she wasn't careful. She gave another futile tug on her arm. He held her tightly.

“The sexual tension will be gone. We go out tonight, we enjoy each other, we come back and everything can return to normal.”

That was rationalization at its worst.

His thumb rubbed the back of her wrist, and she swallowed hard. That kiss he'd given her had stolen every last vestige of common sense, his hot tongue sweeping reserve away and making her feel sexy, desired.

Serena had the overwhelming urge to give in, to take what he was offering and have a night of good, not-so-clean fun. But this was her career at stake. Her brain understood that even of her inner thighs didn't. “I'm not convinced that would rid us of the awkwardness.”

“It can't be any worst than it is now.” He had a point. “This is my career, Dr. Shields.” If she called him Darien, she just might lose it and fling herself back into his arms. “I can't let it get out that there's something between us. You're my boss.”

Darien stiffened. “No, I'm not. Dr. Sheinberg is your boss, he's the resident chief. I'm just a co-worker who had more experience than you do. There is a huge difference, and I have no power over your position.”

Oh, great, he thought she was suggesting sex for surgical opportunities. “That's not what I meant! It's just that I'm new here, and I don't want my staff to think I just sleep around. That could taint my career.”

“This will protect both of our careers. One night. We're both adults. We can handle coming back next week, and then all this tension will be gone between us.” His expression was wry. “That way no one will know. Otherwise I think there's a high probability one day we'll get caught here in the supply room.”

And to put the truth to his words, he tugged lightly on her hand, and her feet, shod in sensible white sneakers, moved forward without instructions from her, until she was right against his chest.

His hands roamed over her back, down to her behind, and squeeze her cheeks with light pressure. Serena shuddered, wanting to bump forward against him, wanting his hands in her pants, touching deep inside her.

It was wrong to feel so aroused. She knew that. He wasn't even being all that nice, but she was shivering with excitement. Men who were used to getting their way weren't her usual style, but nothing was unusual about her reaction to Darien. Since the day she had met him, she had been off balance, and despite the uneasiness of her feelings, she was like oven-roasted chicken. Hot and moist.

The look on his face, the set of his jaw line, excited her, thrilled her that he could want her so much that he'd risk being caught.

Her nipples pushed through the thin cotton of her scrubs as he lightly ran his finger across her breast. She drew her breath in hard, and felt her head dropping back. There had to be a reason she should say no, but she couldn't seem to remember what it was right then.

“I love the way you smell.” He trailed his lips along her neck. “And the way you taste.”

A sudden unpleasant thought pop into her head. Maybe he had wanted a lot of other women in the hospital and she'd just never known about it. That was a lowering thought. “Have you done this before with any of the previous resident?”

His lips stilled on her skin. “No. You're the only one to even tempt me.”

Then he laughed, soft and low, just under her ear. “But until now, all of the orthopedic residents I've run across have been men, not a lot of women choose to be bone crackers. But no-no nurse, no doctors, no surgical assistant, has ever made me want to make out in a supply closet.”

Serena was reeling. She was confused, overwhelm, attracted to Darien beyond rational, and she needed breathing room. She had to get away from him. “I need time to think about it.

“Think about this, Serena.” Another crushing kiss fell on her lips, bruising in its intensity, shocking her with the possessive violence of it and more so, her reaction on it. She felt telltale moisture between her thighs and a gnawing ache in the pit of her belly.

Both of his thumbs were moving back and forth across her nipples, flicking at the tight painful nubs until she was dizzy. It served to make her even less sure that they could spend the night together and return to work the better for it.

This desire was different, deeper than anyone she'd ever known, and one night might make her desperate for more. Not the other way around.

“How do you know one night will be the end of it?” she whispered when he broke off the kiss. He shrugged. “I never want more than one night.”

She should be appalled, disgusted by the thoughtless casualness of his remark.

Instead she found herself intrigues. That was a decisive remark to make when she could feel his erection resting against her thigh.

Curiosity gave way to determination to prove the arrogant Darien Shields wrong.

With her, one night wouldn't be enough.

He would want more.

And he wasn't the only one who liked to be successful, especially when the odds were against her. Serena usually got what she wanted, no matter how hard she had to work at it or how long.