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The knot between Mel’s shoulder blades had been steadily getting worse through the week. No matter what she did—epsom salt baths, neck supporting pillow, pain meds—she couldn’t get the pain to go away. It got to a point that her neck twinged every time she turned just a little too quickly.
“You good?”
She’d been wincing again while uselessly stretching her shoulders back to try to relieve some of the stiffness. It was bearable when she was walking around, but sitting at the desk, catching up on charting, was pure torture on her spine.
She pursed her lips and nodded. “I’m good.”
Dr. Langdon’s head tilted, his eyelids drooping for a withering stare. “Mel.”
“Really.”
“I can tell you’re in pain. What hurts? Do you need to be seen, or do you need a break?”
“No break,” she said on a rushed breath. “I’m fine.”
“Then tell me what it is.”
“It’s just…” She squinted one eye and hesitated to admit any sort of weakness. “I have this knot in my back that’s been bugging me all week.”
“Oh.” He glanced up occasionally from his own notetaking. “Those are the worst,” he drawled.
“I know right.” Mel shared a smile with him, then went back to charting.
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The last thing Dr. Mel King ever expected was for Frank Langdon to personally help her relieve the knot between her shoulders.
“Right around here?”
“Um… Mhmm,” she squeaked. She sat ramrod straight on the bench in the locker room. Dr. Langdon hadn’t let her leave after their shift ran late, instead making her sit while he promised the best five-minute massage of her life.
“Ah, there it is.” His thumbs found the knot and pressed in hard, earning a hiss from Mel. “Sorry, too hard?”
“No— No, it’s good. Hurts, but good.”
He attentively rubbed until the muscles loosened and Mel’s shoulder blades relaxed. Her shoulders drooped an inch at a time, and by the time her five minutes were up, she’d almost fallen asleep under his touch.
Dr. Langdon patted her shoulder and leaned down to whisper, “I’ll leave the lights off if you wanna take a nap.”
She involuntarily shivered. His breath ghosting over her ear had an effect on her that she was proud of.
“No, I’m fine.” She whipped around fast with the intention of grabbing her bag on the floor so she could fly out of there. Lest he see the blush fanning across her face. She couldn’t believe she’d lost her senses like that. His fingers weren’t that magical. She just had a habit of letting her guard down around him.
In her haste, their temples bumped together. Both winced and made small sounds of pain as they reached for their heads. Or at least, Mel reached for her own, and Langdon immediately reached for hers. He cupped her face tenderly and leaned in close with a grimace on his face.
“You okay?”
“I—” She gaped, completely caught off guard by his concern and the closeness of their faces. He’d dropped to his knees by her legs.
His brows lifted as he patiently waited for her to find her words.
“I just… Um…”
Slowly, the corner of his mouth lifted. Ever since he’d returned from rehab, he seemed to always be chasing a high, and currently, she was the thing that gave him one. Any time he could make her laugh or leave her flustered, he took his shot.
She blurted the first thing that came to mind. “Could you actually get my neck quick? Just for a minute.”
A chuckle escaped him. “Sure, Mel. I can spare another minute for you. Anytime.”
He got back to his feet and she turned around. His fingers found her neck, and she sucked in a breath. There wasn’t the fabric of her t-shirt between them anymore. His bare fingers were on her bare neck—a touch cold, but so strong and sure. She couldn’t help but notice that he could easily wrap his whole hand around her throat if he wanted.
When his fingers dug in, she inadvertently whimpered.
He froze. “Mel?”
“Sorry— Sorry,” she said in a high pitched voice.
“That good, huh? Maybe I should have gone into massage therapy.”
“Maybe…” She chuckled sheepishly.
Dr. Langdon proceeded with the massage, and this time she had to bite down on her lips to keep from making any more noises. The problem was that it felt too good, and he was close enough for her to get a whiff of his deodorant and body wash. Clean, manly scents.
His hands drifted to her shoulders, dipping under her collar ever so slightly. “This okay?” he asked, and maybe she was imagining it, but he sounded kinda breathless.
“Yeah…” she whispered.
“Okay.” He kept going, continuing his massage under her shirt, sticking to her shoulders with his thumbs digging into her cervical vertebrae and the base of her skull. Pure heaven. She could have fallen asleep again if she weren’t so alert from the closeness.
Without meaning to, another sound escaped her. Something like a sigh and a whimper.
This time, he didn’t stop his ministrations. He kept going, doing exactly what was making her feel so good and lose control. From behind, his fingers over her shoulders were long enough to reach past her collarbones too. They kept slipping under her sports bra straps until he gave up and pushed them down her shoulders beneath her shirt so he could continue his massage unobstructed. The problem was that it made the bra start to slip down her front too, and his fingers kept brushing dangerously close to her chest.
“M— Maybe we should stop now,” Mel stammered. “I think it’s been more than a minute.”
“Just a little longer,” he rasped.
Mel sank her teeth into her lower lip. If she wasn’t mistaken, he sounded…into this.
She squinted her eyes shut, focusing on the feel of his hands. They were warming up, and there was no chilled touch of a ring on her left side. She’d snuck a glance a few times before, but she was certain he’d gotten a divorce. A few times, he let slip that he had to pick up the kids for the weekend, and she deduced that there was a shared custody situation in place. Of course he hadn’t told her directly though, for he knew she was sensitive to the topic of split families.
She squeezed her legs together to stop the throbbing there, hoping he didn’t notice.
Maybe he did though, because his ministrations took up a languid pace. He rubbed deep and slow, his fingers creeping lower and lower with each pass. When they danced over the swell of her breasts, she sucked in a breath, and he froze.
“Mel… I need you to tell me right now if you want me to keep going.”
Her chest rose and fell heavily. He was so close to touching her… So close to sticking his hands down just an inch more to feel her nipples. Would he twist them? Or would he be gentle with her all the time? She kinda wanted him to do more than be gentle.
“Mel.” His hands started to pull back. “I won’t go further without your conse—”
“You can keep going,” she blurted. “I—” She gaped in horror at her sneakers, not believing the words out of her mouth. “I… want you to keep going…”
There was a great long pause. Awkwardness wormed between them, and she grimaced. Of course I ruined it. God damn it, Mel, why can’t you be normal? This is why you never get asked out. (Not counting the time a criminal flirted with her.)
All her worries vanished when Langdon got a grip on himself. His hands slid all the way down, both palms cupping a breast.
Mel gasped.
Slowly, he kneaded her chest, and his mouth came down to rasp against her ear again. “This good?”
All thoughts rushed out of her head when his lips brushed the tip of her ear.
“Mel…”
“G— Good,” she sputtered. “Really good.”
He rewarded her with a gentle twist on each nipple, then he went back to double-fisting her for a slow palming. He gripped her tighter every time she inhaled and her chest lifted into his hands.
Her thighs started to rub together, her butt wiggling on the bench. She tried crossing her feet to make herself behave, but then he went and kissed her on the neck, right where her throat and shoulder connected.
A moan eked out of her, low and slow as she exhaled.
“Thatta girl,” he murmured directly against her skin. “Keep making those sounds for me.”
“But we’re in— Frank, we’re in the locker room.” She remembered herself then and started to twist away from him.
He sighed with a groan when she cut his game short.
Her face burned bright red as she stood up fast and grabbed her bag. All the while, she tried to fix her bra beneath her shirt, but he’d gotten it good and bunched beneath her boobs. “I— I need to— um… I gotta get going. Thank you.”
“Thank you?” His lips turned down in that amused way of his that made her heart skitter.
“Yes. The massage helped. And the other stuff was…”
He leaned in. “Yeah?”
“It was nice.” Oh my god is that the best I can come up with? She couldn’t think of anything else to say, so she pivoted and started striding out of the locker room. Mel didn’t take stock of her surroundings again until she was down the road, a block away and nearing the bus station.
A car had been slowly following her, and she didn’t notice until he pulled up and rolled down the window.
“Mel. Hey, Mel.”
“Dr. Langdon?” She looked around for witnesses.
“Why don’t you hop in? I can give you a ride home.”
“Well, I gotta pick my sister up.”
“That’s fine. We can pick her up, and I’ll take you both home.”
“Really?”
He offered a small smile. “Really.”
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Becca was fine waiting an extra thirty minutes. At least, that’s what Mel told herself when Langon parked on the highest level of a dead parking garage, in a back corner where no one would see them.
“What are we…” she had started to say.
“Mel. I want to keep going. If you want to…”
Maybe she misread the signals of what he was asking for, but she flew at him. She threw her legs over the console, straddling him and grabbing his face for a fierce kiss. God she loved his face…
“Mmph!” he made a surprised sound at first. Maybe he hadn’t expected her to go this far right away? Either way, he was a fast learner and brilliant, so it didn’t take him long to get his bearings. He thrived in spontaneous situations.
He put his seat back, then grabbed her waist and leaned in to kiss her with equal fervor.
Now here they were. Her: shirtless, him: face first in her chest. They dry humped like nobody’s business. His erection pressed perfectly against the seam of her pants, and both rubbing against her clit were making her see stars.
With her head tipped back to his ceiling and the steering wheel pressing into her spine, he sucked moan after moan after her. Somehow, he had her entire left boob in his mouth. A marvel.
“I think I’m close,” she panted.
His mouth came off her boob with a wet pop. “Good girl. I’m close too.”
“Hng…” She whimpered at his admission. Knowing they both felt good meant the world to her. It made her feel useful, and she had an undiagnosed praise kink.
All the tension that had been in her back and neck migrated to her core. She was seconds away from snapping when he bit down on her nipple.
Her head fell back, her spine arching, as she came with a silent scream.
He grunted with his mouth hot and open directly against her boob. His hips jerked up in harder motions than before as he came undone.
Then they stayed there, her head slumping forward onto his shoulder, their hips glued together. It was so hot in there… Sweat beaded on her chest and on the windows.
Frank kissed her neck sweetly, brushing her braid to the side. “How’s that knot in your back now?”
Mel laughed breathlessly. “Completely gone.”
“Good. Just uh… Let me know if I can be of any help again in the future.”
She turned her face to the side on his shoulder so she could peer up at him. “I might have to take you up on that.”
They cleaned themselves up with wipes from his glovebox, then after he stole a quick kiss, he drove them to pick up Becca.