by Ashlee Price
I turned my phone back on and saw that I had several messages. I was more than a little surprised to see that a couple of them were from Maya. I wanted to call her back, but I was afraid that she was with her husband. I wanted her to leave him, but I didn’t want to be the reason. Maya needed to leave her husband because she wanted to, not because I made her.
I almost jumped when the phone went off in my hands. I’d been staring at it so intently that I was genuinely spooked to feel the vibration. It was Maya.
Chapter 3 – Camilla
“It’s good to see you, Tyler. I’m running a few minutes early today. Can you imagine?”
He sat down on the side of the couch and sighed deeply. He was having a long day, and I knew that my day was about to get longer. I still had the dread of seeing Zane and what was going to happen there. It was better for me to fall face-first into another person’s problems. Then I wouldn’t have to think of how impossible my own were. That was how it was feeling, and I wasn’t sure what was going to happen next.
“Not really. I don’t think that I’ve run ahead of schedule in years, possibly before college.”
“Well, today is one of those days, so you have a little more time if you need it. You seem stressed. Do you want to talk about it?”
“I want to get something to eat. I missed breakfast and it’s almost lunchtime. What do you say, Doc? Do you want to get some lunch with me? We can call it a working lunch and one of us can use the tax break. I’m buying.”
It wasn’t the first time that he had invited me out. I’d said no before, but today I was feeling a little cooped up myself. I knew that it was against some rules somewhere, but I didn’t much care. It was just a lunch, and like Tyler said, it was a working lunch.
“Okay, but the session goes on.”
He agreed, making a joke about how I was all work and no play. If only he knew how wrong he was about that. I was sure that I’d been having a bit too much fun as of late. It wasn’t my fault. Zane had come out of nowhere, and now he was a bigger part of my life than I would have imagined possible.
I walked out to the parking garage with Tyler and waited for him to open the door of his sleek black car. It fit the man, or the man I’d gotten to know over the course of the last couple of months. I was afraid he had helped me more than I’d helped him. Tyler seemed to deal with it all better than I did, and I wanted more than anything to get over it like he had. It wasn’t a ruse, either. The man just pushed it out of his mind. I was still trying to perfect the technique.
“You don’t look like you’re much into talking today.”
Admonishing myself for getting distracted again, I sighed and shrugged my shoulders a little bit. “Just been a long day.”
“It isn’t even noon yet.”
Smiling, I looked out the window. “I know.”
“Ouch, that bad?”
“Not really, more my own drama to deal with.”
“So if everyone goes to the Doc for advice and a listening ear, where does she go?”
It was a legitimate question, and the truth was that there wasn’t anyone that I could talk to. Not really. I had friends and colleagues, but with what I was doing as of late, there was no one that I could tell. They wouldn’t approve. I wanted badly to have someone like me to talk to. It wouldn’t be wise – I could never talk to a professional about my issues – but it was a wish nonetheless.
“The Doc doesn’t have to talk about anything. I don’t have that interesting of a life.”
He grinned and made my heart melt a little with his boyish charm. “Why do I find that hard to believe? What’s on your mind, Doc? I won’t even charge you.”
Shaking my head, I told him that I couldn’t afford him. He reminded me that it was pro bono.
“I’m supposed to be helping you.”
“You have. You keep the family off my back and at bay.”
That wasn’t much of a compliment, but I tried not to take it personally. “Is that all?”
“Of course not.”
I giggled. It felt good to not be cooped up in the office with another patient wanting to tell me about their bad day. It was my job, but it was not something that I was looking forward to when I was feeling so dark inside myself.
“Fine, I’ll tell you if you tell me what had that frown on your face and you running out of the office so quickly today.”
The smile was gone, and mine was as well. Tyler did have something on his mind. Whether he wanted to admit it or not was another story. I wasn’t expecting him to burst out with it, though I had a feeling that he wanted to the whole time. Maybe he felt the same way about it all, and I liked the idea that he was happy to talk to me about it.
“My wife is cheating. I can’t be sure, but I’m almost positive that she is.”
My face changed because I hadn’t seen that coming. While it was true that he had not been the most faithful to his wife, I knew that he cared about her in some way. It wasn’t so clear most of the time, but moments like this, I had to wonder what he truly felt. If he didn’t care, it didn’t make sense that he was so upset by it.
“How do you feel about it?”
Tyler smiled in a way that didn’t show happiness, but some kind of bitterness that I hadn’t seen before.
“I guess I don’t feel anything about Maya seeing another man. I know that I should, but I don’t.”
We stayed quiet for a time, both of us thinking about what was on our minds.
“So what has you with the long face?”
I wasn’t going to tell him, not really tell him, but then his wife’s name made it all come together. I think I told him my issue to even out the score somehow. I knew who his wife was cheating on him with, but I wasn’t going to tell him that. I could, though, give him a bit of my drama to make him feel a little bit better, or at least oblivious to his own grief.
“Well, I started sleeping with one of my patients and I think that he’s starting to stalk me.”
His head jerked towards me as the car stopped in front of the restaurant. I moved to get out and he stopped me. “Wait, you can’t say something like that and then get out.”
“Yes, I can, Tyler. I’m starving and we’re here. Seems like as good of a time as any.”
“We have to talk about this. I want details.”
He made me giggle again, something I didn’t do very often. “Nope, just in the car, and our session is over. This is your hour, remember.”
“I think what you’ve got going on is more interesting than Maya cheating on me.”
I kind of felt bad about knowing and not telling him, but in a way I couldn’t. I knew that he was cheating on her. He paraded the other woman around in public, so it couldn’t be a secret. Maybe Tyler was getting a taste of his own medicine. And maybe I was going to get a taste of my own through Zane. I wasn’t ready to see it that way, but that was what was happening. Maybe Zane was my reminder that I didn’t have clean hands either.
Chapter 4 – Dylan
“I thought that you’d to go out with your husband tonight? You said that he had some big award to get.”
“He does, but I told him that I’m not going. I don’t want to be with him, Dylan. I want to be with you.”
Her words were all that I needed to hear. All of the doubt that I’d been feeling was washed away. She was going to leave him. She had to, because she loved me. I knew that she did, but the doctor had me second-guessing everything. It was all going to be okay.
“I want to see you, Dylan. Are you still there?”
“Yes, I’m here, Maya. We can do whatever you want to do.”
I meant it, too. I would follow her anywhere. I didn’t think she knew how much power she had over me, but I was hers. All of me was Maya’s, and soon I was going to have all of her.
“Why don’t we meet at the restaurant? I’m starving, and I was hoping that we could share a dessert like we did last time.”
“We didn’t have dessert last time… Oh.”
She laughed on the other end, and the sound was like music to my ears. God, I loved this woman more than I’d loved anyone, and while Camilla was right about how wrong it was, I didn’t care. He didn’t love her the right way, and that left her open to being loved by another. I wasn’t going to make the same mistake of taking advantage of her. I knew what I had with Maya, and I was going to make sure that she knew every moment of every day how I felt.
“I’ll meet you there, Maya. I miss you.”
“It’s only been a day.”
“I know, but it feels like an eternity every time you’re not in my arms.”
***
“Do you want to talk about it?”
Maya shook her head and smiled at me. “I don’t want to talk, Dylan. I want you to love me.”
I didn’t know what she was talking about and I told her that I already did. I didn’t realize that she was talking about physically until she started to unbutton the silk blouse that cost more than my whole wardrobe. Maya didn’t say it back, but she didn’t have to. I could see it in her eyes. I moved my view down lower, and my breath hitched when her upper body came into view. “God, you’re beautiful Maya.”
“You know that I love the way you look at me, Dylan. It’s like you’ve never seen another woman before.”
“Not like you.”
She looked down and I could see a pale of pink on her bronze face. “You always make me feel so special, Dylan.”
“Because you are special, Maya. I feel like the luckiest man in the world for you choosing me.”
I didn’t mention the husband who really had her. I didn’t want to think about him. He may have given her his name, but Maya was going to be mine in all ways. Tonight I was going to make sure that she never forgot me. Tonight I wanted her to feel how much I loved her and how I was never going to be able to be without her again. I just had to make her feel the same way.
Moving the last few feet to her, I started to unzip the dress that was still in my way. She didn’t help me, but she didn’t fight me either. Watching the pale cream colored fabric move down her thighs, I bit my lip to stifle the sound that threatened to come out. She really was perfect. The long legs kept my attention until I could drag my gaze back up her body.
“I love you, Maya.”
Our eyes met and she smiled up at me. “I love you too, Dylan. You’re the one thing in my life that isn’t crazy, and I don’t know what I would do without you. I’m so glad that we found each other.”
I bent down and kissed her, pulling her to me before I could stop myself. We’d only made love that one night, and I’d been gentle. I didn’t think that I could be gentle this time. I needed her. I needed to be inside of her, and more than that, I needed to possess her in a way that I hadn’t been able to before. She was mine, and I wanted nothing more than to claim her once and for all. I was going to make it so that she didn’t even remember her own husband’s name.
Not taking the time to bring her up the stairs to my loft, I set her bottom on a nearby table and struggled to get my own pants off. My hands were shaking with anticipation, and I was thrusting into her as soon as I felt her thighs pulling me in. It wasn’t at all like before. This time she was grunting as I slammed into her, calling out my name as her head shook side to side from pleasure. I made her come over and over again, begging me to stop before I finally filled her with my seed.
We stayed like that for some time, connected in the most intimate way as we panted. Maya was enough to send me to a whole other level of need. I loved her too much, and as I moved to kiss her, I felt a gut-wrenching pull on my insides. I couldn’t lose her, not ever.
“What’s wrong, Dylan?”
“Nothing, Maya, I just love you so much.”
She had the barest smile on her face as she put her head down on my shoulder. “I love you too, Dylan. I didn’t think I would ever feel like this again. I wish it could be like this all of the time.”
“Why can’t it?”
Maya’s smile was gone. I could tell that my words bothered her. She pushed up against my chest and I knew that she wanted to get down. I was slow in moving. I wished again that I’d just shut my mouth. Everything was going perfectly until I just had to say something.
“It’s not that easy, Dylan.”
“Why can’t it be? Why does it have to be so complicated? You love me and I love you.”
“Because I’m married.”
“You don’t have to be.”
I watched her get dressed. Everything in me wanted to beg her to stay. I wasn’t letting her go, but I knew that she needed some time and some space. I didn’t blame her. I needed some as well. I had to work this all out in my head. Camilla was in my mind and I was questioning everything. Maybe I should just be happy with it how it was. I didn’t like to even think about the alternative.
“I’ll call you, Dylan, okay?”
She was leaving, and I was left shaking my head like an idiot. But when Maya turned back around and kissed me, I was left with a small bud of hope. It was enough for me.
Part 6: Obesession
Zane knows that Camilla is pulling away from him. He can feel it by the way she looks at him and by the way she lied when he asked if she was alone. Zane had been watching her, and he knew that she wasn’t with anyone. She was alone and just didn’t want to speak to him. It was the first time he caught her in a lie, but it made it impossible to trust her.
He needs to be sure that she loves him, and he has to be sure that there are no more secrets. While Zane hasn’t learned what’s in Dr. Loring’s heart, he’s learned that she flirts with other patients. The idea that she has other men who she spends time with makes him go a little mental. Zane wants to be the only one, and he’s prepared to do whatever it takes to make it happen. He’s not above resorting to desperate measures to keep the woman he loves his own. He isn’t letting Camilla go without a fight.
Chapter 1 – Zane
The sound of the door opening got my attention and I sat up a little straighter. It was time to test the new tech. Camilla was out of her office and I had a few minutes to spare.
“Thanks for taking me out to lunch, Tyler. I really needed that.”
“No problem. I’ve been trying to get you to come out with me since we first met.”
I heard a chuckle and I knew that it was Camilla. I didn’t know who Tyler was, but I was going to have to find out why he was taking her to lunch. I didn’t know what I expected to hear, but not this.
“You’re a patient and there are laws against it. I could lose my license.”
“But what about…”
“Not here. I don’t know why I told you that, but you can never bring it up again, Tyler. Promise me?”
She was sounding a little too chipper, and it made me lean forward, pressing the sound closer to my ears, trying to envision what was going on in the small room.
“Yeah, I was just… I don’t know. Poor taste, sorry.”
“I’m not proud of what I’ve done, but you’re right. I need to handle it.”
“I think I have my own fences to mend on my end as well. It was a good talk. That’s why I still come to see you, Camilla. You always know what to say. And I’m still holding out for the chance that you’ll actually take me up on my offer for more than just a meal.”
The laugh was back, this time more of a giggle, and I could feel the heat rising in my face. The last thing I wanted to do was listen to this crap. It felt like some kind of slow torture, and I had an irrational urge to throw the headphones, just to stop from hearing her little giggle that was only supposed to be for me.
“You know I can’t, Tyler. You’re married, and I’m your doctor.”
Tyler sighed, and then I heard a shuffling sound. One of the plants was too low and picking up the movement of feet. I strained to hear through it, trying my best to envision what was going on in there. Now I didn’t think audio was going to be enough. I wanted to see what was going on, not just hear it.
�
��Tyler, I’m serious. You’re a nice guy, but…”
“I don’t want to hear the rest of that. Anything that starts with ‘you’re a nice guy’ can’t end well. I’ll take it as a no for right now, okay?”
“You can take it how you want, but I think that you’re confused about how it all works.”
“I know how it works. I’m just going to have to catch you in a mood. I’m a patient man, Camilla.”
Clenching my fist, I swore then and there that if I heard her giggle again I was going to end the charade right now.
“Good luck with that, Tyler. I’m not taking the bait, but I did enjoy lunch. Thank you for that.”
“I know, my time is up.”
“Yes, I have another patient coming in. I’ll see you next week?”
There was too much hope in her voice, and my teeth were clenched in my mouth as hard as my fists were by my side. My brilliant idea was quickly unraveling in my face.
“I wouldn’t miss it for the world, Doc.”
“Okay, Tyler. I think you’ve had one too many margaritas for lunch. I’m glad you’re not driving.”
There was that noise again, as I assumed Tyler got up from a chair and went to the door. I heard it open, but I couldn’t quite understand what else was going on. I tried to listen as intently as I could, but nothing more came to me. I wanted to hear Camilla’s answer to the bold man’s offers and innuendos. I knew then and there that I was going to have to learn more about this Tyler guy who made her giggle so much. Was Camilla like that with all of her patients?
Going back to the paper that I was reading, I waited for something more. I had a little bit of time to kill because work was slow, so I spent it how I’d envisioned from the start. It hadn’t occurred to me to bug her office until the incident with her lying. I wanted to know what was going on with her and what else she was lying about. Now I was overwhelmed with secrets, and I hadn’t even been listening for an hour.
