by P Mulholland
A familiar face appeared near the canned peas and beans and it took me a few seconds to place her. She was immediately focused on Jake, asking how he was doing. He looked just as confused as I was, until she mentioned the name Newman.
“He’s had his operation,” she said, “thanks to you.” She was nervous when she spoke to Jake, probably because he’s tall, gorgeous and an Austin.
His face lit up. It was the happiest I’d seen him all week. “Is anyone interested in him?”
“It’s still too soon to release him. His surgery incision still needs to heal and then he’ll need physical therapy to restore the strength in his legs. Fingers crossed.”
“Who’s Newman?” I asked after she left.
“A dog,” he answered, looking back down at his phone.
I wanted to know more. “Did you pay for his operation?”
“What’s with the third degree?” This time he glanced up from his phone and caught my expression. I must have looked hurt, because guilt crept across his face.
“Fine.”
As soon as we got into the car, I blasted him. “I distinctly remember when I gave you the cold shoulder about the betting ring, you scolded me for it. Said I was being immature. Now look at you. Treating me like I did something wrong, I don’t even know what that is. ‘I’m not a mind reader,” you said.’” I deepened my voice to sound like a man and he tried not to smile. I could tell he was trying hard to compose himself and keep stone-faced.
“I donated some money to the shelter,” he finally explained.
“How much?”
“Ten thousand.”
“Holy fuck!” In my exuberance I lurched my body forward and my ribs cracked. I yelped in pain.
“Are you alright?”
I nodded, taking deep breaths to ease the pain.
“You swear like a Texan truck driver drunk on a stripper’s daisy dukes.”
I snorted. “Would you mind telling me why you’ve been so sullen?”
“No. I don’t want to tell you.”
“Is there something I’ve done wrong?”
“No. It’s something I have to work through, internally.”
“About me?”
“Sort of.”
“Okay.” I let it go. Whoever he spoke to last night obviously planted something in his mind. “It was nice that you donated to the animal shelter. All that work I put into baking cakes and biscuits pulled in how much money? And then you come along… “Here’s ten thousand dollars.” Like it’s mere pocket money.”
Another small, short-lived smile appeared, knowing I was teasing him.
“Will you take me to the shelter to meet Newman?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“Once you lay your eyes on that pitiful sight, you’ll want me to adopt him.”
“How bad is he?”
“Pretty bad. He’s been to hell and back.”
“Then you should adopt him.”
“Just to leave him at home alone while I’m at work? He doesn’t deserve that.”
“Take him to work. He can be your emotional support dog to stop you from drinking. It’s a thing, you know.”
He gazed out the window, his mind chewing over something.
“Thank you,” I said.
“What for?”
“Everything. You’ve been amazing throughout this ordeal. But I feel like I’ve become a burden.”
“No,” he answered swiftly.
“Like helping me dress-”
“ I’m not stopping that, unless you want me to. I get to perv at your damn nice lady bits.”
“And change my dressings?”
“Yeah, that’s a bit gross, but I don’t mind doing it. Besides, they’re healing up nicely. It won’t be long before you won’t need any dressings.”
“Cutting my food up?”
He shrugged. “It’s not a big deal.”
“Okay. I give up.”
Over the next few days he remained distant. He still came home at ten past six every work day, but he was quiet, a million miles away. I felt him pulling away from me and I hated it. I also hated that I hated it. The exoskeleton around my lobster heart was cracking and it was a 21 year old responsible for it. Which made it even more ridiculous.
Perhaps Jake pulling away was a good thing. It would only make it harder to leave if I had feelings for him. And staying was never an option. I’d be leaving regardless. He could buy me the world and place an organic raspberry on top and I’d still leave. His recent aloofness was just making it easier.
To make matters more interesting, Sarah notified me that one of the Ocean Warrior’s deep-sea divers was leaving in two months and she needed someone to fill in. We had been in regular contact since we were released from prison. She left for Scotland, I left for Chicago. She had climbed back on board as night pilot of the Ocean Warrior soon after, while I stayed in Chicago confined.
So I decided to explain my situation to her, throwing in a fib here and there to disguise the fact I was being held against my will with my bank accounts frozen. She said I should apply for an emergency passport, stating that I had lost my original one. But I had no money to pay for it. I had no money to buy a ticket from Chicago to whichever port the vessel will be docked at. This was doing my head in. Reading between the lines, she said she’d cover the cost of the passport and travel expenses. She wasn’t doing it out of sympathy or to be nice, she just wanted me back on the vessel. It was business. And the business of cutting illegal fishing nets and stopping trawlers from fishing in sanctuaries was essential.
My enthusiasm was raised and now I had something to look forward to, something to focus on. But I had to keep quiet about it as I’d leaving before my time was up babysitting the kid. Which meant leaving without completely paying off my debts to both Isaac and Mr. Austin. I didn’t care. I had no intention of ever returning to Chicago after what happened this time.
Chapter Twenty Eight
Jake
I was burning up on the inside with guilt and anger.
The same scenarios circled round and round in my head, torturing me. The conversations with Leon and Corey radiated in my mind. I didn’t know how to handle it. I didn’t know what to do to fix it.
There were moments when I glanced at her face and she looked so sad, so lost, and all I wanted to do was make her feel better. Make her laugh. Make her happy.
She reminded me of a wild cat caught in a net and forced to live the rest of her life in a fucking crate. I could see the fire and the fight were dying. I could see the spark in her eyes fading. I didn’t want to cage her like everyone else did. I wanted her to be free, soaring over the mountain tops, running through the forests, swimming in the oceans. But there was a price. She’d be free without me and that’s something I’d have to live with.
There was an end.
I should’ve stopped her from going to work for Malone when the first warning card was dropped. I should’ve barged past the security guard and run up to Malone’s floor to rescue her. I should’ve stopped fucking drinking on the night of my 21st, so I didn’t end up with a babysitter who I can’t get out of my fucking head.
And then Malone dropped a doozy by striking a deal with a potential rapist, so he wouldn’t touch Brydes while she lay there unconscious.
I struggle to get the image out of my head of her dragging herself across the floor of Malone’s office to find her phone. I can’t get the image out of my head of her lying on the bathroom floor, covered in blood. And I did nothing to save her. NOTHING.
“Jake?” Her voice was so small and husky, I barely heard her. She was standing at my bedroom door, while I sat on the edge of my bed staring at my phone. I couldn’t look at her in the eye, because the guilt strangled me from the inside-out. “Can you help me, please?”
I followed her to her bedroom. She needed me to help undress her, then dress her. The wounds on her left side were completely healed, but her bones still needed time. Thankfully, th
e pain had decreased as the healing increased. Or maybe she just adapted to the pain and got used to it, like an old, annoying friend who kept pestering her for favors.
I glanced at my watch. “You’re going to bed early.”
“Yeah, I’m going to read.” She pointed to the book Farrah was reading to us, All The Light We Cannot See. She still hadn’t finished it. “Since you’re not much fun anymore.”
The guilt bubbled in my stomach like hot acid on the boil. I couldn’t open up and tell her what was going on in my head. I just had to work through it in my own time, even though it was eating into precious moments with Brydie.
“Where does your name come from?” I always wanted to ask, as I pulled her tee shirt up, carefully easing her bent, fractured left arm through the armhole.
“Gaelic. It means, exalted one. A variant of Bridget.”
“Exalted? Yeah, that fits.” Her golden hair fell about her bare shoulders when I threw her tee shirt right off. She turned around so I could unhooked her pink sports bra, letting it drop to the ground. Usually, she kept her back to me while I re-dressed her from behind. This time, she turned back to face me completely unabashed that she was standing there topless.
We’d done this several times before, but for some strange reason this time was different. I don’t know if it was the way she looked at me longingly, because I had been distant towards her. Or the fact she looked so beautiful naked in the evening light. But I leaned in and kissed her rosy lips. Just a sweet peck.
I felt her hand run across my cheek. “I missed you,” she whispered, and I just about exploded right then and there.
I lowered my head and kissed her again, open mouthed, tongue dancing, soppy, passionate kiss. She moaned and wrapped her good arm around my neck. She was kissing me back. Not just kissing me back, but she was urging me for more.
I placed my hand on the small of her back and pulled her close to me, so I could feel her soft, bare tits against my hard chest. That damn left arm got in the way of a good squeeze.
I kept kissing her, she was moaning and sighing, the heat rising between us. Her good hand ran down from my neck to my chest, then to the front of my pants. I pulled away from the kiss and gazed into those emerald eyes that were filled with desire. She was breathing hard, her bare chest moving in and out like a dream.
“Are we about to fuck? I mean, seriously?” I had to know.
“Do you want to?”
“Do I want to? Do I want to? Are you kidding me? From the day you walked through that door I’ve wanted to.”
“Stop talking and take me to bed then.”
I was fully aware that she was in pain and I might temporarily contribute to making the pain worse, but I also wanted to make her feel good too, really good.
She carefully lay down on her bed and I slid beside her, running my hands over her bare skin, her nipples, her tattoos while kissing that sultry mouth.
“I can’t believe this is finally happening,” I spoke into her mouth. “I was close to giving up and joining the cloister, where I’d wear a robe and bathe only once a year.”
She laughed and then yelped when her ribs cracked. Fuck. How far could I go with this without making her cry?
I tried to keep my weight off her body, while I kissed her neck and buried my face in her hair, soaking in her scent. Vanilla orange. I then peppered kisses from her neck to her tits and began to lick them like delicious lollipops, quickly progressing to sucking and nibbling. Starting with the right, then onto the left, trying to ignore that fractured arm stuck in the way.
She moaned and rubbed my hair with her hand, sighing that it felt so good, then pulling at my tee shirt. I took it off and wanted nothing more than to lay my body against hers, but I couldn’t do that without hurting her. But she used her good hand well, running it all over my chest and back and reaching for my crotch.
I unzipped her skinny jeans and ran my hand over her black cotton panties. Sensible underwear. I’d expect nothing less from a chick who spends half her life on raging seas.
Her panties were sodden. Soaked. And I hadn’t even started my magic down there yet.
Then I did something stupid that I regretted as soon I started doing it, but I couldn’t stop myself. I got on my hands and knees, caging her on the bed and asked her, “Do you have feelings for me?” Fucking idiot!
“What?” she asked looking up at me with those soulful eyes.
“Do you have feelings for me?”
“Yes.”
“What sort of feelings?” Shut the fuck up!
“I like you.”
“You like me? Like a friend?”
She frowned.
I sounded exactly like one of many chicks that I slept with more than once. What the fuck? I’m turning into a pussy. I’ve already been christened a dork now I’m a pussy and a dork. I’m a pussy dork. This was total bottom tier stuff. The lowest of the lowest ranks.
I felt like a dick, so I rolled off her bed and stormed out. I heard her calling my name as I sat on the edge of my bed. I was a man with a problem. A big problem. I had a massive boner, so I began to rub my cock under my jeans, just as she appeared at my opened door.
“What was that all about?” she yelled at me. She was using a pillow to cover her naked chest. Putting a tee shirt on would’ve taken too long.
“Drop the pillow and help me out.”
“No. Tell me why you left.”
“You won’t open up. It’s like banging a stone statue.”
“How would you know, you didn’t even get that far to bang me.”
I was looking at her angry face while beating my meat. She was so cute when she was angry at me, it only contributed to my horniness. “Tell me how you feel about me.” I just couldn’t drop it.
“I did.”
I pulled my throbbing cock out from my jeans so she could see it in all its glory. Her eyes widened and she licked her lips unconsciously.
“Tell me the truth!” I demanded. Where was my head at that moment? It sure wasn’t where it should’ve been, between her legs.
“This is stupid. At least I now know where I stand.”
She left. I heard her angry footsteps along the wooden floor, then the slamming of her door. Fuck!
Chapter Twenty Nine
Brydie
My door flew open and he stood there grinning mischievously.
“What do you want?” I was lying in bed reading the book Farrah leant me, forty minutes after Jake left to jack off. I didn’t think I’d see him again until the morning.
“You.” He swaggered over to my bed and climbed on, crawling on his hands and knees to me.
“Get out! You had your chance.”
“I want another one.”
“You’ve proven to me that you’d rather use your hand than have sex with me. That’s fine. I understand.”
He took the book out of my hand and started kissing my neck.
“Jake! You’re confusing me.”
“If you want me to stop, say the magic words.”
I bit my bottom lip and hissed out, “Fffffffff.”
He covered my mouth with his hand, leaned into my ear and whispered, “Don’t say it.”
I bit his hand and he released it from my mouth. “Why did you walk away?”
“’Cos I like you. A lot.”
“That makes no sense.”
“It does to me. Do you want me to keep going?”
“All the way?”
“Yes. I want to fuck you into next week.”
“It’s only Thursday.”
He grinned. “Decision?”
“Ummmm. Can I think about?” I was deliberately taunting him as I tried to hide my smirk, but he caught the look in my eyes. I wanted it, alright. He rolled off the bed and disappeared up the hall again, quickly reappearing with several packets of condoms that he threw onto the bedside table.
“Light on or off?”
“I haven’t made up my mind yet if I want you-”
�
�-Off,” he said.
“Fine.”
The room fell dark with a gentle golden glow of light from the living room, streaming down the hall and through my door. He climbed into bed next to me and began to kiss my neck, then my mouth. I moaned when he kissed my mouth, when his tongue ran all over my tongue and teeth, moving deeper inside me.
He pulled my tee shirt up and began to suck my right breast hard, while playing with my left nipple. I arched my back and sighed in desire, only to receive a jolt of pain from my ribs that made me wince. I didn’t let on and breathed through the pain as he moved onto sucking the left nipple, while playing with the right with his fingers.
“This damn arm keeps getting in the way,” he whispered.
I had to change my panties from the first attempt at sex before he left to smack the monkey. Now the fresh pair were completely saturated.
He worked his way down my stomach with his lips, sucking, licking, kissing, until he reached my center. Then he kissed and nipped at my inner thighs through my sweat pants, deliberately avoiding my sex. I cried out for it. I longed for it. I saw the size of it, when he brought it out on display.
I wanted him to fuck me so hard that my legs turned to rubber so he’d have to carry me to the breakfast table in the morning. But I was aware of the grisly obstacle that was getting in the way of me having a completely uninhibited, erotic orgasm; my broken bones.
He planted himself between my legs and grinded his crotch against my sex, while keeping his weight off my torso. I clawed at his trousers. “Take them off.”
He slid his hand down my sweat pants and felt the wetness of my pussy and groaned. “Babe, you’re so fucking hungry.”
He dropped his head down between my legs and began nibbling at my center through my sweat pants. “Take them off!” I cried out. “Don’t make me beg.”
“What do you want me to do?”
“Fuck me!” I cried back.
“What was that? I didn’t quite catch it.”
“Jake!”
In the batter of an eyelid, he’d pulled my sweatpants and panties off in one go and proceeded to suck my clit, while slipping two fingers inside me, moving them quickly in and out of my moist core. It felt so good. I felt damn good.
