23. David
23
DAVID
The cold metal table under my hands didn't feel or smell sterile like the surgical instruments and stainless-steel trays of the operating room. The pale gray walls didn't help either, ominously towering over me, holding up a single globed bulb swinging on a chain. The light from which was blinding at times, making me squint at the detectives' faces. When they asked me to come down to speak to them, I, of course, didn't hesitate at all. The last thing I needed was hospital administration seeing them come in to arrest me. Lauren either, for that matter.
"Dr. Park, let me be clear with you. This doesn't look good." Detective Ryan's eyes were trained on an open file in front of him. I couldn't read what was there upside down, but it looked like a handwritten statement of some sort. "The victim says you assaulted him on the street on the night of July seventeenth, just before midnight."
His eyes drew up over the table and fixed on my face, which I was certain was either white as a ghost or red as a firetruck. I oscillated between anger over how this even happened and fear of what would happen next. I didn't respond. I hadn't asked for a lawyer yet because I didn't feel like I needed one, but now I was beginning to think I might.
"Where were you that night?" The second detective, a woman whose name badge read Thompson , chimed in with the question. This was a bit more informal than I expected it to be, but perhaps those cop shows on television were overly dramatic. I also hadn't been arrested for anything. I was merely talking to them to get the facts straight.
"I was outside the Breakaway Club where I go to relax after a hard day. I had to terminate an employee that day, and that's never fun. So, I went for a drink or two." I remembered clearly feeling upset by the altercation at work and having to pull rank on the very first day. I also hated the paperwork involved, which put me in a foul mood.
"And did you see the victim, Mr. Jim Yates?" Thompson pushed a photo of the man across the table toward me. This was pointless. They were going to whittle away every second of my day with the stupid questions. I had nothing to hide—well, at least not anything pertinent to my guilt or innocence. I just wanted to get this over with.
"Can we just cut to the chase?" I asked, pushing the picture back at them. The man's face was like salt in a wound. I knew what I had done and I knew it wasn't exactly kosher, but they treated me like a monster.
"Of course." Ryan gestured with his hands, opening them and then folding them in his lap as he sat back.
"I left the club and intended to get my wallet out of my glovebox to return to the club to pay my tab. Sometimes, I leave it open for the weekend, but this week, I just wanted to cash out. Anyway, I was bent over in my passenger door when a young woman approached me. She was frantic?—"
"This young woman," Thompson said, interrupting, "does she have a name?"
"She does, I'm certain, but I never got it." I sighed, realizing this part was going to be harder than I thought. I was lying to the police to protect Lauren and her job—my job. "She was being followed by Mr. Yates, who had obvious ill intent. She threw herself at me, clinging to me and asking me to kiss her. I took one look at the guy and did as she asked. I kissed the young woman, pretending to be her partner or lover, hoping the man would just walk past feeling ashamed for his advances, but he became belligerent."
"When you say belligerent, do you mean he?—"
"I mean he was swearing at me and demanding to talk to the young woman." I cut Ryan off, and he scowled at me. "He demanded that I step away from the woman, which I wasn't about to do. She was slightly intoxicated, and he was under the influence of alcohol and possibly something else." I couldn't tell whether these people believed me or not, but my story was true. "He became more and more aggressive until he tried to put his hands on me, and I landed a good blow, maybe two. I don't remember. It's been long enough ago that the details are foggy.
"I helped the woman into my car with no idea where to take her, and we drove away. That was the last I saw of that man." My heart rumbled around my ribcage. My palms were so sweaty, I could have mopped the floor with them.
"I see…" Detective Thompson scribbled something on her pad of paper and looked back up at me. "Do you mind if we transcribe this confession for you? You’ll have a chance to read it for accuracy and sign it yourself later."
"It's not a confession. It's a statement. That was what happened. The fact was that he came at me, and I defended myself and got that woman to safety." I knew what was coming before they even asked, and I was frustrated that I had to lie again.
"We are going to need the woman's name so we can corroborate your story with her. If what you say is true, we can chalk this up to a matter of self-defense. Though, you may still have a civil suit on your hands." Detective Ryan seemed sympathetic. Perhaps he had a daughter or a sister who'd been in a similar circumstance and wished a man were there to protect them the way I had Lauren.
"Lorna, Linda, Lilly, I'm not sure. I wish I could tell you…" I wished this entire thing would go away.
Both of them scowled at me. They were going to push this further than I wanted to go, but I had to hold my ground. For the next twenty minutes, they grilled me about the woman, what she looked like, where she went, where I dropped her off. I gave them an accurate description and all the correct facts, somewhat praying there was no security camera that caught her face. Then they told me about deposition and arraignment. I'd have to post bail later this week, and unless we found the woman and she could testify on my behalf, I'd likely serve sixty days in jail for assault.
I left that police station feeling unhinged and untethered. My mind went wild with racing thoughts and fears of what would happen to me and my career. The hospital board was already in the loop, having been informed by hospital security. I had to meet with them later on now that they were doing their own investigation. This wasn't how I saw them finding out about me and Lauren. I had feared someone seeing us out together on the town, or a stolen kiss during breaktime at work that got reported. But criminal charges against me in a public court?
I ended up at Lauren's apartment, parking out front and staring up at the light in the window of her bedroom that overlooked the street below. I needed to be with her. I needed the distraction of her smile and the way she spoke so kindly to me when I was feeling frustrated. Her brother was probably up there, which meant the most we could do was talk, but maybe it was time to tell her about this before it got any worse. I was wrestling with it so much, but maybe she deserved to know.
When I knocked on the door, she opened looking a bit flustered. "David…" Her words caught in her throat, and she backed in, swinging the door wide. I stomped in and didn't even pay attention to the bit of clutter. I just pushed a few things out of the way and sat on the end of the couch. So her brother was a slob. It didn't reflect on how I felt about her. There were way more important things to worry about.
"Are you okay?" she asked, sitting beside me.
"Rough day…" I took her hand and folded it in mine and found her trembling.
"Are you okay?" I asked her and noticed how tired she looked, a little emotional, as if she'd been crying again. She'd been doing a bit of that lately and never told me why.
"Let's not talk about that. What's bothering you?" Her question almost drew the answer from my lips, but there was no way I could pile on more stress if she was already worried or upset.
"God, I really don't want to talk about it…" Pulling my hand from hers, I rubbed my face and dropped my head. "I just want to get my mind off this and put it behind me… behind us," I told her, but I couldn’t look her in the eye.
We sat there in silence for a few minutes. Even with her right beside me, the all-consuming fear of my life being over because of a stupid gut reaction paralyzed me. How would she even take the news? It would devastate her to know that the way I defended her could land me in jail and potentially ruin my career. And she'd end up wanting to come forward and testify, which if she did would mean our relationship risked being exposed. I couldn't let that happen to her. The board would be forced to fire one or both of us.
"Well, you could order me to do something…" Her tone changed, becoming playful. "I could cook for you, get you a beer, make you a cup of coffee… Take my clothes off…"
The idea of her naked on the bed beneath me was a bit tempting, but I never wanted to just use her body to forget my problems. She was far too precious for me.
"Not now, Lauren, okay?" As much as I wanted that, she deserved better.
"Oh, but Dr. Park, I'm very good at helping you forget things…" Her fingers walked up my arm to my shoulder, then across to the back of my neck where her fingernails scraped along my scalp, making my temperature rise. "If you give me an order, I swear I'll follow it…"
The almost pleading tone she used told me maybe this wasn't for me. Maybe Lauren needed it, craved the connection because she was hurting. I had seen the way her eyes were red-rimmed when I came in. I looked up at her and studied her face, and she continued to tempt me.
"You've been so stressed out, and you need a personal assistant to take those worries off your plate so you can just rest." Her fingers continued to scratch at my skin and make my dick start to swell. "Remember how you get so lost that nothing in the world matters except me and you? Order me to do something…"
"Your brother…" I mumbled.
"Upstairs at the neighbor's house." Now her other hand was on my knee, sliding slowly toward my crotch with a very obvious bulge beginning to take shape.
"Are you sure?" I breathed… because I was about to lose myself and unleash all of this pent-up anger and stress on something, and if that was what she wanted, it would be her body.
"Give me an order, Dr. Park." Lauren accented each word in a staccato cadence that had my juices flowing. Her hand rested on my lap, thumb stroking the outside of my slacks, and every sensation across my cock made it jump and dance.
It was what I wanted, and now what I needed, but part of me still felt guilty for doing this. Like I was taking advantage of her just to distract myself for a moment.
"I promise, you won't regret it." The little seductress made me lose my mind. My God, this woman could take the worst day and turn it around, and I had never wanted her more. To come home to this every day would be the best thing that ever happened to me, and I knew in my gut that keeping her out of this investigation was the right thing. I needed her in my life. A messy investigation at work would destroy what we had.
"Suck my cock now." The words marched right off my tongue in single file like good soldiers. "That's an order."
The faintest smirk crossed Lauren's face before she grinned and began undoing my fly. Her mouth descended on me, ruby lips wrapping around my thick girth to take me in. The warmth and moisture eased some of the pressure still building, but when she started sucking and stroking and my hand dropped to the back of her head, it was heaven.
Lauren's lips glided around me, her hunger insatiable as she drew me in with eagerness that matched my pulse. The intensity of her gaze burned through me, igniting a primal urge to dominate her and unleash all this rage.
"God, your lips look so pretty wrapped around my cock. Go deeper," I commanded, my voice rough with arousal. I pulled her hair back so I could watch her and began thrusting upward into her mouth as I pushed her head down.
Eager to oblige, she took me deeper. The sound of her gagging charged the air and messed with my mind. Her throat tightening around the head of my dick was electric. Her eyes watered slightly, but her determination didn’t waver. She pulled back. The look in her eyes was one of challenge and submission all at once.
"Tell me what to do," Lauren rasped, her voice thick with desire and the remnants of her effort. "Order me." This game was too erotic to ever let go of. I felt a surge of power at her request, the dynamic between us shifting palpably. The depth of our connection lay not just in the physical communion but in this dance of control and surrender.
"Get naked now," I commanded, my voice low and steady. Lauren's eyes flashed with excitement, the command she'd been craving finally given. She rose to her feet, her movements deliberate and sensuous as she peeled off her clothing, one piece at a time. Fabric whispered against her skin in a tantalizing way, revealing the contours of her curves that beckoned me like a siren's call. “Now go get in bed.” My bark was nothing compared to my bite, and I wanted to eat her alive.
“Yes, sir,” she cooed, prancing off down the short hallway.
"Good girl," I murmured, my own hands making quick work of my clothes. The air crackled with anticipation as each layer I shed brought me closer to the bedroom, clothes dropping to the floor in our wake. The final piece fell away, and I joined her in the darkness of the bedroom. The door clicked shut behind us.
Lauren lay down in front of me and spread her legs, her chest rising and falling rapidly. I crawled up the bed, an apex predator closing in on its willing prey. My intent was clear in every measured movement. Leaning down, my mouth found the softness between her thighs, my tongue tracing patterns of pleasure across her most sensitive flesh. She moaned and reached a hand out, threading through my hair, urging me closer. My lips and tongue worked in tandem to draw the sweet nectar of her arousal.
My fingers joined the dance, gliding over slick folds before delving inside her warmth. Her hips bucked against my face, her breaths coming in short, sharp gasps. The way her rough ridges and valleys spoke to me was magic, urging me to devour her. I growled against her core, and she shuddered and ground on my face.
"Please," she whimpered, her voice laced with desperation and desire. Near panic emanated from her in guttural moans. I swore she was making me bleed, those fingernails indicating just how much she was enjoying it.
"Mmm.” She tasted so good, felt so amazing around me.
And she came undone, spasming and writhing. Her hips rose off the bed even as her thighs squeezed onto my face. For several long minutes, I coaxed the jolts and twitches from her until she was a puddle of moisture and relaxation. And then I licked her clean. My tongue found every hidden drop of her sex and drank it in. But I wasn’t finished. I wanted so much more from her, and the beast inside me needed release.
I explored further, pressing against the small, puckered entrance of her back hole. She tensed for a moment before relaxing into the sensation, trusting me to lead her through this labyrinth of pleasure and pain. Each time I touched the entrance, she jolted, and when she pulled my head again, I knew she wanted it.
Gently, I stretched her, preparing her for what was to come. Her cries of ecstasy filled the room, and I knew she was close again already. I redoubled my efforts, determined to bring her over the edge into the abyss of release. It always amazed me how a woman could go so many times in a row without recovery time, a challenge I accepted and a competition with myself I wanted to best each time I entered the race.
"Come for me," I growled.
And with a shuddering gasp, Lauren did, her body convulsing in waves of climax that left her breathless and spent beneath me. But our dance was far from over. It was only the prelude to a deeper union. I looked down at her, flushed and radiant in the aftermath. Her eyes were shut, but her legs still spread wide when I flipped her over.
“Ahh…” she whimpered, but I lay across her, pressing her into the mattress.
“Lie still, now…”
“Is that an order?” she whined, even as I continued to spread the moisture up her crack. I was claiming her ass tonight because once I got it in my head, there was no going back.
The heat of her flesh under my palm was excruciating, each smack a sharp punctuation to the lust that filled the room. Tempering my raging desire was as painful as it was erotic, but I didn’t want to rush. It’d be over too soon for me. My hand swept down again, leaving a blossoming red imprint on her skin that would last for hours.
"Were you bad?" I rasped, leaning over her trembling form to whisper filth that made her shiver in anticipation. "I’m gonna stretch you out and push so deep you can feel this in your rib cage. Do you like that?"
"Yes," she gasped out, her voice broken by another cry as I started my descent into her heat. Agonizingly slowly, my cock pushed in, inch by inch. The tightness enveloped me, molding around my girth as she whimpered and clawed at the sheets, and I reveled in the control, in the way she submitted to the pleasure I gave her.
Her back arched, pushing against me in a silent plea for more. I granted her wish and quickened my pace to drive us both toward that precipice. With every movement, I watched her unravel, watched her arms grope for something to hold onto. Her body responded to my command, tightening around me in spasms as another orgasm tore through her.
“Come for me, Lauren. I order you to come.”
The convulsions were so severe she almost bucked me off herself, but I gripped her hips and clung to her. I couldn't hold back any longer. With a guttural groan, I spilled inside her, claiming her completely. My dick pulsed as it emptied itself, and then I collapsed on top of her, pulling out to roll to the side and hold her.
We caught our breath and lay there cooling off, but my heart was ten steps ahead, already thinking of how this was going to affect her when it did come out. If the board found out about us in the process, I'd have to support her. She could stay with me, and I could help pay for her brother's treatment and help her care for him.
"So, how are things with Jason?" I asked, hoping to feel her out for a potential future plan, one she couldn't know about yet.
"He needs help… For now, he's limited because of the house arrest, but…" She got quiet. I could tell it was a tough subject, so tough for her that she was shutting down on me again. "What about you? What is bothering you tonight?"
Her question pricked me, threatening to rouse the angst I'd only just escaped. "I don't want to talk about it." I didn't mean to grumble, but Lauren didn't protest when I kissed the back of her shoulder and pulled her against my chest. In minutes, she was sleeping and my eyes were heavy. Even if this ended up blowing back on her, I was going to fix it. It was my mistake, not hers. I just had to make her go along with it or create an environment where she had what she needed when the rest of my world fell apart.