Chapter 6
Six
Mira
My phone rang once I was outside and a woman sitting on a bench smiled at me. She had a little one asleep in her arms, so I answered it quickly, moving away from her so I didn’t disturb her.
It was the doctor. “I’m afraid I don’t have much to tell you, Mira. We’ve got her scheduled for a PET scan and an MRI and we’re waiting on more blood work. I’ll call you tomorrow when we get the results though.”
“I know you have some educated guesses.”
He made a noise indicating his discomfort at my directness. “Gun to my head?”
“Yes.”
“My best guesses are radiation-induced esophageal stricture or new tumor growth, but let’s wait and see what the tests show tomorrow.”
My hand found my mouth and I started to tremble. “And what is the treatment for radiation-induced esophageal stricture?”
“This is still speculation, Mira. Let’s just get all the information first.”
“Okay.”
“I promise I’ll call you as soon as Dr. Baird and I go over the results and have a more definitive answer for you.”
I was just thanking him and signing off when Wes walked through the doors.
He sidled up to me, his bag slung over his shoulder. With his free hand set on my lower back, we started walking, but his touch almost made me forget how.
“Now tell me what’s got you running through the hospital like it’s on fire.”
“The only fire I’m running from is my dumpster fire of a life.”
He frowned, looking concerned. It irritated me. I was so tired of getting that look from the people in my life who knew what was happening.
“Have you eaten?”
I moved ahead of him, getting in front of him and forcing him to stop dead in his tracks with both of my palms against his deliciously hard chest.
Ignore his chest, Mira.
I unglued my gaze and looked up from his pecs to his eyes. Focusing on my irritation rather than my carnal urges, I said, “Are you going to lecture me again, or buy two entrées under false pretenses, because I don’t think I’m in the mood.”
Raising his hand, the one that only seconds ago had left hot tingles on my lower back, he shook his head.
“I’ve had a day myself. My roommates are fighting again, which doesn’t really make the idea of going home very appealing. I booked a room for the night out of town, but I’m kinda hungry so I thought you might be interested in a drink, maybe a little dinner, before I leave, that’s all.”
Guilt washed over me. “Oh.” I looked down. “Shit. I’m kind of a nasty person, aren’t I?”
“I’m never friends with nasty people, so that can’t be true.” He winked at me when I looked back up at him, and I felt it in my chest as if it were directly linked to my heart.
“I’d love a drink.” Looking sheepish, I added. “And some food.”
He chuckled and pointed to the staff parking lot. “I’m over there.” His brows rose as if to ask if I wanted to go in his car with him.
The question gave me pause. I really should go back to Rawhide. I had classes in the morning and tomorrow could be a rough day depending on what the doctor told me. I needed some rest.
Yeah, this was a bad idea. I should just bow out. Besides, now that I was outside, I was feeling a little better. Uh huh, until I was alone again and it all came flooding back. And how much rest was I likely to get with the doctor’s words running through my head like a hamster on a wheel?
“I’ll follow you. Where to?”
“You tell me. I’m the new guy.”
“Well,” I hummed. “Where are you headed afterward? We could pick somewhere close to your hotel.”
His eyes found mine then and there was something in them that made my heart thump loudly in my ears.
“I actually booked a room at Rawhide.”
My face got hot. So fricking hot. And flashes of memories assaulted my brain.
“Oh.” Something ugly twisted inside me then.
For someone who didn’t work or attend school there, as far as I was concerned, there was only one reason to drive to Rawhide Ranch, and it definitely wasn’t to admire the scenery along the way.
“I haven’t scened in months,” he added. “It’s time. I need to burn some of this pent-up tension off.”
And there it was. I was right. He wasn’t going for a scenic drive, no matter how beautiful that scenery might be.
I swallowed and licked my dry lips. “I’m not—”
“That girl anymore?” he finished with a grin. “I wasn’t asking you to scene with me, Mira.”
God, that hurt. Like really hurt. We were friends though. And maybe being friends meant some honesty on my part.
I shoved my hands in my pocket and looked at my feet a moment before making eye contact again. “I kinda still live there.”
His eyes widened, but he schooled his expression quickly. “You do?”
“I go to Rawhide University,” I said, the words just sort of tumbling out.
“That’s the small university you said I wouldn’t have heard of?”
I nodded. “I just wanted you to know… if you’re going to be going there more often… We might bump into each other…” I looked away, the awkwardness too much.
“Hey, that makes this kind of convenient.”
My eyes snapped up to his. “Convenient?”
He shrugged. “Yeah. They have restaurants and bars there. And we won’t have to worry about driving home if we have more than one drink. And I can tell we both need more than one drink.”
The only convenience I was thinking about then was how a scene in the Dungeon would destress us both. Except… I wasn’t that girl anymore. And playing with him could never be casual.
My mind snagged on how languid I’d felt after Professor Stahlbaum disciplined me. How my body had been as limp as cooked linguini, and my mind so blissfully empty. I longed for that now.
After that punishment, I’d slept well for the first time in months and kept sleeping well as long as the soreness on my ass lasted.
It had been so amazing, I’d agreed to scene with a visiting Dom who I met while working as a service sub in the Dungeon.
We made a plan for a time and met up. It was the first scene in the Dungeon I’d done since I’d found out about my mom, but it didn’t work like it had with Professor Stahlbaum.
Not at all. In fact, it had left me feeling so empty and alone, I’d wanted to throw up.
I thought maybe it was the reality of my punishment with Professor Stahlbaum that made it work so well. But I knew the truth, whether I admitted it or not, I had always needed intimacy and connection in a scene. And there was definitely a disconnect when I’d played with the stranger.
And that disconnect was on me. I had been keeping everyone at arm’s length these days. And even when the guy tried to get to know me, I didn’t open up. I couldn’t tell him what I was going through, and him not knowing made it feel unsafe.
“Is it too weird for you, Mira?”
I blinked up at Wes, my heart beating a fast but steady rhythm as I shoved my inner thoughts away. It was just a few drinks with a friend. That’s all. And when he went to the Dungeon to play? I squared my jaw. I’d go to my dorm and sleep. The alcohol would make sure of it.
“No, not at all.” I smiled but it was as fake as a Halloween mask.
An hour and a half later, I walked into Rawhide’s lobby and saw Dr. Wes standing with his hands in his pockets, admiring the beamed ceiling.
He’d changed out of his scrubs and was wearing a pair of jeans and a black long-sleeved shirt that showed off his pecs.
His hair was damp at the neck, darkening the collar of his shirt.
And I noticed his jeans had a tear near the front pocket.
It brought me back.
He walked out of the bedroom wearing nothing but a pair of jeans. His bare chest, tanned and well-muscled, was covered in light hair. I longed to touch it, run my hands over it and feel his strength and heartbeat beneath my palm.
“Okay, let’s look at this portfolio website,” he’d said, but I didn’t want to, not now that he was out here, half naked and smelling like the wood barrel rum body wash I loved.
He’d told me to pick out photos of all my best work and upload them to the website he’d purchased for me a few nights ago, but I hadn’t done it.
I was feeling shy sharing my art. And some of it was of BDSM scenes and the couples in them resembled us.
“Later, let’s do something else instead.”
His brow quirked as he closed the distance between us. “I promised I’d help you with this before I left. And you’ve managed to distract us every time.” He reached out to tug on the thick braid hanging over my shoulder. “Didn’t you do your homework, girlie?”
“It’s our last night.” My voice cracked a little, but he didn’t say anything.
“Exactly.” He took my chin in his hand, pressing his lips gently to mine. “We’re out of time and I always keep my promises.”
I whined and he narrowed his eyes on me.
“You tried that trick already and instead of doing this, you spent fifteen minutes across my lap getting your backside blistered for whining.”
“And an hour tied up in your bed,” I added. His eyes turned lusty, and I bit back my smile. But if I thought I’d won I was wrong, because he grabbed my wrist and yanked me to the desk.
“Lose the bottoms.”
My eyes widened. “My pants?”
He nodded.
I obeyed him quickly, unbuttoning, unzipping, and shucking off my jeans while he left the room. When he returned, my pants were in a haphazard pile on the floor. He bent down and scooped them up, his tongue clicking at my messiness.
Folding my jeans and setting them on the back of the sofa, he said, “Open your laptop and pull up all the pictures of your work.”
Grumbling, I leaned forward to open my computer, but as I did a searing swat landed hard across my backside and it stung so badly, I bolted upright, grabbing both cheeks in my hands.
“Holy crap!” I looked behind me at his hand. In it he held a black paddle about the width of a smart phone but double the length.
“Let me introduce you to the procrastinator. It’s conveyor-belt rubber. Packs a punch, doesn’t it?” He twirled his finger. “Now turn around and open your files.”