Chapter Five
~ Zaq ~
We'd been on the road for two days. We weren't in any big hurry once we left California, but there was still a bit of anxiety.
Patrick swore that Peter had no idea where he lived now, but his parents did.
The quicker we got him packed up and we left Texas, the better.
We were currently somewhere outside Albuquerque, New Mexico.
We had a ways to go yet.
"You want to stop for the night?" Patrick asked. "I hear the music scene in Albuquerque is pretty good. We could get a room for the night and get something to eat, listen to some good music."
"That's sounds fun." I glanced at Patrick's profile. "Do you dance?"
"I'm a doctor. I checked and I've got two left feet."
I chuckled at his joke. "Guess we'll need to find a gay bar then. We can slow dance. Doesn't matter if you have two left feet if you slow dance."
Patrick raised an eyebrow. "Slow dance?"
I just shrugged.
"If you promise not to punch me if I step on your feet, I'm in."
"No, I wouldn't punch you because then I'd have to patch you up and my license isn't valid in New Mexico."
I was dreading the paperwork I'd need to do to get licensed as a nurse in New York City. If I wanted to work in a good hospital—and I did—I'd probably have to take a few courses at a medical school to get caught up with their regulations.
"Do you know which hospital you want to work at?" I asked.
"Not really. I haven't gotten that far yet. I thought about taking some time off to just enjoy life for a little while before I jump back into practicing medicine." Patrick glanced at me briefly. "What about you?"
"I've put a few feelers out just to see what's available. Hospitals are always hiring nurses so I don't think I'll have much problem after I get a state license."
"One of my friends told me about an opportunity that I wanted to discuss with you."
I gave Patrick my full attention. "I'm listening."
"Nothing has been finalized yet, you understand. This is all just talk at the moment."
"So, hypothetical then?"
"Maybe a little more than hypothetical, but yeah."
"So, what's this opportunity?" I asked.
"Several of my friends in New York are rather well off. Joe mentioned that they might be interested in an on-call doctor. All of the particulars on how this would work haven't been ironed out yet, but we'd basically be giving medical care to them whenever they called."
"An on-call doctor?"
"Well, an on-call doctor and nurse. I'd have to hire someone to work with me, so why not you?"
It was an interesting proposition.
"Would there be enough work for us?"
Patrick squinted for a moment. "That I am not sure of yet.
Joe said we'd get together with the others once we got settled and they would explain things in greater detail, but he seemed to think they needed a full-time doctor.
I guess right now they are using a doctor that leaves a little to be desired. "
"What?" I nearly shouted. "Is he not licensed or something?"
"He's the husband of a mob boss."
My jaw dropped. "They are using a mob doctor?"
Was that even legal?
"Apparently, he's a friend."
If my jaw wasn't already on my chest, it would have hit there at that statement. "A friend? These people hang out with the mob?"
Just who were Patrick's friends?
"Again, Joe said they would explain it in greater detail once we got to New York, but he did say they were on friendly terms with four of the five families in the city. He also said these particular mob bosses have actually cleaned up a lot of the crime in the city."
I'd believe that when I saw it.
"I guess they want to move to a doctor that doesn't have mob connections," Patrick stated. "It probably doesn't look good to associate with them very often."
Yeah, I'd bet.
"So, would this be something you'd be interested in doing with me?"
I seriously had to think about that. Yeah, working with Patrick would be great, but I worried that there just wouldn't be enough work for us to be able to live.
"If they are serious about this, and I mean really serious, they'd have to put us on salary, especially if we were on-call twenty-four-seven. There would also have to be rules. I won't do anything illegal."
Hanging out with mobsters seemed to be really close to the edge of legal and illegal. It's not where I wanted to be standing.
"I agree with all of that," Patrick replied. "I just wanted to know if you had any interest in doing something like this with me if the offer came up."
"Well, yeah, I think it would be cool to work with my husband, and you would need a nurse to assist you, so I'm right for the position. I'm just a little worried about what kind of medicine we'd be practicing. I mean, are we talking colds and earaches here or taking bullets out of mobsters?"
"I don't think we'll know until we talk to the others."
"I won't do anything illegal," I repeated. I wanted to be real clear on that. I wouldn't do anything that might jeopardize my nursing license. "If they want an on-call doctor just to get prescriptions or something, I'm out."
Patrick quickly shook his head. "No, none of my friends do drugs. We saw too many people destroy their lives doing drugs when we were attending the university. None of us are real fans of drugs, even the prescription kind."
That was a relief.
"Why don't you search for a gay bar in Albuquerque?" Patrick asked. "Maybe one close to a good hotel. I'm getting kind of hungry and I know we could both do with a shower and a good night's sleep."
Right.
I pulled my cell phone out and started a search on gay bars and hotels in Albuquerque. I found more than one, which was good. I hated going places where I had to hide who I was.
I told Patrick what exit we needed when we reached the city and then gave him directions to the hotel. Luckily, it was just a block away from the bar so we could leave the moving truck in the hotel parking lot.
It would be weird to drive one to a bar.
An hour later I was walking into a hotel room with Patrick, overnight bag in hand. I was actually kind of impressed that we had found such a nice room for the price we paid for it. It was clean, aesthetically pleasing, and looked very comfortable.
Considering how many miles we had covered today, a chicken shed would be comfortable.
"I'm going to jump in the shower real quick and wash off some of this road grime."
I nodded absently to Patrick, not really paying attention to what he said until I heard the shower come on.
I swallowed tightly as I glanced toward the shower door, watching as steam billowed out of the opening. My mind went into overdrive as I envisioned what was just beyond that doorway.
Somehow, in all this time since Patrick came back into my life, I'd missed out on the sexual component to being married to someone, and now it was all I could think about.
We'd agreed to take things slow and get to know each other before jumping into the deep end of marriage. I couldn't help but wonder what exactly "slow" meant. Measured in time, just how long was that? A week? A month? A year?
Now sounded good.
I started to get up to go look, but then quickly sat back down. Looking would be bad. Well, it would be great, but bad.
I was so conflicted, and confused. Very confused. Except for that very chaste kiss Patrick had given me when we said our vows, he hadn't made a single overture toward me.
He did say he hoped that we could have a real marriage at some point, but when was that point?
I was right back to that damn slow thing.
I was sitting in the same exact spot when Patrick walked out of the bathroom a few minutes later. The only thing Patrick had one was a white towel wrapped around his waist. He was using another towel to dry his hair.
Drool began to pool in my mouth as I looked him up and down.
This was where the slow part came in.
I took a long measured look from the top of his wet hair, down his beautiful face and square cut jaw, his long neck, the sexiest six pack abs I had ever seen, to his narrow waist and hips and then past the white towel to the bottoms of his long slender feet.
Could a guy have sexy feet?
I needed a cold shower and quick.
I jumped up to race to the bathroom, but my feet got tangled and I tripped, falling to my knees. I reached out for any leverage I could grab to keep me from falling to my feet.
When I looked up, I inhaled a sharp breath. I had grabbed Patrick's towel and it now lay in a heap at his feet. The man was standing there in all of his naked glory.
My eyes widened as I watched his cock harden and rise right in front of my face. I raised an eyebrow as I glanced up to his face.
"Seriously?" Patrick asked. "I'd have to be dead six months not to get aroused by the sight of you kneeling at my feet."
Oh, good answer.
I tentatively reached out a hand and stroked Patrick's thigh with my hand, starting at his knees and slowly moving up his damp skin. I swallowed tightly when Patrick arched into my touch.
"Both hands, Zaq, please," Patrick pleaded.
I laid both of my hands on Patrick's thighs, my fingers clenching against his slick skin. A delightful shiver of wanting shook my body at the simple touch.
"Your hands feel so good, Zaq," Patrick whispered, his voice breathless and needy.
"Yeah?" I whispered back.
I moved my hands so I could gently caress Patrick's abdomen. His reaction to my simple touch was shocking. The man moaned, his entire body trembling.
My senses reeled as I watched him, almost as if my brain had short-circuited. Patrick's skin was flushed with desire. His eyes half hooded as he stared down at me. His mouth was partially open, small pants falling from his lips.
He was breathtaking.
My heart pounded rapidly in my chest, I leaned forward and licked a line on his thigh to the crease where his thigh met his groin. I smiled against his skin when Patrick's groans of pleasure reached my ears.