Page 36
“And if it doesn’t, thoughts of you like this most certainly will.” I sucked back a quick breath; one he robbed me of when he drew the cotton lower. Over my stomach and then lower still, telling me exactly where it would end up. And I was right, as the back of his hand pressed the fabric between my legs through my scrubs, and my whole body jolted. The sound that came out of me was one that I would have given almost anything to take back.
My hands went to his chest and pushed but it was pointless, as it was like pushing at a building.
“Stop,” I said. “Please. Stop.”
“Do you really want that?” he asked calmly, as if my trying to push him away meant nothing to him.
“Yes.”
“Hm.” He leaned in until his mouth was at my ear, and when he spoke it was so quiet it was almost kind.
“Then tell me this, little bird. If I put my hand down there right now, would my fingers come away soaked?”
I shook my head instantly, denying it.
“No?” he mocked, as if he didn’t believe it for a second.
“No,” I lied again, and I wasn’t proud of the way my voice came out shaky or the sickening fact that it was a lie.
“Then you won’t mind me checking.”
His palm flattened low on my belly before his fingers slid beneath the waistband of my scrubs. At which point my entire world shrank down to about four inches of skin, and I shut my eyes, trying to block it out. Then I held my breath, waiting for him to discover the lie for himself, terrified of not knowing what he would do to me when he did.
But by some miracle it didn’t come to that, as somebody hammered on the door.
“Time,” a voice called through it, clearly warning him. “Next shift’s coming through. Two minutes.”
He stopped.
He didn’t startle, or curse, or even snatch his hand away. He simply stopped. And he stood there for a moment with his forehead nearly against my temple. His breathing going out of him in long, slow pulls. Then he withdrew his hand as calmly as a man closing a book he fully intends to finish later.
“Well, now. It looks like that will have to wait for another time,” he said, and it felt far more like a promise than a hopeful thought.
He stepped back and with my torn scrubs in hand, he walked slowly to the door, as if in no hurry at all. But before he disappeared through it, he looked back at me over his shoulder one last time and lifted the fabric to his face. He then drew in a deep breath taking in the scent of me and my mouth opened at the sight.
The sound he made was that of a man drinking after a long walk. Mine was a sharp inhale.
“Mm…delicious.”
Then he grinned at me, seeing me there still leaning against the wall with my arms wrapped around myself as if the wall was the only reason I hadn’t yet sunk to the floor.
“I’ll be seeing you soon, little nurse.” He promised once more, but it was what he said next that truly terrified me,
“And next time…”
“…there will be no knock at the door to save you.”
10
SWEET, SWEET SUBMISSION
THE GHOST
Ididn’t let it leave my hand for hours.
Her scrubs.
Nor did I care what that meant, or should I say, how deeply invested I was in my obsession with her.
