Chapter 5
“Derek?”
“Hmm?”
“I’m really enjoying this, and I don’t want to let go,” I admitted, suddenly very shy about what had transpired and unable to meet his gaze as I kept my eyes fastened on the floor.
As if sensing my hesitance, Derek tilted my chin up and met my gaze squarely as he gave me a small smile. “Me too. You don’t have to be ashamed of what happened, Aubrey, or be afraid of it.”
“I’m not ashamed,” I argued, stubbornly.
He raised an eyebrow. “Really? Then why are you having a hard time looking at me right now?”
I stared at him resolutely. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Aubrey.”
“Okay, fine. It’s not shame per se. It’s more like embarrassed,” I admitted as I traced random patterns on his back.
“Embarrassed because?” he prompted as he shifted us, so that I was sitting across his lap. He brushed my hair behind my ear, tossing it over my shoulder, so that he was able to look at my face better.
“Because I’ve never done anything like that before,” I revealed. “Not just the rough and dirty part, but the fact that it was in my office too.”
“The office part I can believe. It is where you work after all, and nobody wants to risk their livelihood for a fuck, but the first part, I find that hard to believe,” he said, skeptically.
“You don’t believe me?” I asked, indignantly.
“No, I never said that I don’t believe you,” he corrected. “I said I found the fact itself hard to believe not because you’re making it up, but because of what I see before me.”
“What do you mean?” I asked, perplexed as I titled my head and looked at him quizzically.
“You are a gorgeous woman, Aubrey, and you are obviously driven and very good at what you do. You’re brave, and you’ve got a good sense of humor. You’ve also got a good head on your shoulders in addition to being smart,” he pointed out, matter of factly.
It was as if he was discussing the weather the way he rattled off characteristics he believed could be attributed to me.
“You caught all of this after one night?”
He gave me a small smile. “You’re not that hard to read, and as I mentioned I like reading people. I’m usually pretty spot on as well.”
“Hmm, why is that?”
“I used to work at a repair shop, and on the side I’d do the odd job here and there. I have a license to fix stuff, so it was mostly construction work around the house, small jobs really, and the occasional plumbing.”
“Do you have a plumber’s crack?” I teased.
His chest rumbled with laughter. “I’m not sure, but I just might. God knows enough women have pretended to drop something just to have the chance to pinch my ass.”
My mouth fell open in shock. “Just like that? That’s very brazen of them.”
“Just like that. Now don’t get me wrong, I like a woman who can make the first move, but sometimes I just wanted to do my job,” he explained as he gave me a wolfish grin. “It became hard to do that when they weren’t taking the work seriously and would call me to fix shit that didn’t even need fixing.”
“Oh, you poor thing,” I said, sarcastically. “Woman throwing themselves at your feet left and right. Oh, the horror. However did you handle it?”
“It is my cross to bear,” he said as he nodded sagely. “Mostly I handled it by playing video games.”
“What? I’m confused.”
“Exactly.”
“No, seriously. I’m confused.”
He leaned over and tweaked my nose surprising both himself and me. He hastily pulled his finger back as he coughed to hide his discomfort.
Derek Price was a man of many qualities, but he was obviously not used to intimacy that wasn’t sexual in nature. Or maybe he just didn’t know how to handle it.
Regardless of the reason, he was a natural, and it seemed like second nature to him. It made me wonder how it was possible to have two very different sides like that existing in the same body.
“Well, in any case, I don’t do that work anymore, so it’s all a moot point anyways.” He brushed off the topic before I could ask any further questions, but I got the feeling there was more to it.
Before I could stop myself, my fingers reached out and began to stroke his beard in fascination. “It’s really scruffy.”
“I can see you’re really enjoying it.” His lips twitched in amusement.
“Er, yes, I suppose I am,” I answered awkwardly as I moved my hand back and kept it on his shoulders.
“You don’t have to stop, you know. It’s okay,” he said, softly. “In fact, I was quite enjoying that.”
“Really? I didn’t know beards were a soft spot for men.”
“I don’t think they are, but I quite enjoy it,” he admitted.
“I can see that.”
Static sounded over my phone, and I gave him a regretful look as Melissa’s voice came on announcing that it was almost time for my next patient.
“I should get dressed,” I said, apologetically. “I need to get ready for my next patient.”
“Alright, but nobody else gets to see you the way I did,” he said, jokingly.
I rolled my eyes. “I’m not that kind of person, Derek. I know it seems hard to believe, but I’m really not. I have no idea what came over me.”
“Maybe it should come over you again.” He pinned me with a heated look as I stood up, and he backed me against the wall as his fingers began to skillfully move over my skin.
“Derek, I need to get ready.”
“I can get you ready,” he said wickedly. “I don’t need a lot of time.”
“Not like that, I have someone else coming in,” I protested as he began to kiss my neck, and my knees began to buckle.
I shook my head furiously. “No, no. We can’t go down that road again, or else I won’t be able to get myself in the right headspace before I have to work again.”
“That’s okay.” He breathed against my neck as his fingers grazed my legs before moving around to my ass. He squeezed it firmly as a low noise escaped the back of his throat.
“You have such a firm ass,” he commented as he turned his head away to look at me. “And what a body. I could be all over you all the time if I were able.”
“I don’t think either of us have the stamina for that,” I kidded as I tried to lighten the sexual tension in the air.
“That’s why couples build stamina,” he pointed out. “I could teach you all about that.”
He hoisted my legs up in one swift move, so that I was straddling him. “What do you say?”
“I’d say that is an interesting proposition,” I offered.
“Is that so?” He lowered his mouth to mine, and at first I did my best to resist his kiss, a voice screaming in the back of my mind that I needed to get it together. I’d already indulged enough in this fantasy, and it was time to go back to the real world.
However, I wasn’t able to stay stoic for long as he teased a reaction out of me until my lips parted with a sigh, and his tongue plunged in causing sparks of desire to shoot out across every nerve.
It was getting increasingly harder to remember why I needed to push him away and stop before it got too far.
When my phone crackled again, we both broke apart and shot it dirty looks. I placed my hand on his chest. “We need to stop. I mean, I don’t want to, but we have to.”
He captured my hand with his and placed a soft kiss on the inside of my hand. It was an oddly romantic gesture that I couldn’t seem to reconcile with his persona.
Derek was a man of many mysteries, it would seem.
“I know.” He released my hand and stepped back. I immediately missed his warmth, but I forced myself to go through the motions of getting dressed. He kissed my back and my shoulders a few times, and playfully unhooked my bra, but after I scolded him for the millionth time, he stopped.
“Can I see you tonight?” he blurted out, suddenly.
“What time?”
“Does six sound okay?” he asked, hopefully.
I nodded as I slipped my shirt on over my head and gathered my hair up into a messy bun. I looked around for my jeans and finally found them inside my office hanging over the chair. I yanked them down and blushed furiously as I pictured what my clients would think if they walked in and saw this.
I frowned as I realized that I couldn’t find my lacy underwear. “Have you seen my—”
The words died on my lips as I noticed him holding them up to his nose and sniffing them. He caught me looking, and he gave me a sexy grin as he inhaled.
“Mmm, you smell amazing.”
“Alright, give those back.” I held my hand open, expectantly, but he made no move to hand them over.
“Why should I?”
“Because I need them,” I insisted. “That part should be obvious.”
“You don’t need them, you want them,” he said. “Besides, you can work without them.”
“You can’t be serious.” My mouth fell open as he stuffed them into the pocket of his leather jacket. He shrugged it on and buttoned up his jeans. He was looking for his shirt, but I snatched it before he could get it back.
One eyebrow climbed to his hairline. “Well, well, well. This little kitty’s got claws.”
“You bet your ass I do. Now hand me back my panties.”
“Or what?” he challenged.
“Or you won’t get your shirt back,” I retorted as I grinned triumphantly.
He seemed to consider my offer for a second before he crossed his arms over his chest. “I don’t think you’ve got the balls to go through with this.”
“Oh, yes, I do,” I countered, hotly.
“Really? So you think that holding my shirt hostage until I agree to exchange your panties puts you in the big leagues?”
I nodded empathically. “Yes.”
He paused. “Alright then, keep the shirt.”
“What?” I faltered as my grin wobbled and turned into a grimace. “What do you mean keep the shirt?”
“My shirt, the one you’re holding over your head and brandishing about as if it’s some kind trophy, you can keep it,” he said slowly as if he was explaining things to a kid.
“But I don’t---I don’t want it,” I spluttered, crossly.
“Yes, you do. Or at least, secretly you do, otherwise you wouldn’t have thought of the trade.”
“No, I want my panties back. What am I supposed to do with your shirt? I can’t use this.” I waved my hands dismissively.
“That’s your problem not mine. You made your bed, Davis. Now you have to lay in it.”
“But, I don’t want your shirt,” I said, weakly.
“Yes, you said that already,” he said, amusement lacing his tone. “Now, I’m about to walk out of your office, a professional and respectable one without a shirt. Though I did enter this office with one. Imagine the tongues wagging, and the rumors that will fly.”
My eyes widened into saucers. “You wouldn’t.”
“Wouldn’t I?” he challenged as he uncrossed his arms and shoved his hands in his pockets, looking incredibly sexy while doing that. “The ball is in your court, Davis.”
After taking a minute to run through my options, I realized that I had no choice. With as much dignity as I could muster, I walked up to him, waded the shirt into a ball and shoved it between us.
“I hate you,” I scowled darkly.
“No, you don’t. See you tonight.” He gave me a quick wink as he slipped on the shirt, unlocked the door and walked out.
***
I was whistling under my breath when Sarah walked in a minute later with a huge scowl on her face as she muttered about spoiled and privileged people who thought they were God’s gift on Earth.
“What’s up with you grouchy pants?” I called out as I slipped on my mittens and peaked into the oven. I made a shooing motion with my left hand as I sniffed and realized that it still needed a little bit more time.
I glanced at the clock and was relieved to see that it was still four. I only needed an hour to get ready, so I still had time to relax.
“Okay, I don’t want to go all black lives matter on you, but seriously. Why is it that a lot of white people get this look on their face whenever they see that a person of color is their doctor?”
My eyebrows knitted together in confusion. “Seriously? I mean I know racism is far from being over, but you’d think that in this modern day and age, it would be a lot less.”
Sarah snorted as she kicked off her shoes and hopped onto the chair. We had an island in the middle of our kitchen which made eating a lot more fun that it usually was, but it was a hassle to clean.
“Yeah, no, I wish. White privilege really is a thing, Aub, and I guess you see it a lot more when you look like me.” She pointed both fingers at her face, her smile a sardonic one as she rolled her eyes. “Some mothers still get skittish around me. I mean, does this look like the face of a terrorist?”
Sarah had skin the color of light coffee, a beautiful shade that made her look naturally tanned and brown all year along. I personally thought she was gorgeous and needn’t worry about her appearance, but I was one of the few.
She wasn’t wrong though.
White supremacy very much existed.
It was even worse if you were a woman.
Those were strikes in odds that were stacked against you before you were even born.
“Only when you haven’t been fed,” I teased good naturedly, trying to lighten the mood. I ducked as Sarah tossed a shoe at me, and it barely missed me, hitting the side of the stove inside.
“Hey, watch it.” I waved the spatula I was holding in her general direction. “That could’ve hit me, I could’ve been seriously injured. I could’ve lost my eyesight- or worse, my ability to taste food.”
“I love that your priorities are in order,” Sarah responded, sarcastically as she shot me a dirty look. “And it was meant to hurt you, Meryl Streep. Quit being so dramatic. It only would’ve hurt a little.”
“A little?” I placed my hand on my heart. “It is not just my head that you’ve hit—”
“One can only hope,” she muttered innocently. “Now I kind of wish I had gone for your mouth.”
I shot her a dirty look before I continued as if I hadn’t heard her. “My feelings will never be the same. My wound is not skin deep, Sarah. I felt that in my heart. You and I can never go back. I must find myself a new best friend because some lines can never be crossed. Oh, what will I—”
“Since you’re on the hunt for a new best friend, I suppose I can just give your frozen yogurt to someone else?” Sarah asked, casually as she pushed the treats in my general direction.
“On the other hand, who really needs best friends who don’t throw shoes? I can live with that,” I said as I gave her a toothy grin. “Have I mentioned that I love you lately?”
Sarah raised an eyebrow. “Uh huh. Keep kissing my ass like that, Aub. I’m tempted to wolf down your frozen yogurt as well as mine.”
“You won’t,” I said, confidently. Thank God she was on another diet, otherwise I might’ve been genuinely afraid. As it was, I knew she couldn’t follow through on that threat.
Sarah sighed. “You’re right. I won’t. Doesn’t mean I can’t try though. By the way, that smells fantastic, what are you making?”
“I’m roasting a chicken, and there’s some salad.” I began to dice up the cucumbers and quickly placed them in a bowl. Next, I followed it up with some tomatoes, lettuce, and I added peppers, corn and tuna to round it out.
I knew it was an odd mash up of things to include a salad, but I had thrown all these things together one day when I was hungry, and it kind of stuck. Now, Sarah was a fan too.
“Oooooh, you made your favorite salad,” Sarah noted, her eyes suddenly narrow suspiciously as I turned to face her, and she was giving me a look. “What’s going on?”
“Nothing,” I said a little too quickly.
“Are you trying to butter me up for something? Because I’d rather you just give it to me straight.” Sarah hated surprises, and she sounded weary.
“No, it’s nothing like that. I just wanted to say thank you for making me go out last weekend.” I gave her a sincere smile.
“You were attacked. How come you’re thanking me?” She sounded befuddled.
“It’s okay.” I waved her protest away. “Because I ran into him again today. The guy from the bar. The gray eyed hottie.”
“No way. The guy you were making googly eyes at all night? The one who intervened to save your life?” Sarah leaned forward, eagerly. “Now you have my full attention. Start at the beginning.”
“He came to my office this morning, but obviously I didn’t know it was him since I didn’t know his last name,” I began.
Little by little, I began to arrange the pieces of our story for Sarah. I tried to gloss over the more intimate details, but she was having none of it. Insisting in fact that I had to tell her because she was living vicariously through me. My face was flaming throughout the whole thing, but I tried to keep a neutral expression in spite of the nature of our conversation, and the look on Sarah’s face.
She had a Cheshire cat grin, and I knew she wasn’t going to let me off the hook that easily.
***
Sarah was grinning so hard that I was afraid her mouth was going to stay in that position permanently. I had just finished recounting the story, and although she stayed quiet, I knew she was dying to make comments.
Finally, she let loose a wolf whistle. “Hubba Hubba, in your office, huh?”
She waggled her eyebrows at me, and my face turned a bright shade of red. “S, come on, seriously. Don’t say it like that. You make it sound….”
“What?” she prompted, her eyes challenging.
“Dirty,” I finished, lamely.
“Honey, I don’t know what description you would attribute to it, but believe me, it was definitely like that. You were getting down and dirty while your assistant was a mere few feet away,” Sarah pointed out. “And multiple times too.”
I bit my bottom lip. “I don’t know what happened. I couldn’t seem to get over him.”
“It’s called attraction,” Sarah supplied, cheekily.
“It’s not just that, S. I feel connected to him. I don’t know, I can’t really explain it,” I admitted it. “I know it sounds crazy because I’ve only known him for a short amount of time, but it really is like nothing I’ve ever felt.”
“Are we talking about his nether regions, or the connection?” Sarah grinned, wickedly.
“Sarah!” I hissed as my face burned even more. “I’d like to stop blushing sometime today, so if you could stop referring to it like that, I’d be grateful.”
Sarah tilted her head and studied me thoughtfully. “I mean, I could, but where’s the fun in that? You’re so easy to tease, Aub.”
I glowered in her direction as I tossed a dish rag at her. “I am not.”
“You totally are. Case in point.” Sarah easily slid off the chair and rolled her sleeves up to her elbows as she deftly plucked the sponge out of my hands. “You made the food, so I’ll do the dishes.”
“Thanks, S.” I shot her a grateful smile. “I do need to start getting ready.”
“Yes, that would be round what….four? Five?” Sarah twisted her neck to look at me over her shoulder. I flipped her off, and she laughed.
“I’m ignoring you now.”
“You can’t ignore me, Aub. I’m everywhere,” she called out as I headed towards the bathroom. I waited for the water to heat up as I stripped and mentally decided on what to wear.
There was this beige colored dressed that was above my knees. With my five-inch gladiator sandals, that would be the perfect match. Sarah liked to call them my ‘fuck me’ pumps, but I personally couldn’t see it.
I’d never actually done it while they were on.
My stomach tightened at the thought of that potentially happening, but I knew I shouldn’t get ahead of myself. Normally, people went on a date first then slept together. Derek and I were taking it in reverse, so there was no reason to assume it would be the same thing tonight.
Even though I was kind of torn about whether or not I wanted it to.
My skin still burned with the memory of his touch, but I was determined to do this the right way. I finished my shower and got dressed. I swiped on some mascara, blush and lipstick then I was good to go.
I had my hair in loose curls framing my face, and I was just strapping on my shoes when I heard the bell. I sprayed on some perfume, grabbed my clutch and headed outside.
“She’ll be right out,” I heard Sarah say.
I faltered when I caught sight of Derek in a nice pair of dark jeans, a button down shirt, and his signature leather jacket. Was there anything this man put on that wouldn’t look good? The scruffy bad boy look worked for him, and he cleaned up nicely.
My stomach tightened reflexively as his gaze raked over me and gave me a small smile. “Are you ready to go?”
I gave him a bright smile. “Yes.”
He gestured outside where a car was parked. Sarah yanked me on the way out and whispered in my ear. “Don’t forget to use protection because he is sex on legs, honey.”
I swatted her hand away and shot her a dirty look as we headed towards the car. He opened the door for me, went around to his side and got in.
***
“I haven’t driven a stick in a long time,” Derek said, in frustration. “I have a bike, but my buddy let me borrow his car for the night.”
He gazed at me apologetically.
“Do you want me to drive?”
He looked surprised. “Can you drive a stick?”
“Yup. I had one for a long time,” I got out, walked around to his side, and we switched seats. I undid the straps of my sandals to be able to drive better and eased into it.
“You should definitely drive more often,” Derek drawled, and I could feel his eyes boring holes into the side of my head. I shifted gears and shot him a quick look before I turned my attention back to the road.
“Why is that?” I asked, distractedly.
“Because I get to do things like this.” He lowered one of the straps on my dress, so that he got a glimpse of my black lacy bra. I shifted, so that my arms were covering me, but gently extracted them.
“Don’t cover yourself up. I want to see those beautiful titties,” he said as he began to palm it over the fabric of my dress. I swallowed audibly as I tried to keep my eyes focused on the road ahead instead of on the man who was driving me insane.
“Hmm too many layers,” he commented, casually. I couldn’t see what he was doing, but I could already feel the desire pooling between my legs.
“What do you mean?” The words had barely left my lips before he unhooked my bra and lowered the strap, so one of my breasts was exposed. My arms twitched with the urge to cover myself up because I suddenly felt acute self conscious and aware of the fact that so many cars were around us.
All they had to do was look next to him, and they’d see what could be described as a mini porno, and I didn’t feel like being cast in that particular lead.
“See? This is more like it,” he murmured, and I heard his seat belt click open. Before I could register what he was doing, he lowered his mouth over my breasts and began to suck. I gasped audibly as one hand immediately fisted itself into his hair, and the other gripped the steering wheel even tighter.
He swirled his tongue round and around the sensitive nub until it was hard and erect. He gave it one last tug before he released it with a loud popping sound.
“You taste like cream and peaches.” I could hear the smile in his voice, and I could only bob my head in response.
“Cat got your tongue?” he teased.
“No, more like you did,” I responded, hoarsely. I coughed as I attempted to clear my throat. “Can I cover myself up now?”
“Cover yourself up? I haven’t even started. We still have the other lady to consider. She hasn’t been getting any attention at all, and I think she’s going to be upset with me.”
“Lady?” I barked back a laugh. “Really?”
“It is an apt name for these two. The ladies,” He dubbed them as he tweaked the nipple on one, and began to knead the other.
“Must as well call them the twins since you’re going down that path,” I retorted, sarcastically though I secretly liked it.
The name was….quaint.
“Nah, I prefer ladies,” he admitted as he lowered the strap on the other side of my bra in one swift movement. My cream colored breasts and rosy nipples were now spilling out of my bra for the entire street to see, and there was a tiny voice in the back of my head screaming at me to have some decency.
There was another voice, a much larger part that told the other voice to go stuff it because I was enjoying this. I deserved to go wild and crazy too. Why should other people get to experience it while I always had to do the right thing?
Nope, just this once I wanted to walk on the wild side.
“Mmm, somebody is enjoying this.” He sank his teeth into my other nipple causing a moan to tear through my lips as my body inched itself forward subconsciously.
The street in front of me was beginning to blur, and I blinked rapidly to bring it back into focus. It was like my eyes had suddenly become this unfocused camera lens, and no matter how long I waited for it to shift into perspective, it didn’t.
“Mmm-hmmm.” I made a noise of agreement in the back of my throat as he lavished the same amount of attention on it as the other breast. He sighed as he pulled back and buried his head between the two.
“This is how you should always drive,” he announced, his voice husky.
“What do you mean?”
“With your delectable tits hanging out like that. Don’t you feel sexier, and more free?”
I gave him a half smile. “I’m not sure if those are the words I would use to describe it.”
“What would you use then?”
“Exhilarating perhaps.”
“That’s an interesting choice of words. Maybe something else too,” he offered.
“What’s that?”
“Naughty,” he said, automatically. “You like that you’re flaunting the rules right now. It’s making you feel reckless and bold in a way that you’ve never felt before. I remember the first high I felt when I broke the rules.”
“I can imagine it being an addicting feeling,” I confessed. “Not that I’m in the habit of breaking the rules all that often.”
Derek leaned in and back to nuzzle my neck while grazing the skin with the tip of his teeth. “With me, we can break all the rules you want to break. Even those you never dreamed of breaking.”
“Is that so?” I asked, faintly. “Derek, I’m still driving, you know. Go easy on me.”
“You’re doing a great job, don’t worry. Also, who said anything about going easy on you?” I could feel him smile against my neck as he sank his teeth in and began to play with my breasts once more.
His hands traveled over my body and down to my legs. His lips traveled lower over the fabric of my dress till they reached my center. My hands grew white as my grip on the steering wheel tightened impossibly, and my legs closed of their own accord.
Derek chuckled. “I’m going to need you to spread those legs for me, baby.”
“I need to drive,” I said, faintly.
“Yes, and you can still do that. Just inch them open just a bit. There you go. That’s a good girl,” he instructed. I found myself doing what I was told in spite of the logical voice in my head raging on inside.
He crouched, so that his face was at eye level, and he pressed his lips to my core, and didn’t move. I twitched involuntarily as I wondered what he was up to.
“I wish I could lap up those juices right now. I guess this will have to do instead.”
With that, he plunged a finger in, and I cried out as I swerved and nearly hit a car in the lane next to mine.