CHAPTER FOUR
The week passed quickly. I was so busy doing rounds with Michael, scrubbing in on cases with him and his residents, that I barely had time to think. I was home late every night and was exhausted. It was quite different from my practice in Manhattan where I chose only the most interesting cases. Here, we were always busy because the hospital was a center for neurosurgery and there were never enough surgeons to meet the demand.
Michael insisted we take Friday night off and wanted Kate and I to join him and Claire for dinner.
“You need some real Kenyan food,” Michael said and poked my stomach. “You need to take that pretty young fiancée of yours out or she’ll be too bored with life here.”
I agreed and texted Kate so she knew to expect me around five instead of later. Once I finished at the hospital, I made a special trip to the storage facility where our belongings were being held until we moved into our house. I sorted through boxes until I found what I was looking for – Big. The flesh colored dildo that was bigger than me by about half again. I knew I could fit it inside of Kate, having fit my hand inside of a pregnant woman to deliver her breech twin, but I would have to ensure Kate was completely prepared, aroused and dying for it before I would try.
I intended to try tonight after dinner when Kate and I were alone. It wasn’t just the thought of using a sex toy with Kate that turned me on, although it did. I wanted to show Kate that she could trust me with her body and her mind.
I knew what she could enjoy and if she let me, I would ensure she did.
I arrived home and while Kate was in the bathroom, I hid Big in a box in the closet. I’d bring it out later when Kate was already bound and blindfolded and ready.
Once I was certain that it was well-hidden, I had a quick shower and changed my clothes. Then, Michael and Claire picked us up shortly before seven for our night on the town.
The restaurant was called 'Ranalo's' and was known for its home-cooked food, using fresh local food and recipes.
“You should try the tilapia,” Michael said “It's great and very fresh."
Despite the restaurant being busy, we found a table on the patio, which has open to the night sky.
"So Miss Katherine," Michael said to Kate after we ordered our meal. "Tell us what your plans are while you're in Nairobi. As you can see from this first full week, I'm afraid I'm going to be keeping Drake very busy with surgery and teaching. I've been working on him for years to come and help out here at the college, and now that I have him, I'm not letting go easily."
"I understand," Kate said and turned to me, squeezing my hand. "I'm going to spend time painting."
"Kate's an artist and plans on doing some wildlife art while she's here," I said, smiling at her, incredibly proud of her talent and mind.
"I've always wanted to focus on my art,” Kate said, “but have been so busy with school I haven’t had the chance."
Claire turned to her. "I can take you out on safari if you like. I know some great outfitters and tour guides. Once you get settled, let me know and I'll arrange things."
"Thank you," Kate said. "I'd like that."
Kate looked at me and smiled and I could see real excitement in her eyes.
It was at that moment that Sam and Camille showed up, walking into the restaurant together.
When I saw her, I couldn’t help but frown in annoyance. Michael turned when Sam came over.
"Hello," Sam said. "Fancy meeting all of you here."
Claire turned around, her face all surprised. Michael and I stood, pushing back our chairs to be polite.
"What a coincidence," Michael said, extending his hand to Sam. Then he shook the other young woman's hand. "Camille."
"Someone mentioned Ranalo's the other day and I remembered how good their fish is," Sam said. "We finished up with a case and decided some fresh fish was on order."
Then, she turned to me. "Drake, you know Camille Johannsen, from my hometown in South Africa. You met her at the faculty mixer."
I forced a smile. "Of course," I said and shook her hand. I fastened the button on my suit jacket. "You remember Kate, my fiancée," I said, trying to keep my voice light but wanting to reinforce that I was taken.
Kate smiled but I could tell she was uncomfortable.
"Nice to see you again, Claire,” Sam said to Claire, who smiled back.
Sam turned back to Michael and me. "Well, we won't keep you. There's a table over in the corner we better snag if we want to eat."
I sat back down once they left and adjusted my jacket, unhappy that she showed up. It couldn’t be a coincidence that Sam showed up at Ranalo’s on the same night that I was there with Michael. I tried to remember if Michael had said anything in front of Sam, but couldn’t recall.
"Camille is an outstanding new doctor from South Africa," Michael said. "She did her MD there and is here to specialize."
I nodded then turned to Kate, leaning over to kiss her on the cheek.
If Sam thought she’d disrupt our meal, she succeeded but I was going to salvage it as best I could. I did not want Sam to be a constant reminder to Kate that we had a sexual relationship when I was in Nairobi before. I would prefer that Sam had never come to Kenya, but there was nothing I could do about it now except give her a very cold shoulder.
Our food arrived and the mood changed back to more relaxed. We ate with gusto, commenting on how delicious the meal was, how fresh the ingredients. Michael and I caught up on our lives, not really having a chance to speak on a more personal level since I started working.
"Tell me about your father," Michael said, his face somber. "I know he died on a trip to Somalia. It must have been such a shock."
I nodded, my mood changing back from festive to reflective. "Even knowing he was putting himself in danger, I didn't expect him to die in a plane crash. I thought he'd get shot in an attack."
I said nothing for a moment, pushing my food around on my plate, trying to think of the right words to say.
"Tell me what happened," Michael said, his voice soft. "I read an article in a newsletter, but don't know the details."
I sighed. "He was flying with a nurse and a local physician to work in a field hospital with the Red Cross. The engine of their small plane failed and they crashed about ten miles from the runway. It took a few days to find the crash site. Luckily, they were still in the cabin or there might be nothing left of them due to scavengers."
"He's buried in Ethiopia?"
I nodded. "Before the accident, we talked about what might happen to him if he was killed in the fighting. He said he wanted to be cremated and his ashes spread in Ethiopia, which was his favorite place. Told me to find a really big Baobab tree and spread his ashes beneath it so that his carbon would feed the tree. He was such a romantic at heart. I did that last year when I visited."
"Where was I?" Michael said. "I would have liked to go with you."
"You were at a conference in London."
Michael nodded and took a long sip of his beer.
Claire turned to Kate. "You wouldn’t think to meet Liam that he had such a soft heart, but he did. He was so calm in an emergency, as if chaos made him feel in control. Many people panic when there's an emergency, but not Liam. He always thrived under those conditions."
"You knew him well?" Kate asked.
"I met him through Doctors Without Borders," Claire said. "We invited Liam to stay with us when he was in Nairobi."
"Liam made sure Drake came to Africa with him one year. We hit it off right away," Michael said, turning to me. "I've been trying to get him to come to teach at the college for years. I sure miss Liam, though. He'd stop in whenever he was in Africa. Made a point of visiting even though we have no wars going on, other than on the streets."
The reference to recent violence in Nairobi had us all silent for a moment.
"I tried to talk Liam into working here in our trauma center, but he preferred the battlefield."
"His first medical experiences were on the battlefield in Vietnam," I said. "The streets of Baltimore were too tame for him. That's why he volunteered to come to Somalia. He went the way he would have wanted," I replied. "Flying over Africa on his way to the battlefield. He was more afraid of dying an old man."
"Still, he had many good years left in him."
I nodded and thought about my father, the wild man who thrived in chaos and could never stay too long in one place without getting bored.
After a moment, Claire changed the subject, as if she was trying to lighten the conversation. "We see Drake as the son we never had," Claire told Kate, then looked at me, a smile on her face. "We had four girls, so Michael felt quite indulgent towards Drake."
I smiled back at Claire. She had been very protective when I was in Africa before. She was like a mother to me, fussing over me and always checking on how I was doing. I wasn’t used to it, but I enjoyed the attention, having been denied a real mother all my childhood.
We finished our meal and as we left the restaurant, past the line of patrons waiting to get inside, I saw Sam and Camille sitting together at a table. I hoped that she wouldn’t be a problem.
Michael and Claire drove us back to the hotel, and after we thanked them for a delicious meal, Michael invited us to their home on the weekend. I glanced at Kate to make sure she was in agreement and she smiled, nodding to me as if she was happy to go to their home. I realized that she might take comfort in having Claire’s friendship and I was pleased that Claire had taken on the role happily.
"And now, Ms. Bennet, let's go to our room,” I said and took Kate’s hand. “I want a swim in the pool and then you."
Kate smiled and let me lead her into the hotel and down the hallways to our suite. While I went to the washroom, Kate stood on the balcony. When I was finished, I went to her, slipping my arms around her waist, my cheek pressed against hers. I kissed her neck.
“I missed you all week.”
She turned and faced me, her arms threading around my neck. “I missed you all week.”
“I’ll be away a lot at first,” I said, pulling her hips against mine so she could feel my growing erection. “I promise I’ll do my best to make it up to you when I’m home.”
"I can't wait to go on safari and see the sky in real darkness.” She leaned her head against my chest.
"Once we get settled, we'll go, but right now, I can’t wait to blindfold you and restrain you,” I said to her. “I have all kinds of plans for you, Katherine.”
"You still want to swim first?" she asked, while I kissed her neck.
"Yes," I said. "I can wait a few more minutes to ravish you."
She laughed and we finally ended the embrace. We changed into our bathing suits and when I saw her in the little white bikini she wore in the Bahamas, a surge of desire flooded through me.
"Oh, I like it," I said, taking in her deliciously curvy body. "I seem to recall trying to take it off one afternoon and being rudely interrupted by your father…"
Kate laughed and tied the top, her arms behind her back. "No fear of that here."
"When you stand like that, I lose all interest in swimming, Ms. Bennet…"
"I can't help it," she said. "I have to tie up my top."
"I may have to untie it if you keep it up."
Kate turned away almost demurely. We grabbed our towels and went to the outdoor pool. Luckily, there was no one else there. I dove in, preferring to get wet all at once, but Kate sat on the side of the pool with just her legs in the water.
"Come on in," I said as I treaded water in front of her. "It's heated."
She slipped in and ducked under. I swam over and took her into my arms, and we floated together for a moment. "The view is nice," Kate said, slipping out of my arms and lying back, floating, her eyes on the sky.
The water was warm and the night air cool, and while I watched, Kate’s nipples hardened in the cold.
"Yes, it is nice," I said, barely able to keep a grin off my face.
"You get to see that view any time you want," Kate said in meek protest. "Look at the sky for a change. The night's really clear."
I relented and floated beside her for a while, trying to match her mood, but she had to know I wanted her.
"This is like heaven," she said with a sigh of contentment.
"It is."
We floated in a pleasant silence, the stars bright above us. I tried to be patient with her, let her take the lead for when our swim was finished.
She spoke after a while, her voice soft. "Quite the coincidence meeting Sam there. Nairobi's a pretty big city."
I said nothing for a moment, for I was sure it wasn’t an accident that she showed up at the same restaurant where we were dining. "I doubt it was a coincidence. Michael must have mentioned it and she decided to show up."
Kate sighed. "Is she going to be a problem?"
"I hope not." I was determined not to let Sam become a problem. I took Kate into my arms so that she sat on my lap in the water. "I don't need any complications right now. I'll be busy at work, teaching and trying to keep you happy."
"Don't worry about keeping me happy," she said. "As long as you're happy and we have time together, I’ll be happy as well."
I hoped that was the case. I felt nothing for Sam, but that wouldn’t stop Kate from feeling jealous of any time I would have to spend with Sam out of necessity. I wish Sam would just go away, but that wasn’t going to happen. I’d have to work hard to keep things professional with her because I had a feeling that Sam was here precisely because she hoped to rekindle our former relationship.
I would not let that happen.
When we were back in the room, I undressed Kate slowly, enjoying seeing her all wet and goosebumpy and naked.
"You're so nice and smooth," I said and wrapped my arms around her from behind, kissing my way down her neck to her shoulder. I was already hard, and had been since we left the pool in anticipation of what I had planned for her. When I lifted her thigh and slid my erection between her legs, rubbing it against her clit, she sighed and leaned back, giving herself over to me.
"I found something," I said softly, my lips brushing her cheek.
"What?"
"You'll see," I said and kissed her. "Katherine."
I left her on the bed and then returned a few moments later with cuffs and a blindfold in my hand.
"Lie across the bed, and close your eyes."
Kate complied, barely able to keep a smile off her face. She was a naughty girl, but it was good that she was so eager to be bound and blindfolded. When she was finally all ready, I stared down at her with pleasure, her body naked and open, her thighs spread, her hands fastened to the bed frame, and her eyes blindfolded.
Then, I went to the closet and retrieved Big and went to the bathroom, immersing the cold latex dildo in a hot water bath to warm it up before use. I went back to the bed where I had Kate positioned across it sideways and leaned between her thighs.
I stroked her clit, my thumb moving over it slowly, alternating between my fingers and the head of my cock. She moaned when I pressed the tip against her, teasing her with the pressure but not entering fully at first. I slowly built up to it, first an inch, then two then four then all of me, keeping my fingers stroking slowly over her clit.
She groaned when I pulled out completely and I knew she was close and was almost ready.
I left her briefly and returned with Big and the bottle of lube, which was also warm. I returned to my position between her thighs, drizzled some lube over her pussy and then began teasing her with it, stroking it over her clit.
She gasped and bit her lip, for she recognized what it was.
"Don't be afraid," I said, keeping my voice calm and soft. "Relax."
She took in a deep breath and I saw her body relax as she gave herself over to me. I stroked Big over her once more, focusing on her clit. Then I slipped my cock inside of her, hoping that I could substitute Big when the time was just right and she was already stretched and ready. I worked her up, watching her breathing, the tension in her body, until I knew she was almost there.
"You want it, Katherine?"
"Yes," she said, her voice filled with need. "Please."
"Please, what?"
"Please, Sir."
I slipped out of her, keeping my thumb on her clit and then pressed Big at the entrance to her body. Big was too large at first, so I continued to alternate my cock with the tip of Big until I managed to push it a bit farther inside. Kate panted, and when I resumed stroking her clit, it sent her over and she came hard, crying out loud from the pleasure.
"That’s what I want to hear."
I withdrew Big and entered her, fucking her hard and fast, until my own release, which came more quickly than I anticipated, but seeing Kate like that, watching her willing submission to me, made me rock hard and ready. I collapsed on top of her, our hands entwined as we recovered, both of us breathing hard.
Finally, I unfastened the cuffs and removed the blindfold. Then I lay on top of her, my lips next to her ear.
"Told you."
Kate smiled.
I rolled off her and lay on the bed, unable to keep my hands off her delicious body. I tweaked a nipple, enjoying how it hardened under my touch.
"You came really hard."
"I did," she said, smiling when I cupped her breast. "I've been denied for quite a while."
"Not denied," I said, a bit hurt that she put it that way. "Kate, I've been busy…"
She turned to me and cupped my face with her hands. "I didn't mean it that way. I was kidding."
"No, you weren't," I said and shook my head. "I feel like I'm neglecting you, and that's the last thing in this world I want to do, Kate. Even when I'm at work and busy, you creep into my thoughts and I think of your enticing smile, your green eyes, your incredible breasts, the way you moan when you come… Don't feel like I'm not thinking of you, wanting you, wishing I could be with you. I am."
"I know," she said. "I'm sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings. I think of you, too. Probably more than you think of me, because you're so busy. But soon, I'll be busy and I won't miss you as much."
"I don't want that," I said, grinning. "I want you panting with unmet desire for me when I come home." Then I kissed her.
"When we go back to Manhattan, will you be as busy as you are here?" she asked and turned over to face me.
I sighed and pulled her closer. "I'll probably play with the band a few times a week, but I won't be as busy with surgery. At NYP I only do the really specialized surgeries so my load is a lot lighter. I do more here because Michael needs someone to help with the cases he gets in from areas where there are few neurosurgeons. I probably will teach a class a year though. You know that I love to teach."
Kate and I lay in silence for a few moments. I kissed her shoulder and leaned over her, not wanting her to feel bad about being truthful.
"Let's have a shower. I don’t know about you but I'm exhausted."
She smiled and followed me to the bathroom. We had a quick shower and then dried each other off before returning to the bed and lying with our legs and arms around each other.
I fell asleep so quickly, I barely remember closing my eyes.