by K. C. Crowne
He lifted his hips and drove deep again, tunneling into me. He rose and fell, rose and fell, my breasts shaking from the impact. Soon we had a steady pace, our bodies writhing together, each pump deep into me bringing me closer and closer to orgasm.
Patrick sat up, grabbing my left leg and pressing it against his torso. His position gave me a full view of his powerful body at work, each of his shredded muscles tensing and flexing as he pounded me like wild.
I closed my eyes and tilted my head back and let the moans flow out as the second orgasm hit. He kept thrusting, making me feel so good I could hardly hold a thought in my head.
When I finished, I let my arms and legs fall dead onto the sheets. But the smirk on Patrick’s face let me know he wasn’t done – not at all.
And I was ready for more.
Chapter 7
PATRICK
The sight of Lola coming hard underneath me brought me so damn close to the edge that I nearly came myself. But I wasn’t done with her. A woman as beautiful as her had to be savored. And that’s what I planned to do.
I’d refrained through her second orgasm because I wanted to give her a third. Carefully, I slid my cock out of her, the length of my prick glistening with her juices. I reached forward and put my hands on her hips, helping her flip over. When she did, I learned very quickly that her backside was just as flawless as the rest of her body. On her upper right shoulder blade was a tattoo of an eye, the iris a gorgeous scene of sea animals.
“You alright?” she asked, lifting herself on all fours.
“Perfect.”
I took my eyes off her tattoo, tracing the outline of her incredible body as I took my cock into my hand, positioning it at the entrance to her pussy. She was so wet I was able to glide into her with total ease. I clamped my hands onto her ass, my cock pushing into her until my hips were flush with hers. I pulled back and drove into her again, Lola’s gorgeous ass shaking as my body collided with hers. She moaned and screamed with pleasure, and I could sense by her noises that she was close to coming again.
I thrust harder, my cock a blur as I went faster and faster until I couldn’t take it any longer.
“Patrick!” she shouted. “I’m—”
My hands were on her hips, and I felt her muscles tense as her third orgasm ripped through her body. The sight of Lola bent over and coming was enough to push me over the edge. I grunted hard, pleasure expanding out from my cock and radiating through my body. My dick pulsed as I drained myself into her.
I collapsed forward, my muscles giving out. Lola rolled over and onto her back, and for several long moments, we simply laid there, catching our breath. I reached over and pulled Lola close. She rested her head on my chest, and I placed a kiss on her forehead.
The moments after sex were surprisingly comfortable. It hardly felt like the first time we’d been together. I didn’t quite know what to make of it.
My eyes fell on her tattoo again, barely visible in our position. Now that we weren’t in the middle of something more pressing, I could give it my full attention. I shifted so I could see it better. The design was beautiful, the eye done in gorgeous detail, the mosaic of ocean life stunning. I placed my fingertip on the tattoo, tracing it slowly.
“This is lovely,” I said. “Amazing work.”
I’d been with women who had tattoos before, and one thing they all had in common was that they loved to talk about them. It made a certain kind of sense – if you were the type of person to have art permanently inked onto your body, you’d likely be the type to want to tell people about it.
But Lola’s body tensed under my touch. Without a word, she rolled over and put her feet on the floor. Once she was up, she hurried to the closet. I couldn’t take my eyes off her perfect rear end as she walked. She pulled open the closet and quickly took out a robe, slipping her arms into it and cinching the sash around her waist. Lola took a deep breath, then turned to face me.
I had my hands folded behind my head, a smirk on my face. “You know, it’s a damn shame to cover a body like that up.”
Lola wore a serious expression, but a small smile flashed on her features. “Thanks. But all the same, time for you to get going.”
I was confused as all hell, my brows furrowing. How had we gone from the best sex of my life to her giving me the boot? “Sorry, did I say something wrong?”
She shook her head. “No, you didn’t.”
The brief pause between the two last words in that sentence let me know without a doubt that she wasn’t being entirely truthful with me. But if there was a man who knew the importance of letting people keep their affairs to themselves, it was me. I didn’t press the matter, even though it was a bit irksome.
Without another word, Lola strode from the bedroom and into the bathroom, shutting the door behind her.
What the hell? Things seemed amazing until that exact moment. Did I make some kind of faux pas? Or did she just now realize she was done with me, that she’d gotten her itch scratched, and now it was time for me to leave?
I shook my head before putting my feet on the floor. Lola had already ducked out of the room to collect the clothes that hadn’t made it over the threshold, returning as I was stepping into my underwear and tucking my cock into them.
“Here’s the rest of your stuff.” She dropped the clothes unceremoniously in a heap at the foot of the bed.
“Thanks.”
She went to the bathroom again, though I suspected this was more to be out of the same room as me than anything else. It gave me a chance to get dressed and ready to go.
The whole situation was a bit annoying, but I tried not to be bothered. Our little tryst was a one-night thing, after all. Going into hook-ups with expectations was the fastest way to get hurt feelings. And I, of all people, should know – I’d been on the giving end of more than my fair share of such feelings.
She stepped out of the bathroom and looked me up and down. “I’ll see you out.”
Without waiting for my response, she zipped past me toward the front door. Once there, she stood silently by it like a guard at her post, her eyes fixed ahead. Something was on her mind. But as much as I wanted to know what was going through that head of hers, I wasn’t about to push my luck.
“I had lovely night, Lola.” I walked to the door with long, easy strides as I spoke.
“Yeah. It was nice.”
I stepped up to her, making sure to position myself just close enough to make her aware of what I wanted. She gulped as if having a bit of an internal conflict.
“I’d love to see you again sometime. How about it?”
Her eyes met mine, and the sense of conflict grew stronger and stronger. I began to wonder if my standing there might get her to change her mind about giving me the boot.
“Sure. That might be nice.” It was the most non-committal answer ever.
“Perfect. See you ‘round, Dr. Bridges.”
“See you.” She glanced aside, as if someone might be watching. Then she stood on her tiptoes and planted a kiss on my cheek.
I got the impression she’d chosen the cheek instead of the lips because she might not have been able to trust herself if she were to give me a real kiss goodnight. Either way, our night was over. I gave her one last smile before stepping out of the condo. She watched me as she shut the door, her face vanishing in the sliver of light before the door closed with a solid click.
I had a smile on my face as I stepped into the elevator. I did feel a little used, but it was only fair. After all, I couldn’t even remember the number of women I’d spent one night with only to never see them again. Granted, I never used them – any woman I spent the night with was special in her own way. But more than a few of them over the years had hoped that our fling might become something more.
The universe had a way of restoring balance – no sense in getting upset about that. Moreover, getting peeved wasn’t my way. I liked these little trysts to be fun and light and carefree. How would I be able to live the kind of li
fe I did if I grew bitter every time things didn’t work out as I’d hoped?
I pulled my car out of the garage and drove into the snowy night. A warm bed sounded nice, maybe a glass of whiskey beforehand.
Though there was a certain eye doctor who I would’ve liked to share both with.
Lola was on my mind the next morning. I couldn’t believe it. I’d woken up and hit the alarm on my phone and there she was, smiling and lovely, my body aching for her. And one part of my body especially ached for her.
God, what I wouldn’t have given to wake up next to her, to watch the morning sun play on her beautiful features, to put my hand between her legs and watch her mouth open with pleasure and surprise, to…
I sat up and shook my head, shocked by my reaction to her. What the hell kind of effect had Lola Bridges had on me? I had to get out of bed or take care of business.
I had too much work to do to mess around. I threw off the sheets and put my feet on the floor, stretching my muscles before stepping into the kitchen and getting some hot water going for the French press. As the electric kettle brought the water to a boil, I found myself staring out the front windows of the guesthouse at the snow-covered stretch of Finn and Kenna’s backyard.
Colorado was beautiful – no doubt about it. It might not have been Ireland, but it had its own particular brand of charm. I was pleased to be spending the next few months here.
Once the hot water was ready, I dumped some coffee into the French press and let it mix with the water. As it did, I found something else surprising entering my thoughts – my ex, Fay.
The moment her face, all sharp features and scheming eyes, appeared in my thoughts, my mood soured. I scowled, angry at her, angry at myself for thinking of her.
“Money-grubbing bitch,” I grumbled as I poured myself a cup from the French press.
Light and breezy was how I liked my relationships with women. But Fay…she was different. Just the thought of her was enough to make me mad as hell, to set my blood to boiling.
What the hell had I been thinking with that woman? How on Earth did I not know immediately what kind of person she was, what she was capable of? It had been a damn humbling experience, to be sure.
I needed something to take my mind off her. I flirted with thinking of Lola, but the more I thought about her, the likelier grew the odds that I’d be back in bed replaying our night together in my mind’s eyes while I had a little one-handed fun.
Editing was good, mindless work, but engaging enough to take my mind off the gorgeous woman. And more than that, it needed to be done. If I was going to sell these nature shots, they had to look primo.
Coffee in hand, I sat down at my desk and opened my computer. A few moments later, I had Photoshop open and the fox picture on the screen in front of me. Editing worked like a charm, as usual – my phone eventually lit up with a text, and when I checked it, I saw that an hour had passed.
The text was from Finn asking if I wouldn’t mind meeting him in the kitchen to discuss some matters. After finishing a couple quick edits, I closed my computer, threw back the last bit of my coffee, and headed over.
“Mornin’, brother.” Finn was sitting at his usual place at the kitchen bar, the Denver Post in his hands and a stainless-steel thermos of coffee within reach.
“Mornin’,” I replied. I stepped around the bar and poured myself another cup. “So what’s the matter of discussion?”
“I found something useful you can do with your money,” he announced as he folded the paper and set it aside. “Assuming it’s still burnin’ a hole in your pocket.”
I leaned against the counter across from him. “What is it?”
“I mentioned that clinic to you, yeah? Me and some other investors are lookin’ to go ahead and buy it.”
“That right?”
He nodded. “Like I said, Pitt Medical does a damn fine job accommodating people who might not have money for medical care, but we want a place where people who don’t have anything can get care – a total charity clinic.”
“Sounds like a damn noble idea.”
“And there’s a need for it, too,” he continued. “Thousands of people every year avoid going to the doctor because they can’t afford care. In practice, that means they skip checkups when their symptoms are still manageable. But when whatever they’re sufferin’ from becomes less manageable…”
“They go to the ER and pay a premium for immediate treatment.”
“You got it.”
I shook my head. “I swear, these Yanks have a hell of a mess on their hands when it comes to this sort of thing.”
“No kidding. Not much we can do about the bigger picture, though,” he opined. “In the meantime, if we can get a local clinic open that offers free care, it’ll do some good for those who normally have no other option than to go to the ER.”
“Sounds grand,” I said. “Exactly the sort of thing I want to spend my money on.”
A smile tugged at one corner of his mouth, happy with my answer. “Just what I was hopin’ to hear. Because a place like this is goin’ to need all the help it can get. Doctors are goin’ to be donatin’ their time and money and whatever they can, because profit doesn’t factor into the equation.”
“As it shouldn’t,” I agreed. “And the more I hear about this, the more I like it. I’m gonna be in the States for the next few months – might as well do some good with my money where I’m livin’.”
Finn smiled warmly. “I’m likin’ what I’m hearin’, brother. If you wanna be a part of this, there’s a meeting on Friday.” A curious expression crossed his face. “You get a chance to meet Dr. Bridges?”
How the hell does he know about that? I checked myself, realizing that he only knew about the appointment, not what had happened afterward. No reason to get into that at the moment, especially if it was just a one-night thing.
“Sure do – she took good care of me when I saw her.” The understatement to end all understatements.
“She and some other doctors will be at the meeting on Friday, so I won’t be the only familiar face.”
I did my best not to grin like an idiot knowing what I knew about the lovely Dr. Bridges. “Alright, grand. I’ll take a look at my finances and see what I can set aside.”
“Perfect.” Finn checked his watched and got up. “Alright, back to the grind. See you for supper tonight?”
“You know it.”
Finn grabbed his things and headed out. I walked back to the guesthouse, fresh mug of coffee in hand, and sat down at my computer. I switched to Excel rather than photoshop, checking the latest numbers from my various investments sent to me by my account manager.
Things were looking good. My accountant knew what the hell he was doing, and I had a nice, secure stream of money coming in every month, along with a healthy amount set aside for donations. Hell, I could’ve retired early if I wanted to step away from the photography game. But I loved it too much to even think about that.
My mind turned to Lola and that Finn had mentioned her being at the meeting. No doubt she’d be in for a shock when she saw that I was a member of the investment group. I couldn’t help but wonder if she was thinking about me, if her plan had been to have some fun in bed and never think about me again.
Either way, I was going to find out.
Chapter 8
LOLA
It was bad – very bad.
I sat back across from Mr. Reade, my patient at the clinic. He was a spry, fit man in his eighties. As far as I could tell just by looking at him, there was no reason he wouldn’t be around for another ten years.
His vision, on the other hand, was a whole other story.
“How bad are they, Doc?” he asked. “My vision’s not so good these days, but even I can read an expression like that on someone’s face.”
Mr. Reade had terrible cataracts. They’d gotten to the point where I didn’t even need special tools to spot the milky white discs on his eyes. There wasn’t a doubt in my mind that they�
��d lead to blindness down the road if he didn’t get them treated. Problem with that was Mr. Reade was on a fixed income with no money to spend on a complicated surgery like cataract removal. His insurance would only cover so much, and he didn’t have enough for the out of pocket. It was a damn good thing he was where he was.
“I’m going to be straight with you, Mr. Reade.”
“Please,” he said, a friendly smile spreading across his face, the corners of his eyes fanned with wrinkles. “Call me Don.”
“Don,” I said, smiling at his genuine warmth while trying not to be bothered by the news I had to give him. “The cataracts are developing at a fairly steady pace. You’re having vision problems now, cloudiness and such. But if they continue to worsen at the pace they are now – and I’ve got no reason to think they won’t – you’ll eventually lose your vision completely.”
His eyes met mine. He said nothing for a long while, his behavior making me realize how different younger people were than older generations. Men and women his age processed information, thought it over, learned to handle it. Sometimes it felt like people my own age and younger were in a constant competition to see who could react the most to however they were feeling.
“That’s a damn shame,” he commented dryly. “My granddaughter just had a little boy – name’s Ellis.” Without a pause, he slipped his phone out of his pocket and pulled up a picture. An adorable, chubby baby was on the screen, a big smile on his face as he lay nestled in the arms of his pretty mother. “Cute as hell, isn’t he?”
“So precious.”
“Just had his first birthday.” Don glanced at the picture, his milky eyes welling up with pride. Then he composed himself and slid the phone back into his pocket. “I know this is how things go sometimes, but it’s hard as heck to know there might come a point when I won’t be able to see his face.”