“Mrs. Stone, Mrs. Stone, wait,” he called out. I waved my hand over my head.
“Dan, please, hurry,” I called behind me.
I stood, not sure which car I was to head to. The Range Rover was gone, I assumed Travis and Robert were out in it. Dan headed towards a small blue car, one I didn’t recognise.
“It’s Gina’s,” he said.
Every stoplight was red, every road we took was busy until eventually we pulled alongside the curb outside the apartment. I fished around in my bag, I still had a key and left the car without thanking Dan. I rushed up the stairs and with shaking hands opened the apartment door. I found Sam, Elsie and Scott sitting in the lounge, the boys were either side of her and she was crying, Sam was crying. I knelt down in front of her.
“Brooke, oh Brooke,” was all she managed to say.
“Brian has cancer, it’s terminal and he’s had it for a while without telling anyone. He’s in hospital and the doctors think it’s a matter of weeks,” Scott told me.
I took Elsie’s hands in mine.
“I am so sorry, Elsie. Is there anything that can be done?” I asked.
She shook her head. “I didn’t know. I mean, he’d been poorly but he didn’t tell me. Why didn’t he tell me?” she cried.
“Maybe he didn’t want to worry you. You know what he’s like, stubborn fool,” Sam answered her.
Letting go of one of Elsie’s, I took Sam’s hand in mine.
“Mum flew all this way because she didn’t want to tell me over the phone, she didn’t want me to travel back on my own,” he added.
“What can I do, Sam?” I asked.
“Nothing, Brooke. I’m going home with mum tomorrow, I’ll call you when I know more.”
As Elsie cried, Sam and Scott wrapped their arms around her and we sat in silence. I heard a banging on the front door and rose to open it.
“What’s happened?” Robert asked.
I let him in but we stayed in the hallway.
“Sam’s dad has cancer, he only has a matter of weeks left. His mum, Elsie, flew out to tell him. I thought you were in a meeting?” I asked.
“Gina called, I came as quick as I could.”
“You didn’t need to do that, I was about to call you. But thanks.”
Sam came into the hallway to see who was there.
“Sam, I’m so sorry. Is there anything I can do?” Robert asked him.
“Thanks, but not really. Other than I need some time off, I have to go home.”
“You take whatever time you want. I won’t intrude, Brooke, ring me when you want picking up, okay? Did you book your flights, Sam?”
“No, I’ll do that in a bit. I want to leave as soon as possible.”
“I can do it, I’ll call with the details,” Robert said.
Sam gave Robert a small smile and nodded his head before making his way back to the lounge. Robert pulled me to his chest and kissed the top of my head.
“You okay, baby?”
“No, Brian and Elsie have known me most of my life. They’re like parents to me.”
“Do you want to go with Sam?”
“He didn’t ask. I think it might be best to let him get home, he’ll ring me when he knows more.”
“Okay. Call me when you ready to come home.”
I nodded, gave him a quick kiss as he left and made my way to the kitchen. What we needed was a cup of tea. I put the kettle on, found the pot and tried to choke back the tears threatening to fall. Brian was such a lovely old man, he was cantankerous and his reluctance to meet Scott had annoyed me, but none of that mattered now. I had spent more time with Brian than my own father, especially after David died. Elsie and Brian had held me while I cried, they had comforted me. It was them that I went to when life got tough and I needed advice. He was like a favourite uncle, or grandparent considering how old he was. As I headed back into the lounge with tea, I heard my phone ring.
“Hi,” I said, it was Robert.
“Does Scott need a flight?” he asked.
“Hold on, I’ll find out.”
“Scott, do you need a plane ticket?” I asked him.
He didn’t respond straight away, looking to Sam for answers.
“Please come, Scott, if you can,” Elsie said.
“I’ll need to clear it with work, Elsie. How about I fly over at the end of the week, let me get things straight here. I’m due some leave anyway.”
I nodded, letting him know I understood.
“Robert, Scott needs to sort out work then he’ll leave end of the week, maybe at the weekend?”
“Okay, I’ll call you later,” Robert replied.
We said our goodbyes and I poured Elsie a cup of tea, remembering to add her two sugars. She smiled her thanks and used the teacup to warm her cold hands. She then repeated what she had already told Sam. The first she had known was when Brian collapsed at home and he was taken straight to the hospital. An Oncologist came to see him and spoke to Elsie as if she already knew about Brian’s diagnosis. The shock must have been overwhelming. At first she was angry - she still was to a degree - but once she had sat with Brian, her only thought was to tell Sam. She didn’t want to do it over the phone and she couldn’t find my number. Her only option was to catch a flight. Sam had no siblings, there were no aunts or uncles alive able to make the journey for Elsie.
We sat for another hour or so before I texted Robert. Elsie was exhausted and Sam had put her to bed. I held Sam in my arms as he cried.
“You will call me, won’t you? I’ll get on a flight and come straight away if you need me.” I told him. He nodded.
A knock on the front door startled us. Scott left and was soon back in the lounge followed by Robert and Travis. Robert handed over an envelope.
“It’s your flight details. All are open returns in case your mom wants to come back with you,” he said.
Sam opened the envelope. “But these are first class,” he said.
“Sam, you don’t want your mom have to do that journey cattle class tomorrow.”
“Thank you, Mr. Stone. I don’t know what to say.”
“It’s Robert, Sam. Scott, your ticket is dated for Saturday, I hope that’s okay?”
“Of course, thank you.”
Robert shook Scott’s hand and nodded to Sam. Travis, much to my astonishment, patted Sam on the back in a manly fashion. It was the first time he had even acknowledged Sam in a friendly way. I hugged them both and then Robert, Travis and I left, heading for home.
I slumped back in my seat, Robert took my hand and I closed my eyes. Cancer. It was a dirty word, an ugly word for an ugly, vicious disease. I felt for Brian, to have received that news, to have spent the past eight months knowing it was incurable must have been awful. For him to have refused treatment was both brave and desperately sad. Elsie was yet to ask him why he kept it a secret and why he’d refused treatment. The Oncologist had told her treatment would have only prolonged the inevitable but still, months were better than weeks.
We arrived home and wearily I climbed from the car. The past few days had been draining. I headed to the bedroom and ran a bath, I wanted a long soak. Robert, sensing I needed to be alone, smoothed a piece of hair, tucking it behind my ear before kissing my forehead. We didn’t speak, we didn’t need to. He ran his thumb under one eye catching the tears that were now falling.
“If I could take away your pain, I would,” he whispered.
I nodded, pinned my hair up, undressed and climbed in the bath. With the lights on low, I lay back and closed my eyes. I remembered all the times I had laughed, all the times I’d played scrabble and Brian let me win. All the times I’d cried, felt lost and alone, Brian had been there. I had visited them before I’d left for America and he had been thrilled that I was meeting up with Sam. He had asked me to pass on his love but closed down when I had mentioned Scott. I assumed it was just a generation thing. He accepted Sam’s sexuality until it became real - until Sam fell in love I guessed.
I felt R
obert come in the room. As I opened my eyes, he placed a glass of wine on the side of the tub and pulling up a chair, he sat beside me. He dipped a sponge in the water and squeezed it over my back, gently washing me. I let my head fall forward as the warm water relaxed my shoulders. When he was done Robert stood, held out a towel and after I had climbed out he wrapped it around me. It was warm and cosy, more so when he pulled me into his arms and let me cry against his chest. He picked me up and carried me to the bed.
“Wait here,” he said.
He retrieved my glass of wine and then headed upstairs. It was shortly after that he backed into the bedroom. When he turned, he held a tray which he placed on the bed. A selection of meats, cheeses, bread and crackers were laid out.
“You’ve got to be hungry,” he said.
I was and together we picnicked. I told him how Elsie had found out and we chatted about how awful that must have been for her.
“How was Travis today?” I asked. I wanted a diversion. Whether Travis was a good diversion or not, I wasn’t sure.
“Same, can’t get through to him. I know he hasn’t spoken to Caroline. Every time I mention it, he says ‘tomorrow’.”
“What do you think, about what he said at the gym the other night?”
“I don’t know what to make of it. I must admit, I nearly barged in when I heard him say he wanted you, but I get what he means. If it was the other way round, if I was watching him with someone have the kind of relationship we have, I think I’d feel the same.”
“What did you hear before that? Did you hear him tell me about the girl, the one that came on to you?”
“No, what did he say?”
“He knew. He knew you had organised the photos.”
“Shit, what else did he say?”
“He was grateful that you had, that you’d opened his eyes, or something like that.”
“I think, Brooke, this is something he has to work through himself. Other than be there for him, I can’t see that there’s anything we can do.”
“I wish he would speak to her and not hide away. Even tell her it’s over if that’s the case. She’s in limbo at the moment and that’s not fair.”
We fell silent, both thinking, eating and drinking our wine. Robert and I didn’t need to speak, we were comfortable in each other’s company talking or not. When we had finished our picnic Robert cleared the tray and the glasses and handed me my book. It was only nine o’clock but I sunk back into the pillows and started to read. Once he had deposited the tray upstairs he brought me a cup of tea. He sat on top of the bed covers with a bunch of papers to read through and sign as I sat reading my book. As the book fell from my hands I jolted awake, I must have dozed off.
“You held that book for a good minute or two with your eyes closed,” he said with a chuckle.
He took the book from my lap and placed it on the floor with his papers. With one arm around my shoulders he pulled me to him, his cheek resting on the top of my head. I ran my hand under his shirt feeling the muscles on his chest, over his nipples and back down again to the top of his jeans. I sat up letting my towel fall and straddled him, slowly unbuttoning the shirt. He pulled his arms free of the sleeves and it dropped to the floor. I kissed his neck, along his shoulder and down his chest taking a nipple in my mouth and gently nipping it. I unbuttoned his jeans and slid my hand in finding his cock already hard. His hands held my face and he pulled me towards him for a kiss. His tongue tangled with mine.
I gently stroked and massaged him, feeling his cock harden even more under my touch. I ran my thumb over the tip, spreading a droplet of moisture. His breath quickened. His hand grabbed my shoulders and he rolled me onto my back. As he lay beside me he ran his fingers down my throat stroking me, stoking the fire that burned inside. His fingers closed around a nipple, he squeezed and tugged, released and used his whole hand to cup my breast and squeeze again. His mouth followed, sucking and biting, his tongue flicking over my nipples one at a time. This time he straddled me. His jean clad legs were either side of mine and he rested back on the top of my thighs. His hands ran down my sides, back up my stomach so gently it was like a feather’s touch. His fingers brushed my throat, his thumbs forcing my chin up and giving him access so he could kiss it. His lips ran across my jaw bone, dropping little kisses all the way to my neck.
He reached across to his bedside table and opened the drawer, pulling out a black silk scarf. He wrapped it around one of my wrists and through the bars of the headboard to attach to the other wrist. When he was done he moved off me, unbuttoned his jeans and let them fall. His erection sprung free and his hand clasped around his cock. I watched with fascination as he stroked. The sight of him pleasuring himself was so arousing. I could feel my clitoris throb, my stomach clenched and I squeezed my thighs together trying to get some release.
“No you don’t,” he said quietly.
Standing in front of me was Mr. Intense, the alpha male I hadn’t seen for a little while, and a shiver shot through my body. My skin tingled and I couldn’t stop the moan from escaping my lips. He strode to the closet, disappeared from view and when he returned he had something wrapped around his hand. He stood at the end of the bed and his fingers stroked down one leg. He wrapped one of his ties around my ankle and pulled my leg sideways, tying it to the bed post. He repeated the process with the other. I was bound hand and foot.
“Don’t think, Brooke, just feel,” he said, his voice so low that I strained to hear.
As he crawled up my body I watched his eyes darken until they were black and a smile played on his lips. He kissed my stomach, his tongue licked my skin, dipping into my navel then slowly down. His hands held the inside of my thighs as his lips closed around my clitoris, sucking while his tongue flicked the throbbing tip. I wanted to raise my hips but couldn’t move. I closed my eyes absorbing the sensation of his hot mouth and his expert tongue. My moans grew louder and as they did he inserted two fingers, hooking them to push against that soft spot on the wall inside me. That was enough to tip me over the edge. I screamed out his name as I came. I wanted to pull my legs towards me, to ease the ache in my stomach as wave after wave of heat rolled over me. His tongue replaced his fingers as he drank in my come.
As I caught my breath I felt his fingers on my lips.
“Suck,” he commanded.
I opened my mouth as his fingers trailed a path across my lips, my tongue licked the metallic tang from them. I greedily sucked his fingers into my mouth while his teeth found my collar bone and he bit me hard. I was still coming down from my orgasm but his bite had me boiling again.
I opened my eyes to see him, his face displayed pure ecstasy. It aroused him to see me come undone. The power he held over my body was the biggest turn on for him.
“I want...” My voice was hoarse.
“What do you want?” he asked softly.
“I want your cock.”
“Where, Brooke?”
“Mouth,” was what I managed to say between ragged breaths.
“You want me to fuck your mouth?”
I nodded.
“I didn’t hear you, Brooke.”
Every time he said my name it was as if he was caressing my body, it rolled off his tongue like silk. I knew what he was doing. He wasn’t trying to humiliate me he was teaching me to ask for what I wanted, to be confident enough to demand.
“Fuck my mouth now, Robert,” I said and heard him chuckle.
He slid off the bed and untied my legs, giving me some relief from the dull ache still residing in my stomach. He released my wrists from the silk. As I sat, he retied them behind my back. He stood on the bed and pulled me up by my shoulders until I knelt before him. My eyes locked on his as he held his cock to my lips. My tongue darted out catching the tip until I opened my mouth and let him in. My lips closed around him, my tongue flattened against the underside and I let him push as far as he knew I could take him. Slowly in and out, his hands held the sides of my head, steadying me. I heard him take a shar
p intake of breath and when I saw his stomach muscles quiver and felt his cock twitch, I knew he was about to come. I also knew what he would do. I forced my lips tighter around him, sucking so he couldn’t pull my head away and I swallowed harder and harder, milking him until he came in my mouth. That was what I wanted.
I must be the luckiest girl in the world. Robert could come and still be hard, no waiting for him to recover. I released him from my mouth, my tongue lapping away the last of his come before he moved behind me. His hand was between my shoulder blades and he gently pushed the top half of my body down, face first on the bed. His hand stroked down my back and across my backside, his thumb gazing over that secret place. I pushed myself back onto his thumb, forcing it inside me. His other hand slid beneath me and teased, pinching my clitoris before he inserted his fingers and then, something new. I felt myself being stretched as his cock joined them. He fucked me fast, deep, he had me screaming out his name and panting before we both came together.
My legs gave way as he pulled out and I collapsed onto the bed. He untied my hands and rubbed my shoulders bringing them back to life before lying beside me. I closed my eyes giving in to the laughter bubbling away inside.
“Oh my God. Mr. Stone, you get better and better,” I said.
We lay on our sides facing each other and his fingers stroked down my side. I didn’t care about the wetness between my legs. I wanted his come to dry on my skin, to keep every part of what he had given me for the moment.
“I love you, Brooke. You have no idea how much. I need to see you come apart, I need to feel you, taste you,” he whispered.
I rested my hand on his chest feeling his heart beat. I didn’t need to repeat the words, he knew. We should have showered, cleaned ourselves up a little, but there was something connecting about lying there and falling asleep still covered with each other’s intimate fluids. It felt a little dirty and dirty was a feeling I was beginning to like.
Chapter Four
When I woke I felt refreshed, my body ached but my mind had been taken off the events of the past couple of days and for that I was thankful. I reached over to find an empty bed. Instead of Robert, I found one of his little notes. I rolled to my back and read the card. His black, italic handwriting had me laughing.
Fallen Angel, Part III Page 4