by Amy Faye
His fingers spread her folds apart and he pressed a kiss onto her clitoris, gentle at first and then a little bit rougher, pinching it gently between his lips and suckling.
Caroline let out a sound that was wholly inappropriate, and would have woken anyone else in the house if there were anyone to wake. "Jesus!"
His expression contorted into a smile, his face still pressed in against her. And then his face shifted an inch lower, and his tongue darted inside her and exploring. Her body shuddered. One of his hands reached across and his thumb started to tease her clit as his tongue explored her folds further.
Caroline's body felt as if it were about to start malfunctioning, as if she'd completely lost any control she might once have had over her limbs. Her fingers, entirely on their own, dug into his short hair and tried to force his face deeper into her pussy. Shannen was more than happy to oblige her, his face mashing into her, his fingers moving quickly across her pussy, flicking the very tip of her hardened nub with every pass.
Her body started to tense up. She needed this, and she was so close. So very close. He moved inside her, his tongue curling up and sending a shudder of pleasure through her. It spread through her body like a shiver. Her toes curled up tight, her legs tightened around his shoulders and pulled him in closer. Her fingers dug into his scalp.
Her abs tightened up and for a fraction of an instant her entire body felt as if it were perfectly balanced in complete tightness. And then the shiver worked her entire body loose again, bit by bit. He didn't stop moving, though, and the pleasure started to work its way deeper into her mind. Someone was screaming, and she realized dimly that it was her own voice that she heard.
She tried to take a breath, to regain her composure, and then he pinched her clit and the space behind her eyes went white and her thoughts blanked. Her chest heaved with the effort of taking in enough air to keep her moving, and her body spasmed once, twice, again and again, every ounce of her body rocking in passion.
Shannen, too, was moving frantically, she realized. His tongue, his fingers, all moved in concert to try to draw every ounce of pleasure out of her. And it was working. Whether she wanted it or not, he pulled the orgasm out of her, and it came ripping, screaming, tearing its way from her body, even as she tried her best to hold in whatever she could.
When he finally slowed, she was laying on her back, her head unable to move itself up off the cushions of the couch except enough to look from side to side. Her breaths came out closer to moans, and her eyes focused whenever it suited them, but no more.
"God, that was..."
"Don't get comfortable," he said. She could hear the sound of metal rapping against metal, followed by the sound of a zipper working. "You're not even to the good part yet."
15
"Don't get comfortable," he said. She could hear the sound of metal rapping against metal, followed by the sound of a zipper working. "You're not even to the good part yet."
Caroline's guts twisted up in anticipation of what was going to come next. There was some part o her that knew, that hoped that she would know, what was going to come. And that part of her had long since built up the feeling of his cock inside her. Of what she was going to be experiencing.
"Oh God," she breathed. The anticipation was too much. She needed more, needed him to start exploring her insides in earnest. He seemed to all the world as if he were going to oblige her.
"You ready?"
"Do you have a condom?" Her voice came out breathy and more demanding than she'd wanted.
"That's not going to be a problem," he answered, expertly avoiding the question, and she wasn't sure whether she disapproved of the dodge or not. She could feel him lining up with her entrance, could feel the heat of his cock pressed up against her.
The sound of someone knocking at the door pulled them both out of it for a moment.
"Who the fuck–"
Caroline didn't know. She didn't much care, either. They had better things to do. The knock came again, harder. More insistent.
"Just ignore it," she implored. "Just let them, you know, go along their way. Trust me, we've got plenty of other things to do, right? Nothing to worry about."
He looked up at her, let out a long breath, and leaned down to press his lips against her soft breasts. His hips tensed and she could feel him pressing against her again, lining himself up with her entrance. The need in her chest was thick and full, but she was going to get what she wanted. Going to get what she needed.
That, or she was going to die trying, because there was no way in hell that she was going to not get it, that much was for damned sure.
The knock came a third time, as if he were going to smash the door down if it came down to a fourth knock. A man's voice shouted in. "I know you're in there!"
That one made her stiffen, made her feel stranger than she realized she could feel. There was someone outside and he knew they were in there. More than that, what if he knew, you know, other things?
When Shannen pulled away, part of her wanted to continue, wanted to keep ignoring the disembodied voice, the knocking. Wanted to do some knocking of her own, more accurately. Another part of her, though, was glad that he did it first.
She let out a sigh that was somewhere between disappointment and relief. Shannen stood and started doing up his jeans again. He didn't look at her. Just the ground. But he didn't seem angry, at least, which was something. Right?
Caroline started pulling her clothes back on quickly. There were a surprising number of them to throw on before she could get herself ready for the door. There wasn't much choice, though, so her body moved as fast as she pushed it, and by the time another knock came she was making her way to the door.
Her hair was no doubt a mess, but there were some sacrifices that needed to be made in the interest of speed. She ran her hands through it as she opened the door and forced a yawn.
"What?" The irritation in her voice wasn't forced.
"I need to get in there," he said. "I'm looking for a friend of mine."
"I'm the only one here. I'm the only one who lives here."
"That's not what my friend said. He said I was supposed to meet him right here, right now. He should be in there? Big fella, tall. Muscular, dark hair. Irish maybe?"
She didn't know who this guy was, but something in her gut told her that if Shannen were a friend of his, he likely would have told her to expect him. More than that, he likely wouldn't have gotten her all wound up. Gotten himself all wound up, for that matter.
"I'm sorry, but I don't know who you're talking about."
"Shannen O'Brien? I was sure he said this was the place."
"Isn't that a woman's name? I've never met anyone named Shannon in my life."
"Shannen. It's an Irish name. Irish last name. The guy's got Irish features all around."
"I'm sorry," she answered, spreading her hands. "I wish I could help you, but I just… don't know anything. Is there anything else I can do for you, though? If there is, just let me know, and I'd be glad to help you."
He looked down at her with a frown. His eyes narrowed, his brow furrowed, and he seemed to be making the decision on the fly of whether or not she could be trusted. He seemed to decide that she could and shrugged.
"No, I guess not. You sure you never heard of him?"
"What did you say? Big, muscular guy?"
"Yeah."
"God, I wish," she said. She tried to lay on the sexual frustration, which wasn't hard to do given how much she really was feeling at that moment. He shifted uncomfortably at her expression. "You say you know this guy?"
"Uh, yeah. Old friends."
"If you see him, tell him to come on by some time. I could use the company."
He frowned at her again, and she enjoyed it this time. He should have known better than to try and fuck with her. He should have had better timing, too.
"Yeah, uh… whatever, lady. You see a guy like that, you let him know Brian O'Connor was looking for him."
&nbs
p; "I surely will, but I won't see him, so it doesn't make much difference."
"Yeah," he said. He still had that vexed expression on his face. Uncertain except that he wasn't happy with the overall results of what had gone down so far with the conversation. He frowned and turned to leave.
"Have a good day," she offered as he walked away, and then she shut the door behind him and let out a long breath, her back pressed against the door. She wasn't sure what she was going to do if he hadn't left.
She turned and watched him leave. His jacket hung strangely, swayed wrong as he walked. One side was notably heavier than the other. She shuddered at the thought of what he might have been hiding in that coat. When he finally closed his car door and started off, in no real hurry to leave, she pressed her back against the door again.
"You're in the clear," she called out. A minute later, a fully-dressed Shannen O'Brien came out and frowned. "You get all of that?"
"Yeah, I got it."
"You know anything about this Brian O'Connor?"
He shook his head.
"You worried?"
He shook his head again.
"Then, do you wanna, you know… get back to it?"
He had been walking towards her, his eyes steady on her. When he pushed past, though, and started fishing for the door handle, she realized that he hadn't been staring at her at all.
"I'm not really in the mood any more," he said, as he pushed past. "Maybe later, yeah?"
"You're not mad at me, are you?"
He looked at her with an expression approaching genuine surprise. "Mad at you? Why would I be mad at you?"
She shrugged and looked down at her feet. "I don't know, just… maybe you were."
"No, I'm not mad at you," he said. "You did fine."
"I thought you said you talked to Coogan."
"I did talk to him."
"I mean, I thought you only talked to him."
"Yeah, I told you that's what happened, and it's what happened. What's the problem?"
She shivered again, thinking of the man who had been at the door.
"Well, if I had to guess who might be working for a guy like that, then I would guess that Brian O'Connor would be one of them."
He looked at her for a moment, his eyes impassive, and then he shrugged again. "You think?"
"Why was a guy like that looking for you, Shannen?"
"I don't know. Maybe he wanted to send me a thank-you fruit basket."
"Shannen, don't blow me off please."
"I'm not blowing you off," he said, in a voice that sounded like he was doing just that.
"He had a gun," she told him. It wasn't sure, by any stretch of the imagination, but Dad hadn't always been a shoe repair man, and he'd told her once a few things to look out for, in case you were worried about a man with a gun.
A strange balance to his coat, one like Mr. O'Connor had, was at the top of the list. Shannen nodded absently, like the thought was only a part of the mental math he was doing.
"Yeah, I'll watch out, if you're worried."
"I want you to tell me whatever it was that you did," she said, knowing he wouldn't.
"I already told you. I talked to him. Listen, Caroline, I gotta go."
She watched him with the door open and hoped to high heaven that he wasn't going to do something that she ended up regretting.
16
By the time the excitement had ended, Caroline had a vague sense of hope that Dad was going to be awake. She had the Toyota, even after Shannen left, and the only thing that she had to worry about at that point was whether or not Brian O'Connor was going to be coming back around when she wasn't there to make trouble for her.
She didn't exactly have any room to worry, though; after all, things were going to be bad no matter what she did or how she tried to deal with it. If trouble was brewing then she wasn't in a position to deal with it.
Caroline was a nurse, not a soldier. Not a fighter. Not anything like that, really. She wanted to help people. If there was some reason that people wouldn't or couldn't accept her help, that was something that she needed to accept.
But the idea of fighting some kind of mobster? To call it unthinkable was an understatement and a half. She wasn't cut out for any kind of fighting, and that would be a fight that turned real ugly, real fast. She shrugged and forced herself not to think too hard about it. That was going to be the only way out of her problems anyways.
Her eyes scanned the street, hoping that she would see someone sitting right out in the open, watching the house. At least then she could justify locking herself up in the house and never leaving again.
Instead, she saw an empty street. Nobody was even parked on the side of the road for the night. They'd all gone off to work hours ago, and it would still be hours more before they were anywhere near ready to come back from work.
She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Her body still felt tense from the anticipation of sex to come, but she had to admit that she wasn't exactly in the mood any more, either. The physical desire was still there but her mind was tied up in other things.
She checked the clock on her phone and decided that she'd waited long enough. Back to the hospital, then.
The car eased out of the driveway easily, and she kept it moving slow, keeping one eye on her rear-view mirror. If she saw someone following her, then that was a clear sign she was being followed.
If she didn't see someone, though, it didn't mean she wasn't being followed, and that was a big part of what had her so spooked. It was only a matter of time until the trouble began but she wasn't one bit prepared for it. She shut her eyes and forced herself to calm down.
The calm came, sort of. Her breaths came a little deeper, her hands steadied on the wheel. She picked up speed until she was a little over the speed limit, and as long as she kept herself concentrated on driving, she even managed to keep herself moving at an almost appropriate rate.
But there was more to it than that, she knew. Because her eyes still lingered a little too long on the rear-view as she drove. Her mind still caught on any two cars that looked a little similar. It was only when she pulled into the hospital parking structure and nobody pulled in after her that she was finally able to calm down a little bit.
She showed her badge to the guard on duty, not that it was any more than a formality. He smiled and waved her in without taking a second glance at it. They knew each other, after all. It was just a matter of routine at this point.
She took the stairs, in spite of herself. The elevator always made her jumpy, but she'd ignored it every day up to this point. She was already jumpy, though, and going on the elevator might push it onto downright panic. She wasn't remotely prepared to accept that right now, and she wasn't in any special hurry.
Dad was out of surgery by the time she arrived. The nurse on duty wasn't someone that Caroline recognized, but she was polite and helpful all the same, and that was all that Caroline could really ask for at that point.
He was sitting up when she went into the new room. There was another bed on the other side, empty. The sheets were pressed in tight and she knew instinctively that there was nobody there at all. Eventually, someone might be moved in, but for now, Dad had the room to himself.
"Hey," he said. His voice sounded weak and far away. She had to remind herself that it was the painkillers that did it to him, more than anything.
"Hey yourself. How are you feeling?"
"They've got me on some real bang-up pain medicine. The best. You've gotta try it."
He winked and she smiled. At least there was something left of her dad in there. That was what she had to cling to because otherwise, she was going to have to worry about him, and she wasn't ready to do that just yet, either.
"I'll pass."
"They said you came to see me earlier while I was in the operating room."
"Yeah," she answered. Her throat choked a little, but she kept herself under control. She didn't have any other choice but to keep herself under
control, after all. If she let herself go for even a moment, then she wasn't sure what was going to happen, except that it wasn't going to be good.
"Sorry I wasn't where you expected me," he said.
She looked at him hard. "Do you know a man named Coogan?"
He looked at her with mild surprise. "Where'd you hear that name?"
"Don't worry about where I heard it, just answer the question. Do you know the name?"
"I might have heard it somewhere, I don't really remember."
Between the painkillers, the medicine, and the surgery, there was a real chance that he didn't remember anything about him, whether Dad knew Coogan or not. But something in the way he was acting made that hard to believe.
"Don't lie to me, Dad. I'll know. Now just tell me the truth. What do you know?"
He shrugged and turned the look out the window. The tops of buildings were just barely visible over the windowsill. She squeezed his hand. "He's just a tough, nothing special."
"Is that what happened to your shop?"
"It's not a big deal."
"It's a big deal to me," she told him. "I don't want to have to worry about them deciding to come around here next."
"That won't happen," Dad told her. His voice didn't sound certain, and she tried to remind herself that it could easily have just been the painkillers again, but she couldn't make herself believe it.
"I know a guy," she told him. "I met him a few days ago."
"Oh? How's that?"
"He's…" the question of how much to lie about the answer suddenly loomed large in her mind. There were plenty of ways that she could have gone with it, but the truth was probably the best of them, and it was currently eluding her quite a bit. "You remember that roommate I told you about?"
"Shannon, yeah. I remember. Why?"
"I met him through my roommate," she said. It wasn't totally inaccurate. The fact that he was her roommate was easier to dismiss.
"Her boyfriend or something?"
"Yeah, something like that. I haven't really gotten into it."
"Okay," he said. "What's your point?"
"Well, I kind of mentioned it one time, and then he came back the next day and said he'd talked to Coogan about it. Said that he should be off your back."