Death Blooms

by Yolanda Olson

  Penn moves his hand slower.

  He knows what he’s doing and it’s fucking driving me crazy which seems to be his endgame.

  “Oh God,” I grunt against the top of his head.

  Penn moves his hand faster again.

  And this time, he gets what he was after. I cum so fucking hard that the room spins for a moment and it takes me a little longer than normal to even my breathing out again.

  “Jesus Christ, you’re so fucking good at that,” I say with a tired laugh.

  “Well, not to brag or anything, but I practiced on myself for years as a kid,” he jokes, glancing up at me and laughing.

  I grin and sigh, turning my eyes toward the ceiling. A thought crosses my mind suddenly and I’m wondering just how far Penn is willing to go with me.

  “Are you busy tomorrow?” I ask him.

  “Not really. Why, what’s up?” he asks, sitting up and reaching for the blanket. He pulls it up over my stomach and across his lap and glances down at me.

  “I have to walk the pet around the building a couple of times to make sure it can be sturdy on it’s new feet, then I have to drop it off later in the evening,” I say slowly.

  “Want some help?”

  I look up at him and nod.

  “Okay, then that’s tomorrow planned,” he replies, running a hand back through his sweat slicked hair. “If you want, we can swing by Doc’s place and check on Aiden too afterwards.”

  “I would love that,” I reply softly.

  He nods and lays back down, turning his body toward me, yawning loudly. “I’ll call him after we take care of the other shit then.”

  I don’t say anything right away. I’m sure he knows that it means a great deal to me see my best friend—to know that she’s okay because of being there with her and not just getting a report on her condition.

  Penn’s breathing starts to become even and when I can tell he’s not awake anymore, I finally say what I know I should have when he could still hear me.

  “Thank you.”

  Part Three

  All Good Things

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  When I wake up the next morning, it’s not to an empty bed. It’s in the arms of the man that I think I’m falling in love with. Having never known what that feels like, I’m not entirely sure if that’s what’s happening or if my crush is just growing into some out of control feeling that I’ve never experienced before.

  I can’t love him and Aiden at the same time, can I? Does a man like me really have enough room in my heart to love two people in completely different ways?

  My heavy sigh stirs Penn next to me, but if it woke him up, he’s not letting on. I turn my face toward him, burying my nose in his hair and inhale deeply. I know I have to go upstairs and start getting the pet ready to go to her new owner, but I want to take the smell of Penn’s body with me.

  Aiden would laugh if she could see me right now. Not in a cruel way, more of an “I told you so” kind of way. She tried for years to keep me upbeat after I decided to kick the male escort thing by doing even the smallest things.

  Taking me out for ice cream, walking down the beach to take in a sunset, randomly showing up with little presents to make me smile—hell, she even tried to set me up on a few blind dates, but I never went. Then one night, she talked me into taking a break from being a hermit and took me to a movie.

  That’s where I saw Penn for the first time.

  That’s when I felt my heart race and the blood rush into my ears for the very first time in my life, that’s when I knew what it felt like to truly want something. Aiden saw it on my face as soon as Penn walked away from her when they were done chatting at the box office and she understood at that moment she had finally produced the one thing that she knew could keep me from falling into a hellish despair of my own making.

  Ever since that night, she tried her damnedest to get us both in the same places again, but when I caught on to her, I stopped her in her tracks. I told her that I didn’t need or want anything that I didn’t already have, but Aiden knew I was full of shit.

  I had managed to do okay for myself until she dragged me out to The Lounge. It was easy enough to do since she didn’t tell me that she knew Penn would be there, and to be quite honest, I had almost forgotten about him until that point.

  Penn Harris with the magical big blue eyes and soft, full lips.

  I chuckle as I pull away from him and gently ease myself off the bed. I don’t want him to wake up until he’s ready—it will give me some time alone with the pet and a chance to figure out if I should take it outside or just up and down the hallway to learn to walk again.

  After a fair bit of looking around, I manage to locate my boxers on the floor and slip them on, casting a glance over my shoulder on my way out of the room. Yeah, he’s definitely asleep still, I think with a small smile.

  I stop in the kitchen and grab an apple, then make my way to the elevator. I’m eager to see how it’s healing today and maybe see if it’ll let me feed it. Sometimes, they can get temperamental after completion and don’t like me touching them again, but this one seems to be different from what I can tell. Of course, I could be wrong about that, but there’s only way to find out for sure.

  I lean against the wall of the elevator as it ascends to the top floor of the building and rub the fruit against my chest before I bite into it. It would be nice if I could share some of this with it, but I don’t want to undo the stitching since that’s healed up so nicely. Also, it doesn’t seem to mind the way I do feed its body. This piece has been the easiest of all the ones I’ve worked on so far which only makes me feel worse about not sedating it before we attached the hooves last night.

  I walk out of the elevator and push the door open to the workshop. There’s no reason to keep it locked now since the only two people I give an actual shit about have been in here.

  “Good morning!” I call out to it cheerfully as I approach the table.

  I turn the hanging lamp on over the table as I tend to do when my pieces are finished to give them a once over before I begin prepping them for the move to their new home.

  It doesn’t greet me with warm eyes like it usually does, instead it follows my movements with a solemn, and somewhat pained stare. I pull the sheet completely off of the piece, letting it fall to the floor and run my hands down its thigh and stop just below its knee where the fur I hand sewn into it begins.

  I’m very proud of the job I’ve done on it. The order placed was particularly specific at to the type of fur it wanted for this piece, and I was able to get an amazing deal on some faux fur at the local craft store. I’d never hurt an animal to recreate something like this—or at all for that matter. They don’t deserve to be mistreated any more than small children do, so I tend to always work around requests like this and still produce what’s requested to the highest quality that I’m capable of. The end product is always so well done that the owners don’t think anything of it.

  The finished product looks exquisite and the owner will know that this is money well spent. What they choose to do with the pet once they have it in their possession really isn’t my concern, but I always do wonder about them sometimes.

  It can be chalked up to absence making the heart grow fonder and being proud of one’s work.

  I walk around to the other side of the table, biting into the apple again, with my back to the door and raise an eyebrow.

  “Fuck.”

  I let out a sigh when I notice that a patch of fur seems to be coming displaced.

  “I’m not going to sew it again, so don’t worry,” I tell it as I flip the small square of material. “I’ll just glue it—it’ll do the same job.”

  Just as I’m ready to walk away from the table, I feel a pair of arms slide around my waist from behind and a chin rest on the back of my shoulder.

  “You know what sucks? Waking up to an empty bed when it wasn’t that way when you went to sleep.”

  I close my eyes and lean
my head back slightly. Penn’s voice is so soft and destitute, and I know how he feels. I’ve felt that way so many times in my fucking life but never with someone I care about so goddamn much.

  “Are you … are you not wearing clothes?” I ask suddenly.

  “Nope,” he replies with a laugh, his hands snaking their way into the waistband of my boxers.

  I shake my head and pull away, then turn to face him. “Not in front of it,” I say softly. “Besides, I was pretty sure I wore you out last night.”

  Penn tilts his head to the side and grins, “Did you miss the part where I told you that I can be insatiable?”

  I laugh and give him a gentle, but firm shove. “Go put some damn pants on.”

  Penn gives me a dirty look before he turns and leaves the room. Once he’s out of earshot, I put a hand gently on its forehead.

  “I’m sorry about that. I hope you know that I would have never allowed that in front of you. He’s the guy I’ve been telling you about,” I explain with a smile.

  It closes its eyes and jerks its head away from my hand and I sigh. I don’t want it to leave my home hating me, but I don’t think there’s anything to be done about that now. It was the pain it felt—the affliction of knowing that I was trying too damn hard to impress Penn in front of it and hoping that it would be able to bear the brunt of what we had done together, and it hates me now because of it.

  I head over to the table and get the crafting glue so I can fix the patch that’s falling off. Maybe since this won’t cause it any pain, I might win some favor in its eyes again even though I know I’m going to lose it once I get it on its new feet.

  Once I have that set, I place a hand firmly down on its leg and count to ten. I let out my breath in a rush as I pull my hand away and give the fur a tug. Well at least that worked the way I wanted it to.

  I bite into my apple again and smile when Penn walks back into the workshop. He’s wearing my sweatpants which are baggy on his thin frame and I actually kind of like that look on him.

  Penn walks right up to me and takes my face in his hands, but I pull back and chuckle.

  “I haven’t even brushed my teeth yet,” I say softly.

  “Considering I had your dick in my mouth, I’m pretty sure that a little morning breath isn’t going to bother me,” he replies with a smirk.

  “Hm.”

  I take another bite of my apple, chewing slowly as I stare into his eyes and take him in carefully. Penn really is beautiful in his own, weird way and something tells me he knows it, but I wonder if he thinks that all I need is sex to keep me interested in him.

  He moves his face forward again and I raise the apple to stop him. “Not until I’ve brushed my teeth.”

  “Whatever,” he mumbles walking away from me. He stops at the table and looks down at the pet’s ankles and leans down closer to inspect them. “Looks good. No infection.”

  I take one last bite of the fruit before I toss the core into the garbage can and nod. “And today, we learn how to walk again.”

  Penn moves away from the table when I reach it. I begin to quickly undo the restraints and pull it up to a seated position. He reaches for it and holds it firmly around the waist while I undo the leg restraints and I smile at him.

  “Thanks.”

  “You’re welcome,” he replies kindly.

  I reach under its arms and place one around my shoulders, hoisting it up from the table and Penn helps me steady it on its new feet before he goes on the other side of it and puts its other arm around his shoulders and we begin to help it take slow steps toward the door.

  Together.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Three hours.

  That’s how long it took us to get the pet moving on its own, but patience goes a long way when you have someone by your side. Penn did a wonderful job of keeping my nerves calm each time she fell, and he would help her up each time until she was finally able to make her way to me unaided.

  Its laying on the couch now recovering with Penn watching over it, allowing me to get dressed and call its new owner. I set the meet for the usual place and head back to the living room, running my hands back through my hair.

  “Okay, I’ll be back in a couple of hours. See if you can get a hold of that doctor while I’m gone?”

  As I move toward the pet, Penn sidesteps in front of me and gives me a curious look.

  “Don’t you want me to go with you?” he asks.

  I smile at him and place a hand gently on the side of his face, shaking my head. “You’ve already done enough. I don’t want to put you in danger by having any of them know what you look like.”

  Penn lets out an incredulous sigh and gives me a critical stare. “Do I look like a pussy? You really think I give two shits of anyone seeing me with you and … what the fuck is that exactly, anyway?”

  “Satyress.”

  “What?”

  “It’s the same thing as a satyr, only it’s the chick version,” I reply with a shrug. “I do what I’m paid to do.”

  “So … shouldn’t it have horns?” he asks, glancing curiously at it.

  “Move the hair back,” I tell him with a smirk. Penn raises an eyebrow and walks over to the couch. I sit on the recliner and pull my smokes out of my side pocket, tapping one on the pack, before I light it.

  “Holy shit,” he says with a laugh. “How the fuck did you do that?”

  “I had to scalp the fucking thing, but yeah. Those come out to play whenever the owner wants them to. It was just something I wanted to try,” I reply with a shrug.

  I lean back in the recliner and take a drag of my smoke as Penn walks back over to me and straddles me, a grin on his face.

  “Did anyone ever tell you that you’re good with your hands?” he asks.

  I roll my eyes and laugh. “Yeah, you just did. But really, I have to get going so that I’m not late dropping it off and I want to see Aiden when I get back.”

  Penn sighs heavily and pins my shoulders back. “You’re not going without me. I’ll hide in the backseat or some shit if you need me to, but you need me to get into the doctor’s front door and I’m sure you don’t want to waste more time having to come back to get me when we can just go straight there.”

  He’s got a point there.

  “Alright, go put your clothes on. I’m gonna load it into the car and I’ll wait for you,” I finally relent as I gently push him off and get to my feet. I walk over to the couch and pick it up, cradling it against me like I had done with Aiden not too long ago, and walk out the front door as Penn disappears down the hallway toward the bedroom.

  It doesn’t take me long to get it secured in the backseat. I lay it across so that it can be comfortable and as soon as I climb out, Penn walks out of the building and disconnects his call.

  “Aiden’s looking forward to seeing you, so she knows we’re coming,” he says, walking around to the passenger side of the car and climbing in. “Let’s get this over with so we can head over there.”

  Just as I suspected, the owner was elated with the final result. So much so that he ended up handing me a thick envelope he insisted I take as a bonus when I tried to decline it.

  Penn did a good job of staying in the car while I delivered the Satyress, even though it took some sweet talking and promises of another night in bed together if he just stayed fucking put.

  Once I got back to the car, he offered to drive, and I let him. I figured it would be a lot easier than asking for directions, and an hour later, here we are.

  Standing outside the doctor’s house and I’m giddy with excitement knowing that my best friend is inside waiting for me.

  When Penn pulls in front of the house, he has to stop me from jumping out before he finishes parking the car, but he’s being kind about it. He doesn’t seem jealous at all that I’m more excited to see Aiden than I ever have to see him.

  “Ready?” he asks when he turns off the car.

  I nod in excitement, and he laughs as we both get out of
the car and head up the walkway together. Penn knocks on the door, giving me a nudge and a grin and I can tell by the amused look in his eyes that I must look like a little boy on Christmas.

  He knocks again, a little louder this time, and the door finally begins to open slowly.

  “Hello?” he asks curiously when no one appears in sight.

  That’s when the door swings open the rest of the way and I let out a sound that I never knew I was capable of.

  Aiden grins up at me, her face still a sick shade of yellow and purple, but I’m so fucking happy to see she seems okay that I let out something strangled that sounds like a laugh and a sob.

  I reach for her and wrap her up tightly in my arms, burying my face in her shoulder and she starts to laugh.

  “This one is such a crybaby,” she jokes to Penn as she returns my hug. “Not to tight there. My ribs are still a little sore.”

  “I’m sorry,” I say, pulling back and wiping the tears from my eyes. “Oh God, Aiden.”

  I begin to sob, and Penn reaches over to rub my back awkwardly as Aiden steps out onto the front stoop with us. She reaches over and greets Penn with a hug before sitting down on the gravel step, pulling me down next to her.

  “It’ll take a hell of a lot more than what he did to put me out of my misery,” she says proudly, putting an arm around me.

  “Gray beat the shit out of him. I don’t know if you saw that,” Penn says with a nervous laugh.

  It’s not because Aiden is finally back in the picture—that’s not what’s bothering him. The reason for his awkward demeanor right now, is because he hasn’t seen me like this yet and it’s probably putting him off.

  I don’t give a shit.

  Aiden is alive and as well as she can be right now and that’s all that fucking matters anymore.

  I laugh and use the back of my hand to dry my face. I look up at Penn who’s standing in front of us, one of his feet up on the step, trying to find a way to fit in.