“I know, I know, but something is wrong. I can feel it in my gut. There’s no reason he’d still be at the auto shop, and no reason why he wouldn’t have figured out a way to contact one of us if his cell phone was dead. We need to figure out what’s wrong and go help him.”
Morris sighed. “You’re going to be a wreck the rest of the afternoon, aren’t you?”
“What if something happened to him?”
“Taletha, I’m sure he’s fine. People get distracted. They forget to call. Their cell phone batteries go dead. Have you gotten this worried about me every time I was a little late to practice?”
“Maybe.”
Morris raised his eyebrows. “Maybe?”
Taletha sighed. “I’m usually more level-headed than this.”
“Don’t worry about it,” Morris said. “Let’s just get back to practicing this time.”
Just as Morris was about to turn on the music, a commotion of voices burst out in the staff lounge. Glancing at each other in confusion, Taletha and Morris went running toward the noise.
“What’s wrong?” they asked in unison as they came through the door.
Nobody answered. Everyone was clustered around the tiny television set in the corner. They had the news on, and the screen was showing images of a shattered taxicab that had driven through the interstate guardrails and crashed to the traffic below.
“At present, the police have not released the identities of the victims, and they have also not given a statement as to their conditions,” the news anchor said, concluding her report.
Taletha shuddered. “How terrible. I hope everyone is okay.”
“So do I,” Morris said. “Can you imagine? You think you’re going somewhere, you think you’re going to have a nice, relaxing cab ride, and then all of a sudden, you’re flying off the freeway.”
“Hey, Adam hasn’t called anyone’s cell phone, has he?” Lynne asked as she walked into the room. Her hands were shaking.
Taletha frowned. “No, why?”
“The shop just called. Adam was supposed to pick up his car three hours ago, and, as you can probably guess, he never showed up. They’ve been trying to reach his cell all afternoon, but he hasn’t picked up. The last time they tried, it went straight to voice mail.”
Taletha felt the blood drain from her face. “Do you think…” She trailed off for a moment, unwilling to complete the thought. “Do you think there might be a connection to him not showing up in the shop and this accident here?”
Lynne opened her mouth to reply, but before she had a chance to answer, the studio phone rang, and she rushed off to answer it.
Taletha turned to Adam, trying to keep her composure. “What do you think?”
“I think that worrying isn’t going to do any good.”
Just then, Lynne ran back in. “St. Vincent’s Hospital is on the phone.”
Taletha saw Morris’s face go white. She took a deep breath.
“What did they have to say?”
“That Adam has been admitted. And that the cab he was riding in crashed.”
Taletha ran into her office, grabbed her car keys, and tossed them to Morris. “You drive. I don’t trust myself to stay in control right now.”
They were silent on the way to the hospital. Taletha was too nervous to be angry at Morris for not listening, and her mind was consumed with all of the possible things that might have happened. Morris sped the entire way there, and they arrived in record time, but Taletha was practically in tears when they parked ten minutes later. She barreled out of the door the second Morris turned off the ignition, and she raced toward the doors so quickly that Morris had to chase her.
“Slow down, love,” he said, grabbing her by the wrist. “Running won’t save him.”
“Walking won’t get us to him any faster. Come on.” She sped up again, pulling him through the ER doors.
“Hi,” she said to the receptionist, trying to catch her breath. “My name is Taletha Hendricks. I received a call a few minutes ago informing me that Adam Prachett has been admitted.”
“Yes, the doctors are with him right now.”
“How long until I can see him?”
“Are you family?”
“I’m his girlfriend.”
“Sorry, immediate family only.”
“His immediate family is out in California. I don’t think they’ll be able to make the 1,500 mile trip this afternoon.”
“And you’re definitely his girlfriend?”
“Yes. My name is Taletha.”
The nurse turned to Morris. “And what about you?”
“Coworker.”
“Both of you, have a seat. I’ll see what I can do once the doctors are finished taking care of him.”
“Can you tell us how bad it is?”
“I’m afraid I can’t, I’m sorry. You’ll just have to wait until the doctors are done.”
Taletha and Morris settled themselves onto an uncomfortable couch and descended into silence. Morris snaked his fingers through hers, and she squeezed his hand, willing Adam to live. She didn’t want to admit how scared she was, and she didn’t want to hear how scared Morris was, so she simply started at the television mounted to the wall, which was still covering the accident, but not saying anything new.
After nearly an hour, the nurse approached them. “You can go see him now. He’s in room seventeen.” They both stood up, but the nurse stopped Morris. “Girlfriend only, I’m sorry.”
“I understand.” He sat back down and picked up an outdated magazine.
“He’s not quite awake yet,” the nurse said as she escorted Taletha through the triage area. “But he should come to in short order. Of course, the impact was pretty severe. You might want to prepare yourself. He’s in pretty bad shape.”
“How bad?”
“He broke his nose, his tailbone, his left wrist, and several ribs. He also had to have stitches for a number of wounds.”
“But he’ll be able to dance again?”
“Yes. He’s going to hurt for a while, but he’ll heal.”
“And the driver?”
“Due to confidentiality laws, I can’t give you the specifics of Mr. Fairbanks’s condition, but his injuries are comparable.”
Taletha stopped in her tracks. “Fairbanks? As in Matt Fairbanks?”
“You know him?”
“I fired him. I thought he moved to Europe.”
The nurse shrugged. “I guess not. Well, here we are.” She gestured inside the room, where Adam was hooked up to a number of needles and tubes. “Don’t worry, those are all IV painkillers and fluids.”
“Thank you,” she said.
“The police will probably be coming by soon. Once Mr. Prachett wakes up, they’ll have some questions for him.”
“Good. I’ll have plenty to tell them as well.”
* * * *
As Adam returned to consciousness, the first thing he noticed was Taletha’s hand on his. Every muscle in his body ached, but he managed to roll over enough to see her teary smile.
“I’m so glad you’re alive,” she whispered as the tears started falling.
He saw the cast covering his arm, but rather than ask about the obvious injury, his mind turned to a terrifying hypothetical. “I’m not paralyzed, am I?” Not waiting for her to answer the question, he tried to move them, and was relieved to find that his ankles rolled and his knees bent. But he wasn’t anticipating the pain that shot through his lower back as he fidgeted.
“Fuck!” he cried, trying to hold back his own tears.
“Be gentle with yourself. Your body is going to need a lot of time to rest and recover.”
“You mean the wrist that Matt Fairbanks broke.”
“And he’s going to pay.”
“He’s also going to pay for my apartment and your studio.”
Taletha looked shocked. “That wasn’t Emily?”
“She was his coconspirator, but he was definitely the mastermind.”
“
What a mess. I’m so sorry.”
“Don’t apologize. None of this was your fault. And let’s look on the bright side. I’m not in good shape, but I’m going to dance again.”
“That you are. I’m so grateful for that.”
“Yeah, you didn’t want to have to hire two new teachers.”
A small giggle escaped from Taletha’s lips. “It’s nice to see that your sense of humor is still intact.”
The nurse stepped back in. “Mr. Prachett, I’m glad to see that you’re awake. Do you need anything?”
“I’m fine for now, thanks.”
“In that case, the police would like to ask you some questions about the cab theft and the crash. Do you think you’d be up for that right now?”
“Of course. I don’t quite remember what happened after we went over the guardrail, but I can speak to everything that happened beforehand.”
The nurse turned to Taletha. “You can stay a little while longer. But after that I’m going to have to ask you to go home and let Mr. Prachett rest. If everything goes well tonight, you can come pick him up tomorrow.”
“Understood. I appreciate you letting me see him at all.”
As the police entered the room, Taletha noticed Matt being wheeled past.
“Excuse me,” she said, and dashed out.
Taletha lingered in the hallway as the orderlies set Matt up in his bed. She slipped in as soon as they had walked back down the hall. Pausing in the doorway, she took inventory. Both of his legs were in casts, as was his right arm, and there was a line of stitches across his forehead.
Matt was awake, and he froze when he noticed her staring at him. “What are you doing here?”
“I’m here for Adam, mostly, but I thought I’d pay you a little visit as well. I just wanted to congratulate you on being so crafty for so long. You really had me fooled. But justice has prevailed. You’ll be lucky if you dance again, and I’m not talking about those two broken legs.”
Without giving Matt a chance to respond, she turned and left, hurrying back to Adam.
Chapter Ten
Three months later, Taletha and Morris accompanied Adam to the hospital for his cast removal. He was surprised when they both said they were coming. Between Emily being fired and Adam needing time off to recover, the two of them had picked up the bulk of the teaching responsibilities. Even hiring a new instructor had only decreased their workload a little bit. They always found more to do, especially as they struggled to pay for the repairs the insurance wouldn’t cover. Adam had tried to come back as soon as he could walk, but the exertion required proved too intense. He had to learn to relax, slow down, and build his body back up carefully.
“I really appreciate the gesture, but the two of you didn’t both need to show up. Who’s minding the studio?”
“You’re starting to sound like me,” Taletha said with a laugh. “Trust me, Lynne can handle it. Besides, we all have the afternoon off. I’ve had that on the calendar ever since you told us when your last appointment would be.”
“You actually scheduled some time off? I’m shocked.”
“This is a special day. It’s a milestone in your recovery. I wanted to make sure we celebrated in style.”
“Oh? What do you have planned?”
“You’ll see.” Taletha’s eyes betrayed a mischief that Adam wasn’t used to seeing.
“Do you have any clue what she’s talking about?” he asked Morris.
“I wish I did. You’d think that after five years, I’d have figured her out by now, but I don’t feel any closer to understanding her than I did the day we met.”
“Nice to know I don’t have to rush to catch up to you.”
Taletha considered this a momentous occasion in his recovery, but Adam was frustrated at how much time he’d had to take off and how long he’d had to spend building strength back up in his arm and back. It didn’t help that in some ways, he’d never be the same as he was before. The scars on his arms, chest, and chin would serve as permanent reminders of what he’d survived. But he tried to think of them as badges of honor to wear with pride. It helped that Taletha considered the scars sexy. As soon as the stitches had come out and the pain had faded, she’d taken to running her fingers along them. The way she appreciated the slivers that textured his skin made their presence less painful for him.
Taletha was practically bouncing with excitement over whatever it was that she had planned. “So, do we want to go get a late lunch, or do you two want to see your surprise?”
“I thought this was my surprise,” Adam said, laughing and slowly rotating his wrist, adjusting to having range of motion again.
“I decided today would be the best day to present it, to commemorate your cast removal, but it’s definitely for both of you guys. I hope you’re not too disappointed that you have to share, but I really think you’ll enjoy it.”
“I don’t think sharing will be an issue,” Morris said with a grin. “I mean, it’s not like we’re not used to sharing other wonderful things.”
* * * *
Taletha started to get nervous as she turned down the block. Buying a house for the three of them was a huge gamble. She’d been looking into buying her own place, anyway, and her apartment was way too small for the three of them. Nor did she want to cram her life into one of their tiny spaces. They’d already started making preparations to formally move in together, but the assumption had been that they would rent a bigger place. Buying a house was a real commitment. They couldn’t just buy out their lease if things went south. Buying a house required faith. And as much faith as Taletha had had when she was signing the mortgage papers, she was suddenly a little nervous about the strength of her belief. Still, she was ready to commit to her men, and she wanted to have a place that was all theirs.
She pulled into the driveway of their new ranch-style home. Her hands shook slightly as she turned off the ignition. “Here we are.”
“This is the surprise?” Adam sounded confused.
“Yep.”
“What is it?” Morris asked.
“It’s a house, silly.”
“Well, yeah, it’s a house, but…how is this house a surprise?”
Adam turned to Taletha. “You bought this house, didn’t you? You bought this house for the three of us to share.”
“Yeah, I did. Do you like it?”
“You should probably take us on a tour first, before we decide one way or the other.”
Taletha grabbed the keys and opened the door, her hands steadier now that they hadn’t completely freaked out. “Here’s the main entryway. It’s a little boring, but we can always fix that up later.”
“I like the tile floor. It will be nice and cool in the summer,” Morris said.
“Now we’re going through the living room. It’s a little bare right now, but I think that Morris’s couch will go very well with the wallpaper that already exists.” She led them through the hallway, made a left, and opened a door. “Here’s the room that will be our private studio space. The Marley floors will be delivered next Sunday, and I’ll order mirrors once everything is installed.”
“How did you manage to pay for this?” Morris asked. “I mean, just a few weeks ago, you were freaking out about how we were going to repair the studio after all the damage that Matt did.”
“This is all paid for out of my own savings. I didn’t spend years being frugal without intending to enjoy it later on. I’m still worried about the studio, but I think our newest teacher will be quite a draw, and I have an idea for a fundraiser that should bring in the cash we need to complete the repairs. And of course, I can’t assume that the lawsuits against Emily and Matt will turn out in a certain way, but my attorney thinks that it’s likely that I’ll be able to put a good chunk of that toward the mortgage.”
“We’ll help, of course,” Adam said. “This is our place, too.”
“Yeah, I was going to get annoyed if we didn’t split the payments.” Taletha smiled. “Now, do you want to go on t
o the kitchen, or do you want to see the master bedroom?”
“Bedroom,” both men said in unison.
Taletha took their hands and escorted them around the corner. Pushing open the door, she revealed a room that was almost completely bare, except for the four-poster king bed pushed against one wall.
“I didn’t have time to decorate much,” she said. “But I made sure we had the necessities.”
Adam raced over and bounced on the mattress. “So far, so good. But I think we need to take it on a test ride before we can be certain it’s perfect.” He started stripping off his clothes. Morris joined him on the bed, shedding his own outfit as he crossed the room.
“The two of you are in quite the hurry, I see. Should I be concerned about how fast you’re going to go once I actually get in the bed with you? Do I need to be worried about stamina here?”
“Never,” Morris said. “But if you keep us waiting, we might just get impatient and jerk off without you.”
“Not that watching the two of you stroking yourselves would be much of a punishment. I think you know I like to watch my men masturbate.”
“Yeah, but I know you like being filled even more. And I was thinking that today, you could be filled three ways at once.”
Taletha laughed. “I doubt it. I only see two cocks in this room. Unless you’ve decided to invite a fourth person over?”
“Not quite.” Morris got up and grabbed his jeans, pulling a black stone butt plug out of one pocket, and a bottle of lube out of the other. “You’re not the only one who likes planning surprises,” he said when Taletha raised an eyebrow.
Her curiosity overwhelmed her, and rather than take her time with a striptease like she’d originally planned, Taletha pulled off her clothes as quickly as her men had moments before. As she launched herself between them on the bed, her breasts bounced, and before she had time to even settle in one spot, both of their mouths were on her nipples, licking and biting the points until they were completely hard. Morris slid two fingers into her cunt, going straight for the G-spot that had started throbbing the second she’d unlocked the door to the house. Adam placed a finger on her clit, which was just as needy, and they started stroking her in tandem, making big, slow circles that sent shallow ripples of pleasure up and down her body. After a few minutes, however, Adam increased his pace and continued speeding up even though Morris didn’t follow along. Taletha found that the difference between the two speeds was even more exhilarating than when their hands moved in perfect synchronicity. The orgasm exploded from beneath his finger, sending shocks of heat through every muscle and sinew. She shut her eyes and tossed her head around as each new pulse of energy overwhelmed her body.
Jordan, Olivia - Taletha's Salsa Sweethearts [Studio Seductions 1] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) Page 11