Send Read online

‘Sixth.’

  I head up to where I hope I’ll find Sonya. Surely she ’ll be able to get some information about Jimmy. But the only face I recognise in the hall is Noemi’s.

  I jog over to her as she swipes her ID card to open the supply room door. The fact that she is the one who was fucking Jared behind my back seems utterly unimportant right now. ‘Did you know Jimmy was admitted with a gunshot wound?’ I ask her, rushed and a little out of breath.

  ‘Tina, I’m glad you’re here. He had a bad reaction to the anaesthesia. The bullet was removed, but he went into respiratory arrest not long after they gave him the local. He’s stabilised, but still unconscious.’ She presses her lips together. ‘He’s down the hall. I was just getting another pack of IV needles for the nurse.’

  ‘What room?’

  I’ve already started moving as she answers, ‘642.’

  Inside, I find Jimmy with a bandage on his leg and Sonya attending to the positioning of his breathing tube.

  ‘Ohmy God,’ I gasp, seeing him there.

  Sonya looks at me apologetically. ‘His windpipe closed from the anaesthesia. It hardly ever happens, Tina.’

  ‘Is he going to be all right?’ I grab his hand, willing it to be so.

  ‘We’re working on it. He’s been given epinephrine and oxygen is being pumped directly into his lungs now.’ As I stroke his head she continues, ‘We gave him a sedative to minimise the stress on his heart. If all goes well, the swelling will go down and the tube can be removed.’

  Noemi shows up and turns to me after handing Sonya the IV needles. ‘It’s hard to see him like this, isn’t it, Tina?’

  ‘You two know each other?’ Sonya asks me, surprised by the revelation.

  ‘It’s a long story,’ I sigh and with Noemi looking mortified that I’m even closer with her boss, I sum it up with no more than what’s necessary. ‘She’s a friend of Jimmy’s’

  ‘Popular guy,’ Sonya smirks, and she already knows I won’t elaborate any further.

  My attention has drifted back to Jimmy, eyes focused on his peaceful face with the faint whoosh of the ventilator in the background.

  ‘Noemi, let’s give her some time alone with him,’ Sonya says when she’s finished with the IV. ‘Tina, I’ll be at the nurse’s station if you need me.’

  When the door shuts, my phone pulses to tell me a text has come through.

  What’s up for dinner? Are we on?

  It’s Jared asking whether I’ve decided to get together with him tonight. A couple of hours ago, I was actually considering giving him another chance. But now I’m positive that the devil I know isn’t what I want in a relationship. Jared’s been all over me, professing his love and regrets, wearing me down to try again at being the picture-perfect couple. Though I haven’t heard Jimmy actually say the words, the way he ignites my heart can’t be a lie. Anyone can say I love you, but unless you feel it, it doesn’t mean a thing.

  I text him back, No, forget it. Don’t contact me any more. I’ll change my number if I have to.

  The time seems to crawl as I wait silently on Jimmy’s recovery. Sonya stops in, periodically checking his blood oxygen levels and reassuring me with a rub on my back. Two hours later, I notice his eyes blinking open. When he sees me he tries to say something, but the tube prevents him from forming any words.

  ‘Shhh. You don’t need to say anything. I’m here and I’m not going anywhere,’ I whisper to him and place a soft kiss on his cheek. A press on the nurse’s call button alerts Sonya to come in.

  ‘Jimmy, we are going to test your blood for histamine levels and if it looks good, we’ll remove this uncomfortable tube, OK?’ She smiles at him and he nods. I breathe a deep sigh, feeling a sense of relief pour over me. Really, I can’t wait for that tube to be out so I can kiss those pouty lips of his.

  It seems like for ever before she’s back with the results. But when I’m finally able to see him breathing normally on his own, he stops me before I can get close enough to get a taste of him.

  ‘I’m not going to waste another minute before I say this.’ His voice is raspy and low. ‘I love you, Tina.’

  ‘I love youtoo,’ I breathe back, taking a moment to let the words settle in.

  ‘I thought I’d lost you,’ he says and I just chuckle at the irony of his statement.

  ‘What happened to you, Jimmy? Who did this?’

  ‘Would you believe I was trying to be a hero?’

  ‘Yes.’

  He laughs now. ‘Well, I think from now on I’ll leave the heavy lifting to the police.’

  Jimmy tells me the entire sordid story. Even the part about the meeting he missed.

  ‘Do you think you still need that meeting now?’

  ‘If there’s one thing I know, it’s that the minute I think I don’t need a meeting, I’d better get to one.’

  ‘Until then, I’ll try to be all the cure you need.’

  ‘I think you’ve got that covered.’

  When a police officer taps lightly on the open door, I sink my lips onto his to claim a smidgen of the bliss I’ve deprived myself over the last week. ‘If anyone is addicted to anything, Jimmy, it’s me.’ He smiles and the officer clears his throat. ‘I’ll be outside,’ I say and steal one more quick kiss before I go.

  After his statement has been taken and the attending physician assures us that Jimmy will be released in the morning, I drive home thankful that he’s still in one piece. He’ll need crutches for a few days, but it was only a flesh wound, with the doctor predicting a full recovery. I’m looking forward to the home remedies I have planned and I’ve already left Marilyn a voicemail that I’m taking a personal day tomorrow.

  At home, I pack a few things, anticipating that I’ll be at Jimmy’s for the foreseeable future. Just a couple of work outfits and a pair of jeans should get me by, not to mention a hefty selection of lingerie. Bright and early, I’m ready to pick him up.

  When he spots the overnight bags strewn across the backseat of my car, he cuts me a sideways grin. ‘Planning on a quick getaway?’

  ‘The exact opposite, actually,’ I reply, stowing his crutches on top of them. Then with a hand on my hip, I continue, ‘Do you have a problem with that?’

  ‘I have the exact opposite of a problem with that,’ he says with laugh. ‘I can’t wait to show you just how much I don’t have a problem with that.’

  ‘Take it easy, big boy; you’re not 100 per cent yet.’

  ‘I think I can handle what I have in mind.’

  His assertions have my foot pounding the gas pedal all the way to his place. I’m actually dizzy with my desire for him. I can feel it welling inside me like a balloon about to burst. In the hall, outside his door, I slip my hands around his waist while he fiddles with the lock. The warm hug produces a simple response from him: ‘I know.’

  He hobbles into the kitchen where he’s able to take a seat at the table, cringing a little from the pain in his leg.

  ‘I bet that hurts pretty badly,’ I say and he shakes his head in macho denial. ‘Are you hungry for breakfast?’

  He licks his lips as they form that trademark smirk. ‘I think you know the answer to that question.’ He reaches for my hand to pull me toward him. ‘Have a seat.’

  I go for the chair next to him.

  ‘No, not there.’ He taps on the table in front of him. ‘Here.’

  I slide onto the spot as suggested, and Jimmy makes quick work of helping me out of my shorts. Today, I’ve declined underwear – a little extra surprise for him. He appreciates it with a silent grin, already focusing on the task at hand.

  He places two fingers in his mouth and slips them into me, then tastes his fingers again. My legs fall freely open as I take one sandaled foot and rest it onto his shoulder. He’s in no rush, taking his time to busy his other fingers with gentle tugs on my clit. Then once again, he plunges the two digits into my wetness and takes another taste.

  ‘Mmmm,’ he says, almost absently. Then looking into my eyes, he has
a question for me. ‘Tina, what would you like for me to do to you today?’

  ‘I’m supposed to be taking care of you,’ I reply on propped elbows, looking at him through parted legs.

  ‘There’s plenty of time for that. Right now, it’s all about you.’

  ‘Well then, let’s see.’ I tilt my head back, thinking. ‘Can you walk and chew gum at the same time?’

  ‘What?’

  ‘Pull out your cock. I’m sure it’s already quite hard.’

  ‘It is.’

  ‘Rub your palm over the tip and then wrap your fist around it.’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘Take your other hand and spread my lips apart with your fingers ... ah, yes, like that. Now, press your tongue inside me ... deep, yes ... that’s it.’

  He strokes his cock and fucks me with his tongue with the same wanton rhythm. And my hips rock against his mouth, soliciting as deep a penetration as I can get. He flicks it out of me with twisted licks at my entry, just to hear me coo as a result.

  ‘Keep jerking your cock, I want to see you.’ I sit up and support myself with my arms behind me on the table, watching his beautiful cock slide in and out of sight in his fist.

  ‘Don’t stop,’ I instruct, ‘I want to see you come.’

  ‘You first,’ he insists and thrusts two fingers back into my pussy, massaging them in and out of me furiously. The addition of his tongue on my clit is genius and it doesn’t take very long to bring me to climax. He knows me so well.

  I spill into his mouth with enough time to position myself over his cock and feel his own hot liquid stream over my soft folds. I’m careful not to apply any pressure on his leg, holding onto the table for balance and letting him rub his swollen head all over the silky landscape of my vagina.

  For good measure, he presses one last finger inside me, sending a renewed shiver-filled jolt through me and a pleased sigh off of his lips. ‘Tina, your shorts are ringing,’ he says, withdrawing for the last time before handing me my cellphone.

  ‘It’s Marilyn, let it go to voicemail,’ I tell him, tossing it on the table.

  ‘Yeah, about Marilyn ... she suspended me pending HR reviewing her sexual harassment allegations.’

  I’m shocked as I busy myself with cleaning up. ‘Against you?’

  ‘It’s a load of crap, Tina. She used to suck my cock on the regular like five years ago – eagerly, I might add, before her promotion.’

  ‘You think she still has a thing for you?’

  ‘I never gave a shit one way or the other. Tina, that was when I was at the bottom.’ His voice takes a measured tone. ‘One day, if you want to hear all the gory details of what I was like back then, I’ll tell you.’

  ‘I only want to know what you want to tell me, Jimmy. That was then, this is now.’ He smiles back at me in appreciation. ‘So, what are you going to do about the allegations? Can I help?’

  ‘She has a witness and I’m sure rumours are all over the office. Things got a little out of hand when she threatened me over our relationship. What the woman saw could definitely be misconstrued.’

  ‘Oh no.’

  ‘Don’t worry. Marilyn’s not the only one with a trump card. I’ve got a stack of emails from her that tells an entirely different story.’

  Curious about her message, I pick up the phone again. ‘Tina, I need to review your final copy edits, today. Please forward them to me as soon as you get this.’

  Dialling her back, I give Jimmy an evil grin and I think he already knows what I’m planning. ‘Marilyn, I can bring those rewrites in to your office this morning. How does that sound?’

  When the meeting is arranged, Jimmy reaches for his crutches. ‘I’ll download those emails, and we’ll head over there together.’

  ‘Together,’ I agree, emphatically.

  Marilyn is looking stressed, as usual, when I walk into her office. For old time’s sake, I’m carrying a large mocha latte for her along with my file folder brimming with papers.

  She takes it with suspicion in her eyes, but a smile on her lips. ‘Thanks, that was nice of you.’

  ‘You’re welcome,’ I reply and take a seat at the front of her desk.

  ‘OK, show me what you have come up with.’ She focuses eagerly on the papers I’ve laid out for her.

  The expression on her face swiftly changes as she begins to read. Hi Jimmy, I can still taste your cock as I write this. Too bad we were interrupted before I could finish you off. Call me later. Marilyn . And then she anxiously flips to the next one. Hey, Jimmy, I’m sitting here in my office with my hand in my panties just thinking about you and that big cock of yours. Let me know if you’re free this afternoon, I’ll come up .

  As her eyes fly over the pages, I interject, ‘Marilyn, I had no idea you were such a horny girl.’

  She shoots a signature glare my way, her face bright red and her eyes wildly panicked with self-preservation. ‘What do you want, Tina?’

  ‘Marilyn, the question is: what do you want?’ Leaning back in my chair, I continue in a rational tone, ‘Do you want to fight, or do you want to play?’

  ‘What are you saying?’

  ‘Jimmy is outside chatting up your secretary. Why don’t you call him in and he can explain it to you?’

  Marilyn readily presses the intercom and can hear her assistant giggling at something he’s said. ‘Please ask Jimmy to join our meeting,’ she says with terse professionalism.

  Jimmy arrives barely a minute later with a calm ‘Hello, Marilyn.’ He closes the door and gestures at his crutches. ‘Looks like someone else has it in for me as much as you do.’

  She’s not at all concerned with the fact that he’s hobbling around on one leg. She wants to get to the bottom of why we are so smug, sitting relaxed in our chairs and taking our time to savour the uncomfortable look on her face.

  ‘Do me a favour, cut the shit and tell me what this is really about.’

  Jimmy takes the lead. He cuts in with blunt abandon and an unwavering stare. ‘Marilyn, you are a tight-faced, controlling bitch.’ Then his supple lips curl slightly as he continues, ‘But I don’t hold that against you. In a twisted kind of way, it’s sexy to know what a filthy mind lingers behind that self-important image you so carefully maintain.’

  She shifts uncomfortably in her chair, but remains silent in anticipation of his next remarks.

  ‘In fact, nothing would entertain either of us more than helping you let those filthy thoughts run rampant in our little playground.’ She frowns at him and he presses forward. ‘Don’t deny that you’re interested in the offer, Marilyn. I know that you are.’

  ‘You flatter yourself, Jimmy. Those emails are years old. I’m over the whole thing.’

  He speaks slowly, easily, ‘Marilyn, this is something new entirely.’

  With that, I circle her desk and crouch next to her chair, placing my hand on top of hers and my lips at her ear. ‘Tell me what you want from him right now.’

  She chews her lip self-consciously while her eyes wander across his face. He raises an eyebrow with a cocked head, patiently awaiting her response.

  I encourage her further, pulling her hair away from her shoulder and letting my whisper tickle her skin. ‘Just say it.’

  ‘I want ...’

  Jimmy speaks now. ‘What do you want, Marilyn?’

  ‘I want you to want me.’

  He smiles. ‘There are things that I want from you. But that’s not the same thing, is it?’

  She shakes her head.

  ‘I’m never going to want you like that, but that doesn’t mean we can’t still have a little fun, right, Tina?’

  ‘I’m not selfish. I can share a tiny bit of you.’

  Jimmy stands up with a soft, pain-laced grunt and makes his way behind her desk, sitting on it in front of us. He reaches for her hand and pulls her to him. When she rises from her seat, I give her a gentle press towards him from behind. Jimmy takes her face in his hands and guides it to his lips. I watch as he trades licks an
d words on her ear, and it makes me hot to know that she’s melting under their influence.

  ‘What I want is for you to take your hand and feel my dick getting harder ... feel it?’

  ‘I do.’

  ‘Remember how we used to fuck around in your office?’

  She nods, ‘Yes.’

  ‘Well, this is me fucking around in your head. You think that you’ve got it all figured out with everyone under your thumb. But look at you now; you’re dripping wet and under my control. You’re clinging to the hope that I’ll flip your ass over and fuck you the way you’ve been daydreaming about for the last five years. Your legs are shaky, wanting to pull away from me and tell me I’m wrong, but you aren’t going to move a muscle and miss what I have to say. Are you?’

  She shakes her head and I spy his wicked grin before he continues.

  ‘You want me to fuck you hard and fast, feeling my body slam up against your ass as I hold you down by your neck. You like it rough, don’t you, Marilyn?’

  ‘You dotoo,’ she replies.

  ‘Yes, sometimes, when it’s called for. If you put a stop to this silly HR business, then I’ll give you a little taste, just like this, whenever you want. We don’t have to be enemies.’

  ‘What will I tell them?’

  I have the answer for her. ‘Tell them it was a terrible mistake, a misinterpretation. Tell them that Jimmy is indispensable.’

  ‘Are you?’ she asks him haughtily, finding a modicum of bravado amid the delirium he’s brewing inside her.

  He traces his tongue slowly over her neck. ‘You tell me,’ he says and then sucks gently on her skin while raising his eyes to meet mine. I smile back at him, captivated by the way he works his magic.

  She answers him with a sigh and I know there will be no further discussion on the matter from Marilyn or HR.

  His voice is thick and dark, even as he removes his lips from her ear. ‘I’ll be back to work tomorrow, to finish the final documents on the cholesterol submission.’

  ‘Yes, fine,’ she responds, still floating in the clouds.

  ‘And I’ll email you and we’ll pick up where we left off here.’

  ‘That would be perfect.’

  He pushes her away altogether and brings me closer instead. ‘And you’ll be super-nice to Tina from now on.’