Page 28 of Deranged
“Um…can you give me a minute to shower and get dressed?”
He chuckled and stepped into my room. I wanted him to wrap his arms around me, but I knew he wouldn’t. Not with his license on the line. “Sure, take your time.” He grabbed the book and looked down at the cover. “You’re an ambitious reader.”
“Why do people say that? I think people who don’t read are un-ambitious. I’m just normal.”
He quirked an eyebrow.
“Okay, normal in most respects.”
I made sure my shorts were covering my ass before I crossed the room and grabbed my toiletries. You’d think with all the crap my mom pulled around here, I’d have earned an en-suite bathroom. I made a mental note to add that to my next demand list.
I showered and dressed quickly. When I returned to my room, he’d already left. Probably drumming his fingers on his desk while he waited in his office. I raced down the hall and found the door open.
The place looked the exact same as it usually did. Dust motes dancing in the air. A surly, but appealing face behind the desk. Someone should get this man a plant, or some art work, a frame…anything to turn the dingy walls into an actual workspace. Well, I guess those things only applied if someone meant to do work. To earn a living instead of merely going through the motions.
He sat behind his desk, reading something in a folder with a crease between his eyes. I entered and shut the door behind me. As I took my seat, he looked up at me. “How are you feeling?”
I couldn’t help but laugh. “Pretty great, actually. And you, Doctor, how are you feeling?”
He got up, skirted his desk, and went to the door. He wore his usual uniform of fitted khakis and a white button down collared shirt, pen at the neck. The soft click of the lock sounded loud and booming to my ears. A signal he wasn’t finished with me yet.
When he crossed the room again, he stopped behind my chair and dropped his hands onto the peaks of my shoulders. The heat of them seeped into the soft cotton of my white sweater. It took everything I had to control my breathing, keep it even, not let him know how much he affected me with such a simple gesture.
He must have showered and changed himself. I could smell the soap and humidity coming off him. He leaned down and trailed his lips along the side of my neck, marking his path with a sporadic bite.
I couldn’t keep myself calm now. Not when my fingers itched to drag his mouth to mine. Or when I had to squeeze my knees tight together to keep from opening my legs and inviting him there.
“If you want to have a conversation with me, you will need to stop. Or else I’m going to melt into a puddle at your feet.”
His soft moan washed up my neck, igniting me further. “Maybe I want you at my feet.”
I let out a stuttering breath and grabbed his neck to press him against my sensitive skin harder. The scrape of teeth caused me to arch up out of the chair and almost slide off.
He stood, steadying me where he still held my shoulders. “Okay, okay. Business first.”
He sat in the chair next to me instead of behind the barrier of the desk. My body still singing, I tried to focus on his face, force my mind to switch gears. All I wanted to do was fold myself onto his lap and let him take me back to last night.
The words fell out of my mouth before I could stop them. “Let’s run away. Anywhere, everywhere. Let’s disappear.”
A quick grin sprouted on his lips before he folded them back to their usual neutral expression. “We can’t run away. People don’t just run away.”
“Rich people do it all the time. Trust me, I know. Six months of the year, I run as far and fast as I can get in hopes my mother will forget about me completely. So far, she hasn’t, unfortunately.”
He licked his lips and glanced away. Oh. Yeah. We’d only known each other a very short time. And why would he want to run away with a crazy person.
He folded his hands onto his lap like he needed to contain them. “Let’s talk about options. See how we get you out of here.”
I shrugged. “Something I’ve been trying to figure out for years. But, maybe your fancy medical degree can help.”
“It’s not my medical degree that will get you out of here. It’s my tenacity. And I have as much of that as you do.”
I wiggled, still feeling the effects of his hands on me. “What do you think we can do? Is there a petition process to spring me? A way to get my mom to sign over my rights as human being so I can take care of myself? As long as she has the power over me, declared incapable of taking care of myself, she’ll never let me go.”
He made a thinking noise. A cross between a “hmm” and a “huh”. “What do you think would work? Why does she insist on going after you like this? You’d think it would be easier on her in the long run to let you go do your own thing. Disappear, as you say.”
“My mother is a control freak. And I fear for the country if she wins the presidency.” I feared for my own well-being more.
“Is there something you can hold over her head, or a deal you can make so she lets you go? Promise to disappear and never be heard from again. We can change your name, move you to Europe.”
