Bound to the Fallen (Prophecy #2) (10 page)

B
acking away from the wall, she said, “Listen,” and shoved me up against the wall. I covered my ear with my hand, but didn’t hear anything. I glanced over at her with a puzzled expression on my face and then I heard it.

“Oh,
oh, oh,” the unmistakable sound of someone having sex came through the sheetrock. I also heard a very soft rhythmic bump. “Oh. Oh. Oh. Ohhhhhhhhhh.” The bumping stopped.

Ashley leap
t into her chair. She grabbed onto my arm and flung me away from the wall. “Get over there and close your mouth.”

“Was that
— what I think it was?” I asked, not believing that had just happened.

She l
ooked at me like I was an idiot. “What else do you think it was?”

The door to Dr. Knight’s office opened and I thought Ashley was going to break her neck trying to get out in
to the hallway. She grabbed some papers off her desk and hurdled herself out of her door.

I heard Dr. Knight say, “Thanks for getting that report together for me. I think it’s perfectly fine to move forward from here.”

Ashley coughed and in a very chipper voice said, “Oh, good morning, Nicole. How
are
you this morning?”

“Fine,” Nicole sn
apped back. She was pretty pissy for someone who’d just had an orgasm at work.

“You sure are getting a lot accomplished this morning, you little perfectionist you. Already finished a meeting
and
have a report ready and it’s not even nine o’clock.” Ashley’s voice was dripping with sarcasm.

Nicole didn’t respond.

I sat in Ashley’s office staring at that wall, trying to comprehend what had just happened. I’d been listening to Dr. Knight and Nicole having sex.

Oh, for the love.
..this place was insane!

Ashley wal
tzed back into the room with a very pleased look on her face.

“What in the hell?” I
asked as she sat back down in her chair.

“I know, right? I’m so glad my office is right next to his. Every once and a while
I get to listen to a little nugget like that.” Her eyes sparkled and a gigantic smile formed on her face. “I
told
you they were having an affair.”

“
That’s ridiculous.”

“I know. It’
s the only way though. His wife stays at home, she never leaves and she’s on him like a flippin’ spider monkey. She’s forever calling and checking in on him.” Ashley’s voice lowered to a whisper, “I heard that he got caught several years ago screwing one of his clinic nurses. His wife threatened to kill him if he ever did it again. I guess he learned his lesson and decided to keep work- related business, mistresses included, at the office.”

I
couldn’t help feeling slightly dirty from having listened to Nicole get off and was absolutely terrified I would lose my composure during the staff meeting where I would be forced to sit in an enclosed space with the two of them.

“Really?”
I was still stunned and disturbed. “So, how have they not gotten in trouble?”

Ashley rolled her eyes
. “No one can prove it. There’s no evidence of their disgusting crimes of passion, so what can they do? Plus, Dr. Knight is a huge deal here. He pulls in insane amounts of funding… they’d never get rid of him unless they were absolutely forced to.” Ashley picked at her nails and looked up at me.

“But
—” I pointed to the wall.

“Yep, but who’s
gonna believe us? I
hate
Nicole and everyone knows it. They would just say I was tryin’ to get her fired. There’s nothing you can do, besides, what do I care if Nicole gets her rocks off from fucking a dirty old man?”

“Why do you hate her? What’s she done?”

I heard Dan calling out, “It’s time for staff meeting.”

Ashley
pulled in a deep breath and said, “It’s complicated, don’t worry about it.” She stood and walked to the doorway.

We
came to the conference room and Gavin was already sitting at the table. I walked over and pulled the chair out in front of him, making it easier for me to stare at him without being so obvious. Ashley plopped down in the chair next to me. I could feel her eyes burning into the side of my face throughout the entire meeting. She was trying to catch me staring at that man, and when she eventually did, she gave the base of my chair a hard, swift kick with her foot. I looked over and she nodded her head and made a kissy face.

I’d be lying if I said that I hadn’t
in some small way hoped that Gavin’s behavior the previous Friday was due to his uncontrollable desire to ravish me, wed me, and make babies with me –after he’d declared another profession — but from the way he was acting now, I decided I’d taken things the wrong way.

After the meeting I went back to sit and my office and felt dejected.

It’s better this way anyway, if I thought he wanted me I’d probably end up doing something stupid and get involved with him, and that would be destined to be a complete and absolute train wreck, I’m sure.

My internal dialogue was interrupted by
a rapping noise on my door.

“You ready
?”

I
glanced at the door to see Dan standing there.

“For
? Do we have a meeting?” I shrugged, shooting him a confused look.

“Lunch, you pr
omised me you’d let me take you.”

I stared at hi
m trying to come up with an excuse as to why I couldn’t go with him.

“Come on,
let’s go. There’s a great little burger place about a block from here.” He motioned for me to follow him.

“I—”

He cut me off. “Not taking no for an answer. Come on. It’s free food”

I didn’t know what else to do besides go with him
.

We
strolled past Ashley’s office and I mouthed “help” when I passed her doorway. I could hear her giggle as Dan and I walked into the main office.

I
had to listen to that man talk about himself all the way down to the ground floor, out of the building, for the entire walk to the restaurant, and for most of the time while we were eating.

Just as we were
preparing to leave I saw Gavin sit down at a table at the end of the sidewalk. Moments later a tall, slender, beautiful blonde came up behind him. As I stared at them I felt a slight twinge of jealousy rise up in my chest.

Damn it
, Brooke, get a hold of yourself.

The
blonde rubbed her hand across his shoulders as she walked behind him to pull out a chair. The way she was looking at him made it obvious that she wanted him.

Dan noticed me staring at something behind him,
and turned around to see what had my undivided attention. I had to think quickly so he wouldn’t know I was ogling over one of the physicians. “Uhh…Is that Dr. Hunter? I can’t tell from here,” I said.

“Yep,
that’s the asshole.” He paused. “Dr. Moore? Would’ve thought she’d have higher standards than him. Huh.” Dan gave her the quick once over and then turned back around to me. “Anyway, where were we? Oh, yes. I was telling you about the presentation I’ve been asked to give my expert opinion on.”

He kept rambling, and rambling
, and rambling. When we got back to the building he asked, “So, what’d you do for fun?”

“Oh, just hang out with friends, go watch bands play, you know, stuff like that.”

I was so ready to be in my dark office with Peggy.

“Hmmm
, I like to watch bands play too. We’ll have to get together and go out one night.” He winked at me. I could tell he was trying his best to look sexy, but he really just looked like he had a nervous tic.

“Uh
— yeah — sure…” I was most definitely not going anywhere with him, ever.

The rest of the week went on pretty much the same way. Each morning I would wake up and try my damn
edest to look extra sexy in the hopes that Gavin would give me a second glance. His ignoring me was driving me nuts, but he never acted like he even saw me.

If he ran into me in the office he would say “hello
,” he would hold a door open for me if we happened to be going somewhere at the same time. Despite my attempts to make small talk with him he kept everything strictly business and related to the studies.

Every day Dan would make some creepy remark and I would vomit in the back of my throat a little each time.

The week seemed to drag on for an eternity. Whoever came up with the ridiculous idea of working for five days, forty hour weeks was a complete dumbass.

Gavin

July 6, 2014

That first week she was there I distanced myself from her, trying to condition myself to have less of a response when I was around her. I watched her when she thought I wasn’t looking. The slight drop in her shoulders when I walked past her with nothing more than a “hello,” the way she twisted the ends of her raven hair around her fingertip when she stared at me, the innocent blush that rushed across her skin on the occasions when I would make eye contact with her. I saw her disappointment at my seemingly uninterested demeanor towards her. I must say, it was a bit of a turn-on knowing she was attracted to me and had no idea of the rampant physical reaction I had to her. She was clueless to the fact that I inhaled deeply as she passed me in the hall, that the intoxicating aroma of her perfume sent a twinge of want down my spine. She thought I had no interest in her at all.

W
alking out of the locker room, I made my way up the stairs to the weight room. I pushed my ear buds in and scanned through my iPod’s list of artists, stopping on the Deftones. The music blared loudly as I laid down on the cool bench and placed my hands firmly on the metal bar resting above my head. I cleared my thoughts and inhaled as I pulled the bar from the rack, exhaling loudly as the fake strain formed on my face. Using controlled movements, I pushed the bar away from my body. I’d become well-rehearsed in acting like a human. Pretending to be something I wasn’t.

After
I finished my set I pushed up and rested on the edge of the bench. I grabbed my water bottle and just as I placed the mouth of the bottle to my lips I noticed Brooke walk past me and over to the treadmills. Her back was turned to me and I took my time to admire her. I scanned up her bare legs, taking note of her defined muscles. The tight tank top she was wearing displayed most of her back, and I caught a glimpse of a small butterfly tattooed on her shoulder blade.

A butterfly
. How fitting.

The symbolism that particular insect held
for me made my attraction to her seem all the more ironic. I watched her stretch her calf muscles and pull her hair up tightly into a ponytail. My mind instinctually drifted to thoughts of how fantastic she’d look undressed and laid out in my bedroom floor, legs spread, eyes rolled back in her head from sheer pleasure.

Weakness
.

Standing
at the top of the stairs, I debated on whether to leave as I glanced back over in Brooke’s direction. Sweat dripped down her neck, darkening portions of the tank top that was now clinging tightly to her skin. I shut my eyes momentarily in an effort to erase the sexual image of her that my mind was involuntarily creating. I found her undeniably attractive, and my being had a visceral reaction to her presence. She was tempting me without even knowing it.

I leaned against the
metal rail of the stairwell and watched as Brooke slowed the treadmill down to a brisk jog. Wiping the sweat from my brow, I approached her. My eyes were locked on her, and I couldn’t help but laugh to myself when I saw her raise her hands up and begin dancing to whatever music was playing on her iPod.

So innocent, so carefree
.

As I got closer to the treadmills
Brooke caught a glimpse of my reflection in the mirrors. She took a quick glance over her shoulder and her eyes widened. When she realized she was my target she redirected her gaze to the front of the room.

I w
edged myself in between the treadmills and stood, staring at her not saying a word. Brooke forced a smile and yanked her pink ear buds out. She blotted her face daintily with her towel. Most of her makeup had sweated off and she had a raw beauty about her as mortification washed over her face.

“
Oh. Hey, Dr. Hunter,” she said between deep breaths.

“
Gavin. Brooke — call me Gavin.”

“You work out here?
” she asked, closing her eyes as her flesh deepened to a shade of red, embarrassed by the redundant question she’d asked.

“Yes, it’s a nice facility, don’t you agree?”

She walked to the end of the treadmill and hopped off. “It’s definitely a nice perk to the job.” She took a sip from her water bottle and continued, “I’ve been slackin’ on my running lately. Just glad I can run here after work now.”

Making
an obvious glance up and down her body, I spoke before I’d thought of how inappropriate I sounded. “Well, you wouldn’t be able to tell it by the look of you. You’re in
very
good shape.” My tongue skimmed across my lips and I watched her draw in a shallow breath.

“Thanks,
” she said, running her hand up her neck to tighten her ponytail. She was unable to maintain eye contact with me for any length of time. Her hands kept flipping the lid to her water bottle open and shut, twisting it in her hands. I loved that I could make her so nervous simply by speaking to her.

“Well, see you tomorrow
then,” I said. I stood in place holding eye contact with her, wanting to see how long it’d take her to walk away.

“Yep
.” She stared at me for a few seconds then quickly spun around and jogged down the stairs.

I laughed to myself as I watched her
. She glanced back up to see if I was still looking at her. A look of complete horror overcame her face when she realized I was. Her pace quickened and she darted out of my sight.

Something about that
woman — something about her did something to me, and the feeling of it aroused me in ways I couldn’t explain.

P
ushing myself from her limp body, I went into the bathroom. Sweat was dripping from me as I walked back to my bedroom and leaned against the doorway, watching as the woman pulled her clothes back on. She glanced up at me and smiled as she flipped her hair out from the back of her shirt.

S
he walked slowly toward me. “That was
a lot
of fun,” she said, placing her hand on my necklace.

I promptly removed her grasp on it.
“Don’t touch that,” I said. She moved her face in close to mine and I pulled my head away as I repeated, “Don’t!”

“Sorry
,” she said, stepping back. “It’s such a simple rule, but so damn hard to follow. It’s just natural for me to want to kiss you.”

Diverting my eyes away from her I said,
“You should go now.”

I
moved myself away from the doorframe and walked to my bed, laying my nude body across the bed. The cool satin sheets were a welcomed sensation to my skin. “Turn the music off on your way out, please,” I called out.

She
knelt down and grabbed her bag. I listened to her heels tap against the floors, the noise stopping as she paused to turn the music off. Her shoes echoed down my hallway and then I heard the front door open and shut softly behind her.

I
lay there, enjoying the absolute silence. I closed my eyes and Brooke’s full apple-red lips crept into my thoughts. I wanted to have her so badly, but I knew there was no way I could have her
the way
that I needed to.

I could tell by the way she carried herself, the
way she blushed so easily that things would have to be taken very slowly with her. I abandoned my thoughts when I heard my inner voice utter the word “want.” My eyes pried opened from the shock of what I’d just allowed myself to think. Weakness was finding its way into my being, and I needed to regain my composure.

Swinging my
legs over the side of my bed, I got up. The jeans I had taken off earlier were folded neatly on my dresser and I reached for them, pulling them up over my hips.

I open
ed one of my dresser drawers and removed a thin, black cotton v-neck Versace shirt. The material slid over my head and I neatly smoothed it out over my torso. I slipped a pair of distressed leather shoes on, glancing one last time in my mirror before flipping the light switch to my room and making my way through the house to the garage.

The humid air
that had crept in caused a damp dew to fall across my skin as I climbed into my car. I slammed the door shut and turned the engine. The stereo blared, drowning out the noise of the garage door opening. Backing out, I stopped at the end of my driveway to lower the top to my convertible. The comforting feeling of the warm night air surrounded me.

Darkness.

I inhaled deeply and pressed my foot down on top of the accelerator. The back tires squealed as they sped across the pavement. I needed something to calm my nerves, to regain the sense of control I craved.