The Sordid Promise (18 page)

“Nikki...what are you…?” Janet approached me from the nurses’ station. “Oh.” She covered her mouth and considered me with frailty. “I knew this would happen. Do you need to talk over a cup? I can take a break.”

“Where’s Eric?” I asked patiently. Although I knew Mrs. Hobbins’s ravings were unfounded, I had to be sure that she was still crazy.

“He’s uh…not here right now.”

Suddenly, the inquisition didn’t seem inane. Janet’s response carried too many nuances. She wouldn’t look me in the eye and couldn’t stop fidgeting. I wondered why she felt the need to lie to me. I started to feel panicked and uneasy. My hands and feet tingled with an uncomfortable burn. “You hesitated and your eye twitched,” I forced out.

“It did not,” she remarked while blinking rapidly.

I moved past her and approached a nurse at the station. “When will Dr. Brenton be in?”

Her blue eyes whirled at me from behind her reflective lenses. “You mean Dr. Grant? I don’t know of a Dr. Brenton, not on this wing.”

“Of course you do, Susie.’’ Janet took her fellow nurse aside and nudged her. “Remember? He filled in for Dr. Grant a while back.” Dumbfounded, Susie regarded Janet.

I picked up my phone. Janet stepped forward and attempted to stop me. “Let’s go in the visitors’ room, where I can explain.”

It took too many rings before Eric answered his cell. “Not that I’m not glad to hear from you,” he greeted me in a sexually charged whisper. “But I’m in the middle of something.”

“Where?” I asked innocently.

“At the hospital.”

“Oh good, because I’m here.” I flourished my hand and realized it wouldn’t stop shaking. “I can wait until you’re done. We can grab lunch somewhere other than the cafeteria. Because that’s what I do, wait for you.” My tone was uncontrollably frenetic. My body temperature fell into a confused state of too cold and too hot.

“I really would love to…but...I have to go. I’ll make you something special tonight.” He hung up on me.

I glared at Janet. My mind raced out of control:
He’s not really a doctor, Nikki. He’s a con man, just like your father was. He’s after your mother’s money. Eric probably isn’t even his real name. You’re so stupid, Nikki. What makes you think a man like that would want a fucked up woman like you?

I grabbed my head, shaking it profusely, hoping to make the thoughts to stop. “STOP IT!”

Janet looked around. “I didn’t…say anything, Nikki.”

“Not you,” I said hoarsely.

“Oh.” She began to look at me with pity and concern. “You could’ve just asked me…instead of calling him.”

“So you could lie to me?” I asked shrilly. “Who is he really?”

“You know him….Eric. Eric Brenton.”

“But not
Dr.
Brenton. So you helped him come in here and impersonate a doctor? Do you get a cut when he kills me?”

“Nikki… No! What are you talking about?” she hissed as her eyes darted around in paranoia. She tried to shuffle me into the visitors’ room, but I would only budge but so far. “Dr. Brenton is Dr. Brenton. So what if he’s not a doctor on this wing. He’s a doctor in this hospital.”

“Janet!” I screamed.

“Would it make any difference if I said all of this was your mother’s doing? You really have no reason to be upset. She handpicked him for you.”

“What...does that even mean? What the
fuck
does that even mean?”

“I’ve said too much.”

“You haven’t said enough.”

She fiddled with her fingers and looked at the ceiling. “I wish you’d calm down. Can you just take a walk with me? We can look at the tranquility fountain.” She mumbled quietly, “Maybe see about getting a refill for a few of your prescriptions at the pharmacist.”

“JANET!” I screamed at the top of my lungs.

“Miss.” A nurse approached me. “Unless you’re here to see a patient, I’m going to have to ask you to leave.”

I didn’t know what drew me to the lobby of the ten-story Harvest Investments Building downtown. The security guard, who’d recognized me, kept pantomiming at me to go into the elevators to do whatever I had to do. My self-depreciating thoughts were out of control.

Maybe I was wrong. He didn’t want to kill me. He wanted to take over my mother’s company. Maybe she had a deal with him to—

I took a breath, trying to calm myself down. But I felt like my brain was shifting the gears while my body was strapped to the passenger seat—I was left unable to say when and where we’d go.

After a few minutes, I finally moved to the elevator lobby.

I went to my mother’s office, having no other predetermined destination.

My mother’s long-term secretary, Mrs. Pratt, slowly stood as she took off her reading glasses. “Mr. Rice is in the middle of a client meeting. I’m sorry, Diouana. You’ll have to wait.”

“It’s my mother’s office. Why is someone else in my mother’s office? She was just put in the ground last month. That’s not right. It’s too soon.”

“The company had to move on. I’m sure you can understand—”

I pushed past her. I felt slightly guilty when I saw her falter behind me. Being that she was elderly, she was far from spry.

I opened the door. My mother’s partner was in the middle of a business meeting with…Eric. I was fully submersed in a sinkhole with no chance of escape. “I knew it! I knew it.” I charged after him as he stood, looking at me with a face full of bewilderment. “I knew you were with me for some other purpose. Why would you do this? I don’t need this. I think you should move out. Go away. Maybe travel to a completely different continent far from me, because you’re the worst sort of evil. I should’ve known better. You’re a con man dressed up as a gorgeous, empathetic doctor. You don't have a heart. All you know is greed. This is why I hate dealing with people. They’re so selfish. If you don’t leave me alone, I’ll call the authorities and tell them—”

Standing before me now, Eric gripped me strongly, placing his palm over my mouth with his eyes full of fire. I struggled in his hold and fought, biting his hand and stomping on his foot. When I tried to knee him in the groin, he grabbed my leg and spun me so quickly, I nearly fell. Clutching my hands, he yanked them behind my back. Shoving me, he bent me over the desk and pressed his body against me so I couldn’t move. “If you don’t stop, I’m going to hurt you,” he bellowed.

Too far gone to stop, I continued to struggle.

Keeping my arms pinned behind my back, he pulled down my bottoms. His bare hand flogged my bare behind hard. I squealed. The force thrust me forward, making me inadvertently hit my head on the desk so hard, I saw stars. The shocking pain emulating from my forehead and my behind moved my emotional state into a more docile territory.

“Are you done?” he asked breathlessly. I slowly nodded. “Speak the fuck up, Nikki.”

“I-I’m done,” I croaked.

“Mr. Rice,” Eric requested through unbridled anger. “Can you excuse Nikki and me? She…lost her fucking mind on the way here. I’m going to need some privacy to help her find it again.”

“O-of course, Dr. Brenton.” When Mr. Rice walked past me, he looked at me with a mix of pity and concern.

Eric pulled up my pants and spun me around. His eyes were blazing as they bore through me. Gripping my chin, he forced my head to tilt towards the desk. “Do you see that leather portfolio on the desk, Nikki? Don’t talk. Look at it. After you do, continue to shut the fuck up, got it?” I nodded as the air passed angrily through my nostrils. He let me go and nodded to the desk again.

I turned around and opened the portfolio. It was an investment portfolio for Eric, and it was started a little under a year ago by my mother. I swallowed…hard.

Given what I saw on the statements, Eric had returns to be envied. His investments worked out so much better than mine. I always knew in the back of my mind that I played it too safe with trades to really earn to full potential. His portfolio had my mother’s imprint all over it. She always said investing smart was betting safe. She said that one should always invest in potential.

I owed Eric a huge apology.

From behind me, he walked over to the door and locked it. He slipped into my mother’s high back tufted leather executive chair with his cold expression set on me.

I touched my throbbing head, knowing there would be a bump there eventually. “Eric, when you lied about where you were, I th—”

“Swore I said not to talk.” He methodically removed the cufflinks from his tailored, crisp white dress shirt and rolled up the sleeves while glowering at me. “Your mouth has a singular purpose right now.” He unzipped and unhinged the fastener on his slacks.

I swallowed hard, having a slight idea of what he wanted me to do. Suddenly, I was thrown from irate and irrational to nervous.

“You caused a scene. Made quite a few slanderous allegations in front of Mr. Rice that I’m sure he’s going to chat about with his friends at the water cooler. I warned you about that fucking smart mouth. Now, I want you do something useful with it. Make me forget how angry I am, and do it well. Because if you don’t, I’m going to do something I promised myself I wouldn’t do to you—something I shouldn’t do. And if you fuck this up and force me to do it, it’s going to ruin you, Nikki. Because I want to punish you so fucking hard, you’ll have nightmares about the things I’ll do to you. You got me?”

Through persistent tremors, I bobbed my head. He beckoned for me with his fingers. I stood before him, sinking down to my knees. His hands gripped the handles of the chair, waiting with cold expectancy. With my throat inundated with cotton, I moved the opening of his slacks apart and reached inside the pocket of his boxer briefs to pull out his semi-soft cock.

I choked. The magnitude of his size hit me hard. I felt like I was staring at a wall of far too much flesh. When I gripped the shaft, it jumped in my hand and grew. I choked again.

“What are you waiting for? Suck me off.”

I’d never been into giving or receiving foreplay…until he came along. With me, it was never about pleasure when it came to sex. Somehow, I didn’t think the present was the best time to tell him. I closed my eyes and tucked the head in my mouth.

He immediately sucked his teeth and yanked my head back by my ponytail, hard. A slow smirk spread across his face. “You’re kidding.” I shook my head as much as I could. “Okay,” he said biting into his lip. “Open your mouth…wider…good.” He grabbed my tongue pulling it forward. “Keep it that way and for the love of my cock, tuck your teeth this time. Try again.”

The wall of flesh filled my mouth completely, over stretching the capacity. When the head hit the back of my throat, I gagged violently and tried to withdraw.

He grabbed the back of my head, keeping my mouth filled with half of his length inside my mouth. “Open your throat. Suck. Moan. Relax.”

I bobbed my head, sucking and slurping, going as deep as I could go. Moaning along the way, I worked him in my mouth as deep as I could take him without gagging. I began to enjoy the taste and get the hang of it. I bobbed faster, deeper, and sucked harder. He slipped back and moaned.

With a steady hand on the back of my head, he directed me to go faster, deeper. “Look up at me,” he whispered.

I obeyed while I continued the movements of my mouth and neck.

“That’s so fucking sexy.” He sensuously sucked his bottom lip. “I think you were bullshitting me. You got too good at this too fast.” He let out a sensuous groan. “Fuck, baby, that feels good. Suck it harder.” His feedback made me forget about my numb tongue and the ever increasing ache in my jaw. I sucked harder, deeper.

“Awe, fuck Nikki, you’re going to make me come in that pretty mouth of yours.” He bit into his lip, watching. “You ready, baby?” Riding my mouth, he began to pull my hair. I followed his motions, taking him deeper, sucking on his delicious taste. His body fell rigid as his lids grew heavy. “I’m coming, baby…swallow.”

When the hot warmth choked me I tried to retreat. He grabbed my head in either of his hands, holding me still. “Don’t you dare spit it out. Swallow. Clean my cock.”

I took a big gulp and took him all the way down, making him groan and curse to the ceiling. Pulling my ponytail, he forced me to withdraw. He thumbed the corner of my mouth and pushed the remnants of my saliva and his pleasure into my mouth. I sucked his finger with a smile.

He cut his eyes at me, keeping them on me as he slowly sneered. He shot up, taking me with him. He grabbed my behind, lifted me, and placed me on top of the mahogany desk. He removed my jeans and panties in one long yank. He spread my legs wide and went down on me.

Mercilessly, his tongue whirled around my clit with a hard pressure. His fingers slipped inside my canal and thrashed about with a steady rhythm.

“Shit,” I moaned through trembling lips. My hand slipped into his hair, grabbing a strong hold as I undulated my pelvis against his mouth. His hold on my legs clamped down until I was no longer able to move.

He added more fingers to join inside me, stretching me full. As he sucked harder on my clit, I cried out to the ceiling. The chill hit me hard, forcing me to clamp down and shake violently. He gripped my thighs in his hands, the pads of his fingers burned into my flesh.

I came in an intemperate flood that left me weak and whimpering. The back of my head hit the desk so hard, I became disoriented.