Page 27 of Savage

“Your donors will not care that you showed up to a hospital fundraiser with your doctor son,” I point out, not mentioning that technically she’s supposed to be fundraising for the hospital, not herself.

We both know she’s only going to the event as a PR opportunity.

“I’m having Jared draft a speech for you. It’s a very impassioned plea to please think of the children and whatever else it is hospitals do. Oh, and bring a girlfriend. Wife would be better, but obviously you can’t arrange it that fast. I don’t want these rumors about you to keep spreading.”

“There are no rumors about me,” I answer flatly. I know, because I check news about my mother regularly, and nobody really cares about her children. The only rumor that exists is within the family, started by my brother when we were both in college and he wanted to date my then girlfriend.

“Regardless, you’re almost forty, and it looks bad for me if you aren’t partnered off. Although, maybe we can get you onto one of those most eligible bachelors lists…”

That sounds even worse than the other option. I click open the invite for the fundraiser, click accept to add it to my calendar, and make another annoyed sound. “Fine. I’ll bring somebody.”

“My assistant included a list of choices in her email. Senator Barbos’s daughter is also a doctor; she’s my top pick for you. But I’ve been talking to Marylin’s agent—you know, the model?—and bringing a celebrity would do wonders for our optics.”

“Your optics. I don’t want to date a model.” I delete the email with the suggested women, then glance at the clock. “And now I have to go, because I have a patient to attend to, and I can’t make people wait around just to make it clear how much more important I am than them.”

“You could do that,” my mother argues. “But I have a Senate hearing soon. Dan, did you prepare the summary? What’s this hearing about?”

She hangs up on me without even saying goodbye, but I’m used to that. I pull up my patient’s chart and head to the exam room. My patient is sitting on the exam table, much more visibly pregnant than the last time I’d seen her.

“Hi, Jan,” I greet her, forcing myself to smile a little. “How are you this morning?”

I would love to simply do the exam as quickly as possible, no words at all. But if I make the patients uncomfortable, they find alternative care or leave nasty reviews, and it’s much easier to get them to tell me the truth if they think I’m a warm, friendly person.

I’m as fake as my mother is, I suppose.

I get through the exam as quickly as possible, and when I’m alone in my office again, I let out a small sigh.

Five minutes of rest, then on to the next patient.

Five minutes is enough to check the camera feed. I click on the app on my phone and feel something settle inside me as I watch Stef sleep. Obviously she can’t stay there forever, but more rest is probably good for her right now. She’s destroyed her body; it’s time for it to finally heal.

I zoom in on her face, and even in the somewhat grainy feed, I can see the way her lips are slightly parted. It reminds me of how she’d looked yesterday, waiting for my cock, and I can feel a slight twitch in my pants.

I’m not so unprofessional as to pursue this line of thought, though, and I don’t have the time for it anyway. I reluctantly close the app and prepare for the next patient.

The day goes by, much slower than usual, until finally my work hours are done. Of course the last patient had run longer than expected, thanks to her husband who’d kept interrupting and asking stupid questions.

It puts me in a foul mood, and the series of cancellations and last-minute appointments scheduled for tomorrow doesn’t help. I’m going to be taking work home after all, and part of me wants to just yell at everybody involved to just do as I say.

I can’t do that without destroying my professional reputation, but I do have somebody at home who obeys.

I have somebody at home who won’t talk back at me, won’t question me, and won’t waste my time.

I don’t need to pretend to be warm and friendly for Stef.

Knowing that she’s there calms me a little and makes the ride home during rush hour less tortuous.

I spend the ride thinking how best to make use of her tonight.

CHAPTER 8

Stef

For all that I don’t miss being at Ntimacy, I can’t help but wish I was there instead. I didn’t have friends at Ntimacy, and I doubt anyone misses me, but at least having people to talk to made time pass by faster. Even having chores to do helped with the boredom, tedious as it had been.

I’ve spent the whole day alternating between sleeping and pacing, grateful that Hunter didn’t bind me to the bed but at the same time wishing he’d agreed to let me roam the condo instead of being stuck in here. A few times, I’ve even checked the bedroom door, as though somehow it will have magically unlocked.

I find myself looking forward to him coming home, which is strange. I don’t want to be around him, but at the same time, I don’t like this solitude either. Then there’s the memory of the way he’d gently stroked my hair and allowed me to relax, to drift against him. Even though I’d had his cock in my mouth, I’d still enjoyed it because it was strangely soothing.

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