Possessive Doctor

“Neither do you, you old fat monster,” Louise says with a perfectly polite tone and smile.

I roll my eyes and Amber looks absolutely horrified. Mother has already finished her first glass of wine and a staff member refills it on instinct alone.

The conversation turns to business and Father makes a halfhearted attempt at keeping Amber engaged. Really though, they’re just talking about people in the business world that they know, and how much they all donate to charity.

Mother, meanwhile, is watching Amber like a hawk. I can’t help but feel uncomfortable as the next course arrives, a nice, light salad. It’s coming, sooner or later. Mother is halfway through her second glass of wine when she finally opens her mouth.

“Amber, dear,” Mother says. “What does your family do?”

The table goes quiet. “Mother,” I say. “Does that matter?”

“Of course it matters,” Father says. “Go on, dear. Tell us what your family does for a living. We are ever so curious about that sort of thing.”

“My father is an oil man,” Amber says. “He drills, refines, and sells crude oil.”

That statement stuns the entire table. I don’t think they’ve ever met someone that actually works with oil in their entire lives, and yet they know so many people in that industry.

It’s just, the people they run with stay well above all that actual drilling and refining.

“Does he now?” Mother finally asks. “And he does well for himself?”

“Very well,” Amber admits. “But I’m not on good terms with him right now.”

Everyone gives her flat, polite smiles, and I want to groan.

“Of course, dear,” Father says, “Well, ah, anyway, Louise. I hear you got a new bag today, dear, what about it?”

And so Louise dives into talking purses, which takes up the rest of the second course, all of the third course, and deep into the main course. Amber barely looks around the table, clearly not sure what she did wrong.

Finally, we get through the meal alive. Mother and Father retire to the sitting room with Louise and Ronald and I steer Amber out of there so fast I’m afraid I’ll break her leg all over again.

“What happened back there?” she asks me once we’re alone. “I was doing so well, your father even laughed at me, and then…”

“You mentioned family trouble,” I say.

“So… so what?”

“You don’t talk about that sort of thing in polite company.” I sigh and take her hand. “Listen. My family lives by a strict set of rules. I don’t know who invented the rules or if they were just made up by my mother, but you don’t talk about family troubles. And you don’t talk about money.”

“But they were talking about money.”

“They were talking about how much people donate to charity, which is different.” I squeeze her hand. “It’s completely insane and stupid and you have no reason to ever learn all these rules. Just be aware that my family is going to judge you no matter what you do, purely because you weren’t born rich.”

We stop in a side hall, tucked beside a full plate of real medieval armor. The knight holds a huge sword pointed down at the floor and I can’t imagine the size of the man that wore that armor, based on the gut on the thing.

“I can’t help but feel like I’m in some kind of movie,” she says, almost laughing. “But they weren’t that bad, you know.”

“Oh, you got off easy. You charmed my father, which helped a lot.”

“Really?”

“You’re also very pretty.” I grin at her and lean closer, kissing her on the cheek. “That smooths things over with the men. Though Aunt Louise will always hate you for it.”

“She’s odd. She really likes purses.”

“You don’t know the half of it.” I squeeze her hand again. “Come on. You survived.”

“I survived. But what now?”

I press her against a wall in the shadow of the hallway. I kiss her neck and put my hands on her hips. “Earlier, when you saw me leave the shower. You were staring at me.”

“You undressed.” Her voice is quiet, hushed in the cramped space.

“You could’ve turned away, but you didn’t.”

“I guess… I didn’t want to.”

I look into her eyes and kiss her softly.

“And you remember the truck?” I ask. “You remember the way I made you feel?”

“Yes,” she whispers.

I reach around and slowly pull her dress up. She gasps as I push my body against hers.

“Good girl.”

I kiss her, fingers in her hair, and lift her into the air. I climb the nearest staircase, kick open our door, and throw her down on the bed.11AmberHe unwraps me like a present. His hands are slow and his eyes are full of passion as he takes off my dress. It falls onto the ground and he kicks it aside, looking at my body in just my bra and panties. He kisses my chest, my breasts, my collarbone. He kisses my neck and my lips, biting them gently.