Kaden (Recherché series) (8 page)

“Kaden.” She leans in and kisses my cheek, and even the way her lips brush against my skin has me thinking of her pussy around my cock, my fingers around her throat.

“Melanie.”

Her eyes lock with mine, and the air fills with this weird tension that almost feels possessive. Penelope’s hand on my arm forces me to break eye contact. “Who’s your friend, Kaden?” Again, what the fuck is the protocol for two clients meeting each other?

“This is Melanie. Melanie, this is…”

“His grandmother.” Penelope cuts me off and I have to work very hard to control my expression. My grandmother, really? The only thing worse than a client meeting another client, would be my grandmother meeting a client.

“Penelope.” She holds out her hand and Melanie takes it, her lips twitching in the ghost of a smile.

“A pleasure.” Her eyes shift from Penelope to me, and I wonder if she knows.

“Well, we have a bridge game to get to, Grandma.” I say, inwardly cringing.

“Of course. It was nice seeing you, Kaden.” Her voice is rife with sex and…whatever it is that Melanie has. Dominance?

The second Melanie is out of sight Penelope smacks me round the back of the head. “Grandma!” She shouts before dusting off her shoulders dramatically. “The very word makes me feel diseased.” She shudders.

“You said it, not me!”

She sniffs. “My grandchildren call me Penelope.” She rolls her eyes. “And I wasn’t about to throw you to the wolves in front of a client.” I say nothing. “That one looks a handful.”

I clear my throat. “You have no idea.” I say under my breath.

After shopping I promised I’d play at Penelope’s bridge game tonight. There was one time when she accidentally double booked me with her bridge game, so I just stayed. Now, her friends insist that I come every week. So once a week we do dinner, and once a week we do bridge, sometimes she forces me into shopping. I don’t mind.

When we get back, Nadine has already let Linda and Evelyn in.

“Kaden!” Linda beams when she see’s me. I have to do the rounds, hugging them and letting them kiss my cheek. By the time I’m done I always have lipstick marks all over my cheeks.

Penelope pats the seat next to her. “You and me, my love.” She’s taught me how to play, and I quote; ‘so we can annihilate the competition.’ Not that she’s competitive or anything.

“How’s school Kaden?” Linda asks, dealing out cards.

“Good, thanks.”

“You got a nice lady yet?” Evelyn chirps in. They always ask the same questions.

“I don’t have time for that.” I shake my head on a smile.

She waves me off. “I have a granddaughter…”

I cock an eyebrow and look up at her wrinkled face. “You want to set your granddaughter up with an escort?”

They all start laughing and Pen puts her hand on my arm. “Kaden, my love, there’s no one better than you. I’d set you up with my granddaughter, but she doesn’t deserve you.” I frown. “Plus, you’ll be a doctor soon, and then you’ll be beating them off with a stick.”

“Oh, I bet you already are.” Linda pipes up.

“Well…” Evelyn glances at me, a wicked smile painted on her lips. “If I didn’t think I’d accidentally piss myself…” She winks and Pen starts swatting at her.

“Evelyn Grace!” Evelyn cackles away to herself and I can’t help but laugh. The thing I love about these ladies is that they’re past the point of pretenses and bullshit. Pen once told me that she’s old, so she’s earned the right to say what the fuck she wants. I think it’s true.

“Look, girls, as much as I think you’re all beautiful, I’m a one-woman man.” I grin and put my arm round the back of Pen’s chair.

She rolls her eyes and leans out to the side, pointing at me. “You give over. You’ll give an old woman a heart attack.”

“Ah, but then he might give you mouth to mouth.” Linda says. They all start laughing and I settle in for an arse whooping at Bridge.

A couple of hours later and I’ve well and truly lost. They’re all drunk. Evelyn has passed out on the sofa and her teeth are hanging out. Linda and Pen are dancing to 40’s jazz in the front room. I’m not quite sure when a bridge game turned into an elderly frat party.

“Kaden.” Pen crooks her finger at me and I smile, walking over to her. She holds her arm out for me to dance with her. I take her hand and put the other at the small of her back, holding her tiny frame tightly against my body in case she falls. I spin her across the rug in the middle of her front room. Her head falls back, and she laughs, suddenly looking twenty years younger than she really is. I never knew my grandparents, and my parents are good people, but not like Penelope. She’s that person that everyone wishes were their grandmother. She lights up a room, makes inappropriate comments at the most inappropriate times and just generally lives life to the full.

“I didn’t know you could dance.” She says breathlessly.

“My mum made me take lessons. I hated every minute of it. Until Emery Kyte kissed me behind the stage curtains when I was seven.” I smile. “Then I got a bit more enthusiastic.”

“You were an early ladies man.”

I cock an eyebrow, glancing down at her. “Did you expect anything less?”

She smiles and rests her cheek against my chest as we rock to the music. “No, my dear. I expect you to have the world at your feet.”

The hotel room door clicks open and I turn away from the window to face Kaden.

He’s usually immaculate, his suit perfectly ironed, the knot in his tie exactly symmetrical. Today though, he has no tie, and his normally tidy hair looks as though he literally just stepped out of the shower and dragged a hand through it. The top two buttons of his shirt are undone, the small triangle of tanned skin making an appearance. Dark eyes lock onto me, watching and waiting. Kaden is beautiful and with so much potential, but he’s a pleaser. Maybe it’s the fact that he’s an escort, maybe it’s just his age, or perhaps he was just raised to be a good boy. Whatever it is, I’m going to break him, slowly, bit by bit. I see it lurking, just behind his eyes, the ability to become something spectacular.

I approach him and reach out, tracing my nail from his throat to the top button of his shirt. I start to undo the buttons, watching as the pale blue material parts, giving way to smooth, silky skin over tight, hard muscles. I watch his expression as I yank his belt open. His lips press together and his eyes narrow ever so slightly. This is what makes him such an exciting prospect. He likes what I do to him, whilst hating it at the same time. He gives up control to please, until I’m fucking him, pushing him, breaking him…and then he fights it like a caged animal. It’s a beautiful thing to watch, and of course, the more riled he is, the better he is when I finally unleash him. He’s nearly ready. Nearly.

I trail my palm over the smooth, warm skin of his stomach. His eyes shift from my eyes to my lips and back again. I smirk when he leans in and press my index finger against his lips. His lips curl and he cocks a brow incredulously. Yes, he’s so very nearly ready. I thrust my hand in his boxers and wrap a hand around his cock. His eyes flash and his nostrils flare as I squeeze him hard. I scrape my teeth over my bottom lip, smirking when I see his forearms tense as his fists clench tightly. I can see the internal war written all over his face, and all I want is for him to win, to break free of my commands and act regardless.

I move my hand up and down his cock and he throws his head back, swallowing heavily. The muscles in his neck cord and his Adam’s apple bobs. I release his cock and start to shove his trousers and boxers down when his phone starts ringing in his front pocket.

“Ignore it.” He says in a throaty voice. No sooner has it rung off than it rings again, and again. I’m paying him five grand and he can’t turn his phone off?

I sigh heavily. “Answer it or turn it off.” I snap, turning away from him and placing my hands on my hips.

He picks it up and I ignore his hushed whispers until I feel his fingers trail my arm. “Melanie, I’m so sorry but I have to go.” I turn and see the panic on his face.

I stare at him for a second. “Fine. Go.”

“I’m sorry.” He says, pulling his shirt back on and fastening his trousers. “I’ll see you on Friday?”

“Just go, Kaden.”

He offers me one last regretful look and then he’s gone. There’s a reason I hire escorts, and it’s so I don’t have to deal with let downs or excuses. I expect the service I pay for. That may sound like I’m being a raging bitch, but I am a bitch.

Penelope had a stroke. I can’t quite wrap my head around it, around the concept of Penelope, strong, resilient, fiercely independent Penelope having a stroke.

They’re not allowing anyone but family to see Penelope, but luckily she was taken to St George’s, where I work. Being that I’m a doctor, I can see her whenever I want to. When I step into her room I have to choke back tears. Penelope is old, but she’s always been strong, so full of life and vitality. To see her like this breaks my heart.

She looks like any other critical patient, only I know her, so she’s not. There are tubes sticking out of her frail arms, and a breathing tube attached to her face. She looks like she’s knocking on death’s door. I came straight from Melanie’s hotel the second Nadine called me. I’m sure I’m going to get no end of shit for walking out on her, hell, I might even lose her as a client, but I don’t care because it’s Pen. It’s nearly ten o’ clock at night and the lights in her hospital room are dimmed. Of course, the nurses let me in. I get a coffee and take a seat beside her bed. I don’t know why. I know my being here is of no use to her at all, but I just don’t want her to be alone. I glance over her chart, reading through the doctor’s notes. She’s sedated at the moment but they want to take her for a CT scan later today. With a stroke though, there’s no real way of assessing the extent of the damage until she wakes up. I think that’s what scares me the most, is the prospect that Penelope as I knew her will be gone.