SWNOVELS Dr. Mitchell: Chapter 14
I woke up with Ash curled up on her side, her back and perfect body pressed into mine, while she slept facing the ocean view from my windows. My bicep was her pillow, while my other arm wrapped tightly around her to keep this odd sensation of completeness I was experiencing going.
I was spellbound by the woman. There was no other explanation for any of this. The Jake Mitchell everyone knew all too well was a cocky bastard who wouldn’t dare entertain the thought of a relationship. The Dr. Jacob Mitchell that everyone knew on top of my bachelor side, the man I truly was—this side of me understood very well that I couldn’t think the way I was thinking. I had no idea what the fuck to do with any of this except go with what was driving me to keep this woman close and never let her go.
Was I selfish in all of this? That was a given, but I couldn’t resist how being in her presence made me feel. There was no explanation for any of it. Period. I didn’t fall for women—especially blindly fall for them as I had her. There was something in the way our eyes locked, her mannerisms of biting her nail while deep in thought over something, the way her face became lit with humor, her free spirit that I sensed every time I was around her. Most of all, she didn’t react to me as most women had. There was a depth to her, and internally, I was drawn to it. I was mesmerized by her.
The sun was moving over the ocean, causing the calm sea that went on forever to roll in a shimmering fashion underneath its rays gently. The cool breeze of the morning filled the room with the salty air that complemented the vanilla and floral fragrance of Ash’s hair I’d dipped my face to inhale.
“Wow,” I heard her say, rousing awake.
I smiled when her hand came up, and she ran her fingertips along my forearm. “Finally, she’s awake,” I teased, pressing my lips into her hair.
“Sort of had a long evening,” she said with a smile in her voice. “Some guy kept me up all night.”
“What an asshole,” I teased. “Surely he knew you needed your rest?”
“If I’m honest, I think he knew exactly what I needed. And now? I get to wake up to this majestic sight.”
“I’m curious as to what your artistic mind sees.”
“My artistic mind?” she said with a laugh, but never turned to face me. I wanted to see the wonder in her eyes as she stared out at the open sea.
“You made it perfectly clear you love to paint, and your ultimate dream is to create a painting of something that would pull someone to see through your eyes the emotion, passion, and beauty of what your mind absorbs in particular things. I would say that is an artistic mind.”
“I’m curious as to what your artistic mind sees. Everyone has a creative side, so what do you see?”
“Look at you.” I laughed. “You have a way of turning everything back toward me.”
“Answer the question.”
“I’m a scientist. You don’t want my boring answer to this.”
“Try me.”
“Very well. I see a large body of water with the sun making it sparkle or shine or whatever.”
“That’s good. Now, dig deeper. What do you feel when you look out at your sparkly and shining sea?”
“Dig deeper?” I questioned with a laugh. “Okay. I imagine a large sailboat cruising through the water with two naked people fucking on the bow.”
She laughed. “You do have a vivid imagination,” she answered. “Why a sailboat, though? Why not a yacht or a little rowboat?”
I had no idea what the fuck we were talking about, but hell, I was enjoying it. “Well, the rowboat wouldn’t work since it’s the ocean and not a lake. And I believe the naked couple shouldn’t have to worry about rowing when they should be enjoying fucking on the open sea. The yacht would be less intimate with a captain and his crew navigating it, and assholes somehow coming out of every crevice of the thing—drunk and obnoxious.”
“So you pretty much visualize the glittery, sparkly, open sea as a sexual interpretation?”
I laughed. “What are you an art therapist?” I brushed my thumb across the bare skin of her breast. “I told you, the answer would be boring. Maybe it’s just my interpretation of what I’m thinking of as I wake up with your sexy ass in my arms.” I kissed her again. “The people trying to fuck in a rowboat, yacht, or on the sailboat…that’s you and me.”
“Well, you’re quite the dreamer,” she said, “because I’d probably get seasick and destroy the canvas you’ve just created by being the one barfing over the side of any of those three boats in your visualization.”
I sat up, needing to stretch. She rolled onto her back, giving me the real portrait of what the artist in me needed: her full tits, nipples hard, and her taut waist. She pulled the sheets over her, probably seeing the want in my greedy eyes.
I used my elbow to prop myself up on my side. “You love the ocean?” I asked as she nodded in response. “You expressed your passion for bringing it alive on canvas.” She nodded again with a smile. “Then why would you tell me you get seasick? How does that even work?”
She shrugged. “I can love and lose myself in the majesty and the beauty of the ocean without knowing whether or not I’d get seasick.”
“Have you never experienced being out in the ocean in any form?” I asked.
She sighed. “Nope. Maybe it’s a bit of fear from hearing how people get sick on boats, and I don’t want to ruin my love for the ocean by it making me nauseous.”
“That’s absurd,” I answered her.
“What are you going to do, big guy?” She ran her hand down the center of my chest. “Prove that I’ll handle it just fine by renting a yacht or something?”
I smirked. “No, we’ll start small.” I brushed my finger over her nose. “With a fucking rowboat, then move up from there.”
“You’re insane. I’m not risking it.”
“Suddenly, she’s no longer into taking risks?”
“I’d say you and I both took the most insane risk two people could ever take—not knowing each other well enough like this—while having unprotected sex last night.”
I wanted to collapse on the bed with the fear of allowing my sexual appetite to overrule my better judgment. The rational side of my brain was trying to bring this issue up all morning, but I ignored it. I didn’t want this to haunt either one of us, and it was my fucking fault for not paying attention to the fact that I’d used the last condom out of that box over a year ago.
I sighed. “Now that we’ve thoroughly managed to have sex throughout the entire night, practically begging the birth control pill to fail us both, I have to know if you fucking hate me for not being prepared.”
“I don’t hate you for any of it.” She smiled reassuringly at me. “I think we’ll be just fine. Though, you seem to be the type to have those on hand.”
“And she judges me harshly,” I teased. “I deserve it. However, I haven’t had a woman in this house in years. I stopped bringing that side of my life into the one home where I find my reprieve.”
“But you brought me here?”
“I did,” I said, our eyes locking, mine more serious. “Because you’re not just any other woman to me. I wanted you here with me. I wanted to wake up with you in my arms at the one house where I’m most relaxed. I wanted to enjoy every second of being with you—and you would have imagined I would have expected us to move into a sexual situation and prepared for that shit. Instead, the other place has the condoms fully stocked for you.”
“For me?” she arched an eyebrow.
I ran my fingers over her forehead. “As I said, I only want you, no one else. I made the mistake of trying to replace the memory of our first night together—believing it was just sex and any other woman could fill what I wanted again after you left that morning. It wasn’t the same. Until you, I didn’t give a shit, but now? Well.” I ran my hands to pull the sheets down to expose her heavenly body to me. “You’re stuck with me lusting over this angelic body until I die.”
“Until you die?” She laughed and sat up. “Now you’re trying to pull off some portion of wedding vows with your sexual lusting about me?” She ran her hands through my hair. “While I adore it,” she turned to get out of bed, “I need a hot shower.”
“You’re a fucking tease,” I said, watching her perfect ass walking around my room and laughing when she managed to find the concealed door, opening it to reveal my closet.
She turned back to me. “Don’t tell me the bathroom is in some crazy nook—”
“Nook? Yeah, not in this place. Get your sexy ass over here,” I said, opening the door that was fashioned to blend in with the walls, keeping everything in this room’s focus on the open wall displaying the sea. “I’ll get the water running, and if you’re in the mood, I’ll join you in ensuring you can find the shampoo too.”
She smiled. “I’m sure you’ll help me find more than that,” she said, walking into the massive bathroom I loved more than any of the state-of-the-art bathrooms in either of my houses.
“You’re damn right I will,” I said, then worked to bring the large shower to life, setting the water to an ideal temperature. Might as well get the morning started right and work up our appetites for the breakfast I’d planned to make before I asked her to spend the day out with me.
The more I had sex with Ashley, the more I craved from her. The more I wanted her. The sounds the woman made were enough to make me act like some sex addict who had to have her again—this time out by the pool…or in the pool. Both?
I left her to lounge by the pool and enjoy the ocean coming to life with sailboats and people headed out to sea. We’d just eaten what I now know was her favorite breakfast—French toast with powdered sugar and strawberries. I had every breakfast food I could think of delivered to the house. While finishing up the last of the dishes, I threw a dry towel over my shoulder and turned back to find my phone vibrating, alerting me to Jim ringing in. I closed my eyes and exhaled.
Dammit. I forgot about the shit storm from last night, I thought while I considered if I should ruin a blissful morning and answer the damn thing, or ignore it and wait until after I brought Ash home to deal with what Jim had learned. Fuck it. I’d text him. He said he’d handle whatever came out of it—I was going with that.
Jake: Busy. Did you handle everything from last night?
Jim: We need to talk.
Jake: I’m not doing this shit right now.
Incoming call: Jim
“I told you to handle this shit,” I said in a low voice so Ashley wouldn’t be disturbed with me wanting to kill my brother at the moment.
“There’s more to handle than just you in this situation,” he said. “It appears that someone leaked photos of you and me at that club last week. You and I are now the world’s most eligible bachelors, taking care of hearts and money.”
“What the fuck are you talking about?”
“I’m still working on why you and I are capturing the attention of the press, but we are.”
“I hate this fucking town,” I fumed. “This docuseries is fucking us over. It was supposed to be about helping people trust the medical industry and how far science has come in helping people live longer lives—not this bullshit. It was never supposed to be about us. I made sure of that with every word that came out of my mouth in the interview.”
“I understand that; however, someone must have a friend in the press or at a magazine, I don’t fucking know. All I know is both of us have gained the interest of people, and from what I’ve learned, a high price was paid for the leaked photo.”
“That’s the thing, Jimbo. Leaked photos? Why the fuck would anyone pay for them? This is incomprehensible.”
“We walked out of the club with those chicks. That interested them.”
“So what? We aren’t movie stars!” I answered. “I didn’t take anyone home. I’m out. Fix this shit now.”
“I am fixing it, Jake,” he growled into the phone. “I’m also calling to let you know to lay low for now. If Ashley’s still with you, stay out of the public eye. They seem to be after the more personal side of both of us. You because of the series, and me because of the company.”
“Fuck me, man. I was going to take her on a drive up the coast today. I’m not playing this game. I can’t live my life now?”
“If they’re as aggressive as our lawyers believe them to be in wanting the inside details of our personal lives, then you might want to consider if they’ll dig into Ashley’s if they see her with you and want to know more about who you’re with.”
I rubbed my forehead. “If I remember correctly, which I do, we had a mob of phones taking our pictures last night. Are you telling me that whatever in the hell these people are doing will result in her being on the front page of magazines or something?”
“I handled that entire situation last night. Trust me, it wasn’t cheap, but I handled it, and pictures taken of you with Ashley won’t be released. The lawyers are involved to ensure her privacy after being seen with you.”
“I don’t do social media, and you know that, so is that handled as well? I’m pretty sure some might have slipped under your magic fix radar and posted something. Isn’t that what everyone uses that bullshit for?”
“Any photos uploaded were deleted. It’s handled. I’m calling you to tell you to lay low, or if you go anywhere, go somewhere that doesn’t give a shit about following these headlines and stories, so you’re not noticed. If you have to go out, then be smart about it until I get this settled down.”
“Fine. We’ll talk more about this tomorrow or after I drop Ashley off.”
“Let me know when you plan on taking her home, and I’ll send a driver for her.”
“Fuck that,” I answered. “I know the best way to keep our identities concealed from this invasion of my personal life. It turns out, my girl likes adrenaline and I think I have a better plan for our day now.”
“Your girl?” Jim said with a smile in his voice.
“Whatever.” I sighed.
“I just needed you to know that it’s handled, but it’s also still an issue.”
“Got it.”
We hung up and I tapped my fingers on the phone while I looked out at Ashley, relaxing out on the patio.
“You want to get out of here and do something wild?”
“I’m not having sex on a sailboat.” She laughed, sitting up.
“I just got off the phone with Jim,” I said, eying her petite frame. “I need to run out for a second and pick you up some clothes for what I have planned. I need your sizes.”
“Jesus Christ,” she said with a laugh. “What is going on in that mind of yours?”
“Well, my personal life is fucked for a while, and I’m told it’s going to fuck yours over too if these assholes get pics of us together. Jim’s handling it, but for now, I’m not taking chances with people strangely wanting to know about my private life. So, sizes?”
“It depends on what I’m wearing.”
“The place I’m going to could probably determine that from just your pant size. That’s all I really need.”
“Well, you’re making this a bit exciting, but you don’t need to go out and buy me an outfit.”
I smiled. “Seeing your ass in black leather pants? Fuck yes, I do.”
Her face wrinkled in humor. “We going to a nightclub at one in the afternoon?”
“Just answer me.” I sighed with a smile.
“Size two pants,” she eyed me, “that stretch. If it’s leather, you might want your shop friends to know I’ll probably run a bit bigger.”
“Got it, be back in a few. Take a swim.” I eyed the pool. “The place is fully private, so you can swim naked if you’d like.” I pointed toward the video cameras. “I’ll delete the footage if it bothers you that the cameras are constantly recording.”
“You’ve got it all figured out, don’t you?” She surprised me by walking up to me, standing on her toes, and kissing my chin.
“It appears I have to since I’ll have cameras on my ass for a while.”
I was back within the hour and walked out to where Ashley was lying on the lounge chair in a towel, and one of my white undershirts was drying in the wind behind it.
“I see you destroyed my shirt.” I laughed at her peaceful expression.
“Good thing you have five hundred of them, or I would have had my naked body on display for your kinky pleasure after I left.”
I pulled her up. “Well, since you took those perverted and creep show plans out of my life, I’ll have to figure something else out now.” I held the shopping bag with her leather pants and jacket in it toward her. “Go change into this. I have plans for lunch up the coast, but to keep you safe, you’re wearing all leather, angel.”
She took the bag. “Jesus Christ. Okay,” she said with uncertainty.
When both of us were changed into my riding gear, I was grateful I remembered her needing boots too. I wasn’t a jackass on my street bike, but I never took it for granted either. A rider could go down for the stupidest shit, and I never took chances, knowing there was riding gear out there that could save my life should something happen. Mainly, my fears were assholes changing lanes and not seeing me or wildlife coming into the road.
When Ashley walked out of the bathroom, I instantly grew hard, seeing her in all black leather gear. “Fuck, you look sexy.”
“Fuck?” She walked over to me. “Is that your favorite word?”
“I guess so,” I answered, running my hands over the silk top I bought her to wear beneath the jacket. “You’re not wearing a bra. Are you trying to make it impossible for me to go without fucking you every second I’m with you?”
She laughed. “I figured with this combat wear you have me in, no one would know I wasn’t wearing a bra.”
I rubbed my thumb over her nipple. “Goddammit. I’m as hard as fuck.”
“You’re as sexy as fuck in your leather combat gear,” she said, rubbing her hand over my cock. “Did you buy condoms while you were out?”
“Yes,” I said breathlessly. “I’m about to use the entire box up on you before we even leave.”
She giggled. “Fine by me.”
I pulled myself together. I wanted her to see Highway One in all of its beauty farther up the coastline. I wanted her on the back of my bike. I would have her again, just not now.
“Stay with me again tonight,” I practically begged.
“I’d love to,” she said, soothing me to the core, knowing I’d get her for one more morning in my arms. “I have to be back at work on Monday, though.”
“You and me both. So, let’s make the best of the rest of our weekend.”
We walked out to the garage after I helped Ashley zip up the complicated jacket, and she gasped, laughed, and sort of squealed when she saw me uncover the Ecosse motorcycle. The bike was tailored to my specs, but still known as one of the fastest bikes built.
“Are you sure this was made for two people?”
“Believe it or not, I’m quite grateful I allowed for the added room on the seat. Your tight little ass will fit perfectly. I didn’t want it limited to just my riding alone.” I ran my hand through my hair, eying the bike. “I’ve never taken anyone on a bike with me, so I don’t know why I’d design it to work for two riders, but I’m glad as hell I did.”
“Well, I love to ride,” she said, shocking me. “My dad used to take me out on the Harley before he sold it when Mom got sick. It’ll be fun to get back on the old Iron Horse.”
I looked at her in disbelief. “I’ve seen women cringe at the mere sight of a street bike. I was certain you’d fight me on this.”
“Well, I’m not like most women; you said it yourself.”
“No,” I answered, “you’re not.”
I think I was falling in love with this woman and it wasn’t just about the bike, either. She was everything and more that I’d dreamt a perfect woman to be. Her free spirit, her daring side, and most of all, she was the first woman who didn’t seem to do or say things to impress me. She was authentic, and somehow, she felt as though she was born to make me the happiest man on earth. I just hoped to hell I was making the same impression on her that she was making on me.