The Filthy Series: The Complete Dark Erotic Serial Novel (4 page)

“So what do you do now, Rhetty baby?” I stared out the window watching the buildings fly by.

I glanced over at him in the driver’s seat. After my smoke, I’d come back in the house to a set of yoga pants, a tank top, sport bra, and a pair of granny panty underwear on the bed.
Sarah’s got some style, lemme tell ya.
Rhett immediately gave me directions to shower and get ready because we were going shopping. I’d considered giving him lip, but perfect little Sarah had come waltzing out in a business suit, wearing gallons of makeup, and making lovey-dovey eyes at Rhett. That got under my skin and I was happy to slam the door on the happy couple.

“I’m a lawyer.” He didn’t look away from the road. In fact he hadn’t looked at me at all since I climbed into the SUV with him.

“What?” I tried to keep the surprise out of my voice. “But you wanted to become a marine biologist.” That summer he was home, he told me all about different kinds of tropical fish. He was so animated when he talked about them, passionate. It made me want to be passionate about them too. He had all kind of pictures of him diving in tanks with exotic animals, like manatees and whales, sharks even.

He shrugged. “I grew up.”

“Really? That was only four years ago.” I eyed him. He wore a white v-neck, much like one I wore to bed the night before. Only it fit his lean torso perfectly. Dark jeans covered his legs and a pair of aviator sunglasses were perched on his nose. His blond hair was spiky again.
Fuck, he looks good.
His clean cut appearance made more sense now that I knew his profession.

“Yeah. I started law school before you ran away.”

“After that summer.” I don’t know why I brought it up. It was silly, ridiculous. I don’t know why a part of me still held on to that hurt, but I did.

He glanced over at me, his green eyes blank of emotion. “Yes. Now I’m a partner for one of the biggest law firms in Dallas.”

Part of me wanted to punch him in his stupid handsome face for his ability to be so blasé about the past, but I snorted unattractively instead.

“What’s funny about that?”

I shook my head. “Nothing. It just sounds boring as hell. Since when do you like that kind of stuff?” I didn’t succeed in keeping the venom out of my voice.

A muscle ticked in his jaw. “Since I’m good at it, Faye. It’s not like you have room to comment on people’s job choices,” he said snidely.

“Do you think you’re going to make me mad by bringing that up every five minutes?” I asked, staring at the side of his face intently. “Because I know what I am. I know I fuck for money. It isn’t some type of surprise. So you don’t need to remind me.” I sounded confident, like I didn’t give a shit. But I did. For some reason it hurt like hell when he brought it up.

“So you’re just okay with that? Fucking strangers for money? Don’t you know how dangerous that is?”

Laughter bubbled out of my lips. “Don’t be so naïve, Rhett.”

“Naïve? I’m being naïve?” A look of wonder spread across his face. “You have no idea what could happen to you. You’re lucky you’re even alive!”

Anger pumped through my veins. “Excuse me? I have no idea?” I bit down on the inside of my cheek to keep from screaming. “You have no idea, buddy.”

“Clearly it’s something you just picked up because someone like you wouldn’t last long in that kind of lifestyle.” He put one hand in his lap and fisted it.

“For your information this is what I’ve been doing for the last three years since I left. How do you think I got anywhere, Rhett? I had to fuck my way to a decent life.”

“A decent life? You call being a lot lizard and living in a pasture a decent life?” Rhett’s cheeks were red, his eyes sparking with anger when he glanced at me.

I looked away from him and down at my hands. They were shaking with rage. I needed another bump. This conversation was too much.

I took a deep breath.
You’re okay. You’re okay. You’re okay.

“How did you know I lived out in that field?” I paused. “Fuck. Shauna will be worried about me.”

“I saw you earlier in the day, walking out of there. So I just assumed…Who is Shauna?” he said slowly as if he too was trying to curb his anger.

“We live together out there. She’ll wonder what happened to me.” I rubbed a shaky hand over my lips. Shauna was like a big sister to me. We looked out for each other, cared about each other.

“Is she your girlfriend…like romantically?” Rhett glanced at me with something more than curiosity in his eyes.

“Wouldn’t you like to know.” I muttered.

“So she is?” Something about the way he said it made me pause. It was like he hated the idea.

“Oh, come on, Rhett. Just because I fuck for money doesn’t mean I’m a lesbian or something.”

He pulled the SUV into a parking space. I glanced out the window. “Where are we?” We weren’t at a mall or even a Wal Mart, but rather a plain-looking office building. I squinted to read the decal on the sliding glass doors.
Sally Paul OBGYN & Associates.

“What the fuck is this, Rhett?” I whirled around to face him. He stared at me intently, unsurprised by my outburst.

“You have an appointment this morning.”

“I. Do. Not.”

His gaze searched my face. “Yes, you do. I made you an appointment.”

“Why would you do that?” Tears pressed at the back of my eyes.

“This is what your mom would have wanted,” he said solemnly.

I shook my head. “I’m not going in there.”

“Yeah, you are.” He said the words as if he had never been more sure of anything in his life.

“Fuck you, Rhett. I won’t. You can’t fucking make me,” I snarled.

“The only way to make your life better is to start here.” He gestured toward the building. “Don’t you want that?”

I blinked my eyes rapidly. “Make my life better? I like my life the way it is!”

“You don’t really mean that.” He looked almost sad. “Faye, you can’t mean that. You can’t think that selling yourself is the way you want to spend the rest of your life. The girl I knew wouldn’t want this life.” The mask of hate was gone and in its place something else, something torn up, hurt. The sight of it killed something inside me, making me angrier.

“What difference does it make to you? You don’t even know me, not anymore!” I shouted. “I came with you to put my mother to rest. Not to change my life. I didn’t sign up for this shit.” I couldn’t go to the doctor. I just couldn’t. The last time I went to a woman’s doctor flashed into my head and I immediately pushed the thought away.

“Your mom would have wanted to help you, for you to help yourself,” he said the words like he was talking to a child. Like I was just some pathetic baby.

“My mom didn’t give a shit about me.” I wiped the tears from my eyes with the back of my hand.

“How could you really think that, Faye? She looked for you for a long time.” He looked sad, like I was breaking his heart.

“This is stupid.” I clutched my trembling hands in my lap. “We were just supposed to go shopping.”

“You’re not going to tell a soul, Faye, you got it? Sometimes you have to do things you don’t like. It’s part of being a woman.”

I pushed the voice away, her voice.

“You’re scared?”

I glanced back at Rhett. There wasn’t any hate in his gaze. Nothing but concern and curiosity, like he was trying to figure me out.

I chewed the inside of my lip and nodded.
Why did you just admit that? Don’t be weak!

One of Rhett’s big hands covered my trembling ones. The touch shocked me, more because I had seen the disgust in his face the night before. The way he covered himself in hand sanitizer just from touching me.

“I’ll go in with you. I won’t leave you alone. Okay?”

I glanced up into his eyes. He was closer now. Less than a foot away. So close I could see the little ring of honey brown on the inside of his irises. This was the Rhett I remembered. The kind guy who was passionate about fish and weird cartoons, the guy who cared.

I took a deep breath.
Just tell him no. Hell no.
“Okay.” I heard myself say.
What the fuck?
“But this doesn’t change anything,” I added, getting a grip on myself. “I’m going back after the funeral.”

My words seemed to irritate him, but he didn’t comment, just nodded and removed his hand. Mine still trembled in my lap, against the too-large yoga pants. The loss of his touch left me feeling bereft and lonely.

“Ready?”

I chewed my lip and reached for the door handle. “Fuck. Let’s just get it over with.”

“Okay, Ms. Turner, you can sit up now.” Dr. Paul clicked off the light that pointed between my legs.

I let out a deep breath and relaxed the hand that had Rhett’s in a death lock. He sat up near my head, out of the way of a crotch shot, not that it mattered. Hundreds of men had seen my pussy, even if they hadn’t seen it, they had felt it with their cocks. Fuck, I’d even offered Rhett the chance to be one of those lucky men last night, but for some reason once we were there in the doctor’s office, I didn’t want him to see me like that—all splayed out with a probe in my cunt.

It didn’t make the least bit of sense. Maybe it was because the doctor’s office made it more real, made the fact that I had fucked tons of faceless men, plenty without a condom, seem more wrong than it ever had.
Fuck. What’s going on with me?

I rubbed my nose and sat up slowly, pushing the ugly blue gown down over my hips. I brushed away the wetness around my eyes with the shoulder of my gown, hoping neither of them noticed.

“I don’t see any obvious signs of an STD, but I took swabs for testing so we will know in the next couple weeks. Have you had any irritation that you can think of?”

I shook my head. “No.”

Dr. Paul nodded, her blond head bobbing up and down. “I would like to speak with you, Faye. In private.” She glanced at Rhett.

I was about to accept her offer. I didn’t feel nervous anymore, not with her. Plus the tests were over.

“I promised her I would stay with her, Dr. Paul. She’s not much for doctors,” he said gently.

Sally looked to me for conformation and I nodded, feeling too overwhelmed to contest it.

“Okay,” she said. “I did notice there was some slight vaginal tearing, new tears as well as some scars.” She glanced between Rhett and I and our intertwined fingers. “Rough sex play is okay, but I suggest taking it easy. You don’t want to injure yourself permanently.”

My whole face seemed to catch on fire. Rhett let go of my hand simultaneously. I just assumed that Rhett had told her when he made the appointment that I was his prostitute step-sister.

“We aren’t a couple.” His words were so cold I could feel the ice sink into my skin.

She eyed the two of us, curiosity in her gaze. “Okay, well either way. Whoever you have sex with is your business, but you need to make sure you take it easy.” She smiled lightly. “Also—”

“What about birth control? I think it would be good if she was set up with some,” Rhett interrupted.

I cringed.
I should have made him go wait outside after all.

Dr. Paul glanced between us again. “That’s what I was going to talk about next. Though not about birth control specifically.” She looked down at the chart in her hands.

“What is it?” I could feel Rhett’s penetrating gaze on me. I could feel the hate—it was back. Gone for a short time only to return in full force.

“Are you on any hormone supplements, Faye, prescribed by a different doctor?”

I shook my head. “Not anymore. I used to be, but it’s been several years since I’ve taken anything.”

“Considering the circumstances you’re very lucky that you haven’t gone into early menopause. I’m going to write you a prescription. It’s very important you stay on them, especially with how young you are.”

“Okay.” I glanced over at Rhett. A frown seemed to be etched into his face.

“What does this have to do with birth control?”

Dr. Paul glanced between us, a neutral look on her face. “I think I’ll give you two a minute.” She grabbed the sample cups. “You’re free to get dressed, Faye.” The door closed behind her quickly.

“Why did she act weird about the birth control?” Rhett asked the second she was gone. “And what is this stuff about hormones?”

I wanted to laugh at how ridiculous he sounded asking all these questions, but I couldn’t. Reality was suffocating.

I turned slowly to look at him. He sat with his hands clenched in his lap, his left thumb rubbing the right, repeatedly, in quick motions. “I don’t need birth control.”

Rhett frowned and cocked his head. “You’re a nineteen year old woman who actively has sex. You need birth control,” he said forcefully.

“I don’t.” I climbed off the table and snatched the underwear and yoga pants off the floor.

“Yeah. You do.” He watched me intently while I put them on. He couldn’t see anything—the hospital gown hid it all, and I hadn’t taken my top off. But his eyes were just the same. They made me feel like I was wearing nothing. Like I was exposed for the world to see. My fingers shook, fumbled over the stretchy material. I felt raw, exposed. More exposed than I ever had in my life, which was saying something.

“No I don’t!” I huffed, jerking my arms out of the gown. “I don’t need fucking birth control because I can’t have kids!” My chest heaved like I’d been running.