Choked (Devoured #3) (2 page)

Julianna flipped her hair over her shoulders and took
a deep breath. She was so anxious she felt like she was covered in ants. She
steadied her hand just long enough to knock on the door.

“Come in.”

She pushed the door open and stuck her head in.

Kirk jumped up when he saw her, knocking his coffee
all over his desk. “Fuck!” He patted down his pockets looking for something to
mop up the spill before he started picking the dripping papers off his desk and
shaking them off.

Julianna pulled a package of tissues out of her
purse and handed them to him.

“Thank you,” he said, snatching them from her. He
tore the plastic open, spread the tissues out on the desk, and banged his fist down
beside the spill.

“Is this a bad time?”

He leaned one arm on the desk and looked at her. “What
are you doing here?”

“I came to see you.”

“I can see that,” he said. “Why?”

She scrunched up her face. “Do you want me to come
back?” She took a step towards the door. “I could come back later.”

“No! I don’t want you to come back later.”

She nodded and closed the door gently behind her, hoping
he was done yelling and that the spill wouldn’t spoil the good news.

Kirk took a deep breath and ran his fingers through
his hair. “Sorry. Let me start again. Hi”

The tension melted from her shoulders. “Hi.”

“How are you?”

“Fine, thanks. How are you?”

“Great.” He crossed his arms. “I thought you were
finishing your degree at Emhurst?”

“I am.”

“So what are you doing here?”

“Well I came for two reasons.”

He raised his eyebrows.

“They’re kind of related, I guess.”

“What are they?”

“Well, the first reason I’m here is because I was
just putting in an early application for a teaching position for after I
graduate in the spring.”

Kirk’s mouth moved in the opposite direction of what
she expected. And his body moved with it, right down into the chair. “Why?”

“What do you mean why?”

“Why would you want to work here?”

“Are you kidding? I love this place.” She shifted
her weight. “Plus, the psychology program is excellent, and I have
connections.”

“You mean your dad?”

“Yeah. And you.”

“Julianna.” He rested a forearm on the desk. “We are
not connected. We do not have a connection of any kind anymore.”

“That’s a bit harsh, isn’t it?”

“Don’t misunderstand me, I want you to be happy and
everything. I just don’t want you to work here.”

“I thought you would be excited.”

“You thought wrong.” Kirk pushed his glasses up his
nose. “Look, I’ve moved on. I assumed you had, too.” He moved his hands as if
he could wave her away like smoke. “There is no reason for either of us to see
each other anymore.”

Julianna pursed her lips. “Well that’s where you’re
wrong.”

“I’m sorry?”

“Which brings me to my second reason for coming to
see you.”

“Am I going to like this reason better?”

Julianna clasped her hands in front of her and
shrugged. “I hope so.”

“Cause if you don’t think I’m going to like it, you
don’t have to tell me. Not knowing what you’re up to works for me. It’s my
preference, really.”

Julianna swallowed. “I think you’re going to be
happy about it.”

Kirk released a heavy sigh. “Okay.”

“Ready?”

“That’s irrelevant.”

Julianna made a pouty face.

“Yeah. I’m ready.”

“I’m pregnant.”

“Congratulations.”

“Thanks.”

“Who’s the lucky guy?”

Julianna looked at him.

“Oh no,” he said. “No. No. No. It can’t be.”

“It is. It’s you. It’s yours.”

“But I thought- I thought you were on the pill when
we- so-”

“I know.” She put her hand against her stomach. “I
guess our little miracle was just meant to be.”

The color drained from Kirk’s face.

“I thought you’d be happy.”

Kirk stood up and walked out of the room as quickly
as if she’d just told him there was a fire.

Julianna sighed and leaned against the bookshelf for
a second. He was far more shocked than she’d expected him to be. What did he
think happened when you pumped a girl full of your spunk?

Regardless, she understood that he needed some time
to figure out what he was going to do. After all, he would have to leave
Madeline, and that was going to be difficult because he probably still loved
her, at least a little bit. Even after all the things he’d done with Julianna.

And really, she probably shouldn’t have sprung both
of those pieces of news on him at once. I mean, that was a lot of surprises for
a guy to take. And it probably didn’t help that he’d just spilled all over whatever
he was working on.

She walked over to his desk to assess the damage and
blotted the tissues on the papers some more.

There was one document featuring data from his
addiction study. She remembered how when she’d first seen it, she’d fucked
herself till her fingers cramped thinking about him.

And to think she felt lucky when she was just
screwing a hot professor. Soon she’d have him all to herself. Well, it wouldn’t
be that soon. The baby would probably come long before his divorce was
finalized. But since they didn’t have any kids, there would be no reason for it
to get messy.

She could only hope that his sad excuse for a wife would
be civil about moving on with her life. It wasn’t Julianna’s problem that she
couldn’t keep her husband happy.

Next to the study there was a stack of undergrad
papers on various disorders. The one on top looked like it had actually been
improved by the spill.

And finally there was an official looking letter
with his name on it. She moved some of the tissues to the side and picked it up.
Surely he wouldn’t mind. Privacy had no place in their relationship. Mail was
nothing compared to what they’d shared. 

It was an invitation to a special dinner in March
where he was going to speak about his study and perhaps receive additional
funding and partnership opportunities. She was so excited for him she wanted to
congratulate him with something special. Maybe a strip tease or some anal.  

But his emotions were already overwhelmed by the
news. Her O face was probably the last thing on his mind. If she were sprawled
naked on his desk with his stapler in her snatch when he came back, he might
actually explode. She could only hope he hadn’t already fainted somewhere.

Julianna put the letter back where it was and made a
mental note that she must congratulate him next time they spoke. Then she gathered
the last of the wet tissues and put them in the waste basket.

Finally, she decided to take the hint. He wasn’t
going to kiss her passionately and cheer just yet. He needed time. She wrote on
a sticky note so he’d know how to find her. When he was ready to talk, she
would be waiting. 

There were little beads of sweat on Kirk’s forehead
as he knocked on the door. When there was no answer, he knocked harder.

Julianna opened the door as far as the small chain
lock would let her and squinted out into the hallway of the Union Hotel.

“Let me in,” he said, trying to feign a cool head.

He stepped inside and locked the door behind him.

She pulled her robe around herself.

He was relieved that she wasn’t wearing any make up
and had sheet creases across her face. The less sexy she looked, the less he
thought about everything they’d done, the better.

“Kirk, it’s two in the morning.”

“This used to be early for you.”

“Well, it’s not anymore.” Julianna sat on the bed
and pinched the gold cross charm around her neck. “What are you doing here?”

“What do you want?”

“What?”

“Money? Do you want money? Is that what you want?”

“No. I don’t want money.”

He crossed his arms and stood with his straight legs
in a wide stance.

She looked up at him. “Where did you disappear to
the other day?”

The truth was he’d gone to the bathroom and splashed
water on his face until he’d finally talked himself out of dumping her body in
the river. “How much do you need?”

“What are you talking about?”

He pulled his wallet out of his back pocket. “For an
abortion, Julianna. How much do you need?”

“Excuse me?”

“Do you even know?”

She started shaking her head.

“Will a few hundred cover it? A few thousand?”

“Oh my God.” She ran her fingers through her hair.
“You’re serious?”

“Yeah, I’m serious. You are going to make this baby
go away, just like you went away. It’s going to disappear.”

“I’m not having an abortion.”

“I understand why you wouldn’t want to, but I get a say
in this.”

“I’m not killing our baby.”

“Don’t look at it that way.”

Her eyes were full of malice. “What other way is
there to look at it?”

Kirk looked around the room like the answer might be
written on the walls. “Look at it as… saving our lives.”

Julianna cocked her head. “This baby was made out of
real passion. It deserves to live.”

“Julianna. This baby was an accident. The sooner you
can accept that, the sooner you can do the right thing for everyone, the baby
included.”

She shook her head.

Kirk pulled his hair. “Are you even sure it’s mine?
Because if it’s not then you can do whatever you want and it’s not my problem.”

”Don’t be stupid, Kirk. You know it’s your baby or
you wouldn’t be here.”

Kirk breathed out through his nose.

“I thought you would be happy.”

Kirk pulled his hair with both hands. “Why would you
think that?”

“Because it’s the perfect excuse for us to finally
be together. No more sneaking around.”

“What are you talking about?!”

“You and me and the baby, Kirk. It makes sense.
We’re into the same things, and we can love this baby like we love each other.”

“Shit, Julianna. I never loved you. I never even
told you I loved you.”

“You didn’t have to say it.” She crossed the room
and stood in front of him. “You showed me.” She dragged a hand up his arm.

He smacked it away and hot anger flooded his body.
“That wasn’t love, Julianna. We had an affair. I cheated on the person I love
with you. You’re the other woman. It was only ever about sex. And it’s over. No
baby is going to change the way I feel about you or about us.”

“Maybe not right away.” She shrugged. “But
eventually it will. When we’re a family.”

“I have a family of my own, and I don’t want you or
what we did anywhere near that.”

“So you want me to kill an innocent child to protect
your lies?”

“That is exactly what I want you to do, and if you
really care about us, that’s what you’ll decide you want, too.”

“Does this mean you haven’t told Madeline?”

“This has nothing to do with her.” He hated that her
name even came up. He wanted to tell Julianna not to say it, but he was afraid
it would just encourage her to throw Madeline’s name in his face like a weapon.

“I think you should be the one to tell her, don’t
you?”

“Excuse me?”

“I mean, if you aren’t going to do the logical thing
and leave her right away, you should at least give her time to prepare to
accept me and the baby into your lives. Don’t you think?”

“No. She doesn’t know about us, and she certainly
isn’t going to know about the baby.”

“Maybe she’d be happy for us. I mean, the baby is
half you after all, and she loves you, right?”

Kirk shook his head. “No.”

“Are you afraid of telling her? Cause if you think
she’d rather hear it from me-“

“She’s not hearing anything from anyone. Do you
understand? You are going to make this go away.”

“Or what?”

“There is nothing else.”

“I’ve already made up my mind.” Julianna put her
hand on her stomach. “I’m having this baby.”

Kirk was so angry he wanted to punch the back of her
hand.

“You’re the one that needs to figure out what you’re
going to do about your wife so she doesn’t get in the way of us becoming a family.”

“Can you even hear yourself?”

“Don’t patronize me, Kirk. I’ve thought a lot more
about this than you have.”

“Yeah. If delusional thoughts count.” He grabbed
Julianna by the shoulders. “Listen. I didn’t come here to discuss my marriage.
I came to ask how much money you need to get an abortion.”

She let her head fall back and looked up at him as
he shook her.

“And if you want to go to a spa or a weekend away or
something after it, I’ll pay for that, too. Whatever you want. Anything. It’s
yours. Just as long as you are out of my life again. Okay?”

She dragged her hand across the front of his pants.

“I like it when you get all worked up, Kirk,” she
said, groping his cock. “Wanna fuck for old time sake?”

He took a step back where she couldn’t reach him. “No.”

“Pleeaase.” Julianna crossed her legs like she needed
to pee. “The pregnancy is making me super horny.”

He crossed his arms.

“Just a quickie,” she said. “I’ll suck your balls. I
know how much you like that.”

Kirk went to the door, unhooked the lock, and pushed
the handle down. “You’re dead to me Julianna,” he said, “and you better make
sure that baby is, too.”