Fortune by Annabel Joseph (ebook reader for comics TXT) 📕

“He makes you happy,” Zinaida said. It wasn’t a question. Kat supposed it showed.

“Yes. He’s a good man. He’s very…focused. Patient. Kind.” Sexy. Funny. Trustworthy. Faithful. A genius. When she enumerated all his qualities in her head she wondered why she couldn’t let go of that last bit of self-preservation. Why she couldn’t believe, even now, that everything would be okay. She still waited for disaster, still waited to lose interest. Still waited for heartbreak and devastation that never came.

He was folding paper now, using discarded gift-wrap to make origami animals for the children. They milled around him, asking for this animal or that, and each time he produced it precisely as asked, holding it out to the eager grasping hands with a flourish. The children laughed and always begged for another. He complied, manipulating the paper with the same agile fingers that had tied her into knots the night before. The children watched every movement, open-mouthed and astounded. Even this endeared him to her, this silly origami obsession. The production of cranes at home had waned somewhat, stalled in the eight hundreds. Perhaps he believed his wish had already come true. He smiled at the children, truly smiled as he interacted with them. Not the fake smile adults put on sometimes, but a true smile. The only smile she ever saw from him. He was so honest, so true.

And she was so fake.

Or maybe she wasn’t. She didn’t know anymore. She had pretended so long in her life that she still wasn’t sure which of her feelings were fake and which were real.

“Auntie Katya,” said one of the twins, running over. “Look what Dr. Ryan made me!”

“Hmm. Is that a flamingo or something?”

He laughed. “It’s an elephant.”

“Oh yes, I see it now.” Kat gave the boy a hug and looked over at Ryan again. He was bouncing one of the toddlers on his knee now, trying to ignore the popping, fatty encased meats sizzling on the grill just across from him. She thought she might just die, her heart felt so much for him. She thought her chest might explode from what she felt inside.

* * * * *

“And that’s why processed meat is so bad, Kat. I mean, no offense to your family, but I bet there are more toxins in one commercially produced serving of bratwurst than an entire course of childhood vaccines.”

Kat put her hand over her mouth to stop herself from laughing, which would only rile him up more. She put on an air of innocent curiosity. “So, I mean… You know that for sure? What kind of toxins are you talking about?”

“Toxins like fat, chemical additives and preservatives—”

“Fat is a toxin?”

He gave a frustrated exhalation. “Well, yes, Kat. If you consider its adverse effect on health.”

“Isn’t fat on the food pyramid? So it can’t really be a toxin. And all those fruits and vegetables you’re always pushing on me, they’re practically silly with toxic pesticides.”

“No, they’re not. Not the organic kind.”

“The orgasmic kind?” She purposely misunderstood. “Like…cucumbers?”

“Kat—” He screwed up his face, trying not to laugh.

“Mmm…zucchini…” He was looking positively apoplectic. “So…what about stressing over what other people eat? Does that have any toxic effects on health?” She finally let out the giggles bubbling in her chest.

He shook his head at her. “You can laugh all you want, but I work with a lot of sick people. I take this stuff seriously.”

“I know. I still like you though.” She reached over and patted the hand that rested on his thigh as they cruised down I-90. He trapped it and squeezed her fingers against his palm.

“Don’t you feel better now that you eat more healthy foods?” he asked.

“I do. But every once in a while, I just like to be…bad.”

He finally smiled, relaxing. “I know that’s the truth. Speaking of being bad, I expect you to behave yourself this weekend.”

“Behave? Surely you jest.” But her face clouded as she considered. “Do your friends… Do they follow a bunch of those… What are they? Protocols and stuff?”

“I’m not sure. I haven’t seen them in a while, since last year. Dave’s never been a real big protocol guy, but couples sometimes change over time. Look at how much more we do now than when we first started and it’s only been a few months. If they do protocols we’ll just deal with it.”

“What about us?”

“What about us?”

“Do we just act…normal? I mean…”

“Do you want to do protocols, Kat?” he asked with a grin.

“No, I mean—”

“All this weekend, every time I cough that means you’re to drop to your knees and take out my cock. Then when I blink four times, that means start sucking me.”

Kat tsked.

“And of course,” he added, “when I lay my finger alongside my nose, you know what that means.”

“Um, you’re going up the chimney?”

“No. Double penetration, silly.”

Kat laughed but then sobered as his words sank in. Ryan cleared his throat, glancing over at her.

“I guess I should tell you that this is a couple I’ve played with. We all played together, just once, back before Dave and Sophie married. As it turned out, it was the weekend Hunter was conceived.”

Kat raised her eyebrows. “Oh, really? Sure he’s not yours?”

Ryan laughed. “Pretty sure, since he’s a mirror image of Dave and since it was Dave whose condom broke.”

“What did you do?”

“Well, he actually forgot to tell her it happened, and then—”

“No, I mean… What did you do when all three of you played together? What kind of…activities?”

“We played some kinky games, had a lot of horny silliness.”

“You double penetrated her? You and Dave?”

“Yes. But don’t freak out, Kat. It was a fantasy of hers so we did it. I would never expect it of you.”

She was silent, not sure whether she was scandalized, disgusted or horny as fuck about the idea of double penetration. “What…so what… What will you expect of me?”

He scratched his neck and thought a moment. “Nothing. I won’t force you into anything. But have you ever been with more than