Chapter 457: Katrina XVII—Affection

From the tunnel she watched an eye level’s view of the game; she kept an especially curious observation of Patrick in his net. An exceptionally quick little shot, and especially good little save and the crowd erupted with appreciation as loud as any goal scored. He held onto the puck, for a face off whistle and began to skate in his crease, scraping snow to the sides. She half grinned to herself, funny, how in the course of a few minutes the importance and meaning of one person in one’s life can change. Quite possibly she felt a small amount of affection for the man.

Just a tiny bit.

The tumble in the back of his new car had been anything but glamorous; in fact Katrina had a feeling they laughed and wriggled in tangled articles of clothing more than anything. Deep down, yes she had been somewhat afraid, her sexual experience with men consisted of only a handful of rich old patrons, quiet, appreciative men usually with low energy and big hearts and pockets, aside from Huxton she couldn’t recall ever being with a strong and healthy man, or ever wanting to be. Still, ah the money, the scent of it, wasted money had done so much to tip her senses loose and lose her breath feeling his hands meeting hers, casting aside her pants and feeling him as he unfastened his.

She didn’t know what to expect but she felt unusually ticklish and she laughed when he touched her, and he did as well, and the pain she felt trying to accommodate him in her body, she covered with more laughter. Laughter in bed usually was not advisable, she knew men and how fragile their egos could be, but none of that worry remained here, because she could feel it from Patrick and she felt it in herself, they didn’t think or care about protection, about each other, or about consequences, my God they were just having fun! Sex for fun? Katrina would never have believed it.

Ah oh God but this was exhilaration, the energy, ferocity, the quickness amazed her but then something else caught her eye, and she smiled. On the floor of the car, fallen from his pants or his jacket lay his wallet, fat and leather and open faced and, she ran her tongue over her lips. At this point his cheek pressed into her throat, his hands braced on the seat, his body lost in a rhythm and she wrinkled her nose, slipped one hand from him and had a go at it, her fingers reaching for that juicy little darling….

Three hundred dollars, not bad, and she wouldn’t fool herself and say she hadn’t stolen it. But opportunities presented themselves for a reason and Katrina couldn’t fault herself for going with her own nature. Besides, what harm was there really in taking advantage of a man who earned more money in a single game than she would imagine for herself in years of honest work? She could always flip the money back to him and she would bet Patrick would simply laugh about it and maybe even compliment her devious little fingers. She couldn’t imagine that he’d actually do anything drastic against her.

Was he looking at her now? Katrina tilted her chin up and narrowed her eyes, but no, he wouldn’t be looking at her, why would he be? He was only cleaning his ice yet again, waiting for the next smelly old puck to drop. Silly for her to imagine that, stupid like a little girl’s fancy.

She turned away, and went back down the hallway to the locker rooms; she wanted to sit somewhere quiet. Her thighs felt nice when they brushed together still, her skin tingled and felt warm thinking about it, and so interesting that affection! What made this a little interesting, this interlude, had to be the finish rather than the beginning, because no real finish was had. How long had they been together, four minutes or five, not even long enough for anyone else to arrive in the parking lot, Katrina began to feel a lazy pleasure filling her blood, she could tell by his pacing and moans that he began to feel his own and then something ran in her mind, a picture, a memory.

Skinny kid! At that time he’d looked like a man but she knew now, he’d been a skinny kid, ginger hair and crooked nose, and she giggled with the vaguest of memories. He doesn’t belong in me! She thought and then her eyes filled with tears, and she didn’t know why. No she wasn’t crying and he hadn’t noticed such, but he slowed, he stopped and held onto her, finished without a finish. “I can’t,” he gasped, and he kissed her forehead, “I… can’t.”

Katrina cupped his face in her hands and kissed him, “I’m done too.” She wondered if he had the same thing in his mind, did he see a child in his mind, a little girl. She wondered if that scared him and if not what else did he have in mind.

Funny how he didn’t seem at all embarrassed or sheepish either, and he gently helped her arrange her clothing back together, rubbing the small of her back, asking her if she felt alright and he held her hand tightly when he opened the door, helped her to the ground and smiled at her. “You’re ticklish.” He said.

“I’m not,” Katrina had smiled back and briefly at that point she’d thought about giving him his money back, ah it burned in her pocket, no she wouldn’t be giving it back. “And don’t think you’re going to have another opportunity to verify that either, you old bastard eh?” She finished in French.

Patrick lifted his eyebrows; the corners of his mouth went down in a comical grimace. “I wouldn’t dream of it little one. You’re too expensive.”

Smiling, Katrina took that as a compliment. Ah but she felt so energized! She’d stretched and laughed on her way into the building. And Patrick won this game. She watched the finish on a video in a back room, the announcers were more than gushing over his performance on the night, heaped praise on him, “Whatever he did today he should keep on doing,” the exuberant color analyst insisted and Katrina rolled her eyes.

Not likely.

She didn’t see Patrick after the game, either she’d avoided him or he her, but it was all the same to her. She didn’t think much about it on her way home, and her phone remained silent. The only real worry would be the man’s expectations on their next appointment. Somehow, she felt, being a professional he would be more concerned about his aching back and hips for her to work on than anything else. Things would be fine.

After parking, Katrina saw the man on the sidewalk. He could have been a random pedestrian in a long dark coat, hands shoved in his pockets for warmth but as soon as he glanced at her, he made eye contact, his frosty red cheeks blanched and he ran his tongue over his lips like a nervous animal would. “Miss Volanges?”

His voice cracked with a cold sore throat, she stopped and looked at him. Dark eyes, clean shaven, dark hair tousled, not a bad looking man really. But she didn’t recognize him, and she wasn’t in the mood so his ass had better be gone soon.

“I’m not buying anything,” she said not giving him a second look as she went to the door of her building, ready to fight like hell if he tried anything with her back turned to him. “I’m busy.”

“I don’t want to take too much of your time, Miss, but…”

“And I’m not looking for a new religion either so you can forget about that too.”

“Well, I am a priest but that’s not what I want to discuss with you…”

Aw Christ now she recognized his voice. Closing one eye tightly with irritation she turned around and looked at him. “You’re not that Father Mallory are you?”

He nodded, strong chin, nice lips, damn a waste to be a priest really. “Yes, yes I am. And I don’t understand why you haven’t returned any of my phone calls, Miss Volanges.”

Katrina shook her head, “Woah, look it’s great that you’re the Mother Theresa of Five Points or whatever, but look I don’t have any cash to donate for any of your charities and I don’t know how you got my name but say a few prayers for my soul and let’s just get on with life?”

He shook his head, blinking with ridiculously long and dark lashes.

Katrina sighed, “Okay pretty boy, I’ve got three hundred bucks here,” she reached into her purse and grabbed the roll of money, “Just take that as my deposit for a spot in heaven okay?” She held out the money and he looked at it and then held up his bare slender hand.

“No, no I’m not here for money, Miss Volanges will you just please listen to me? Please? This is important to you.”

Fine! Katrina tightened her lips and nodded.

“Miss, it’s hard to explain in great detail but you need to know this,” he reached out and touched her forearm, an instinctive gesture perhaps but Katrina found it intrusive. All of that melted away from her senses however on his next words. “I have to tell you about your sister.”

Tight, black, dizzy, nauseated and then her tailbone twisting in pain, hitting the ground, she fluttered her eyes and looked up at him, feeling her tongue gone, and her mind and she stared at him, his face coming closer, his body coming closer, his arm around her shoulders, taking her up into the air, settling her feet back on the ground, a ground that felt formless and unable to support her balance… “Take me inside, please,” she whispered.