Mattei - A Nation's Father Ch. 05

"They didn't," the administrator replied. "She got herself in. She's an orphan. She is the child of two doctors though. May have something to do with her interest in medicine."

"Wow." Lura shook her head. "I see she's at Central Hospital right now. She must be far along in her studies already if the Council wants to hire her before she's done with medical school."

"She's maybe a year or two away from graduation, though if she keeps up her pace, she'll be the youngest doctor to graduate from Duke since its inception. That's part of the reason we want to snag her up. She's very bright, and her interests would really help our program here. The Council doesn't care if she becomes government staff, or just helps out here. They just really want her."

"They're not worried about ticking the hospital off if they poach her? I don't see Administrator Jeffers being pleased about that."

"She's technically not a paid employee there, so Jeffers might be open to parting with her, or letting her finish her internship here. I'm not sure, but there's probably some negotiating to be had if she's interested in working here. She's just recently been given a lot of independence since they've seen what she's capable of. That doesn't mean she hasn't stepped on some toes, and I've heard it's made her a bit reserved and cautious because she's eager to please. If you can draw her out, and decide whether or not she's a good fit for here, I'd appreciate it."

"When do you want me to go follow her?"

"Today."

"But the breedings," Lura replied, starting to protest, "I'm needed here."

"We'll have someone else cover the breedings. Besides, with the tension between you and Mattei, probably best if you get out for a bit, and clear the air a little."

"I thought you wanted Mattei and I to make up, so to speak."

Nancy let out a sigh. "I do. But you've been spending every waking hour in your office or his quarters, and I think a change of scenery might help you relax before you sit down and talk to the man. I hear he's fairly agreeable when he's not pining over you."

Lura snorted. "Isilde tell you that?"

The administrator gave her a wink and said with a smirk, "Wouldn't you like to know?"

She shook her head at her boss's dodge and then sighed. "Fine. I'll go. Who do I need to report to about the breedings?"

"I'll probably be handling it, but it could be another handler. We'll see when the times approach. You never know what task that Council will want me to focus on last-minute, But I figure I might as well see first-hand what goes on in the breedings. I hear it can be quite ... stimulating."

Lura blushed a little, and then let out a polite cough. "That's one way of putting it."

Her boss let out a laugh at the look on Lura's face and then shrugged. "Live vicariously through watching, I suppose. Now that my husband's gone..." Her voice trailed off at the end. "Do you mind, if I ask if it's gotten easier ... having Mattei there to ease the need for a man's touch? I mean, when you two were still ... well, you know."

There was a moment of silence between them before Lura sighed. "Yes ... and no. I miss my husband horribly sometimes. I feel responsible for his death, even though deep down, I know the chances of him contracting it even without me in the picture would've been high. I guess, as a doctor, the hardest patients to see are the ones you know, and who are affected by your work, like my husband was. When I started sleeping with Mattei, there was guilt about being with another man. Jack wasn't my first, but I thought he'd be my last. Then I meet Mattei, and there was this instant," she cleared her throat before continuing, "almost carnal attraction. I was attracted to Jack. But Mattei? God, I wanted to eat him alive." She turned an even deeper shade of red when Nancy laughed. "That just kinda came out, sorry."

"God, don't be!" exclaimed Nancy, who'd been focused on listening to Lura until the mention of the younger woman's carnal attraction to Mattei. "If I were 20 or 30 years younger. I've seen his photos. He's hot." The women laughed awkwardly together, and then Nancy spoke again. "How long has it been since you've slept with him?"

"Four long days," Lura admitted. "Each one harder than the next."

"Then makeup and go boink him. Makeup sex is the best. Trust me, I know." She leaned back and sighed. "God, those were the days. Mitchell would piss me off, or I would piss him off. We'd have an argument, and then next thing you know..." A little smile came to her face. "The sex we had post-arguments were the best sex sessions of our lives."

"Same," Lura replied, her blush still intact. "Jack and I got into it a lot too."

"It's different with Mattei though, isn't it?" Nancy asked quietly.

"Yeah. He and I got into a fight and he yelled at me ... then he pushed me away when he woke up. I don't," she started to tear up. "I don't know what to do. It hurts. I said something to hurt him, and he said something that hurt me, and I just ... I can't bring myself to look at him. I want to, but I feel so ashamed for pushing him away when he'd been nothing but kind and gentle before that."

"He'd completely different from Jack, isn't he?"

Lura nodded. "I freaked out when he yelled though. That was like Jack. I hated it when Jack yelled. It scared me. He could get so hotheaded sometimes. His freckles would..." She stopped and shook his head. Now wasn't the time to remember Jack's face when he was angry, especially when she had a hard time remembering his face in general without looking at a photo. "Sometimes, I can barely remember what he looks like. Especially the last week or so. All I see is Mattei when I lay in bed at night. Mattei just overpowers all of my thoughts."

"You need to make up with him."

"I know. I just don't know where to begin."

"I was married for 37 years," Nancy replied. "Saying you're sorry is a good place to start. It's not always easy. But if you care about him, whether as a friend or more, you need to do what you need to do. He's probably sorry too. I hear his appetite has waned a bit, so it could be that he's a bit of an emotional eater."

Lura's eyes widened. "He hasn't been eating?"

"Not well. I hear he cleared his plate last night for the first time in a few days, so that's a relief, but his doctor was visiting with me earlier and expressed concern about how little he'd eaten. I think something is probably weighing heavily on his mind as well. He's already a bit underweight."

"What was he at the last time he was weighed? You know, um, if you can let me know."

Nancy nodded and after typing in some information on her computer, pulled up his report. "182, as of yesterday morning."

"He weighed almost 15 pounds more than that a week ago!" Lura exclaimed. "Why? How...?"

"I don't know. Could be the increased activity with the women in the breeding, burning off more calories. He's been working out a lot in the gym and swimming in his pool a lot too. And if he's not eating well..."

"Have his doctors said anything to him?"

Nancy shook her head. "They're waiting to see if he's just in a funk. If he drops much more weight though, they'll pull him from active breeding until his weight goes back up a bit. We don't need an exhausted and malnourished breeder in the room."

"Maybe ... maybe I could talk to him," Lura replied.

"Well, take care, if you do. Until you two makeup, he may not be open to talking too much about how he's feeling and his eating habits. For all I know, they could be related to you two fighting."

"Okay." Lura took a deep breath and then stood up. "Anything else?"

"Yes, one thing. Trust your heart a little more, Lura. I don't think Mattei wanted to hurt you, just like I don't think you meant to hurt him. It's easy to channel feelings of guilt into snapping at someone when they're kind and when you don't feel you're deserving of such care. But you are worthy of it, okay? Jack dying was not your fault. I don't care what the reports say. I lost my husband to the same strain you lost Jack to, and I wasn't even near any patients until he became ill. Don't blame yourself for what happened. Besides, you could be pregnant right now, and stressing over something like this? It's not good for you, or any baby you might be carrying. Okay?"

"Yeah." Lura forced a little smile and then bit her lip. "Thanks."

"You're welcome, dear. Let me know how it goes with that young woman?"

Lura nodded. "I will." She gave Nancy a final curt nod and headed back down to her office.

-----

Mattei had just finished breakfast when Lura walked into his quarters. Surprised to see her so early, he immediately stood up. "You okay?"

She didn't respond right away, instead biting her lower lip and then nodded. As she did so, Mattei felt his cock stiffen. He knew she was nervous, but damn, did he want her. That lip of hers. Fuck. "There's been a change to your schedule today," she said quietly, not making eye contact with him. "I won't be monitoring your breedings."

"Why? You haven't been reassigned, have you?"

Lura shook her head. "No. Well, yes, but only today. I'm needed at the hospital in town. They want me to follow a young woman there and see if she'd be a good fit for here."

"Oh." He felt relief when she said the reassignment was just temporary. "Who will be...?"

"The administrator, by the sounds of it, unless she gets busy with something else," Lura replied, interrupting him. "She wants to see how things work."

"She have kids?"

"Yes."

"Well, then I think she knows how things work."

Lura tried to stifle a giggle, but Mattei caught it and smiled. "There's a sound I've been missing." Immediately Lura's expression became serious, but he didn't give up hope. He walked slowly and cautiously towards her until he was standing only inches away. "I miss hearing you laugh. And smile. Do you realize this is the most we've spoken to each other in days?"

"I'm not the one who pushed you away," she replied defensively. "Whose fault is that?"

"Baby," he replied, "I wasn't..."

"Don't call me that!" She backed up and then lowered her head. "I'm not a child."

"No, you're not. It's just a pet name, Lura. A term of endearment."

"Well, stop using it!"

"Why?"

"Because I don't like it!" She looked up at Mattei, and he saw pain and anger in her eyes. "You have no right!"

"Why not? Why don't I have the right?" He slapped his chest with his right hand, each time, his hand landing above his heart. "You are my mate, Lura. You've never asked me to not call you that before. You are in here, Lura ... you're part of me."

"Then why did you push me away?!"

"I DIDN'T!"

"Yes, you did! Stop fuckin' lying, Mattei! God!" She spun around and ran for the door, but Mattei would have none of it. He ran after her, and caught up quickly, immediately grateful for the long legs he had giving him a larger stride.

Upon reaching her, he grabbed her pad and set it on a table next to the door. Then he pinned her against the door. "Stop running away," he growled. "Stop doing this. Stop provoking me."

"Why?"

He grabbed her nearest hand and placed it over his heart. "Because you make my heart hurt when you do, Lura. I don't want it to hurt."

"Well, you made mine hurt. Now, will you please let me go? I have things to do."

"No."

"Mattei..."

"No," he said, again with a growl. "I'm never going to let you go." And as if to prove his point, he lifted her up while she struggled against him and kissed her hard. Then he ground his body against hers and caressed her legs and bottom as she tried to resist him.

At first, she didn't respond. But then he heard a whimper when his tongue flicked against her upper lip, and then another when he gently tugged her bottom lip into his mouth. He knew what such kissing did to her. How it made her blood boil with need. She resisted long enough that he almost began to wonder if things were too far gone between them for his actions to receive no response. But then she gave in and kissed him back with a hunger that made his cock harder than he could remember it being in the past.

"Lura," he groaned in-between kisses which bordered on the edge of being cannibalism. "Oh, God, Lura. Do you have any idea how much I need you right now?"

Suddenly, she pushed him away, and he dropped her to her feet. She shook her head and then straighted her long dark hair. "That's all you want, isn't it? Me in bed with you so you can fuck me silly."

Stunned at her actions, it took Mattei a moment to respond. "Partially, but not fully. Lura, I want..."

"I know. You want to fuck me. Got it, buster. You, and your hard cock, and those damn kisses." She started crying. "You led me on, and I hate you for it."

"You don't mean that, Lura. You can't. Please tell me you don't hate me."

"I ... I ... I hate how you make me feel."

"How do I make you feel?" he asked quietly. When she didn't reply, he closed in on her again, though keeping enough of a distance that he wasn't touching her. "Tell me, damnit."

"You make me feel things I shouldn't feel! That I can't feel!"

"Because of Jack?"

"This isn't about Jack!"

"Then what is it about?"

"IT'S ABOUT YOU BEING ALL KIND, AND SWEET, AND GENTLE, AND THEN BREAKING MY HEART WHEN YOU SAID WHAT YOU DID!" she yelled at him.

"You broke my heart first, Lura," he replied, trying not to yell at her. "Do you have any idea how much it hurts to think that I'm just your fuck toy?"

"Oh, you're my fuck toy? You could barely keep your hands off me when we first met."

"And you're the one who insinuated you'd like me to not keep my hands off you when we first met. Lura, talk to me. Really talk to me. Please! I'm begging you!"

Lura shook her head. "I can't do this. Not now. Just do me a favor, and start eating, damn it. No matter how you feel about me, or how I feel about you, you need to eat."

"How do you feel about me?" When she wouldn't look at him, he finally had it. "HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT ME?"

"STOP YELLING AT ME! CAN'T YOU TELL I HATE THAT? DON'T YOU KNOW HOW MUCH IT HURTS TO HAVE A MAN YELL AT ME? JUST LEAVE ME THE FUCK ALONE!" Then she gave him a shove, pushing him back hard enough that he almost landed on his butt. Then she grabbed her tablet and ran out of his quarters in tears.

Mattei just stared. He thought about running after her, but he couldn't do that without his mask. "FUCK!" he finally yelled out. And when his doctors came running in only a moment later after his monitor went off, he shooed them away. "Give me some fuckin' space, okay? She fuckin' did it again." Then he stormed off to call Isilde. He needed her advice.

------------

Lura's tears wouldn't stop flowing as she huddled up in her office again, the door locked to anyone outside. She'd gone to see Mattei hoping they'd have a civil conversation, and though she knew he'd tried to be civil, she just snapped after he called her baby. But worst was she'd yelled at him, the very thing she hated having done to her, and got on his case about him for doing the same thing. The guilt of being such a hypocrite was too much and she'd felt the need to leave. She felt so ashamed, angry, sad ... and horny. All the things she didn't want to feel, she was feeling. "He had to kiss me like that," she sobbed, touching her lips as she remembered how'd it'd felt to be kissed after days of wanting that and more.

Eventually, she got up, wiped away her tears, and left the palace. But she felt as if the eyes of the entire palace were on her as she left, and she just wanted to crawl into a hole and die. She might feel a little less embarrassed that way.

Isilde tried calling her a few times as she drove to the hospital, and after the fourth missed call, Lura finally called her back. "What?!" she said in a demanding tone. "Why can't you and everyone else just leave me alone?"

"Woah. What's got your panties in a bunch?" her friend replied.

"I'm such an idiot."

"So ... Mattei, or you?"

"Both."

Isilde let out a sigh. "Why are you doing this to yourself?"

"I don't know. I just hate myself right now. I think he was trying to make things better, and when he kissed me as he did..."

Her friend giggled on the other end. "Did it make your panties wet after days of self-imposed abstinence?"

"Isilde! I'm pouring my soul out to you and..." Isilde giggled again and then Lura sighed. "Fine, it did. He felt so good. Those kisses. Damn. But then he called me 'baby' and said he wanted me so bad and I freaked."

"Why? I thought you liked him calling you 'baby' and wanting you."

"I do, but..."

"But what?"

"I just got angry for no reason and accused him of only wanting me for my body." There was silence on the other end of the phone. When Isilde didn't say anything, Lura asked, "You still there?"

"Yeah. Just waiting. Wondering how long it'll take you to realize that he thinks you only want him for his sperm and his body."

"You did not just say that."

"Oh, I did. It's true. He's told me that himself. Besides you told me the other day that you insinuated that."

"Well..." Lura sighed. She was right. She had insinuated it. "Okay, fine ... you're right."

"Thank you!" Isilde practically yelled. "Now turn your ass back around and go fuck him. Get it out of your system and makeup, and then fuck again."

"I can't go back to him right now. It'd be embarrassing. Besides, I have to go check out some possible employee at Central."

"Oh. He left that part out..."

"What? Who left what part out?"

"Oh, nothing." Lura heard Isilde sigh. "But when you get back, you march your little ass into his quarters, and you make things right with him."

"Since when did you get to order me around?"

"Since I introduced you to Jack. I honestly don't think the two of you would've ended up together if I didn't get both of your asses in line. So, I'm going to tell you this one more time, and one time only. Get over the guilt, Lura. NOW. Forget the past hurts, the things you've said to each other. Go back to the palace once you're done, say you're sorry, and then fuck. And start over. You can miss Jack. That's allowed. But Mattei is not Jack. Got that? Stop treating him like he is. It's time that you accept that Jack is gone, and that he wanted the best for you. And if Mattei isn't the best for you that you'll ever get, so help me God..."

"Okay, okay," Lura replied quietly. "Fine. I'll fix things this evening."

"Good. Now, I have work to do. Don't make me force the two of you into bed. Got it?"

"Yes."

"Good." Isilde let out a sigh and then her voice reverted to her usual nurturing tone. "Talk to you later, sweetie." And before Lura could respond, she hung up. It would be several minutes before Lura would realize that Mattei must've felt he could confide in Isilde as well. She wasn't sure how she felt about that, but it would be at the forefront of her thoughts the rest of the day.

--------

Mattei paced back and forth in his quarters as the hours dragged by, the only interruptions being the breedings. He tried not to think of Lura as one of the women he'd fucked, but it was hard. He wanted to do to her what he'd done to them.

The last session had been the worst. Four women were in the room, and the waiting and hearing nothing from Lura was killing him. If Isilde hadn't told him to continue with his plan to win her back, he would've expected silence. But he'd put his heart out there again, and she still wasn't replying. Her silence was baffling.

Frustrated, it showed in the breeding. He tried to be gentle at first, but when he felt the women were warmed up enough, he unleashed himself inside them, pounding away. It was a good thing none of them were virgins, he thought afterward. He'd given them quite the pummeling each, even with his attempt to be gentle.