Chapter 7: Oliver Bennett vs. Adrian Graham Unquenchable lust…busted!

***

Oliver was lost in thought as he toweled his hair after his shower. He still felt shaken inside after that mind-boggling realization that evening. He was in love with Adrian. Oliver pulled on boxer briefs and a t-shirt and climbed into bed. His worst nightmare had materialized. He was totally and irrevocably in love with a straight married man. How stupid could he be? Oliver pulled the covers over him and switched off the light. He stared into the darkness, wide awake.

They’d been together for three months and had grown to care so much for each other. Somehow they just couldn’t function well without each other. Adrian spent a lot of time with his kids but whenever they were away visiting his mum or Donna’s parents, Adrian spent all his free time with him. Of course, it only became free time after Adrian had seen to Donna who according to him had taken a turn for the worse.

Oliver sometimes felt so much guilt inside. It felt as though he and Adrian were enjoying each other whilst Donna was fighting for her life. But how could something wrong feel so right? To make matters worse, he wanted Adrian to himself. He was only human. For now, he remained Adrian’s dirty secret. But for how long would he be okay with that? The only way he could freely have Adrian to himself was if Donna was out of the picture. And that killed Oliver even more because it was almost as if he was waiting for Adrian’s wife to die in order to get what he wanted.

Sometimes it made him physically sick to think about the fact that indirectly, he was a very bad person. It got so bad at times that he contemplated breaking things off with Adrian. But Oliver knew that with the way he felt about Adrian, there was no way he could ever break things off with him. He was too far gone in what they had, and so damn hot for the man, he would accept whatever kind of connection he could get. He also knew that Adrian needed him then more than ever. The desperation and urgency with which Adrian had been taking him in the past few weeks showed just how stressed he was and how much he needed him. And despite how difficult it was for Oliver now that he knew how he felt about Adrian, he vowed to himself to stick by Adrian’s side to help him through the trying times. His man needed him and he was going to be there for him.

***

Adrian sped home as if the hounds of hell were chasing him. He would have stayed with Oliver longer but for the call he’d received from Donna. She said she wanted to talk to him before she slept. She was supposed to be sleeping at that time anyway but she’d surprisingly sounded alert and strong. It had been a while since he heard Donna sound so well. Adrian increased his speed. He wanted to see her.

As he sped through his gate, he met Elise, the doctor who took care of Donna, driving out. He stopped when he got to her side.

“Is she okay?” Adrian asked with worry in his voice.

“She’s okay. Begged me to give her a shot of clavenol so I did.”

“What?” Adrian bellowed. “You know she’ll be weak after it leaves her system.”

“I gave her the tiniest dose, don’t worry.” Elise chuckled. “She said she wanted to talk to you so you better hurry before she crashes out. You know how it is when she goes to sleep after the magic of clavenol. Florence and Catherine are with her in the room, watching TV. See you in the morning, Adrian.”

When Adrian entered the foyer of his state-of-the-art mansion, he met the cook who asked whether he wanted dinner.

“No Alex, I’m good.” He said and bounded up the stairs.

The kids were at his mother’s. As much as possible he made them stay with their grandparents to spare Donna the screams and ruckus. She needed peace to rest as most of the time she was in pain when she was awake. Adrian entered their suite and heard the laughter of the nurses coming from the bedroom. He knocked softly and pushed the door open.

“Hello, ladies.” He greeted, his eyes going to the beautiful woman sitting in their bed, propped up with pillows.

The nurses said hello back and hurried past Adrian to give him some privacy with his wife. The respect they had for Adrian was clear in their eyes. “Have a lovely evening Doc.” One of them said when they got to where Adrian stood by the door.

“You too Florence Nightingale.” Adrian chuckled as the nurses burst into laughter. He closed the door behind them and started to strip out of his clothes as he made his way to Donna’s side. He bent down and pressed a kiss to her forehead. “You look well.” He murmured.

“I feel well.” She grinned and then burst into laughter when Adrian smirked. “That snitch. She told you didn’t she?”

“I should tan your hide lady.” Adrian gave a mock scowl. “I thought we agreed you weren’t going to take that anymore. You always get so weak after that bout of energy.” He was down to his boxers.

“She gave me just a little. Come sit beside me.” She patted the space beside her.

“Don, please let me take a quick shower. It’s going to be the quickest shower ever…promise.” There was no way he was going to sit beside her when he hadn’t taken a shower after being with Oliver.

“Okay. Hurry.” Donna gave a brilliant smile.

Adrian was back into the room in no time at all. He pulled on grey sweatpants and a white t-shirt and went to sit beside Donna on the bed with his back against the headboard. “Now what was it you wanted to tell me?” He asked running his hand through Donna’s fiery red hair.

“It’s more like what you have to tell me actually,” Donna said, leaning her head against Adrian’s shoulder.

“What do you mean?” Adrian frowned, confused.

“Isn’t there anything you want to tell me?” Donna asked.

“Nothing comes to mind.”

“Are you seeing someone, Adrian?” She asked softly.

Adrian froze, his hand stilling in Donna’s hair. “Don…” He’d never lied to her before. He couldn’t start now.

“Who’s Oliver?” Donna tilted her head to look at Adrian’s face and watched as all the blood drained out of his face.