and forefinger. She was fighting him, but it was a losing battle. Such unbelievable strength in two little fingers. She couldn’t help but be awed. He force-fed her some mush, pushing the oversized spoon into her mouth. In her different life, she would have gagged. But now she was in control.
Pureed chicken. Wasn’t half bad.
“Come on, Tandy, open all the way up.”
Passively, she complied.
“That’s a good girl.”
Another spoonful.
“How much do I have to eat?”
“The whole thing.”
“Mack—”
“If you want to look right, you have to eat right. Now shut up and open up!”
She paused. “I don’t think that’s physically possible.”
Mack laughed and fed her another spoonful. “You did fair tonight. I’ve seen you do better.”
“I wasn’t at my best.”
“Something on your mind?”
She shrugged.
“What?”
“It’s just work, I guess.”
“Bitches giving you problems?”
“Always.”
“Open up, Tandy. I refuse to let you leave until you’ve had your proper caloric intake. How the hell are you going to build muscle if you don’t give your body fuel?”
“A month ago, Leek put me on eight hundred calories a day for two weeks.”
“A month ago, you were working for the cut. We’re not working for the cut right now, Tandy. We’re going for bulk.”
She sighed but obeyed. After she swallowed, she said, “All this back-and-forth. One minute I feel like a pig, the next minute I’m starving myself.”
“Hey, are you going to let your body control you, or are you going to control your body?”
She was silent.
“Know what I’m saying, Tandy?”
“I know. Rest assured I’m in total control.”
“No one said this was easy. You want easy, don’t come here. Go to the Golden Hotshot Spa and pay a million dollars a day to do it all wrong.”
“I’m not looking for easy, Mack.” She licked her lips. “I’ve never looked for easy. Easy is unhealthy. Maybe it is my work. My other work. I do so much, and no one ever says anything. They take me for granted.”
“The docs, too?”
“No, the docs love me. They know I’m great. It’s the people I work with … the nurses … the head nurses.”
“They’re just jealous, Tandy. They can’t stand the fact that you know more. Probably galls them that you look so good, too.”
She nodded.
Mack presented her with another spoonful. “So don’t pay any attention to them, okay? They’re just laying a trip on you.”
“Sometimes I wish I didn’t have to work.”
“So move in with me or Leek or Eric. We have group grunts. They really get the competitive spirit going.” He paused. “We could set you up with some easy nursing clients. No bureaucracy and lots of side benefits.”
Right, Tandy thought. She knew all about the side benefits à la Leek. Penny-ante stuff. Such mundane fools. “Not for me. But thanks for the offer.”
“Welcome. Open.”
She swallowed the puree. It tasted like gritty soup.
“Besides, my work is important, Mack. People rely on me. I just don’t get any appreciation from the people I work with.”
“Like I said, they’re jealous.”
“But my patients … I’m really important to them.”
“I can dig it.”
“The doctors don’t have the time. It all falls on the nurses.”
Mack began scraping the sides of the container. “People at the hospital ever notice how good you look?”
Tandy twitched. He didn’t understand. Talking to Mack was like talking to wood. But at least he was real. She knew that much.
“Uniforms hide a lot.”
“Uniforms hide these?”
He squeezed her breasts. She yelped with pain.
“God, don’t do that! I’m so sore.”
Gently, he began to touch her, walking his fingers over her breast tissue. But it was more medical than erotic.
“You definitely are swollen.”
“I’m really going to feel it tomorrow.”
“That’s okay. You can only tolerate pain if you have pain.”
“No more.” She pushed aside the spoon and stood. “No more. I’ve got to go to work. Did you get it?”
“Yeah. I mixed it with a little something to take the edge off. I mean, you’re still going to feel sore—gotta feel the soreness—but not like a truck ran over you. How do you want it?”
“Usual, I guess.”
She sighed and dropped on her hands and knees. She felt him pulling off her panties.
“God, you have a wonderful ass.”
“You mean a wonderful pincushion.”
She felt him kissing one of her buns, running his mitt-sized hand over her firm flesh. Mack’s voice had dropped to a whisper. “It’s been a long time since I’ve had a woman.”
“I can’t, Mack. Besides, it won’t work. You know that.”
“What a loss …” His voice was low and wolfish. “For both of us.”
Kill him.
Tandy jerked her head up, her eyes snapping open. The suddenness of her motion startled Mack.
“You all right, Tandy?”
Beads of sweat ran down her face. The low one. Or was it? Did she really hear it? Tricks upon tricks upon—
“Tandy?”
