30. Erin
CHAPTER 30
ERIN
“ Y ou okay?” Rusty asked for the hundred and thirty-seventh time today.
Except he wasn’t Rusty. He was Cole now, as long as he kept his mouth shut, anyway. I was kind of freaked out about it.
A woman who didn’t introduce herself to anyone had shown up with Sin three hours ago and gotten to work with silicone, latex, and make-up. I was in the bathroom when they dressed Rusty in suit pants and a dress shirt, and when I returned to the living room, I thought Cole had come back from San Gallicano. And he was kinda hot. Would it be weird if I asked Rusty to keep the mask as a souvenir? Probably.
Definitely.
Anyhow, now Rusty was chilling in an armchair while they replaced the rug with one that didn’t matter if blood got all over it. When blood got all over it. After we snuck in this morning, Sin and Dusk had wordlessly taped plastic over the windows as if they’d done it before and set about rearranging the furniture to their liking.
“I’m fine.” I reached for his hand, then realised I’d better not touch it because that was covered in latex too. “Really, I’m okay.”
Today was Sunday, and we’d been sharing a bed for four nights. Just sleeping, that was all. The house was busy, folks coming and going as we took turns on Kelsey-watch and Selene-watch, which hadn’t panned out yet, so whenever we weren’t surveilling, Rusty and I hid away in our little sanctuary. He’d confessed the race car bed gave him a backache, I confessed having him next to me made me feel protected, and so he’d become honorary royalty.
Except it turned out Prince Charming had wandering hands.
The sun had been glimmering through the sheer drapes when I woke with a niggle that something was wrong, but I reassured myself that with Sin or Dusk in the house, an intruder was unlikely. It took a moment for me to register Rusty’s hand between my legs. Another moment for me to realise it didn’t feel as bad as I thought it would. I bit my lip and sucked in a breath as one finger worked a lazy circle, and a ripple of pleasure ran through me. What was this witchcraft?
A single word whispered over my ear. “Erin.”
His cock was hard against my ass, but there were two layers of fabric between us, so I didn’t have to panic about that part. And honestly, I wasn’t too freaked out about the hand that had slipped into my underwear either because damn, that felt good. His finger ran through my slick folds, then went back to those maddeningly slow circles again.
I let out a gasp as the pressure increased and heat rolled through me. My hips bucked against him, but his palm fit into place perfectly, and he didn’t quit. Man, this was better than an alarm clock. I was ready to change my religion and worship his fingers.
“Ohmigosh!” A ball of stardust detonated inside me, and Rusty cried out too .
“Oh, fuck!” His hand whipped away from me and he sprang out of bed, spewing apologies. “Fuck, I’m sorry. Babe, I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to— Hell, are you okay?”
I rolled over, and why did he look so horrified? “My legs are shaking, but I think so? Are you okay?”
“I didn’t realise what I was doing. When I was a kid, I used to sleepwalk, but I’ve never done anything like that before.”
“Really? So…you think you’d get even better with practice?”
Yowzers.
He was on his knees at the side of the bed now, holding both of my hands in a death grip.
“I promised I wouldn’t touch you until you were ready.”
“Then I guess it turns out I was ready.”
“We should have discussed this first.”
“If we had, I would’ve chickened out. We’re sharing a bed. I’m here willingly. If I hadn’t liked what you were doing, I would’ve elbowed you in the gut; don’t you worry about that. Or I could have asked Sin to throw you out the window.”
“Are you honestly okay with this?”
“Just come back to bed, would you? Although it does feel weird doing all this in a room decorated for an eight-year-old.”
“You want to go to the master suite?”
“Ugh, no. Mav’s bed probably has sex cooties.”
Anyhow, I’d promised Rusty I was okay, but that didn’t stop him from checking every two minutes, and I was looking forward to the photo shoot because then he’d have to stop apologising for a blessed moment.
Months ago, Ari had told me “not all men,” but I thought she was talking bullcrap. Now I couldn’t believe what I’d been missing out on for so many years. If Rusty could work that magic while he was asleep, what could he manage when he was awake? I’d have to do some stretches and drink a protein shake before I went to bed.
The sound of breaking glass came from the hallway. A grim-faced lady had dropped a bunch of props off in a courier van earlier, stuff we could smash up to make the scene look realistic.
“We’re ready for the blood now,” the make-up lady announced.
I watched in fascination as she added fake wounds on top of the silicone mask and blended them into the “skin.” Fresh red bruises blossomed on swollen flesh. When Rusty lay on the floor with a small pool of blood spreading from his mouth and more splattered around him, my chest tightened even though I knew it was fake. Sin splashed extra blood on the walls. Apparently, they’d repaint those afterward.
“Have we gotten rid of any reflective surfaces?” Sin asked.
Ari checked again. “All gone or covered.”
“Okay, groan a bit.”
We cleared out of the way while Sin pulled out a burner phone and recorded Rusty groaning and rocking back and forth. The mask moved with his face, and he managed a convincing terrified expression. If the hockey thing didn’t work out, he could always try Hollywood.
Sin motioned with a hand for him to crawl away.
Rusty obliged, leaving blood trails on the rug as he tried to escape his mystery assailant. Half a day of work for a minute of footage, but it was worth it. Now it was a question of waiting. Watching and waiting. We’d thought Jace and Selene might go out to the show on Friday, but there had been no sign of them. Was he too busy googling paternity tests and child support? Kelsey’s fishing hadn’t gotten us any further yet, but she’d only had one more meeting with Jace during the week, and Selene had brought drinks before hurrying away. Kelsey reported that the left side of her face looked slightly swollen.
“That’s a wrap,” Sin announced. “Thanks, everyone.”
I helped Rusty to strip out of his bloody clothes and stuff them into a trash bag while the others began putting the house back the way we’d found it. On impulse, I leaned in to kiss him softly on the lips.
“Thank you for helping with this. I know it isn’t what you signed up for.”
“It sort of is. I came here to make sure Silas Armstrong didn’t get his heart broken, and his happiness is intrinsically linked to Kelsey’s.” He lowered his voice and embraced me with strong arms. “And I’ve discovered that my happiness is intrinsically linked to yours.”
“Aw, that’s so?—”
A pair of pants smacked against our heads, thrown by Sin. “Nobody wants to see your tighty-whities, buddy.”
“They’re actually black,” I pointed out.
“Whatever.”
“And I’m good with seeing them.”
She just rolled her eyes.
Okay, probably everyone shouldn’t be looking at my boyfriend’s underwear. My boyfriend . Huh.
“Put the pants on,” I whispered.
Now we’d go back to Mav’s place, and while we slept, Alexa would doctor the video and upload it to the dark web. And then we’d wait. Wait for Ace to view our handiwork, and wait for the right moment to spring Selene from her luxury prison.
And while we waited, I’d have Rusty by my side and a fullness in my chest I’d never experienced before.