Page 20

Ryan

As I stare down at Erin and my sister laughing their drunken asses off, I can’t help but be relieved. Relieved that she’s obviously had a good time today and relieved that some of the fear and frustration she’s been feeling at everything that’s going on with her family and all the things I’m not telling her has finally disappeared for a bit.

And as much as I know she was dangerously close to outing her family’s mob connections just now, I actually don’t care if she does. Back at breakfast when the questions about her family had come up, I could sense the hesitation in Erin. I knew she was reluctant to share too many details and even though I hadn’t offered any up either, it wasn’t because I was trying to hide this part of her. I know my family won’t judge her for it and honestly, none of it is her fault anyway. It was more a case of me wanting to protect her; let her tell her story in her own time and in her own way.

“Don’t be mad, baby,”

Erin says, crawling toward me.

I can’t resist grinning as I look down at her.

“How can I be mad, Red, especially when you’re on your knees in front of me like this.”

Erin smirks at my words, her eyes half closed because she’s drunk, but somehow still managing to look extremely sexy.

“You have something in mind, detective?”

she asks, inching closer to me as her hands go to my hips.

“Oh, for fuck’s sake you two,”

Sarah half shouts.

“You do realize I’m right here, don’t you?”

My smile widens.

“Come on, babe,”

I say, pulling Erin up.

“I think you need to come with me.”

Erin laughs as she falls against me, my arms wrapping around her waist as I half carry her out of the room.

“Hey, not fair!”

Sarah shouts.

“I wanna hang out with her.”

“Sorry, sis,”

I say as I pick Erin up and throw her over my shoulder.

“You’ve had all day with her, now it’s my turn.”

“Fuck you, Ryan”

she says, throwing a pillow at us.

“Thanks for stealing her away, dick.”

Erin laughs again, slapping me on the ass as I turn and walk us out of the living room and up the stairs to my old bedroom. As we walk in, I kick the door shut with my heel, walking straight to the bed where I gently lower Erin.

“So,”

she says, smiling as she looks up at me.

“Now you’ve brought me up here, detective, what are you going to do with me?”

I grin down at her as I kick off my shoes before pulling my sweater over my head. Throwing it on the floor, I lean down, hands on either side of her head and say.

“I think we might need to work on sobering you up, Red.”

“Yeah,”

she whispers, leaning up to kiss me.

“And how are you going to do that?”

“Oh,”

I say, pressing a hard kiss to the side of her neck.

“I have a couple of ideas.”

An hour or so later, Erin is fast sleep beside me, our sweaty bodies still entwined as my fingers run up and down her spine, her soft breaths brushing against my chest.

I’m glad she hasn’t asked me about how today went, although given the state she was in when I got home, I’m not sure if she even remembered what I was doing anyway.

It hadn’t exactly gone well; the little shit I went to speak to claimed to know absolutely nothing about Macklin despite his well-known mob connections.

The guy used to run with Fitzgerald’s crew years ago, before eventually being busted for drugs, so it makes no sense that he wouldn’t at least know something about the chain of command.

He’s also well known as one of the biggest snitches around, so the fact he’s keeping his mouth shut either means he legit doesn’t know anything or worse still, he’s scared shitless.

It doesn’t make sense.

He’s ratted on so many people over the years, he’s lucky he’s still alive.

As it stands, he’s been shanked a half a dozen times already and it wouldn’t surprise me if he gets a couple more before someone eventually succeeds.

God knows if one of Fitzgerald’s men won’t do something to him after today.

Fuck, I just wish I knew where the hell Anthony Macklin was.

It makes me pissed as shit knowing he’s out there somewhere and we have absolutely no idea where.

How the hell am I supposed to protect Erin when I can’t find him, when I don’t even live in the same zip code as her.

I’m not even sure what the next move is.

Short of going back to see Fitzgerald, pleading with him to actually give a fuck about his daughter and her safety, we are fresh out of options.

“Ryan!”

The sound of my name, brings me back to the here and now, my sister’s voice echoing up the stairs. Erin stirs in my arms, not quite waking up, despite the pounding that now sounds against my bedroom door.

Slipping out from underneath her, I pull on some sweats before walking over and opening the door a crack. “What?”

I ask, pissed at the interruption.

Sarah rolls her eyes.

“If you two are finished fucking, then dinner is almost ready,” she says.

“Didn’t you two eat half the fucking house today?”

I ask, remembering the empty pizza box and bag of chips on the living room floor when I walked in.

“Yeah, and?”

Sarah asks indignantly.

“Anyway, Mom says you need to come down and eat.”

I shake my head.

“Jesus, Sare, you really need to move the fuck out of here.”

Sarah punches me in the chest, a hard, quick jab that is half in jest and half serious.

“Tried that, remember? But then some asshole kicked me out and left me with no other option.”

“Come on, Sarah,”

I say, rubbing my chest where she punched me.

“You know why I did that,”

I tell her.

“Doesn’t mean I don’t still love you. Don’t want you to be happy and stuff.”

“Ugh, whatever,”

she says, rolling her eyes as she turns and heads back downstairs.

“Dinner’s on the table in five minutes.”

I shut the door, shaking my head as I turn and find Erin awake and watching me.

“Don’t be so hard on her,”

she says, rolling over.

“She hates feeling trapped here like this.”

I walk toward the bed, sitting down and running a hand down her back.

“I know, babe,”

I say.

“I do want her to be happy, you know. I just don’t want her wasting her time doing something mindless and stupid.”

Erin sits up, a sleepy smile on her face.

“I know you love her, Ryan,”

she says, brushing a hand over my cheek.

“But it is her life and her decision to make.”

I smile as I lean in and press a kiss to her lips now.

“I love you,”

I whisper.

“And I really love that you had a good day today.”

The rest of our time with my parents and Sarah passes easily, all of us sharing a last dinner and a late breakfast before Erin and I pack the car and head back to Rockport. It makes me smile watching her say goodbye to everyone, knowing how much of a good time she’s had and how comfortable she is around them all already.

It’s exactly what I wanted to happen and when my mom hugs me goodbye and tells me how much they all love Erin too, I know I was right bringing her up here to meet them, even if it wasn’t the only reason for the trip this weekend.

By the time we get back to Erin’s house, it’s late and although I definitely need to get back to Boston, I decide to stay the night with her first.

“You mind if I borrow your car this week?”

I ask, as we head inside her house.

“No, of course not,”

she says, over her shoulder as she heads to her bedroom.

“Have it for the week if you want.”

I nod, even though she can’t see me.

“What if I get my car delivered here?”

I ask, following her in.

“It should be ready later this week and I can drive back up and we can switch cars.”

“Sure,”

she says.

“Sounds like a plan.”

I watch as she undresses, grabbing her clothes in her arms before walking into the bathroom. Something feels weird, and she hasn’t asked me a single thing about my trip out to the prison either. I can’t decide if it’s because she’s afraid I won’t tell her or she’s afraid I will.

I follow her into the bathroom as I hear the shower starting up. Erin steps under the water, not looking at me as I strip my clothes off and follow her in.

“You okay?” I ask.

“Of course,”

she says, standing under the water.

I watch her for a second or two, wondering if she’s just saying that because she thinks it’s what I want to hear.

“You sure about that?”

“Yeah, why wouldn’t I be?”

she says, and I instantly know that’s exactly what she’s doing.

Stepping closer, I slide an arm around her waist and pull her against me.

“You haven’t asked me a single thing about yesterday, Red,”

I say, brushing her hair back.

“Don’t you want to know about what happened out at the prison?”

Erin turns in my arms, grabs the shampoo and starts working it through her hair.

“You said you couldn’t talk to me about it,”

she says and I can hear the sadness in her voice.

“So, what’s the point of me asking?”

I let out a long exhale, grabbing her hands and stilling her.

“It turned out to be pointless,”

I whisper, leaning down to rest my chin on her shoulder from behind.

“It didn’t eventuate into anything.”

“Does this mean you can tell me who you went to see?”

she asks, leaning back against me.

I close my eyes, pressing my lips against her neck.

“It would be better if I didn’t.”

I feel her exhale in my arms before she steps forward and starts to rinse the shampoo from her hair. I let her have a second, watching as she works the suds out.

“So, what happens now?”

she eventually asks.

I switch places with her, sticking my head under the water. “Well,”

I say, grabbing the shampoo.

“Joe’s looking at some other options and tomorrow we’ll sit down with the captain and work out what our next move is.”

“But you’re still looking for Anthony?”

she asks, reaching up to help rinse the shampoo from my hair.

“Yeah,”

I say.

“We really need to find him, Erin. He’s fucking dangerous and I don’t want him out on the streets where he can get to you.”

“Do you really think he’d do that?” she asks.

I run a hand through my hair before stepping forward and sliding my arms around her waist.

“I have no idea what he’s fucking capable of,”

I say, my eyes locked on hers.

“And that’s what scares me more than anything.”

“I don’t think he’d ever hurt me,”

she says, slipping her arms around my waist.

“You sure about that?”

I ask, knowing he’s likely super pissed off about Erin and I being together. If he’s half as possessive as I know these mob guys are toward their women, then he won’t be happy with the idea of Erin sharing her bed with anyone, regardless of how long it’s been since she shared it with him.

“Yeah,”

she says, nodding at the same time.

I stare down at her, wondering how the fuck she can be so sure about that.

“You don’t know where we could find him, do you?”

“No,”

she says quickly.

“Why would I? I haven’t seen him in forever.”

“But you’d tell me if you did, right?”

I ask, sliding my hands up her back and pulling her closer.

“You’d tell me if he got in touch with you?”

Erin swallows hard.

“Of course,”

she says, dropping her hands to my ass.

“This is serious, Erin,”

I say, even as her nails dig into my skin, pulling me closer.

“I know,”

she whispers.

“I won’t let anything happen to you, you know that right?”

She looks up at me.

“I do, Ryan. Really,”

she says, before pushing up on her toes and kissing me hard.

It’s a diversion tactic, I know that, but I let her have it.

This whole weekend, shit, this whole week has already been a complete fucking nightmare.

The last thing I want before I have to go back to Boston is to get into an argument about Erin’s ex-boyfriend, who happens to run the mob family that her father once did.

The father who’s currently in jail and apparently still keen to talk to the daughter who walked out on her family and everything they stood for nearly ten years ago.

The whole thing is already so surreal that if it wasn’t actually happening, I’d swear it was some over the top Hollywood movie.

So, I let it go, pulling her closer as I deepen the kiss.

The moan Erin lets out nearly undoes me and I can feel my cock hardening in response to her warm, wet body in my arms.

“Erin,”

I moan, as her hand slides down and grabs my cock.

“What?”

she asks, breathless as she continues to kiss me while slowly pumping her hand up and down my shaft.

“Fuck,”

is all I can get out as she now drops to her knees and takes my cock in her mouth. My hands slide into her hair, gently guiding her as she starts to suck me off. It feels amazing, her hot wet mouth working me over.

“You okay up there?”

Erin asks, running her tongue around the head of my cock.

“Yes,”

I bite out.

“But we need to get out of this shower.”

Erin murmurs something and then her mouth is gone and she’s standing in front of me, her fingers curled around my cock again as she strokes me.

“Fuck,”

I say.

“let’s go”.

I gently push her out of the shower, grabbing a towel and half-drying both of us before throwing it on the floor.

With a hand between her shoulder blades, I push her forward so she’s bent over the sink, both of us staring at our reflection in the bathroom mirror.

I put a leg between hers and push them apart so her pussy is on display for me.

With one hand still on her back, I run my other hand down her spine, tracing two fingers from the base of her spine and between the cheeks of her ass, before slowly sliding them inside her.

She’s so fucking wet and I can’t help the groan that falls from my mouth as she pushes back against me, tries to pump herself against my fingers when I don’t move.

“Shit, Red,”

I say, my hand on her back sliding down to grip her hip now.

“You’re drenched.”

Erin turns and looks at me over her shoulder. Her hair is wild and her eyes are sparkling with an urgent need as though this is something she desperately wants.

“We need to fuck,”

she says, her voice low. “Now.”

I stare back at her, knowing this isn’t just about needing sex, as I slide my fingers back into her pussy once more before pulling them out and sucking them in my mouth. Erin’s eyes widen and I keep my eyes on her as I give her ass a hard smack.

“Whatever you want, Red,”

I say, positioning my cock against her.

“Whatever you want.”

And then I slowly ease my dick inside, my eyes rolling back in my head as I bury myself all the way inside her.

“Oh god,”

she moans as I slowly pull out and repeat the movement.

“Harder, Ryan,”

she says.

“I need you to fuck me harder.”

I smack her on the ass again.

“Is that what you want?”

I ask, my voice low as I start to increase my tempo.

“You want it like this?”

“Harder,”

she says again, her hand sliding between her legs as she starts to rub her clit.

I grip her hips, bracing her against the counter as I start to pound my body against hers. We fuck for what feels like forever, Erin coming twice as I continue to move in and out of her from behind, forcing myself not to come so I can give her whatever it is that she needs right now. It’s both torturous and amazing all at the same time and when my balls finally start to tighten as Erin’s pussy clenches around me for the third time, I have to grip her tighter so I don’t pass out from the ecstasy.

“I’m gonna come, babe,”

I say, pushing deeper.

“Fuck, so am I,”

Erin says, her whole body shaking now.

I push into her one more time, my balls exploding and sending jolts of pure pleasure all through me as I spill inside her and come for what feels like forever.

When I’m finally done, I feel exhausted. I slide my arms around Erin’s waist, holding her body to mine as I all but collapse against her.