Page 24 of The Sins That Bleed

I shake my head and finish locking up before making my way up the stairs to the floor above. I head to Nico’s apartment door and knock. I hear the deadbolt slide across and the door stretches open. Nico stands before me in his purple boxers and holding his favourite stuffed toy.

“It must be bad if Sniffles had to come with you to answer the door.”

There’s no judgement or mocking in my tone. After the first time Nico introduced me to the bright pink toy shaped like a cloud and he explained why it was so important to him, it would never be something I joked about.

“Yeah, I can’t shake the way they looked; the descriptions of what happened are playing in my mind over and over again every time I close my eyes. Why did this case have to turn into a fucking horror movie?” He shivers, not from the cold, but from the creepy turn of events.

“It’s disturbing for sure. Now let’s get you to bed and get you some sleep.”

I usher him back into his own apartment as I shut the door and lock it up. Every single light that he could possibly have on is on and the sound of lo-fi trickles out of his open bedroom door.

His apartment is the complete opposite to mine, where I left mine as it was when I moved in, Nico has decorated his. He’s a maximalist by nature and the room is bursting with colour, furniture, and knick-knacks, some of it serving no purpose other than aesthetic.

It should feel chaotic and messy, but it works. I still wouldn’t have it in my own; thinking about the effort to clean around all of this is enough to put me off. Nico gets around that by hiring a cleaner so it never feels unkept.

“In you get,” I say as I lift the sheets for him to climb under.

He slips in and I take my time tucking him in. He laughs, but deep down he loves it. I like being able to offer him any comfort I can. Not having my own sister to give it to sometimes feels like it’s going to spill over with nowhere to go.

“Will you read to me?” Nico nods his head to the book I left on the nightstand.

“I would love to. Do you need anything before I get in bed? A drink, a snack?”

“No thanks, princess, I’m good,” he says around a yawn.

I move around the bed and climb in next to him, settling in among all of the pillows as I sit upright. I slip my glasses on and pick up my book, opening to my bookmark and start reading from the beginning of the chapter.

I’ve never been able to pause a book mid-chapter.

It only takes twenty minutes or so of me reading and Nico snuggling Sniffles before his light snores fill the room. He looks peaceful and my heart swells at being able to provide him with enough comfort to fall asleep when he’s scared.

I read for a little longer to myself, making sure he isn’t about to wake up. Once I’m satisfied he’s in a deep enough sleep, I pick up my phone and find a message waiting for me.

Valeska: Roses are red,

Violets are blue,.

I’m sitting here alone,

Wondering what mon chéri could possibly be up to.

I can’t stop the corners of my lips from raising as I lift my phone with the camera app open. I snap a selfie with Nico sleeping next to me, holding the front of my book up and I add a caption to accompany it.

Rai: Sleepover with Nico, he got a bit freaked out today. How are you holding up?

I watch the dots as I wait for her to reply. I feel like a teenager waiting for his crush to text back. It’s fucking stupid but there’s nothing I can do to stop it.

Valeska: Aww mon petite fille is so cute when he sleeps.

Aren’t you a beauty. Those reading glasses are making me want to do some very dirty things to you.

I don’t miss the way she ignores my question.

Rai: Don’t start something you can’t finish, mon cauchemar.

Valeska: I always finish, mon chéri.

I curse under my breath; how can she get me so hot and bothered with a few simple words. I move the sheets off me and slip out, using the opportunity to go through the apartment and turn off the lights. I’m buying myself time.

Chicken shit.

I turn the last light out in the hall, the switch next to a large mirror that covers the wall from floor to ceiling. The only light coming from Nico’s room as it casts a soft glow over me sparks an idea.

I pull my sweats low on my hips and raise my shirt up. I tense my abs and snap a full-body picture. My hips are pulling into a deep v that leads the eye down towards the area I wish she was here to see.

To taste.

I send it over, smug with the thought that I’ve wound her up as tight as she winds me. I’m about to head back into bed when her message comes through and I nearly drop my phone, fumbling to catch it before it hits the floor and wakes Nico up.

I stare at the screen for a long time and my mouth salivates with the need to taste her again. I should have known that playing with fire would get me burned. What I didn’t anticipate is how much I would enjoy it.

Her picture stares back at me, taking up the whole screen from where I clicked on it. She is on display for me as she sits on a red velvet chaise lounge, placed in front of a mirror and she’s taken a picture of her reflection.

She is upside down, hanging off the edge as she snaps the selfie, her phone covering her face, her perfect tits forced toward me and begging to be touched. She has nothing on and the way she’s crossed her legs hiding the one place I wish to be right now feels like a tease.

She captioned the photo with words that make the lust thrumming through my veins, pump harder.

Valeska: I ache for your touch, mon chéri, nothing will ever satisfy the craving my body has for yours.

My cock strains hard against the fabric of my sweats, the bead of pre-cum creating a wet spot. I’m so turned on, but I can’t leave Nico to take care of myself, so I do the only thing I can before forgetting all about this.

I snap another picture, this time zooming in on the mess I’ve made. My cock outlined, the material doing nothing to hide my thick length from being seen. I send it off before forcing my thoughts down and going to bed.

My final words to her repeat in my mind until I drift off.

Rai: You’ve made a mess of me, mon cauchemar, I can’t escape you. I’m haunted by you and I fucking hate how much I don’t hate it.