"I need to get outta here," Paige whispered. "What if they catch me?"
"Why would they do that?" I smiled and rubbed her stomach.
It was flatter than usual and I could feel the base of her ribs as they jutted out. She was losing weight fast and there wasn't much to lose in the first place. As I cuddled in close I could feel the hardness of her collar bone and the way her shoulder blades protruded.
"You need to eat," I said.
"I don't feel like it," she responded with a little too much ease.
It was as though she had practiced her reply, knew I'd tell her to eat sooner or later.
"Really, you need to eat more."
"Shhhh..."
She closed her eyes and frowned. I wasn't sure if she was feeling the pain from her injuries or reliving an excruciating memory.
"You okay?"
She nodded with her eyes still closed.
"Yeah, sorry. Can you just hold me?"
I pulled her even closer and wound my arms tight around her until the breath was knocked out of the both of us.
"I don't want to hurt you," I said as I felt her plaster cast.
"You could never do that," she replied.
Down the hall, the sound of Julia's slippers grew louder. It sounded as though she was just outside the door. Although she'd never walked into my room without knocking, there was still the fear that she would. My heart began to race then slowed as she walked away.
"Do you think she was listening to us?" Paige whispered.
"No she wouldn't do that. It's not like she suspects anything."
"I guess not...."
She fell silent. I could feel her fingernails dig into my arm as she pressed my arms around her tighter.
"What are you thinking?" I asked.
She pressed her lips to my chest and sighed.
"What do you think?"
"Arthur?" I offered.
She nodded, her lips still against my skin.
"Please... believe me. There's nothing you could have done," I tried to reassure her. "He was hell bent on doing what he did."
"But his mother.”
"But his mother is devastated at losing a son and will be thinking all sorts of crazy things right now."
She leaned her forehead into me.
"When he was in your office... Did it look as though he could have done something like that?"
Looking back on that afternoon, I truly had no idea what was running through his head. I remember thinking he was liar, remember thinking he was capable of doing something dangerous but I never knew for certain that he would, or at least I hoped he wouldn’t.
"I thought he was fantasizing," I said. "I have a lot of patients who have said similar things. Their wife has an affair and they say they'll kill them, they fall out with their mother and they insist they're going to go home and throttle them. I was hoping Arthur was the same.”
"Hoping or knowing?" she asked.
I didn't reply.
"Just for one minute I'd like to forget about the whole thing but I can't with this stuck to me."
She fidgeted with her plaster cast and wriggled inside it as though she had an unrelenting itch.
"It's not that bad," I said and I truly didn't think it was.
When I heard she had it I was expecting some monstrosity from the Victorian era from the way she described it. But as I looked down at it now, it was little more than a sleek, white covering, like an avant garde fashion statement or a modern minimalist piece of body jewelry.
"I feel hideous in it," she huffed.
"Well I think you look as beautiful as ever."
She smiled and cast her eyes to the ceiling.
"Thanks... I guess."
I kissed her cheek and she wrinkled up her nose.
"It's nice being here, isn't it?"
"In this house?"
"No, just together in this bed. Makes me feel young again, like we have nothing to worry about. Reminds me of those summers you have as a kid when they seem to last forever and the biggest decision you have to make is what flavored ice cream to get."
"I miss those days too."
Leaning in further, I kissed her chest.
I didn't want to feel turned on, I wanted to be respectful and give her some space but my body wasn't behaving itself. It was doing things I wish it wouldn’t and getting carried away.
"Is that your?"
Her hand connected with my cock but she didn't pull away.
"You always were the horniest in the morning," she smiled and kissed me, stroking her hand up and down my length.
"I'm sorry I couldn't help it. You don't have to do anyth-"
She silenced me with a kiss and continued to stroke me as she quietly moaned beneath her breath. I reached a hand between her legs and to my surprise, felt how wet she was. She moaned a little louder and I kissed her harder.
"Shhh... They might hear."
She bit her lower lip and pushed her head into the pillow as I rubbed her, trembling slightly as she tried to control herself.
"Hmm… yeah."
Outside the door, the footsteps shuffled back down the hall. Below us, dad's voice called up the stairs.
"Son? Breakfast!"
I tried to answer but she clamped her fingers around me and began jerking me hard so that all that came out my mouth was a garbled bunch of noises.
She rolled over to face the wall and pushed her ass toward me.
"Should we really be doing this? This feels crazy," I whispered into her ear.
"Just do it," she urged and pressed herself into me.
I entered her easily, her hot wetness easing me inside her. She let out a shock of air and pushed her hand into the wall.
"Oh, God.”
Thrusting into her slowly, I felt close to coming already and took a deep breath. Looking behind me at the books on the shelf, I tried to spell out the names of the authors in a futile attempt at distracting myself from the intensity of the inevitable orgasm. But her moans kept drawing me back making me feel as though I was on the cusp of exploding.
"Harder," she breathed and placed my hand on her hip. Grinding up against me faster, she groaned into the pillow as she stifled her cries.
"Woah... slow down."
She moved faster, winding and twisting herself onto me.
"Paige... Hang on, slow down."
It was too later. I ejaculated hard, my hold body becoming rigid as I felt the great release of ecstasy. My mind became blank. There was nothing but the feeling of my cock as it throbbed. There was nothing but white behind me eyes and no sensation of the bed beneath me. There were no sounds, no smells, no feeling of Paige's body as her legs coiled around mine.
When at last my senses returned, I was exhausted and lay panting on my back, my breath coming out of me in sharp blasts.
"Jesus, fucking Christ."
The sweat was dripping from my brow. I looked over and saw Paige grinning. She moved to sit up and winced.
"Ah fuck, it hurts again."
I squeezed her hand and she kissed my arm.
Below us, dad's footsteps were pacing, his heavy boots walking up and down the slated kitchen floor.
"Son? Paige? Breakfast!"
His voice gave way to mumbling then I heard Julia high pitched squeak through the floor.
"We better get up," Paige said with a pout. "But just for the record, if it was up to me I'd stay here for the rest of my life."
"Like some sort of sex slave?" I asked with my signature boyish grin.
She traced her finger around my lips.
"Don't do that face. It does things to me."
We both laughed silently and I flung back the bed sheets but before I could sit up, there was a knock at the door.
"Sean?"
It was Julia, her voice concerned and terse.
"Erm... Just a minute!"
"Okay, but breakfast is ready and your dad made your favorite."
"Yeah, thanks. I'll be down in a minute."
>
I waited for her to leave but her footsteps didn't sound.
"What is she doing?" Paige whispered in my ear as she sat up and balanced her chin on my shoulder.
"Shhhh..."
She was still out there. As I held my breath I could hear her breathing from behind the door.
"What do I do?" I asked and turned to Paige who looked as though she was trying to become a statue. Her eyes were wide and fixed on the door, her limbs hanging in suspended animation.
"Fuck, she knows I'm in here," she said at last. "She must do."
"But how? Has she been listening?""
"Sean?" Julia’s voice came again. She was listening. "Who are you talking to in there?"
"No one!" I replied with an onset of fear strangling my vocal chords.
I felt like a child caught with their hand in the cookie jar. Somehow, nothing in the world was as scary as that woman on the other side of the door coming in here and seeing us together. I turned to Paige and saw her bare breasts before looking down at my own naked body. There was no denying what we were doing. Shit, shit, shit.
"Are you sure there's no one in there?" Julia asked. "I thought I could hear someone."
Paige froze, her eyebrows furrowed so close they wrinkled up her brow.
"Oh, God," she cradled her head in her hand.
Slowly, she began maneuvering herself off the bed, the pain in her side hindering her. Her sights were set on her nightgown that lay in the center of the floor but as she took a step, she pulled against her ribs and let out a yelp.
"Paige?" her mother asked.
Before we could stop her, Julia pushed open the door to find her naked in the middle of the room while I sat on the edge of the bed, my unwavering erection pointing toward her like a divining rod.
"What the?" she clasped her hands over her mouth as though she was trying to stifle a scream. "Paige!"
She stumbled backward out into the hall as I flew the covers over me and Paige stumbled into her nightgown. Meanwhile dad was dashing up the stairs.
"Julia? What's wrong?"
He hurried to her side then saw our startled faces stare back at him.
"What the hell is going on here?"
Chapter Six
Paige
I could tell mom was trying to keep it together but she wasn't doing a good job. Her eyes were wide and bloodshot, her eyelashes clumped together by tears. Her fingers were curled around a mug of coffee as her shoulders heaved up and down. Meanwhile Sean and I sat across from her, the breakfast lying forgotten and discarded on the hob behind us. Alex was smoking a cigarette at the back door with a thunderous look in his eye. Everybody knew the question was coming but they were too afraid to ask it.
"You two weren't...." Mom began, her finger trembling as she pointed it at us.
We both cast our eyes down to the floor.
"It was the night of your husband's funeral," she sniffed. "What kind of a person..."
She erupted into tears and I couldn't help but join her. It looked so terrible, it all seemed so sick but she didn't know the details, didn't know anything about Arthur and I or what had happened these last few weeks. And she definitely had no idea about the history Sean and I had together, but she was about to find out.
"How long has this been going on?" Alex asked as he pinged his cigarette end out into the garden.
He strode in and poured himself a coffee. Unable to look at our faces, he focused his attention on the contents of his cup. Staring so hard it was as though he was hoping to find the answers to his problems at the bottom of the black abyss.
"You didn't answer my question," he said as he sat down beside mom.
She looked destroyed and shook her head from side to side as though she was trying to forget the memory of seeing us naked together.
"So?"
Alex finally looked up and his eyes met mine. They were livid and dark, made me feel as though they were sucking the life out of me. I never did like him. There were so many reasons why other than the fact he wasn't my real father. There was always malevolence to him, something dark buried beneath the layers of machismo. I imagined he was the type of guy who kept secrets from his wife. Not to mention I'd noticed the way he'd looked at me as I grew up. There were innocent passing glances and then there were the brooding gazes from behind cracked open doors. I'll never forget the day after my eighteenth birthday when I'd taken a late night dip in the pool. Looking up, I caught sight of him in the kitchen window, his hands moving out of sight as though he was doing the dishes. But I knew there weren't any. Now, as I looked into his face, I knew what he was thinking and I prayed he wouldn’t say a word.
"So, what?" Sean interjected my thoughts and flung up his arms.
"So I caught you in bed with your fucking sister!" mom screamed.
Her sudden outburst made us all jump and Alex almost toppled over his coffee. I'd never heard her swear before, never. She was always so demure and refined and dealt with any problem with a calm, almost nun-like disposition. She'd lost it today and looked as though she wanted to tear us to pieces.
"We're not really brother and sister," I reminded her.
"Under this roof with Alex and I raising you as your parents you are brother and sister."
She began sobbing again, the crumpled tissue in her hand doing a substandard job of catching all her tears.
"And last night of all nights, Paige. You, you disgust me."
A knot of solid guilt tightened in my gut. I was disgusting. I felt it, felt rotten to the core. Glancing over to Sean for support, I reached out for his hand and he limply held it. Alex looked down at us touching as though we were committing a cardinal sin.
"When did it start?" he asked.
"A long time ago," Sean replied.
Mom's eyes widened.
"You're telling me this goes back to..."
"When we were kids, yeah," I said with a shameful nod.
Her breathing quickened. For a moment I was worried she might hyperventilate but then she smacked her hands down on the table and pushed herself up.
"I just don't believe this!"
She walked over to the sink and looked out the window into the garden. The sun was coming up strong, its orange hue tinting everything in the room. Its light bounced off the metal toaster and hit me in the eyes. It made my head begin to throb and I shielded my eyes and bent over.
"Too much to take?" Alex asked as he noticed me shrink down. "You have some fucking nerve. Corrupting my boy like that."
"Corrupting?" I looked up angrily.
"Don't act all innocent. We all know what you're like."
Mom spun round enraged.
"Alex! What are you saying?"
He pushed his palms away from him as a gesture of innocence.
"What? Like you don't know!"
"Don't know what?"
As mom and him glowered at each other in a mental stand-off, I took the opportunity to make a quick decision.
"Mom, I'm sorry. I really am and..." I looked down to Sean. "I understand this is a difficult thing to process but I love Sean and I always have. We never saw each other as siblings. We were simply two teenagers sharing a home."
I could imagine the cogs of her brain whirring as she tried to see my point of view but I saw that she found it impossible. She shook her head again and pressed her hand to her mouth.
"I'm sorry but I just can't accept it."
"I never thought you would," I replied.
Pausing for a second, I took a deep breath and placed a hand on her arm. She flinched but didn't pull away.
"I'm leaving," I said.
Looking up with tears in her eyes, she furrowed her brow and asked?"
"Why?"
"I know when I'm not welcome," I replied and looked over my shoulder to Alex.
He was still glaring with sheer hatred in his eyes. Why was he being like this? Because he couldn't have a piece of me? Because he truly thought I corrupted his son? Regardless, I was going to get as far a
way from him as possible.
"Wait," Sean tugged at my arm. "Where are you going to go?"
"I won't stray far," I said with a tender smile. "I'll stay in town."
His eyes were begging me to ask him to join him but I knew that would only complicate things further, would only ostracize him from his already temperamental father.
"You stay here," I said and walked away, "I'll catch up with you at some point."
As I ascended the stairs I could feel their eyes on me. Why did I feel as though I was being blamed for everything that was taking place? Suddenly, the world felt as though it was unbearably heavy and wrapped around my shoulders.
Pushing my way into my bedroom, I looked at the suitcase on the floor with my clothes poking out the sides. I wondered why I'd never taken the time to unpack since I arrived. Perhaps I had sensed I wouldn't be staying that long.
I zipped up the sides and stepped into a pair of jeans and a comfy sweater. It was going to be another long day.
Chapter Seven
Sean
I stared at my reflection in the back of a spoon. The purple was still exploding across my nose like a hibiscus flower.
"Hey, you'll go cross-eyed if you keep that up."
Dad lowered my hand so he could see my face.
"Don't worry. You're still a pretty boy."
He pushed his top lip into the froth of his beer and smacked his lips before heaving out a sigh.
"Fuck... It's good to be out the house for a while. Couldn't handle listening to Julia's crying any longer."
I looked around the bar and wondered why the hell he'd brought me here. The table was sticky and so was the floor. I desperately needed to pee but was too afraid to visit the bathroom. Dive bars like this probably had glory holes in the stalls and phone numbers scrawled all over the walls. Glancing over at the bar I saw a peculiar assortment of people. A big girl in a cut off denim vest ran a hand through her mullet and slammed back a shot of scotch before lighting a cigarette. It would seem the smoking laws hadn't made their way down to this neck of the woods. As she turned to face the low hanging red light, I caught sight of a tattoo on her bruised bicep, a heart with an arrow through it with the word heartbreaker etched through the middle.
Best Friends To Lovers Romance Series: Complete Series Boxed Set Romance Page 13
