Almost Gothic Read online

  Eagerly, he worked on giving her a massage. Every sweet groan he pulled out of her made his cock twitch more.

  Working up and down her body, from shoulders to back to legs and feet, he lost himself in the service. This wasn’t merely foreplay or even sexytime. This was him genuinely wanting to make her feel good and bring her relief for sore and aching muscles.

  Because he loved making her happy.

  His hands traced her muscles, her bones, knowing every line and curve and loving them and her. Perfection. This woman who could, quite literally, kick his ass. Not because he let her win, but because if she wanted to roll over and beat him up, she had the skills and practice to do so.

  Maybe she saw him sometimes as a pet on a leash, but in truth he felt more like the protected one with her.

  Not just physically, but emotionally and mentally, too.

  “You are amazing, baby,” she mumbled against the covers. “I ever tell you that?”

  He smiled, unable to help the warm feeling that flowed through him at her praise. “Thank you, Ma’am.”

  She started to say something else, but a knock on their door caught their attention. “Ahh, food.”

  He climbed off the bed, grabbed a towel to wrap around his hips, and answered the door. Once they were alone again he set the tray on the bed so they could eat. Eliza sat up, an adorable smile on her face.

  “Feeling a little better, Ma’am?”

  “I will after some food, some fun, and a shower.”

  “I take it we’re not making it to the dungeon tonight?”

  She snorted. “Cali said they’d be happy to loan us one of their bondage frames any time I want. We can have our own private dungeon at home.” She leaned in to kiss him. “That means I could hard-core play totally naked with you whenever I wanted. Or we can go to Venture for slightly less sexy play.”

  His cock, which had mostly remained hard, twitched again. “Yes, Ma’am. I’d like that.”

  “I’m sure you would.” She smiled. “You should see the new frame they’re working on now.”

  He swallowed, nervous in the good way. “Yes, Ma’am. Max showed me this morning before we loaded the trailer.”

  “Ahh.” Her smile widened. “That’s not a red.”

  “No, Ma’am. It’s not.”

  The latest iteration of their Doom bondage frame series, which wasn’t done yet and hadn’t been premiered at the R&D party, was…wicked. Like something out of a sexy sadist’s wet dream.

  Then again, considering Max, Sean, and Cali were all switches and liked to use their gear on each other, that wasn’t very far off the mark.

  “Does that mean I could tell Cali that once they’re ready for testing, I volunteer you as tribute?”

  Her steady gaze made him swallow again. “Yes, Ma’am. As long as it’s you and me.”

  “Of course.”

  They ate and watched TV. Once they were done, Rusty cleared the dishes and set the tray out in the hall by the door. That done, he returned to sit on the bed and await her next command.

  She reached out and trailed her fingers up and down his stiff cock, which stood rigid in his lap. “You going to be okay marching around in the T-Rex tonight?”

  “Yes, Ma’am. It’ll be fun to help them out.”

  “I need you to keep an eye out for something, just in case. On the way up, Cali told me about a customer that’s been e-mailing her. She thinks he’ll be okay, but…”

  “She’s not sure?”

  “Right. It’s one of those he could be a creeper or he could be totally innocent. But if at any time I suddenly become Cali? Go with it.”

  “And be ready for combat?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Ah, so that’s why all three of them wrote the business name on their badges instead of a FetLife name?” All of them also had green badges, which indicated they were vendors and allowed them access to the vendor room a few minutes early, when security admitted vendors to prepare ahead of the opening time.

  “Exactly.”

  “Gotcha.” He sat up, his brain upshifting into a more logical mode. “Maybe I shouldn’t be in costume after all.”

  “With me and Sean and Max, I’d rather have you there looking harmless. No one expects a T-Rex to be dangerous.”

  He lifted an eyebrow at her.

  “I mean the inflatable costume. You’re fricking adorable in it.”

  “True. I am adorable. And I do have a nice ass.”

  “Yeah, you do.” She smiled. “You’ve been such a good boy today, it’s your choice.”

  She didn’t have to say it twice, and he didn’t have to ask what she meant. He knew what she was offering.

  It didn’t escape him that there was a certain irony in wanting to make vanilla love to his wife when they were helping out at a booth at a BDSM convention, but he needed it.

  Certain things in his life were connected to others, inadvertently or deliberately.

  Eliza had healed his soul in many ways, but the thing awaiting him in the trunk of his car had become intrinsically linked to sex for him at an early age.

  Nothing tender or loving or romantic about it, either.

  She was the antidote to the bad shadows that threatened to sicken his soul.

  He gathered her into his arms and stretched out next to her, kissing her, tracing soft, gentle paths down her jaw to her neck and back up again. Taking his time. Making love to her.

  He could spend all day doing nothing but feathering his lips across her flesh and listening to her breathe.

  Before their wedding night, they’d done a lot of things together, made each other come, knew each other’s bodies.

  Sometimes, times like this, he liked to revisit that night.

  Relive it, in some ways.

  Rusty didn’t let her rush him as he slowly worked his way down her body, tracing spiraling circles around her nipples, down lower, until she was almost pushing his head where she wanted it.

  Even then, he still took his time, loving her like this, that she dropped her defenses with him every bit as he did with her.

  When he finally lowered his mouth to her clit, he didn’t make her come. Just enough to tease her until her clit was swollen and sensitive and he knew her pussy was throbbing and aching to be filled. Only then did he rise up on his arms and slowly slide his cock into her.

  Reason had fled her brain. Her sweet brown eyes looked glazed under heavy lids, her lower lip caught under her teeth as she tried rocking her hips against him and that only made him slow down, waiting for her to settle.

  His terms, this time.

  She made a soft mewing sound but finally fell still, making him smile and lean in to kiss her. “That’s my baby.” He pressed his cock in deep, until he was fully sheathed in her sweet cunt. A satisfied sigh escaped him. “Exactly where I want to be.”

  Slowly thrusting, he settled in and watched her face, enjoyed the way her hands roamed his arms, his back, shoulders, forcing herself to hold still or move with him and not step into control.

  She always had control.

  This was for him.

  At this angle, he knew patience would pay eventually. Sure enough, it did. He maintained his rhythm, with every thrust his cock gliding along her clit, until her back arched and the walls of her pussy squeezed him.

  He kissed the base of her throat while she moaned her way through the orgasm.

  Once he had her here, he knew he could keep her here indefinitely. The first was always the hardest to get to like this, and the rest followed like gentle rain. Except today they didn’t have a lot of time. Otherwise, he’d make love to her all evening, or until she finally grew exhausted and brought it to a close. After the fourth one he picked up the pace and kept his eyes open, watching hers.

  The electricity flowed through him when her gaze latched on to his and he finally let go, filling her, falling still and kissing her.

  Loving her.

  She wrapped her arms and legs around him and kissed him back
, making no move to break free or rush him.

  Nuzzling his forehead against hers, he let out a satisfied sigh. “Thank you, Li.”

  Her fingers gently grazed his scalp, relaxing him. “Rus, seriously, I think I should thank you.” She wore an adorable, playful smirk.

  “Not tired of me yet?”

  “Not by a long shot. Tired of me?”

  “Never, baby.” Another sweet kiss. “You keep me sane.”

  She cradled his face in her palms and made him look her in the eyes. “Told you, you’re stuck with me. You pledged me a troth.”

  “I’ll follow my Lady anywhere.”

  “Then how about into the shower? I want to snuggle but I’ll fall asleep if we do.”

  “Good idea.” One more kiss before he sat up. “Then Kinky T-Rex can make his appearance.” He held his hands up in T-Rex stance. “Rawr.”

  She grinned. “Rawr is right, stud.”

  Chapter Sixteen

  Then

  Three weeks after his high school graduation, Rusty lay in his bed early that Saturday morning and ran through all the chores he needed to do. Once he started attending USF up in Tampa in the fall, he’d only be home on the weekends. And he’d have to have time to study.

  Eliza’s parents were going to help out by paying the bulk of the rent and utilities for a small efficiency apartment right off campus so the two of them wouldn’t have to drive back and forth every day, and Rusty couldn’t afford to pay rent, much less that kind of gas money. He’d share Eliza’s car with her, and have his bike up there for getting around campus if he needed it.

  A job would be out of the question. He’d have to be studying or going to classes. His scholarship would cover tuition and books, at least, and a tiny stipend he could use for food, and if he didn’t keep his grades up, he could lose it. It didn’t cover a dorm room, though.

  And he had to be able to come home on weekends and help out around the house. Make sure Corey was okay and studying.

  At least Borden wasn’t an issue any longer.

  Today he needed to get the grass mowed and fix the toilet in his mom’s bathroom. It’d started running at random times and last night he’d bought the kit to replace the tank guts.

  He dragged himself out of bed and headed for the hall bath. He heard Corey still snoring in his bedroom, but he didn’t hear his mom up and about.

  That was…weird.

  He knew she had to work today because he’d talked to her last night when she’d arrived home.

  He finished and headed out to the kitchen to start the coffee. Peeking out the window showed his mom’s car still parked in its usual spot in the driveway.

  It was rare his mom failed to get up on time or forgot to set her alarm, but once or twice a year it did happen. He hadn’t heard her alarm go off yet, either. And last night she’d looked so fucking exhausted it broke his heart.

  When I start making money, I’m moving her in with me and Eliza so we can take care of her for a change. Or we’ll move back here so we can pay the bills here.

  Finally, hoping he wasn’t interrupting some last-minute day off and well-needed sleep of hers, he made her mug of coffee exactly the way she liked it and walked down the hall to her bedroom.

  No sounds from her bathroom, either, which backed against the one he and Corey shared.

  He knocked. “Mom?”

  No answer.

  He knocked again, a little louder. “Mom?”

  With an unfamiliar chill settling inside him, he tried the knob and found it unlocked. “Mom, it’s almost seven.” He cracked the door open a little, flinching when her alarm went off on her bedside table. As he opened the bedroom door wider, her bed came into view. She lay on her side, her back to him and not moving.

  The chill quickly blew into a blizzard as he rushed across the room and set the coffee down next to the alarm clock, which he silenced. “Mom?”

  He was afraid to touch her because…

  That would make this real.

  He wouldn’t wake up from this nightmare he felt himself spiraling into.

  He wouldn’t be able to…breathe.

  Think.

  Forcing his feet to move, he circled her bed. For once, her face looked peaceful, at rest. But when he reached out and touched the back of his fingers to her cheek, her skin felt cool to the touch.

  Too cool.

  His voice choked, caught in his throat. “Mommy?” He sank to his knees and reached under the sheet to find her hand, also cool. “Mom?”

  He must have finally gotten up and called 911 and Eliza’s house and awakened Corey. But as he and Corey knelt next to her bed while Eliza’s parents shoved past the paramedics standing in her bedroom, followed immediately by Eliza, he had no memory of doing any of that.

  He could only remember holding Corey as they cried, thinking he was supposed to be strong now, the strong one, the one in charge, the adult, but he couldn’t stop looking at her peaceful face.

  Didn’t want to leave her.

  Eliza knelt on his right, where he held Corey from behind, afraid to let go of him. Her dad was trying to talk to them on his left, but nothing was piercing through the grey, fuzzy burr of noise winding up in his head.

  He winced when Eliza bit his right ear, but it was enough. Just enough.

  He looked at her, her brown eyes red and tears streaking her cheeks.

  “Living room, sweetie. They…need to do what they need to do.”

  He finally nodded and let her and her father help him and Corey to their feet. Both of them leaned in and kissed their mom’s forehead and finally made it out to the couch.

  A deputy had arrived, but Rusty…

  He couldn’t talk.

  Eliza talked for him and he nodded in agreement. He had no memory of telling her what was going on, but maybe he had, or maybe she just knew him well enough to fill in the blanks.

  “He went in to wake her up when he realized she wasn’t up. He found her like that.”

  “It’s probably a heart attack or a stroke,” the deputy said. “But we’ll need to wait for an autopsy.”

  Eliza sat on his right, having never let go of his arm. She perched next to him on the couch, feet under her, her other arm around his shoulders, holding him as he held Corey. Her mom had sat on Corey’s other side, holding him as best she could while Eliza’s father took over.

  “Rusty will be nineteen in a couple of weeks,” Bill Markham said. “His little brother’s fifteen. We’ll have our lawyer draw up custody papers for him. Meanwhile, we’ll take responsibility for Corey.”

  “No father?”

  “Deceased when they were little. She never remarried. There’s—”

  “No other family,” Eliza said, squeezing Rusty’s arm hard. “No other close family.”

  “No other close family,” Rusty finally said.

  He was aware of her father looking at her, then him, then back to the deputy. “No other close family. Just us.”

  “And you are…”

  “Bill and Donna Markham.” He spelled it for the deputy, and gave him their contact information. “We’re close family friends. Our daughter there, Eliza, and Rusty have been dating for two years. They’re starting USF in the fall…”

  Rusty checked out.

  * * * *

  When he finally checked in again, Eliza and her father were going through the small desk in the corner of the living room, where their mom kept all her papers and sat to pay bills. Donna Markham sat where Eliza had been sitting, her arms around them. Corey still lay with his head in Rusty’s lap and sniffled.

  Eliza walked back to them and knelt in front of Rusty. “Do you know your mom’s bank account pin code?”

  He nodded.

  “Dad said we should access it now, make a withdrawal, before the bank locks it down.”

  “I’m on the account. I have my own debit card.” He’d never thought about it before, but remembered when he’d turned sixteen, how she’d taken him to the bank and they’d fi
lled out forms. Her next batch of checks had both their names on it. The card that he kept in the back of his wallet and never thought about using unless she told him to.

  But he’d never written checks on it. Ever. Sometimes he deposited her paychecks for her if she couldn’t get to the bank during business hours, but he would never go into the account without her permission. Money was tight as it was. He wouldn’t stress her out like that. The card, in his mind, was only for emergencies, and that meant something serious.

  Like now.

  Eliza stood. “Dad.” He turned and Eliza relayed the info.

  He breathed a sigh of relief. “Okay, good. Rusty, do you know where Samantha kept her checkbook and statements?”

  “Bedroom. Checkbook in her purse. Bottom dresser drawer for the banking stuff.” That was one thing she didn’t keep on the desk, a less easy target if they were ever broken into.

  He and Eliza disappeared down the hall and returned a few minutes later, carrying things. “Okay, we need to hit the bank Monday and get a current balance and see what’s going on,” Bill said. “And I’ll call on her life insurance policy.”

  The phone had rung a few times, and either Eliza or her father answered it and talked. Rusty assumed his mom’s job calling to find out where she was, and then friends of hers from work as word spread.

  Rusty checked out again and hoped he wouldn’t wake up from this nightmare, because he suspected reality would be even worse.

  * * * *

  Eliza sat on Rusty’s right. Corey sat on his left and her mom and dad on Corey’s other side. At least her funeral expenses were pre-paid. Like her husband, Samantha had wanted to be cremated and then the ashes interred in the same little mausoleum holding his ashes.

  She worried about Rusty. She’d barely been able to get him to eat. He hardly spoke and only did what he was prompted to do by her. Her parents had basically moved her into the McElroys’ house, bringing her clothes and stuff so she could stay with the brothers and keep them moving and take care of them. Corey wasn’t taking it any easier than Rusty, but at least he was talking, functioning, would listen to her and follow her instructions.