The Company of Darkness (9 page)

“I think I’ll be sore in some interesting places for a while, but it’s nothing a hot bath can’t cure,” she smiled, her eyes heavy lidded with satisfaction, and Ethan felt a knot of worry uncoil within him. 

Her hands smoothed down the t-shirt that was stretched and misshapen now from his tugging on it, and she looked down between them in shock.  “Wait… did you not use protection?”

His mouth dropped open stupidly.  It hadn’t even occurred to him, not even once.  “Shit, I forgot.  How could I forget?”  Ethan tugged up his pants, eager to bury the evidence of how badly he’d screwed up. 

“I mean… I guess it’s fine, I’m on the pill and you said you haven’t been with anyone in a while, right?”

He’d said he hadn’t had a
girlfriend
in a while.  All he could say to her was, “I’m always safe.”  Not that she should believe him based on his actions tonight.  What the hell was he thinking?  He
wasn’t
thinking where she was concerned, that was the problem.  Oddly enough, he looked more bothered than she did by the slip up. 

“It’s not all your fault,” she said, rubbing his shoulder in soothing circles.  “I wasn’t particularly thinking straight either.”

Another wave of guilt hit him as
she
tried to comfort
him
for practically attacking her instead of the other way around.  “I don’t have anything you can catch, I swear.  I’m a fast healer, remember?”  As far as he knew, it was impossible for his body to carry any kind of disease. 

“Well, if I can believe you about demons and stuff I guess I can believe you about being clean.  If neither one of us has anything to catch, I’m guessing it’s not that big of a deal.  We just probably should’ve talked about it first.  Not that I’m complaining about how it turned out,” she smiled, but Ethan couldn’t shake the feeling that something was off.  Not with her, but with him. 

He never let details slip like that, especially not important ones.  And he’d had no idea she was on the pill at all, things could’ve ended up very messy for them if she wasn’t.  She deserved better than that.  She deserved better than to be mauled in her own bedroom by an animal who couldn’t control himself.

“Hey, you’re awfully quiet, is something the matter?”

“No, it’s just… I’m sorry if I got too rough,” he said, rubbing the back of his neck uncomfortably.  Like an apology could make up for his actions, only Cady didn’t seem to mind. 

“I’m not.  Most of it was kinda hot.  I like thinking I make you lose your control like that.”  She leaned close, her breath fanning across the underside of his jaw and his insides tightened with desire.

“You have no idea what you do to me,” Ethan replied, his lips brushing against the top of her cheek as he fought the urge to lose himself in her again.  And again.  “I should go,” he said roughly, taking steps toward the open window.

“Hey, you don’t have to run off yet.”  Cady followed him, brows pinched together in confusion.  “Ian’ll be gone for a while, we could hang out a bit.”

He already knew how that would end up and he’d already made her sore.  “No, I’d better not.  I shouldn’t have even come here in the first place.”  Back to the window frame, he swung his legs over to the fire escape, but she caught him before he could run away. 

“I’m glad you did.  I missed you something awful.”

“Me too.”  He couldn’t deny that, despite the confusion the night had brought.  “I’ll call you later.”

“Not if I call you first.”  Cady leaned in and stole a kiss.  “Love you,” she smiled on the way back. 

Ethan felt a surge of elation at the easy admission of love and he reached up to touch her face.  “I love you too, Cady.  Come what may.”  He only hoped that whatever he felt was fleeting and he’d be more in control the next time he saw her.  “Hey, don’t forget to cover your mirror tonight,” he added as an afterthought, his eyes lighting upon her dressing table.

“Why?”

He could see the touch of fear behind her eyes and hated himself for putting it there, but better to be safe than sorry.  “Just in case.  Will you do that for me?”

“Of course.  I’d do anything for you.”

That’s what scared him the most.  What if he wasn’t himself anymore?

“Guess what?”

Cady glanced up from her position on the couch where she had a library book propped up on her knees.  Ian was clearly busting a nut to tell her something, but too dorky to come right out and say so.  “You’re finally ready to admit your addiction to porn?  Masturbation is a healthy expression of sexual energy, but that doesn’t mean I enjoy finding your copy of
Indiana Bone
in the DVD player, you know.”

“What?  No, I…” Clearly flustered by her response, he snatched the book out of her hands to force her to pay attention.  “Ask me how my day went.”

“How did your day go, brother dearest?” she responded with a saccharine smile. 

“Well, I’ll tell you, because you asked so nicely,” he smirked back.  “An interesting thing happened to me on the way back from the store.”

“What’s that?” 

“I got a job.”

“You already have a job, genius.”

“No, a real job, just like you.”

“You’re going to be a receptionist?”

“No, smartass, I’m not going to be a sucky receptionist.”  He fixed her with a withering stare and she sat up higher. 

“And this job just landed in your lap?  Were they giving them out in the parking lot out of the back of a van?”

His annoyance grew more pronounced.  “I’ve been applying around for a while now, if you must know.  I couldn’t let my baby sister show me up, could I?”

“
I
wouldn’t want to, but I didn’t want rub your face in it or anything,” she smiled sweetly.  The details were still fuzzy, but it sounded like Ian was really stoked about the opportunity, whatever it was.  She rolled over the back of the couch, going for her cell phone on the breakfast bar.  “Well then, we should order real pizza to celebrate and you can tell me all about it.”

“Screw that, we can afford to go to the Olive Garden if we want to.”

The job was
that
good, was it?  “Can I get mozzarella sticks?”

“Whatever my Cady-bear wants,” he grinned, picking her up and swinging her around in a big hug until she giggled like a little girl.

“Maybe we’d better wait until that first paycheck,” she suggested once he put her down again, reality intruding on the giddy celebration.  “When do you start?”

“Monday.  I already called and gave my notice at the Sugar Shack, but I’m gonna pull double duty and work both places for a week or two so we won’t have to starve from the gap in pay.”

Monday, they sure weren’t wasting any time.  “That’s awesome.  What are you going to be doing?”  She didn’t think he’d said yet, only that it wasn’t as a receptionist.

“Corporate security.  Mostly grunt stuff, but I get to wear a suit and it’s a full time gig with benefits and paid sick days and everything.”

Cady’s eyes widened in surprise.  Corporate security?  Ian was about as corporate as a welder.  Still, it was definitely a step up from working as a bouncer in a titty bar.  “Wow, that sounds pretty amazing.  But uh, do you even own a suit anymore?”  The one he’d worn to their father’s funeral hadn’t fit for years. 

“Get this, they’re providing me with one and five shirts.  How fucking awesome is that?” he grinned. 

“That’s awesome covered in awesome sauce and itty bitty awesome sprinkles,” she admitted, matching his grin.  “It sounds like we need to go tie shopping, and probably get you a hair cut.  I don’t suppose they said you have to cut off that ridiculous goatee, did they?” she couldn’t help but tease. 

“Really freaking funny,” he snorted.  “This coming from a girl who wore pink streaks in her hair for a year?”

“Hey, I was twelve,” she scowled. “What’s your excuse?”

“I have it on good authority that many women find the goatee sexy as hell.”  He stroked his chin fondly.

“Eewh, how about we don’t talk about the hell where I’m tormented by your fuck buddies, huh?”

Ian chuckled, collapsing on the couch with a happy sigh.  “Do you know what this means?”

“You don’t have to worry about coming home from work with puke on your shoes anymore?”

“I’m trying to be serious.”

As usual his sense of humor was severely lacking.  “I don’t have to add you to my insurance at work?” she tried again, going for something practical as she sat beside him.

“That, and it means for the first time since Dad died, I feel like we’re going to be okay.”

Her heart twisted at that, it always gave her a pang to think what her father would think about some of her life choices, but there wasn’t much point in dwelling on it.  “Aw, Ian, we’ve been okay.”

“We’ve been scraping by, I wouldn’t call that okay.”

“I happen to like the way we turned out. I don’t think we did such a bad job.”

“Maybe not, but you know I’ve always wanted better for you, for the both of us.  Maybe now we can afford to get out of this shithole and…”

“Into a more expensive shithole?”  One eyebrow came up.  “Don’t jump the gun, big brother, you ain’t been paid yet.”

“Meaning what?”

“Meaning, let’s not count our chickens before they’re hatched.  I say we hold off and save our money and see where we are in a few months’ time.”  Besides, she couldn’t help but think about Ethan and how he fit into everything.  She’d be lying to herself if she didn’t admit to thinking about moving in with him someday, dangerous job or not.  As long as she had a non-enclosed space to duck into whenever Rikard came to call, she didn’t think it was such a bad idea. 

“Look before we leap?”  He weighed the thought over, giving a slow nod.  “I hate to say it, but I think my Cady-bear is growing up.”

“One of us had to,” she snorted.  “Besides, who knows if you’ll always want your dumb sister cramping your style anyway?  If we’re both doing well enough, maybe the next move is each finding a place of our own?”

“You want to get a place of your own?”

“I don’t know, probably some day I will.  Won’t you?”

“I guess so, maybe.  But you’re not cramping my style, kiddo.”

“Maybe you’re cramping mine a little?” she shrugged, wishing she hadn’t said anything from the pained look around his eyes.

“Why, are you seeing somebody?  Kelli said something about you making out with a cop the other day.  I hate hearing about that shit second hand, you know.”

“That was nothing, just a misunderstanding,” she said with a dismissive wave.

“Funny how many misunderstandings end up with someone’s tongue in your mouth.”

“It was nothing, trust me.  I’m definitely not dating that guy.  Why is Kelli talking about my love life, and what’s up with the two of you anyway?”

Ian slapped his thigh, his entire posture shifting to an
I don’t want to talk about this
position.  “You know what?  We should go out to celebrate.”

“No, come on, talk to me.  Are you two serious?”

“I don’t know what it is.”  He shook his head with a disgusted snort.  “You know Kelli, she’s never serious about anything.”

“I think she likes you more than she wants to let on, but she’s too chicken to come out and say so, because you’re you.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“You know exactly what it means.  You don’t always come off as the most sensitive guy.  She probably thinks she doesn’t mean anything more to you than an easy lay.”

His hand came up, finger wagging at her.  “Hey, don’t talk about Kelli like that, she means a lot more to me than an easy lay.”

“Don’t tell me, tell her.”  Cady said gently, and Ian let out a long breath. 

“Come on, we’re going out.”

“Where are we going?”

“D’Bar.  Suddenly I feel like a drink with a friendly face.”

“Great, let me go and get changed.”

“I don’t want to be here for an hour waiting for you to get ready,” he groaned.

“And I don’t want to watch you make googly eyes at Kelli all night at the bar, but you’re my brother and I love you,” she grinned, disappearing behind the bedroom door. 

* * *

While it only took her about twenty minutes to get ready to go out, disproving Ian’s fears, Cady’s prediction turned out to be only too true.  Ian spent the whole time flirting with Kelli whenever she looked their way, and his eyes glued to her ass when she didn’t. 

Cady hung out for about an hour and a half before she got bored and ducked out around the corner to get a burrito when her dreams of mozzarella sticks turned into stale pretzels at the bar.  Even worse, it looked like they hadn’t even noticed her absence, so she begged off, promising to celebrate with him later. 

Then again, maybe the worst part was when Ian didn’t go through his overprotective spiel to make sure she got safely on the bus.  In fact, he barely acknowledged her leaving except to ask her to text him when she got home.  It should’ve made her happy to gain that small jot of independence, but all it did was make her a little sad.  They really were growing apart. 

It wasn’t so late out that she worried about her safety on the streets and decided to walk home instead of take the bus to clear her head.  The weather had started to turn cooler, losing the swelter, but the crisp fog hadn’t taken over yet, thank goodness.  They probably only had a week or so before she’d have to wear a light jacket out at night instead of bare arms. 

Cady’s thoughts turned to the future stretching out before her.  What if she did get her own apartment?  If she found a small studio closer to work, she could sleep later, and she wouldn’t need much in the way of furniture if it wasn’t all that big.  She’d even let Ian keep the couch.  With the free drinks and food at work, her grocery bill wouldn’t be all that big either and she could probably still bum free wi-fi from neighbors, or there were always coffee shops if that didn’t work out. 

Her expenses were minimal really, and so far Ethan seemed to be taking care of her cell phone bill.  Maybe if she got her own place he could drop by more often?  Maybe he might help her splurge on a bigger bed then, if he was going to be sharing it with any regularity. 

Mind busily spinning fantasies of the future, it was surprising she even noticed the man leaning against the front of her building when she turned around the corner, but something about him caught her immediate attention.

Rikard.

How had he found her?  Then again he’d found out her name easily enough, she had to stop underestimating him.  She didn’t think he’d seen her, not yet.  There was time to duck into another building or go back the way she came to find Ian, or even call Ethan.  But she didn’t have it in her to cower and hide. 

Rikard knew where she lived, he knew where she hung out with friends, and Cady was willing to bet he knew where she worked as well.  He could’ve hidden in the shadows, but instead he’d chosen to wait right out in front where she’d be sure to see him.  Deciding the only way she’d figure out what he wanted was to talk to him, she strode right up to him, meeting his gaze as she approached, but not his smile. 

“Stalking is illegal in all fifty states, you know,” she declared, coming to stop directly in front of him.

Rikard gave a half shrug, ducking his head to the side to blow out a long plume of smoke.  “I’m standing here on a public street minding my own business.  You smoke?”  He offered her a drag of his cigarette.

“No, I think it’s repellent in every way.”

“Fair enough,” he acknowledged, crushing the glowing ember between his thumb and forefinger and tucking the stub into his pocket. 

“What are you doing out here?” she challenged when he didn’t say anything else.

“Maybe I wanted to make sure you got home safely.  A girl out on the streets by herself can’t be too careful.”

“I’ll take my chances alone, thanks.”

“You wouldn’t say that if you knew what was out there.”

“I think I have a pretty good idea.”

The corner of his mouth tugged up into a smile.  “I’ll bet you do at that.”

Shit
.  She had to be more careful around him.  “Why do you keep following me?”

His eyes narrowed at her.  “The better question might be, why do you keep turning up in the course of my day?”

“That’s crazy insane.  You don’t see me following you around, showing up where you live, where you drink.”

“And yet here you are in my path.”

“You’re the one in charge of where you go.  I suggest you turn around and put one foot in front of the other, see where that path takes you.”  Cady brushed past him, praying he wouldn’t follow, but his steps echoed behind her as she entered the building, right up to the elevator.  He stepped in right after her, purposefully invading her personal space in the empty car. 

“I thought you didn’t like to take the elevator,” she said, reaching up to push the button for the fifth floor.

“And how would you know something like that?”

Balls
.  What the hell had she done?  She shouldn’t even be allowed to talk.  Before Cady could say anything to try and salvage her horrible mess he leaned past her, shutting the elevator down, trapping them between floors.  The light flickered and went out, and a light whimper escaped her lips, fearing what he might do in the darkness.  Seconds later an emergency light clicked on, casting his face in a dim, red glow as he stood menacingly close.