Page 2 of Brush with Death
It was like Cyril could read Vale’s mind.Vale didn’t think he’d ever get enough of Cyril, and thankfully, he’d never have to find out what it was like to live without him.
He wasn’t sure anyone would survive if he had to.
* * * *
CYRIL NEVER WOULD’VEthought that he’d enjoy having someone watching his every movement, but he did.He liked feeling Vale’s gaze on him as he got ready for work.He liked knowing that Vale would be waiting for him once he was done and that he was worried about him, even though Cyril had been doing this job for years.
Of course, Vale was probably right to be worried.Considering what had happened since the two of them had met, he wasn’t wrong in thinking that something might happen to Cyril.Cyril didn’t go looking for trouble, but trouble seemed to come looking for him.It wasn’t his fault, but he still had to deal with the outcome.
“Robbie will be with you the entire time?”Vale asked.
“He will be,” Cyril confirmed as he pulled his hair lower on his forehead before rechecking his reflection in the mirror.
“Remind him to call me if anything happens.”
Cyril didn’t roll his eyes.He would have if his mother had been the one saying that, but it was Vale.Cyril found his mother worrying about him irritating and unnecessary, but the same couldn’t be said about Vale.
CyrilwantedVale to worry about him.He wanted him to fret and to call just so he could hear Cyril’s voice.He wanted Vale to check in on him.It made him feel loved.
“He knows what to do,” Cyril reassured Vale.Vale had told Robbie so many times, in fact, that Cyril wouldn’t be surprised if Robbie remembered it until the day he died.
Satisfied with the way he looked, he turned and patted his boyfriend’s arm.“You went over it with him several times, remember?”
“So?It won’t hurt anyone to go over it one last time.”
“It might hurt Robbie if he decides he’s had enough of it and strangles you.”
Vale huffed.“Robbie wouldn’t do that.”
Because he knew that Vale could kill him in about a hundred ways and make it look like an accident.Vale would never do that, but that didn’t change the fact that he could do it if he changed his mind.
“He wouldn’t,” Cyril confirmed.“And he wouldn’t let anything or anyone hurt me.He has you on speed dial.He’ll let you know if anything happens, but in the meantime, you need to relax.”
“I’m not sure I can.Remember how we met?”
“You can’t hold that against me.I didn’t want to reanimate a very bad guy, and the other bad guys didn’t take no for an answer.”
“I never said it was your fault.”
Cyril slipped his arms around Vale’s waist and squeezed.“I’ll be fine.I did this job before meeting you, and I can continue doing it now.Robbie will let you know if something’s wrong, but the majority of the time, my job is very boring.”
Vale snorted and pressed a kiss on Cyril’s forehead.“Your job is anything but boring.”
Many people thought that.Cyril reanimated dead bodies for a living, and people were either fascinated or horrified.To Cyril, it was a part of him.He’d been reanimating cadavers since he was a child, and he’d turned it into a job that paid pretty well.There was nothing horrifying about death except the way it sometimes happened.
“I could come with you,” Vale offered.
Normally, Cyril would’ve said yes, but today, Vale couldn’t come.“You’re seeing Russell.”
“I can tell him to come later.”
“You can, but you won’t.There’s no reason for you to.”
“Fine.Call me ifanythinghappens.”
“I will.”Cyril had already promised to do so several times, and Robbie had done the same, but if it made Vale feel better, Cyril would promise it another dozen times.
“And don’t let Robbie talk you into doing anything stupid,” Vale added.
