Page 357 of Phobia
“I’ll call Leech. Go back inside.”
“Andre…”
“It’s fine. I’ll deal with him.”
“Andre, wait.”
“What?” he snaps back.
“There’s a body…I can’t leave Anthony.”
Andre’s face changes on a dime. All his previous emotions are checked and tucked away, someplace where he keeps all the human stuff that makes him a person.
The man I’m dealing with right now scares the living shit out of me and I find myself clutching Anthony closer to my chest.
This Andre…no one can control him.
“I’ll take care of it,” he mutters. The way his eyes roam in the direction of the stairs tells me he is filled with glee and anticipation.
I nod and turn my back on him, walking over to the living room and sitting us down on the couch, draping Anthony’s body in his favorite white linen blanket. His blood soaks through the fabric while his frail shape shivers in my arms.
I ignore the sounds coming from upstairs while I hold my lover closer to my chest.
“Don’t ever leave me. Please don’t leave me.” I sob when his thin fingers lose their grip over mine.
Chapter 15
Two months after the attack
“Anthony,” Dee pleads with me. I feel guilty it takes me so long, to respond. I want to be good for him, but I still struggle to be brave at night.
“Open your eyes, darling. Look at me. Trust me. Please, trust me, my love,” Delorean softly murmurs with infinite patience.
It takes me forever to get my breathing under control. My lids flutter open, my eyes slowly focusing on the man who has become the center of my world.
Dee is holding me tenderly, looking down at me, gently running his fingers through my damp hair.His thin locs are like a soft curtain falling over his shoulder, protecting me from the sight of the outside world.
“That’s it. Good boy.” I breathe in his scent - earth, pine, something sugary sweet with a touch of cinnamon.
“You smell like Christmas morning,” I mutter, my cheeks heating as I beam shyly at my lover.
Dee chuckles and graces me with a warm smile. The corners of his eyes crinkle, betraying his age. The fact that Dee is in his early forties doesn't take away from how attractive he is to me. His powerful body surrounds me. His low rumbling voice soothes me like nothing else in this world.If I could, I would crawl inside his chest and curl myself in his ribcage, where I could listen to his mighty heartbeat, strong enough for the two of us.
“Look.” Dee nudges my shoulder lightly, tucking his hair away behind his ear.
I turn to the glass walls. Horrified, I scramble back higher on the bed, folding myself over in Dee's lap, tucking my face in the crook of his neck trembling with fear.
I’m so scared my teeth chatter. My fingers dig into Dee's flesh, holding on for dear life as my lover maintains his composure.
The darkness has swallowed the whole house, it seems, pressing aggressively into the glass walls. I can almost hear it, an invisible pressure building, buzzing with heightened intensity like a beehive under threat. Dee says nothing for long minutes.
Although Dee has never hurt me for being a coward, for not being able to cope with my fears, my body locks down, anticipating some sort of punishment.
The possibility of pain makes it impossible to breathe. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
Delorean says nothing.
He makes no move to hold me, although I feel his warmth surrounding me. He understands my fear better than I do myself. I wonder if one day he will tell me, how he is so painfully aware of my particular needs.
