Read Story: SEASON 1 EPISODE 175

Erin continued when I didn't respond, "Anyway, Chloe told us you and Natashya were missing. She had John take us home. When I asked her what she was going to do, she just said 'my job' and then left. We didn't see her for two days."

"I called Helen and filled her in. She called me back an hour later and said that someone had broken the story about the shooting since there were so many high-profile people up there. I didn't have much to do, so handled the locals on this end. Apparently, someone who works for a local paper got wind that you were there. Something about a picture of you with an influencer?"

"Fuck," I said. "Charity." Another one who'd been killed because of me. Someone must have gotten it off her phone and realized who I was.

"That's the one," Erin said. "I bought the phone from her sister. She was the one who had it. The reporter wasn't in the mood to shut his mouth, so we bought the paper and buried the story."

"Jesus," I muttered.

"We knew you wouldn't have wanted word to get back to anyone on the board before your meeting." Erin sald.

"Yeah," I said. "You did amazing. It's just.... I keep forgetting how much 'fuck you' money I have, sometimes."

"You're not kidding," Erin replied. I think there's more of it than when we first met"

We grew quiet, listening to the faint hum of the plane engines as we soared through the air, half of us beaten, shot, or both. I thought about Charity and Ray... the dead men at the warehouse.... the two unnamed people who had escaped, The woman with the glasses who had tried to seduce me like she was making a business transaction, and the mystery man who had it out for my blood. Who the hell were they?

After about five minutes of pondering, I noticed Erin had started lightly stroking my arm. Her fingernails grazed over my skin and sent chills down my arm, shoulder, and half my chest; goose flesh erupted along it. I sighed.

"I need to sleep," said. "I'm tired. I can feel it but can't seem to shut off my brain."

"The doctor did say it'd be about an hour before whatever he gave you wore off," Erin pointed out.

"Damn," said. I was so weary, I could feel it deep in my soul.

Erin's fingers trailed down my arm, slid over my fingers, and down to my thigh. looked down at her, and she met my eyes with her own; I knew that look anywhere, and usually, I'd have been an enthusiastic participant, but after everything...

"I don't know that I can right now," I said, giving her a sad smile.

"It's okay, Marcus," Erin said, returning my smile with one of her own. There wasn't a trace of the playful mischief normally present. All I could detect was sweet concern. "Just lay there and let me take care of you."

I nodded and closed my eyes. Shutting off one of my senses allowed me to concentrate on the feel of Erin's light, delicate fingers as they drifted over my chest - a stark contrast to the beatings I'd suffered through the past three days. Erin's floral scent was a relief after being subject to the musty, dank smells of an empty warehouse, stagnant water, putrid coffee, and nicotine- infested breath

"I got to know Emily a little better over the last few days," Erin murmured, her quiet, husky voice a pleasant sensation to the angry questions thrown at me. "She opened up a little about Daniel and LA

Were I not so relaxed, I would have opened my eyes and sat up, doctor's orders or not. The fact that Emily had talked about those things with anyone, let alone a near stranger, spoke volumes about what my sister thought of my assistant. Instead, I willed myself to lay there and absorb Erin's affection.

"She told me how good you'd been to her after she got back," Erin continued, her voice low and soothing. "You never asked anything from her. You never pressed her on what happened."

I sensed a shift in her weight as her slight body leaned into mine, and I felt the soft, feather touch of her lips on mine. "You're a really good man, Marcus Upton."

And then she kissed me. It wasn't the hungry kiss of Erin, the insatiable, aggressively bisexual nymphomaniac who normally devoured me with the heat of Haphestus's roaring furnace. No, this was soft, sensual, and full of caring and longing... much like the kisses she'd given me that night we'd made love on my bed for the first time, only more. I extended my tongue, brushed the tip across those soft, dark lips, and tasted her.

The taste... so different from the putrid water, filthy rags, and blood that had filled my mouth the past few days. She tasted like mint and... home-she was becoming a woman I was wholly familiar with-just as comfortable and warm as she was enticing and exciting.

I breathed into the kiss as it deepened and enjoyed the sensation of her warm tongue meeting mine, sliding across it as they danced to a slow, deliberate rhythm. Her fingertips drifted lower, slipping over the elastic waistband of my underwear and continuing over my fabric-covered cock. Despite everything I'd been through and my guilt at the deaths laid at my feet, I felt it swell under her touch and in response to her love. The only attention it had seen in days was from the woman with the glasses, and she never finished me off. After weeks of a regular diet of sex, my libido had become used to a certain standard of living.

We continued kissing like that for several more minutes. It never became heated like our usual makeout sessions... just a slow, sweet exchange between two souls who simply needed to be touched. Even Erin's grinding against my dick was a series of gentle caresses.

When our mouths finally separated, I slowly opened my eyes to see her looking down at me with an expression that almost made me cry, it was so beautiful. I felt a tear slip out the corner of my eye, and Erin dipped her head to kiss it away.

"I knew you would be a good boss," she whispered. "That day, I could tell. I didn't expect you to be such a good man."

"Erin," I said, "I'm not-"

She gave me another soft kiss on the lips to shut me up and then rained gentle kisses all over my face. "You're not perfect, Marcus, but you're a good man, and I'm so lucky that found you that day." She kissed down my bruised face, and I could feel her soft lips more than usual, each caress leaving a near-burning sensation that lingered as she continued blazing a little trail across my mottled skin.

"I was scared, but not just that I'd lose all of this. I like you, Marcus. I really like you, and like working for you, and I was scared that I lost you. Not just as a boss, but as a friend" She gave my dick a

little squeeze through my underwear and gave me a slight grin, the old Erin shining through like rays of sun through a cloudy day. "Maybe as a little more than a friend."