Rescue Me(28)

Erin lightly taps on the window, bringing me out of my memories. What this woman doesn’t know is, I need her just as badly as she needs me. I am up and on my feet before she even takes a step toward me, and as I bring her into my arms and bury my head into her neck, I feel like I can breathe again.

“What are you doing out here so late? It’s after midnight.”

She sounds so worried and her voice is still so shaky. I place both of my hands in hers, take a few steps back, and pull her in closer to me.

“I didn’t want to disturb you and Sierra, so I came out here for a while and just lost track of time.” It takes me a couple of minutes before I even notice that I have us swaying to the beat of a slow rock song playing. “You’re safe with me, Erin McIntyre. I will do everything I can to keep my girls safe, honey. I need you to believe that,” I state as I press my forehead to hers.

“I am done being scared of him, Adam. A man like him doesn’t deserve my happiness, but a man like you does.”

She shocks the living hell out of me when she gently brings my head down with her hand and takes my mouth by surprise. Our tongues swirl against each other’s as I kiss her back with the deepest, most devastating hungry kiss that I have ever experienced. It’s as if I am pacing our kiss with the soft rhythm of the music we are swaying to. I feel her body start to relax when I take my mouth from hers.

“You’re such an incredibly loving and caring man. I am so sorry you are being dragged into all of this.”

Her eyes are moist with unshed tears and fuck, I don’t want her to feel like she has dragged me into anything.

“I am right where I want to be, so don’t ever think you have dragged me into anything.” I am pissed she would even think that way but I don’t let her know that.

“I’m scared of him, and there are so many things you don’t know about yet. I want so badly to tell you everything but I am not going to let him beat me down again, not when I have so much to look forward to with you.”

Oh, Christ! I have wanted to hear her say that for so damn long.

“That’s my girl. Together we will make it through this. We will find him and figure out exactly what the son of a bitch wants,” I say with every ounce of certainty I have.

“I want to show you something,” Erin says softly. My curiosity gets the better of me, so I let go of her, grab my phone, and lock up the house behind us as we enter. Erin heads for her bedroom and begins to rummage around in the closet. What the hell could possibly be in there?

“I want to show you a picture of Joel just in case he’s here so you know what he looks like,” she finally says, reading my mind.

“Are you sure you’re up to this?” I ask as she continues searching through her closet.

“Yes, I’m sure. Ah. Here it is.”

She hands me an envelope with ‘Joel’ written on it. She doesn’t wait for me to open it; instead, she walks out of the room completely. I pull the few photos out and seeing the smug look on his face as he sits with a beer in his hand, I instantly hate the son of a bitch even more than I did before.

“I will make you pay for what you have done, that’s a fucking promise,” I say to myself as I tuck the photo back in the envelope. I take it to my room and place it on top of the dresser.

I am met with silence in the kitchen, so I quickly search the house looking for Erin. I take a peek inside Sierra’s bedroom and the sight before me is one of the most picturesque I have ever seen as Erin lies beside her daughter. I can only imagine how scared she must feel right now.

We didn’t really have much time to talk about the situation as we both devoted our time to Sierra tonight. Erin had her daughter tucked close to her side while we watched a movie; she even kept her eyes glued to the bathroom door when my little butterfly went in for a shower. Call me a pussy and any other name in the book that you want to, but I wish I could take away every bit of pain and suffering this amazing woman is going through. I am so new to this relationship thing that I have no idea what the hell to do.

I leave the two of them alone as I don’t want to pry or intrude on what Erin needs right now, so taking my phone out of my pocket, I take long strides down the hall and fade into the darkness of the fall sky as I slip out onto back porch and dial the one person who I know will be able to help me.

“Hey, brat.”

“Is everything okay?” Shayne answers groggily.

“Yeah. Erin is sleeping with Sierra and it was a quiet night, but I need your help. And yes, I know I woke you and I am sorry about that, but I just don’t have a damn clue what to do to for Erin to take away her pain and make this easier on her. On the outside she is trying so hard to be strong, Shayne, but I can see in her eyes that she is scared.”