Revelation: A Contemporary Erotic Romance (Iris Series) (47 page)

Ryann walked over to him and touched his face to calm him.  “What if we all went for a walk like couples do, with the men walking together and the women walking together?  Em and I can walk in front, you guys can walk behind us a bit.  Drew said the good doc isn’t on call tonight, so there’s a big chance he’s home.”

“I like this idea.  Keep going,” Emily said. 

“There are benches all along that street.  What if we sat down to chat near his place and you guys can do your sneaky cloak and dagger stuff?”

Mike and Jeremy looked at each other, as if to say,
Save me from headstrong women.
  And five minutes later, the four of them left to take their stroll.

……

The guys stayed about twenty feet behind the girls as they walked and seemingly enjoyed the early fall evening.  It was approaching eight o’clock and the West Village neighborhood looked beautiful and quaint.  Quiet. 

As Emily and Ryann approached the brownstone owned by Vincent Strover, they casually scoped out the black iron street benches nearby and finally made their way to one directly in front of his front door.  The guys hung back while the girls made themselves comfortable, appearing to be in natural conversation.

“It’s the only house on the street that’s dark,” Emily murmured, casually looking around as if they were just sitting down for some girl talk.  “The light’s on in front, but windows are dark.”  She turned to Ryann and asked, “What was your impression of him when you had to see him back when you taught Kevin?  Jon said you thought he was ‘scary’.”

“He was.  Gave me the creeps.  There’s a difference between a man who is confident, even a little cocky which can make him appear attractive.  Like our guys, for instance.  Dr. Strover?  He’s of the asshole confident variety.  But the scary asshole confident variety?  Let’s just say I wouldn’t wanna find myself alone in a dark alley with him.”

“Yeah, I get your meaning.  I’m sure you heard how my meeting went with him and Rene?”

“Jeremy passed it along.”

They both jumped slightly when the front door opened unexpectedly and Kevin walked out carrying a garbage bag to put in the can out front.  He was a gawky 16 year old with dirty blonde hair.  He also jumped slightly when he saw them sitting on the bench.

“Mrs. Thornton?” he asked, flustered.

Ryann had taught English Literature at the Academy for years when she had still been married to her late husband who’d tragically died in a car wreck years earlier.  The kids all knew her as a
Mrs
., and at that moment, the
Mrs
. turned on her Oscar Award winning skills.

“Kevin?!  Hi!” Ryann got up to walk over to him.  “What a small world,” she smiled.  “Do you live here?” 

Kevin began convulsively swallowing and looked behind him.  Then he turned back and said, “Yeah.  What are you doing here?” he asked nervously.

“I actually live in the neighborhood. I didn’t even know you lived around here,” she laughed lightly.

“Yeah.  I heard you weren’t coming back to the Academy this year.”

“I’m not.  Actually, I got a job at the Manhattan Institute for Art and Design as an instructor.  I started this summer.”  She turned to Emily while speaking to Kevin, “This is my friend Miss White.  She’s actually the one who wrote the curriculum that you guys are gonna be using for the new mentoring program at school.”

Emily put out her hand with a reassuring smile.  “Hi Kevin.  Nice to meet you.”

“Same here,” he said shaking her hand then looking behind him at the front door.

“As a matter of fact,” Ryann turned to look back at Mike and Jeremy as they were approaching on the sidewalk, “you’re already ahead of the other students.  These are two of the mentors in the program.”  She directed his attention to the guys walking up.  “You would’ve met them this coming Friday, but you might as well meet them now.”

Kevin swallowed again as the guys approached.  Emily imagined they appeared intimidating to a teenager.  There were pretty tall and had ‘don’t mess with me’ looks about them.

Sensing Kevin’s nerves, the guys plastered on smiles and approached with their hands in their pockets, trying to appear casual.

Ryann continued with the introductions.  “This is Detective Michael Callahan with the 9
th
Precinct, and this is Jeremy McCallister.  He’s an art dealer, and owns and runs the
M Gallery
on the lower East side.

All of the men shook hands and Kevin finally spoke.  “Well, I need to get back inside.”

“Kevin?” 

They all turned to look and found Dr. Strover standing at the door.  He looked composed in his suit minus the jacket.  As if finally recognizing Emily and Ryann, Vincent stepped out of the doorway and walked down his steps to the grouping in front of his house.  He glanced at the men then spoke directly to Emily.

“What’s this about?”

Emily, Michael, and Jeremy were all about to explain, when Ryann answered first.

“Dr. Strover, I don’t know if you remember me.  My name’s Ryann Thornton.  I taught Kevin English Lit at the Academy when he was a freshman.  I just happen to live in the area and was taking a walk with my friends and bumped into Kevin while he was taking out the garbage.”  Ryann smiled naturally, like ‘isn’t this a co-inkydink?’

Jeremy stepped in and put his arm around Ryann’s shoulders, claiming her in front of the doctor.  He put out his hand first.  “Jeremy McCallister, Dr. Strover.”  They shook hands, then Dr. Strover crossed his arms and looked down at Emily.  Michael stepped in at this time.

“Detective Michael Callahan, sir,” Mike said putting out his hand.  He waited until Vincent finally shook it.  “I believe you’ve met Emily White already.  I understand you had a meeting with her the other day about the mentoring program.”  They shook hands.  “Jeremy and I are actually two of the mentors in the program you had some concerns about, so I’m glad we were able to meet.”  Mike looked around at the neighborhood, “And here we were just taking an evening stroll.”  Mike gave him a pointed look. 

Vincent narrowed his eyes examining them all then let a condescending smile play on his lips as he glanced at Emily.  “I have my doubts about the program, yes.  We’ll see how Kevin’s first experience goes with it, then I’ll re-evaluate.”

“Well,” Mike continued, “I can assure you it’s top notch.  We’re all looking forward to getting to know the students.  The men involved are excited about giving these kids tools and resources to be well adjusted and contributing men to our society.”

Vincent smiled his shark smile and said, “Yes, Miss White has already given me the speech, thank you.”

“I would love to meet Mrs. Strover,” Emily finally spoke.  She turned to Kevin.  “Is your mom home?”

Vincent looked at Kevin.  “Yes, Kevin.  Why don’t you see if your mom is available?”

There was an awkward pause while Kevin just stared at his stepfather.  It was as if everyone was holding their breath to see how he would respond.

“I don’t think she’s feeling well enough to come out,” Kevin practically whispered while looking at Vincent.  As if sensing a deeper explanation was needed, he turned to the rest of them and said more confidently, “She’s been fighting a cold.  But I’ll be sure to tell her you were all asking for her.”

“Please do.  I haven’t seen her since I taught you.  How has she been otherwise?” Ryann asked.

“Good, good.  She’s good,” Kevin stammered. 

“Well, I’m looking forward to getting to know you better, Kevin.  You’ll be in my class with Mr. White from the Academy.  It was nice to meet you.  We’ll see you this Friday, okay?”  Mike put out his hand and shook Kevin’s.  “We’ll leave you guys to your evening.”  Mike turned to the group.  “Ready to head back?”

“Yeah,” Jeremy said.  “Nice to meet you all.  Kevin, we’ll see you later this week,” he said with a smile.  With that, he took Ryann’s hand and began walking her in the opposite direction of their brownstone. 

No sense in letting the man know which direction Jeremy and Ryann lived, Emily thought.

They all said their goodbyes and started walking as Kevin and Vincent walked back to the house.  Emily looked up at the movement which caught her attention in one of the windows.  A curtain had fallen back into place.  She held Mike’s hand and squeezed.  There was definitely something going on and she would do whatever she could to help Kevin and his mother if they indeed needed help.

They stayed quiet for a few moments until they got to the corner to turn down another street to head back.  When they did, Ryann finally spoke.

“Did you see the curtain move in the window upstairs?”

“I did,” Emily responded. 

“I hated leaving,” Ryann said.  “How many of you really think she has a cold?”

Jeremy snorted.

“We’ll figure out what’s goin’ on.  This Friday will be the beginning.  If Strover is abusing them, then obviously the kid will be scared.  If he wants to talk or needs something, we’ll just have to convince him that we’re safe.”

“Yeah,” Emily murmured.

“I wish we didn’t have to wait until Friday to get the ball rolling, especially if there is something going on,” Ryann mused. 

“We may not have to wait until Friday,” Mike said mysteriously.

“Meaning?” Jeremy asked, one eyebrow rising.

“When I shook his hand, I slipped him my card,” Mike said.  “If he wants to talk, he knows how to find me.  Let’s keep our fingers crossed.”

“Nicely done, Detective,” Emily said looking up at him sweetly.

He leaned down to kiss her nose.  “Let’s go home.”

……

Sunday began with Emily plastered against Mike’s side, soaking up his warmth.  They’d decided to stay at his place on Saturday night, opting for a nice motorcycle ride home from Jeremy and Ryann’s.  By mid-afternoon, their laundry was done, the apartment was picked up, and when Emily walked out of the bathroom after using it, Mike was crashed on the sofa with his guitar in hand.

She flopped down next to him.  She’d never heard him play before.

“Are you gonna serenade me?” she joked.

He had a mischievous glint in his eye and began playing
Stairway to Heaven.
  She laughed.

“I’ve been working on something, actually.”

She settled into the cushions and readied herself for a treat.

He began playing
Iris
by the Goo Goo Dolls.  He crooned softly, but stopped singing when he forgot the words, just hummed along with his strums.  It was such a beautiful and special moment, and Emily couldn’t remember the last time she’d felt so weepy. 

Well, other than the two weeks without him.

“Whattaya think?” he asked at the end of the song.  He must’ve seen that she planned on attacking him because he quickly put the guitar down and she crawled into his lap.  Holding his face in her hands, she kissed him soundly on the lips.

“I think I love you more and more every day,” she murmured with her mouth against his.

“Baby,” he responded.  Then he kissed her and there was no more talking for a few moments until he was imbedded deep inside her a few minutes later, their clothes strewn on the floor.  “You know,” he said into her ear, his movements measured and purposeful, “we really should talk about moving in together, don’t you think?”

“Mmm, don’t stop moving, Mike.” 

She was currently on her knees down on her stomach, with him mounted behind her.  She rolled her hips back into him so she could increase the friction.  His foot was on the floor next to the sofa giving him leverage and just the right angle.  He pressed his chest into her back and bit down behind her ear.  At the same time he thrust up into her.

She let out a satisfied sound.  “Yeah,” she moaned softly.

He increased his rhythm and reached his hand under her stomach to find her clit.  Once there, he ground into her using his hand to massage her while he pounded into her.  “Come back here with me.”

He moved them so he was sitting back on his knees and she was pulled up practically sitting on him, her back to his front. 

“Bring your arms back around my neck.” 

She did and grabbed tufts of his hair so she could hold on.  His arms wound around her, one hand on her breast and the other still on her mound holding them connected and massaging her there.  He felt so incredible that she couldn’t seem to stop the sounds escaping from the back of her throat.

“God, you feel good, baby,” he said, nuzzling her neck. 

They moved together until the slow build turned into something more primal, raw, and they were bucking against each other not able to get enough.  When the tension finally snapped, they crashed into each other one last time, collapsing onto the sofa into a heap of arms and legs.

“We need to do that again,” he groaned while resting his weight on top of her back.  “You’re so fuckin’ tight that way.  I can’t even explain to you how mind blowing it is.”

“I might have an idea,” she mumbled into the cushion, her muscles feeling shaky and wobbly.  “I never knew sex could be like this.”

“So you’ve said.  I like hearing that.  Say more.  I’m good, right?”