by Terry Towers
“Gotta give the kids a good picture for their Facebook page, right?” I whispered as his lips came closer to mine.
His eyes twinkled with amusement as he gave his head a little shake. Sliding a hand to the back of my neck he pulled me tight, his lips crashing down onto mine. While I’d intended our kiss to be a light, playful kiss, Elijah had other plans. I suspected it was payback for making him endure all these photos that made him uncomfortable. He didn’t have to tell me he was uncomfortable with all of the attention, I could see it in his expression.
But as his lips claimed mine, his tongue slipping between my parted lips, sending a surge of desire through me, I’d have never guessed he was uncomfortable. I vaguely heard the whoops and cheers of the gathering crowd around us. And even though my eyes were closed, I could sense the flashes from the cameras. Yup, even incognito I had a knack for making headlines.
When he pulled away from me, I groaned my protest softly, just loud enough for him to hear. “Elijah,” I sighed his name, my gloved hands still holding tight to the whip around his neck as I pressed my cheek to his rubber chest and turned my face towards the gathered crowd, still taking pictures.
“No. It’s Batman,” he corrected loudly for everyone to hear in a deep gravelly voice expected of Batman.
The crowd formed around us cheered.
With reluctance I stepped out of his arms and retrieved the whip from around his neck, wound it up and hooked it onto my utility belt. With the “show” over the crowd surrounding us began to dissipate. “You’re crazy, Elijah.”
“You’re the one who kissed me Boss, I was just being a good employee and going with it.”
I slid an arm around his waist and gave him a side hug. “Overachiever.” We began to make our way towards the autograph section.
“Then maybe we need to consider a raise.”
“A raise! You won’t even let me pay for the airline tickets.”
A smirk spread on his lips. “I’ll bill ya.”
“Good, we’re making progress.” We made it to the autograph section of the convention, after being stopped another dozen times for photos. These photos were quick and not near as steamy as the one we did for the crowd. We also made periodic stops at vendor booths. There was everything from movie memorabilia to artists’ booths to collectibles. It was cool to see them all without being harassed. “You know, I think you’d do good as an actor,” I stated as we got in my friend’s line.
He gave me an inquisitive look as we moved forward in line.
“You have the looks. The charisma. You’re the whole package. I think the women would go nuts over you.” We moved forward some more.
“And why would I want a bunch of strangers going crazy over me? You may not know this about me, yet, but I'm a pretty solitary person. It's how I’ve always been. It would drive me mad to be in the limelight all the time.”
I shrugged. “It’s just a suggestion.” But his words, whether they were ill phrased or not disturbed me. He didn’t like attention, but what would happen if we decided there was something between us? Would the tabloids and the attention and the people digging into his life just because he was with me be too much for him?
“What’s wrong?”
Shaking my head I forced a smile on my face. I shrugged off the idea, I was getting way ahead of myself. “Just thinking, that’s all.”
“We’re next.”
I looked up and he was right. The woman ahead of us pushed aside and we took our spot at the table. He paid my friend’s assistant as I grabbed a photo from The Hunters where the both of us were posed, rifles slung over our shoulders, and passed it to her.
“Hey, I love the costumes, guys. Really well done.”
“Thank you. We loved you in The Hunters. Hated seeing the bastards kill you off. You were a much better hunter than her.” I tapped the picture of myself with my steel “nail,” and then gave Elijah a wink.
“Thank you. I appreciate the kind words. It was a great show.” Rebecca raked a hand through her unruly red curls, one of her signature features, and then pulled the cap off of the marker and looked back up from the photo to meet my gaze. Her green eyes narrowed at me.
It was killing me to keep a grin from spreading across my lips. I could almost see the wheels turning in her head as she attempted to figure out where she knew me from. “Is there a problem, Rebecca?” I asked as coolly as possible.
Suddenly she leaned over the table and laughed. “You bitch! What are you doing here?” She laughed a little harder.
“Shhh. Keep your voice down.” I looked nervously over my shoulder at the line, which I assumed contained mostly Hunters fans. I was very lucky they hadn’t recognized me, but who would have guessed the star of the show would be in line for an autograph from her former co-star?
“And what are you doing in costume?” Her gaze shifted to Elijah. “And even more important, where did you get the eye candy?”
“This is Elijah and we’re incognito.”
She laughed again. “Incognito?”
“Yeah, I wanted to see what it was like coming to one of these things as a fan.”
Rebecca looked over at Elijah and then wagged her finger back and forth between us. “So you two are…? You and Anthony are splitsville?”
I looked over at Elijah, who shrugged, not giving me any indication on what he’d like me to say. “Yeah, it’s a long story, but Anthony is moving out of the house as we speak. And Elijah is…”
“Her new head of security.” He leaned across the table and shook Rebecca’s hand.
“Head?” I asked. Not that I minded the title, it just sounded funny considering I’ve never had the need to actually have a head of anything before.
He shrugged and hit me with a grin. “Head.”
“Nice.” Rebecca’s eyes were focused completely on him. Rebecca was notorious for having flings with her security people. It was her little fetish and she was eyeing Elijah like he was an all-you-can-eat buffet. “If you ever get bored of working with Sid, give me a call, okay?”
“Will do.” He shifted his gaze to mine and gave me a smug look.
After leaving Rebecca’s table we spent some more time examining the exhibits and posed for some photo ops with some of the celebrities, although none recognized me aside from Rebecca. It was one of the best days of my life. I know it sounds silly to say that something so minor, so commonplace could make up the best day of my life, but when you spend most of your time having to worry about paparazzi trailing behind you and watching every word you speak in case someone might overhear you, it’s stressful. It makes going out a chore, not fun. But today, I got to remember what it was like before all the glitz and glamour and I knew the movie would catapult my career into a whole new stratosphere. So I was thankful to Elijah – again.
We were just about to leave the convention when it happened, the fairy tale ended – I’d been made and it seemed that in lightning speed we were surrounded by my fans and media. Batman aka Elijah went into immediate protector mode, pushing me behind him and backing me up so I was against a wall, slowly shuffling me towards the exit, while keeping a block between me and the growing crowd of people.
I placed my hands on his waist and peered around him at the crowd shouting my name and questions. “It’s cool. I’ll sign some autographs,” I whispered to him.
Can I get a selfie? Is it true you’re going to be starring in Ian’s new movie? Is it over between you and Anthony? Can I get an autograph? Why aren’t you a panellist at the convention? Cell phones were aimed at us and dozens – no hundreds – of pictures taken.
How in the hell did they even know about me and Anthony? As soon as the question came to mind it was dismissed. I couldn’t take a crap without the press knowing, of course they knew. I suspected it was because Anthony informed his publicist and it hit the news waves this morning. I was curious to know what the reason was that we broke up – that is, the reason his publicist came up with.
“You can sign wh
en this is contained, Sidney, if you start randomly signing you’ll be mobbed. This isn’t my first convention, if you’ve forgotten. I’m not letting you get hurt.”
Chapter 10
Elijah
Holy shit, it had been a long time since I’d been so exhausted. The little jackrabbit in bed Sidney hadn’t allowed me much sleep the previous night and spending hours in the heavy rubberized torture suit¸ attempting to fend off anxious convention-goers was extremely physically taxing.
Despite her having to do an impromptu panel and a mini autograph session at the request of the event coordinators, Sidney seemed happy.
As she showered I attempted to pull myself from the Batman suit. It had been a nightmare to put on, but after spending hours sweating in this thing it was next to impossible to remove; it felt like it was glued to me. And as gross as this sounds I was having a serious case of uncomfortable sweaty balls due to wearing this thing. Oh well, small sacrifice for Sid.
I let out a sigh of relief as I finally got the chest piece off and all that remained was the pants. But what made this even worse was that I had to be very delicate with the suit and not damage it. Apparently it cost well over ten grand. I’d gotten the fly undone and was in the process of pulling, tugging, pushing the rubber down my ass when Sidney opened the bedroom door and strolled in, wearing just a little towel.
Her laughter pulled my attention from the suit to her. Normally I’d have been instantly aroused to see her like that but my frustration level was reaching its breaking point so I scowled at her. “Yeah, yuk it up baby. You’re smelling pretty and I’m a walking pile of sweat that can’t get free of this thing.”
Instead of apologizing her laughter increased until she was doubled over, holding her stomach. Admittedly, I’m sure I was quite the sight. I just stared at her, waiting for her to get it out of her system. “Want some help?” she asked, walking over to me and positioning herself behind me. “Lay down.” She gave me a shove and I went toppling onto my back onto the bed.
“Shit Sid, a little warning. Fuck, you’re abusive.”
“Stop being a big baby,” she scowled. “Okay, I’ve worked with costumes like this, it’s all about pulling and pushing at the same time.” She grabbed the bottom of the pants. “Push them down while I pull, okay? And if this doesn’t work, I’ll order down for some vegetable oil and we’ll slid ya on out like a sardine.”
“What?” I lifted my head and stared at her, not sure if she was serious or not.
“Ready?” I manned the position, my hands at the waistband and awaiting the go-ahead to start pushing them down.
“Okay, go!” We tugged and pulled, I grunted and she groaned. At one point she’d placed one of her feet on the bed between my legs, tugged hard, her foot slipped and she caught me right in the junk. Oh sweet Jesus fuck! It had been a long time since I’d been nailed in the junk, I can’t believe I’d forgotten how bad that hurt, although I promise you this, it’ll be a long time before I forget again. Close to 10 minutes later I was free and panting hard on the bed.
“See, wasn’t that hard,” she said, panting hard and readjusting the towel she had wrapped around her, which she nearly lost numerous times.
Still lying flat on my back on the bed, I lifted my head, opened my eyes and looked up at her in disbelief. “Yeah, piece of cake.”
“Just so you know, that costume was nothing compared to some of the costumes I’ve seen. Some actors spend hours in makeup chairs having costumes built around them.”
Sitting up I sighed once more. God, it felt good to be able to breathe freely again and after wearing that for hours and having it removed, my body felt almost weightless. “Yet another reason why I’ll leave the acting to other people. I’m happy just standing at the sidelines watching you.”
She shrugged as she walked over to me and situated herself between my sweaty legs. Leaning down she kissed me lightly on the lips and backed away. “How about you get a shower while I order room service and get the hot tub started?”
Sidney
What in the hell was he doing in that shower? Room service had actually been called and delivered. Getting anxious and slightly concerned – perhaps he’d passed out from heat exhaustion, it wouldn’t be the first time I’d seen it happen. Wearing a costume like that was like putting yourself in a 100-degree skin-tight sauna for hours at a time and being expected to function.
I knocked lightly on the bathroom door; there was no answer. The shower was still running. With a shrug, I opened the door up and peeked in just as he was turning off the shower and stepping out, the droplets of water glistening as they slithered along the hard curves of his body. Oops. Now, I know I should have immediately apologized and pulled my head back out, but I couldn’t help myself but look. I mean, he’s fucking hot, like you have no idea. I had seen a lot of rocking male bodies, but his was incredible, it put Anthony’s to shame. My eyes dipped lower and focused on his groin, his dick to be honest. It was at half-mast and a nice size. Fully erect, he’d be magnificent.
“What are you doing Sid?”
His voice pulled me from my thoughts and heat coloured my cheeks. “Sorry, I – you’d been in here a long time so I thought…” I lifted my eyes to his and shrugged. The amusement in his eyes deepened my embarrassment; he didn’t seem the least bit concerned I’d just seen him completely naked for the first time. “I was concerned.”
Elijah chuckled. “Uh-huh. Think I slipped and was bleeding out in the shower or something?” Grabbing a towel from the rack he wrapped it around his waist and knotted it. “What did you order us?” He moved towards me and I opened the door fully, backing away. When he walked past he intentionally brushed against me and my breath hitched in my throat as I waited to see if he’d kiss me again.
“Salmon fillet and tossed salad,” I managed to squeak out. This was really damn silly. I was Sidney Lopez, I’d never been tongue-tied or nervous or anxious around a man before. It was both exciting and disconcerting that he had such power over me.
He made a face; apparently that had been a bad choice. “I’ll just get some clothes and join you in a minute.”
I let out the breath I was holding when he went into his room and closed the door, and made my way into the dining room where our dinner was set out and waiting for us. I’d just sat down when he came in behind me wearing a pair of grey jogging pants, riding low on his hips. They were so low I could see the beginning line of hair that disappeared beneath the waistband.
Elijah sat down and removed the lid from the plate and stared down at his salmon and salad. “If you want something else I can order it. It’s just with you being in the costume for so long and the heat and whatnot, something heavy may have made you sick.” He looked up unspeaking. “I’ve seen it happen a lot.”
“It’s fine hun.”
We ate in silence. And it was an uneasy silence, there was a tension between us and I suspected we were both trying to figure out what was going on between us, but neither one of us was willing to broach the subject. He was such an enigma. I barely knew him but I knew all I had to do was ask and he’d go out of his way to do anything for me, and he was so aloof with me, he’d tease, but I could see there was some insecurity and unsureness. But last night and today when the crowd discovered who I was he was so protective and commanding.
Presumably finished with his meal, he pushed the plate to the side and looked up, catching me staring. “What’s on your mind?”
“I don’t know anything about you.”
“We’re back there again, huh?”
I nodded. “You know so much about me. Or at least you think you do.”
“I know what’s important.”
“How do you really know though?” Leaning forward I chewed at my lower lip as I eyed him. “The press only knows what I allow them to know. But it feels like you’d give your life for me. I don’t understand. It’s crazy that you’d do that.”
A smile tugged at the corners of his lips. “I haven’t leapt in fr
ont of a bullet for you yet.”
“But you would.”
He nodded. “I would.”
“But that’s crazy. What have I done for you that would make you feel so passionately about me?” Please let me in, please help me understand, I silently begged him.
Elijah leaned forward and took my hands in his. “I know you’re confused. And I know I’d be thinking this was fucking weird. To be honest, I’m not sure I’d allow me in my life, if I were you. But knowing you has saved my life Sidney and that’s the truth.”
My brow furrowed as I searched his eyes and expression for some sort of answer, clarification, but they revealed nothing. “I didn’t. I don’t get what –”
“I’d just like you to get to know me as I am now. Things will clear up eventually and you’ll understand. I don’t like talking about the past because it wasn’t pleasant. I don’t mean to be so evasive, but I feel there are details that aren’t really necessary to share, now anyhow.”
“Like the scars?”
He gave my hands a gentle squeeze, running his thumbs along my palms and sending shivers of anticipation through me. “Exactly. I’m enjoying being with you. And not to make me sound even more pathetic than I’m sure I already do, but today was one of the best days of my life Sid.”
“That’s sad…” The words escaped me before I could stop them. I hadn’t meant it to sound the way I’m sure it did. Although the irony that this was one of the best days I’d had in a long time wasn’t lost on me.
But he didn’t seem fazed by my comment. “It is. I know it is. I’ve lived 28 years and never felt truly happy, except for the moments I get to have with you.”
If I allowed myself to really think about his words I’d run scared. The intensity of his emotions for me when he didn’t even know me were insane, being with him could be a train wreck I’d regret for the rest of my life. His words were obsessed stalker words, had anyone else come up to me and said those things I would have parted ways. But he’d saved my life. And there was something so genuine in his words and eyes, so instead of scaring me it pulled me in. Every stupid, crazy, irrational part of me wanted to be consumed by his passion. I was powerless to fight it.