Behind the Mask, Chapter 13 [fm] [Incest] [Cousin/Cousin]

[Chapter 12](https://www.reddit.com/r/eroticliterature/comments/q8y79n/behind_the_mask_chapter_12_fm_incest_cousincousin/)

I was spacing out and watching Artemis slither to and fro in her tank when August came in. I probably wasn’t a sight for sore eyes; wrapped in the ugliest cardigan I owned and a grossly oversized t-shirt that acted as a lazy dress. Without a word, he steadily approached and seated himself in front of my desk. I couldn’t muster up the strength to engage him at all, let alone keep my mask on. He simply sat and waited for me, watching me carefully, eventually joining me in watching my snake. It was a rare thing to find somebody who gave you a moment without rushing you, especially a guy.

“Thanks for coming,” I mumbled, eyes not wavering from the enclosure.

“You said you needed me. Of course I came,” he replied. “And I know what you’re gonna say. ‘Wow, you guys really don’t do shit at SWAT, huh?’” Despite myself, I giggled, and he smiled. “Yeah, turns out we’re not raiding *every day.* Crazy, huh?”

“Crazy,” I agreed, then sighed as I reentered my rut. I tried to collect my thoughts before continuing. “I’m sorry to yank you around like this. I just… I don’t have anybody to talk to anymore.”

Behind the Mask, Chapter 12 [fm] [Incest] [Cousin/Cousin]

[Chapter 11](https://www.reddit.com/r/eroticliterature/comments/pzfp1t/behind_the_mask_chapter_11_fm_incest_cousincousin/)

“Unfuckingbelievable,” I muttered, and Cherry snickered. I saw August see me, and he quickly turned away and began walking casually down the street. I raced out of the clothing store and he quickened his pace, but I caught up and yanked on his wrist.

“Oh. Uh. Hey, Lexi,” he stammered, sheepishly avoiding eye contact.

“What are you doing here?” I hissed.

“Nothing. Just passing by.” Lie.

“Are you stalking me now?”

His eyes sharpened. “No!” Truth. Curious.

“Hard to believe, considering you were looking inside the shop I was in.

He snorted and rolled his eyes. “So I’m not allowed to just look through stores now?” Before I could say anything, he looked back at me. “I was passing by and I saw Cherry. Not many people have hair that red, and she’s quite a bit shorter than average. So I was checking to see if it really was her, since you guys don’t live in the city.” He folded his arms. Defensive move. “How was I supposed to know that was you with her?”

Behind the Mask, Chapter 10 [fm] [Incest] [Cousin/Cousin] [Mother/Son]

[Chapter 9](https://www.reddit.com/r/eroticliterature/comments/pd6awo/behind_the_mask_chapter_9_fm_incest_cousincousin/)

“So. No Mister Diamond today?” Stef said casually, floating by on a pool noodle.

I lifted my sunglasses from my face, smirking. “Unlike you, he has an actual life he needs to maintain,” I shot back.

“I’m still kinda surprised you’re not trying to hook him up with one of his relatives,” Drew commented.

“Drew, don’t be rude,” Coco chastised from off to the side.

“Mom!” he sighed, before turning back to me, mischief returning to his face as he leaned back on his deck chair. “You want this one for yourself, huh?”

“Have you *seen* that guy’s abs?” Cherry pointed out. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Leon subtly glance down at his own figure, and I had to stifle a laugh.

“Hm. Yeah, you got your claws in this one,” Stef added. “Almost feel sorry for the guy.”

“Jury’s still out on whether he can keep up with me,” I said dismissively.

Brie climbed out of the water and took the chair next to mine. “We know. Stef tried starting a betting pool on if August would make it or not.”

Behind the Mask, Chapter 9 [fm] [Incest] [Cousin/Cousin]

[Chapter 8](https://www.reddit.com/r/eroticliterature/comments/p3s5lj/behind_the_mask_chapter_8_fm_incest_cousincousin/)

I broke away from August, panting hard and staring wide-eyed at him. I collected myself in an instant, turning away from him to go sit at my desk, crossing my arms in front of myself. He stayed where he was. He seemed to have an acute awareness of giving me space when I needed it.

“I hate this,” I murmured.

“Doesn’t seem like you do,” he said dryly.

“No, I mean…” I looked away, opting instead to study my unlit computer monitor. The black uniformity was helping me gather my thoughts, though it was still competing against a maelstrom of emotions.

“You don’t like losing control,” he guessed. I didn’t respond. It probably wasn’t a difficult conclusion to draw. He went on, “Losing control plunges you into the unknown. You’re too used to being the master of your domain, and now here come two characters disrupting your life. And the unknown terrifies you.”

“Terrifies’ is a strong word,” I remarked, my indignation causing me to meet his gaze again. “I’m not some timid lamb awaiting slaughter.”

“You’re the wolf?” he said with a grin.

“I’m the hunter.”

Behind the Mask, Chapter 8 [fm] [Incest] [Cousin/Cousin]

[Chapter 7](https://www.reddit.com/r/eroticliterature/comments/ozdkld/behind_the_mask_chapter_7_fm_incest_cousincousin/)

“I am just checking on you, *mademoiselle.* You rarely miss a Friday evening at the club,” Alain said over the phone. “Were you out celebrating your graduation?”

“Something like that,” I sighed. “Charles showed up. Wasn’t exactly my idea of, y’know, a happy memorable experience.”

“I understand.” He was quiet for a moment. I could tell when he was pausing out of courtesy, and waited patiently for him to speak. Probably was gonna appeal on Charles’s behalf. I admit there were times I suspected him of being Charles’s spy, to keep an eye on me. But we’d been through enough that I knew I could trust him. He was more of a dad to me than that other bitch ever was. “‘e is not an evil man, *mademoiselle.*”

I snorted. “Don’t need to be evil to be a bad parent,” I replied. “Let’s face it, Alain. I’ve given up trying to make any kind of relationship work. All we can hope for is polite.” I shook my head. “And that’s being optimistic.”

“I understand. Will you be coming in tonight, *mademoiselle?*”

Behind the Mask, Chapter 7 [fm] [Incest] [Cousin/Cousin]

[Chapter 6](https://www.reddit.com/r/eroticliterature/comments/oupvnm/behind_the_mask_chapter_6_fm_incest_cousincousin/)

“What are you doing here?” I managed.

“I came to see…” He looked around, apparently stumped for words and stalling. He was about to lie. “I was in the area.”

I almost laughed. “That’s the worse excuse in the book.” Already, my mood had improved drastically. “You wouldn’t be here to see little old me on such a special day, would you? Seems you guys have a lot of free time at the FBI.”

He folded one arm in front of him while the other scratched his jawline. He was cute when he was sheepish. Changing the subject, he said, “I saw you with that couple earlier. Were they your parents?”

And he had to foul the conversation just like that. “They were. Do you recognize them?”

He shook his head with a quizzical expression, then moved out of the way as a car passed him. “Hey, uh… School parking lot isn’t a great place to talk. Wanna sit down somewhere?”

With a smirk, I teased, “You mean like a coffee date?”

He studied me for a moment, then smiled. “Yeah. Like a coffee date.” His smile spread into a grin as he added, “If we’re gonna get married, we might as well get to know each other.”

Behind the Mask, Chapter 6 [fm] [Incest] [Cousin/Cousin]

[Chapter 5](https://www.reddit.com/r/eroticliterature/comments/oq7o2t/behind_the_mask_chapter_5_fm_incest_cousincousin/)

“Hey, Tony.”

“Morning, Miss R. What’ll it be?”

“Four racks of lamb, with mint on the side.”

Tony let me past and into the walk-in freezer. I made my way to my office, where Alain waited. He was beaming today, standing next to my desk with his back to Artemis’s enclosure.

“*Bonjour, mademoiselle.* An auspicious day, *non?*”

I chuckled, giving him a weary smile. “Graduation? To most, I suppose. Everybody else is probably celebrating high school leading to the rest of their lives.” I shrugged as I sat down and he handed me a file he was holding. “For me, I guess I could celebrate high school no longer holding me back from the rest of mine.”

Alain gave me one of his enigmatic smiles before speaking. “Will university be of more use to you, *mademoiselle?*”

I withdrew the contents of the file, holding the pages as I leafed through them. “To an extent. We deal with people in this business. It’s not something you can learn in the classroom. All college will be is another environment to meet new kinds of people, though I’m afraid the diversity of profiles I will encounter will be… limited.”

Behind the Mask, Chapter 5 [fm] [Incest] [Cousin/Cousin]

[Chapter 4](https://www.reddit.com/r/eroticliterature/comments/olkg08/behind_the_mask_chapter_4_fm_incest_cousincousin/)

Finally, no more school. At least, not for the rest of the summer. I think I found school more boring than the average student. At least college would be more interesting. Perhaps I’d finally learn something useful.

Drew sighed as he dropped himself on the couch, causing Cherry to bounce up a bit. My friends were all over at my house. Brie was nestled in Stef’s arms, and I was draped over my favorite armchair.

“You guys all got your gowns for tomorrow?” Cherry asked. Everybody nodded, and there were a couple of wistful smiles.

“I’m surprised they had one your size,” Drew said with a smirk. Cherry scowled and pulled her legs up to kick at Drew, who laughed and batted her feet away.

“I can’t stand you,” she growled. “I swear, living together is a bad idea.”

“Whoa, whoa, wait, what?” Stef interrupted, sitting up. Brie had to cling to his neck to keep from being thrown from his lap, and I smiled at how intimate it was. They were just so casual with each other now, and I loved it.

Behind the Mask, Chapter 4 [fm] [Incest] [Cousin/Cousin]

[Chapter 3](https://www.reddit.com/r/Erotica/comments/ogx57p/behind_the_mask_chapter_3_fm_incest_cousincousin/)

It was the last day of school before summer vacation. Graduation was on Friday, and naturally everybody was just fucking around in class. The problem was, we were still obligated to attend, and so I was stuck in a classroom for another four hours. Time I could be using to foster new connections for Taboo. Time I could be using to keep tabs on potential threats. Time I could be using to look into this whole engagement business with August. I wasn’t ready to confront Charles, or even so much as look into August’s mysterious benefactor. I needed to slow the whole situation down, bring it to my tempo, and regain control.

“–xi. Lexi. Lex!”

I snapped around to look at Brie at the desk next to me. Damn it, I was spacing out a lot. But I suppose I had a lot on my mind. Still, she was bound to notice something was wrong. “Sorry, what was that?” I said levelly.

Brie scowled at me, shaking her head. “You’ve been kinda out of it the last couple days. Did something happen? Stef told me your dad was back in town.”

Behind the Mask, Chapter 3 [fm] [Incest] [Cousin/Cousin]

[Chapter 2](https://www.reddit.com/r/eroticliterature/comments/ocdw3a/behind_the_mask_chapter_2_fm_incest_cousincousin/)

I wasn’t used to being out alone, without Alain. After a lot of protesting, he’d left me at school for the afternoon. I’d told him not to tell anybody, and his only stipulation was if there was an emergency. Now all I had to do was wait.

I wasn’t very good at making friends. Mom said it was because they were jealous of our money. It didn’t make sense to me. The first thing I would’ve done was make friends with the rich girl so she could buy us a bunch of stuff, I thought, and I grinned to myself. And of course, dad had to ruin that idea with one of his stupid nuggets of wisdom.

“Real friends can’t be bought.”

He was right, of course. Didn’t make it any less annoying. There were some days where I felt like just buying some friends, at least for the day. Even if they were fake. But then Jordan had given me some insight of his own. For some reason, his advice always felt more welcome than dad’s. More down-to-earth.