Page 85 of The Predator

Drew sighs and pulls his phone from his pocket. "I got it. Just take a trashbag with you when you go upstairs. I'll need your clothes; both of you are fucking splattered."

Ely glances down at her shirt like she's only now remembering she shot her father a little while before.

"Oh, yeah, right, okay."

I slowly stand, and it's like my knees can barely get under me, and I wobble like a baby deer until she clutches me tightly to her side. "Come on. Let's go upstairs. We'll let your friends deal with the mess this time."

I can't say anything as she leads me from the room. Nor can I look back at Tanya, at what I did to her, at what's left of her face.

Slowly, Ely guides me out of the room and towards the stairs. Aries hands her a white trash bag as we exit the room. She crumples it in one hand, the other still tight around me. Thewalk to our bedroom takes a minute that feels like a million years. She closes the door firmly then turns to face me.

"Do you hate me now?" I whisper. "If you did I would understand.”

She rears back, shaking out the trash bag. "No, I don't hate you. We've been through too much and have gone too far for me to hate you now. We made a promise to one another, that we wouldn’t keep secrets, we wouldn’t hide the darkness from each other. This was just you keeping that promise. I can know this version of you exists and still love the man that you are. Remember, for darkness to exist, there must be some slivers of light."

The empty ache in my chest fills with a little more warmth. My hands are shaking as I reach for my shirt buttons. She steps up, batting my hands away, and quickly strips the buttons from the holes and tugs the fabric away to shove into the bag. Then, with utmost care, she removes my shoes, my socks, my pants, my underwear…all of it.

Once she finishes she checks the bag for blood then gently sets it on the floor while she strips out of her own clothes and stuffs them deep into the sack and ties it up.

When she moves to the door, I grab her wrist. "No one sees you."

This earns me a tiny smile. "No one is going to. I'll set it outside the door and close it. Jealous?" She winks and I can't help it. The normalcy of it, the cheek of her…it makes me laugh.

It's small and short, but again it adds a bit more to this gnawing hole in my chest, threatening to eat me from the inside out.

After she shoves the bag into the hall, closes the door, and locks it, she faces me. She’s gorgeously, blindingly naked. Every single one of her curves and her scars mesmerizes me.

"Come on, let me clean you up." She holds her hand out, and there's nothing to do but take it and let her lead me into the bathroom.

She turns the water to hot, knowing it's how I like it, and tugs me into the shower stall. I'm already a little hard staring at her but she keeps things all business, carefully washing me, checking for any blood on my skin. Then she does the same for herself.

"Did I get it all?" she asks, the sudsy loofah still in her grasp.

I spin her a couple of times and nod. "I don't see anything. But come here. I need you."

She drops the soapy loofah and steps into me, gliding along my skin with her own soap-slick body.

I lean down and kiss her, taste her, feel her heat and warmth against me. Not just her physical beauty, but how she loves with her whole heart once she gives it, how she glows for me.

She swipes her tongue into my mouth, arching into me.

I melt into it, drawing her closer, until I reach down under her slick ass and lift her into my arms to bring us closer together. Moaning into my mouth, her arms circle my neck, further proof of her own desire.

"I need you, Ely."

"I'm not going anywhere," her voice is breathless, and drops of water drip off her long lashes. "Let's finish in the shower and climb into bed for a bit. I think we could both use some rest."

Of the two of us, she seems to be doing better than me with this whole murder business. Even when I killed my grandfather, I didn't feel this empty hole. How do I get rid of it completely?

Is this one more thing Tanya steals from me, even when she's no longer here?

I slowly lower Ely to her feet, and she leads me out of the shower again, passing me a towel. I buff at my skin, lost in the idea that I'll forever have this ache in my chest, this loss of...something. I don't even know what's supposed to be there.

Maybe the act of killing her drove this emptiness inside me, pushing apart my chest, my organs, allowing everything dark and ugly to take root inside me. A darkness I won't be able to shake. I come back to Ely cupping my cheeks gently.

"Hey, baby. Come on, let's get into bed." Her face is soft, a little smile on her lips, but her eyes are worried and searching as she looks into mine.

I nod and let her pull me behind her to the bed, then I climb up into the soft clean sheets beside her, rolling so I can look at her face while we lie here.