Page 39 of Come Back To Me
“You don’t want to do this.”
His lips turn up into a half grin mixed with a sneer. “That’s where you’re wrong. I’ve been thinking about it for a long time. I hear you here sometimes, through your bedroom window, moaning and getting yourself off.”
“You . . .” My eyes bulge, heart hammering against my ribcage. “You’ve been hanging around my house?”
“Yes. You made me too curious to walk away for long the last time I was here. So I came back the next night, holding back from taking what I wanted too soon.”
“You’ll regret this,” My words are unsteady, legs shaking as he pins me to the nearby wall, his hard-on digging into my hip. “I mean it.”
“You mean what?” He licks my cheek and my eyes water as I look at the creaking door behind him.
“You’ll regret this,” I say again.
“I highly doubt that.” His tongue snakes between my lips, his hand slipping inside the front of my pants. He doesn’t get far before being yanked away by the back of his shirt.
“What the fuck?”
“He was right. You are going to regret that.” Gareth grinds his teeth, lifting Jeff high in the air. The jerk kicks his feet, slamming his hands forward, but he’s no match for Gareth’s strength. “Should have chosen another broken window, asshole.”
Jeff squirms, screaming out as Gareth sinks his teeth into his neck. Blood goes everywhere and he gnaws on the side, ripping out his jugular. It’s a fucking massacre in my living room and I can’t look away, sinking back onto the floor as ripped flesh flies everywhere. Cutting open his shirt, Gareth pushes a hand through the hard wall of his chest and tears out his heart. He sucks on it, blood soaking the beige carpet as his razor teeth chomp down.
My throat tightens, my eyes rounding in horror. I can’t speak or move. The smacking of lips and crunching of teeth sounds around me. It gets louder before going quiet. Gareth wipes his mouth with the back of his hand, turning his gaze on me. “I told you not to let him in.”
“I know.”
“It’s okay. You have me here to keep you safe again. You won’t have to worry about men like this trying to hurt you ever again.”
I look down at the unmoving corpse on the floor, barely unrecognizable with blood smeared over his face. “You’ll have to clean this up.”
“I will. I’ll go run you a bath, and while you relax in the tub, I’ll get this living room looking the way it did before that asshole tainted it with his scent and Old Navy khakis.
He walks around me, opening and shutting the door. Water runs from the en-suite bathroom and he hums, continuing the soft sound as he returns to where I am. “Won’t be long now.” He licks his lips, and I scoot back as he closes in on me.
He glances down at his clothes and frowns. “Sorry, baby. Once again, I’m not thinking clearly. Let me get these clothes off.”
I shuffle to the couch, pressing my back to it and then rocking forward. This is my life now. Wondering when my husband will eat someone who gets too close to me. This man was dangerous, though. I don’t feel any kind of remorse for him at all, and that scares me. He was still a person. A person who was going to rapeme and do who knows what else. He’s a person who used his power to get what he wanted. Gareth was right about him. If I’d listened, then . . . then Gareth wouldn’t have had anything new to eat aside from me and the people I care about the most.
He strips out of his clothes and tosses them into the fireplace. The cop’s pants and shirt go in there next, then his phone and wallet. Gareth laps at his fingers and washes up at the sink, using napkins to dry off before coming over to lead me to the tub.
It’s half full when we reach it. Lifting my arms like I’m some lifeless doll, he helps me out of my clothes.
“Do I need to put you in the tub too, baby?”
I shake my head, holding on to his hand as I step in the water. I lower myself all the way and he adds bubbles after letting go of me. Candles are lit around me, and the ceiling lights are dimmed.
“When you’re done, I’ll tuck you into bed, and when you wake up, it’ll be like nothing happened.”
I stretch out my legs, plopping my arms into the water as I sink lower. I’m ready for it to all go away now—the blood, the man in my living room who took advantage of my ignorance and kindness, and my husband’s hunger that might one day be too much for either of us to keep satisfied.
Twelve
Riley
The next few days come and go. I don’t talk much, responding with short answers only when Gareth tries to engage in conversation. The living room was clean, like he said it would be, when I woke up three days ago. Breakfast was made and he was dancing around the kitchen in his sexy chef apron. He served me my food on the couch and we watched scary movies all day. When they were over, I felt like one was still unfolding before my eyes every time I looked at the light pink spot on the carpet by the window. What he’d done played in my head in full detail, and it still is.
“You still going out with your friend today?” He interrupts my thoughts.
“You never told me what you did with his car.”
