I exhaled and leaned against the wall.
“That is an etgar. You’ll probably want to shower.”
Chapter 58 - Riot
Teach your final ghoul to sit.
Setting my joy gun down and stepping over the body, I made my way to a shaking Eleanor. She was dripping, head to toe, in green goo.
“That’s what was here with me last night?” she asked, her voice barely above a whisper.
“It’s probably been here more than just last night. These things start as tiny little bugs and then grow when they feel safe. It may have even been here before you arrived. Come on, let’s get you upstairs. I’ll clean this up.”
Eleanor was shaking so hard I picked her up and took her up the stairs. I turned the shower on and set her inside with her shirt still on. It needed a good wash anyways.
Once she started to move, pushing the gore off her and turning toward the drain, I left and went down to start the clean up. Tossing the body out was the easy part. Unless I wanted the house to smell, I had to get all the blood off everything. I dragged its corpse out, past the gate and then went to work cleaning my living room. Eventually the shower turned off and I heard Eleanor upstairs, but she didn’t come back down.
I was exhausted by the time I finished. I tossed the rags down and pulled myself up stairs. From the bathroom, I watched thesunset. I showered for longer than usual, making sure I got every last bit of goo off me. I was never more thankful for running water than I was after times like this. By the time I turned the water off, I’d never felt cleaner.
I went to my room and was slightly surprised to find Eleanor under the blankets on my bed. My body responded, remembering last night.
“Have you been here all day?” I asked, drying myself off. She turned on her side, the blanket slipping down her shoulder.
She wasn’t wearing a shirt.
“I’ve never seen anything like that before. I— I—” Tears filled her eyes and I abandoned my towel and dropped to the bed.
“Ssh, it’s okay.” I pulled her from the blankets and into my arms. “I know. The wastelands are no joke. It’s scary out here. But I’m never going to let anything get you. That’s what I’m here for. To save you from the baddies.” I chuckled and kissed away her tears.
“It’s been three weeks. What if something like that has gotten Callahan?”
“That was a house pest, at best. Cherry and the others have fought their fair share of etgars. He’s fine.” I reassured her, despite my own worries. She was right, they were supposed to be back by now, and we hadn’t heard from them at all.
“Is there anything I can do for you? You need to rest. I can go get your bear and you can sleep here tonight?” Hope filled my chest, but I didn’t want to get too excited. Before we’d found the etgar, she’d been telling me about how the sex we’d had was a mistake. Did she still feel that way?
I slid her off my lap and stood, naked, and went to her room. I retrieved the bear with the three eyes. She took it and I joined her under the blankets, pulling her against me, skin to skin.
“Riot,” she started. “I’m worried about him.”
I kissed her hair. “I know. How about this, tomorrow we’re going to go into town to see if your clothes have been delivered. Once you have something to wear, we’ll make plans.”
“Plans to do what?”
“I don’t know. What do you want to do?” I gulped. My stomach tightened, knowing what she was going to say.
“I want to go after him. He’d do it for me.”
She was right. Both Callahan and I would do anything for her. If she wanted to go down Mercury Mile, I was joining her.
While we talked, my hands explored her skin. She was so soft and so clean. I inhaled, enjoying the aroma of the perfumed soap she’d brought from the bunker. My mouth watered, wanting to taste her.
Brushing her hair off her shoulder, I pressed my lips tenderly to her warm skin. She inhaled quickly but didn’t brush me away. I kept kissing her, moving to her neck. She stretched to give me more room. My hand traveled to her breast, cupping it. It felt so good to touch her without my gloves.
I pinched her nipple, rolling it between my fingers. It elicited a moan from her, and my cock throbbed with excitement against her backside.
“Are you upset over last night?” I asked, rolling her to her back so I could kiss her breasts. She didn’t resist, and relaxed when I ran my tongue over a nipple, taking it into my mouth.
“I don’t know how to feel. I love Cal,” she gasped. “But, you’re so…” she lost her words when I reached for the other breast, while still nibbling at the other one.
