Luckily, for a lot of the walking she looked straight ahead and seemed inclined to say nothing.
“Why did you help me this time?” he asked. “You wouldn’t help me and take me to the club to find Rae before.”
She looked at him sidelong before answering. A long, considered look.
“I told you already,” she said. “I won’t help anyone go to NightWhere. But you deserved help to escape. You were prepared to give everything to save your wife. Even if she doesn’t deserve it, you deserve someone to help you after something like that. I didn’t want to see them kill you.”
“Why were you there at all?” Mark asked. “I’ve gotta assume nobody gets in on those kinds of ceremonies as a newbie.”
Selena nodded. “I’ve watched things at NightWhere for a long time.”
“So you’re a Watcher.”
“Not the way you mean.”
“Then how?” Mark kicked a stone with his bare toe and grimaced.
“I look for people like you,” Selena said. “And I try to convince them to go home, where they belong.”
“Sounds like a lost cause.”
“Most often,” she admitted.
The traffic grew around them as they wound down Waverly to Pulaski, zigzagging their way west as people filled the roads on their way to work. They made a strange pair; Mark holding his ballooning pants on, and Selena walking in a silk robe. At one point, Mark heard a wolf whistle behind them. He refused to take the bait and turn around.
When they finally turned onto less traveled roads leading past the forest preserve and suburban houses instead of strip malls, he was relieved. He’d been worried the whole walk through downtown that eventually a squad car was going to pull over and start questioning them. But aside from gapers, they passed through the suburbs unbothered. Selena didn’t talk much without prodding, and after a while, he let her be, to walk in silence.
Mark’s calves and feet were numb by the time they reached his subdivision. He wasn’t big on walking in the first place, and had certainly never gone barefoot for hours before. He guessed they’d been walking for more than three hours when they finally staggered up the driveway to his house. He went around to the backyard patio and pulled the hidden house key from the statue they kept it hidden under (for just this sort of contingency…though they’d never imagined needing it quite for a reason like this). Then he unlocked the back door and held it open for Selena to enter.
He locked it again behind them. He didn’t imagine that would stop one of the Watchers from reaching them, if they were so inclined. But it might slow them down a bit.
The house felt…empty. The hum of the refrigerator was audible, and the LED on the microwave read 10:23. The morning light was grey, which didn’t help the mood. The sky had turned overcast during their long walk.
Selena stood near the kitchen table, still holding her robe closed tightly.
“So…” Mark said, “…do you want something to eat? Or shower and clothes first? I’m dying to get out of these things.”
Selena smiled. “A shower would be good.”
He led her up the stairs to his bedroom and showed her Rae’s closet and drawers. “You’re a little taller than Rae, but you should be able to find a T-shirt and sweatpants or something,” he said. “I can go shower in the other bathroom at the same time. We should have enough hot water in the tank.”
He started to walk out of the bedroom, but then stopped at the look on her face. Her eyes had widened, and she’d taken a deep, halting breath as he’d moved towards the door. She was petrified.
“What’s the matter?” Mark asked.
Selena blinked twice, then opened her mouth to speak, but said nothing.
Mark stepped back towards her and put a hand on her shoulder. “What?”
“I…just…” she gulped. “It’s silly, but just don’t leave me alone right now, okay?”
“You want me to shower with you?” Mark asked.
She bent her head slightly, as if embarrassed, but her eyes looked up, pleading silently. “Please? Would you mind?”
Mark laughed. “How could I say no?”
She didn’t smile. “I just need you to stay close to me right now. Don’t leave me alone.”
“Okay,” Mark nodded. “Got it.”
He began unbuttoning the dingy shirt. “And I’m not going to be shy, seeing as you’ve already seen the merchandise earlier today.”
She did smile at that. “Yes,” she agreed. “In all sorts of compromising positions. You should be more careful of the company you keep.”
The image of Rae kneeling above him with blades ready on each finger to slice him flashed in Mark’s head, and it was his turn to be grim. “Yeah,” he said. “Who’d of thought it would work out like that?”
Selena let the black silk robe fall to the floor as Mark kicked the baggy, ripped pants away. She kicked the robe with one foot to land on his discarded clothes. “I don’t want to see that thing again,” she said quietly.
Mark only half heard her comment. His attention was on her body. He’d known since their first meeting that she was beautiful, but she was more than that.
She was breathtaking. Her skin was white as snow, flawless. Her waist was a perfect hourglass, framing the dark, thin pucker of her belly button. Below that, a short thatch of cream-colored hair covered her sex, while above she had two of the most sensational breasts Mark had ever seen. They were full, lush and seemed to answer to their own gravity; her wide, pink areolae boasted hard, darker nipples that stood straight out from her chest. His body responded to hers instantly.
Before it got too obvious, he stepped towards the bathroom, pulling her by the hand. Once inside, he leaned into the tub area and turned the water towards hot. After a minute of waiting with his hand in the stream, the water warmed, and he pulled the shower switch.
“Did you need to use the toilet?” he asked. He felt his face flush at the question. He felt terribly awkward right now, in a way he wasn’t used to. He thought Rae had trampled all embarrassment from him with her heels over the years. But right now, he felt like he was on a first date. A damned strange first date.
Selena shook her head. “I think I walked it all out.”
Mark considered his own needs and shook his head. “I got something.” He assumed she’d back out of the room as he lifted the seat, but instead, just as he let go, he felt two cool hands wrap around his chest from behind and the softness of breasts on his shoulder blades. Mark’s eyes widened, and his stream stopped for a minute at the surprise of her touch. Selena leaned her head on his shoulder and clung to him as he struggled to finish. Her closeness made the whole act a little shaky to complete, but finally, the last short spurts came out and Mark reached out to flush the toilet. Then he pulled the shower curtain aside for her to step inside. “Do you want me to sit here while you wash, and then I’ll get in?”
She didn’t answer. Instead, once she stood inside, she grabbed his hand and pulled him inside with her.
“Okay,” Mark said, as the water hit him, and he found himself rubbing up unintentionally against her breasts. The woman was staring at him with those ice-blue eyes. Her gaze made him weak. It felt as if she could look inside his mind. “Shampoo’s right here,” he said, pointing behind her at the bottles sitting at the front end of the tub.
Selena glanced behind and nodded. Then she put her arms around his neck and pulled him close to her, hugging him tightly.