Chapter 25

Scratch, scratch, scratch.

The sound was methodic as I picked at the dried blood on the inside of my panties.

I had excused myself to use the bathroom so that I could apply the band-aids, but when I noticed the mess in my underwear, I knew that it would drive me absolutely insane if I didn’t do something about that first.

I gave the toilet paper roll next to me a small smack, then began to gather up tissue in my hand, before leaning over and turning on the sink.

Once the tip of the tissue was damp enough, I went back to the task at hand, doing my best to scrub out as much of the mess as I could.

With a sigh, I dropped the used paper between my legs into the toilet, then got to my feet. Pushing down my panties, I stepped out of them, then began to unwrap the band-aids one by one.

I wasn’t sure how many I would need, but I figured that less was more wouldn’t apply in my current situation.

It didn’t take long before I started to grow increasingly frustrated. The sticky ends of the band-aid were clinging to my hairs, and the inside wouldn’t stay put.

I let out a deep breath as I reached for the door handle, and pulled it open. Peeking out into the camper, my eyes narrowed when I saw Elijah sitting across from Clarabelle, having a friendly conversation.

Almost too friendly for my liking.

“Hey!” I barked, louder than I meant to.

My face instantly turned red as I cleared my throat when he glanced at me with an arched eyebrow.

“Sorry. I need your help,” I amended in a much softer tone as I stepped back into the small bathroom and closed the door.

I sat on the toilet and waited before he knocked softly on the door. Leaning forward, I pulled it open, then stood up.

“You okay, Mais?” he asked, curiously.

“Yes. No.” I ran my hands back through my hair and did my best not to tug out clumps in frustration, as I took a deep breath and tried again. “I can’t get these to stick.”

Gently moving by him, I pulled myself up onto the sink facing him, then spread my legs open so he could see.

His face drained of color.

He looked damn near sick, but Elijah had always been loyal if nothing else. He carefully dropped down to his knee, and looked up at me for a moment.

“I’m going to rip these off, okay? It’s gonna hurt like hell, but band-aids aren’t going to do anything here.”

I turned my eyes toward the ceiling as I gripped the edge of the sink, then nodded.

He moved as quickly as he could, pulling off one after the other, and me swallowing each gulp of pain when it felt like my hairs were being pulled out by the root.

Elijah pushed himself up to his feet and reached behind me. I moved my head to the side, then watched as he pulled open the medicine cabinet and began to rummage around inside.

He handed me tube after tube—anything that might look like it would make a difference, and when he was done, he took one from me and stared at it.

One of the greatest regrets I’ve always had is that I was never given the chance to teach him how to read. It’s one of the few things that bothers him, and nothing I ever try to say or do to help ever pulls him out of the bad mood caused by not understanding the words in front of him.

“What does this say?” he grumbled irritably as he turned it around and held it up for me to see.

I narrowed my eyes before I nodded and took it from him. Unscrewing the top, I squeezed a small drop of ointment onto the tip of my finger then moved it between my legs, quickly covering as much as I could.

When I hopped down, he took the tube and put everything back where it was, then rested a hand on the edge of the sink while I scrubbed the gooey substance off my hand.

“Here,” he said quietly as moved around me to pick up my panties.

“Thank you.”

“Wait, Mais.”

I looked up at him from underneath my eyes as he tore off a long strip of toilet paper, bunching it up, then handing it to me.

“Keep this between you and the fabric until that shit dries. The last thing you need is for it to stick to it.”

“Thank you,” I said again as I put the padding into the ruined pair of underwear, then pulled them up.

After pulling my shorts on moments later, I reached for the door handle, but Elijah grabbed me by the wrist and held me in place for a second.

“Look, I know what you’re thinking, and you’re wrong. You are the only woman in this world I’ll ever want, okay? I mean, if you think about us, the two of us together, we make sense.”

“How so?” I asked softly as I began to pry his fingers away.

He shook his head as he relented, but slid his arm around my waist and tugged me against him.

Resting his forehead against the side of my face, I could damn near feel that grin of his starting to take over.

“I hurt myself for you. You hurt yourself for me. I’m not saying it makes us even, but I’m pretty sure it does make us a match made in Hell.”

I turned my face, grazed my lips against his, then smiled.

Hell.

A psychotropic fantasy land of fire and brimstone where his demons emerge to haunt him.

“You’re alright, Elijah Young,” I said to him softly as I gave him a gentle nudge, then led the way out of the bathroom.

He gave my ass a firm slap before we reappeared in front of our faux friends, and I smiled, despite feeling Clarabelle’s eyes on us as we walked toward the couch.

He wrapped an arm around my shoulders as he settled down in the spot next to me, and when I tried to pull away for the sake of not being silently ridiculed again, he dug his fingernails into my arm.

I looked up at him as I smacked his hand away, but Elijah was grinning.

His eyes … I could see the maelstrom of madness starting to build, but this wasn’t his demons. This was something else entirely.

Almost imperceptibly, he ran his tongue over his teeth, hidden behind pursed lips, then turned his eyes toward Clarabelle, before he restarted their mindless chatter again.

Now it made sense.

I understood why he was treating her like she was golden.

Because parts of her were.