Dark Creations: Dark Ending (Part 6) by Jennifer Martucci, Christopher Martucci Page B

Police Department, now under the command of Terzini’s members, would be alerted to their whereabouts.  Everyone would be in graver danger than they were already. 
    Thoughts of being doggedly pursued by a pack of her maker’s men nagged unendingly as she unbuttoned her shirt and tossed it to the bed before pulling her pants off.  She stood in just her underwear and had forgotten all about Kyle until she looked to the closet and saw him staring at her, his mouth partially agape.  She quickly cupped her bare breasts and his eyes snapped up and met hers.  Crimson crept up his neck and colored his cheeks brightly.
    “I’m sorry.  I didn’t mean to uh, see your, uh, you know, lady parts,” he gestured to her chest and fumbled.  He turned from her and apologized again.  “I’m so sorry.”
    Amber’s heart pounded in her chest and a strange sense of eagerness stimulated parts of her body she did not know could be awakened.  When she dropped her hands from her breasts and reached for the shirt Kyle’s aunt had offered her and spied Kyle glimpsing her nude form again, that feeling intensified.  Goose bumps arose and covered her entire body.  Kyle, realizing he’d been caught watching her a second time, turned an even deeper shade of red and turned his back to her.  A slow smile tugged at the corners of Amber’s lips.  No one had ever looked at her as he had.  Terzini had viewed her as a vessel by which he would gratify himself, a plaything at his disposal that he was allowed to humiliate and hurt for sport, but not Kyle.  Kyle had looked at her differently.  He’d looked at her with curiosity and appreciation, as if he were seeing a nude woman for the first time and wanted to savor every moment of it.  She’d never felt beautiful in her life, though her maker had told her she was his masterpiece and more attractive than any human being or creation he’d ever laid eyes on.  But she’d felt beautiful when Kyle looked at her.  He’d made her feel beautiful.  And for the first time in her life, she’d enjoyed being looked at undressed.
    When she’d finished dressing, she placed her hands on her hips and decided she would like to see him undressed again.  She wasn’t sure what the exact protocol for such a request was, so she simply asked.  “Okay, it’s your turn.  May I please see you without your clothes on now?”
    Kyle looked at her, his expression equal part confused and surprised.  “Uh, what?” he said and the high color of his complexion drained.
    “It’s only fair, right?  You got to see me, and now I get to see you.  That’s how it works, right?”
    He hesitated a moment and she supposed he was waiting for her to laugh or tell him she was kidding.  When he realized she was serious, he smiled nervously and said, “Okay, I guess,” then unbuttoned his member-issue shirt and let it fall to the floor. 
    “You have very nice abdominal muscles,” she said admiringly. 
    “Thanks,” he said and pink streaks appeared on his cheeks. 
    “Now take off the pants,” she said and remembered a movie she’d seen where women had sat and watched men on stage ripping their clothes from their oiled, muscled bodies.  The women had cheered and clapped and she decided to do the same, to tease him playfully.
    When Kyle dropped his pants to his ankles and stood only in his boxer shorts, Amber whistled at him. 
    “All right,” Kyle smiled embarrassedly.  “Point taken, I get it.  You caught me looking before, so I deserve it.”
    Amber giggled and Kyle’s blush deepened to scarlet.  He finished dressing and they descended the staircase.  Kyle stopped in the kitchen and saw that his aunt sat clutching a steaming mug of coffee between her hands.  When he placed a hand on her shoulder, she turned and stood.  Amber noticed that her eyes were red as was her nose.  She used the sleeve of her pajama top to blot the tears still on her cheeks.
    “I know how messed up this seems, but