Page 11 of Bitten By Desire (Crooked Point #1)

Saturday

Callum kept staring at me. Like he thought my orgasm belonged to him. Even though it was Bennett’s fingers deep inside of me.

But for some reason I couldn’t look away.

It had been like that the first time I met him too. Like I’d never get enough of his attention trained solely on me.

“God, you’re amazing,” Bennett whispered in my ear.

What was I doing staring at a ghost? I turned back to Bennett. My chest rose and fell as I stared down at him. “That was… We should do that again.”

He laughed. “I think we’re going to get kicked out of the festival.”

I was still on his lap. My skirt was bunched around my thighs. And I wasn’t sure anyone would believe we were just kissing. “Do you think anyone noticed?” Besides Callum. I was sobering up from my orgasm fast.

Bennett nodded to a very angry looking mother in the cart above ours.

The Ferris wheel had slowed down and was letting people off.

She had a perfect vantage point of what we’d just done.

And I knew for a fact that she wasn’t the only one who had seen.

I glanced back over to Callum. I saw his retreating back.

Heading into the hay maze. And I realized at the last second that I’d forgotten to take a picture of him.

What was I thinking? I didn’t need a picture of him . I grabbed my camera and flipped it around instead. I pressed my lips against Bennett’s and snapped a selfie of us.

He laughed against my lips. “Capturing a good moment?”

“Capturing the best moment.” I ignored the way my eyes wanted to gravitate back over to the maze. I didn’t care about Callum Walsh. Or Theo Gold. Or whoever he was. I waited for my pulse to slow down, but it didn’t. Seriously, why did I suddenly want to run into that death trap maze?

The cart lurched forward. We were close to the bottom now.

I climbed off Bennett’s lap, ignoring the pain in my back from the safety bar digging into it.

Bennett lifted the camera off my neck and spun it around. He snapped a photo of my flushed face.

I waited for him to delete a bunch of pictures or something. But he handed it right back to me. “I want to remember you just like this.”

“Just like what?”

“Your rosy cheeks. Your swollen lips. Your sex hair.”

“My what?” I glanced down at the camera display. My hair was…everywhere. Shit. The cart lurched forward again and I ran my fingers though my hair.

Bennett laughed. “You look beautiful, Emma.”

I paused. It was the second time he’d told me that tonight. And I realized he was the only guy that had ever said that to me before. It made my heart feel weird in my chest. I let my hands drop from my hair.

The cart came to a stop and the Ferris wheel attendant gave us a very dirty look. He looked madder than the ring toss guy when we’d said his game was rigged. And honestly…they both had every reason to be mad at us. I was surprised the police weren’t here to arrest me for public indecency.

“What were the two of you doing up there?” he asked. He had a phone in his hand like he was about to call the police.

“Kissing,” Bennett said. He grabbed my hand and pulled me away from the Ferris wheel.

We started running as if the attendant was going to chase after us. As if we were seconds away from being handcuffed.

“This way,” Bennett said and pulled me into a booth that was selling hats. He grabbed one with a wide brim and placed it on my head. I laughed as he grabbed a cowboy hat for himself. He lifted a brochure in front of his face to make sure his identity was concealed.

I laughed and pulled the pamphlet down. “I don’t think anyone is chasing us.”

“Better to be safe than sorry, ma’am,” he said in a terrible southern accent as he dipped the front of his cowboy hat at me.

“The accent is not so great…but that hat? We have to get it.”

“You love an audience and you’re into roleplaying?” He raised his eyebrow. “Where have you been all my life?”

I slapped his arm.

Someone cleared their throat behind us .

I spun around, expecting it to be Officer Davis or something. But it was just Zoey.

“I saw what you two were up to on the Ferris wheel.” She waggled her eyebrows at me.

“Shhh. And I thought you were riding the zipper?”

“I thought it was very clear that when I said that, what I really meant was that I was going to be spying on you.”

Yeah…I really should have seen that one coming.

“Cute hats,” she said and grabbed a big floppy one off the display. “Does this match my ugly sweater?”

I laughed. “No. Not even a little.”

“Perfect.” She turned to the woman manning the booth. “I’ll take it.”

She really didn’t need to keep making herself look bad on my account. I’d already sealed the deal with more than a kiss.

Bennett went to take off his cowboy hat.

“I don’t think so,” I said. “We’re definitely getting that.” I pulled out my wallet.

“If you really like it…I’ll buy it,” he said.

“My treat. After all, you won me Captain Floppy Ears. After going through about a million tickets.”

He laughed. “It was like…maybe 20 tickets. Or 30.”

“Mhm.” I took off my hat, which was not at all cute, and paid for Bennett’s.

“I’m taking that as a yes to the roleplaying thing,” he whispered in my ear as we walked out of the booth.

“I mean…I’m not against it.”

He smiled down at me.

“Not against what?” Zoey’s hat fell forward over her eyes and she pushed it back up .

“Nothing,” I said. “What should we do next? Maybe we should…” my voice trailed off. We were walking past the maze. I stopped and turned toward the entrance. “Actually…I think I do want to go into the maze. To experience all this Fall Festival has to offer.”

Bennett stared down at me. “Yeah?”

I nodded. “I mean, you promised you wouldn’t let anything bad happen to me, cowboy.”

He laughed. “I stand by that promise.”

I nodded again, more for myself this time. As if that would encourage me. I really didn’t want to go in there. But it hadn’t been that long since Callum had disappeared into it. He was probably still lost somewhere in there. And I still wanted that picture of him.

To prove to Zoey that I wasn’t insane. And maybe a little to prove to myself that I wasn’t insane.

And maybe a little more to slap him. Both for what happened ten years ago and for him watching me tonight.

He deserved two slaps for sure. Maybe a third for lying about his name and making me feel freaking crazy.

The eerie music was louder as we entered the maze. And the fog denser. I could barely see five feet in front of me. I gripped Bennett’s hand even tighter as we turned the first corner.

There was hay on the ground too and it crunched under our feet, almost echoing around us.

The path seemed to split as often as possible.

I wasn’t sure if that made the maze harder or easier.

But we’d only been in here for a minute and I was already all turned around. All I could see was hay and fog.

Zoey yelped and grabbed Bennett’s free arm. “Did anyone else just see that?!”

“See what? ”

“The huge hairy spider!”

I shook my head, but held on to Bennett even tighter. I heard a screeching noise and jumped.

“It’s fine,” Bennett said. “Just part of the scary music.”

“Are you sure? It sounded like someone was being murdered…”

“I second that,” Zoey said.

He laughed. “You two are ridiculous. It’s all just pretend. Look.” He let go of my hand to pick up a spider that was attached to the side of a haystack. “Is this what you saw back there, Zoey? It’s just a decoration.”

“No, it was bigger,” she said. “I swear,” she added when he didn’t look convinced.

The sound of a chainsaw starting up made me turn around. I backed up until my butt hit one of the haystacks. And I realized a second too late that I’d moved too far away in the fog to see Bennett or Zoey.

“Bennett!” I yelled, but the screeching noise in the music got louder at that very moment. That really didn’t sound like music… “Zoey?!” I called even louder.

The chainsaw revving started again and it sounded like it was coming toward me. Like someone was sprinting with it through the maze.

My heart was pounding as I spun around. “Bennett?” My voice was quieter now.

I could barely control the trembling. I backed up again and tripped, my butt landing on the ground hard.

And I stared in horror at the bloody severed hand sitting there in the hay.

Which didn’t look fake and plasticky. And some of the blood had gotten on the side of my boot when I tripped. What the actual fuck? !

The chainsaw sounded again, followed by the sound of crunching hay.

I pushed myself up off the ground and started running. But the sound of the chainsaw echoed around me.

Something popped out of the left turn ahead so I sprinted right. It was darker back here. Foggier. But at least the chainsaw noise had stopped. These boots were not made for running. I paused and leaned over to catch my breath.

I heard the crunch of hay and spun around but there was no one there. Seriously…there were hundreds of people at this stupid festival. How had I not run into anyone else?

Another crunch.

God. I spun around but all I could see was fog. “Hello?”

The music being quieter in this section of the maze somehow made everything scarier. Or maybe it was because I could hear myself panting.

A chill ran down my spine. Fuck. I knew that feeling. “Callum?” My voice trembled. I didn’t know if I wanted it to be him or if it would be better if it was the chainsaw guy.

There was no response.

But I heard another crunch.

I spun around and Callum was standing there, scowling at me.

I took a step back and he took a step forward. My back hit the haystack.

He lifted his hands and placed them on either side of the haystack, caging me in. “Stop. Following. Me,” he practically growled. He let one hand fall, like he was expecting me to flee at his warning .

For just a second I was transfixed by his golden gaze. But then his words finally registered in my head. “ Me ? You’re the one that keeps staring at me.”

“You were on display for everyone tonight. If you didn’t want spectators, you should have kept your legs closed.”

“Excuse me?” Fuck you.

“Look, I don’t know who you are, Edith…”

I slapped him. I couldn’t help it. He was saying rude things and getting my name purposely wrong just to piss me off. “It’s Emma.”

He didn’t seem at all phased by the slap. He just lowered his eyebrows at me, fixing me with his hard golden stare.

“And I know you’re Callum Walsh,” I said. “I went to that party at your house ten years ago…”

“That’s not my name. I said it once and I’ll only say it once more. You have the wrong person. So drop it.”

“I don’t have the wrong person. You and I…”

“We what , Emma?”

The way he said my name made me swallow hard. “We…did things.”

“What things?”

Was he toying with me? Wanting me to say the sinful things out loud? Or was I really so forgettable? “We had sex, Callum.”

He looked pissed off that I’d called him that again. “No. We didn’t.”

I went to slap him again, but he caught my hand.

His cold touch made me shiver.

“I gave you one free pass,” he said. “But you’re not going to want to hit me again, Emma.”

“Or what? ”

His Adam’s apple rose and then fell. It looked like he wanted to kiss me. Or kill me. I wasn’t sure which. And I was probably crazy, but I was not letting this go. I didn’t care how pissed off he was. I was angrier than him.

“I know you remember that night,” I said.

“You took pictures of me. I stripped and you…you made me feel…” I didn’t want to finish that sentence.

I didn’t want him to know how much I loved it.

How I compared everyone to him. “And I never do stuff like that. I know you remember. You have to remember.”

He shook his head. “You never do stuff like that, huh?”

“No.”

“You really expect me to believe that you’re so innocent? You locked eyes with a stranger while another man’s fingers were in your pussy.”

I really wanted to slap him again. “You’re not a stranger, Callum .”

“That’s not my name.”

“Yes it is!”

“I’m Theo Gold. I was never a coach of some college team. I have no idea who you are. And you need to stop. Or else.”

Or else. Or else what? He’d already threatened me after I slapped him. And by the way he was staring at me, I believed he’d make good on his threat. “Whatever you say, Callum Walsh .”

I swear his nostrils flared. And I suddenly regretted everything I’d just said. Because he definitely didn’t look like he wanted to kiss me now. It was a murderous look. I was certain of it.

“I tried to warn you,” he said. His eyes fell to my neck.