Page 2

CHAPTER 2

S ara

Fear.

Excitement.

Uncertainty.

Had I been so completely wrong?

Had I utterly lost my mind?

I stole a quick glance over my shoulder.

There was no one there. So I kept running.

No one tried to stop me. No one called to me in the darkness.

I ran and ran until I was at the point of being hopelessly lost. This had to stop. I needed to catch my bearings. When I slowed, I gasped for air, finally turning all the way around to see if I was being followed.

I wasn’t.

A strange sickness filled my stomach, the ache horrific. I couldn’t make sense of what had just occurred. What I did know was that I needed to double back to my car. Now, filled with caution, I studied the area, finally catching my bearings.

Maybe a Good Samaritan had saved me and that was the extent of it. But was my masked man capable of such a heinous act? I headed back the way I came, constantly scanning the street.

A single click caught my attention. There could be dozens of noises created on the city streets, yet my gut told me the muffled sound had been made by him.

The Seducer.

I did so love thinking of him as his alternate persona.

I rose to my full height as terror swept into every pore in my body. “What do you want? Did you just try and kill me?” Would he honestly admit it if he did?

“Not me, Wild Kitty.”

“Then who?” My thoughts drifted to the odd events of the last two weeks. Not all of them had been performed by the Seducer. There were other things, my past catching up with me.

His chuckle was dark, deep, and full of malicious intent.

I slowly turned, now only two feet away from the man who’d haunted every dream, controlling every day and every action I’d taken. He was dressed in a black hoodie and dark jeans, including leather gloves covering his hands, and the shadows played with his torso. But there was no hiding his spectacular physique, muscles capable of crushing a man into shards of bone and torn ligaments.

Most terrifying of all was the mask he’d chosen to wear on a moonless night where shadows became ominous creatures of death and destruction.

While the sides were all black as well, the jawline and nose were glowing white, highlighting a skeleton’s face. Only this time, he’d chosen not to cover his eyes and strong, aristocratic forehead. It was the closest I’d come to discovering the man underneath the costume.

Hold on. The mask was entirely different than the one I’d seen in the club and in the car. Shit. Shit.

His head angled to the side and while I couldn’t tell under the thick latex, I sensed he was smiling. “But you asked what I want. That’s easy, Wild Kitty. Everything.”

I involuntarily licked my lips and scanned both sides of the street. “Get the fuck away from me.” My voice held a savage air, an attempt at regaining power.

“That’s not what you really want. Now, is it?” While the words were meant as a threat, his rugged, seductive voice felt like smooth velvet being brushed across my naked skin. This wasn’t possible. My heart hammered in my chest, my pulse racing.

This just couldn’t happen. I needed clarity. Could I trust this man?

Before my courage gave way, I took off running, fleeing what I’d believed I’d wanted. Now I knew better.

“You can run, Wild Kitty, but I will find you.” The dark edge to his voice stole my breath as I tried to determine a way out, someone able to get to safety.

But was there anywhere truly safe?

As I raced through the darkened streets, a single word of his answer remained furrowing inside my brain.

Everything.

What the hell did that mean? This was just a game. Right? Nothing more. A fight to the virtual death of one contestant pitted against another.

Then why did this all feel so real?

For all I knew, this man was a serial killer, not the man I’d believed him to be. The thought kept a lump in my throat and butterflies swarming my stomach.

I flew across the street, stumbling the moment I tried to step onto the higher sidewalk. As my body pitched forward from the momentum of my run, I prepared for the horrific pain I’d experience from slamming into the hard, cold concrete.

A single strong arm was swept around my waist, my body hoisted into the air. The moment my back was pressed against a large, unyielding figure, I shuddered audibly.

He drove his throbbing cock against me.

There was no denying what he wanted.

What he would take.

All of me.

“Time’s up, little Wild Kitty.” He brushed his hand down my chest, squeezing me tightly. He took several deep breaths as he fingered my breast, taking his time to flick a single finger back and forth across my aching nipple.

I didn’t want this.

I couldn’t.

Yet I did.

All of him.

“Is this part of the game?” I asked as some nervous response.

“Consider it your personal invitation.”

I whispered his real name and he stiffened.

But I continued struggling, throwing my arms back and managing to catch the corner of his mask. When I ripped it off, his entire body language changed. Suddenly, I was tossed under his arm, my dress jerked up, exposing the slender string of my thong.

He managed to slap one hand around my mouth to keep me silent as he fought with me until he had my body controlled. My thong was tugged down, exposing me to the cold night air and him. There could have been no greater shock than when he slammed his palm down on my naked backside.

The man was marking me.

Claiming me.

The twisted part of me had my mouth watering, ready to beg him for more. I shifted in his hold and he seemed to sense what I was doing, bringing his hand down again in more intense strikes.

The brutal jar rattled me to my core, the pain searing in a way no one could anticipate. I felt his anger crawling from deep within him. No one challenged the man, including me. He continued bringing his hand down so savagely my teeth were forced to grind together. If he cared that anyone was watching us, it wasn’t obvious. Or maybe anyone passing by would simply cede to the wishes of the powerful, dangerous man.

There was no stopping him, no ability to fight his strength and agility. I was trapped in the moment, still fighting to keep my sanity as the spanking continued. My body was tingling in response and not in the way normal people would experience. I was turned on, more so than I’d been in a long time.

Hide and seek. That was what we’d been doing, the bastard finally making good on his unstated warnings. My pussy ached as the anguish drove into my joints. Even my hardened nipples reflected the sudden round of discipline. Something inside of me was peppering me with reminders that I’d wanted this. The why just didn’t matter.

One. Two. Three. Four.

The harsh round of punishment continued until I’d lost count. All I could focus on was the building heat. As I began to moan with each swat, I realized I was wet, my arousal obvious. To him.

Then as quickly as the horrible event had started, it was over. By the time he whisked me up, the mask was returned firmly in place, his face covered as it had been before. The evil LED glow of X’s covering his eyes and mouth seemed more terrifying.

Then why was my pussy continuing to throb?

As I backed away, fixing my dress, he made no attempt to capture me as he’d done before, standing stoically and waiting to see what I’d do. There was only one chance I had of saving my soul.

Running.

I turned and fled, sprinting at full speed until my heart was chasing breaths as my mind filed with horrible images of what he could do to me if I was caught. I lunged forward, darting a single look over my shoulder.

He continued advancing, the glow of his menacing fake features something that would haunt me for weeks to come. There was no sound other than the hard rush of my ragged breathing, the bursting pulse of my heart hammering in my chest. I bolted up a sidewalk, rushing toward the front door of a house with lights on inside.

I pounded on the door, frantic for anyone to help me.

Play the game. Play the game.

No one came to provide assistance.

Turning, I noticed he was taking his time walking up the driveway, as if he had all the time in the world. I pounded three more times, praying the door would open.

It didn’t.

So I turned and fled again, this time racing around the corner of the house into the darkened woods lining the property and every other one on the street. Perhaps I wasn’t thinking clearly, continuing my path into the denseness of the forest, but all I could think about was escaping the monster. If I didn’t, there’d be no recourse.

I’d belong to him forever.

The slender moon barely lit the way. I stumbled not once but twice, almost falling to my knees. I saved myself, but not before being caught by a group of briars. A moan gave my position away, the pain biting as I freed myself.

I heard his footsteps, his dark laugh. He was finally chasing me. Hunting me.

Eager and ready to capture his prey.

Run. Run.

That’s all I could think about as I zigged and zagged, finally tripping on a fallen limb. As I fell to the ground, all the air was knocked from my lungs. This was exactly like the game, the level I’d reached the last time I’d dared play Dark Nights. I laughed bitterly, the sound breaching the darkness.

“Come here, kitty kitty,” he growled.

Dear God. He was only a few feet away. I scrambled to the side, using a large oak tree as a hiding place. With effort, I controlled my breathing, remaining silent so I could hear his approach.

Only I didn’t hear anything except the tickle of the breeze flowing through the overhead canopy of leaves.

But he was there. I could feel him. I could almost detect him breathing.

The utter silence was killing me. Seconds ticked by. Minutes.

Staying here was the end game. I was certain of it. The final chapter in a real life play I’d wanted yet had no business playing.

Fear was my motivator, the desire to win coming in a close second. He would not beat me.

As soon as I took off running, the crushing heat of the man and his body was right behind me. There was no time to react, no chance at screaming for help.

He was on me, the mark of a powerful man who’d learned to lie in wait.

The air was knocked from my lungs as I was tossed against a tree. With one hand wrapped around my throat, he held me in place, never flinching as I pummeled my hands against his chest.

“As I told you. Time is up, Wild Kitty. You will always be my prize, my perfect prize.” He captured my mouth, instantly thrusting his tongue between my lips and gritted teeth. With all sense of rationality lost, I succumbed to my body’s betrayal, slowly sliding my arms around his shoulders. As I arched my back, he swallowed my moan as he consumed every inch of my mouth.

There was no turning back time, no chance to alter the finish.

When he pulled away, I gasped for air, so lost that nothing seemed real any longer.

I didn’t need to see his real eyes to know he’d just made a decision, altering the course of my future.

Only this was just the beginning, not a violent end.

My masked man tossed me over his shoulder, heading toward the darkest section of town.

And there would be no one who could save me.

From myself.