by Becca Steele
Carter’s hand clamped over my mouth, and I felt the first tear fall, trickling under the fabric of my mask and onto my cheek. He gave a low growl of pleasure as he felt the tear run onto his finger, and I inhaled sharply. Who enjoyed making someone cry? There was something seriously wrong with him.
I continued to struggle against him as he spun me around and pushed me into a small alcove. It was pitch-black in here, other than the glow from his horrifying mask, and my heart rate spiked to new levels. Spots danced in front of my eyes. Was I about to pass out?
I couldn’t even scream, because his hand was still over my mouth. I gasped for breath, unable to get enough air into my lungs as he pressed his heavy body against mine.
“Shhh. It’s okay,” he soothed, still holding me in place.
I whimpered as his body pressed closer. “You’re so fucking sexy,” he whispered.
Another tear trickled down my cheek. My head spun, as the fear and adrenaline spiked with a shot of pure lust, utterly unwanted. My mind was confused, and my body didn’t know what on earth was going on. I closed my eyes, trembling in his grip as he angled his head closer to my ear, his mask scratching against my cheek. “Give me all your tears, baby.”
My eyes flew open in time to see him pull down his hood and push his mask onto the top of his head. He scrutinised me closely, and in the blue glow I could just about make out his eyes, darkened with lust.
His jaw tightened and he swallowed hard, pulling back enough to give me some breathing room. “Do you want me to let you go?”
I stared at him for a long moment, warring with myself, before I slowly shook my head. I thought I detected a glimmer of relief in his eyes as I acquiesced, but I might have imagined it.
“Good decision. I’m gonna make you feel so good, I promise. Don’t scream, okay?” His voice was breathless. How was I affecting him like this? If he knew it was me, what would he do?
I nodded, and he slipped his hand from my mouth to my throat. He squeezed. A choked cry escaped me, as he licked the track of my tear, slowly, decadently.
He placed a single kiss on my cheek, and then his mouth was closing over mine, paralysing me with his touch. He nipped at my bottom lip, then again. Then kissed me. Again.
His lips. They were so soft against mine.
Somehow, I found myself kissing him back, and his tongue slid into my mouth. Sparks exploded behind my eyes. The fear and adrenaline had found an outlet and flowed straight from me to him, a perfect electrical circuit. Excitement coursed through my body as I melted into him, lost in the feel of his lips on mine.
I kissed him harder. He made a low noise of approval, sliding his free hand up my body, onto my breasts. Panting, he broke the kiss, and I moaned as he eased down my leotard straps, exposing me to him. The darkness gave me a false sense of confidence, knowing that he wouldn’t be able to make out much.
“I wish I could see you properly.” He dragged his thumb over my nipple, circling it, sending more sparks coursing through me. Then his mouth was on mine again, and my hands were somehow going around him of their own accord, and I was pulling him closer, feeling him grind his hardness against me. He smiled against my mouth, and I was shaken. He’d never smiled at me, not once. Of course, he didn’t know it was me.
He used his hand on my throat to tilt my head, and then he was sliding his teeth down my neck, down, down to my breasts, and he sucked my nipple into his mouth, biting, licking, worshipping my body. So this was what people talked about. This was what it was like to be with someone who knew what they were doing. The clumsy fumbles I’d had with my…summer fling, if you could call it that, were nothing compared to this. I was so wet, and he’d barely even touched me. I’d wondered if there was something wrong with me, that I hadn’t been able to get turned on by Ralph, but my body was having no such trouble with Carter Blackthorne.
His hand moved in between my legs, and he growled. “Mmmm.”
The sensations he was sparking inside of me were indescribable. A soft moan fell from my lips as he eased my leotard aside, before pushing a finger roughly inside me. I tensed for a minute, but the pain never came. “Ca—” I bit my lip, hard, to stop myself from saying his name. If he knew it was me, he’d stop. And I didn’t want him to stop.
I licked my lips, tasting the blood from where I’d bitten it so hard, as he added another finger, his thumb working at my clit. He kissed me harder as he played my body expertly. He wasn’t soft or gentle, but I’d never been so turned on in my life. I could feel the wetness sliding down my legs as his fingers pumped in and out of me while his thumb continued to stroke over my clit.
Tugging my lower lip between his teeth, he bit me softly as he curled his fingers inside me. A huge shock wave of pleasure hit my body, sending me soaring and leaving me gasping for breath.
I was coming all over his hand. The symphony of shouts and screams in the background faded into nothing as I came apart.
For him.
The first orgasm I’d ever had that wasn’t self-induced and it had to be from my tormentor.
“Your little pussy dripping all over my fingers is so fucking hot,” he groaned, his voice lowered to a husky rasp. “Taste yourself.” Then without missing a beat, he was shoving his fingers into my mouth, and I almost gagged as they hit the back of my throat. “Taste,” he said again, then withdrew them slightly, and I was able to swirl my tongue around them. The idea of tasting myself—it had never even occurred to me before, but something about Carter’s rasped instructions… I obediently licked and sucked his digits while he praised me, telling me how sexy I was and how hard he was for me.
This was…he was on another level. My body responded to his actions and dirty words, and the taste of myself on my tongue…I never wanted him to stop.
For a moment, I allowed myself to think the unthinkable. Was this how it would feel if he was mine? As soon as the thought had crossed my mind, the fear, which had temporarily faded away thanks to his skills in making me forget, returned in full force. Once he found out who I was, I was in so much trouble. What was he going to do to me when he found out? I needed to escape before that happened. If I could manage to get back outside, I could blend into the crowds and sneak away.
“I can tell how good you’ll be at sucking my cock.” His hoarse words against my ear sent a whole different kind of fear through me. A delicious fear. I’d never given anyone a blowjob before, and here I was, about to experiment on Carter Blackthorne.
My trembling hand went to his jeans, but he stilled it. “Not yet. We’ve got all night.”
All night? A shot of panic zipped through my body.
No! No, I couldn’t be stuck with him for a whole night. He’d find out who I was, for sure.
6
Carter tugged his mask back down over his face and put his hood over the top. I could feel the heat of his gaze slide across my body as he adjusted my leotard, pushing the straps up so my breasts were no longer exposed. He paused a moment, before gripping me firmly and spinning me around so my back was to him. As he walked us both through the maze of the haunted house, I could do nothing but stumble along in front of him, his hold on me was so tight.
An exit sign flashed up ahead, and I breathed a sigh of relief. As we staggered out through the door, slamming it on a guy running at us with a chainsaw in his hands, I attempted to twist away from Carter, scared of what he’d do to me when he found out who I was.
My struggles only made him tug me harder against him, and I hissed. “I love your fight. Maybe even more than your fear.” I could hear the excitement in his tone as he picked me up and swung me over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes, sending all the blood rushing to my head.
He stalked down to the side of the haunted house before putting me down, still holding me against him, his hand around my throat again.
I stared up at him, his eyes unreadable behind his mask as he looked down at me.
“Your heart’s beating so fast. Scared?”
I nodded. T
here was no denying it. Although I could guarantee that he had no idea that the majority of my fear had nothing to do with the way he held me helpless against him, and everything to do with what would happen once he found out who I was.
He laughed, pleased. Psycho. “Good. Now, are you gonna tell me your name?”
No. I couldn’t. “Let’s stay anonymous,” I suggested, my voice barely above a whisper. Would he recognise my voice?
He studied me, then shrugged, releasing his grip on my throat. His whole demeanour went from imposing to relaxed, and it threw me. “If that’s how you want to play it. Can you at least tell me what school you go to? I know it’s not Alstone High, because I definitely would have remembered you.”
My relief at his words combined with an undercurrent of disbelief. While I was glad that he seemed oblivious, how could he not know it was me? Then again, even Lena hadn’t recognised me to begin with, and there was no way anyone would suspect I was here. “No. Not Alstone High,” I managed.
“In that case, we should make the most of tonight. Come on.” He stared at me for a moment. “Don’t want you being caught on camera.”
What?
He tugged me away from the haunted house, his grip tight on my wrist, but not bruising as it had been previously. We weaved between stalls and ended up outside a small red-and-white striped tent, completely out of place among the neon glow of the other rides and stalls. A chalk sign on a stake outside simply said “Fortune Teller.” Pushing the canvas aside, Carter ducked through the flap of the fortune teller’s small, dimly lit tent, nodding to the heavily made-up woman inside. Tight black curls tumbled around her lined face, her fingers heavy with ornate rings as she shuffled the cards in her hands. She nodded back, throwing him a wink, her eyes glittering in the flickering candlelight as she took me in with her shrewd, dark gaze. We passed her in a flash, round behind a curtain into the back area.
“Aunt Marie.” Carter voiced his reply to my unspoken question as he knelt down, rummaging in a duffel bag. “Not really my aunt. She lives in the old Cutler house, the one they say is haunted? Me and my friend Kian used to go trick-or-treating at hers on Halloween. We were sure she was a witch. One time we…” He trailed off, muttering “never mind” under his breath. “Anyway, she’s alright once you get used to her. She let us leave our stash in here tonight.”
Stash?
He handed me a bundle of fabric. “Put this on.”
I shook it out to see a dark hoodie.
“Shame to cover that gorgeous body, but if you’re coming with me, I’m not gonna risk you.” He helped me into it, his touch surprisingly gentle as he zipped it up. It hung almost to my knees, huge on me. I shivered as his hands brushed over my collarbone, and then his masked face was next to my ear. “I can’t wait to see you on your knees for me, later.”
I was in so much trouble.
He reached for my mask, and I shrank backwards. “No.”
“I’m only gonna swap it for a mask like mine,” he reassured me, holding up the full-face mask that was in his hand.
Biting my lip, I quickly grabbed the mask from his outstretched hand and spun around, giving him my back. I ripped off my own mask and pulled the other one over my head, then stuffed mine into the pocket of the hoodie, before I turned back to face him.
“How is it you still manage to look hot in this massive hoodie with a mask covering your face?” He fiddled with the button to turn on my mask’s LED lights, and then everything before me was suddenly lit up with a blue glow. I stifled a snort of laughter. He’d never used the word “hot” in relation to me before. As quickly as the thought appeared, it was immediately replaced by a rush of guilt at the knowledge I was purposely withholding my identity.
Thankfully, he silenced my uncomfortable thoughts by continuing, “Take this.” A cold metal canister was thrust into my hand, and I slid it into my pocket. Carter lifted my hood up over my head, then linked his fingers with mine.
The warmth of his large hand encompassing my own…it sent butterflies racing through me. I pushed down the feeling before the guilt could rise up in me again. We made our way back out into the main area of the tiny tent, and Aunt Marie stopped Carter with a hand on his arm as he brushed past her. He spun to look at her, but it wasn’t him she was facing.
It was me.
Her hypnotic eyes bored into mine, and it was like she could see into my very soul. She beckoned me closer, and my body obeyed before I even realised what I was doing.
“Two halves, so different, yet the same. Trick him once, and you have much to gain.
The gain will not come without a cost. Can you hold on when hope is lost?”
At her foreboding, low chant, a whole-body shiver ran through me, and I froze in place, unable to tear my gaze away from hers. She moved her hand from Carter’s arm to my own, her long, blood-red talons gripping me firmly, and pulled me closer. Her voice dropped to a whispered warning.
“Are you willing to pay the price? Trick him once, but don’t trick him twice.”
My heart sped up, thumping in my ribcage.
“Stop scaring her,” Carter hissed to Marie, breaking through the heavy, claustrophobic atmosphere that was holding me captive. She turned her eyes to his.
“Beware the one who seems—”
He raised his hand and sighed. Loudly. “Enough with the cryptic messages.” As he tugged me out of the tent, he whispered, “You get used to her. She always speaks in riddles.”
His assurances weren’t enough to take away the icy tendrils of fear that had wrapped their way around me, embedding themselves in my soul. She’d seen straight through the mask, straight through me. Her words were a clear message, one I couldn’t ignore.
As Carter led me away from the carnival, towards the area behind the skatepark, next to the graffitied wall by the subway where a group of masked, hooded figures waited, the warning she’d given me played through my mind, over and over again.
Are you willing to pay the price? Trick him once, but don’t trick him twice.
7
We reached the others. Only a small group, and there was no sign of the two guys in the red and purple masks—Kian and Xavier. I let myself relax a little. I doubted Kian would have even been aware of my existence, but Xavier did, since I’d been the one sewing his costumes in drama club. Although, now, with the mask covering my entire face and the hoodie swamping my body, I was pretty sure it was even harder for anyone to see through my disguise.
“You know the rules,” Carter announced. I listened, fascinated, as he continued. “Video or photograph your evidence, and upload it to the drive using the password you were given. Avoid any identifying features. No faces. Tag your evidence with your codes.” He glanced around at the group before muttering to himself, “Where the fuck are Kian and Xavier?”
“What about the girl?” someone called. Everyone’s attention swung to me, and Carter stepped closer, his arm curling around my waist protectively.
“She’s with me.”
“I thought all the girls were being taken to the cove? Those were the rules,” another guy challenged.
“She’s with me,” Carter repeated, his grip on me tightening as he squared his shoulders. “Anyone got a problem with that?”
I held my breath. There were general mutters, but no one came out and said anything.
“Okay. Three hours. Meet at the cove.” Everyone split off, and I was left standing there with Carter’s arm still around me.
“What’s going on?” I ventured, keeping my voice low.
“Just a bit of friendly competition. First, we picked the girls we wanted, now—”
“You picked the girls you wanted?” I barely managed to get the words out.
“I know where your mind’s going, and it’s not like that. No one was taken against their will or anything.”
Hadn’t he taken me against my will?
It was as if he knew exactly what I was thinking. “Remember, I asked you if you wanted me to let yo
u go, and you said no.” His arm tightened around me. “Believe me, most girls would jump at the chance at being caught by one of us.” A low chuckle escaped his lips. “I can guarantee that you were the only one who really put up a fight.”
His hand ran up and down my back, and I relaxed under his touch. “Now, we get to do something to win bragging rights.”
“Bragging rights? And where did the girls go?” The questions fell from my lips before I could stop them, and I could only hope he wasn’t paying attention to my voice.
“Yeah. Bragging rights. As for the girls…they got taken on a nice little ride to the same place we’ll be going later. An all-night party.”
“I can’t stay out all night,” I whispered. Technically, I could, but I wasn’t about to. Carter started to say something, but I cut him off with another question. “Why didn’t you send me away with the other girls?”
He fell silent, then when he eventually spoke, his voice was full of confusion. “I don’t know?” He pulled me closer. “I hadn’t planned on keeping you with me. There’s something about you, though. Something addictive.”
“You don’t even know me.” I curled my body into his.
“Maybe that’s part of the fun,” he murmured, before he let me go.
A bolt of longing hit me. How I wished he’d show this side of himself to me in the outside world. I mean, I knew there had to be a nicer side to him, otherwise he wouldn’t be so popular, but I’d only ever been the recipient of his hate. I swallowed the lump in my throat at the thought that once he found out who I was, it was game over.
Needing a minute, I turned back towards the carnival, the lights blinking on and off enticingly and the sounds of music, laughter and screams filling the air. I sighed before I even realised what I was doing.