A creepy-looking clown loomed over me, lit by a single bulb swinging from the ceiling, and I shrieked in terror, scrambling to get away. Another clown? Seriously? If there was one thing I hated above all, it was clowns. It reached out an arm towards me, its white painted face stretching into a huge distorted grin, exposing rows of bloodstained teeth.
It’s only make-up, it’s only make-up, I chanted in my head, desperately trying to convince myself that it wasn’t real. Taking a deep, shuddering breath, I twisted and ducked under its arm, racing down another corridor, desperate to find a way out of this maze.
A dead end.
I felt a breath on my neck. “Boo,” someone whispered, and then a body was pressed against mine, pinning me in place, and I screamed for my life.
“Keep screaming, baby. It makes me hard.” The pressure of my captor’s mask against my skin disappeared as he lifted it away from his face, and then cool metal slid across the side of my neck, combined with the soft warmth of lips.
Bile rose up in my throat. Kian. His lip piercing was a dead giveaway, combined with the fact that I felt a base, instinctual fear as he held me in place. What would he do to me, here in the dark?
Overcome with terror, I screamed again.
Suddenly, his weight was gone, and I was gripped around my stomach and forcibly dragged back down the corridor.
“You’re not playing fair.” I heard Kian’s voice from behind me.
“Fuck you. I picked her first.”
Carter. Carter was the one holding me. For one second, I breathed a sigh of relief, before my brain caught up with what was happening.
Oh, fuck. I was in so much trouble.
He dragged me down a narrow corridor and into a wider space, where a single light illuminated a witch stirring a fake cauldron. The witch watched us pass, not bothering to do anything, even though I was clearly struggling. “Help!” I called out. She cackled, before her attention was diverted by a giggling girl running past, hotly pursued by a guy in a mask with yellow LEDs.
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.