So long as itisCyril, I’m definitely going to give him a hand for his fashion choices.
“I’m going to count to three,” he says, his voice modified and tinny sounding by the speaker he holds. “And then, Wendy Darling, I’m coming in. You know your safeword, right?”
Fuck yeah, I do.
The fear in my chest has turned to exhilaration and trepidation. This is hotter than it has any right to be, that’s for sure. But still definitely terrifying. I nod at his question.
“Good girl.” God, it’s absolutely my weakness when anyone utters those words at me. “When I start counting, you’d betterrun.”
“Why?”
“Because wherever I catch you is where I’m going to wreck you.”
“What if you can’t catch me? I’ve always been really good at hide-and-seek.” My mouth betrays me, words dropping from my lips before I can stop them.
He considers my words and puts one boot on the bottom of the stairs, making me tense.
“How about this? You have two options, Wendy Darling. If you run and hide from me, and yousucceedin hiding from me for fifteen minutes, you win. You can do anything you want to me, and you can take the PS5.”
That sounds like a hefty, worthwhile reward to me. And Cyril has no idea how competitive I am.
“On the off chance you win because I feel bad for you, what then?” I ask once a rumble of thunder has faded into the night.
“Then you and the PS5 are staying where you belong. Here. With me to play with whenever Iwant. At least for the next few days.”
That doesn’t sound like a punishment. Not in the least.
“If you just play by my rules and run instead of hiding, then I’ll fuck you, take you to bed, and drive you home whenever you want to go.”
“Well, that just sounds boring,” I say, leaning against the doorframe. “Since when are youboring?”
“Since it’s undoubtedly the safer option for you, and I wanted to give you a nice way out if you’re afraid.”
Iamafraid. Just a little, and only because this situation is so exciting, I don’t know what to do with myself.
“I guess…” I trail off, grip the door, and then look back at him apologetically. “You’ll just have to find which one I decide on when you get in here. I hope you have a key, by the way.”
“Careful, Wendy,” Cyril chides, but I’m too attached to this plan to do anything other than smile sweetly at him andslamthe door, locking it a moment later before sprinting up the stairs and to the second floor of his townhouse.
It’s a good thing I’m a curious bitch, and that my curiosity means I know every inch of this place, including the guest room, his bedroom, and all of the closets.
But hiding in the bedrooms feels like I’masking for it.
Which, okay, I definitely am. But I like to think I’m a little more subtle than that. I run past the bedrooms, trying to keep my steps light, and pause just as I hear the key turn in the door I’ve locked. Of course, locking it only bought me a few seconds. Cyrilownsthis place, so obviously, he has the key.
Letting out a breath, I make a last-minute decision and dart intohisroom. It is obvious, yeah. Because what idiot would hide from him in a bedroom?
Much less in the closet.
Despite my snooping, I’ve never been into his closet before since it’s not mine, and I’m surprised at how big it is. Like a closet for two, but Cyril has filled it up admirably with clothes, shoes, andknives.
I go to the back and sit down, shimmying under one of the raised shelves and tucking myself in with the bath towels. Despite knowing there’s no danger, my heart pounds in my chest, and I cover my mouth to avoid breathing too loudly.
Under me I can hear him prowling around the first floor, murmuring to himself as he goes, and when the floor creaks in the kitchen and then in the living room, I find it easier to track his movements.
Fifteen minutes isn’tthatlong. Not long enough for him to check the whole house.
He doesn’t eventryto mask his footsteps on the stairs outside the bedroom, and I sit still while I listen to the leader of the Lost Boys open the other bedroom door, then close it behind him. He’s fast, but is he thorough? He can’t be searchingthatquickly.