Chapter One
Fear and excitement were two sides of the same coin.
Over the last two weeks, I’d become accustomed to experiencing white-hot electricity at all hours of the day and night.
Because he’d been watching me.
Hungering for me.
Biding his time like a shadowed monster planning on capturing his prey.
This was just a fabulous, very dark game and one I’d become intent on playing. That didn’t mean I wasn’t terrified yet scintillated at what he could and would do.
He knew where I lived. He’d been in my apartment. I’d felt his presence so many times, often in the middle of the night.
He’d touched me.
He’d tasted me.
And I’d wanted him to. I’d wanted more.
He was my greatest fantasy, the ultimate darkness that fed my soul.
He held an air of practiced indifference, wielding nonverbal threats. Maybe to him they were promises.
He was the Seducer. However, I reminded myself this was a game, an indecent foray into experiencing a level of darkness only previously experienced in virtual reality games. At least for most. I’d yet to be officially invited into the upper echelon, a world where everything deemed inappropriate, dangerous, or kinky was allowed.
Encouraged even.
A one-way ticket to wealth and clout.
That didn’t mean I wasn’t nervous, anxious over what my handsome stalker would do. I also sensed I was being tested prior to being handed a formal invitation. How I reacted might determine my future.
But something was off tonight. As if the game had taken a macabre turn. I couldn’t put my finger on why I was certain of it.
“Don’t you just love this place?” Tina asked. She was swaying and gyrating to the music. “A perfect name. Dark Delights. Hey, maybe we should check out the rooms upstairs. I heard something about the place being haunted.”
She made a sound like she was a ghost. “Right. Ghosts in a warehouse.” I glanced at the partial loft, the area closed off to the clubbers. The millionth creepy-crawly slid down my spine. I was certain I was being watched from the darkness.
“I need to go,” I told my best friend. “I have an early morning.”
Somehow, I managed to hear Tina growling under the fairy princess mask she was wearing and the loud music. Why did all clubs need to have primal drums? She’d convinced me to come out to a club like the one I worked in several nights a week.
Only she didn’t know that.
No one did.
“Come on. Let’s just take a quick glance upstairs.”
A strange lump in my throat caught me off guard. I glanced around at the partygoers, suddenly desperate for some fresh air. “Not tonight, but we’ll do this again. I promise.”
“You okay to walk to your car?”
“Stop worrying. I have mace.”
She flicked her fairy wings at me, but I knew as soon as I walked out, she’d find some hot company to keep her entertained.
The place was jam packed and before I walked out of the entrance door, I turned to see if he was following. He wasn’t fooling me. I knew he was here. Sadly, I couldn’t see him and felt disappointed.
I headed out, amazed at the number of people standing in line to get in. As soon as I turned the corner, I ripped off my mask, sucking in the cool air. The walk to my car would do me some good. With rapid long strides, I kept my head down and headed directly toward where I parked.
However, it wasn’t long before I sensed him.
Him.
He had a name of course, the game no longer the cryptic event I’d heard usually occurred. But nothing about the time spent with the powerful man had been usual in any sense.
Hair prickled on the back of my neck and I stopped walking, my breathing shallower than before. I felt him all around me, could almost gather a whiff of his musky aftershave. I wasn’t imagining his presence. He was there, hiding in the darkness as he’d done so often.
There were few people on the street, the late night in the middle of the week the reason. Maybe I’d been a fool in enjoying a night with my friend, all the while knowing he was waiting for the perfect opportunity to strike.
Yet I wasn’t afraid.
A huge part of me hungered for him to make his move. He still had no clue how strong I was, how far I was willing to go to win the game.
I continued walking, controlling my breath as I passed several stores and bars, still listening.
Still waiting.
I knew tonight was the night. I’d envisioned this moment, the initial nightmares turning into enraptured fantasies about the mystery man. Up until a few weeks ago, I’d felt a suffocating sense of despair, no longer seeing the point of scouring the earth for happiness.
But everything had changed the moment he’d entered my life, his unspoken possessiveness keeping my rapt attention. Perhaps he had kept my very sanity intact. How odd was it that a man I’d never thought would be interested in me had managed to prevent me from falling into the darkest abyss of my life. Maybe that’s why I felt so drawn to him, almost as if our connection was years in the making.
My pussy ached from the need, a desire that had become overwhelming the last two weeks. The Seducer certainly knew how to boost my appreciative apprehension.
I hurried my step, not bothering to dart a glance over my shoulder.
He was there.
He was always there.
Always wearing a mask when playing the game, his identity frozen behind the world of virtual reality. Reapers, demons, mad hockey men, phantoms, and werewolves. He never wore the same mask twice. If they were being used to scare me, he’d failed. I relished the optimism of darkness, preferring the made-up worlds created by masterful designers and gamers to the shitstorm I’d fallen into.
He was everything I’d ever wanted and nothing I should crave.
Tonight was the night we’d finally take another step into unknown but sensual territory. I’d be able to prove my worthiness. I was certain of it. So much so I’d purchased a new costume for the occasion, pretending as if I’d been interested in the men fawning all over me.
He’d been inside the club, so close yet unreachable. He’d been watching over me even though I hadn’t been able to locate him in the crowd.
I thought about my next course of actions. My car was on the other side of the street, less than two blocks away. If I could just make it there, I might manage to unlock it and jump inside, locking the doors afterward to keep me safe.
There was no sense in running. He knew where I lived. Where I worked out. Where I… worked. He had every advantage and I knew only a little about him.
Except that his hunger was insatiable.
And that he was a dangerous, unhinged man with a dubious past. Then again, didn’t everyone harbor a secret or two?
I weaved my way through a small crowd of people before making a sharp turn onto another street. I immediately backed against the brick façade of a building, holding my breath as tingles continued to rise and fall like goosebumps floating across my skin. With my hand shaking, I reached into my purse, grabbing the pocketknife I’d started always keeping with me. With the blade flicked open, I waited for his majesty to provide me with his presence.
The man had balls as well as a heightened level of audacity to think he could manage to sweep me away from the area without being noticed by anyone. Maybe he just didn’t care.
Why should he?
He was virtually untouchable. He’d proven that time and time again.
I took several deep breaths, waiting for him to cross the barrier.
But he didn’t.
Groaning, I found the courage to glance around the corner. Immediately, I launched into confronting him. “Why hide in the dark? Come out and play with me.”
A half dozen people glanced at the crazy woman addressing no one.
There was no man dressed in dark attire, no freak in a mask waiting to finish what I’d started.
There were just people, some walking arm in arm as they finished their business for the evening. I laughed softly, sliding back into my hiding spot so I could collect myself.
What an idiot I was. He’d figured out I was onto him, sensing him.
I’d been determined to win, ending the game that had been tossed back at me. Even before it officially began. Damn it. He wasn’t making a move. He wasn’t ready. Sighing, I fingered the knife, not realizing I’d nicked my pinky at first. When I did, I flattened the blade and shoved my finger into my mouth, sucking like a little baby. Furious, I shoved the knife back into place, more frustrated than I’d been since the start of the game.
I’d been wrong as I’d been one too many times. Tonight wasn’t the night, just another aspect of the cat and mouse game we’d been playing for weeks.
Damn it.
Damn everything.
I had to win.
This was my contest to lose and that wasn’t going to happen. Too much was at stake. But in order to win, I’d need to turn the tables, becoming the aggressor instead of playing the willing victim.
Perhaps tonight I’d set a trap. The thought brought a malevolent smile to my face as I moved to the corner, waiting for two cars to pass before heading toward my vehicle.
I fumbled to find my keys, cursing under my breath when almost dropping them. On top of everything, I’d become clumsy and careless. That’s the way he played the game, feeding on my weaknesses while I stewed in the unknowing darkness.
With one more street to cross, I took a deep breath, looking both ways. Still hoping I’d catch side of his all too familiar mask.
There was nothing but darkness.
I’d taken only a few steps from the curb when I heard a screeching noise. Before I knew what was happening, a car careened around the corner, gunning right for me. I was paralyzed on the spot, shocked when I was able to glance in through the front windshield.
The bastard driving was wearing a Purge mask. The glowing eyes were impossible to ignore. And instant recognition jetted through me.
I’d seen the sedan before. This wasn’t… No, who the hell was behind the wheel?
What was he doing, really trying to kill me?
Shock tore through me and I willed my feet to move, but they refused.
Suddenly, I was tossed into the air, pitched over something solid.
And I heard a single gunshot.
What the hell?
The driver continued on, the sound lessening until it disappeared. By that point I was fighting with everything I had, somehow managing to slip from the powerful hold. Without looking back, I bolted forward, terrified of everything.
Fearful of him and what he could do to me if he captured me. But that wasn’t my only fear. I was terrified of my emotions and the filthy thoughts racing through my mind.
Most of all, I was petrified of my desire. I ran.
[divider]Chapter Two
Sara
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.
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