Chapter 45
ESSENCE
ONE WEEK LATER
Being back at the carnival a few weeks after that night with Dante is so strange. I’m excited to finally be off work so I can enjoy the start of my Halloween weekend, but I can’t shake the feeling that something isn’t quite right.
“You okay, baby?” Dante asks.
When I look up at him, he’s looking down at me with concern. It occurs to me that I haven’t spoken much since we got here.
I give him a small, reassuring smile and nod. “I’m fine.”
If I tell him I’m feeling uneasy about being here, he’ll want to leave immediately. While we’re here, I want to try to have as much fun as possible.
He eyes me warily, not entirely buying my answer, but he doesn’t push it.
In the distance, the bright lights of the Funhouse catch my attention followed by screams and shrieks of pure terror.
Dante leans in close and murmurs in my ear, “Imagine all the fun we could have in there, little flower.”
My toes curl inside my shoes when his breath skates over the skin of my exposed neck. I shiver and lean into the warmth of his huge body.
“That’s too risky,” I say, even though excitement courses through me at the idea of having sex with him in there. The potential of being caught sends a thrill through me.
“Baby, I’ve fingered you in a crowded restaurant and fucked you on top of a Ferris wheel—you’re really worried about getting caught in a silly little funhouse?”
He’s right.
Biting my bottom lip, I turn my head up to kiss him.
“Let’s go have some fun,” he says mischievously.