Chapter 5
ROMAN
The Mercedes SUV rumbles to a stop, crunching over the gravel. I shift into park, glancing through the windows at the deserted parking lot of the state park.
This fucking creep may have managed to convince my sister to meet him here so he could do whatever he wanted to her without witnesses or anyone coming to her rescue.
But his insidious plan is going to be his fucking downfall. Because it’s not sweet Evie's screams that will go unheard tonight.
It’s his.
And I will be making this fucking lowlife predator scream.
…And scream, and scream, and scream.
I switch the car off and step out into the slightly foggy chill of the night air. Summer is gone, and I can taste fall in the air as I pull a mask out of the pocket of my leather jacket.
It’s not to hide my identity. Before I kill this fucker, he will know who I am. It's for maximum terror factor in the moment he realizes he didn’t lure a poor, innocent girl into the woods.
He invited a fucking monster. And I’m going to destroy him.
The headlights darken behind me, and the whole scenes dims to the thin, silvery glow of the moon filtering through the mist and the trees. The first fallen leaves of the season are brittle underfoot as I put the mask on and slowly head down the trail that leads from the parking lot.
My eyes shift side to side and my muscles tighten up as I try to sense anything that might give away this asshole’s location.
I’m going to find you, motherfucker. And then I’m going to make you scream, beg, and bleed for trying to lure my poor sister out here to—
The guy comes out of nowhere.
He slams into me from behind and grunts as he knocks me to my knees. I snarl when he wraps a sinewy arm around my throat and forces me face-down onto the ground, making me choke on dust and leaves.
The breath rushes out of me in a whoosh as his firm, powerful body lands on top of mine, pinning me to the earth as he grabs my wrists and shoves my hands over my head.
No.
What the fucking FUCK.
It’s not just surprise that has me shaken and unnerved. It’s not just the sudden shift from being the hunter to being the hunted.
It’s happening.
Again.
Same as last night, when Val had me on my back, my hands pinned and my strength and control utterly wrestled away from me.
Heat.
A throb.
A twitch.
An ache deep inside that suddenly has my dick thickening in my jeans.
NO.
That zapping sensation is back, making my throat close up and my pulse skip as the man breathes against the side of my neck, right by my ear, sending shivers and sparks and untamed viciousness coiling through my very soul.
“You are full of surprises, Princessbaby,” he purrs seductively into my ear.
My pulse jumps erratically. My skin erupts into electrified goosebumps.
“I was expecting a girl,” he murmurs near the shell of my ear. “But…”
This time, he doesn’t just breathe against my ear.
He fucking bites it.
His teeth clamp down on the lobe, sending a wicked bolt shooting through my body and directly to my cock. I groan into the dirt as my dick swells rock-hard against the ground, twitching and throbbing, precum leaking into my boxers.
That’s when I feel it: hard, hot, and fucking huge, grinding against my ass.
His erection.
“Lucky for both of us, I can be flexible,” he growls. “And you smell fucking delicious.”
One of his hands slides from my wrist, slipping up my forearm and over my bicep and shoulder before his fingers snake over my scalp. He grabs the short hairs and tugs, and before I can stop myself, a gurgled, achy, needy sound tumbles from my mouth.
“I’m going to enjoy feeling those little fucking whimpers around my dick while I’m fucking your mouth, Princessbaby.”
Something in me snaps: a final, desperate last-ditch effort to prove to myself that this isn’t me. That I don’t want this. That I’m not harder than I’ve ever been as this stranger grinds his huge erection against my ass.
With a grunt, I throw my arm back, jamming my elbow into him, hard. The man groans, and his grip on my hair loosens a bit.
It’s enough.
I snarl as I slam my elbow back again, catching soft flesh this time. He loses his grip on me, and when his weight shifts, I use my momentum to kick up off the ground.
He tumbles away from me as I lurch to my feet. I whirl, a feral snarl on my lips as I turn the tables and slam into him. My hands wrap around his neck as I sweep his legs, catching him off-guard and knocking him off his feet.
We both hit the ground with a grunt—him on his back, me on top of him with my hands around his throat.
“Oh, you kinky little fucker,” he groans, and I swear, his cock actually throbs even harder against mine as he says it. And when it does?
Fuck. Me.
The feel of his need, pulsing so hot and raw and urgent against me is…confusing. World-shattering.
But empowering. And fucking hot, in a way I’ve never felt before.
His dick twitches against mine again, and sheer horror washes over me as I feel my cock thickening to fucking steel against his.
“That’s it, baby,” he groans, rocking his hips against me. “Let me feel how fucking hard that big, fat dick gets for me.”
My breath stutters. My body turns numb, and my head goes into stunned shock as he starts to thrust against me. His erection grinds and rubs against mine through our jeans, the friction driving me fucking wild.
My eyes roll back, my breath choking off in my tightening throat as pure, unfiltered desire explodes through my system.
…Which is why I’m completely unprepared when he suddenly flips us over and pins me to the ground, with him on top.
“Fuuuck,” he groans savagely as he rubs his bulge against mine. “Fuck, are you hard,” he hisses.
I can’t talk. Can’t say a word. Can’t even fucking think. My whole world shrinks to the outrageously good feeling charging through my dick and balls as he pins my arms to the ground and slides his fat, swollen erection over mine.
What the fucking shit is this?
“Shit, baby,” he grunts. “You’re making me so goddamn hard with that big fucking dick.”
I see it coming before it happens. And yet, somehow, I’m powerless to stop it. He's looming over me, our eyes locked through the masks we’re both wearing—he in a Venetian devil mask that covers the top half of his face, me in a black balaclava that covers all of mine.
But then his face slowly lowers to mine. His hand releases one of my wrists, and in slow motion, it reaches for the edge of my ski mask.
No.
Please.
Don’t see me. Don’t see my secret darkness.
And just as my eyes drop to the swirls of tattoo ink peeking out from the collar of his hoodie, his fingers grab the edge of my mask.
No—
Too late. With a flick of the wrist, he’s yanked the mask from my face, exposing me.
…His whole body goes still, and his sharp blue eyes widen behind his mask.
“Roman?!”
The entire world stops for a second. Because the moment my name leaves his lips, it all clicks horrifically into place.
Somehow, I break the ice that’s kept me frozen in place, jerk my hand up, and rip off his mask.
Val doesn’t even blink as we stare at each other.
Still inches apart.
Still panting, our legs entangled.
Both of us still rock fucking hard, our dicks twitching against each other as time stops moving.
“What the FUCK, man!” Val scrambles up and away from me, and I do not have the time or bandwidth to deal with the disappointment that spikes through me when he does so.
He stumbles away from me as I lurch to my feet, breathing heavily, my face pale as we stare at each other in the moonlight.
“What the fuck!” Val blurts again.
I swallow, my body trembling, my pulse roaring in my ears as I stare at him with haggard horror.
“I—I’m…” I angrily force the quiver from my voice. “I’m straight!!” I roar.
Val bristles, his nostrils flaring, his chiseled jaw working, and those fucking piercing blue eyes slicing into my soul.
“What the fuck is this,” he hisses through clenched teeth. “Some fucking setup?”
“I'm straight. I’m not—”
“I know! Jesus!!” he barks back.
My breath comes in short, staccato chokes, my chest rising and falling rapidly. Val whirls, shoving his hands through his hair and swearing into the darkness of the forest around us. He turns suddenly, his eyes stabbing back into me.
“What the fuck are you doing here?!”
My jaw clenches. “Who did you think you were meeting?”
“Some chick!” he spits back.
“Who,” I snarl.
“I don’t know! That was sort of the whole fucking point, dimwit!!”
The screaming DEFCON alarms in my head lower a notch.
“You…didn’t know who you were meeting.”
“Obviously not!” he roars.
“I mean, when you thought you were meeting a girl—”
“The whole point of anonymous stranger sex, in case you’re mystified by the concept,” he hisses, “is that it’s, you know, an anonymous fucking stranger!”
The alarm level lowers another notch in my head.
He didn’t realize he was meeting Evie.
“You know, I knew you weren’t straight,” he spits. “But I did not have ‘roleplay as a girl on my Roman Nikitin bingo card, you catfishing motherfucker!” he grunts.
“Fuck you,” I hurl back. “And for the record, I am straight—”
His harsh laugh rips through the night and shreds me to pieces.
“Holy fucking denial.”
My lips purse tight as I glare at him. “Fuck you. I’m leaving.”
“Fine,” Val snaps back. “Hey, on your way out of the woods, see if you can manage to find your way out of the fucking closet while you’re at it.”
I whirl, surging into him and grabbing him by the front of his hoodie with a furious snarl on my lips.
“Let’s try this one last fucking time,” I seethe. “I am NOT GAY.”
Val’s mouth tightens to a line. His chiseled jaw grinds, and his blue eyes glint into mine like icicles.
“Whatever you fucking say, asshole.”
I grip his hoodie a little tighter before I suddenly shove him back and jab a finger at him. “Stay the fuck away from me and mine.”
“The fuck does that mean?”
“It means stay away from me!” I bark, a tremor rattling in my voice.
Stay in control.
Power in strength.
Be a fucking man.
Val sneers at me. “Hey, I’m not the one who came to the woods looking to get fucked, sweetheart.”
I shove down the throb of heated shame that curls low in my stomach when he says it. Then I grit my teeth and glare at him.
“Fuck you.”
I turn abruptly, my heart racing like an F1 engine, my skin tingling all over.
“Roman.”
I stutter to a stop and half turn back toward him. His eyes cut through the misty, moonlit night, ensnaring me.
“Not gay, huh?”
I swallow heavily.
“Not even a little,” I mutter, my voice shaking.
Val smirks. “Well, next time, make sure your big, hard dick gets the memo, yeah?”
I peel out of the parking lot in spray of gravel and dust. I only make it about two miles down the road before I pull into a dark turnaround.
It takes all of four strokes before my cum is spilling over my cock and my hand, my cries choking into the stillness of the car as the black sickness inside me consumes me whole.
What the fuck is wrong with me?