Chapter 43 #2
The door to the room slams shut behind us, the wind almost making me trip. Quickly putting Layla down, I turn this way and that, seeing we’ve walked into a hallway with four doors.
“Lady’s pick.”
Layla snorts before whacking my chest. “You just want me to walk in first.”
“Yeah, to see your ass, not because I’m a gentleman.”
“At least you’re self-aware.”
“Which one?” I ask again. “And hurry before Annabelle comes after us.”
Layla bounces on the balls of her toes. “Ugh, I don’t know! Why am I choosing?”
That stumps me. “Fuck do I know, actually.” Stepping forward, I open a door, only to slam it shut immediately. “Hell to the fucking no!”
“Why, what was it? Was it horrible?”
I physically shudder. “Dark shower block.”
Layla mirrors my grimace. “Absolutely not.” She steps forward. “What about—”
A high-pitched wail fills the hall. Layla lets out a scream and before I can truly think about what I’m doing, I wrap my hand around hers and pull her through the second door, slamming it shut behind us.
“I’ve been waiting for a sacrifice.”
“Kieran,” Layla whispers, terror in her voice.
“I shouldn’t have picked this room, should I?”
“No.”
Turning, around I find I’ve dragged Layla into a padded white room with words, numbers and symbols drawn in what looks like fake blood as a woman with oily black hair, blood smeared along her teeth as she smiles at us sits in the corner, rocking back and forth in a straightjacket.
I don’t even get a chance to pick her up before Layla takes off to the left. Following her lead, we run through another door and into a fake doctor’s office. Multiple doctors lift their heads from a surgery they’re performing.
“Doctor, these are our next patients—”
Layla and I don’t stop running and she doesn’t stop screaming but somewhere along the way, I start laughing, really laughing.
Even though I’m terrified, this is the most fun I’ve ever had in my life—running in a Ghostface mask and cackling like a maniac as the woman I’m in love with runs beside me, screaming.
I’m laughing too hard to realize where she’s taking us but suddenly the guy with the chainsaw is back and I’m not laughing anymore as he revs it.
Now I’m the one pulling Layla through endless halls and doors.
Left, then right, a corridor, another hallway. I’m trying to lose the actor when I spot an almost hidden door and decide to pull us through it. I have no idea if it’s a large closet or a small room, but either way, I’m just glad I can have a moment to catch my breath.
“I can’t—”
I gently place my hand over Layla’s mouth, or where I think her mouth is under the mask, as I hear footsteps moving down the hallway. Big heavy boots stomp along the hardwood floors as a chainsaw roars, the low hum a thing of nightmares.
Holding my breath, I don’t let go of Layla as he seems to come to a stop outside the doors. My chest begins to burn, my lungs demanding oxygen, and I swear I’m going to pass out, but then the actor revs the chainsaw again and takes off down the hallway.
Dropping my hand from her face, I lean back against the wall and take a deep pull of air.
“What happened to hunting me?” comes Layla’s soft voice.
“Looking forward to it, were you?”
“Desperately.”
My chuckle is dark and low. “Want me to hunt you now, sunshine?”
Her next words make my heart skip a beat.
“I think you’ve already captured me.”
Swallowing thickly, I move forward in the cramped area, invading Layla’s personal space and forcing her head backwards. Her chest begins to rise and fall rapidly, now for another reason entirely than being frightened.
“You liked that, didn’t you?”
Her chin tips up. “You were laughing too.”
“No, sunshine. I think you liked that in a different way,” I whisper, placing a hand on her hip and squeezing. A surge of heat races down my body as she sucks in a hiss of air. “How wet are you?”
The words are out of my mouth before I can take them back. I expect her to cuss or slap me—either is appropriate, really—but what she says instead makes me fucking groan. “Profusely.”
“Has this lived up to your dark romance fantasies?”
“More than I ever could have dreamed.”
The sounds of the horror house fill the space, mingling with our heavy breathing as we listen to the screams of others in the far-off distance.
Ever so slowly, I let my fingers travel up the side of her stomach, inch by inch. Once my hands reach the swell of her breasts, she arches her back, seeking me out.
But not yet. I want her begging.
I need to hear those words.
Moving my hand over her collarbones I slide my wandering hands beneath her mask and pull it off, revealing my sunshine. The woman that has plagued my thoughts for what feels like eternity. Time didn’t even begin until she walked into my life.
Her pupils are wide, the icy blue I’ve come to love nowhere in sight, her cheeks flushed from exertion. She darts her tongue out to lick her lips.
“Are you done?” I ask, my voice shockingly deep.
She blinks. “With?”
“Pretending you don’t want me.” I push in further; she has nowhere to go with the desk in this room at her back, and it forces our lower bodies to align. I know she can feel me, can feel how turned on I am right now. “Pretending you don’t feel for me what I do for you.”
She swallows thickly, her eyes all but pleading with me.
Bending low, the warmth of her breath dancing along my mask, I continue. “I thought you said you were captured.”
“I am,” comes her quick reply.
“Then stop running.”
“I never truly could,” she whispers. “Not from you.”
Her chest is heaving so fast I’m worried she’ll grow lightheaded, worried we’ll run out of air in this tight space.
The pounding of feet comes outside in the hallway suddenly, another group of people sprinting, their screams in the air, and that’s when I see it, Layla’s eyes growing hooded.
Cocking my head, I move forward another inch, my mask brushing her jaw. “It turns you on, doesn’t it?” I ask. “The fact that anyone could find us, that there’s people just beyond those doors while you’re standing here panting, dripping for me.”
Layla’s eyes flash, need and heat coursing through her depths.
A shaky breath escapes her before she dips her head, once, yes.
Groaning right as someone beyond the door screams a bloody melody, I drop my forehead to hers, placing my hands on either side of her on the desk, caging her in.
And that’s when she moves.
Her hips roll against mine. Hissing out a breath, one of my hands snaps to her hip and stops the movement.
“I meant what I said. I won’t do this with you unless I can have all of you.”
She’s quiet for a moment and my heart remains suspended, beating so erratically I wonder if I’m having a heart attack.
I can’t handle being rejected by her twice. I knew she’d love this, knew she’d be turned on by the house, and I thought…I thought she wanted to give in a few times these past few weeks, but maybe Layla is the one person in the world I can’t read accurately.
Shaking my head, I push off, only for her hand to snap out and clasp my shirt in a death grip.
My gaze slowly drops to her fisted hand.
“Why do you want me? Are you sure you don’t want me just because you think you can’t have me?”
Ripping my mask off, I let her see the utter sincerity in my eyes are I declare, “Because I fucking love you, that’s why.”
The words hang between us for no more than a second before Layla is throwing herself at me. She jumps, wrapping her arms around my neck, and my hands dart out to catch her just as she lays those gorgeous plush lips on mine.
I moan, all but groaning into her mouth. I don’t care what’s happening beyond that door, I don’t care if we get caught, because Layla is finally—finally—fucking kissing me.
As I place her on the desk, she wraps her legs around my hips. I pull her flush against me, not wanting so much as an inch of space separating us. She gasps, the sound music to my ears, as her core aligns perfectly with the bulge in my jeans.
“Say it,” I breathe between kisses. “I need to hear you say it.”
Clenching my jaw, I wait, her hands running through my hair before she fists it and says the words I’ve only ever dreamed of hearing.
“You have me, Kieran. Heart and soul, you have me.” Fear flashes across her face, a vulnerability I’ve never seen before, as she whispers, “I love you.”
My heart explodes.