Chapter 1 #2
Kaye lies on her back by the cliffside, her golden tan glowing under the last light of day.
Damon is on top of her, with his hands on her body.
His lips ghost over hers as he gazes into her eyes.
It’s an intimate moment, and it looks quiet and unbreakable.
For a few lingering seconds, I forget everything in the blink of an eye.
There is only this. Kaye and Damon, surrounded by the sunset. And he touches her like he would die for her.
My heart stutters. Then the wind rushes past me, cutting through the stillness, making my sweat run cold.
Even from here, I can hear Damon’s growled words, and Kaye’s undisguised moans.
His loose tie and unbuttoned shirt lift with the breeze.
His eyes are locked on hers as they talk while making love.
Her dress is bunched at her waist, her hands pinned under his.
Then their lips press together with raw urgency.
I should turn away. I should look somewhere else. But his thrusts capture my attention. They look punishing. They imprint his possessive words into her mind, into mine. They might haunt me. Though, they shouldn’t.
I shouldn’t be here. I wasn’t meant to see this, to stumble into this secret. But I can’t move. Heat spreads across my skin as my eyes trace Damon’s every movement. His stamina, his strength. It’s swift and unyielding. And Kaye looks like she’s enjoying it. The sight stirs something deep inside me.
My cheeks warm, the heat spreading down my neck. I don’t know how long I’ve been watching them, but time slips away from me. The world moves around me while I remain suspended in this moment.
Blinking, I don’t know what I was even doing before this. What was it…? I can’t recall it well now, especially with the riveting view, only some feet in front of me, making my pulse race faster and faster.
“I love you, Kaye,” Damon says. His voice is heavy and deeply possessive. His kiss looks like it tastes of desperation as she shivers under him. Their moment is more beautiful than the last seconds of the sunset.
My breath catches. I shouldn’t be witnessing this, just as I shouldn’t have heard…that muffled cry earlier, or the heavy thud, the falling grapes, the looming figure in the mask.
I remember. It hits me all at once. I was running away. But I don’t have time to react right after this delayed realization. A black-gloved hand clamps over my mouth, muffling the sharp gasp that barely escapes my lips.
I’m yanked back into the solid warmth of the body behind me. The force of it knocks the air out of my lungs. My body tenses. I’m held so tight, I can’t move. The only thing I feel is his grip around me, pulling me in. His arms are like iron, crushing me against him.
The music from the reception still plays, its swelling strings floating through the air like a veil, so here, behind a wall of vines, near the newlyweds who are too lost in themselves—no one can hear me, but him.
A shudder runs through me, shaking my whole body as I try to twist away, but he holds me tighter, his arm around my waist pulling me flush against him. I can feel his firm chest against my back, the steady thrum of his breath against my skin, a contrast to the chaotic pounding of my heart.
I struggle against him while he pins my arms to my sides. I’m barely a ripple in his unyielding hold. His grip is unshakable, even as my grasping fingers graze his sleeve.
His breath brushes against my ear, warm and steady. So close.
I squeeze my eyes shut, trying to block him out. But the sensation of him, his presence, and his hold of me seep into my skin like an insidious toxin, more suffocating by the second.
I feel his fingers trace my lips. The faintest brush, sending shockwaves through my body. My breath falters. My chest tightens.
His gloved fingers linger, ghosting against my skin, lifting my head, as if demanding my attention. The touch, so gentle, clashes with the harshness of his hard body pressed against mine.
I open my eyes, and there it is—that mesmerizing mask of his, so red, angry, and enraged. Curved horns with sharp tips. Its jagged mouth. The eyes hollow yet dark with shadows that almost hide the gray in his eyes.
The mask draws me in, and it stuns me silent in place.
My gaze traces every sharp line, every dip of its deep, dark red.
I want to look away, but I’m pulled in deeper and deeper into this twisted trance.
And then, his voice reaches my ears, sending shivers down my spine from his low whisper. “Keep your eyes on me.”
There’s a strange calmness beneath his command. His voice is far too soothing to my unraveling nerves. He sounds so deep, far too deep, as if his voice is being altered, perhaps by his mask.
My body stiffens slowly in response, but my mind is heavy and muddled. My thoughts struggle to break free, to process what’s happening, and they slip away, lost in the swirl of confusion and fear.
I should be screaming and fighting harder. I should be clawing at him and pushing away, but I can’t, despite my fingers curling around his thick arm. I’m frozen in his grip, exhausted from running, from stumbling over my feet, and from falling.
The warmth of his body against mine is unnerving, and yet, I feel a strange sensation to stay.
I can sense his strength, his control. And my body is yielding to it, to him.
He’s the only thing in this moment, the only thing in the world.
Everything else around us blurs. The wind, the waves, Kaye and Damon.
They all fade away, lost in the shadows cast by his mask and the air swirling heat between us.
Then I realize with a start that I’ve stopped fighting altogether.
I’m no longer struggling. My body has gone slack, pliant in his hold.
His arms tighten slightly, pulling me even closer, like he’s claiming me, dragging me into a world where nothing else matters.
Like that thread from earlier—the one pulling me forward—was wrapped around my waist all along.
His voice comes back, smooth and steady. “Good girl.”
A shiver shakes through me, deep and unsettling. The praise settles over me.
I can’t move. I don’t want to, even as he drags me backwards, pulling me further from where Kaye and Damon still lie together in the fading light. Their world has ceased to exist for them. I wonder if that’ll be the same for me, if anyone will notice when I’m gone.
The grass beneath my feet is slick, as he drags me away, my legs too weak to hold myself upright after everything. But I don’t fight him. I can’t at the moment. Instead, I close my eyes. And I wonder, fleetingly, who would find me?