Prologue #2
“Because I don’t trust you,” I reply, taking another sip of my champagne.
Even though I guess we’re technically arguing right now, I can’t help but feel a fizz of excitement as our conversation heats up.
There’s something so…something so intense about feeling his eyes on me as he tries to barter with me, when I know there’s something on the line I might not want to give up.
“You want to know exactly what you’re agreeing to?” he asks, and I nod again.
He grins, that smile licking so far up his face that it almost splits it in two.
“If the rooms are real,” he tells me, flicking his tongue out over his bottom lip for emphasis, “then I get to fuck you in there.”
My jaw drops—I can’t hide my shock. Nobody has ever spoken to me like this before in my life.
Okay, sure, it’s not as though I have a lot in the way of romantic experience, but I’ve had a few boyfriends, and none of them would ever have dared to say something so lewd to me.
And this guy is a stranger! Someone I’ve never met before, someone who has done nothing but tease me since he walked up to me.
I should turn on my heel and leave right now, find Cara and tell her we need to get out of this place, because it’s nothing like anything we’ve experienced before…
But before I can think twice, I find my hand slipping into his, and we shake on it.
“Deal.”
I hear myself say it, but I’m only distantly aware that the word is coming from my mouth. Because I would never agree to something like that. I would never even entertain it.
If this man is telling the truth…if this man is speaking honestly, then he is going to take me out of this party, to some private room, and…
I feel a tingle between my legs and I grab the champagne, tossing it back in the hopes of hiding my slightly pink cheeks.
He offers me his arm. It strikes me that he already knows what’s going to happen next, and that he’s happy with either outcome—but I get the feeling he’s banking on the one he wants.
As we move away from the bar, he leads me through the hall and the crowds of masked people to a corridor that leads away from the main central area. I hesitate for a moment, standing in the doorway, not sure if I can really go through with this.
“What’s wrong?” he asks, casting a look over his shoulder. “Cold feet?”
“No, it’s just…”
“You’re not sure about walking into a room with a man you don’t know?” he finishes up for me. I nod. “Smart girl.” But then, before I can say another word, he covers my hand with his and pulls me behind him.
For a moment, the corridor is just darkness, stretching out in front of me.
I can hardly see a few inches in front of my face, only able to focus on the sound of his footsteps as he cuts through the quiet.
But then, slowly, a few lights begin to shroud the sides of the corridor, casting a deep, golden glow over the red carpet and the dark wood paneling around us.
And then, I hear it.
For a moment, I think I must be imagining it, but there’s no way my mind could make up something so vivid. I can hear moans, groans, orgasmic whimpers, and the sound of bodies coming together over and over again. Just past him, I can see a row of doors, the source of the noise.
“Two people to a room, at least,” he remarks as he continues to stroll up the corridor.
“At least?” I whisper, not sure if I can believe him.
But there’s no denying it—this is exactly what these people came here for…
Which means I have to keep up my end of the bargain.
He comes to a halt outside one of the doors, the only one left that doesn’t seem to have noises coming from behind it. He pushes it open, and gestures for me to step inside.
I inhale deeply. My heart is thudding in my chest, my eyes darting back and forth behind my mask, and I don’t know what in the name of holy fuck I’m meant to do here.
Part of me wants to run, of course it does.
I’ve never done anything like this before in my life—put my ass on the line only to lose to this handsome stranger. But then…
If this is the kind of place where you can just give in to those darker desires, perhaps that’s what I should do.
I mean, everyone else seems to be, and I’d look out of place if I didn’t.
I need to do this to fit in with the people who will one day be my peers.
I don’t want them to think that I have some grand secret over their heads that I’m just waiting to spill.
No, if I want to be a part of this, then I have to get down and dirty.
Or at least, that’s what I tell myself as I finally set foot over the threshold and follow him inside.
The room is small—not much room for anything more than the large double bed, cloaked in red sheets to match the wallpaper. A couple of low lamps light the corners of the room, and the shadows that they cast over what little I can see of his face makes him look almost frightening.
But then, he steps toward me, sliding his hands to my waist. His grip is firm, almost commanding. I don’t know what to say, how to react, but I know that I can’t fight back.
That I don’t want to.
“I think you owe me your end of the agreement,” he murmurs to me. And though I can barely see his expression, I can tell that he’s asking me if I’ll see it through—challenging me, almost. And I am not going to fall, not at this hurdle, not at any.
“I think I do,” I breathe back. And with that, something darkens in his eyes, and he grabs me and throws me down onto the bed, leaving me facing away from him on all fours.
“I knew I was going to fuck you the second I laid eyes on you,” he murmurs, shoving up the skirt of my dress and sliding his hands to my panties.
My head is spinning so much I can’t get out a reply, but his words send a shock of excitement through my system.
The thought of this man watching me, taking me in like I’m some kind of prey, is arousing in ways I didn’t even think possible.
He yanks my panties down and tosses them aside, pulling my hips up roughly to meet his.
I can feel the hardness of his erection already pressing against me through his pants, and—fuck, he’s big.
I can tell already, and I haven’t even felt him inside of me.
I draw in a deep, shaky breath, and he slides his hand down to my face, cupping my chin in his fingers so he can push my gaze around to his.
“Don’t worry, princess,” he soothes me as he brushes strands of my auburn hair back from my face. “You can be anything you want here. And I get the feeling…”
He reaches back, brushing his fingers over my exposed pussy.
“…that you want nothing more than to belong to me.”
I can’t help it—I let out a moan, knowing that my voice will be joining the cacophony of pleasure outside. But his fingers feel so good, grazing along the outside of my folds like that, and I can’t think of anything I want more than to feel him inside of me, really inside of me.
He straightens back up and removes himself from his pants, wrapping his hand around his cock.
I glance back over my shoulder and find that he is already lining himself up against my slit.
I’ve only done this position a few times, but I have to admit, it’s one of my favorites.
And right now, it feels like the exact right pose for me to be in as I prepare to give myself up to this guy whose name I don’t even know.
I gasp as I feel him enter me for the first time, a shock of pleasure coursing through my system and sending an explosion of moans from between my lips. He slides his hands to my hips, holding me steady for a moment as he just grinds himself inside of me.
“Fuck, you feel just as good as I thought,” he murmurs as he stills himself within me, allowing me to adjust to the feel of him filling me from this angle.
I can hardly catch my breath, but as he brings his hand to my hair and tugs it back slightly, he makes it so I have no choice but to look into his eyes.
“There you go,” he continues, starting to drive himself into me at a steady pace. It feels as though he’s taking his time, enjoying every inch of me from the inside out, and I can feel the movement starting to build to a pleasurable crescendo inside of me.
“Push back against me,” he orders, his voice low, and I do as I’m told at once, grinding myself back into him as though it’s the only thing in the world that matters.
For now, maybe it is—I know this is crazy, and I know it’s unlike anything else I’ve ever done before, but there is an undeniable freedom in it.
Knowing that I would never do something like this, but I can give in to it here, behind this mask, where nobody will ever know it was me…
He slips his hand between my legs and begins to play with my clit as he moves into me, his cock entering me in long, deep strokes that I can feel shuddering through my whole body.
I’m moving back against him to match his pace, practically demanding the feel of him inside of me—nothing will sate it, nothing can come close, nothing but him, right now, his hand between my legs as he enters me…
And all at once, the orgasm takes control of me, my body spasming and my pussy clenching around his dick as I reach my release.
I cry out, scrabbling at the sheets before me, looking for something, anything, to cling to—but there’s nothing.
All I can do is sink into the pleasure and let it consume me as he continues to move in and out of me while I orgasm around him.
I can barely hear what he’s saying, but I am distantly aware of him telling me that I’m a good girl—and then I feel the twitch of him inside of me, followed by the warmth of his seed entering me.
At that moment, for the first time, it flickers through my mind that we are not using protection—but my brain is so scrambled from the intensity of the pleasure, I find it hard to give a damn.
He holds himself inside me for a long time before he eases back, as though he’s enjoying every contour of me for just another few seconds before he’s done. But then, finally, he staggers back, and I collapse forward onto the bed, my elbows finally giving out beneath me.
He rubs a hand over my ass appreciatively, and grins as he brushes his finger along the tattoo on my upper thigh.
I picked that spot deliberately, knowing that I can hide it easily if I ever need to cover up.
It’s a special symbol to me, something that means a lot—something that has always brought me luck.
“I like your peacock,” he murmurs, rubbing his thumb along the bird inked onto my skin. And as I sink further into the bed, all I can do is struggle to keep my eyes open, and wonder how I’m meant to get through the rest of the night.
Or if I’m ever even going to know the name of the man who just gave me the most intense orgasm of my life.