Chapter 13
HARPER-RAYN
Well, Diesel was right about one thing: Ace hasn’t let me live down the Little Red incident.
And no, I can confirm that my multiple intense orgasms didn’t strip the color off that thing.
It did, however, leave me feeling as though I’d run ten marathons back to back.
I’ve never been so physically exhausted in my life.
It’s only been a few days since my dignity was stolen by the devil vibrator, and since then, Ace has spent every waking moment sending me memes of tongs, stuffed turkeys, and vibrators having a mind of their own.
And sure, it’s not ideal, but I could have handled it right up until he opened his big mouth and told Izzy about it.
Ace’s trolling is nothing compared to the fresh hell she’s been giving me. The woman can’t even say hello without bursting into hysterical laughter. But I get it. If the shoe were on the other foot, I would have done the same thing.
It’s first thing on Wednesday morning, and while most of the population is only just waking up to start their day, I’m currently dragging my feet down the hallway after a long night at work.
It was great. Work always is, apart from the time when my brain is telling me that the janitor is my murder-inclined masked stalker, and I spent an hour trapped inside the refrigeration unit, kept company by a bunch of dead bodies.
It wasn’t exactly my finest moment. Either way, I had a great night.
There’s nothing quite like getting into the zone and doing my thing.
We’re still trying to catch up from the four weeks I was off, but with me back on track, we’re quickly making up for lost time.
I’ve been working my ass off. The only problem is, come the end of my shift, I’ve never been so exhausted.
Hell, I love Knight and love every second I get to spend with him, but when he called to say he was heading into work, I was relieved.
All I want to do is sleep. Don’t get me wrong, Knight would have insisted that’s exactly what I do, but I wouldn’t have.
I would have rolled over in bed, snuggled into his chest, and before I knew it, I would have been rocking his world. It’s a serious issue.
Today, though, I get to strut down this hallway, take a long, hot shower to wash off the stench of death, and then climb into bed and sleep until Knight gets home after his shift this afternoon. It’ll be amazing.
A yawn rips out of me as I make my way into our bedroom and pull off my scrubs, carelessly dropping them on the floor as I stride through to the en suite bathroom.
I shower for what feels like forever, and by the time I’m stepping out of the shower and pulling my towel around me, I can barely keep my eyes open.
I trudge out of the bathroom, letting a wave of steam waft out behind me, and just as I go to cross the room to our walk-in closet, a figure by the door brings me up short.
My head whips up, my eyes widening in surprise as I find my stalker watching me, his vampiric mask just as terrifying as always. His stare seems to cut through my skin like lasers as my heart races with fear.
The last time I saw him, he was stabbing a blade into my waist, and now . . . Who the fuck knows? I’ve angered him by not being easily accessible in my old apartment, so he knocked me out in the back of my car and taunted me by leaving the rose on the doorstep. What more could he possibly want?
I immediately back up, but what’s the use?
He’s blocking the one exit out of the room, unless I were to throw myself out the window, and while it sounds extreme, there’s nothing I wouldn’t do to save myself.
He’s already proven how violent he can be, that taking my life isn’t something he’d think twice about, and with no weapons at my disposal, I’m not left with many options.
“What do you want?” I spit, clutching my towel tighter around me, while having uncomfortable flashbacks of the moment my imaginary stalker showed up in my apartment bedroom.
I was wearing a towel just like this, my hair damp from my shower.
He had touched me, pushed his fingers inside me as that dark stare locked onto mine through my mirror.
It was terrifying. Yet, while he made my body come alive, something inside me knew that he wasn’t there to hurt me. This is not the same.
The stalker laughs and takes a step into the room, making my blood run cold. “Oh, you’ve been such a naughty little kitten.”
The fuck?
“Moving in with your boyfriend,” he continues. “You threw me a curveball. You belong entirely to me, so you must understand how you’ve upset me. You need to be punished.”
“I don’t belong to you,” I spit, anger coursing through my veins like molten lava. “He’s going to find you, and when he does, you’re going to regret ever laying a hand on me.”
He laughs, and the sound makes my skin crawl, but not as much as when he takes another step into the bedroom, his confidence unwavering. “Oh, you poor, delusional little girl. He won’t find me. He won’t even get close.”
I scoff as my gaze darts to the window, wondering just how quickly I’ll be able to throw myself through it.
“I’m delusional?” I argue back, all but laughing at his audacity.
“Knight is the best SWAT officer in the country. You’re sitting way too high on your fucking throne if you think for even a second that he won’t slaughter you for everything you have done to me. ”
“Oh, I don’t doubt it. I know what he would do to me.
I know everything about him. So tell me, kitten, if he’s so good at what he does, why hasn’t he found me yet?
” He takes another step, and then another, closing the distance as my body begins to tremble with fear.
“Why hasn’t he come to defend your honor, huh?
Could it be because you haven’t told him?
Because deep down you don’t want this to end?
You know you belong to me, kitten. You fucking love the thrill every time I show up in your life, and you can’t deny it.
I see it in your eyes. You want me to touch you. ”
“Holy fucking shit. And they call me crazy,” I say. “You are seriously messed up in the head if you think for even a second that I want your filthy hands all over me. You’re nothing.”
He scoffs, his happy little delusion keeping him from believing a word I say.
“You want to know why I haven’t told Knight about you?
” I ask, watching the way he watches me.
“It’s because you don’t matter. You’re nothing to me.
When you’re not around, I don’t even remember that you exist, because next to him, you’re a joke.
He is all the man I will ever want or need, and you .
. .You’re a fucking joke. You’re a loser in a mask who has to threaten women to get their attention.
You’re not a man, you’re literal vermin. ”
Rage flashes in his stare as his gloved hands ball into fists at his sides.
“What’s the matter?” I taunt when he doesn’t respond. “Cat got your tongue? You know, I have meds in the kitchen that can help with those delusions of yours. They’ll really put things in perspective.”
His chest begins to heave, the anger getting the best of him, and while I know this is a dangerous game, I have no other weapon in my arsenal.
The only move I have is to rock his confidence, make him second-guess why he’s doing this, throw him off course just enough to allow me the chance to escape.
His whole body begins to twitch from the rage, his sharp breaths becoming louder, so I brace myself, readying for whatever’s about to come, and just as I clutch my towel tighter around me, he makes a break for it.
He takes off at a sprint toward me, his long legs eating up the distance within seconds.
I spring into action, having no fucking idea what my plan is, only knowing that I have to get away. I have to fight and survive this. My only choice is the window, and I race toward it as my heart thunders erratically in my chest.
I take three long strides, propelling myself as fast as I can as the fear gets caught in my throat, keeping me from screaming out.
On my third step, I launch myself up toward the window, curling into a ball to break through the glass, only an arm braces around my waist, yanking me back and throwing me down against the bed.
I cry out, my towel getting lost somewhere in the commotion, and without skipping a beat, I try to scramble away. But he’s too fast, too strong.
His hand curls around my ankle, yanking me back down the bed. “Not so fast, kitten. I haven’t even started with you.”
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. This can’t be happening.
I kick at him, trying to free myself, but he’s relentless. He drops his weight over me, pinning me chest down against the mattress as his knees push between my thighs, spreading me wide. His hand works into my hair, gripping it all in his tight fist while using the hold to keep my head pinned down.
I have to get out of here. I have to fight him off because if I don’t, there’s only one way this ends, and it’s not something I can live with.
The stalker lifts his weight off my body, using only his legs to keep me still.
He lifts his other hand to his mouth, pushing his gloved fingers beneath the mask and using his teeth to tear the glove free, letting the black material drop to the mattress beside my hip.
His bare hand immediately presses between my thighs, roughly cupping as I frantically squirm beneath him.
“This right here,” he grunts, forcing two fingers deep inside me. “Is all mine.”
He thrusts them deeper, and I cry out, but in his enjoyment, his leg shifts off mine, and I don’t hesitate, lifting my knee as high as it can go before slamming it back down and kicking the fucker right in the balls.
He roars in agony, falling back against the wall, his fingers tearing free from within me as I immediately begin to scramble away.
I throw myself over the other end of the bed and hastily make a break for the door.
Only I find myself pausing and glancing back at the fucker writhing on the ground.
This is my one shot. My one chance to discover who he is.
I could double back and tear the mask right off his face and put an end to this, but knowing his identity doesn’t change the fact that he could still overpower me, he could still pin me down and brutally rape me.
But what choice do I have? If I don’t do this, I might never have a chance to find out who he is and have him locked up for the bullshit he’s put me through.
My hands shake, and just as I go to double back to finally put this shit to bed, his head snaps up, pure fury in his lethal stare. “Oh, kitten. That was a mistake,” he growls, slowly getting back to his feet. “You’re gonna wish you were dead.”
I don’t wait around.
Spinning on my heel, I take off like fucking lightning, racing through the bedroom door and sprinting up the hallway like my life depends on it. I break out into the living room, skidding around the corner and bolting for the front door as I hear the sound of his thunderous footsteps behind me.
My hand slams down over my keys on the hallway table, and just as he rounds the corner and stares at me as though my life is already over, I flick the lock and throw the door open, racing out into the street ass naked.
I unlock my Honda, and just as I tear the driver’s door open, the masked stalker appears in the doorway, only he stops right there, not prepared to chase me outside and show the world that I’m not fucking crazy.
Then, as he stares at me from the doorway of the home I share with Knight, I clamber into my car and take off, knowing that without a doubt, I can’t keep this from Knight anymore.
The moment he gets home, I have to tell him, no matter what I risk losing.