Chapter 17
Ever
Droplets of water slid down the length of my leg, starting at my knee and moving gently down my thigh before diving back down into the bathtub where I lay soaking my body.
Visions of red tennis shoes danced through my head, attached to a masked man whose face I may never see.
Try as I may, I couldn’t think of anything else.
How common were red shoes? Surely, they couldn’t be that distinct.
I mean, look at Bozo the Clown, Ronald McDonald, or basically any other clown in the history of clowns.
Actually, they seemed to be a pretty popular choice among men who hid behind a mask.
I reached over the edge of the bathtub and grabbed my phone from the bathmat, opening the screen and navigating to a search engine to research red shoes.
Well, I’ll be damned, it actually is a popular color right now.
Leave it to my stalker to keep up on trends.
He, along with thousands of other men in this town, probably had the same pair in their closets, which meant I was back to the drawing board.
Still, it had been jarring to see the crimson footwear in Loche’s apartment as though they were a piece to the puzzle needed to find out V’s identity.
My thoughts drifted back to Loche and our conversation on the balcony.
Loche. Loche Greene had murdered someone.
No, not just someone. His own father. Granted, the bastard deserved it, but it was still so much to take in.
I should have been shocked, maybe even hesitant to be near him, but instead, I found myself wanting to be closer to him; to find out more about the brooding man I thought I’d hated.
I’d been suddenly consumed by a need that could only be classified as lust, and had he not interrupted me, I may even have kissed him, royally complicating my life further.
Was it possible to cheat on someone whose real name I didn’t know and who had basically been a booty call? Technically, no, but that didn’t make me feel any less guilty.
Still clutched in my hand, my phone pinged, signaling activity picked up by the camera at my door. I hated to admit it, but I was happy V had been so insistent on having one installed.
Speak of the devil.
V stood at my door, getting ready to ring the bell, before he was interrupted by me talking through the speaker via the app.
“None shall pass.” I recited one of the many one-liners from Monty Python I know, which had no use other than for useless trivia, but which would either translate over to being a huge turn on to him, or if he was boring, the exact opposite.
V laughed. “Cute.”
“I like to think so, too. Is that a modulator I hear?”
“I bought my own.”
“For someone who claims he’s going to let me see what’s under that mask someday, you sure are making quite the investment in the most deranged game of Guess Who I’ve ever played.”
“It was actually buy one, get one half off.”
“A BOGO deal on stalker gear? I guess I can’t fault you for being frugal.”
“So, can I come in?”
“I don’t know, can you?”
He grumbled something under his breath. “May I come in?”
“I’m going to need to think about that. I wasn’t expecting you, and I’m not really dressed to receive company.”
“You’re in that t-shirt with that orange cartoon cat again, aren’t you?” He laughed. “It’s fine. I hate Mondays, too.”
“You know what, I could never understand that. Like, why would a housecat give two shits what day of the week it is? What does it matter to them? But to answer your question, no. I’m not wearing one of my ultra-sexy, oversized t-shirts with random food stains on it.
” I sat up in the tub, positioning the phone’s camera at chest level, shooting a picture of my breasts covered in suds and texting it to him.
“I’m actually wearing something that gives less Saturday morning cartoon and more Cinemax after midnight. ”
I giggled to myself when I saw V practically drop his phone on my front porch, catching it in mid-air and staring down at the screen. His carnal groan rippled through my body, somehow making me even wetter than I already was.
“Ever,” he said, his voice hoarse even being filtered through the modulator. “I’m coming in.”
“No, you’re not. The door is locked, and I’m not getting up to let you inside.”
“That wasn’t me asking you. That was me telling you. You have approximately ten seconds before I come through the door. I suggest you fly away, little bird.”
My heartbeat accelerated, throbbing almost as intensely as my lady parts. Did he just imply he was going to break into my house to take me? And why did that turn me on so much? If I weren’t already in the bathtub, I would be soaked, anyway.
“Don’t threaten me with a good time,” I said, far more smugly than I actually was.
“Suit yourself.” V pulled something from his pocket. “Ten.”
What the fuck? Was that a key? Did he have a key to my house? I strained my eyes, squinting to see the object he held in his hand. It was too thin and long to be a house key. No, he wasn’t simply going to unlock my door. The bastard was going to pick the lock.
“Nine.”
“What the hell are you doing?”
“What does it look like I’m doing? Eight.”
He made a show of inserting the pick into the lock. From the bathroom, I could hear the door handle to my front door begin to jiggle.
Oh, shit.
I scrambled to my feet, having to practically breakdance to prevent myself from slipping and falling on my ass.
“Seven.”
“You know, it’s going to be hilarious if you can’t get my door unlocked, and you’re standing out there in the cold with nothing but that cocky attitude to keep you warm.”
“I’ve already unlocked the door. I’m just being nice right now. Six.”
Fuck. Frantically, I reached down and snatched the towel from the floor, wrapping it around me one-handed as I clutched the phone.”
“Four.”
“What the hell happened to five?”
“It’s getting windy out here, and I’m cold. Three.”
I stepped out into the hall, looking toward the living room, heart racing.
“Two. One. Time’s up.”
The door flew open, bouncing off the doorstop.
A sudden wave of cold air came rushing inside as V slammed the door closed, appearing in the living room seconds later.
His large silhouette filled the entryway to the hallway where I stood, frozen.
We stood staring at each other as my brain ground to a screeching halt, rendering me a deer in the headlights before my fight or flight instincts finally kicked in much later than they should have.
Terrified, excited, and horny, I took a hurried step away from him as he entered the hall, but his long strides quickly closed in on me.
Adrenaline coursed through my veins, not out of fear but, instead, unbridled glee.
A scream escaped my lips while also simultaneously forming what had to have been the most all-encompassing smile I’d had on my face in a long time, all while V gained on me like a hunter closing in on his prey, ready to take aim.
And take aim he did.
Mere footsteps away from reaching my bedroom door, a large hand reached out, grabbed my arm, and threw my body against the wall. My phone slipped from my hand’s precarious grip when both of my wrists were captured by V and forced above my head, where he held them against the wall, one-handed.
No longer able to remain securely around my body on account of my hands being shackled, my towel unraveled.
Its cotton shell fell open, slowly sliding down my torso to my hips, and eventually pooling at my ankles.
Although I couldn’t see V’s eyes, I knew they were following the towel on its journey.
“Well, you have me. What are you going to do with me?”
Still holding firmly onto my wrists, V unzipped his jeans, pulling both them and his boxer shorts down with his free hand.
Using his knee, he spread my legs apart and forced them up and around his waist as he plunged his cock inside me, his initial thrust pushing my back against the wall.
There was no desire to be gentle either by him or by me.
A primal urge had overtaken us both as though we were fucking each other for the last time and had to make it count.
“V.” I threw my head back, shuddering as his hot breath caressed my skin when he pulled his mask up to kiss the side of my neck. “Use me, unapologetically.”
V moaned in my ear. His tongue caressed my earlobe, sending a shiver down my spine. “I’ll give you what you want, but you have to do me a favor.”
He punctuated his sentence with a thrust that struck every nerve ending in my vagina in all the right places, sending an electrical jolt down both my legs as though I’d been struck by lightning.
“Do that again and I’ll do whatever you want, whenever, and however you want it.”
“Move those beautiful hips. I want to watch that tight pussy of yours taking every inch of me. Bring yourself to the brink so that I can fall over it with you.”
I glanced up at my hands, firmly captured against the wall and my legs secured around V’s waist. “I’m not sure if I can,” I whimpered, my body aching for me to try.
“Yes, you can, baby. Arch your back and use your legs. I’ll guide you along the way.”
I nodded, following his instruction, moving my back and slowly unsheathing the shaft of his cock from where it was seated inside of me, then using my legs to pull V into me as I captured the full length of him again.
“That’s it, little bird. Now go faster.” He growled next to my ear.
“I—I don’t know if I can.” My voice came out breathy. I arched my back, moaning as the walls of my vagina clenched around his length as though holding on for dear life.
“I promise I won’t let you fall.”
V leaned in, his lips trailing down my chest, landing on my breast where he took my nipple into his mouth, gently sucking on the sensitive nub before sending my body into sensory overload when his tongue was replaced with carefully placed nibbles.
I gasped, curving my back upward in an angle as I slid up the length of his shaft.