12. Briar #3
“You’re a stalker,” I manage, voice trembling as I try to push away. His arm around my waist only tightens. “I’ll call the cops on you.”
A low, dangerous chuckle vibrates against me.
“I am your stalker. I am your shadow. And you, my love… you are my darkness. We complete each other like night and the moon, inevitable. Eternal.”
He leans in, pressing his masked face into my hair, inhaling deeply with a guttural sound that makes my knees weak.
“I’ve been dreaming of your scent… your taste… for six long years.”
“Six years?” I snap out of the trance his voice put me in. “You’ve been following me for six years?”
Fear surges through me. I scream for help.
His hand clamps back over my mouth instantly, pulling us deeper into the shadows.
“No, I haven’t seen you in six years,” he says, almost pained. “I was… away.”
My mind races. It couldn’t have been him that night. His body feels nothing like the men who—
“You are mine, Briar,” he continues, voice dropping into something devout and terrifying. “You can scream. You can fight. You can hate me, but I will not leave.”
His forest-green eyes look almost hurt, but that unhinged glint beneath it tells me he’s danger wrapped in a beautiful, deadly package.
He spins me again, pressing my back against the cold wall. One hand stays on my waist while the other slides down, fingers brushing the hem of my dress.
“I bet your panties are already wet for me.”
“No!” I snap, pressing my thighs together even as I feel the traitorous heat.
His eyes smirk behind the mask. “If I check and they’re wet… I’m taking them with me.”
Before I can protest, his hand slips under my dress. His fingers brush over my lace panties. My lips part on a silent gasp.
“Wet,” he growls, satisfied. “Eat the cake if you want what I’m offering.”
He steps back, slowly pulling my black lace panties down my legs. I lift each foot without thinking, frozen in place. He presses the fabric to his masked face and inhales deeply.
“Fuck… I can’t wait to have this wrapped around me.”
He stands to his full height, towering over me.
“Goodnight, my darkness.”
As he turns to leave, I manage one shaky question:
“How will you know if I eat it?”
He glances over his shoulder, eyes gleaming.
“I know everything you do, Briar.”
Then he disappears into the crowd as if he was never there.
It takes me a few minutes to restart my brain. He’s definitely not some old pervert smelling like beer and piss. Shit.
I take a deep breath, smooth down my dress, and force myself back onto the dance floor. Lucille spots me and rushes over, eyes wide with worry.
“Jesus, where the hell were you?”
“Big line at the bathroom. I followed some girls outside—” I lie smoothly.
“You peed outside?” She bursts out laughing. I pretend to be offended.
“Well, either that or piss in my panties.” The panties my hot, dangerously smooth stalker took with him…
We stay for a couple more hours, but I swear I feel him everywhere. Every few minutes I catch a tall, broad shadow moving through the crowd. Watching. Waiting.
I drive us home since Lucille drank more than I did. I drop her off at her place, ignoring her protests. She needs to see her parents tomorrow for their usual family lunch. I promise I’ll call her first thing and keep the alarm on.
When I finally pull up to my building, I sit in the car for a long moment, scanning the darkness. Is he here? Watching me right now?
I walk up the stairs and find a single black hellebore lying on my doormat.
At least he didn’t get inside this time… I think.
I pick it up and step into the apartment, heart hammering. My mind keeps spinning. What if…
I will be passed out. I won’t remember anything.
Why does that thought make heat pool low in my stomach?
Because I do want it. Because there’s something intoxicating about being completely powerless… yet knowing exactly what’s coming. The loss of control. The surrender.
The last guys I’ve brought home flash through my mind, especially Luke. He would never be capable of doing this. He’d probably freak out.
You don’t even know him! My mind screams.
True, but I’ve brought strangers home after knowing them for less than an hour.
Fuck it.
I walk to the fridge, take out the slice of cake, and carry it to my bedroom. I kick off my combat boots and roll down my thigh-high stockings. I keep the chain choker and the dress on. Then I sit on the edge of the mattress and start eating.
One side of my mind is screaming that he could have poisoned it. The other side grinds out, Good girl.
My hands shake as I finish the last bite.
I set the beautiful silver plate on my nightstand and lie down in the middle of the bed. I grab the remote and switch the lights to a deep, sensual purple. My eyelids grow heavier and heavier.
A soft sound, my bedroom door opening, makes me fight to stay awake.
A tall shadow moves beside the bed.
I turn my face toward it, eyes barely able to focus.
“Don’t hurt me…” I beg, voice slurred and weak.
“Never, my darkness,” he murmurs. His warm hand gently cups my face.
Then everything fades to black.