Blue
T hat’s all they need to crowd through the door, pushing me further back into the house. I stumble in the stilettos I’m wearing and the candy bowl crashes to the hardwood floor but Red Mask grabs my elbow and steadies me so I don’t follow it down. I suck in a shocked breath as my eyes track Black Mask as he rushes to the front windows and yanks the curtains closed and Green Mask strides deeper into the house.
“What…the…actual…fuck…is happening right now?” I ask in disbelief.
Red Mask applies pressure to my elbow to pull me towards the kitchen and dining room while barking questions at me that I am too dazed to answer.
“Are you alone? Who else is in the house? Are you expecting anyone?”
When I don’t answer him, too busy looking over my shoulder back at Black Mask who’s locking the front door and flipping the lights off, he grabs my other arm forcing me to look at him, and gives me a little shake.
“Hey, ! Focus! Is there anyone else in the house?”
This whole thing is so surreal that I scoff out a deranged laugh.
“Yes! My lawman dog, Sheriff Skipper. She’s so vicious you better watch out. She might yap your ears right off before she arrests you!”
He cocks his head and his eyes widen at me like I’m insane and then we both tilt our heads down to see Skipper sitting at our feet with a wagging tail. I roll my eyes and let out a second choked laugh at the vision of her in her tiny sheriff’s costume.
“Arrest these varmints, Sheriff Skipper!”
Skipper leans into the command by jumping up and resting her tiny paws on the guy’s leg and giving him a single little yap. It could mean, “Unhand her!” or “Do you have bacon?” Either or, it’s not going to save me from whatever is going on here as Red Mask chuckles and shakes his head.
Before he can reply, Green Mask and Black Mask join us.
“The house is clear. There’s no one else here.”
Red Mask nods and drags one of the dining table chairs over and pushes me down into it.
“Find something to tie her up with,” he tells the others.
It’s probably the alcohol talking combined with the complete absurdity of the situation that has me sassing, “Bondage on the first date? What makes you think I’m that kind of girl?”
All three of them stare at me like I have two heads but I’m committed now so…
“I mean, I am…but you shouldn’t just assume that!”
Black Mask scowls at me but Geen Mask has a small grin forming as he shakes his head and turns to find something to tie me up with.
Red Mask lets out a full-on laugh.
“You’re a real live wire, aren’t you?”
I shrug one shoulder and as what’s happening sets in mutter, “Fuck my life.”
Black Mask is glaring at me when he snarls,
“What the fuck do you have to complain about? In your expensive, oversized house and your fancy fucking dog? If you sit there with your mouth shut, we’ll be out of your hair in a couple hours and you can go back to your perfect little life with only an exciting story you can tell your rich friends over brunch.”
The bitter, angry tone of his voice has me rearing back a bit but then I process his words and can’t help but start laughing as Green Mask comes back in with a handful of dog leashes I assume are to tie me up with.
I laugh so hard that tears come to my eyes and all three men are staring at me like I’m going crazy.
“Perfect life? Rich friends? Fuck you. You don’t know shit about me.” I get my breath back and lay it out. “Not my expensive house, not my fancy dog. I’m here for a gig. I’m house-sitting this place. You want to see my expensive house? Go look in the garage. That conversion van out there is my house!”
Black Mask crosses his arms and keeps on glaring but Green Mask passes the leashes to Red Mask and he kneels down in front of me and starts tying my wrists to the armrests.
“When are the owners due to come back?”
I shrug again and tell him.
“Four days.”
His hand comes up to my face and cups my cheek in a surprise move. I tighten up in reaction to the touch but it’s just so he can swipe away a tear under my eye with his thumb. He’s close enough that I get a better look at his eyes through the mask. They’re a light brown with gold specs in them surrounded by thick black lashes. Pretty.
His hand drops away and both of them settle on my thighs as he tells me, “We really aren’t going to hurt you if you behave. We just need a place to lay low for a few hours while we wait for the heat to die down.”
I lift one brow and then look pointedly down at his hands that are wrapped around my thighs. My dress’s skirt has slid up so the lace tops of my stay-up stockings and an inch of bare skin are showing.
I breathe in deeply and catch a hint of citrus and cedar from him before breathing out, “I guess we’ll see if this is going to be a trick or a treat for me in the end, then.”
That wicked grin flashes at me and I spot a part of a dimple at the edge of his mask. Those big hands on my thighs move up slowly making me bite down on my bottom lip at the feel of it. It’s been a really long time since I’ve had a man’s hands on me and the booze coursing through my veins has me feeling reckless about it. I hold my breath the higher his hands slide, not a hundred percent sure exactly how high I want him to go but that thought is cleared away when he goes just high enough to snag the hem of the skirt and tug it back down. I breathe out and lean back in the seat but tingles start up again as he reverses the movement and drags those hands back down to my knees and nudges them apart.
His eyes lift to meet mine but then drop down to my mouth where I’m still biting my bottom lip. I see his Adam’s apple move as he swallows and then he does a little head shake and looks all the way down to my feet and proceeds to tie both of my ankles to the chair legs. Once he’s done, he moves back and gets to his feet.
With his hands no longer on my body, all flirty thoughts flee and my head clears enough to get back into the game. I shoot nervous looks at the three of them who are now standing in a semi-circle around me and can’t stop myself from looking at my beat-up laptop sitting on the counter behind them.
Black Mask follows my line of site to look at the screensaver of a bouncing unicorn head and scoffs.
“Relax, we aren’t interested in your shitty computer.”
Some of the tension in my shoulders eases at hearing that. I can’t lose that computer. It’s my lifeline to a better future. I focus on him and ignore the others for now.
“So, what exactly do you want here, then? Do you want to rob the place? Start in the front room. There are some really pretentious paintings that are probably ridiculously overvalued. Sorry, I haven’t seen any silver cutlery you can add to your pillowcase loot bags.”
Red and Green laugh and I can see Black’s mouth twitch like he wants to join them but he fights it back.
“Like I said, we just need a few hours here and we’ll move on. We don’t give a shit about the silver or paintings…or you.”
I gasp in mock hurt. “I’ll have you know, I’m worth way more than any ugly painting!”
Black turns and stomps away. Green leans back against the counter and gives me a slow scan from my tied feet to the jauntily angled crayon tip on the top of my head with a smirk.
“You seem pretty laid back for someone in your position. You get tied up like this often?”
I narrow my eyes at him.
“We don’t know each other well enough yet for me to answer that. Ask me again before you leave.”
When he just grins at me, I sink back into the seat and let my head roll on my neck.
“It probably has to do with the three cocktails of Patrón I just had before you ruined my buzz.” I lift my head and glare at them. “Listen, if we’re just going to sit here and play the world’s most lame game of Shibari, then can one of you please pour me another cocktail? I’ll need a straw unless you want to untie one of my hands, though.”
Red cocks his head to the side. “You really aren’t afraid, are you?”
I make a ‘what can you do?’ face at him. “Look, I’ve got a pretty reliable creep-o-meter and you guys aren’t really ringing that bell. I haven’t seen your faces and as far as I know, your names are Red, Green, and Black. If you don’t slip up, I won’t know your real names and I won’t have any idea what you look like. I have no skin in whatever game you’re running tonight so you have no reason not to just leave me as is when you go. As long as you loosen these leashes a bit before you do so I can wiggle out before I starve to death, I don’t care. Now how about that cocktail?”
The two guys share a look and then shrug. “She’s not wrong,” Red says.
Green nods and goes around the counter to mix a drink for me with the bottle of Patrón and Pom juice sitting there. He digs out a straw from one of the drawers and brings the drink over to me placing the straw between my parted lips. I suck back a good portion of it before leaning back.
Green looks me over again. “I like the vibe you’ve got going on here. crayon?”
“Hmm, yup, it was a cheap and easy choice. The plan was to hit a club in a bit and dance my blue ass off. Guess that’s not happening now.”
He offers the straw again and I use my tongue to wrangle it into place between my lips causing him to lean a little closer in interest.
“Sorry to ruin your night of fun.”
I shoot him a saucy wink and drain the rest of the drink.
“That remains to be seen.”
“What the fuck are you doing? Get away from her and get over here, both of you,” Black growls as he comes back into the room carrying a big black duffle bag.
Green steps back but not before giving me a long considering look from his blue eyes behind his mask. I jut my chin toward Black like I’m giving permission for him to leave and it makes his small grin widen.
The three of them crowd around the counter where Black has placed the duffle bag and I hear it being unzipped but I can’t see what’s in it from the chair I’m tied to. They whisper to each other quietly enough that I can’t make out the words and I take the time to study their backs.
I can’t see much of them with those long black cloaks they wear but they don’t disguise the wide shoulders that stretch them tight. I follow the cloaks down to their exposed feet and see two sets of tightly tied black boots with black pants tucked into them but the third pair has my eyes narrowing as I study the unlaced boots with an inch of faded denim showing. Unless I’ve missed my mark, and I rarely do, I’ve seen those boots before. Like the day before. A vision of an angry man in a suit yelling and pointing a thrusting finger flashes through my mind. A small smirk forms on my lips. I’d bet my next cocktail that Black Mask is the hot Mr. Red Flag I spotted yesterday on my way here.