I’d never seen anyone so sexy in my life.
I was temporarily stunned.
“She’s mine,” I hissed to Xavier and Kian, indicating my head in her direction.
“Fuck you, Carter.” I felt Kian’s glare from behind his mask, but I’d seen her first. “Fine. I pick…her,” Kian relented after it was clear I wasn’t about to change my mind, pointing towards another hot as fuck girl, dressed like an angel.
“Done. I pick her.” Xavier pointed towards the Dodgems where his ex-girlfriend stood with a group of her friends, and I knew both Kian and I were rolling our eyes behind our masks.
“Wait for the siren.” I raised my voice so the others could hear me. “When it stops, go for whoever you want, except those three.” I pointed out the three girls we’d chosen, knowing no one would dare to disagree.
The siren sounded, and I was ready.
Smoke permeated every corner of the carnival, thanks to our earlier planning. The boys split off, a blur of dark figures with neon masks, and I grinned. As the sirens stopped, my gaze was drawn to Poison Ivy. Ready or not, here I come, I mouthed from behind my mask, watching her eyes widen as I took off, running straight at her, needing to reach her before anyone else did. Despite my declaration that she was off limits, I knew it wouldn’t work that way in reality. I could feel Kian hot on my heels, his eyes on my girl, rather than his.
Even from a distance I could see her freeze, her gaze locked on mine. My blood was pumping through my veins, and I fucking loved it. She stood paralysed as I drew closer, and then she finally moved.
The chase was on.
She darted behind one of the stalls, running headlong down the side of the chain-link fence. This was almost too easy. I drew back a little to give her a chance to get away—I needed the chase, and catching her would be so much sweeter when she gave in.
I watched her look wildly around her, no doubt trying to find a hiding place.
“You can run, but you can’t hide,” I called, and I saw a shudder go through her body. Fuck, yes.
She rounded the back of the funhouse and down the other side, getting caught up with a group of girls being chased, coming the other way. Now I’d lost sight of her. Fuck.
There was a flash of green next to the Dodgems, and I increased my pace. She was running blindly now, desperate to get away. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Kian run at her, and she made an abrupt turn, darting around two guys in green masks. A huge figure dressed as a clown appeared in her path, leering at her, and she scrambled back, then flew towards the gaping mouth marking the entrance to the haunted house.
“She’s fucking mine,” I shouted, lunging at Kian, and he pushed back at me.
“Not if I catch her first.”
We stared at each other for a minute, neither of us backing down. Then I pushed away from him and tore inside the haunted house after my prey.
It was so dark in here. Screams came from all around, echoing off the walls, as I crept through the maze of corridors. A glowing skeleton lunged at me, and I jumped back in fright. The sound of delighted laughter followed me as I spun, running blindly down another corridor.
A creepy-looking clown loomed over me, lit by a single bulb swinging from the ceiling, and I shrieked in terror, scrambling to get away. Another clown? Seriously? If there was one thing I hated above all, it was clowns. It reached out an arm towards me, its white painted face stretching into a huge distorted grin, exposing rows of bloodstained teeth.
It’s only make-up, it’s only make-up, I chanted in my head, desperately trying to convince myself that it wasn’t real. Taking a deep, shuddering breath, I twisted and ducked under its arm, racing down another corridor, desperate to find a way out of this maze.
A dead end.
I felt a breath on my neck. “Boo,” someone whispered, and then a body was pressed against mine, pinning me in place, and I screamed for my life.
“Keep screaming, baby. It makes me hard.” The pressure of my captor’s mask against my skin disappeared as he lifted it away from his face, and then cool metal slid across the side of my neck, combined with the soft warmth of lips.
Bile rose up in my throat. Kian. His lip piercing was a dead giveaway, combined with the fact that I felt a base, instinctual fear as he held me in place. What would he do to me, here in the dark?
Overcome with terror, I screamed again.
Suddenly, his weight was gone, and I was gripped around my stomach and forcibly dragged back down the corridor.
“You’re not playing fair.” I heard Kian’s voice from behind me.
“Fuck you. I picked her first.”
Carter. Carter was the one holding me. For one second, I breathed a sigh of relief, before my brain caught up with what was happening.
Oh, fuck. I was in so much trouble.
He dragged me down a narrow corridor and into a wider space, where a single light illuminated a witch stirring a fake cauldron. The witch watched us pass, not bothering to do anything, even though I was clearly struggling. “Help!” I called out. She cackled, before her attention was diverted by a giggling girl running past, hotly pursued by a guy in a mask with yellow LEDs.
Carter’s hand clamped over my mouth, and I felt the first tear fall, trickling under the fabric of my mask and onto my cheek. He gave a low growl of pleasure as he felt the tear run onto his finger, and I inhaled sharply. Who enjoyed making someone cry? There was something seriously wrong with him.
I continued to struggle against him as he spun me around and pushed me into a small alcove. It was pitch-black in here, other than the glow from his horrifying mask, and my heart rate spiked to new levels. Spots danced in front of my eyes. Was I about to pass out?
I couldn’t even scream, because his hand was still over my mouth. I gasped for breath, unable to get enough air into my lungs as he pressed his heavy body against mine.
“Shhh. It’s okay,” he soothed, still holding me in place.
I whimpered as his body pressed closer. “You’re so fucking sexy,” he whispered.
Another tear trickled down my cheek. My head spun, as the fear and adrenaline spiked with a shot of pure lust, utterly unwanted. My mind was confused, and my body didn’t know what on earth was going on. I closed my eyes, trembling in his grip as he angled his head closer to my ear, his mask scratching against my cheek. “Give me all your tears, baby.”
My eyes flew open in time to see him pull down his hood and push his mask onto the top of his head. He scrutinised me closely, and in the blue glow I could just about make out his eyes, darkened with lust.
His jaw tightened and he swallowed hard, pulling back enough to give me some breathing room. “Do you want me to let you go?”
I stared at him for a long moment, warring with myself, before I slowly shook my head. I thought I detected a glimmer of relief in his eyes as I acquiesced, but I might have imagined it.
“Good decision. I’m gonna make you feel so good, I promise. Don’t scream, okay?” His voice was breathless. How was I affecting him like this? If he knew it was me, what would he do?
I nodded, and he slipped his hand from my mouth to my throat. He squeezed. A choked cry escaped me, as he licked the track of my tear, slowly, decadently.
He placed a single kiss on my cheek, and then his mouth was closing over mine, paralysing me with his touch. He nipped at my bottom lip, then again. Then kissed me. Again.