Rule 1 - Lumen

USE ALL YOUR SENSES TO IDENTIFY THE MASKED MAN.

" P uppies are forever." I shook my head, turning away from the large, glass window where the most adorable dogs were dressed in bows and playing with a ball. A sign above them said "Take me home for Christmas." I fought the urge to go inside and pick one out. "I'd rather go to the pound. Plus, I'm not ready for that level of commitment."

Shy, my sister, sighed. "You're not ready for any kind of commitment, which is the problem." She tugged on my arm, and she and my other sister, Tauren, walked past the pet store and on to another clothing store in the mall.

"I was ready for commitment, if you remember—" I started, but Tauren cut me off.

"Please, do we have to hear this again? Ben was a loser. You are lucky, in my opinion, that he called the wedding off."

I flinched, and just then, as if on cue, a Mariah Carey song started playing over the intercom. I covered my ears and let out a cry of anguish. I couldn't escape it.

Shy, my sympathetic sister, frowned. "Well, the most famous song being played every twenty minutes probably doesn't help the situation. Or this."

All three of us stopped short at the giant poster on the wall ahead of us.

MAREY CAREY: IMPERSONATOR LIVE THIS WEEKEND!

I stared at the image of the girl who stole my future from me. Dressed in all her Mariah Carey- wannabe Santa outfit glory, she was smiling so wide, as if she wasn't a home-wrecker.

I pivoted. "Let's go get a pretzel before I tear down every wreath and Christmas light in this place."

"Actually"—Shy looked at her watch and exchanged a look with Tauren—"we had an ulterior motive for coming to the mall today..."

"Have you seen the ads for those blind date photoshoots ?" Tauren grinned. My stomach dropped, and I shook my head furiously.

"Tauren, no. You didn't." I panicked as I looked across the mall, zeroing in on the photography studio on the other side.

"You have the new lingerie." Shy pointed out, her eyes dropping to my red bag.

"You made me buy these!" I protested, but then it hit me. "You planned this all out, didn't you?"

My older sisters smirked and pushed me toward the business. I fought with my words the entire time, trudging past Marey Carey's poster. It had been almost a full year since we'd gone to her concert, where my fiancé promptly dumped me after, confessing that they'd been having an affair for months.

We stopped at the entrance, and I stared at the poster advertising the blind date photoshoots.

Let's shoot your shot at love.

"Lumen?" A goth girl with a large smile and giant blue eyes came out, a camera hanging from her neck.

"That's me."

My sisters urged me to go in. "Go have fun," Tauren smiled. "We'll be back in a few hours. Let us know if he's hot or not."

"Come back at three!" The photographer grabbed my hand and tugged me along. "I'm Neve, and you're in good hands."

Changing into my brand-new, rather racy, red lingerie, I was handed a silk robe and sent to a hair and makeup artist.

"Do you know anything about who the guy is?" I twisted my fingers in my lap. This was my first official step toward moving past Ben. And, if I was honest, it was long overdue.

"His name is Tobias. He's twenty-two, and he's yummy," Neve teased.

"Yummy?" I raised an eyebrow.

"You'll see." She played coy, and soon enough, I was staring at a version of myself I'd never seen before. Neve frowned. "Are you okay?"

I pressed my lips together. "I've just... never looked this pretty."

She gasped. "Oh honey, no. You're gorgeous without the makeup. And that body? Tobias is going to lose it when he takes his blindfold off. Now come, he's waiting."

A silk blindfold was tied over my eyes, and she took my hand, leading me deeper into her studio. "Okay, be careful. There's a bed, a chair, and some props we can play with. You two are in complete control here. Consent is key. If you want to stop, say stop. Are you ready for Tobias to come in?"

I took a deep breath. No amount of preparing would calm my heart. "Yes," I whispered.

A moment later, a door clicked open, and I heard footsteps.

"Hello," a deep voice greeted me. Flutters erupted in my belly, dripping down to my core.

Oh.

"Hello." My voice came out shaky. "I'm Lumen."

"I'm Tobias." He came closer, and I leaped out of my skin as large, warm hands fell on my arms.

"Good, now, explore each other," Neve said softly, reminding us that she was there. She began to click furiously, and I blushed at the knowledge of being watched.

"Is this a robe?" Tobias asked, his hands sliding down my arms.

"It is." Tentatively, my hands reached out to touch him, finding his chest. He wasn't wearing anything on top, and his muscles were chiseled. I gasped. He chuckled low.

"Is that a good gasp?"

"Very much so." I sighed, running my hand down the middle of his abs. I counted the muscles, all eight of them.

"Can I get rid of this?" he asked. His hands drifted from my arms to my waist, and he tugged playfully on the robe strings.

"If you want to." My words were breathy, getting lost in my throat.

"I do," he said, pulling the robe open and pushing it down my shoulders. I shivered as goosebumps appeared from the chill air.

"What do you think?" Neve asked. "Is her body to your liking?"

Tobias ran his hands down my curves. I wasn't Mariah Carey curvy. In fact, Ben had thought I was too thin, but I kept an hourglass figure. His hands reached my hips, and then dropped, going to my face. The scent of his cologne invaded my nose, and my body melted, savoring the manly scent. It was musky and minty and... smoky.

"Are you smelling me?" He chuckled.

"I—Well, I can't see you. I'm relying on my other senses."

"Good girl," he muttered, sending my mind spiraling. His voice was an aphrodisiac in itself. "You've already used sound, scent, touch. What's left?"

My heart was beating so loudly I was sure the room could hear.

"Taste."

Suddenly, I could feel his face close to mine, and I parted my mouth as his lips connected with mine. My brain exploded as endorphins flooded my system. His lips were soft, and I could taste the mouthwash and faintness of a cigarette. He tasted like he sounded.

"You want to move to the bed?" Neve asked us. We were so wrapped in each other, I was deaf to her constant clicking around us. Tobias took my hand and led me to the bed. I crawled onto the silk sheets and felt the pressure of him joining me.

"What are you comfortable with?" he asked gruffly.

"Uh, I don't know?" I couldn't admit to two total strangers that I had zero experience with this. It was the exact reason why Ben left me for a Mariah Carey impersonator.

You're too frigid. I'm not waiting for you anymore.

"How about Tobias take the lead, and if you get uncomfortable, you tell him to stop?" Neve suggested.

"Okay."

A moment later, warm hands were on my thighs, trailing up my body. Lips replaced his fingers as he moved, and my legs relaxed, parting. He moved between them with expertise, and his kisses fell onto my belly, then my breasts. I gasped as he pinched a nipple, sending delicious shivers through me. He found my lips again, and he added his tongue this time, eliciting a moan from me.

"Lumen, you're fun." He chuckled, pulling away. "Have you done anything like this before?" He trailed kisses down my body, and I shook my head furiously.

"No, never!"

"Good answer," he growled, and suddenly, as his lips found my thighs again, my core began to ache.

"Wow, your chemistry is..." Neve muttered, then cleared her throat. "Are you ready to meet each other face-to-face?"

He moved away, and I sat back, biting my lip. What if he wasn't what I pictured in my head? My hands went to my blindfold.

"It's okay. Let's count down. One, two, three."

I untied my mask and my eyes darted to the figure in front of me. He was the hottest man I'd ever seen in my entire life. Time stopped as I memorized his face. Hair so dark, eyes so blue, face so chiseled, lips so... mine.

Is he as pleasantly surprised as I am?

"What do you think?" Neve asked.

Tobias grinned and lunged at me, running his tongue along my neck and pressing his lips to mine again. Neve erupted into laughter. "Yes! I knew you two would click!"

We finished the hot and steamy photo session, and I slid my robe back on, suddenly aware of how exposed I was. Tobias smiled from across the room.

"So, can I give you my number?" he asked.

Butterflies swirled in my belly. That gorgeous man wanted to talk to me again?

I nodded, then realized I didn't have my phone in the room, so he wrote it on a slip of paper and I folded it up.

"I hope you call…" He hugged me politely, as if we hadn't spent two hours making out. I nodded and hurried to get changed and return to my family. Mom and Dad were probably irritated they were stuck waiting for me. My sisters might not have informed them of their plans.

I was just finishing putting my shoes on when screams rang out from outside the studio. I grabbed my bag and flew out of the shop. People were screaming and running every which way.

"What's going on?" I screamed over the others.

A woman paused to stare at me in horror.

"There's someone with a knife. Four people are dead at least!"

And as she fled, the knowing dread of who those four were froze me to the floor.