Chapter Nineteen: Laina

I visited the hospital every day. Mike didn’t come inside the room while I sat with Kieran, which was fine. It let me shut the door and come clean to Kieran about a few things. Namely the feelings I was starting to have for him… and Mike… and Fang.

And, because he was still not conscious, I also told him in a hushed whisper about how I wished my Devil would come back to me.

I got no answer, of course.

The days passed until Friday rolled around. I didn’t tell anyone what Kelly and I were planning. Not my dad, not Tessa, and certainly not Mike. My dad and Tessa would try to stop me from going, while Mike would grumble something about needing to come with me to make sure I was safe, blah, blah, blah.

Whatever. If I couldn’t go out and have a little fun, get some real stress-relief, then what was the point? Why bother living if I couldn’t enjoy myself every once in a while?

Kelly was going to park down the road, wait for me to slip out of the house and find her, and together we’d return to her campus, where she’d take me to a college party. I wanted to loosen up, stop worrying about everything, and have some fun.

Fun was something I severely lacked in life right now.

Kelly was trying to get me to apply to the college next semester, and maybe I would. At least it would get me out of this house for a few hours every day, give me something else to focus on. Hell, I could even move into the dorms and completely get away from my dad and Tessa. Not sure where that would leave Mike, but seeing as the guy was still holding firm to the belief that I was nothing more than a job to him, maybe that’s what was best.

The only one in tune with his feelings was the guy who’d replaced his own teeth with metal fangs, ironically.

After dinner, my dad tried to have a sit down with me in my room, which was just ridiculous. He still wore the brown suit he’d worn to work that day, his hair slicked back. “Laina, it’s looking like the gunman was hired by someone else, but he’s tight-lipped as to who. Whoever it is is still out there. I need you to promise me you’ll be careful.” He said it like he knew I was going to sneak out tonight, which was frankly annoying.

I was sitting on my bed, doing my nails, acting bored. At least I only had eight nails to do now. I planned on wearing a single glove over my left hand tonight to hide the fact that I was missing two fingers, so hopefully the other people at the party wouldn’t know who I was.

They were college students. I doubted they gave a single shit about watching the news and local politics.

“I’m surprised you haven’t tortured the details out of him,” I spoke matter-of-factly.

My dad blinked, clearly not expecting that to have come out of my mouth. “Laina, it’s… with him in police custody, there’s only so much we can do.” Trying to act like the police weren’t just as corrupt as all of the gangsters in this city. Right. “I don’t want you to think I’m not doing everything I can to catch the mastermind behind this, same with your kidnapper.”

“I know, Dad.” I shot him a look over my hand, wishing he would get the hint and leave.

He stared at me. It was because I was wearing my contacts. He’d done a triple-take the first time he’d seen me wearing them, and each time after that, he tended to hold my stares a bit longer, like it took him longer to see through my contacts, at the real me. Like it was harder to remember I was his daughter or something.

His voice came out softer after that, “I just worry about you. I can’t imagine what it’s like, trying to find your footing again after what you went through, but I want you to know I’m here for you. You’re my daughter, and I love you.”

I wanted to ask him, Do you? Do you really love me? Because it sure didn’t look like it when you used my kidnapping as fuel for your campaign, nor did it look like it when you got married to Tessa in one of the biggest weddings this city has ever seen. But I didn’t. I kept my mouth shut.

My dad finally got the hint, and he left my room, gently closing my door behind him. Whatever. I didn’t care what he said or what he thought; I knew the truth. I’d watched it go on the last two years, and the truth of the matter was: my dad didn’t need me. He’d used me as a prop, and now he had a pretty wife. I’d bet anything they were actively trying to replace me with a kid of their own.

I tried not having such venomous thoughts, but it was a constant struggle for me. It was so easy to lose myself to them, yet another reason why I was looking forward to tonight. I wanted to pretend, just for a little while, that I was a normal nineteen-year-old girl.

Night fell, and once I was fairly certain no one would come barging into my room to talk to me, I got dressed. I went with dark leggings and flats, paired with a low-cut, loose tank top that dipped low enough you could see the lace on my bra. The outfit was complete with a thin leather jacket and a glove on my left hand. Taking one look in the mirror, I was a strange but pretty mix of rocker and pastel colors. I didn’t bother with makeup or doing my hair.

Kelly messaged me she was waiting, my signal to go.

With my phone and house keys in my jacket pocket, I flipped off all the lights in my room, made my bed look like someone was sleeping in it using the pillows—an oldie but a goodie—and crept out of my room after tossing a glance both ways down the hall.

Mike looked to be shut in his room. I didn’t know where my dad and Tessa were. I hoped in their room further down the hall, but you never knew, so I had to move fast. Quickly and quietly.

My feet took me to the grand steps, and I hurried down them, racing no one but myself and the shadows of the house. I couldn’t waltz out the front door, lest the cameras see me leave, and that meant I had to get a little creative.

You’d think my dad would’ve gotten the entire house re-done after my kidnapping, but he hadn’t. There were still a few blind spots—such as the bathroom on the western side of the house, whose windowscreen you could pop out without making much noise. If I had to guess, I’d say my Devil had gotten into the house that way, and as I left the house, I felt closer to him than ever. In spirit, that was.

I left the screen leaning against the house, along with the window cracked open an inch, just enough I could slide my fingers under it and lift it open when I got back later tonight. Once I was out, I had to dart across the yard, being careful to keep out of range of the cameras, until I made it to the street. Only then did I let myself sigh in relief.

Even if they saw me leave now, it was too late. I could see Kelly parked on the street a hundred feet away, her car idling. I hurried toward it, getting in the front seat and heaving a sigh once I was safely in her car.

She watched me with a grin. “Damn, girl. Look at you. You look hot.” Kelly had dressed up, too. She wore torn jeans that showed off a lot of her legs, along with a deep purple shirt that hugged her torso and all of the curves therein. Her brown hair had been curled into loose waves, and the makeup on her face made her look like an airbrushed model.

“You look way better,” I told her, buckling up.

“No way. Your hair is so pretty! Are you wearing contacts?” Even though she was driving, she turned her head and squinted at me through the darkness.

“I am,” I hurriedly said, mostly so she could return her gaze to the road in front of us and not, you know, kill us on the way to the party. I wanted to have fun tonight, not die in a pointless crash all because my friend was too distracted by my pink eyes. “I ordered them when I got my hair done. They took forever to come.”

“Well, they look amazing. Not many people could pull something like that off.” She sounded like she believed it, and that made me feel good. Having someone as gorgeous as Kelly compliment you really did wonders for your self-esteem.

“Thank you,” I whispered.

“I’m so happy you decided to come tonight.” Kelly chuckled softly. “Remember that other time I got you to sneak out and come to a party with me? Kieran found you and literally threw you over his shoulder to take you home.” Her chuckles grew quieter, sadder, for obvious reasons. “How’s he doing, by the way?”

She’d been texting me all week about it, so she knew there was no change. I didn’t know why she had to even ask. “He hasn’t woken up yet,” I muttered, my heart panging at the thought. Literally, the image of Kieran motionless in that hospital bed was the worst thing I could think of.

Kelly sighed. “Shit. I’m sorry. That sucks.” One of her hands let go of the steering wheel, and she reached over and squeezed my arm in what was meant to be a supportive gesture. “We’re going to have some fun tonight. We’re gonna let loose and forget about all the shitty things going on right now. Sound like a plan?”

I nodded.

She let me go, tapping on the wheel as she made a left turn. The college was just over the bridge that separated the city from the rest of the world. It wasn’t a small campus by any means. It had multiple dorm buildings, along with tons of apartment complexes surrounding it.

Kelly parked her car in the student parking lot, and together, we walked to where this party was being held. Since it was still early on a Friday night—early for college students, anyway—the sidewalks weren’t empty. We passed other groups of students walking to their chosen destination.

The night air was chilly, and I was thankful I’d chosen to wear a jacket with my outfit. The wind tousled my hair, and I struggled to keep it in check.

“Yeah,” Kelly whined as we walked. “The wind is a bitch here. It’s always super windy, for some reason. It must blow off the river and hit us.” I wasn’t sure that’s how wind worked, but it made as much sense as anything else.

“Now,” she went on, huddling closer to me as we walked, “since this is your first college party, let me give you some ground rules.” Oh, these should be good. “One, and this is obvious, don’t accept any drinks you didn’t see get poured right from the source. Going along with that, don’t look away from your drink or set it down anywhere out of sight. You can pretty much guarantee there’s always a group or two at these things that’ll love to drug you if they have the opportunity.”

So far, everything she was saying made sense, so I stayed quiet and listened.

“Two, be keenly aware of any guy that’s smooth. Odds are, he’s got at least one or two tagalongs you don’t want to catch from him, if you get my drift. Three, but I guess it’s more like two and a half: condoms are essential at these things, with how many frat guys are manwhores—”

I couldn’t help but laugh at that one. “I get it, I get it. I’ll be careful.”

Kelly said, “I’m just looking out for you. I don’t want you seeing a pretty face and jumping into the sack with him and then regretting it in a week when you’ve got a rash that won’t go away.”

I wondered if she was speaking from first-hand experience, but I didn’t ask. Honestly, I didn’t want to know.

“So,” Kelly spoke, hooking her arm through mine as we walked. “What’s your goal for tonight? I’ll totally be your wing-woman if you want to get dicked down. Sometimes the best stress relief involves getting pile-drived on a bed you’ll never see again.” She spoke so off-handedly about it, I had to chuckle again.

My mind thought of Kieran, and then Fang and Mike. Three guys who made my heart and my body act up whenever I thought about them, whenever they were near. The only one that wasn’t really off-limits to me was Fang, but even then… it was strange to think how intense things got the last time we were alone together. After all, I’d been in his presence twice. Would I fall in love with him the third time I saw him? Jeez.

“I don’t know” was what I settled with saying. A part of me wondered if, maybe, she was right, and hooking up with a stranger who knew how to use his dick would help me overcome whatever feelings I had inside that were holding me back.

I mean, I was still a virgin, technically. A virgin to dicks, and now that I was on birth control, what the hell was I waiting for?

The answer to that wasn’t one I wanted to think about.

“That’s okay,” Kelly said. “We’ll have fun, no matter what.”

She continued to pull me along, leading the way across campus. The party was being held in one of the rental houses across from campus—technically you weren’t allowed to throw ragers on school grounds, so renting out places right across the street from it was a way around that rule, and when your neighbors were also college students wanting to kick back and have fun, you didn’t have to worry about the cops getting called for a noise complaint.

I was surprised. When Kelly and I walked up to the front door of the house, the door itself hung open, inviting anyone inside. People were on the front porch, lounging around, drinking and chatting, laughing it up. One of the guys had a vape, puffing on it and expelling some fruity-scented smoke.

I let Kelly take the lead as we entered the house. Music came from the living room area, where people were hanging. Some were dancing, but a lot were simply crowding around the walls in their chosen groups. When we walked into the living room, countless eyes turned to us.

To me, I should say. They were looking at me and not Kelly, which I thought strange.

A pair of girls immediately found us, crowding around Kelly. “Kelly,” one of them exclaimed, giving her a half-hug. “You made it! You look so sexy.” She turned her eyes to me, giving me a once-over. “Is this…”

“Yes,” Kelly said. “This is Laina, my best friend from high school. I’m trying to get her to come here next semester.”

That was the miracle of college campuses. There were tons of different people from all over, sprinkled in with a few people you went to high school with. I didn’t know the two girls that had come up to us, but they seemed nice. They were exactly the kind of girls I imagined Kelly becoming friends with.

“Oh, my God, you totally should!” the other girl squealed. “And we can tell you all the secrets no one wants you to know, like which classes to avoid, which ones will be an easy pass, and—”

“Where all the best parties are,” her friend spoke, nodding along sagely. They each held red solo cups, sloshing the liquid around inside every time they moved their arms—which was often. These two were quite animated when they talked.

Kelly nodded along with her friends, tossing me a look. “See, Laina? We know it all. Stick with us, and you’ll be fine. Now, my throat is feeling a little dry.” She and her friends left the living room area, and I followed them, not knowing what else to do.

The new girls surrounded Kelly as she walked, which left me to walk behind them, like a fourth wheel. I hoped this wouldn’t be the theme of the night; if it was, I’d have a miserable time, and I doubted I’d be able to get Kelly to leave her friends early to take me home when I wanted to bail.

We walked down the hall, toward the kitchen, where all the cups and drinks were set up. Specialized bottles of stronger stuff lined the counter near the sink, while a keg of beer sat on the island. A thing of wine coolers was on the floor. Well, at least whoever was throwing this party was well-stocked. If there was one thing college students were good at, it was drinking.

Kelly got herself a cup and then started to mix her own drink using the bottles on the counter while gabbing with her friends. I watched, not knowing what was what.

One of her friends turned to stare at me, studying my hair and my eyes. “I love that,” she said. “Is it natural?” She sounded like she meant it, genuinely curious.

“These are contacts.” I pointed to my eyes, and then I touched my hair with my glove-free hand. “And I had it dyed like this.”

The girl leaned on the counter, taking an unhurried sip from her cup. “I’ve always wanted to dye my hair fun colors,” she told me, “but my parents never let me. They always said it was trashy.” She rolled her eyes. “They say the same thing about tattoos. Like, come on! Everybody has tattoos now—”

Once Kelly was done mixing the drink, she slid it toward me, handing it over as she said, “Here. Try it. Tell me if you like it.” She blinked, expectant, waiting for me to take it and do as she said.

I was slow in taking the cup, eyeing the liquid inside it. As I brought it to my mouth, the aroma coming off the liquid nearly made me recoil. It was strong stuff. I was the greenest of the green when it came to alcohol, and even I could tell. I took a small sip, doing my best not to gag when the strong taste hit my tongue.

Holy crap. It tasted like shit. People drank this for fun ?

“Well?” Kelly asked. “Do you like it? If you do, I can make another for me and you can just have that one.” Her lips had spread into a smile, and I couldn’t tell if she was waiting for me to tell her it was disgusting or if she really thought I’d like it.

When it came to Kelly, it was sometimes hard to track her motives.

But, seeing as how she was a party girl and that was the whole reason my dad had never liked her, I was thinking she was hoping I liked it, so I said, “It’s good. Strong, but good.” Just to prove myself, I took another sip, forcing out a smile as I held back a gag.

Kelly clapped and turned around to make herself another.

“So, what was it like?” the girl who hadn’t asked me about my hair spoke, earning herself a glare from the other one. The question sounded so innocent, and yet I detected an edge to her voice.

“What was what like?” I asked, eyebrows coming together.

The other girl tried to elbow her, but that didn’t stop her friend from clarifying, “Being kidnapped. What was it like? I mean, two whole years… no offense, but you seem pretty well-adjusted. When Kelly told me you were coming, I figured you’d be a nervous wreck, surrounded by all these people you don’t know.”

Kelly finished making her own drink, stepping in between the two girls—who I still didn’t know the names of—and quickly saying, “Ignore her. I told her not to bring any of that stuff up.” She said that last part while glaring at her friend.

But her friend was unaffected by the glare, and she just shrugged. “I’m just curious.”

The music from the living room sounded like it was far off in the distance now; I hardly heard it. I stared at Kelly’s friend, internally struggling. Not because I wanted to break down, but because I was trying to hold myself back.

Who was she to ask me those sorts of questions with such an innocent look on her face? What if it had been a traumatic experience and I didn’t want to talk about it? What if her stupid questions made me relive it all over again?

They didn’t, but I still felt like it was a bitchy move.

“I’m sorry,” I told her, giving her a tiny smile, “but I don’t really want to talk about it.”

Kelly hooked an arm through mine. “Which is exactly why I told her not to bring it up. Come on. Let’s go dance.” She dragged me out of the kitchen, and her two friends followed suit. We walked down the hall, arm in arm, returning to the living room, where we found our own area of the room and started to sway to the beat.

Well, they did. I, on the other hand, clung to the wall and watched.

I’d say there were at least twenty people crammed into the living room, but it was a far cry from the club. When I’d had both Kieran and Mike with me, when I’d gotten jealous that I’d seen Kieran dancing with Kelly… when the reality of it all had finally hit me.

If I was a normal nineteen-year-old girl, I’d probably be used to parties like this. I’d have a better taste for alcohol. Maybe I’d even have a boyfriend. I’d have a whole roster of classes I went to, thinking that this campus and all of the people within it were my whole world.

But I wasn’t a normal nineteen-year-old girl… and I think that fact was starting to sink in.

After a while, a group of three guys approached us. They seemed to know Kelly and her friends; they talked like they’d had conversations before. Kelly and her friends were flirtatious and all smiles, welcoming the attention. I didn’t know what to do, so I kept nursing my drink.

I think my taste buds were seared off, because now I could hardly taste how strong it was.

Kelly was pulled to the side by a tall guy with blond hair, while her two friends had started to dance with other guys. That left me with no one—which was probably a good thing, since I was feeling the need to make some mistakes tonight.

Everything in my life was weird as hell. I didn’t trust anyone. Kieran was in the hospital, in a freaking coma, Mike was acting like nothing had happened between us, and Fang… well, he was all too willing to declare himself for me even though he didn’t know me. And that said nothing about my Devil, who, after texting me that one night, never messaged me again.

It was like all the guys in my life, even my fucking dad, wanted to play with me, and I was so tired of it.

“I like your hair,” a guy’s voice spoke behind me, and I turned away from Kelly and her friends to look into the dark brown eyes of a rather tall, handsome guy who had to be at least a few years older than me. A senior, maybe. Maybe a fifth-year senior.

“Thanks,” I muttered, dropping my gaze to the floor between us.

“You don’t go here, do you?” It sounded like he had no idea who I was, and that, I realized, was perfect. Just a regular college guy, thinking I was someone visiting one of her friends or something. “You crashing a college party?” He let out a grin, and even though that grin did nothing in particular for me, I found myself smiling back.

At least he was a distraction from everything. That’s all I wanted tonight.

“What makes you think I’m crashing?” I asked, leaning against the wall. I noticed the guy didn’t have a drink. His hands hung at his sides. I wondered what those hands would feel like on me: rough, smooth, somewhere in between?

“You look like you’re still in high school,” he said. “Your eyes are pretty cool, though.”

I chuckled again. “I’m not in high school.”

“Good,” he was quick to say, “because I don’t do high school.”

“What do you do?” I meant the question to sound flirty, trying to steal a page out of Kelly and her friends’ book, but I worried it came out sounding straightforward, like I was asking him if he had a job or something. Ugh. I literally could not be lamer, even if I tried.

He flashed me another smile. “I’ll let you know. What’s your name?”

I didn’t want to tell him my real name, mostly because, if he didn’t know who I was, I didn’t want to jog his memory, just in case he had seen or heard things online or on TV. The first name that came to my mind was, “Maria.” Don’t ask me why.

“Maria,” he echoed, nodding once. “I like it. I’m Jeb. You want to go somewhere quieter and talk? I live here, so I got a room upstairs—” It sounded like he meant talk and not sex, but maybe that was just because I wasn’t used to getting picked up by college guys.

“Sure,” I said, before I could think better of it. As Jeb pushed off the wall and started to walk, I chugged the rest of the drink, unable to hide the wincing after. I set the cup down on an end table and caught up with him, tossing Kelly a look.

All Kelly did was give me a thumbs up, like I’d chosen well.

I followed Jeb to the hall, and he went straight for the stairwell. The mouth of the stairwell wasn’t too far from the front door, which still hung wide open, and I happened to toss a glance outside as I turned toward the steps. Out of the corner of my eye, I swore I saw something, and I stopped dead in my tracks.

What the…

My heart hammered, and I slowly turned my head back to look outside once again, not sure what to expect. I’d thought… well, for a split second, anyway, I’d thought I’d seen my Devil, but after glancing back, I saw nothing and nobody except the group of people hanging out on the front porch.

The anxiety in me faded immediately. It was all in my head. Besides, what were the odds that, after being silent for so long, my Devil would come to me tonight? He could’ve made a move a lot sooner.

I trailed after Jeb, heading up the steps. We stopped at the top. The house was a three-story house, meant to house as many college students as possible. I lost track of how many bedrooms we passed. Some of the doors were closed, and I could only imagine the things that went on behind closed doors at a party like this.

We turned into what must’ve been Jeb’s room, and as I stepped inside and surveyed the area, Jeb shut the door, blocking out the rest of the party. It was a small room, less than a third of the size of mine. It barely fit a twin bed, a dresser, a small closet, and a desk, where he’d hung a TV up on the wall above it so he could watch TV in bed.

It wasn’t exactly the cleanest room, either. Jeb hurried to kick some clothes beneath his bed, and then he glanced at me, a little sheepish. “Sorry. I’m not so good at picking up.” He sat on the bed, and I went to sit beside him.

“It’s all right. I don’t mind,” I said, taking it all in.

“So, Maria—”

I had no idea what he was going to say, nor did I really care. Turning toward him, I interrupted, “Look. I’m going to be real with you. I don’t want to make a new friend tonight. I just want to forget certain things that have been making my life miserable lately. Do you think you could help me with that?”

That clearly hadn’t been what Jeb was expecting, because his brown eyes widened in shock. “Oh. Uh… yeah. Yeah, I could definitely help with that.” Maybe he was used to playing the game a little longer with girls he wanted to hook up with, or maybe he just wasn’t used to a girl wanting to cut to the chase.

He was a guy. He wouldn’t turn down a no-strings-attached fuck.

I worked on taking my leather jacket off, well aware Jeb wasn’t moving. The only thing he was doing was watching me. “One thing, though. The glove stays on,” I told him. “Don’t touch this hand.”

His brows came together, and I could tell he was slightly confused, but in the end, he nodded and said, “Sure. Yeah, whatever you want.” Once my jacket was off, he reached for me, pulled me onto his lap, and wrapped his arms around me. His mouth came down upon mine with no hesitation whatsoever, kissing me messily but greedily, like he couldn’t believe his luck but wasn’t going to question it.

It was… weird, kissing a stranger. Weirder still to be on that stranger’s lap, with his arms around my body, feeling his cock stirring beneath me as we got to know each other’s mouth intimately. The weirdest thing, however, was the fact that, while kissing him was nice, it didn’t make my heart or my body feel any type of way.

After a few moments like that, Jeb flipped us so that I was now laying on the bed and he was on top of me, pinning my body down. He wasn’t overly tall; I didn’t think he was quite six feet, but that was okay. I didn’t need him to be tall. The thing I needed resided somewhere much lower on his body.

While his mouth acquainted itself with mine, his hands didn’t hesitate to do the same to other parts of me. He pawed at my tits over my shirt, then slipped his hands beneath it, cupping them over my bra. Those hands found their way beneath my bra immediately after that, getting a good feel.

I’d like to say I was full-steam ahead, but my mind was somewhere else. I couldn’t shake the fact that this felt wrong. I wanted to make a mistake, to temporarily forget all the shit troubling me, but it was like being here with Jeb only made those feelings inside me amplify in all the wrong ways.

Jeb must not have sensed that I wasn’t quite into it, because his cock was hard as a rock now, ready to do some work. He pulled his mouth off mine, panting, about to say something, but right then something we both weren’t expecting happened.

The door to his room opened and someone else walked in.

I couldn’t see who it was, but Jeb tossed a glance over his shoulder, huffing out, “Dude. The room’s taken. Go somewhere else.” A few seconds passed, and it didn’t sound like whoever it was was, in fact, leaving. “It’s not fucking Halloween, man. Take that mask and go fuck off.” Jeb sounded angrier that time, more annoyed, but it was the words he’d said that made something inside my stomach twist.

A mask? No. It was almost too much to hope for, and yet…

Jeb rolled off me, ready to throw down with the intruder, which allowed me to finally gaze upon the person who’d walked in. The very second my eyes rose to meet the familiar black mask on the man’s face, my breath caught.

So I wasn’t making it up before. I really did see him outside.

After all this time, he’d finally come to me. My Devil.

I couldn’t take my eyes off him as he stared at Jeb as he approached him. His feet were apart, his hands clenched into fists; he wore all black, like he always did, that devil mask on his face hiding every discernable feature that would tell me who he was.

And the way my Devil stood, how his chest rose and fell with even breaths, told me he was ready to kill Jeb for finding him on top of me. A part of me wanted to see the violence he’d wreak for me, but another part of me knew Jeb was just a guy wanting to get his dick wet. It was no reason to have him killed.

“Jeb,” I called out. “Don’t.”

Jeb tossed me a glare. “You know this asshole?”

I sat up, nodding once as I slipped off the bed and got to my feet. “Yes. He’s—” How could I describe him without going overboard? How could I get Jeb to leave me in here with him? This was Jeb’s room, after all. He was under no obligation to give me and my Devil privacy. “He’s my ex. Can you give us a minute?”

“Your ex?” Jeb shook his head. “What the actual fuck is going on? I need a drink. This is giving me whiplash.” He sidestepped my Devil, not once breaking eye contact with him as he went to leave the room.

My Devil turned his head, watching him go, and the very moment Jeb was gone, he turned to look at me, slow to cock that head of his and glare. Or, I imagined he glared beneath the mask, a sort of furious how-dare-you look on his face under it. He kicked the door closed behind him, shutting us in, and then he took a single step in my direction.

I stood strong, which was hard, because all I wanted to do was run to him and demand answers. Answers for everything. Why’d he let me go? Why hadn’t he come to me sooner? Why all the radio silence?

“How do I know it’s really you?” I asked, my voice firm.

My Devil slowly tilted his head, almost comically so, and he lifted a gloved hand to the mouth of his mask, his hand tight in a fist. A single finger lifted from the first, pressing against the mask’s mouth, the shushing gesture he always made.

It was him. It had to be him.

“Where have you been?” I asked, my heart beating fast now for all the wrong reasons. Call it Stockholm Syndrome. Call it whatever you want. Call it love, call it obsession, call it a need. I’d spent two years with him as my only visitor. My Devil had shown me the truth, that my dad only used me. He’d opened my eyes to it all, and I’d come to care for him a whole lot more than I should.

I was pretty sure I loved him, even though I’d never seen his face—and that made the bubbling feelings I had growing for the others even more conflicted.

“I needed you,” I whispered, taking another step toward him.

He didn’t speak. He never did. The closest he’d ever come to speaking were those messages he’d sent me before, stating that I belonged to him.

My Devil turned his head, glancing at the door, as if reminding me of the fact that I’d been so very close to giving myself to someone else. His masked face turned back toward me, and I swore I could feel him frowning behind it.

“You don’t get to police what I do or who I do it with when you won’t even talk to me,” I told him. “I haven’t even heard your voice. I don’t know what you look like under there. You could be sixty years old for all I know—”

One of his hands shot out, grabbing me by the jaw and stopping me from saying anything else. His gloved fingers curled up around my jaw, digging into my cheeks. It wasn’t uncomfortable, it didn’t hurt, and yet, as he stepped toward me and angled my head back, I could feel the rage flowing out of him.

And then he did something he’d never done before. He spoke, “You’re mine.” His voice was low and the words growled out, muffled behind the mask, and hearing him sent a shiver down my spine. That voice, so hard and gravelly… no way it belonged to a sixty-year-old.

No way the body he had belonged to a sixty-year-old, for that matter. He was about six feet tall, with wide, muscular shoulders and a lean, sculpted chest and abdomen. His arms had muscle beneath their sleeves. Everything about him radiated manly.

I was so stunned at hearing him speak that I couldn’t say a word back, not even when he walked me backward, toward the bed. I couldn’t say a single thing as he let go of my jaw and spun me around, forcing my top half down over the edge of the bed. My mind was awash with a strange mixture of surprise and desire when that same hand roamed down my spine and curled around to my hip, squeezing it hard.

Bent over the side of the bed, with my Devil behind me, there was only one thing he could want—the thing he’d kept himself from taking those two years, what he wanted above all else. But it worked out, because if I was going to lose my virginity, it shouldn’t be with some random college guy.

No, it only felt right letting my Devil take it as his.

I let out a gasp when his other hand went to yank down my leggings, exposing my backside to him. My skin grew flushed, my heart skipping a beat or two the moment I felt his gloved hands roaming my ass. Bent over the bed, I wanted him to take everything from me.

My Devil took his hands off me to undo his pants and get his cock out. I couldn’t see it, but I knew it had to be an impressive sight. His body came against mine, the tip of his cock running along the curve of my ass until it found its destination, my cunt.

He didn’t hesitate, didn’t waver. He pushed into me with a single thrust of his hips, filling me up in one pump. I cried out, not quite knowing what it was to expect. My fingers tightened on the sheets below. I wouldn’t quite say it was painful, maybe more of a discomfort, but the feeling of discomfort faded the moment my Devil leaned down and wrapped a hand around the back of my neck, locking my body in place.

It was my Devil. He wouldn’t hurt me. He was only taking what was his, what he’d denied himself for so long. Me .

He let out a muffled groan, and then he started to fuck me.

Being bent over, taken from behind, wasn’t what I thought my first time would be, but I didn’t care. I closed my eyes and focused on the way it felt, on how his hand wrapped around the back of my neck, on how fast and how hard his cock pumped into me. Everything in my life had finally come full circle; maybe after this I could leave the past behind.

A fluttery moan escaped me, my inner core tightening on his cock. The mere fact that it was my Devil fucking me brought me wave upon wave of indescribable bliss. Knowing it was him pushed me to the edge and dangled me there.

And, fuck, it felt so good.

This wasn’t making love. This was a hard, rough fuck, my Devil reminding me that I belonged to him. The bed shook beneath me, every muscle in my body threatening to lose it as that thick cock speared me from behind. He fucked me like an animal, hard, jerky movements, the opposite of gentle, and I loved it.

God, I really loved it.

The pleasure inside me grew and grew until it became too unbearable, until the floodgates had to let go. An orgasm took hold of me, choking me as it grabbed hold of me and refused to let go. I cried out loudly, unable to contain myself, my pussy walls shuddering and clamping around his cock as he continued to fuck me from behind.

He must’ve felt it, because right after that, he groaned, the deep, guttural sound like music to my ears. My Devil worked even harder after that, so hard I thought the bed I was bent over might break. He fucked me like he needed my pussy to survive, like I was everything he so desperately needed in this world. He was my devil of darkness, and I was his fascination, his light.

His body lurched forward soon after that, his cock twitching inside me as he growled out another muffled noise. His muscular frame came down on me with short, quick thrusts of his cock in my core as he emptied himself inside of me, his seed filling me up to the brink and then some.

My head was spinning so much, it didn’t even occur to me that neither of us had stopped to use protection. It was a damn good thing I’d gotten on birth control then, huh?

My Devil didn’t linger. He pulled out of me, and I heard him hurriedly putting himself away. I was slow in propping myself up, my arms still very much weak after that, but I managed to turn around just in time to see my Devil rushing to the door, like he had to get out of here as quickly as he could. I had no idea why.

“Wait!” I called out to him, wanting to stop him, wanting to tear that mask off his face, finally, and see who he was. Looking upon him without that mask between us, I wanted nothing more.

But I couldn’t stop him, because by the time I’d fixed my leggings and grabbed my jacket, he was already gone.

I flew down the steps, having a one-track mind as I tried to chase after him. I didn’t see him on the stairs or in the hall of the house, so I raced outside, onto the front porch. A quick glance around told me he was gone. Maybe he’d taken the back door.

Turning toward the group hanging on the front porch, I asked, out of breath, “Did you see a guy in a devil mask run past?”

I was answered with various negatives and a few shakes of heads. Goddamn it.

I walked down the few steps of the porch, my feet landing on the grass. I walked until I reached the sidewalk, and then I spun around, hoping I’d see him somewhere. When I was certain I didn’t see him either way, I turned toward the house, the party inside still in full swing. He couldn’t be hiding out inside, could he?

Hmm. I supposed I could go searching room by room, but that would take a lot of time, and I’d probably see a lot of things I’d regret. And, by the time I searched the house top to bottom, he’d be even further away.

No. He was gone. My Devil had come, fucked me, and then promptly left me. He’d taken me in a way he’d never taken me before.

Why now? Why not then? I would’ve given myself to him if that’s what he’d wanted. We’d had two years together, where we could’ve fully drowned ourselves in the other. Why wait until now to make me his?

Goddamn it. I really thought… I thought I’d be able to find him, to talk to him. I wanted nothing more than to see his face. It wouldn’t even matter who he was. If he was ugly, if he was scarred. It wouldn’t change the way I felt.

But he was nowhere to be seen, and I stood there on the sidewalk, in the darkness, all by myself, feeling suddenly so very lonely.

I swallowed, looking down at my feet. Going back in that house, finding Kelly… I’d only have to dance around what had really happened. I couldn’t tell her that my kidnapper had found his way to me once again, that he’d been ready to kill Jeb all because he’d been on top of me. Honestly, going in there was the last thing I wanted to do.

I… I just wanted to go home.

The wind swirled around me, caressing my face as it told me it was okay to leave. I pulled out my phone and messaged Kelly, telling her I wasn’t feeling well and that I was having someone pick me up. She didn’t respond; I doubted she’d see it until I was already gone.

My fingers found Kieran’s name, like I was about to call him. Stupid me. It physically pained me to scroll until I found someone else’s name… the name of a man who might’ve been ignoring me lately, but with any luck, he’d see me calling him and answer. And if he was sleeping, well, then I guess I’d have to call Fang.

One or the other would come get me.

Mike didn’t pick up, so I left him a message. “Hey. It’s me. Obviously. Um, I might’ve done something that you’re probably going to yell at me for. I slipped out of the house and went to a party with Kelly, but I’m ready to go home now.” I had to look on the map app to see where I was and relayed the address into the message, and then I hung up.

I’d give him ten minutes to call me back, and if I didn’t hear from him by then I’d call Fang.

I was too busy staring at my phone, willing it to ring, that I didn’t pay attention to the street or any cars on it. And that’s why I didn’t hear a car pull up, why it didn’t occur to me to run when a group of men came at me.

I mean, I wasn’t even fifty feet away from the house and the party. Everyone who was hanging on the front porch saw… but it didn’t matter, because within seconds, they slid open the door to their creepy, windowless van and jumped out. A black slip was pulled down over my head, and multiple hands went to grab me. Someone stole my phone out of my hand, and before I knew what was happening, I was being dragged to the van and thrown in.

It was all so sudden, I didn’t start fighting them until I was already in the van. Yeah, yeah. Stupid.

“Who are you?” I asked, flailing my arms and legs about as the men tried to hold me down. The sack on my head was thick, so I couldn’t see shit. The only thing I could see was a wall of black, which made the touch of their hands so much more intense. “What do you want? I—”

Something sharp pricked me in the neck, a needle, if I had to guess.

“Should’ve just stuck her with that to begin with,” I heard one of the men say. The voice wasn’t muffled, and that led me to think these guys were not linked to my Devil. As my body grew weak and my thoughts hazy, I knew these assholes were connected to the gunman at the press conference.

Eventually, the guys no longer had to hold me down on the floor of the van, my muscles becoming weaker as the seconds ticked by. I blinked beneath the sack, struggling to remain conscious, but even that became a chore soon enough.

Getting kidnapped a second time, you’d think I’d be more used to it, to the feeling of helplessness and hopelessness, but I wasn’t. It was only as my mind drifted off to the sweet embrace of oblivion that I surrendered to the darkness and let cold, vicious thoughts take over.

I wish I had a knife, because I want to kill these mother—

My world went black.