Chapter Forty-Six

Mallory

We’re tearing down the highway after loading up at the antique shop and hitting a fast food place for the fries I was craving.

“I’m sorry I have to go,” Nox says softly. Letting his unsaid words hang in the air between us. He doesn’t want to go, but someone else has died. Probably while we were snuggled up on the couch watching a movie last night. I can’t help but feel that this wouldn’t have happened if I didn’t call him yesterday. He most definitely feels the same, it’s written all over his face. I know it isn’t our fault but the guilt still resides. I hope this piece of shit is caught this time around. Especially since the city PD is now involved. I’m not saying that the police department here is inept, but they don’t have the resources that the big city does.

“It’s really okay, Nox. It’s just heavy, you know?” The whole situation has put a dark cloud over the day. I just want to slink down with a good book and get lost in its pages until work tomorrow.

“Yeah.” He rubs his chin, deep in thought. The need to pull him from his dark place and back to the present with me has my mouth moving before my brain can keep up.

“What’s your favourite animal?”

He huffs out a laugh, “Why on earth would you ask me that?”

“So we can get to know each other… Duh.”

“You think I don’t know you?” he smirks.

“No.”

“Really?”

“How well can you know me in a month of seeing each other?” I inquire.

“Better than you think I do.”

Rolling my eyes, “Sure,” I reply.

“Want to bet, baby?” The challenge gleams in his eyes and even if he doesn’t know me at all, I know I’d let him win whatever wager he places on this.

“Fine. What are the stakes?” I say, turning my body in the seat so I can face him while I shove more fries into my pie hole, in a very unladylike fashion.

“There may come a time in the future where I ask for your forgiveness… I want you to promise me now that you’ll give it to me.” I’m about to laugh until I can read the seriousness of his statement etched into every inch of his taught body. A nervous laugh escapes me as his pleading look pulls on my heart strings.

“Not going to lie, that sounds ominous as fuck, but sure… How well can you really know me?” Whatever had him strung so tight dissipates immediately at my agreement. “What do I get if I win?”

“You won’t, but I’ll humour you. What do you want?” His eyes twinkle in the bright afternoon light and I take a beat of time to think it over. He is so sinfully handsome, like a clean-cut bad boy. I know what I want, it’s him, naked and writhing beneath me. Restrained to my bed like my own delicious sex slave. But, I can’t just say that, so instead I ask for something else.

“I want to be pampered one night. You’ll cook dinner, and since you know me so well you can make my favourite meal. Then you’ll draw us a bubble bath and you’ll wash my hair, complete with a scalp massage. Then I want a full body massage. The rest to be determined as the night progresses.”

“An open ended bet? That’s risky, you could ask me to do anything.” His tone is seductive and you better believe I’d ask him to do every nasty thing I wanted in the moment.

“Mhmm.”

“And I’d have to do it.”

“I promise you’d enjoy every minute of it.” I try to be cute but I doubt it comes across that way.

“Well…when you put it that way, how can I say no?”

“So we have a deal?” I almost squeal with glee.

“Sure, babe.” So much confidence seeps out of him, it’s hard not to be momentarily intimidated.

“How do you want to do this?” I ask.

“I’ll just list off everything I know until you concede?”

“You’re so fucking cocky,” I joke.

“When I have a right to be, yes, I am.”

“Alright then, let’s hear it,” I say, waiting with bated breath for him to blow me away with all this knowledge he apparently has.

His smile stretches ear to ear as energy thrums through him. “Your full name is Mallory Elizabeth Knight. Twenty-five years old, birthday is November 6th. Height is five foot six inches. Mother is Barbra Knight, maiden name is Quinn. Biological father is Christopher Knight. Stepfather is Dennis Bryant, local piece of shit. Both him and your mother are considered missing persons, have been for the past few months.”

It’s around this point that I realize I’ve been bamboozled. He told me that he checked me out before pursuing me, it’s my fault I didn’t remember. I groan internally. I know I’ve lost already but yet he continues.

“You hate crowds, loud noises and pushy people, but want to go to a concert. Claim rom coms are your favourite but it’s actually horror movies. Scream, specifically. You also have a thing for bagels and muffins for breakfast over anything else. You despise cereal but love soup. You’re a psychopath that bites their ice cream instead of licking it like a normal person. You present this quiet and innocent persona to the world around you, but in reality, there’s something more coming to life within you.”

My jaw drops as he continues to rattle off more things about me. Some I can’t even fathom how he knows.

“Pull over,” I cut him off.

“What?”

“Pull over, Nox.” Fear passes over his face as the blinker clicks on and he veers the truck to the shoulder on the highway.

“Look, Mallory, I’m sorry. I didn’t-” I unclick my seat belt and move across the bench seat. Grabbing him by the shirt collar and crashing his mouth onto mine. He shifts the truck into ‘park’ without taking his attention away from me and undoes his own seatbelt. His arm wraps around me, pulling me closer to him. Our passion moves together in perfect synchronicity as his tongue tangles with mine.

“So.” Kiss. “You’re.” Kiss. “Not.” Kiss. “Mad?” He gets out between my demanding need for affection.

I move back so I am able to take him in. The way his feelings for me make him breathless. How he can both be such a commanding force and putty in my hands. How he looks at me in a way I’ve never experienced. His gaze is a lover's caress. It both soothes my frazzled soul and ignites my desire in a way only he can.

“No. Why would I be mad?” He appears sheepish, nervous and unsure of himself for the first time since I’ve known him.

“You see me,” I say. Surprise widens his eyes for a second, but it’s enough that I see it.

He comes closer, locking his gaze onto mine as his lips whisper against my own. “Yeah, baby, I see you.”

∞∞∞

I’m watching his truck reverse out of the driveway and I bloody well miss him already. Who would have pegged me as a sap? Certainly not I.

Nox honks the horn twice and pulls away. I know he will only be a few minutes away but unease churns my stomach as I worry what carnage he will face when he arrives at the Henderson Mill.

Locking the door behind me I get to the things I neglected in favour of spending time with him. Music is pouring through my speakers as I move about the house cleaning.

It pauses momentarily when my phone chimes with a notification I have learned is from the security camera. ‘Movement detected’ reads across the screen and I click on it. The feed opens and there is Ghost, standing in the dusky shadows on the tree line. Always in the same spot, just watching. Grabbing my hamper of clean clothes, I make my way to my room and push open the curtains. He backs away slightly when he sees me… What’s that about? I rationalize it away. He must be fuming from the time I’ve spent with Nox, will he plan another delightful form of punishment for me?

I wave, expecting some sort of gesture in return. Instead, he turns and leaves.

That’s like a stab to my gut. I pull out my phone and fire off a text to Ghost.

Mallory:

Didn’t want to stay and play hide and seek again?

I’m hoping to entice him into coming back. I’m so riled up after spending time with Nox that I need a release. It’s so fucking shameful to find pleasure with another man when he isn’t the one who spent hours slowly winding me up. But, it’s not like I wouldn’t be lusty for Ghost if he showed up. My body wants them both, and once I gain enough confidence to say it out loud, I’ll tell them. Unabashedly, I hope. My text goes unanswered and I’m annoyed.

I shove the rest of my clothes into half empty drawers and storm off to the bathroom. I turn the water on as hot as I can stand, strip, and step in. Letting it rain down over me as I wash away the insecurity that swells within me. Maybe I should give him a taste of his own medicine… I wonder how much he would like it if he looked for me and I wasn't there. I lather, rinse, and repeat until I feel better. Stepping out and drying off then curling up in bed, I send off a text to Victoria.

Mallory:

Hey Vic, mind if I crash at your place for a few days?

What’s going on at the mill has me feeling uneasy.

Her reply is almost immediate, someone is slacking at their job. It makes me smile. If I said that to her face, she would just jokingly tell me to fuck off.

Victoria:

Bitch, you read my mind.

I was going to ask you the same

thing at work tomorrow.

Mallory:

Aww, you do love me!

Victoria:

Shut up.

Mallory:

*hugs*

Victoria:

*Runs away screaming.*

Her reply makes me laugh and I’m excited to see her outside of work. We haven’t hung out in a while. Maybe she can give me some perspective on why Nox won’t "go all the way" with me. Right now I’m just convinced he is disfigured or something terrible is hiding beneath his clothing. I don’t think anything he could show me would have me running for the hills. I’m pretty sure that I’m all in, no matter what it is. Could this be what he wants my forgiveness on? Will he apologize for hiding whatever this is from me?

I pick up the book Ghost gifted me about a masked stalker and then plop it back down on the stack. If he doesn’t want to see me, then I don’t want to read a book that will remind me of him. My feet slap against the cold hardwood floors as I stomp across the hallway to the mini library. I swing the door open and am assaulted by the chilly air in this room. The sheer black curtains billow as the air from the swinging door moves through the room. The window is open and I’m immediately on alert. I swear I locked that window the other day.

I pull down on the frame, closing it. I click the latch into place and pull up. The window doesn’t budge, doesn’t reopen or even shift at all. The lock isn’t broken. I must have opened it and just can’t remember…right? Ghost has my spare key, he doesn’t need to climb through my window anymore...unless he wants to.

Shaking the confusing thoughts from my head, I peruse my shelves. I find one of my favourites and head back to bed. Snuggling down with my black fuzzy blanket that now only faintly smells like Ghost. I lose myself in a story of a girl who is running from her past and finds herself stranded in a spooky lighthouse with a hot Italian man and a creepy-as-shit lightkeeper.