Page 85 of Your Masked Haunting

Her face falls, her eyes and mouth pressing into thin lines. “I hate you.”

I gasp, grabbing my shirt at my chest. “You hate me?”

She nods sharply and bites down on her bottom lip. “So much.”

In one quick motion, she throws her leg over my lap, straddling me, with her hands on my shoulders.

My hands instinctually fall to her hips. “Hmm. So, you’d hate it if I did”—I grind her hips down, rolling my dick against her, which perks up at her nearness—“this?”

Her exhale catches in her throat, and she wets her bottom lip. “Oh God, yeah. Never ever do that again.”

I sigh heavily, sitting up and wrapping an arm around her back. Standing to my feet, I carry her with ease. “Well, I’d better get us to bed then. I never want to do something you don’t like.”

She wiggles in my grasp, and I tighten my hold, not letting her slip free.

“Wait, wait, go back. I do like it. I do.”

I stay silent until I get into our bedroom, and I toss her toward the bed, letting her fall a few feet through the air. She giggles once and then gasps, her eyes blowing open. Her body stiffens as she hits the bed, fear in her eyes.

Any aches she had from the attack have healed, and I didn’t even think that any roughness might be triggering for her.

Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.

I rush to the bed, taking her hands in mine. Her eyes shift to me, big and vibrant.

“Shit, baby. I’m sorry. Are you okay?”

A flash of disgust flits across her face, followed by a humorless chuckle. “Yeah, I just wish that it didn’t still affect me, you know? I’m aware, to the core, that I’m safe. That you won’t hurt me or let anyone else get close enough to try. I mean, I went most of the evening without thinking about it once. But then it just hit me out of nowhere.” She groans, angry at herself.

“Hey, it’s not a straight line. But you’re doing everything right. Acknowledging it and how it makes you feel, talking it out with someone and not keeping it all trapped inside.” I drop to the bed beside her, and she turns to me, hanging onto every word. “You’re doing incredible—you know that, right? You’re so fucking strong and brave and beautiful. Be proud of yourself because I sure as hell am.”

Tears well up in her eyes as the softest, most vulnerable smile tips her lips. I know in these moments, she prefers to show me how she feels versus telling me, and that’s exactly what she does.

Like on the couch, she plants her hands on my shoulders and straddles my lap, no distance between us.

Sliding my fingers over the curve of her hips, I can’t help but smirk, knowing there are words sitting on the tip of her tongue. “Come on. You can tell me how much you love me. There’s not a limit.”

Amusement lifts her face. “Now I’m definitely not saying it.”

I click my tongue and groan, tipping my head back against the bed. “Such a fucking brat.”

“Oh noooo,” she whines playfully, grinding her center down against me. “What are you going to do to me, Mr. Masked Man?”

“Keep you,” I murmur, digging my fingers into her sides a little harder so she can’t wiggle out if she tries. “Forever.”

Something crackles in the space between us, thickening the air, and as she parts her lips to whisper, the entire world falls away. “I want you—now.”

Reaching up, I tug at her forearms, and she crashes on top of me, her chest flush with mine.

“Then take me.”

I want her to have control right now, unless she genuinely begs me for it. I want her to set the boundaries, the rules. As hard as it might be to not bend her to my whim, I’m handing her the reins.

She hesitates, her stare bouncing between my eyes as she realizes what I mean. “I loooo—” Smirking, she cuts herself off, sealing her lips to mine to stop my smart remark. Her lips part mine, and she kisses me deeply, her tongue quickly joining the party.

I drop my hands to the bed, fisting the comforter so I don’t spin us around and pin her down.

This is for her. This is for her.