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I swear I’ve never ever dreamed of talking like this with a man, not after everything, but somehow with him, I feel safe enough to do it.
“Why? Wanna feel it, baby bird?”
“How many pet names are you gonna give me?” I tip up my chin, staring into the mask I’ve come to hate and like equally.
“As many as I want to.” His fingers reach toward my face, tucking a strand of hair behind my ear.
“I like them. I’ve never had that.” My heart tightens in my raw and aching chest.
“Never had what?” His fist clamps against his side, then opens, like he wants to touch me again, but is fighting it, while the skin across my nape tingles from where his hands have been.
“Never had a man care enough to give me an endearing nickname…” The words cause my own heart to break.
“That’s alright, ’cause I’m here now.” The warm, dark sluice of his voice sends my stomach soaring with butterflies. “You will never need anyone else.”
The air thickens and my pulse scurries out of my throat.
I bet behind that mask, his eyes are dilated, his breaths warmer.
“And why’s that?” I ask, wanting him to say that he wants me.
What would that feel like?
He cups my jaw, his face nearing mine. “Because you’re mine, little wolf. I thought we established that.”
“Yours?” I scoff. “And how will that work exactly? We kill together, you wear your mask, and then what? You won’t take it off. You won’t let me know you. And I want to know you, whatever your name is. Because for the first time since I was rescued, I’m able to be myself with someone. Do you even know what that means to me?”
His breaths grow heavier, and he lays his forehead against mine.
“Yeah,” he husks. “I do. Because for the first time in my life, I’m able to be myself too.”
My heartbeats quicken, and my hand snaps to his mask, wanting to rip it off, wanting to kiss him. My God, the need surges so powerfully, I don’t know how to stop it.
But in a flash, he grunts and clutches my wrist in his beastly grasp. “No.”
One word. One rough word ends it.
Defeated, I lower my arm to my side and huff. “You say I’m yours, but it doesn’t feel that way, now, does it?”
“I—” he attempts, but the ringing of my phone in my duffel stops him.
I let it ring, not caring who it is, wanting to toss it into the nearest toilet just to hear what he was gonna say.
“Gonna get that?” he muses.
“Probably not.”
He removes his rubber gloves and stuffs them into a black garbage bag beside us. Before I realize what’s happening, he’s unzipping my duffel and taking out my phone.
“What are you doing?” My eyes pop and grow even wider when he answers.
“Hi there,” he says like he’s the sweetest man on the planet. “Yes, Kayla is here. She’s just getting something to eat.”
“I’m gonna kill you,” I whisper.
“I’m a friend from school, ma’am.” He pauses again. “Yes, she’s a great friend. Always has my back, and I have hers.” He nods. “I don’t want you to worry, Mrs. Jenkins. She has me now. No one will hurt her. You have my word.” He pauses. “There she is. Let me give her the phone.”
With a heated stare, I glare at him.
