“What do you think I should do with it?” the stranger asked casually, as though they were discussing their drink order at a coffee shop before their first date, instead of some wild sex video illegally filmed behind Bay’s back. “Tell you what. I’ll let you decide.”
“If I were you, I’d threaten to turn it into the university,” Bay said without thinking, shoulders pulling back when that earned him another dark chuckle.
“But you aren’t me, Kitten.”
“Whoareyou?” There were a million questions he wanted to get answers to, but he’d settle for that one for now. He needed to know exactly who he was dealing with in order to approach this situation the appropriate way. Bay had a reputation to uphold—laughable, considering the contents of the video, but still. If he didn’t cling to something logical, he’d give in to the twisted voice inside of him that urged him to stop overthinking and just follow the stranger’s commands.
What exactly did he have to lose after all? His life? He’d stopped caring about that a long time ago. A tedious existence and interactions that consisted of talking to students and coworkers about mundane and boring,safe,topics?
“Why don’t you come find out for yourself, Professor?” the voice said, and the switch in names had Bay bristling.
“Are you…You’re not a student, are you?” Bay asked again. Many of the people who came to the races were in their late teens and early twenties. Since they’d arrived at the staff dinner the other night, it was already apparent they were aware he taught.
“Trying to figure out how to handle me? I think we’re past decorum.”
“Are you one of mine?” Bay was almost certain now this was in fact a student he was speaking with. That had to give him the upper hand in some sense. He was well known for taking no crap on campus. If he approached this situation the same way he would a kid who stepped out of line in his class—
“I’m not yours yet,” the stranger drawled suggestively. “Come find me so we change that. If you don’t, I’ll take it to mean you’re not interested.”
“…And then?”
“Then I cut contact.”
Bay frowned, hating the flash of disappointment. “That’s it?”
“Should there be something more?”
“I’m just supposed to believe you aren’t going to use that video against me?”
“The one where you’re being a really bad kitty?” the stranger hummed like he hadn’t even considered that possibility before. “I only ever share my things with one other person, and he won’t be interested in watching you fucking yourself. Come or don’t come, Professor. That’s the choice tonight.”
Bay opened his mouth to further argue, but the line went dead, leaving him standing there in mild surprise.
With a choice to make.
Before he could think better of it, Bay found himself switching the light function on his multi-slate on and heading straight into the woods. The trees were towering here, their branches high enough the he didn’t have to worry about getting slapped in the face as he made his way over the packed dirt, the light shone in front of him. He had no clue how far he was meant to go, but opted to stick to a straight line, that way once he was tired of this—or came to his senses—it’d be simple enough for him to turn back around and find his way back to the parking lot.
“This is insane,” he muttered to himself as he carefully avoiding tripping over a rather large stone set in his path. The way he saw it, this could go one of two ways. The first was he gets horribly murdered on the spot, his body left to rot until some poor hiker stumbles upon it months from now. In that case, he’d be free from his emotional detachment issues.
The second way was the most likely, and also the reason he should wise up and run back toward the parking lot while he still stood a chance of getting away. An optimistic person would probably assume since the stranger had rescued them from Castle, they had only good intentions, but as a Criminal Psychologist, Bay knew better.
Predators rarely liked sharing their prey with others.
He could have been freed from one shitty situation with his coworker—who apparently called out sick all week since the incident at the restaurant—only to end up in an even worse nightmare. Watching people take advantage of someone else in porn was one thing, because that was acting. Bay hadn’t liked it when Castle had tried things with him against his will. What was to say he’d be into it if this stranger on the phone did the same?
He should turn around and run before it was too late.
Curiosity drove him deeper and deeper into the forest instead, his skin practically humming with sick anticipation.
It was impossibly dark in the woods, the wide canopy above blocking out all sight of the stars, so there was only the light provided from his multi-slate to help guide him and keep him from walking head first into a tree or a prickly bush. After several minutes, he started to wonder if this hadn’t been an elaborate hoax.
Maybe no one else was out here.
Maybe—The distinct sound of rustling leaves behind him cut that thought short and Bay stiffened, dread skittering up his spine a second before the sensation of being watched settled over him.
“Curiosity killed the cat,” a familiar voice said and Bay twisted around, eyes going wide just as a tall figure stepped out from behind a thick tree trunk. “Or, in your case, Professor, curiosity got the cat fucked.”
Being called that helped pierce through some of his fear and he straightened and cleared his throat, slipping into teacher-mode despite the fact he was dressed in racing leathers and a baseball cap. He didn’t allow himself time to consider why that last part didn’t scare him, but instead a small thrill coursed through him. “I don’t take kindly to that sort of talk. Who are you and what do you want, really?”
