“Good. Now, was that so hard?” my mother says. “Be there at seven, and don’t be late.”
And with that, she ends the call, leaving me gaping at Knight with my chest heaving. “What the fuck just happened?” I breathe, gasping for air as my walls tremble with aftershock, my legs flopping heavily down against the couch.
“I think,” Knight says, climbing up over me and pressing a kiss to my clammy forehead, “you just agreed to have dinner with your mother.”
“Shit,” I sigh. “That’s what I was afraid of.”
13
HARPER-RAYN
Well, Diesel was right about one thing: Ace hasn’t let me live down the Little Red incident. And no, I can confirm that my multiple intense orgasms didn’t strip the color off that thing. It did, however, leave me feeling as though I’d run ten marathons back to back. I’ve never been so physically exhausted in my life.
It’s only been a few days since my dignity was stolen by the devil vibrator, and since then, Ace has spent every waking moment sending me memes of tongs, stuffed turkeys, and vibrators having a mind of their own. And sure, it’s not ideal, but I could have handled it right up until he opened his big mouth and told Izzy about it.
Ace’s trolling is nothing compared to the fresh hell she’s been giving me. The woman can’t even say hello without bursting into hysterical laughter. But I get it. If the shoe were on the other foot, I would have done the same thing.
It’s first thing on Wednesday morning, and while most of the population is only just waking up to start their day, I’m currently dragging my feet down the hallway after a long night at work.
It was great. Work always is, apart from the time when my brain is telling me that the janitor is my murder-inclined masked stalker, and I spent an hour trapped inside the refrigeration unit, kept company by a bunch of dead bodies. It wasn’t exactly my finest moment. Either way, I had a great night. There’s nothing quite like getting into the zone and doing my thing.
We’re still trying to catch up from the four weeks I was off, but with me back on track, we’re quickly making up for lost time. I’ve been working my ass off. The only problem is, come the end of my shift, I’ve never been so exhausted. Hell, I love Knight and love every second I get to spend with him, but when he called to say he was heading into work, I was relieved. All I want to do is sleep. Don’t get me wrong, Knight would have insisted that’s exactly what I do, but I wouldn’t have. I would have rolled over in bed, snuggled into his chest, and before I knew it, I would have been rocking his world. It’s a serious issue.
Today, though, I get to strut down this hallway, take a long, hot shower to wash off the stench of death, and then climb into bed and sleep until Knight gets home after his shift this afternoon. It’ll be amazing.
A yawn rips out of me as I make my way into our bedroom and pull off my scrubs, carelessly dropping them on the floor as I stride through to the en suite bathroom. I shower for what feels like forever, and by the time I’m stepping out of the shower and pulling my towel around me, I can barely keep my eyes open.
I trudge out of the bathroom, letting a wave of steam waft out behind me, and just as I go to cross the room to our walk-in closet, a figure by the door brings me up short.
My head whips up, my eyes widening in surprise as I find my stalker watching me, his vampiric mask just as terrifying asalways. His stare seems to cut through my skin like lasers as my heart races with fear.
The last time I saw him, he was stabbing a blade into my waist, and now . . . Who the fuck knows? I’ve angered him by not being easily accessible in my old apartment, so he knocked me out in the back of my car and taunted me by leaving the rose on the doorstep. What more could he possibly want?
I immediately back up, but what’s the use? He’s blocking the one exit out of the room, unless I were to throw myself out the window, and while it sounds extreme, there’s nothing I wouldn’t do to save myself. He’s already proven how violent he can be, that taking my life isn’t something he’d think twice about, and with no weapons at my disposal, I’m not left with many options.
“What do you want?” I spit, clutching my towel tighter around me, while having uncomfortable flashbacks of the moment my imaginary stalker showed up in my apartment bedroom. I was wearing a towel just like this, my hair damp from my shower. He had touched me, pushed his fingers inside me as that dark stare locked onto mine through my mirror. It was terrifying. Yet, while he made my body come alive, something inside me knew that he wasn’t there to hurt me. This is not the same.
The stalker laughs and takes a step into the room, making my blood run cold. “Oh, you’ve been such a naughty little kitten.”
The fuck?
“Moving in with your boyfriend,” he continues. “You threw me a curveball. You belong entirely to me, so you must understand how you’ve upset me. You need to be punished.”
“I don’t belong to you,” I spit, anger coursing through my veins like molten lava. “He’s going to find you, and when he does, you’re going to regret ever laying a hand on me.”
He laughs, and the sound makes my skin crawl, but not as much as when he takes another step into the bedroom, hisconfidence unwavering. “Oh, you poor, delusional little girl. He won’t find me. He won’t even get close.”
I scoff as my gaze darts to the window, wondering just how quickly I’ll be able to throw myself through it. “I’m delusional?” I argue back, all but laughing at his audacity. “Knight is the best SWAT officer in the country. You’re sitting way too high on your fucking throne if you think for even a second that he won’t slaughter you for everything you have done to me.”
“Oh, I don’t doubt it. I know what he would do to me. I know everything about him. So tell me, kitten, if he’s so good at what he does, why hasn’t he found me yet?” He takes another step, and then another, closing the distance as my body begins to tremble with fear. “Why hasn’t he come to defend your honor, huh? Could it be because you haven’t told him? Because deep down you don’t want this to end? You know you belong to me, kitten. You fucking love the thrill every time I show up in your life, and you can’t deny it. I see it in your eyes. You want me to touch you.”
“Holy fucking shit. And they call me crazy,” I say. “You are seriously messed up in the head if you think for even a second that I want your filthy hands all over me. You’re nothing.”
He scoffs, his happy little delusion keeping him from believing a word I say.
“You want to know why I haven’t told Knight about you?” I ask, watching the way he watches me. “It’s because you don’t matter. You’re nothing to me. When you’re not around, I don’t even remember that you exist, because next to him, you’re a joke. He is all the man I will ever want or need, and you . . .You’re a fucking joke. You’re a loser in a mask who has to threaten women to get their attention. You’re not a man, you’re literal vermin.”
Rage flashes in his stare as his gloved hands ball into fists at his sides.
