winter
the worst christmas present ever
. . .
lark
“Come out to play, sweetiebird.”
The distorted voice snapped my eyes open.
I couldn’t move.
Something heavy was on top of me. Wait. Not something.
My heart thrashed.Someone.A much larger, heavily muscledsomeonehad me pinned to the bed with the full weight of his body.
The room was nearly pitch black. I’d fallen asleep in the Tourmaline Penthouse, and no light from the surrounding Vancouver skyline reached this high.
But I didn’t need light to see him.
He wore an LED mask. The full-face kind we banned at Barrington Prep after Halloween because they scared the younger day students. Back in October, I’d confiscated one from a sophomore boy and turned it in to the office. At the time,I hadn’t fully understood why the elementary kids were so frightened of seeing someone whose face was fully covered.
Now I did.
That student’s mask had shown raining pumpkins. A little animation loop, harmless and silly.
The one hovering over me now had a glowing red skull, with two Xs inside its eyeholes.
What in the…
I opened my mouth to scream, but a gloved hand clamped down over it. My attacker’s hand was so wide, it covered my chin, pushing into my nostrils, filling my nose with the sharp, chemical-rich scent of expensive leather.
“None of that now, sweetiebird,” the distorted voice chastised.
The sound of it sent an icy chill down my spine, sharp and involuntary.
I knew the mask had to feature some kind of voice modulator, something that flattened his tone into static and gravel. But that observation didn’t make it any less terrifying.
“If you scream, someone might interrupt our playtime,” he said with a calmness that chilled me even further. “And we wouldn’t want that.”
Playtime...
He was so heavy I could barely breathe, but the primal part of my brain still made me try to fight, only to discover I couldn’t. He’d bound me. Both wrists. Both ankles. In silken rope.
He must have tied me up while I slept, naked, leaving me spread-eagled and fully exposed beneath him.
Damn that headphone sleep mask.I absolutely needed it to calm my brain, especially during hotel stays. But my deep sleep playlist had obviously worked too well. An intruder had gotten in, tied me up, and positioned himself directly between my legs, all without waking me.
I yanked hard at the bonds, but all I accomplished was a grinding squirm with no give that only served to lodge his body deeper into mine. He wore trousers, but I could feel him. Hard and thick behind the fabric. Hot, even through the clothes.
“You done fighting me?” he asked. Even with the distortion, he sounded amused. “Can I uncover your mouth without you screaming? Nod if you’re going to be a good girl for me.”
My heart pounded. My whole body vibrated with panic and fear. But what choice did I have?
I nodded.
“Good girl.” He peeled his hand away, and though I couldn’t see his eyes behind the mask, I felt them scanning my face. A brutal caress.
