Except now I’m thinking about that kiss, his hands on me. That heavy breathing.
When I swallow, it sounds too loud in the silence. The fridges and cases aren’t humming. Everything is too quiet.
I don’t hear anything except for thedrip,drip,dripof the espresso machine.
“The doors are all locked,” I remind myself.
I don’t know why the emergency power backup hasn’t kicked in yet.
There could be leaves on it. Once, Olive left her laptop case on top of the air intake.
He’s not watching the café.
I’m being paranoid.
Man up, Winnie.
I can’t have all the dough I have proofing in the fridge go bad.
I wait for a minute, hoping the power comes back on.
But it doesn’t.
I push through the heavy back door.
In my hand, my phone beeps.
Unknown:You can’t escape me.
What?
I look up.
A flash of lightning lights up a dark figure.
It’s him.
I can’t even scream before the huge hand reaches out to grab the back of my neck, pulling me to him so he can crush his mouth against mine through the black mask.
I push at the broad shoulders as he half carries me, my feet scraping on the pavement through the rain, to shove me back against the rough brick.
“What are you—” The sentence collapses into a moan as he shoves his hand between my legs, spreading them.
The stretchy, low-cut sweater my mom insisted I wear gives way easily as he pulls it down to nuzzle the mask against my chest.
Damn, I want his mouth on my tits.
My hips jerk as he strokes me hard through the panties.
I shouldn’t be this aching and wet from a dangerous stranger in an alley, but all I want to do is get on my hands and knees on the wet concrete and let him fuck me till he’s satisfied.
One of those huge hands tangles in my hair, forcing me down on my knees.
He pushes my face into the hard bulge in the black pants.
The words of my mother: “Be good. Don’t be a slut. The boys are just after you because of those—” She’d gesture at my boobs. “Don’t give them what they want unless you’re in a committed relationship that will lead to marriage.”
I look up at him, gazing up against the lightning-streaked sky. This… is not leading to marriage.
