The crash is loud.
I jerk and face the open doorway to the guest bedroom. My eyes are glued to the hallway as I clutch the phone tightly in my fingertips. It’s probably just the dog knocking the wine bottle off the counter. Wouldn’t be the first time. And she isn’t barking, so it can’t be an intruder.
But my heart pounds in my chest as if it doesn’t understand the logic my brain has, and it’s thumping so hard that it hurts just to breathe. Listening intently, I hear nothing. No one. No dog. Just…silence. Picking up my wine glass, I stand and use my toe to push the dresser drawer shut.
Cleaning up that mess is going to be a pain in the ass, but at least it’s on the tiled floor. I hit the light as I leave the room and step into the hallway. A chill runs up my spine and down my arms, rippling goosebumps in its wake. I frown as I reach the top of the stairs and freeze.
A figure, dressed in all black and covered head to toe, stops halfway up the stairs, staring at me. Their face is covered in a black leather mask, and all I can see are dark brown eyes glued to me. We’re both frozen on the spot, staring wide-eyed at each other as if this isn’t supposed to be happening.
And it isn’t.
I grip the phone tightly in one hand and drop the glass of wine with the other as I spin on my toes and race toward the guest bedroom. I can’t scream. No sound escapes my lips as my feet push into the carpeted floor.
Heavy footsteps pound on the stairs behind me as I swing into the guest room and race toward the closet, sliding to the ground and right behind my wedding gown. It’s the best place I can find quickly. I hit the phone, lighting up the numbers, and try to put in the passcode. My finger slips and hits the wrong number. Fuck, I need to call the cops.
The door to the closet slams against the wall, opening with a loud bang.
I bite my lip and hold my hand over my mouth, keeping every sound as quiet as possible, trying not to breathe too damn loud. My heart thuds so hard that I swear it’s impossible to hide without being heard.
Whoever’s in my house says nothing. Their steel-toed boot hits the carpet right next to my thigh, making it visible under the edge of the wedding dress. I bite my finger hard to keep silent. The sound of fabric rustling is so loud, and it reverberates in my ears, taking over every sound I manage to hear.
The plastic on the wedding dress case moves, rustling. I hold my breath, tilting my chin up to look deep into those dark brown eyes that appear black in the darkness.
“I-I’ll give you whatever you want,” I say, my voice shaking with fear. I’ll beg, I’ll plead, I’ll do anything to save me from whatever hell is about to happen.
They stop, cocking their head to the side as they hold back the edge of the wedding dress and just stare at me. What the hell kind of burglary is this?
“I-I have money,” I add, trying to reason with them. This has to be the only way, right?
They slowly squat down, pushing the dress to the side as they move. We’re on an even level, eye-to-eye. The mask—it covers their entire face except the eyes. Even if they were to say something, I’m not sure I’d hear it clearly. What kind of burglar wears a mask like that?
“I…” My voice cracks and breaks. I’m unable to say anything else.
We still.
A sharp intake of breath reaches my ears. But is it mine? Or theirs?
They jab out their hand, cover my neck with their fingers, and squeeze hard. I reach up sharply, clawing at their gloved hand to break their grasp. But I can’t. Tears prickle at the corners of my eyes as I fight for breath. My head spins from the lack of air. I tense, pushing with my feet, fighting with everything I have until there’s nothing.
Chapter 3
February 14 - Hour 2
Air hits my lungs hard as I gasp, the sting of a leathered palm against my ass sharp and loud to my ears. Breathing regularly is impossible because everything about this is terrifying and erotic as fuck. I can’t stop thinking that if the spanking continues, I might just go weak in the knees.
That chuckle is back, and it sends a ripple of arousal through my body, as if the actual sound waves caress my skin. I hold my breath, focusing on the touch and feel as another spank lashes across my bare ass. I jerk into the wooden contraption that keeps me in place. With my legs apart, I wait. Just one more slide of fingers against my pussy, which I’m sure is sopping and swollen, and I’ll be a goner.
I shouldn’t be this turned on, should I?
Evening out my breathing, I focus.Come on, Lizzie, you can do this. I’ve heard about what it feels like to have leather inside you, the added sensation and pressure, the way my scent will seep into the fabric. I’ve dreamed about it touching my skin in just this way—the slap, the heat, the added pain. But I’ve never experienced it.
Everything was always just a dream or a fantasy, something that I read about in books.
“B-books,” I say the word, stuttering on the consonant. I’m not even sure if whoever is behind me heard me say it, but this is straight out of some book that I would have found myself reading on the couch late at night while I waited for Reik to come home.
The spank this time is hard. And it’s right against my cunt. Clenching my eyes shut, I bite my lip to hold back the moan. I don’t want to give whoever this is the sick pleasure of knowing just how turned on I am right now, of how close?—
Fingers ram inside me.
