Page 38 of The Masked King

“What did I get wrong?”

“The gem is purple, like an amethyst.” She’s teasing me now. “And no tank.”

“White panties?”

“Uh-huh.”

“Are your nipples hard?”

“So fucking hard.” Her voice is husky.

“Are you touching them?” My erection is busting through my pants.

“Yes. I licked my finger and now they’re wet.”

I slide my right hand out from under me and rearrange my cock inside my boxers. “Can you come any closer?”

“Yes.”

I hear her movements. I couldn’t hear her before, not even when she tried to snatch the robe back from me the last time I was in this room, and an image pops into my head of her chained to the wall like a prisoner to prevent her from getting too close.

What the fuck!

I drag my other hand out from under my thigh and clench my fists. And my jaw. And every other fucking part of me that’s sending warning signals straight down to my rapidly deflating cock. Now that I’ve imagined it, I can’t un-see it.

“I want you to take off your panties, Nyx. Will you do that for me?”

“Of course.” No hesitation.

Maybe I’m so far off-track, I’m ploughing through the bushes on the side of the road, but I lean towards her voice anyway, careful to keep my hands close to my sides.

And there it is, the heavier than usual exhalation as she steps out of her panties.

“Do you want to touch them, Brian?”

Silly question. I’d take them home and sleep with them on my face if I thought I could get away with it, but I’m sure that will break a previously undisclosed JADED rule.

“No. I want you to put them back on.”

She hesitates, but we both know she’ll do it.

I lean closer, sitting on the edge of my seat and squinting into the all-consuming darkness. She takes her time, and maybe my imagination is playing all kinds of psycho tricks on me, but I swear she holds her breath while she steps back into them and then releases it sharply.

“Now take them off again.”

“Is this a new game?”

“You could call it that.”

I feel bad, but I’m playing along for the assholes who made the rules. I need to know that she’s alright, and I’m fucked if I’ll give them any reason to hurt her again. Because I’m almost convinced that’s what has happened to her and it’s the reason why the red light was on for the past three nights.

I listen, but I don’t hear anything.

“Where are you?”

“I’m right here, Brian. I’ve taken them off and I’m holding them in my hand.”

“Come back.”