Page 33
“Why?”
His hand closes around my throat. Claiming.
“Because I wanted to be the one who ruined the illusion.”
I should say something clever. Instead, I lean into him. Callum notices. The stitched mouth of his mask brushes my temple.
“Rhys taught you how to beg.”
His hand moves from my throat to my waist.
“Dante taught you how to misbehave.”
The gold ribbon shifts around my wrist as he lifts my hand.
“What are you supposed to learn from me?”
His thumb passes over the knot.
“That you were mine before you entered the maze.”
Heat gathers low in my pussy.
“That wasn’t the agreement.”
“No.”
The leather of his glove creaks as his fingers tighten around mine.
“Tonight, you belong to all three of us.”
“And after tonight?”
His body becomes impossibly still.
“That depends on whether I convince you to stay.”
The honesty frightens me more than any threat could have. This isn’t merely a performance to Callum. The mask is pretend. The obsession beneath it isn’t. I turn within his hold. Callum releases me immediately.
He stands on the opposite side of the altar, enormous and silent beneath the flannel shirt and burlap mask. Black paint surrounds his eyes, making them look like empty holes cut into the fabric.
“How long have you been watching me?”
“Since last Halloween.”
“You remembered one woman you saw outside a corn maze?”
“I remembered you.”
“Why?”
“You looked lonely.”
The answer strikes somewhere uncomfortably deep.
“I was surrounded by friends.”
“You were still lonely.”
