Page 12

Jesus Christ.

My stomach, thighs, and vagina are sore. My entire body aches and I kind of love it. Jax showed my body things I only ever dreamed or fantasized about. I never knew what it would be like to live it. To have a man chase me until I was caught. To put pain with something normal people don’t mix it with.

I don’t know what he looks like. He refused to take off his mask, and as annoying as that is, I kind of loved that, too. Even if I threw a small fit in the middle of it.

The mystery of who he might be amazes me. With that mask on, he can be anyone. But at that moment, I wanted to see every inch of him. I wanted to see the man who was pleasing me, worshipping me. The faces he would be making while inches deep inside of me. Every single aspect of him, I wanted it. Tattoos cover him where I can see. He smells like tobacco and leather. He is muscular but not too big. I can only imagine how beautiful he is beneath the clothes and mask.

And not to mention, his friend downstairs.

Broken twigs are poking me and I’m sure I have dirt in places that I shouldn’t. Thunder rumbles in the sky and my body jerks at the sound. Jax stares up to the sky through his mask but doesn’t speak.

“I should get going,” I say as I fix my dress to cover myself back up.

“Yeah, I suppose you should,” he answers but almost sounds disappointed.

I am, too. I said I wanted this just for one night, to break free from my normal life this one time, but I think he ruined me just like I wanted. I’m never going to forget this night. How am I supposed to see or be with anyone else when I know what it feels like to be with him? For him to be inside of me. His hands on my body. How he worked with his tongue, the way he kept me on edge until finally, he let me explode like a bomb detonating.

I’ll see you in my dreams, Jax.

A man without a face will follow me when my eyes are closed. When my own fingers slip between my legs to search for something close to what he’s given me. I’m never going to find it. Moving to stand, my knees buckle, and I slip right back to the ground. Jax lets out a gruff like a dog before scooping me up into his arms.

He carries me through the woods and downtown toward my apartment. The music from the party still lingers behind us. I give him directions when he asks, and for the first time in days, I feel content and safe.

The person who has been following me is far away from my thoughts as my face nuzzles into him. A slight buzz from the alcohol still remains and Jax’s body feels like a king bed right now.

I can feel how broad and muscular he is as he holds me this way. He’s dark and steamy. A mystery beyond my understanding.

When we get to my apartment, he lets me to my feet so I can unlock the door. He’s barely out of breath even after carrying an entire human for nearly twenty minutes as if I’m just a feather off a bird.

Before I can get the door open, Jax twists the knob and opens it himself. His mask still surrounds his face. Desperately I want to pull it off. I refrain because I don’t want him to get mad again.

Ah, fuck it.

I turn around to face him, moving my face upward to see him. Lifting my hand to his face, he grabs it. Cat-like reflexes.

“You don’t like to listen,” he snarls.

“I just don’t understand,” I whisper.

“I have my reasons and one day, maybe, you’ll understand them,” he says like he’s going to see me again.

“Whatever they are you can tell me,” I pry like he owes me anything. Like we didn’t just meet a few hours ago.

Jax reaches his open hand to my face, holding my chin between his index finger and thumb.

“My secret is too big,” he mumbles. Beneath the mask, I almost couldn’t hear him. I say nothing but nod my head once.

Jax lets go of my chin before tracing a finger up my cheek and around my face. He stares at me through the dark holes of his Ghostface disguise. I blink once and when my eyes open back up, he’s gone as if he was never even here.

His last words rattle around my head, repeating like a broken record.

My secret is too big.

What is too big of a secret that he can’t share it? That he can’t show his face?

The only light in the room is the moon shining through the windows, which gives my apartment an eerie feeling. Every time I step inside here, all I can think about is the times I found gifts left or the feeling that someone has been watching me. I shake my head clear of the dark thoughts and emptiness inside me that I feel from Jax leaving. My weak legs carry me to my bedroom, where I stare into my body-length mirror as I pull the dress from my skin.

My corset was left in the forest along with my witch hat. Articles of clothing I no longer need, but I want them. I want them just because Jax touched them and I want— no, I need, that reminder of him.