Page 98 of Mine To Hunt

"What?"

"That’s the you I was waiting for."

I roll my eyes lightly. "Don’t get used to it."

"Too late." He says.

Despite myself, I feel a tiny bit lighter. I almost feel normal. Then suddenly… A hand grabs my ass from behind. Firm. Unwanted.

I spin around so fast the lights blur. Justin is standing there, right behind me, smirking like he thinks it’s funny. Before I can react, his hand starts moving again, reaching toward my waist like he has every right to touch me.

"Get your hands off me." I say sharply, shoving his hand away. My voice shakes despite how hard I try to keep it steady.

I step back quickly, my heart racing now, panic rising fast under my skin. My heel catches on the floor and I lose my balance, my body tilting backward.

Suddenly strong arms catch me. They wrap around me just long enough to steady me before I fall. The touch is different. Not grabbing. Not claiming. Holding.

For a single second, my body reacts before my mind does. The tension drains from my shoulders. The panic eases. There is something familiar about the way those arms feel around me, controlled, steady, protective. Like whoever it is would never hurt me.

Then the arms release me immediately. As soon as I’m steady. I turn around quickly, expecting to see who it was. Expecting it might be Al. But there’s no one there.

Just strangers. Dancing. Laughing. Moving like they’re lost in their own worlds. No one is looking at me. No one is close enough to have caught me.

My pulse jumps harder. I scan the crowd quickly, my breathing uneven. Justin is still a few steps away, watching me. Fear spikes through my chest again, sharp and cold.

I don’t wait. I turn and hurry away, pushing through the crowd, past flashing lights and moving bodies, my heart poundinglouder than the music as I make my way toward the washroom, needing space, needing air, needing distance from him before my panic shows on my face.

Inside the washroom, I splash cold water on my face again and again, trying to calm my racing heart. The water feels icy against my hot skin, but it does nothing to wash away the fear and confusion that still swirl inside me.

I look up at myself in the mirror. My cheeks are bright red and flushed, my eyes are wide open with leftover fear, and my hair is a little messy from dancing. I look like a girl who is lost and scared.

Suddenly, through the mirror, I see the masked man step quietly into the bathroom behind me. He moves without making a sound at first and closes the stall door behind him with a soft click. That small sound feels too loud in the washroom, like it echoes in my ears and makes everything feel even more dangerous.

I straighten up fast, my body going stiff with shock. My heart starts hammering hard against my ribs, so loud I can hear it in my own ears. I try to turn around to face him, but his voice stops me cold before I can move.

"Don’t turn around." He says, low and commanding, right behind me. His voice is deep and steady, the kind that leaves no room for arguing.

I stop immediately, frozen in place like my feet are stuck to the floor. He is right behind me now, so close that there is almost no room for air between our bodies.

I can feel the heat of his chest pressing gently against my back, his presence so big and strong that it makes the small space feel even smaller.

He takes a slow, deep sniff of my hair, breathing me in like I belong to him. In the mirror I can see his eyes glinting with something dark and hungry, something predatory that sends a fresh shiver through me.

From the next stall, soft moans start drifting through the thin wall. The couple in there is clearly enjoying themselves, their sounds intimate and raw. Little gasps, low groans, and the wet slap of skin against skin.

I blush hard, my face burning even hotter with embarrassment as I hear every single sound. It makes the moment feel even more wrong and dirty.

He reaches up and holds my hair gently but firmly in his hand. He pulls my head back slowly, forcing me to look straight at us in the mirror. Our eyes meet in the reflection.

"Your lips part like that when you’re scared." He says, his voice dark and filthy, sending another shiver down my spine.

"It makes me wonder how they would feel wrapped around my cock, taking me deep while you look at me with those wide, terrified eyes."

Heat rushes through my whole body like fire. Fear and unwanted arousal mix together so strong that it confuses me deeply. I feel scared, my mind screaming that this is wrong and dangerous, but my body feels strangely alive, warm and tingling in places I do not want to admit.

He asks quietly, his hot breath brushing against my ear and making my skin prickle. "Spread your legs for me."

I hesitate, my breath coming out shaky and fast. My heart is racing so hard it feels like it might burst.