Page 200 of Fighting Chance

I’m laughing too hard to realize where she’s taking us but suddenly the guy with the chainsaw is back and I’m not laughing anymore as he revs it.

Now I’m the one pulling Layla through endless halls and doors.

Left, then right, a corridor, another hallway. I’m trying to lose the actor when I spot an almost hidden door and decide to pull us through it. I have no idea if it’s a large closet or a small room, but either way, I’m just glad I can have a moment to catch my breath.

“I can’t?—”

I gently place my hand over Layla’s mouth, or where I think her mouth is under the mask, as I hear footsteps moving down the hallway. Big heavy boots stomp along the hardwood floors as a chainsaw roars, the low hum a thing of nightmares.

Holding my breath, I don’t let go of Layla as he seems to come to a stop outside the doors. My chest begins to burn, my lungs demanding oxygen, and I swear I’m going to pass out, but then the actor revs the chainsaw again and takes off down the hallway.

Dropping my hand from her face, I lean back against the wall and take a deep pull of air.

“What happened to hunting me?” comes Layla’s soft voice.

“Looking forward to it, were you?”

“Desperately.”

My chuckle is dark and low. “Want me to hunt you now, sunshine?”

Her next words make my heart skip a beat.

“I think you’ve already captured me.”

Swallowing thickly, I move forward in the cramped area, invading Layla’s personal space and forcing her head backwards. Her chest begins to rise and fall rapidly, now for another reason entirely than being frightened.

“You liked that, didn’t you?”

Her chin tips up. “You were laughing too.”

“No, sunshine. I think you liked that in adifferentway,” I whisper, placing a hand on her hip and squeezing. A surge of heat races down my body as she sucks in a hiss of air. “How wet are you?”

The words are out of my mouth before I can take them back. I expect her to cuss or slap me—either is appropriate, really—but what she says instead makes me fucking groan. “Profusely.”

“Has this lived up to your dark romance fantasies?”

“More than I ever could have dreamed.”

The sounds of the horror house fill the space, mingling with our heavy breathing as we listen to the screams of others in the far-off distance.

Ever so slowly, I let my fingers travel up the side of her stomach, inch by inch. Once my hands reach the swell of her breasts, she arches her back, seeking me out.

But not yet. I want her begging.

I need to hear those words.

Moving my hand over her collarbones I slide my wandering hands beneath her mask and pull it off, revealing my sunshine. The woman that has plagued my thoughts for what feels like eternity. Time didn’t even begin until she walked into my life.

Her pupils are wide, the icy blue I’ve come to love nowhere in sight, her cheeks flushed from exertion. She darts her tongue out to lick her lips.

“Are you done?” I ask, my voice shockingly deep.

She blinks. “With?”

“Pretending you don’t want me.” I push in further; she has nowhere to go with the desk in this room at her back, and it forces our lower bodies to align. I know she can feel me, can feel how turned on I am right now. “Pretending you don’t feel for me what I do for you.”

She swallows thickly, her eyes all but pleading with me.