Page 70 of Unmasking Her Shadow

“It’s fucking euphoric,” he replies, licking the tears from my cheek and groaning in my ear. My stomach churns, but if I vomit, I’ll suffocate. “I was getting along just fine without you to calm the beast. Each new girl became more exhilarating that the last.” He chuckles as if a memory flashes through his mind. “You wouldn’t believe the orgasm you get when you suffocate someone with your dick and come down their throat postmortem. I have an addiction, sweet pea.”

He sets the nail gun down and pulls out a knife, flicking it open, as I writhe in agony, my flesh tearing against the nails in my hands. He trails the blade over my sports bra, taunting me, before cutting it off. He sucks a nipple into his mouth when my breasts are free and bile rises in my throat. It’s useless trying to blink back my tears.

RED.

My breath stutters as he trails the tip of the blade down my stomach to the waistband of my leggings. “As scared as you look, I bet you’re still soaked. You’re just as deranged as I am.” His voice makes me sick.

I’m nothing like you.

“I never thought I’d see you again. To be honest, I stopped looking for you after the next girl came along. Until someone showed up at my house, knocked me unconscious, tied me up, and cut off my fucking finger, and the 911 call I accidentally heard was from none other than you. It was a happy accident, actually. I was monitoring closely just in case someone found where I’ve been disposing of the bodies. And then—” He pulls my leggings roughly down my legs, kneeling in front of me. “The thought of fucking your deranged cunt while slitting your throat and pinning it on your girlfriend made me so fucking hard I couldn’t see straight.”

That’s why he wore that mask and dressed like her.

“It was also a happy accident that I was in the woods when she took her mask off, revealing who she was. You ran from me, but she followed you. Lost one psycho just to gain another. How ironic. I have it all on camera, and the police will love it. Even if she can prove herself innocent, it will still be a stain on her reputation and entertaining for me while it lasts. Unless…” He pulls my panties away from my body and cuts my waistband on either side, then tugs the scraps away, leaving me bare to him with his face hovering next to my crotch. “I take the tape off your mouth and you stay quiet while I fuck you. If you do as you’re told, she will mourn her dead girlfriend. If you scream, I’ll send the video to the police, and she will be framed for murder. By the time she figures out where you are, it will be too late, no matter what you choose. Nobody will ever look here.”

I glare at him, my nostrils flaring with each heavy breath. She will find me and she will fucking kill you for touching what belongs to her.

He taps the blade against my mound, “ticktock, sweat pea.”

My hands would tear open from the weight of my body if I try to kick him. I don’t—I don’t know what to do. A wicked grin forms on his face as he spreads my lips apart and licks my clit. It’s a reaction I can’t control. With a scream, I push off the ground, bringing my knees up. The force was not strong enough to push him away, but enough to unlatch his mouth from me.

My hands. They hurt so bad.

“You taste exquisite when your life is about to end.” He rises from the ground, crowding me. “What’s it going to be? Mourning or Murder?”

His face his blurry behind the tears. I stay submissive, letting him dip his finger inside me. He rests his forehead against mine, and I flinch.

Red. I whisper into the void.

The tape feels as though it’s ripping the skin from my face. My tears should have loosened it some by now. Inhaling a discrete full breath, I scream the second my lips are no longer caged. My mouth is still open when his hand slams into me. Silencing my voice once more. I clamp down with all my might. Showing him my fangs. I’m not his pet. I’m her little wolf. Acid burns my throat the more his hot blood overloads my taste buds. He clenched his jaw, a scream bubbling up in his throat.

My head snaps to the side when he pulls free and backhands me across the face. Blood spews from my mouth and the tape doesn’t stick as well when he puts it back on, but it keeps my teeth away from his slippery flesh. Blood trickles from his fingers onto my breasts. I keep screaming. When he grips under my knee to pull my legs up, I do everything in my power to force them down. The only time I think having my ankles restrained will ever be in my favor. All the while I keep screaming. I will not make this easy for him. My girlfriend is coming. And then he will be sorry.

“Keep fighting,” he snaps. “It’s only making me harder.”

His hand keeps my head pinned to the tree, but I can tell by the movements that he is unzipping his pants. I squeeze my thighs together, and when he can’t easily push in between, he lets out a frustrated growl, squeezing my face harder. It’s not so easy doing this one-handed, huh, psycho? He squats, wrapping his arm under both of my knees, and lifts, forcing my knees to my chest and giving him the access he wanted.

“Maybe I shouldn’t kill you. Maybe I should keep you chained up in my basement so we can do this every fucking night.” His dick slides against me, but doesn’t penetrate. He has no free hand now to grip his length and guide it inside.

Bending his knees to get better access, his tip nudges my entrance and I thrash violently, pushing my legs down. It only makes him push back harder. My eyes widen when he lines himself up and prepares to thrust. I don’t know if I’m screaming or if I’m bawling. Maybe it’s both. But before he can force himself inside, a shadow crashes into him, and he’s gone.

My legs fall, and with the force, my body tugs against the nails. I pinch my eyes closed at the jolt of pain but force them open to search for the commotion. A sob of relief wracks my body when my eyes land on Nyx. My baby girl. She’s here. She’s here, and she’s shaking Tyler like a rag doll while he screams. Only his screams are those of certain death. Mine never was. I whip my gaze toward the sound of footsteps, and my entire body relaxes at the sight of Kioni.

I told you she was coming.

Her gaze meets mine momentarily before shifting to Nyx and Tyler. She runs to them, and then I see it, and my heart stops. Tyler stretches his fingers out, grabbing the knife he had dropped. I scream behind the bloody tape.

“Release, Nyx,” Kioni screams, and for the first time, she listens to her, and three rapid gunshots ring through the night. My eyes frantically search Nyx for any injuries that I didn’t even feel Ryker pull up my leggings and is now wrapping his shirt around my chest. Kioni rushes to me, searching my body the way I was Nyx. She grips the tape around my mouth, and I nod. It comes off more easily this time.

“I’m so fucking sorry it took me so long.” She’s trembling as much as her voice.

“I knew you were coming and you’re here.”

“If it hadn’t been for her, I wouldn’t have found you. I owe her my damn life.”

We both look at Nyx standing next to us, whining up at me. I wish I could pet her, but Kioni does for me.

“You’re such a good girl, Nyxie baby,” I praise, my voice hoarse from screaming.