Page 15 of Underneath the Mask

She disappears for a moment and returns wearing a soft silk robe. The filthy little tease couldn’t give me the satisfactionof laying there practically naked, reading the dirty Halloween romance I left for her. I’ll be sure to punish her for it later. I lean back in the leather office chair and watch as she settles in to read. Mmmmm, I can’t wait to see her reaction when she gets to my note.

It takes her just under twenty minutes to reach my note and when she does, she immediately slams the book down, looking around the room nervously. I laugh. It’s time. It’s finally fucking time. I let her panic for a moment longer, then using an app to scramble my number, and flipping on the voice disguiser in my mask, I call her.

She lets it ring to voicemail, so I call a second time. This time she answers.

“Hello,” she says nervously.

“Hello, Masterpiece.” I rasp.

“What do you want? Why are you doing this?” Her voice cracks.

“I want to play a game, Amanda.” I stroke my cock as we speak.

“Leave me alone,” she shouts.

“I only want to ask you a few questions,” I reply, knowing at any moment she can hang up on me and ruin all my fun.

“No!” she yells.

I ignore her, asking anyway. “Do you like scary books, Amanda?”

The line is quiet. She says nothing for a moment, creating a long pause. “Yes,” she answers.

“Let’s play a game. I’ll tell you about one of the books you’ve read this month and you guess which one I am describing.”

“I don’t want to play. Leave me alone. The doors are locked, so are the windows, and my boyfriend is on his way home,” she quips.

“What if I’m inside the house, Amanda?” I ask, taunting her.

“You can’t be inside the house because I set the security system, asshole.” She snaps.

“You mean this security system that I just disabled?” I flip the system from armed to unarmed with the app on my phone.

“Fuck you, asshole. My boyfriend will be home any minute,” she yells.

“Oh, tsk tsk tsk, Amanda. A pretty girl like you shouldn’t lie. We both know he’s never going to make it home unless you cooperate.” I pause dramatically for a minute. “Oops, I guess only I knew that. Oh well, now we both know, so how about that game?” My voice is dripping with danger.

On the other end of the phone line, I can hear her breathing intensify. She’s probably checking the app right now and finding it disabled. I wait to hear her scream, but nothing happens.

“What’s wrong, Amanda, cat got your tongue?” I laugh.

“Fuck you, I’m calling the police,” she shouts.

“Oh, you will fuck me, don’t you worry, little slut. I’ve been watching you and I know about all those nights alone with your toys. Don’t you remember, I know all about what a needy little whore you are—or have you already forgotten the night we spent together at the gym?”

The line goes dead. Beneath the mask, I smile. It’s finally fucking time.

nineteen

8:00 PM

Amanda

I’m paralyzed with fear, but only for a moment. The world is moving in slow motion until the initial wave of crippling terror passes, and the world speeds up around me again. I lunge for the bedroom door in an attempt to lock myself inside. I’m not fast enough. The realization hits me just as I reach the door handle and see the glow of the mask. Two X’s mark the spot where the eyes should be. The tall, rugged figure fills the door frame once more. Except we aren’t at the gym this time, and there’s no chance of anyone coming to rescue me. He’s wearing his signature outfit: a pair of gray sweatpants and a black zip-up hoodie. His muscular body is so close I can reach out and touch it. Part of me wants to.

I might be sexually frustrated, but I’m not stupid. Instinctively, I try to slam the door in his face, but his arm flies out, stopping it. He’s not even trying to use his strength against me, but the door kicks back, sending me falling to the ground from the force. As soon as I recover, I crawl away from him. Itdoesn’t matter. I look over my shoulder and see him step into my bedroom, locking the door behind him as he does.

“Mmmmm,” the masked man rumbles. “You’re crawling in the wrong direction, Amanda, but I’ll allow it for now, since I have a damn good view.”

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