Page 24 of He Sees You When You’re Sleeping

She leans in close to the camera, her eyes sparkling with mischief. “Same time next week? I might have a special surprise for you all.”

With a wink and a blown kiss, she ends the stream. The window goes dark as she shuts off her computer, leaving me standing in the shadows, my mind reeling from what I’ve just observed.

I stand here, frozen. The silence of the night seems deafening. My breath comes in short, ragged gasps.

What do I do with this information? The Chloe I thought I knew is gone, replaced by this sultry, confident woman who bares her soul (and body) to strangers online.

I shake my head, trying to clear my thoughts. I need to leave before someone spots me. As I turn to go, my foot kicks a rock, the sound seeming to echo in the quiet night.

Suddenly, Chloe’s bedroom light flicks back on. I freeze, my heart tightens. Did she hear me? I press myself against the side of the house, praying she doesn’t look out the window.

I hear the soft creak of her window opening. “Hello?” Chloe’s voice, tentative and slightly fearful, cuts through the night air. “Is someone there?”

I hold my breath, not daring to move a muscle. Seconds stretch into an eternity as I wait, praying she’ll give up and go back inside. When I don’t hear anything, I quickly leave, running down the street to where my truck is waiting.

I slide into my truck, hands shaking as I fumble with the keys. My mind is racing, replaying every moment of what I watched. The image of Chloe, transformed into her vixen alter ego, is burned into my retinas. I can’t shake the sound of her voice, husky with desire, as she described what she really wanted from our innocent cocoa date.

I know I shouldn’t, but before I can stop myself, I’m opening the Dark Secrets app.

My fingers hover over the search bar. What name would she use? Something mysterious, sexy as fuck... I search through the most recently uploaded videos and streams, my heart racing with each attempt. Finally, I see her.

The profile picture is a close-up of red lips and a hint of that lace mask.

Username: BlackAsChlo

I click on her profile, scrolling through the content she offers. My mouth goes dry as I see thumbnails of her previous shows, each one sexier than the last. There’s a button to subscribe to her channel, to gain access to exclusive content. There’s no fee attached which tells me one thing. Chloe does this by choice. Not for monetary gain.

My thumb hovers over it, trembling slightly. This is a line I never thought I’d cross. If I do this, there’s no going back. I’ll be one of them, one of the faceless usernames cheering her on, asking for more.

But isn’t that what I’ve always been? A faceless observer, watching from the shadows?

Before I can change my mind, I hit subscribe. The screen loads, and suddenly I’m in, privy to Chloe’s secret world. I scroll through her posts, each one revealing a side of her I never knew existed.

She likes toys. I like toys.

She likes kink... so much kink. I fucking adore kink.

One video catches my eye. The thumbnail shows Chloe—no, BlackAsChlo—in a dimly lit room, her wrists bound above her head. The title reads, “Punish me, Daddy.”

My finger hovers over the play button. This is wrong. I shouldn’t be seeing this. But I’ve already crossed so many lines tonight. What’s one more?

I press play.

The video starts with Chloe struggling against her restraints, her eyes wide behind her mask.

“I’ve been a bad girl,” she says.

Her latest video is there, the one I saw in person. I hit play, my breath catching as I watch the scene unfold from a new angle.

Chloe’s voice fills my room, erotic and alluring. “I saw someone today,” she purrs, and I shiver, knowing she’s talking about me. I watch, transfixed, as she pleasures herself, describing in vivid detail what she wished I had done to her.

My hand drifts to my lap, almost of its own accord. I know this is wrong—

I can’t do this. Not yet. Not yet...

I shut off my phone, my hands shaking. The night’s revelations swirl in my mind. As I sit there in my truck, I realize that everything has changed. The game has shifted, the rules rewritten. And I’m not sure if I’m the protector anymore, or just another moth drawn to Chloe’s flame.

I start the engine again, my mind made up. I need to see her again, to look into her eyes knowing what I know now. To see if I can spot a glimmer of BlackAsChlo behind Chloe’s innocent facade.

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