Page 9 of Mask & Strap
Terror of being chased mixed with the fear of never seeing her again.
WHAT IF I NEVER SAW HER AGAIN?
JAX
Slade copiedmy mask set up — only changing the color. Last year I wore a white shirt with a black sports bra underneath. What does she do this game? The same damn thing. I’d brought chains for special effects the year before that… then, you guessed it, so does she.
All of that aside, I didn’t give a shit if this poser-asshole wanted to wear my skin. What I did care about is now she wanted my girl. My prey, marked with my green X, and this fucker completely ignored it. Not only that, now she had the audacity to chase us down and challenge me?
“You’ve made a lot of shitty decisions tonight, Slade. I’ll give you one chance to walk away.”
Swinging her chain, she rubbed her jaw. “I don’t think so, Jax. I’d rather find out for myself what’s so special about the kitty cat girl. She’s captured your attention, so she must be pretty great. I suppose I’ll find out.”
“You won’t be able to fucking breathe if you so much as go near her.” I threatened. Though as the words formed, I realized it wasn’t a threat, it was the truth. I’d gotten into plenty of fightsbefore, in fact, fighting was one of the main reasons I liked the Halloween games. Sure, the potential for primal play and sex was nice, but the primary draw for me was the fighting, the chase, the risk.
The lure of a fight was appealing.
The threat of harm to this naive, pretty Little Birdie girl, however, had me seeing red. How this sweet, wide-eyed doe of a woman had gotten under my skin so quickly, I had no idea, but the need to protect her was raging fiercely within my bones.
The need to fuck her, to strap her down until she screamed my name, was also pretty fucking fierce.
Birdie was mine before she stepped into the parking lot. She just didn’t know that yet.
“Come on, Jax,” Slade approached, swinging her chains, her crew standing back. “It’s all in the name of the game. Ring masters can challenge each other at anytime. We know you love a good fight and a slutty girl to chase.”
My fists clenched at my sides, and I gritted my teeth together. “One step closer, Slade, one more word about my girl, and I swear to god you’ll be breathing out of a fucking tube.”
“There’s plenty of other girls here,” Slade leered.
“There are, so go find one,” I threatened.
And then the wanker did it — she stepped closer, flinging her chains back like she was going to fucking bitch slap me with metal. Catching the silver links in my fist, my rage doubled over, and I pulled her close to me. So close, I could see her eyes through the glow of the blue copycat mask. The flash of fear that passed her gaze when I lifted my fist and let go of control, landing a punch that broke the tie of her dumbass mask right off.
With a grunt, Slade fumbled backward. Her crew motioned forward, asking permission to come at me, but she waved them off. Instead, she charged, hitting me in the abdomen. Air knocked from my lungs, replacing my oxygen with fiery hate.
My punches landed against muscle with each hit, while this jackass didn’t know where to target a blow or how to make maximum impact. It took five minutes before she was on the pavement, and I wailed at her bare face.
“You’re going to need a mask to cover up the shit I’ve done to your face,” I exhaled when I was done. Getting up, I grabbed her mask and tossed it onto her ribs as she rolled over in pain. “Leave what’s mine alone. Got it?”
She nodded, letting out a cough of defeat as her crew rallied around her to help.
My knuckles ached with the glorious aftershocks of violence as I stalked through the fog. Fellow predators only moving out of my way. All I wanted now, with fresh adrenaline and the glowing satisfaction of finally kicking Slade’s ass coursing through my veins, was to find my target.
My prey.
My frightened little bird.
Her weak, tiny arms pushing against me as I had my way with her.
Nowasn’tred, and I’d stop for nothing less than her safe word.
She knew it and liked it.
I liked it, too.
I liked her.
NOW THE BEST PART OF THE GAME COULD BEGIN. NOW, I COULD FIND HER, CATCH HER, AND FUCKING STRAP HER.
