Total pages in book: 76
Estimated words: 72090 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 360(@200wpm)___ 288(@250wpm)___ 240(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 72090 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 360(@200wpm)___ 288(@250wpm)___ 240(@300wpm)
“But she isn’t,” I argued.
“If it hadn’t been you, it would have been someone else,” Braken pointed out.
I tossed my stag mask to the ground. “It shouldn’t have been me.”
Braken chuckled. “If it was any other man, I’d be helping you dig a six-foot hole for the poor soul rather than convincing you to step away from the cliff.”
“I’m not going to jump. That would be too easy. I deserve to pay penance for what I did tonight, not be put out of my misery.”
“You fucked her. No sin in that.”
I turned to face him. “She’s Gabriel’s daughter, dude! I fucked my best friend’s daughter, and she doesn’t even know it was me. And I didn’t just fuck her. I lost control. I took all of her. All. I treated her like an animal!”
Not fazed in the slightest by my raised voice and the visible rage that shook me, Braken casually asked, “Would you have preferred her to know it was you?”
“Fuck, no. How would we ever move past that?”
“It was one night,” Braken said. “Did you scare her? Did you achieve your goal?”
“I sure as fuck hope so.” I ran my fingers through my hair. “I just left her there in the dirt. Alone. Cold. Taken and abused. I sure as fuck hope she learned her lesson from that and would never turn the red light on again.”
Braken shrugged. “So we move on. That’s what the night is about. One night of primal passion. You gave. She took. It’s done.” He patted my back. “Let’s go home. You can beat the shit out of yourself again tomorrow. It’s been a long night. No regrets, my man.”
“No regrets,” I mumbled, reciting a chant he and I had been saying since we were kids. It was our motto for when we fucked up but there wasn’t anything we could do about it after the fact.
And the truth of the matter was that part of my black soul didn’t have any regrets. I fucking should have. I should. But I had dreamed of what had happened tonight.
I’d dreamed of Storee’s sexy body. I’d dreamed of her scent. Her sounds. Her touch.
I dreamed of her warmth. Her hotness. Her tightness. Her wetness. Her moans. The list went on and on…
But it wasn’t supposed to happen like it did.
Not The Hunt. Not where I was the hunter and she the prey.
And then when it was all over, I’d just left her there. Alone in the dirt.
“I’ll see you tomorrow,” I said, picking up my mask.
I spun on my heel and stormed back to her cottage. I had to make sure she got home safely. I had to watch from afar like I did every night, but this time was even more important because she had been in danger because of me.
Me.
My chest rose and fell with each step.
I was angry. Incensed. Out of control.
My hands shook.
I was the beast behind the bone mask in every way.
I was truly one of the Heathens that made up this island.
It wasn’t supposed to happen like this.
I was supposed to be her protector. I was supposed to be her savior. I was supposed to keep her away from the monsters, not deliver her to one.
But she’d put the red light on. She’d given me no choice. If it hadn’t been me, it would have been someone else. I couldn’t let that happen. She had given me no choice—
Fuck that.
I hadn’t had to actually have sex with her. I could have just chased her and scared her enough to make sure she’d never want to be part of The Hunt again. I hadn’t had to be weak and actually act like a beast.
But I did…
When I arrived at her cottage, I stood in the shadows and watched. The lights were all off. Everything was dark, but there was movement in the house.
I wanted to make sure she was okay. To make sure she was safe. I wanted to see her face, but I didn’t have the strength to walk across the street. Nor did I have the strength to go closer and tell her the truth.
That the masked man she’d fucked tonight was me.
She surprised me when she opened the door.
Her hair was tangled. Her mouth was swollen. Her eyes were red and puffy. And she was so fucking dirty.
Storee still had on her white nightgown, but it was torn. The right strap was completely ripped away. The hem revealed her thighs and the front was exposed so that I could see her breasts. I swallowed the lump in my throat and tried to look away but couldn’t.
She glanced up at the moon, out at the sea, and then scanned her surroundings as if searching for another glimpse of her hunter.
She then looked up at the red light bulb on her porch and paused.