“Ri-i-ight.” He dragged out the word. “Cade Armanelli doesn’t let go of something he wants.”
“We don’t know that he wants anything more from me,” I said quietly.
“He does. And I’ve read that the man could have single-handedly managed the hacking of this election, Izzy. He’s a freaking god amongst us, even if we want to pretend he’s not. He won’t let you go.”
I rubbed my eyes and then swore because of the makeup I’d put on. “Get more shots, Lucas. We’re going to need them.”
Our night should have progressed into a blurry fun mess, but instead, Lucas told me he was going to the bathroom and that I should stay put.
Instead, I decided to wander around and see if I knew anyone. Most of our team hadn’t mentioned coming out to the Halloween party, but I knew people had to let off a little steam.
It was only minutes later that I saw that mask.
It was in the corner of the club, hidden so well that most people just passed by him. But I felt his eyes. His dark stare. My whole stomach clenched in fear, anticipation, and hunger.
Cade Armanelli had shown up in that same Scream mask from our last pre-Halloween event at Stonewood Enterprises.
Not even a second later, the lights cut out in the whole club.
Screams rang out, and I gasped when, a second later, someone grabbed me. I jerked away, ready to fight until I heard the gravel in his voice close to my ear. “Fight me, dollface. We’ll both enjoy this more if you do.”
“Are you kidding me right now, Cade?”
He shoved me up against the club wall as people milled around, trying to get their bearings in the dark. “Why would I kid about fucking that pussy? The lights are out for a reason.”
“Jesus, that was you?” I glared at him and then hit his dark shoulder.
His head lowered in the mask, and I shivered as adrenaline coursed through my veins. He leaned in and whispered against my ear. “You like the mask, baby doll? Want to fuck a stranger instead of the guy you’re trying your best not to love?”
Love.
I knew I loved him. It was the reason my soul felt alive right then, why my skin felt the shock of his touch. His hand was at my thigh, and I whimpered. “People are going to notice, Cade. There’s no music or anything. We can’t do this.”
It only took a moment of him sliding his phone out and pressing a few buttons for the music to blast on with a few of the strobe lights. People screamed in celebration, and then his hand dropped his phone back into his pocket, only to pull out that switchblade he always carried with him. “Now, I’m pretty sure I can do what I want to the woman in black.”
“I thought we weren’t playing my silly game?” I lifted a brow.
“Aren’t we? You’re at the club, showing off half a dress, talking to any guy who holds you hostage, in a mask.”
“Hardly showing it off when the lights are out.”
He chuckled. “Exactly.”
The fucker had done it for that very reason, I bet.
“I’m done.” I tried to push past him, tried to play it off as him being ridiculous. It was my best excuse to avoid my heart beating so fast that it might jump out of my chest and into his hand where he’d have control of it, where I’d never get it back.
Yet, Cade wasn’t done with me. And Caden Armanelli had come to play. He grabbed my hair and shoved me against the wall, then put his knife at my neck. “Did I say you could be done? Do you think you get to walk around swaying that nice ass for someone other than me?”
My nipples pricked and my breathing hitched as I felt my heart jump into his hands and saw how he held my life in them too.
“Look at how hot you look when someone threatens your life. How wet are you, dollface?”
I chewed my cheek, not wanting to answer but knowing it may be the wettest I’d ever been.
He pushed the knife farther into my neck. How people just walked by with no concern for a woman up against the wall was beyond me. “Answer me. Or say stop, Izzy. Tell me now if you’re ready to play.”
I lifted my chin. “Not wet enough,” I answered and smirked at how the grip in my hair tightened.
“You’ll pay for that,” he growled. “Unzip me, baby. And work my cock into you. I want to feel your pussy milking me, strangling me, squeezing me.”
Social etiquette was gone. The fact that we were in public meant nothing. All I saw was him. This man knew how I wanted it, how I would beg for him to take me in the most fucked-up ways, and how it would turn me on. He accepted the twisted part of me and knew when to grab hold of it and not let it go.
I unbuckled his pants and drew him close. He took one step toward me like he was shielding us from the world. With his big hoodie on and his back to everyone, he practically was.
I pushed my panties to the side and guided that thick length to me. I rimmed my folds with his pre-cum, and he let out a low hum while I whimpered. Then I whispered, “I missed you, Cade.”
And he dug that knife just a bit deeper. I felt the pinch and the skin break. A beautiful dark crimson ribbon of blood dripped down, down, down into my cleavage and he took that moment to lift his mask. Cade watched the red, his eyes full of possession and darkness before he dipped his head low to lick it from my chest. My whole body quaked at the feeling, completely hypnotized by the way he expertly lapped it away. Then, he pulled the mask back in place and I couldn’t refuse myself anymore. Giving in to what I wanted, I wrapped one leg around him and mounted his cock.
He thrust in immediately too, fucking me with that mask in my face—haunting me, consuming me, owning me with a goddamn knife to my throat. I was lost to him, and I wanted to be. It was wrong and I didn’t want to be right.
We both moaned and reached our orgasms fast, him coming inside me like it was the only place to be and me clenching around him like I needed his fucking dick to survive.
After a moment, he stepped back, and I gasped at him taking away his cock and the knife. It was a monumental loss.
I stared as he readjusted the bottom half of my dress and then zipped up. “You’re mine, Izzy Hardy. Even if I have to mask up to have you.” He left me then.
I didn’t know what to do other than stare after him.
It took me a good five minutes to make myself move. When I found Lucas, he’d been drinking without me, and I was about ready to catch up.
23
Cade
I’d just fucked up on a royal level.
It was why I didn’t deal with bullshit and relationships outside of a close circle of family and friends. I could fuck a woman, sure. Hell, I’d done that countless times. I’d told myself I wouldn’t get serious with her. My brother and my cousins were already married off. One of us had to stay sane. It was supposed to be me.
Yet, making love to Izzy in that cabin was asking for a shit storm, because I couldn’t see into the future without her now. Somehow my clothes still smelled like her, my mind still heard her, and my body still damn near ached for her.
In the office today, I’d considered messing up her prim-and-proper pencil skirt. It had my cock twitching just thinking about it. And when I saw that she’d changed into that sinful dress that swayed with her hips and showcased her tits and nipples when she was aroused, I was a goner.
I’d have followed her off a cliff. And going to that damn club was the equivalent. I shouldn’t have fucked with the electricity of a club for anything. Normally, I was controlled, efficient, and didn’t mess with regular society if they weren’t a sever threat. It was a line I didn’t need to cross.
Yet, men seeing the way she looked would have had me blacking out a whole city block.
I didn’t know why. I could get pussy anywhere. But this one was golden.
Goddamn, I was stupid to have thought I’d be able to quit her cold turkey after the retreat. Quite frankly, I didn’t want to quit her at all. After seeing her pain and the way she’d carried it all on her own, I found for the first time I didn’t want to see someone squirm. I didn’t want her to be uncomfortable. I wanted to shoulder the weight with her, to show her that she could handle it all.
And if she couldn’t, I’d be there to handle it with her. Because I saw how impulsive she could be, how she dealt with her feelings around me, how she needed an outlet. I gave her that. And it kept her sane while she kept me humane. Without her, I would watch the world burn and not give a single fuck so long as my family wasn’t involved.
She made me want to see our world succeed and thrive. It wasn’t just a job to me now.
But without me, she was chaos. She needed me to push her, to pull out the real her. Without the real Izzy, the world was less brilliant, less crazy, and so fucking boring.
Even if she hid it from the world, she couldn’t quite hide it from me. Izzy was a mess.
Dirty.
Filthy.
Chaotic.
Beautiful mess.