a woman’s body when it’s prickling with anxious energy. Her smooth, porcelain skin has a gentle glow, and the fire in her eyes makes me smile.
“Let me out of here,” she barks once more, her voice bouncing in the night air, hovering between us. “Do you even know who I am?” I want her to tell me who she is, but I know she won’t. Her dad made sure she’s here, hidden from some asshole who wants to steal her. But I’m the one taking her now, and that’s all she needs to worry about.
Her fingers are wrapped around the cool, steel bars. Her face is streaked with raven-black mascara. She thought she was safe, walking through the maze like a tough girl, but she’s nothing more than a scared mouse.
“Are you even listening to me?” I take a step toward her, closer to the cage, but not so much she can reach for me. “My friends are—”
“You don’t have any friends here, little mouse,” I tell her, reaching into my pocket for my smokes. I don’t partake in this habit often, but every now and then, when satisfaction begs to be soothed by a cigarette, I enjoy it.
Once the cherry is burning bright, I shove my lighter into my pocket and blow four smoke rings into the darkness. Here in the corner of the maze, right where the gate is waiting for us to disappear through, I watch her for a moment longer before I speak.
“You’ve come into town and captured my attention. Not many girls who walk in or pass through here do that.”
“I don’t want your attention. And I certainly don’t give a shit what you want,” she spits, anger dripping from every syllable. If I knew she would be so sexy, I would’ve done this days ago.
“If you continue to act like a hissing snake, I may have to gag you,” I warn her. “And I wouldn’t like to do that, but it seems you may not leave me with any other option.”
“Would you like being shut in a fucking cage by some psychopath?” Her words only fuel me further. Fuck, I’d love to shove my dick down her throat to show her just what I’d like her to do.
“I would like to talk to you, and if you persist on being a rude little girl, I will get angry. And I doubt you’d like to see me angry.”
She straightens, her shoulders square, her face passive, but the small smirk that curls those plump, pink lips makes my blood heat as it races through my veins. The girl I wanted to see is slowly being let loose.
“If you knew who I am, who I really fucking am, you wouldn’t like to see me angry,” she tells me confidently. Only, she doesn’t realize I’ve been studying her this past week, and that’s the only reason she’s inside that fucking cage.
“Oh?” I ask, dropping the smoke onto the gravel before stepping on it with the toe of my shiny-black dress shoes. “Why don’t you tell me who you are?” The challenge is right there in my words.
There’s a hint of a spark in her gaze, burning bright. The flicker of a flame, the embers igniting, and inwardly, I plead with her to give me the truth. If she does, I may think about releasing her.
“I’m not a toy you can lock up and play with when you’re bored,” she tells me. “I have connections to dangerous people.” She grips the bars again, her knuckles turning white with the fierce hold she has on them. “Just let me go.”
I reach for my back pocket. Tugging the handkerchief free, I hand it to her. “Would you like me to put this in your mouth?” I wait; she doesn’t move. “If you don’t answer me, you’ll spend the night in here, and trust me when I say, nobody will venture into this corner of the garden.” The partygoers are all on the right side, all focused on the show my folks have put on. After that, they’ll head into the castle to play their annual game of hide and seek before the night slowly winds down. And once that happens, everyone will be indoors.
She reluctantly takes the material, her eyes burning with rage, as she balls the handkerchief in her hand. “I’ll do it because I want to leave here alive.” With fire in her gaze, she pushes the small ball past her glossy lips. I close the distance to the