Page 81 of When Darkness Calls

Just what I thought.

“Thank you for telling me all of this and trusting me enough to do so.”

“Thank you for being someone I can trust…all things given, ya know…with the whole masked and secret identity and slight stalker thing you have going on.” She snorts, but I don’t laugh with her.

She’s…right. There are so many things that she has turning over and over in her head, and I’m just another one she has to try to dissect, to see if she should fear me or be comforted by me. Right now…it seems I’m okay, but who knows how she may feel later, if she finds out who I fucking am?

Trust. She trusts me. The mask, Grayson, whoever the fuck, but it’s me, and if—when—she finds out…that will be ruined.

I’m looking out for her though. It started for Cade and the promise we all made, and yeah, maybe it’s changed these last few weeks, and my motivations aren’t necessarily the same. But I’m being there for her, looking out for her, protecting her…learning who she is, the person she has become, the person I might…really like.

But that aside, my mind races with everything she has said.

I haven’t seen anyone creeping around the house since I have been there. But it could just be because of all that she has been through. I sometimes even feel like there are ghosts watching me when I’m alone at my house. Products of the hand we’ve been dealt.

As for school, I don’t know. I try to keep as close an eye on her there as I can, but there’s dozens of people around her at any given moment between classes and sitting around on campus. I’ll need to tell Cade and talk to Nick. See if he knows anything about Ethan.

The guy gave me a bad feeling when I ran into him a few days ago. But he didn’t really strike me as this type of person. I just assumed it was a drug thing. The thing we’ve been trying to deal with this whole time, just another head on the hydra.

“I’ve got you, Dani. Nothing will ever hurt you when I’m around. Do you understand?”

“Nothing?”

“Nothing.”

I hear her smirk. “Not even if I ask you nicely?”

My mouth opens, but nothing comes out. I—

This fucking girl. No. No. This fucking woman. This goddess on Earth. It was like she was placed here for me. For punishment, or reward. I haven’t figured it out yet.

“Is…is that something you’d want?” I swallow thickly, the back of my neck heating. Shit, I don’t know how I even want her to answer that.

She hums. “Maybe. I think so. I suppose it would depend on how you’d like to do it. Are you an impact play kind of guy, Shadow?”

“I can be.” My voice is rough, rumbling through my chest and my mind runs through a million scenarios of the things I could do to her, for her, with her.

“Tell me. What gets you hot and bothered under that hoodie you’re always wearing?” Curiosity floods the speaker.

Is this…really happening? Are we going to talk about our kinks right now?

My dick pulses, stirring after the brief calm from the turn in conversation from earlier.

“I think you can already tell how much I like being watched…” she giggles.

Welp, I guess that’s a yes.

And I’m hard again.

“I think you can already tell I like watching.”

She laughs. “Oh, really? I hadn’t noticed.”

“Ha, ha, smartass. What happened to being a sweet girl, huh?” I smirk.

“I made no promises. But really, please tell me. There’s a lot of things I’m interested in trying, but I’m…pretty inexperienced… You, however, strike me as someone who knows what they like. Call it…morbid curiosity.”

And she waits.