Unmasked Read online

  “What do I do!?” I hiss.

  “First of all, you stop acting like a little girl,” she replies back. “It’s just sex. I know you haven’t had it yet, but it’s not that big of a deal. Second, why don’t you find a guy and chat with him?”

  “Oh, while his…thing is hanging out!?” I groan. “You’ve got to be kidding.”

  “Thing?,” she laughs. “It’s a dick. Just say it! I am going to get a drink. Do you want one?”

  “I’m only eighteen, Gina.”

  Gina’s face may be hidden behind a mask, but her eyes are still visible, and I can see the glare she’s giving me. “You think they card people here, Bailey? I’ll get you something. Wait here.”

  My pleasure. I scoot over into the corner, trying to stay as far away from the naked people as possible. Thankfully, there’s only one couple in the room actually engaging in physical activity, and they’re in the opposite corner. Then, one man gets my attention.

  He’s standing in the shadows, is tall and actually wearing an off-black suit. He gllances over at me, causing more goosebumps to emerge. There’s something different about him that I can’t quite put my finger on, but I’m still freaking out and am beyond relieved when Gina returns.

  “Hey, I gotta go for a few. I just ran into someone very important.”

  “What!?” I gasp. “No. No, no, no! You cannot!”

  “Relax! You know how to talk to people. Just be your normal, sweet, smiling self until I get back. Or you could try to step out and have some fun and go check out some of the exhibition.”

  I grab at Gina’s wrist, but she pulls away. “Geez, girl. Let me get my hustle on! I’ll be back soon.”

  I scowl back as she blows me a kiss and joins a broad-shouldered man in a crimson tuxedo. From the looks of him, I’d guess professional athlete. I watch as they take a flight of stairs to the second floor.

  And then I’m alone.

  The man in the off-black suit has his eyes on me. His mask is bone-white with golden inlays framing his bright blue eyes. His stare is piercing; he’s looking at me like he knows I’m not supposed to be here, so I quickly get to my feet and move to another room where a couple is going at it on the pool table and three girls, completely naked aside from heels and animal masks, are watching while playing with themselves.

  “Wow, wow, wow,” I mutter as I turn away. I cross the room into a small lounge and take shelter in a dark corner by the bookshelves. I try my best to ignore the two girls on the floor servicing a circle of men, but that’s easier said than done.

  “That’s an interesting scar.” I jump at the roughly masculine voice behind me and whirl to see the man in the off-black suit towering down over me. His eyes are fixed, holding me in place. “I knew a girl many years ago with a scar like that…”

  I try to calm myself by taking a breath, and then—

  That smell…

  It can’t be!

  But it is. It’s the unmistakable scent from six-years ago.

  I can barely even say his name. “Ethan?”

  His jaw is sharp, decorated with designer stubble. His suit is precisely tailored and taut over his muscular physique. His eyes, bluer than ever, are just as striking before, and his shoulders just as broad.

  “Hey, Bailey. How are you?”

  Good.

  That’s what I want to say, but I can’t. Because I’m falling…and the world is going black…

  3

  Ethan

  I almost can’t believe it.

  It’s her. The sweet, cute, innocent little girl I used to tutor has now grown and blossomed into a beautiful woman with curves more dangerous than the situation she’s put herself in by coming here tonight. Christ, why couldn’t she stay away?

  After everything I did to protect her, she just comes waltzing back into my life – right back into the lion’s den. I’ve got to get her out of here now.

  “Bailey. Bailey, wake up. You’ve got to go.”

  She looks like Sleeping-Fucking-Beauty lying on the bed beneath me. The little black dress she’s wearing has me in a fit of rage as I think about how many of the hedonist scumbags downstairs got a good look at her before I found her. How many of them were picturing her naked, or ready to come ask her to join in the debauchery?

  Goddamn it, Bailey, what the fuck are you doing here?!

  “Wake up!” I hiss, splashing water on her face. She wakes with a start and sits up, wiping her face with the back of her hand.

  “Ethan!” she exclaims. “Ethan? What—what are you doing here?”

  “No, Bailey. That’s the wrong question. The right question is what are you doing here?”

  She looks confused. She should be. “I—I came with a friend. Gina. She’s around here somewhere.”

  “Your friend brought you here? A girl?”

  Her beauty seems to radiate like a light in the cold darkness of my life. There’s something so innocent about her still. But soft…vulnerable. I’ve thought about her every day since I was forced to leave her and resigned myself to the fact that seeing her again would be impossible. But now she’s here, and I should be taking her away. But I can’t. There’s something inside me tugging, pulling, screaming at me to keep her. It’s the only time in my life a woman’s made me feel this way.

  “She said it would be fun and I could meet a guy…”

  “Meet a guy!?” I roar, rising to my feet. I have to stop myself from smashing something. That would draw too much attention from the wrong people. No. I have to keep my emotions in check. At least until she’s safe. “Christ, Bailey, you have no idea what you’ve gotten yourself into. I have to get you out of here now.”

  I move to the bookcase and thumb the secret button. The shelves swing open, and I take Bailey’s hand and lead her down the steps to the hidden exit.

  “Ethan, wait! Where are we going?”

  I ignore her. This isn’t the time to have a fucking chat. This is time to get the hell out of Dodge.

  I never thought I’d be using the emergency escape tunnel to get off the island, but I also never thought I’d be seeing Bailey again. I flip the switch to open the door to the water, then quickly untie the boat and start the engine.

  “Get in.”

  “Ethan, wait—”

  “Bailey, get in!” I snarl. She’s scared. She should be. But I can’t help that right now. Right now I have to get her safe. Then I can be a gentleman.

  Thankfully, she hasn’t forgotten how to listen to me and carefully steps into the boat. I hit the throttle and pull out into the dark waves. The cool breeze whips at my face and Bailey takes shelter behind me.

  “What about Gina?”

  “She’ll be fine,” I growl. “It’s you we need to worry about.”

  I can’t risk putting the lights on, so I cross the water with nothing but the light from the moon to guide me. When I reach the shore, I tie off and help her to the land. But as we start up the hill, she topples over and cries out.

  “Take the fucking heels off,” I growl, immediately beside her unbuckling the useless, impractical shoes. She does look fucking good in them though.

  “Ethan—”

  “Quiet. There will be time to talk later.”

  Heels in one hand, I take her by the other and lead her up the slope and through the secret path through the woods to the clearing where I’ve hidden the car. Practical, inexpensive, nondescript. Nothing anyone would expect to see me in. I stay silent as we take the trail through the property and up to the main road. Only once we’re several miles from the docks do I finally turn to Bailey.

  She looks terrified. I feel bad for a moment. It’s because of me. But if she only knew the horrors I just saved her from…

  “I’m sorry,” I tell her. The words pain me as they slip from my lips, drawing a swell of emotions I wasn’t expecting into my chest.

  “For what?”

  She knows, and I know. But I have to say it.

  “For leaving.” And there it is. The apology I
’ve been wanting to give for six long years. I’ve imagined saying those words thousands of times, and each time I imagined I would feel a sense of great relief. Instead, all I feel is more pain as the tears begin to spill from her eyes.

  “Why!?” she cries out. “Why did you leave me, Ethan!?”

  “I—I had to.” Admitting this to her is like admitting a weakness. “Or they would have taken you, Bailey.”

  “Who!? Who would have taken me?!”

  Christ. If she only knew. “The same people who would have taken you tonight if I hadn’t found you first. I can’t explain it all now, Bailey. Right now I have to get you to a safe place.”

  “And I’m supposed to trust you!?”

  My hands are burning, and I’m raging inside, but Bailey’s face is tortured with pain and fright, which makes what I’m feeling even so much more terrible. There’s only so much I can do and that kills me.

  “It killed me to leave you, Bailey,” I reply. “But if I had stayed, the consequences would have been disastrous. Trust me now, and I will explain everything. And if you don’t believe me, and really want to leave, I won’t stop you.”

  Bailey wipes a tear from her eyes and slowly nods.

  But I’m lying to her again. It doesn’t matter if she believes what I tell her next; there’s absolutely no way I can let her go. Not anymore.

  4

  Bailey

  I should be panicked and beyond suspicious about where Ethan is taking me. But I’m not. Instead, I’m doing the complete opposite; I’m falling in love.

  Hard.

  Without his mask on, he’s a vision of pure masculinity. He was already handsome at eighteen, but the years have forged him into a panty-melting man whose presence is like gravity, pulling at every fiber of my being.

  The things he’s saying make no sense. Dangerous people? Disastrous consequences? It was just a party – a really crazy party. Right?

  I’m barely holding it together as he turns up a long, wooded drive. He slows at a gate, which opens slowly to let us pass, then pulls up to a severe-looking, modern home of concrete and glass.

  “This is the safe place?”

  “As safe as we can be right now,” he replies, shutting off the car. I watch as he gets out and comes around to my side, opens my door, and extends his hand. I guess I’m supposed to take it, so I do, and walk beside him up the steps to the front door.

  I do feel safe as we go inside. He flicks a switch, and dim lights come alive, illuminating the living room. The house party may have been a secret affair, but I can’t help but feel as though I’m being let into something much more secret now – a part of his life not everyone gets to see.

  “So you want to clue me in on what’s going on now or where you’ve been for the last six years?”

  Ethan turns to me. There’s a sadness in his eyes, and I glimpse a hint of anger there, but not directed at me. It may have been years since we were last together, and tonight may have been the wildest night of my life, but if I try, I can almost make myself feel as though we’re back in a room together, hunched over my math book.

  “I had to leave you, Bailey. For your own protection.”

  “Protection…”

  “My family is…very dangerous, Bailey. I didn’t understand until I turned eighteen and my father revealed it all to me.” His voice is pained. I want to help him, but how? I can barely help myself right now. “That party tonight was one of their parties. That’s why I was there.”

  “Your family owns that place?”

  “And many others like it. A place for powerful men to engage in terrible, despicable acts.” His eyes flare for a moment with rage. He clutches a fist at his side. “And you saw the women?”

  How could I not? “Yes.”

  “Some of them were invited, but some of them…had no choice.”

  A chill hits my veins, and I’m suddenly aware of my heartbeat, strong and pounding in my ears. “Ethan, are you saying what I think you’re saying?”

  He seems to be holding back still, as though the truth is even more horrible than what he’s already told me.

  “Yes. Trafficked. Kidnapped. Blackmailed or extorted. And Bailey…many of them were taken when they were the age you were when I left. Do you understand now?”

  I feel like I’ve been punched in the chest. You read about things like this or see them in the movies, but you never really believe they’re real. My fingers are tingling, and my legs are weak, so I go over to the couch and sit down. Ethan joins me, his eyes fixed on me while I try my best to process what he’s just told me.

  “So, Ethan…you’re saying that if you hadn’t left, your family…”

  “Would have taken you,” he replies as though the words themselves hurt just to say them. “I left to keep you safe. It killed me not to tell you why. I knew you’d want to know, but I hoped you would forget about me—”

  “Forget about you!?” The absurdity of his statement breaks my stupor and pulls a laugh from my chest. “Ethan, I had the biggest crush on you. You know that, right?”

  Finally, Ethan manages to smile too, and a golden light seems to spill over me, wrapping me up like a warm blanket on a cold night. “Of course I did. I’m not an idiot. But you were just a girl then.”

  “And now?”

  Without trying to hide it, Ethan drags his eyes up my body, starting at my feet, inspecting every inch of me. When his eyes return to mine, they’re blazing. “Now you’re all woman, Bailey.”

  I open my lips as he moves in. When he kisses me, the whole world seems to bloom with that same golden glow that’s enveloped me. His hands close around my waist and pull me to him, and I fully submit. I’m ready for him to do what he will with me. In fact, I want him to do everything. All I want is to please him.

  “Jesus Christ, Bailey,” he whispers. “Look how you’ve grown. Your fucking body…”

  His voice trails off, torturing me to fill in the blank. “My body what?”

  “Belongs to a goddess.”

  I’m simply not ready to hear that. Not after all this time. Not after what happened tonight. But Ethan isn’t ready to wait for me to catch up. I blink and gulp air as he tugs the top of my dress down, exposing my breasts. The sharp intake of breath I hear from him excites me. No man has ever commented on my body before and certainly has never seen me topless.

  But topless isn’t good enough for Ethan. His strong hand slides beneath me and lifts my hips while his other raises the hem of my dress to my waist.

  “Bailey,” he whispers. “You’ve grown into a naughty girl, haven’t you?”

  “I—what?”

  “No panties.”

  Oh. My. God. I’m not wearing panties. But it’s not because I’m trying to be a naughty girl or anything; I simply forgot. But I’m sure as hell not going to tell Ethan that and ruin the moment.

  “A little bit of hair,” he muses, letting the back of his fingers drift across my mound. “But I’ll take care of that later. Right now, I want to do this.”

  A shudder vibrates through me as he slides a finger inside. I suck a deep breath as my back arches off the coat. Ethan brings his lips to my neck, and it’s like fireworks exploding all around us.

  “Christ, you’re a virgin, aren’t you, Bailey? I can feel it. God, I can’t wait to feel that tight little pussy stretch around my cock.”

  Wow. He’s going to take my virginity. I’m not afraid; I’m excited. Trembling in his arms, shaking with his touch as he uses a skilled finger to please me. It’s only a matter of seconds before I go off.

  “There, my girl,” he purrs as my climax takes me. “Yes, just like that. Mmm, it’s so sexy when you come.”

  His mouth closes over mine, devouring my orgasmic whimpers as they spill from my lips. This is beyond what I could have imagined when I pictured meeting Ethan again. Golden waves crash down on me, tugging deliciously at my body with an ever-increasing intensity until I finally cry out and slump back onto the couch, panting, staring up at the man
of my dreams.

  “That—that was incredible.” It’s all I can say. The only thing I can even think.

  But Ethan’s still in full control. He’s smiling down at me as he slips out of his shirt. “Baby, I’ve just gotten started with you.”

  The next thing I know, I’m in Ethan’s arms, and he’s carrying me like a caveman up the stairs. As we reach the second floor, I’m still gasping for breath. He throws me down on the bed beneath him, and with one swift tug, wrenches the dress from my hips and tosses it aside.

  Completely naked before him.

  Writhing with lust. Hypnotized. Still buzzing from my orgasm.

  He’s going to take me now, and I couldn’t be happier.

  The sight of his exposed upper body is enough to take my breath away again. Muscle upon muscle ripples as he moves, showing his taut strength and manly prowess. No wonder he lifted me like I weighed nothing; I don’t to him.

  “You make me want to fucking destroy you,” he growls. “That pretty, young, unbelievable body. Goddamn, baby.”

  Yeah, I want that.

  Destroy me, Ethan. Use me for your pleasure. You saved me. I’m yours. I belong to you.

  “You can’t destroy me,” I tease, twisting on the bed. “I’m a big girl now.”

  Ethan’s eyes flare as he reaches for his belt buckle. “Oh, is that right? You might want to wait until you see this before you say that again.”

  And then, he pulls it out.

  And then I see what he means.

  His cock stands straight out like a baseball bat, strong and thick, veiny with a swollen tip that glistens with a drop of moisture that I can only imagine must be pre-cum. There is just so much of it…does he really mean to put that all inside me?

  “Yeah, that’s what I thought,” he chuckles. I frown. My face must have betrayed me. So much for putting on a tough-girl act.

  “I can still take it,” I protest as he lowers himself down onto me. I think he’s going to put it in, but he doesn’t. First, he takes both of my hands and wraps them around his shaft. I look down and shake my head. Two hands aren’t even enough. I’d need four to cover all of it. “Okay…maybe not…”