Page 7 of Hide and Keep

Your imperfections make you beautiful.

You don’t need to blend in.

You’re perfect exactly the way you are.

Sliding my hand to the back of his head, I tilt him for a better angle, pouring more energy, more desire into him.

Something about it sets him off, like a match to a fuse, and on a growl, he grabs an ass cheek, tugging my body flush against his as he finally gives in completely, kissing me, not just back but ravenously, like I’m the first taste of something he’s had in days. Maybe longer.

It takes all my effort not to release my own sound of appreciation at the feel of his growing erection between us. My mind flits back to the couple I saw in the stalks and the carefree way they fucked each other out in the open. Raw, like animals.

I want to be like that. I want to do that, with him, now.

When I reach for his waistband, the rest of him locks up before he breaks the kiss to say, “Sorry, uh…” With a backward glance, he gives our surroundings another scan.

He’s used to hiding himself.

I keep his hungry gaze as I back up, toward the vegetation, the coverage.

“Where are you going, butterfly?” he asks with a trace of humor to mask the worry his feet give away by following immediately after me.

Leaves tickling my back as I continue walking backward, I crook a finger at him with one hand while lifting my dress with the other. As long as I don’t pull it up past my stomach, I’m fine.

“Fuck,” he grits as he reaches for my hips. “You’re gonna get me—”

A helicopter appears overhead—flying too low and way too slow to be coincidence—cutting him off. Anything loose on the ground becomes airborne, creating a cyclone of dirt and debris around us. My savior curses as he spins around, shielding my body with his once again. His face to the sky, he’s trying to get a look at our intruder. Only the bottom of the helicopter is visible, but I don’t have to see the sides to know whose name is on them.

Impeccable timing, Father.

After one final glance at that spot between his shoulders, I put my dress into place, turn, and disappear into the cornstalks. When I emerge out the other side, my father’s chopper is just touching down on the front lawn, letting everybody know exactly who he is, and now, who I am. He doesn’t get out, just waits oh so fucking patiently for me to come to him.

He’s only patient when it suits him.

I try to keep my attention out ahead of me, but extended fingers pointed at me from every direction spear my periphery. My spine straightens on its own, my posture as confident as if I were at the top of the pyramid.

Yeah, I made an appearance at Hide and Keep. My costume was too good not to. But finding the game juvenile and the selection lacking, I called my father to pick me up early.

That’s what I’ll tell everyone, and nobody will doubt me. Why would they? I’m Ever Munreaux, sole heiress to Munreaux Motorcycles. I get everything I ask for.

Except a single shred of autonomy.

Before climbing into the helicopter, I let myself look back, but I don’t see the man I kissed.

Look for me…

Inside, my father tosses a headset onto my lap. When I don’t rush to put it on, he reaches over and pinches the side of my hip until I cry out, scrambling to get it over my head.

As soon as the seals are over my ears, his voice booms, “A million fucking dollars!”

We’re off the ground in the next instant, the speed making my stomach drop. I focus on Long Island’s scattered lights in the distance, my eyes watering. Sounds like his night did get ruined.

Good.

“I can’t believe you made me chase you down here. Here. This is not somewhere you should be. This is not where you belong!”

I don’t react whatsoever, gazing aimlessly out the glass…until I feel another pinch at my hip, then I gasp. That one was deeper than the first. What is happening? He’s only pinched me a handful of times before, always where no one will see, but he just did it twice in a row.

“You can consider that million dollars your signing incentive. And your money allowances? Those just got lowered. Significantly. A million dollars…”

---