Page 34 of The Taskmaster
Was she about to call bullshit?
Did she see through the lies?
Was I about to become as exposed as I felt?
I froze, waiting for whatever would happen next, but when she said, “You have interesting tattoos,” I just stared at my tattooed hands that were frozen and hovering over the keyboard.
“She loves tattoos,” Jess added, and I swallowed, my mind now wandering to places it shouldn’t, like whether she had tattoos and where they were on her body.
I hadn’t seen any when I’d been watching her, when I stood over her bed as she slept, or when I walked into her bathroom... Shit. I needed to get that thought out of my head. Thinking about that time was not productive at this point.
I turned, walking over to her desk, and reached across it to take a pen from her desk tidy. I wanted to make her feel as uncomfortable as she was making me. I wanted to grab the upper hand back, wrenching it from her like a thief in the night. I had to let her know I controlled the narrative, the feelings, the emotions. I wasn’t the one losing control here; she was. And when her eyes followed my hands as I picked up the pen and she swallowed, I knew I’d achieved my goal.
“The one on your neck,” she said in a breathy voice, unable to hide her shaking hand as she pointed at it. “It’s kind of scary and cool at the same time. The whole spider web and the word ‘death’. What made you get that?”
I could give her the easy answer or the truthful one. The truth being, I was the spider, the web was a symbol of my power to capture my prey, and the word ‘death’ was what was coming for every man who’d hurt me in my life. Every tattoo on my body was etched there for a reason. My skin told a story, and so did my scars. It wasn’t a pretty story. But the ending... that was being written by me, and it would be fucking fantastic.
I went with the easy option.
“At the time, I thought it was cool, edgy.” I shrugged like it was nothing.
I scribbled a few useless notes on a pad of paper next to my laptop, then turned around, leaning over her again as she sat at her desk, pretending to be unaffected by my presence. I brushed my arm against hers as I put the pen back in the tidy, and the spark of electricity I felt made me want to dominate her again.
“Why? Does it scare you?” I asked, darkness shrouding my expression as fire burned in my eyes.
She shook her head, and then in a voice that I felt grab my soul and cling to it, carve into it even, like she was ready to create her own tattoo on my being, she said, “I like scary.”
How scary, exactly? Because as scary goes, I could give her the whole nine yards. I was the guy every parent had nightmares about. Scary was home to me. Scary was what I felt safe with.
“I like a girl who isn’t afraid to admit what she likes,” I said, feeling the fire burn fiercer, more intensely in my gaze as I watched her. The beast inside me purred to find a mate that could tame it.
I gripped the edge of her desk as I looked at her for a second longer to challenge her, see if she’d fold and break her gaze. Butshe didn’t. And in those few seconds, something passed between us, and for the life of me, I couldn’t tell what it was, but I knew one thing. This girl wasn’t just a plaything that I wanted to stalk. She was so much more.
When I’d first started watching her, I had every intention of taking her and using her in my games as a puppet, then throwing her away. I wanted to make her dad feel a fraction of the pain and anguish I’d felt when I was all alone as a kid. To punish him for not trying harder. For giving up. But now, I wanted to do so much more. I wanted to invade every inch of her soul. To own her in a way no human had ever been owned before. I wanted to bring her into my world and never let her go.
“Ugh, enough already,” Jess huffed from across the room, her voice breaking into our darkly devious bubble. “Just swap numbers or arrange a date. Then you can do this weird mating ritual on your own time.”
Was that what this was? A mating ritual? Did she want my number? To go on a date? I hadn’t done any of those things before. No one had my number. I didn’t date. I didn’t do life. Not like other people. My existence was simple. Stalk, revenge, kill. I didn’t even know anything else would be possible. Not with my history. And before now, I hadn’t cared.
“I think I can manage that. What’s your name?” I asked, as if I didn’t already know her full name, date of birth, credit score which was terrible, and what products she liked to use in the shower every day. Again, I needed to stop with the shower images. It was fucking up my senses.
“Abigail,” she gasped, and I grinned at her wide-eyed gaze that made me feel powerful and fucking awesome.
“It’s nice to meet you, Abigail. I’m Isaiah. Are you free later?”
What the hell was I saying? I wasn’t ready for this. I had work to do. Gabriel Tolley needed bringing in. I had torture and mayhem to create later. Maybe a few new trophies for mymantlepiece. A date was not on the cards. No. But it was official. I was losing my goddamn mind. I had to have her.
“I am,” she replied, albeit a little hesitantly, and panic took over. I shut my laptop and began packing away.
“I’ll see you later, then,” I said before walking away.
I was the master of my world, but right now, I didn’t know what to do or say, and I didn’t like that. I didn’t know how to play this, so I reverted to my usual response and I retreated, ready to regroup and plan a strategy. It worked with my targets and my kills. It’d work in this instance, right?
I stood outside her office and heard her exasperation as she said, “What’s that supposed to mean? And why did I say yes?”
I didn’t like hearing that. She was questioning whether she should’ve said yes, and it made anger swirl inside me and my jaw clench hard as I fisted my hands.You said yes, Abigail, because you knew you wanted to see me again,I seethed inwardly, fighting the urge to go back inside.And as for me, I will see you later... on my screen at home... or maybe in the flesh if the need takes me, which I’m sure it will.
“I guess he wants to surprise you,” Jess told her, then added, “He has tattoos, a bad boy air about him, and he’s a dog lover. He’s the perfect guy for you.”
