Page 42 of The Woman in the Hollow
“He’s not here.”
“Noticed that. What are you doing? Cleaning isn’t in your job description.”
“Not normally, no. But we’ve had four employees get the flu recently. I was just going around spraying everything—in case you didn’t smell the disinfectant.”
“Smells like home.”
“What?”
“My ma, when she used to change our beds when we were growing up, would spray the mattress with the yellow disinfectant before she put the fresh bedding on.”
“My grandmother did that too, but with lavender spray. She used to tell me it keeps the bugs away so we don’t swallow spiders in our sleep.”
“Great way to make sure a kid never sleeps again.”
“I know, right? I went through a phase where I slept with a cut-off leg of pantyhose over my face to prevent them from getting in my mouth or up my nose.”
“Gotta love that mild childhood trauma,” he said, shaking his head. “You know, I haven’t been through this.”
“The haunted house? Really?”
“I figured it wouldn’t be spooky now that I’ve seen it in the daytime.”
“It is. I mean, it’s scarier with the performers in here. But it’s definitely creepy even without them. Want to see?” I asked, bringing my cleaning supplies over toward the cleaning cart by the door and then pulling off my gloves.
“Sure, why not?” he replied.
“Go back to the entrance,” I said as I started flicking on the sounds and turning off the lights. “Ready?”
“Yeah.”
Sucking in a deep breath, I turned off the last of the lights.
There was an eerie red glow up-lighting near the walls and some dim lights on the floor to prevent people from tripping. But as a whole, it was pretty dark inside.
Dante wasn’t even that far away, but I completely lost sight of him in the dark.
He also had the footsteps of a cat. I couldn’t hear him move around even with the creepy laughter and scream tracks coming from the hidden speakers.
So when hands grabbed my hips, a small shriek escaped me for just a second before Dante’s lips were on mine, silencing my surprise.
There was nothing explorative or unsure about this kiss. It was all lips and teeth and need.
Dante slammed me back against the wall as an eerie laugh reverberated through the walls and into my body.
I barely even noticed it as Dante’s hand went to the back of my neck, angling my head back so he could kiss me harder, deeper.
I was helpless but to grab his arms, to hold on as he stole the air from my lungs, my pulse stuttering, then sprinting forward.
His teeth nipped my lower lip, pulling until a low moan escaped me.
His free hand slid up under my sweater, his big fingers teasing over my ribs, my belly, then closing around one of my breasts, squeezing until I broke the kiss with a cry of pleasure as the heat burned through me.
His hand shifted from my neck to sift into my hair, fingers curling, then tugging until the pain/pleasure combination had me angling back, opening up my neck for his lips to explore.
A shiver racked my system as a scream erupted through the speakers.
Spurred on by my responses, Dante’s hand slipped into the cup of my bra, his bare hand teasing over my overly sensitive skin.
