The Rules of the Red - 2nd Edition |✓|

Chapter Four, Part Two - Hot And Cold

I was greeted by the familiar smell of coconuts, as a dark, hooded figure stood outside the small pool of moonlight that spilled through the open window. I turned in order to close and lock the door behind me, but when I straightened he was gone. Stepping forward, I noticed how much darker the bedroom had become, and shivered.

"Ethan, I--"

I stopped when something cold and soft brushed against my face to cover my eyes–a tie perhaps, or maybe a girls' silk scarf. I stood there and let him do it, my heart thumping wildly in my chest. An awfully cold hand curled around my wrist to lead me in the direction of the bed, but I pulled back and he stopped, waiting for me to speak.

"Wait. I don't want you to think I'm always gonna be this... easy. Next time you're gonna have to work a little bit harder. Because I... I still don't trust you. But tonight I want you."

Ethan said nothing. Worried by his silence, I made to remove the blindfold, but was stopped when I felt his lips against mine. Passion fueled my desire beyond reason as I kissed him back, forgetting the coldness of his hands while they explored my body.

Our mouths didn't part while I removed the jean jacket I had borrowed from Addy. Without it, I was left with only a strapless, black sundress I knew would eventually share the jacket's fate on the floor. I reached out and grabbed the thin material of his hoodie. He allowed me to draw him closer before I was swept into the air and shoved hard against a wall.

A number of random items crashed to the floor as he swept them aside and sat me on a dresser. His mouth traveled up the tender skin of my neck and up to my chin before finally finding my lips once more. I wrapped my legs around his waist as he changed his mind about the setting and carried me to the bed. He lay me down, gently, and straddled my waist.

Ethan made several attempts to withdraw from the kissing, but I pulled him back every time, unwilling to let him go. He removed one of his hands from my hair, running his fingers idly up the inside of my thigh, across flat stomach, and then up to my throat. There was one last, perfect kiss, before his hand began to squeeze, unforgivingly so.

I lay beneath him, momentarily confused, as my air supply was effectively cut off.

"Please don't scream. It'd be a shame to have to kill you now," came the sound of a husky, unfamiliar voice. As my heart fell into my stomach, the feeling of his hand on my neck was replaced by the sharp presence of something metal and equally cold.

Whoever this was, he wasn't Ethan.

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