Hey baby, it’s me. I have a really special surprise for you tonight. Come into the back room at Midnight Ride—You know, the entrance on 11th street. My friend will open the door for you. And please, don’t tell anyone. This is a super secret. You know how weird things have been today. Can’t wait to see you love, xo

I stare at the words from Damien’s text as I drive in my car to Midnight Ride.

I still haven’t responded. Something is off and it has me worried.

He’s not an ‘xo’ type of guy.

He’s more of a ‘fuck you later’ type of dirty texter.

And with how weird today has been, I can’t help the brick I’m clenching in my gut as I pull up to the back parking lot of the place.

I let out a loud exhale. Nick is the only one whose instructions I would follow about doing something alone. But didn’t Nick say he tapped Damien’s phone? Still, that doesn’t mean Nick hacked his phone, so he can’t send messages, right?

I pull out and drive around the block one more time, thinking it over. I know NIck well, right? What’s his motivation in all of this? I should be able to figure it out. After all, I was his fiancée once upon a time.

I don’t know if this is going to end well. But shit, I should tell someone. Maybe Amelia and Axel? No, I trust him. I trust Damien, and if I can trust Damien… Well shit, if I can trust Damien after all of this. I mean he can’t trust me alone that’s just unacceptable isn’t it?

And then there’s one last thing—what he called me: Love.

The way he said it, “See you soon love.” Was he British now? I’d never heard Damien say that. He always called me “babe.”

As I pull around to the Midnight Ride back entrance, I see a man who has stepped out to have a cigarette.

My mind flashes back to that very first night I was with Damien at Midnight Ride. As he pressed his body up against mine, I didn’t know it was him in that ridiculous mask. He was such a turn on.

What does he have in mind tonight, maybe one of those private rooms? Maybe something to ease the tension and the stress from the day?

I pull into a parking spot and head inside, the doorman holding the door open for me. “Second door on the left.” he says. “Make sure it’s a second. Not the first.” I nod and proceed inside, heading to room 271.

“You Krista?” demands a big muscled man with tattoos in the dark hallway. I didn’t see him at first glance, and I sink in horror for a moment. My mind flashes to a night out with Nick, and I swear I saw this man there. Could this be an old associate of Nick’s? Or am I just seeing his face everywhere and associating everything with him after my traumatic experience today?

“Uh. I’m here to see—”

“Damien, right?” The man filled in my words and I stood in shock for a moment. I wasn’t just paranoid.

“Ah yeah, that’s right, Damien! He’s a tattooed stripper guy, has a rose tattoo right here.”

He chuckles. “I know what Damien looks like. You ain’t got to describe him for me.”

“Oh okay. What’s going on in here? I’m just curious.”

“Oh yeah. Well Damien is going to be in, in a moment.”

“Oh really? Why?”

“He had to go wash up. Had a little accident.”

“An accident?” My heart thumps hard.

“Yeah. That’s right, an accident.” He unlocks the door, holding it open for me. “I’ll leave you inside.”

“Okay,” I agree, though a huge part of me feels something is hugely off in this situation.

The door closes abruptly behind me. The room is on the colorful side with purple, red, blue and green walls. I’ve never really seen a room quite like this. The black lights are prominent there is a very sexy vibe, I think. A giant mirror covers the entire wall on one side.

“Wow!” I look at myself—a little stressed, wearing a back strapless dress that’s form fitting to my body.

An voice comes over the intercom, muffled like one of those deep voice disguisers. Pretty creepy. I can’t tell whose voice it is for sure. “Krista are you there? I like that black dress.”

“Uh, thanks mysterious voice on the wall,” I said with a smile. “Damien.”

I hear a dark chuckle. ”I’ll be there in a second.”

“What is going on? Why are you being so mysterious?”

I hear a deep breath. “I can explain.”

There’s a weird noise and the intercom chops off.

“What do you mean you can explain? What’s going on, Damien? Just tell me.” This is so weird. Can Damien see me somehow? “Is there a camera in this room?” I ask. For several beats there’s no response and I started to get worried.

“Just read the note,” he says.

I glance down at the couch, and there’s a note scribbled on a piece of paper.

Step 1: Take off your clothes.

Step 2: Sit down in this chair and try not to think sexy thoughts about me.

Step 3: I will come into the room and give you the most magical experience of your life.

Chills wash over me when I read that last line.

“Damien, are you there? Just come in here.”

As I grip the note, I start to think about me and Damien and our night in Midnight Ride. How his body felt pressed up against mine. How that deep down warm-in-my-belly-feeling he gave me was something I’d never felt.

“Well here goes nothing,” I say out loud with a shrug.

I undo my dress, lifting it over my head. This is such a bizarre thing to do, but it sort of makes sense. Maybe this is where our affair truly began. This is where we decided that we were going to wait ten nights. So maybe now he wants to make it official here—as in officially...fucks my brains out?

I sit down, my bare legs feeling cold against the wood. That’s when I notice there was a Step 4: ‘Do not touch yourself.’

My mind goes wild as I think all the dirty thoughts, imagine all the ways Damien could take me, has taken me. Above all he’s conquered my mind in ways I never knew were possible. He’s unravelled me and now here I am, just a ball of emotion after another treacherous day of almost being kidnapped by my ex-boyfriend, ex-fiancé.

And now I’m just going to wait here and...not touch myself?

Seems like a game that Damien would play.

Seems like typical Damien to challenge me to feel my insides warming and my pussy getting wetter by the minute without touching myself. I’m wet as I think about how powerful Damien is when he drives his long cock inside me, how now that the ten dates are up I can fuck him here with reckless abandon.

Maybe it’s crazy to say, but Damien does know the real me. He breaks my walls down—all of them. Now I let my head back and try to keep down a slight little moan. My fingers ache as I touch between my legs but I wait for now. That’s a need Damien will fulfill.

I tense for a moment and a strange thought causes me to pause. What if this is all a ruse?

What if somehow Nick’s ridiculous revenge plan included imprisoning Damien...conducting all of this, and maybe that’s what the bouncer meant by ‘Damien had a little accident.’

That’s when I realize I saw the bouncer with Nick at party years ago.

The nervousness combines with my worry and I can’t hold on for much longer.

“Damien, please?” I beg, thinking he can probably hear me. Shit, the man isn’t even in the same room and he has a hold on me, but I need that sweet relief that only he can bring me.

I hear the key jiggling in the door. The doorknob turns and unlocks and my jaw drops, my heart racing as I look at the man standing in the doorway.