I kissed his dimpled cheek and dropped my head to his sweaty chest, keeping our hands intertwined.

“I don’t know if I want to punish you for toying with me, or fuck you again for pulling it off.”  He massaged my scalp with his free hand, comfortably leaving me sprawled out on top of him.

“Both,” I yawned, laughing when he slapped my ass.

“I’ll never get tired of hearing that laugh, seeing your smile.” He kissed my head, unwinding our hands to lift me away from his flaccid cock.

“Does that mean you won’t make me cry anymore?”

“I’m always going to make you cry. Your tears make my dick hard.”

What a typical Mason thing to say. Shaking my head, I rolled onto my back and stared up at the ceiling.

“How long are you going to gloat?” he grumbled like a little kid.

“How long are you going to pout?” I asked back, smiling to let him know I was joking. I didn’t know what would make him snap or what wouldn’t, but I was learning. I’d keep learning.

“Who was the driver of the blue car?” I looked over at him, waiting to see if he would spin me another riddle or not.

“Declan,” he openly confessed, giving me a boyish grin. “I didn’t trust your mother—Glenda—not to hurt you, so I sent him to keep an eye on you.”

I would definitely be discussing how creepy that was once I saw him again, and telling him I didn’t appreciate almost being run over.

The change in Mason was almost mind boggling. I knew he could be gentle, and I knew he made my heart break and smile within seconds of the other, but I didn’t know he’d be this relaxed.

Was he that worried about me trying to leave him? Rejecting him?

He was the only thing I ever had that was good—the only thing I could call mine. But if we were ever going to get anywhere, I needed to know everything.

“The house in the woods was Annie’s,” he added after a minute.

I had already assumed that. I fully believed Mason wouldn’t touch another woman, hadn’t touched another woman, since being with me.

“Can you take me to her?” Just like that, I saw his walls going back up. The usual coldness I was used try and make its return.

“Mase,” I used his new nickname, “I need to see her.”

He was silent for a few minutes before finally agreeing.

 

He was nervous about this.

No matter what I said, he had already decided in his mind that I would hate him for whatever he had done to her.

How bad could it be?

“She was never in the corridor,” I noted as he led me in the opposite direction.

“No, she wasn’t. I set you up to fail.”

“Mason, you’re such a romantic,” I deadpanned. I think I actually preferred his twisted truths to his brutal upfront honesty.

“I’ll never be romantic, but I’ll always make you come. That has to count for something.”

I tried to hold back my laugh and failed. God, someone hurry up and commit us. There was nothing to see here, just a girl and her gorgeous semi-psychotic lover joking around. Don’t mind the dead bodies strapped to the chairs, or the occasional screams you might hear.

We stopped outside a door at the opposite end of the house, and then we just stood there.

“Um…is it open?”

“Yeah.” A single word response, blunt and crisp.

Squeezing between him and the door frame, I took a deep breath and turned the handle. The room was empty—well, there wasn’t anyone inside it. If I thought the room at his house was full of paintings and skulls, this was a whole other level.

They were everywhere. Disfigured corpses put back together in an array of water colors, pastels, and morbid artistry.

“Mason…” My voice trailed off as I approached the round table in the center of the room.

Two skulls sat side by side in the center, and behind the table was an easel with a portrait of Annie resting on it.

Her eyes were gone; her lips were sewn open to reveal a bloody set of teeth, and her chest was gouged open. It was…pretty. It was different, just like Mason.

“Are these Glenda and my dad?” I asked Mason without looking at him.

“The right skull is your father. The left is Glenda…it’s new.” He made sure I knew, still standing in the doorway.

I stared at it the picture and the skulls, feeling an odd sense of peace, like they had all gotten what they deserved. They were selfish people who did selfish things.

“Can I touch one?” I looked to Mason with my hand already halfway to Glenda’s skull.

“Be my guest.” He perked up, finally coming to stand beside me.

I didn’t hesitate to smooth a hand over the skull’s forehead, marveling at how soft the bone was.

“You’re not acting how I thought you would.”

He ran a hand through my hair and watched me examine the skulls.

“It’s just a picture, Mason. Why would I be mad?”

I had a gut feeling Annie was dead long ago, not to mention the fact he’d hit the nail on the head the first time he brought up me trying to ‘save’ her.

“They were all you had; I can officially say my family is responsible for killing yours.”

I pulled my hand away from the skull and stepped to the side so I was in front of him, my back to his chest.

“They weren’t my family. You’re my family. You gave me a reason to want to live. They wouldn’t have cared if I died—you did.”

I looked over my shoulder at him with a shy smile. We never discussed feelings, but I wanted him to know how serious I was. The same hands that peeled skin from bone gave me a solace I had never known.

“Katie,” he more growled than said, pushing my front down onto the table, right over my daddy’s skull. Excitement coursed through my veins, desire going right between my legs.

“You’re everything. You’re perfection.” He yanked my pants and underwear down in one harsh movement. He spat and smeared the glob of saliva around my tight hole.

I curled my fingers around the edge of the table when he placed his dick between my ass cheeks, spreading my legs and crushing the skulls with my chest.

“Ready?” he breathed, his tip already pushing past my muscle’s resistance.

“No,” I whined, tears prickling in my eyes from the pain.

He grabbed hold of my throat and pushed in anyway. My scream turned into a hoarse cry at the end. His thrusts were gentle; he slowly moved his cock in and out of my ass, kissing down the side of my face and adding pressure to my neck.

“Touch yourself,” he commanded, pulling me back just enough so I could reach between my legs. I did as he said, finding my clit in the midst of him pistoning his hips.

“Mason,” I moaned, encouraging him to move faster as pain and pleasure started mixing together.

He obliged without objection, fucking me so hard my ass began to bleed. The table slammed into the easel, sending Annie’s picture smashing to the floor.

“Fuck,” he cursed, beginning to choke me. Black dots danced in front of my eyes, and my muscles began to contract around his cock. I couldn’t scream with him holding my throat; the sound that slipped out was more a squeal.

I came looking into my sister’s lifeless eyes, on top of my parents’ skulls.