Hallowed Night: A Halloween Romance Anthology, page 30
Then the sirens sounded.
TWENTY-SEVEN HOURS EARLIER
Idling at the lights, I glanced across at my passenger asleep next to me. Seventeen-year-old Fallon Hyde, curled up in her seat with her blonde hair fanned out across the black seat fabric and her head resting against the window, dead to the world. It had been a while since I’d seen her—she attended a boarding school up in the Cotswolds, but when she’d sent me a message asking if I could pick her up from the train station for a surprise weekend visit, I hadn’t hesitated. I’d always felt protective of Fallon. She was only a year younger than me, but there was something so fragile about her that made me want to wrap her up and protect her from the world.
Fallon's older brother, Tim, had gone to school with me, but I tended to avoid him if I could. Not because of him, but because of his best friend.
Elijah Ripley.
When Fallon and Tim were little, people used to refer to them as “strawberries and cream,” on account of Tim’s gorgeous red hair and Fallon’s platinum blonde waves. Elijah, though...he was the darkness to their light, tainting their beauty with his decay.
At least he was no longer in Alstone. There was no longer any danger of me running into my former tormentor, the boy with the dark hair, the cruel mouth, and the black soul. He was up in Edinburgh at university, but as far as I was concerned, the other side of the world wasn't far enough away. I was still reminded of my ex-next door neighbour every time I looked out of my window.
I needed to get away from here, from the memories. But until I sold my late grandmother's house, I was stuck in Alstone.
Shaking my head to clear my thoughts, I merged onto the road that would lead me to the Hyde mansion and turned up the radio slightly, hoping it would wake Fallon since we were nearing her house.
It worked. Her eyes blinked open. "Where are we?" she asked, her voice soft and sleepy. Her blue eyes focused on the scenery outside. "Oh. Nearly home." There was a tremor to her voice that I put down to tiredness.
"Happy to be back?" I shot her a smile as I pulled over.
"I'm looking forward to seeing Tim and Joe." Unclipping her seatbelt, she reached for the door handle. "Thanks, Hails. I'll see you on Sunday?"
I nodded. "Yeah. Take care of yourself, Fallon."
She smiled as she got out of the car, and lifted one hand in a graceful wave as she headed off down the driveway of her mansion.
Starting up the car again, I made my way back home.
Night had fallen by the time I bumped up the driveway. My headlights illuminated the prominent "For Sale" sign, and I prayed again that it would sell quickly. Although the house was in Alstone, which itself was a desirable town to live in thanks to the elite families who resided there, my grandmother's house had fallen into disrepair over the years. I'd done what I could, but paying for her care towards the end had taken most of her savings, and she'd insisted on putting aside what was left to put me through university. Not that there was enough for that. My first semester's fees would be covered, but after that I'd be looking at loans, unless this house sold.
My gaze was drawn to the house next door. Identical to my grandmother's in design—a huge red brick Victorian house, large bay windows at the front, except it was perfectly maintained. A soft glow of light shone from behind the closed curtains at the front of the house, and I stiffened, before reminding myself that Elijah was no longer around. Just his parents.
Letting myself into the house, I stopped to flick on the small Tiffany lamp and drop my keys in the china bowl that rested on the mahogany console table. My trainers made a squeaking sound on the tiled floor as I headed down the hallway in the direction of the kitchen.
When I pushed open the kitchen door, my breath caught in my throat.
My gaze was drawn to the large pumpkin sitting on the counter underneath the window, savage slashes carved into the skin, depicting a grinning face. In front of it, resting on the wooden surface, was a note.
I recognised the writing straight away.
Happy Halloween, Hailey.
2
HAILEY
I was completely on edge after I'd found the pumpkin. Every sound in the house was magnified ten times over—I'd closed all the curtains and blinds, turned all the lights in the house on, and checked and double checked that the doors and windows were locked. I knew Elijah would get a kick out of seeing that he'd managed to get to me, but my only concern was keeping him out of my house. He was a psycho, and who knew what he'd do when I was home alone.
Why had he come back? I needed answers. I'd sent Fallon a text to see if she knew what her brother was up to, but she hadn't replied, so my second option was to head to her house. Anything was better than staying here with the knowledge that Elijah was around—if not next door, he was somewhere in Alstone. And he'd been in my house, taunting me.
Grabbing my bag, I left the house, locking the door behind me. I took the few steps towards my car, but I wasn't quick enough.
Arms came around me, a hand clamping down over my mouth.
My bag fell to the ground, and my entire body came alive.
"Hailey. Just the person I wanted to see." Elijah's voice was low and silky, but it held an edge of menace. He pushed me forwards, up against the wall of the house. "You're not going to do anything stupid, like scream or try to run, are you?"
I shook my head with some difficulty, thanks to his tight hold on my jaw. There was no point in screaming or running, the sick bastard would enjoy it even more. The best thing to do was to not give him any kind of reaction.
"I missed you." He spun me to face him, his dark eyes glinting in the low light coming through the glass of my front door. "Did you miss me?"
Deny, deny, deny. "No."
"Hmmm." His head lowered as his hand went to my throat, holding me in place while his lips skimmed across mine. "What's this I hear about you going on a date? I hope it's not true. You know you're mine."
What? How had he found out about that? It hadn't even been anything to speak of—I'd grabbed a coffee with the guy who worked at my gym. We hadn't even kissed, other than a peck on the cheek as I was leaving. "That was nothing," I managed, my lips trembling against his. "And I'm not yours, anyway." I wished with all my heart that those words were true, that I felt nothing for him.
"You are mine." Straight white teeth dragged across my lips, stealing a breathy sigh from me that I desperately tried to stifle. "And I don't share."
He replaced his teeth with his lips, a slow glide, before pressing his hot mouth more insistently against mine. In that moment, when I opened my mouth to him, I hated myself for being so weak. But I was already lost in his devastating kiss.
Elijah Ripley had stolen my soul, and I was powerless to resist.
"Did you miss me?" he asked again once he drew back, licking his lips. I stared into his eyes, into the black, fathomless depths, and a shiver went down my spine.
"No."
"Liar."
When he took a step away from me, his hand dropping from my throat, I suddenly found I could breathe again. My hand went to the brick at my back, the rough surface grounding me. "What do you want?" Because I knew he wanted something.
"You're coming out with me tomorrow. We have something planned."
"Who does?"
"Me. Tim. The usuals."
So this was why he'd come back. Not because of me, but because of his stupid feud with the Four. I should've known; it was Halloween, after all. I relaxed incrementally, then his words sunk in. "I'm not getting dragged into your games. Leave me out of them."
"Too late, baby. You're already involved." His smile was pure evil. "I need my girl with me."
"I'm not your girl. You don't even live here anymore. We haven't even spoken to each other since the summer."
Everything I was saying was irrelevant, other than my first point. I wasn't his. Yet he couldn't seem to grasp the fact that I wanted nothing to do with him.
"Distance is irrelevant. You'll be with me soon enough." Wrapping his hand around my wrist, he tugged me into him.
I gaped at him, unable to form words. Was he insane?
"It sounds like you need a little reminder of who you belong to. Let's go." He tightened his grip on my wrist and began pulling me in the direction of his house, pausing only to swipe my bag from the floor. His grip became bruising as I attempted to yank my hand away, a dark smile curving over his lips. "Yeah, keep struggling, Hailey. You know it gets me hard."
Thankfully he stopped at his car, rather than his house. Unlocking the doors, he tossed my bag inside, then motioned for me to get in. I knew that by giving into his kiss earlier I'd sealed my fate, so I climbed into his SUV without another word. I’d bide my time. For now.
I ignored the whispered voice inside my head that reminded me that maybe I wanted to go with him.
Elijah seemed to have had enough of talking too, because he started up the engine in silence, backing out of the driveway and onto the road. The streets were quiet, and inside the bubble of the car it was almost peaceful, except for the fact that I couldn’t forget who was sitting next to me.
When we pulled up outside the Hyde mansion, I sighed, almost relieved that we would soon be around other people. I made the mistake of glancing over at Elijah as I did so, and he slanted a wicked grin at me. My stomach flipped.
“Right now you’re telling yourself that you’re happy not to be alone with me anymore.” His hand slid onto my thigh, making my whole body tense up. “Why do you keep lying to yourself?”
I ignored him instead of replying. Whatever I said or did, he'd only twist it to suit his narrative.
He pulled his phone from his pocket, his thumbs flying across the screen as he sent a quick text. After a minute or two of tense silence, I breathed a sigh of relief as I spotted a flash of red hair, and Tim Hyde appeared from around the side of the house.
He slid into the backseat of the SUV, shooting me a grin as I turned to face him. Despite the fact that he knew I avoided him as much as possible because of who his best friend was, he was always friendly when I saw him. How someone as nice as him had ended up being best friends with someone like Elijah Ripley, I'd never understand.
"Hey, H. Eli."
"Alright?" Elijah's expression softened almost imperceptibly as he met Tim's eyes in the rear-view mirror. That was the only time I'd ever seen any hint of softness in him—the rest of the time he was cruel, cutting, and callous.
"Yeah. You? Ready for tomorrow?"
"Where's Fallon?" I interrupted in an attempt to change the subject, not wanting to hear any details of whatever Halloween mayhem they were planning.
Tim cleared his throat. "Uh, not sure. She went out a bit earlier, and I haven't seen her since."
"Oh." Slumping back against my seat, I sighed. Elijah's dark chuckle came from next to me, but I turned my face to the side window. At least his hand was gone from my leg now, as he started the engine back up, moving smoothly away from the Hyde house.
The headlights cut through the darkness as we left the houses behind, turning onto a long, winding road with tall hedges on either side that eventually gave way to a tree-lined lane, the surface bumpy under the wheels of the SUV.
When the tall gates came into view, I sucked in a shuddering breath.
Why were we here?
3
ELIJAH
I brought the car to a stop next to the others. Tim immediately climbed out, heading over to our friends. Before I did that, I needed a minute alone with my girl.
Hailey Dunn. Such an ordinary name for such an extraordinary woman.
Before she had a chance to escape, I was out of my seat and around to her door, just as she was scrambling to get out.
She fell straight into my arms, a shudder going through her small body as it made contact with mine. My dick swelled at the feel of her soft tits pressed against me, her lips trembling as her wide blue eyes stared up at me. Gripping a handful of her long, silky chestnut hair, I pulled, tipping her head further back so I could graze my teeth down her throat as I pressed her into the side of the car.
"Elijah, stop." Her hands came up to my chest, but as usual, there was no real force behind either her words or her actions. It really fucked with my head, the way she constantly lied to herself, but I knew she wanted me. I could see the darkness lurking in those sapphire eyes. The darkness she tried so hard to suppress.
But she couldn't suppress it forever. Hailey was just like me. Darkness called to darkness, and hers was a fucking siren call.
"Come with me." Fuck my friends, fuck the plan, fuck everything else—I hadn't been near Hailey for almost three months, and I needed to consume her, to fill her up, to remind us both that she was mine.
Rage lashed below the surface at the memory of her in the coffee shop with the other guy. I could see in her eyes that she'd been telling the truth about nothing happening between them, but the thought of her being with anyone else...letting anyone else touch her...
Fuck. I took a deep breath, in, then out. Being so far away from her these past few months and not even attempting to contact her, even though I'd been keeping very close tabs on her, had been the hardest thing I'd ever done. But I'd done it all for her. Even if she didn't realise it yet, she would.
Hailey was mine. The only girl I'd ever wanted, the only girl I ever would want. And I was never going to let her go.
She allowed herself to be tugged around the car, away from the others, and into the cover of the trees that stood to the left of the property where we'd parked. Another sign that she was into this, despite her protests to the contrary. If she really wanted to get away, she'd be fighting a lot fucking harder. Hailey was strong.
I pushed her up against a tree, out of sight of the property. It was so dark here that if the moon hadn't been out and so bright, I wouldn't have even been able to see her. Then I wrapped my hand around her throat, holding her in place, my other arm coming around her. Her heart was pounding beneath my grip, her shallow breaths fast against my cheek as I lowered my head to her ear.
"Are you gonna be a good girl for me?" Without waiting for her to reply, I bit down, then swiped my tongue across the shell of her ear. Her body shivered, and my dick hardened even further, straining against my jeans.
Her breathy sigh was all the answer I needed. Keeping my grip on her throat, I angled my thigh between hers and dropped my hand from her waist to her skirt, shoving it up. "Stay still."
"Please, stop." Her voice was thick with tears and arousal, a combination that went straight to my cock as she arched into my touch, her pussy grinding against my thigh.
"Is that what you want? You want me to stop?" I released her throat, taking a step back and holding up my hands. “Okay.” A smirk curved across my lips when just like I knew she would, she launched herself at me, unable to resist me. Whatever she told herself inside her own head, deep down, she wanted me. Craved me. The release that only I could give her.
I shoved her back up against the tree, pushing up her top and yanking down her bra, then closing my mouth over her left breast. A moan fell from her throat as I bit down, then flicked my tongue across her hardened nipple before I dragged my stubbled jaw across her skin to her other nipple. When her body shook against me, I raised my head, my hands going back to her skirt, ripping at her tights and underwear and finding her hot, slick pussy underneath. She whimpered as I thrust two fingers inside without warning, pumping them inside her once, twice, three times, before I'd had enough. I needed to be inside her, to fill her with my cock, feel her squeeze tightly around me, my sweet fucking addiction that I could never get enough of. My hands went to my jeans and I freed my cock, then lined her up, holding her in place with her legs around my waist and her arms around my shoulders.
I slammed my cock into her, hard. She cried out, her legs tightening around me as I filled every inch of her with my thick length.
"Eli, Eli, Eli," she chanted as I pounded in and out of her, biting and sucking at her throat, marking her so everyone would know that she belonged to me. Her nails dug into my back as she gasped out my name in a long, hoarse cry, her body spasming around me as she tipped over the edge, free-falling into her climax.
That was it. I slammed into her one final time, then I was coming, my cock pulsing and painting her insides with my release.
"Hailey." I buried my face in her hair, allowing myself a couple of seconds to let my guard down, before I straightened up, lowering her to the floor. Her tear-streaked face turned up to mine, her eyes wide and almost as dark as my own with her blown pupils. "Why do you fight me, baby? You know you belong to me."
Her full, soft lips flattened, and her dazed, lustful expression disappeared in a blink. "I don't belong to you. I'll never belong to you, or to anyone else." She yanked at her skirt, trying to tug it down over the huge rip in her tights. "And why didn't you use a condom? I can't—what if you got me pregnant? What if you gave me a disease?"
In an instant, my hand was around her throat again, and my body was pinning her against the tree. "Let me get one thing straight." I squeezed. "There's no one else for me. Ever. That means I'm not fucking any other girls. I'm not even letting anyone else near me. You—you are the only girl I want."
"You're so fucked up." Her voice was a shaky rasp. "What's wrong with you? You know I don't want you."
"As for your pregnancy comment..." My hand drifted to her flat stomach. "I know you've got the implant, so that's not an issue. But know this, Hailey, that will happen one day."
She gaped at me. "How can you even say that? I hate you, Elijah. I loathe you."
My lips curved into a slow smile. I stroked my thumb over her pulse point, beating wildly in her throat. "I'm patient. I can wait for you to stop lying to yourself. In the meantime, I'll play this game with you. But remember this..." I brushed my lips over hers. "You just came all over my cock, and when you did, you were calling out my name."
