Chapter 1

RAE

A man appeared on the dimly lit path out of thin air like a ghost and naked as the day he was born. 

Stumbling and almost tripping over my trainers, I dug my heels into the pavement to stop myself before I crashed into him. There was nothing in front of me just a second ago; I was sure of it. Jogging alone in the park made me hyper-aware of my surroundings.

Only people with bad intentions got naked in the park at night. I had to turn back and run, but my feet refused to do as I asked because my gaze lowered to his naked body and short-circuited my brain. The ass was a work of art. Seriously, how the hell did anyone get an ass that looked that good? He didn’t even look like he had to kill himself working out. I’d been trying for years, but mine always remained the chubby, gigantic mess it was. 

If I had a quarter—hell, if I had several quarters, I knew where I’d aim them. They would bounce right off. 

My mouth watered when I pulled my gaze from his ass to his back. It was broad, all tattoos and muscle, and the urge to lick it all over consumed me. He turned me into a pervert in seconds.  

I stepped forward instead of back, and maybe I made a sound because the man turned around.

Holy shit.

My mouth dried up.

He had muscles for days and tattoos all over his chest and arms. His stomach was so defined I bet he’d have no trouble picking me up and slamming me against a wall. None at all. 

I took another step. He was the most breathtaking man I’d ever seen—and I saw many handsome men in Eastown. His long, dark hair blew in the wind as if he was on a movie set, and his eyes were a stunning silver grey I had never seen on anyone before. And he had a chiselled jawline, complete with a short beard. My kryptonite. Even his nose was perfect. Everything about him was what I would put in a basket if I could shop for a man.

My eyes went lower and immediately went back up to his face. That was—that was a gift. Fuck, was he gifted.

My cheeks heated, but so did other parts of my body. That should have made me run, but I took another step forward.

I’d lost my damn mind. 

My therapist would have a field day if I told her about this, but I couldn’t explain it even if I tried. My heart was racing, and it wasn’t because of the jogging I’d half-arsed. It wasn’t even that I was scared; because I wasn’t. My heart beat as if it had been dead until that point. It was some weird instant chemistry, fairy tale shit, and that didn’t often happen to big girls like me in this town. 

His head cocked to the side, and his eyes twinkled in the moonlight. I got lost in his gaze, and the craziest thing happened. I felt like I knew him. He felt so familiar that, for some reason, it was okay to want him like that. My body never tingled like that; I went from regular college student to horny slut in seconds. I wanted things in my mouth that had no business being there. I wanted him to pin me down in the middle of a public path in the park and do whatever he wanted to my body.

That felt right. 

Did he know me? Was he a part of my past? Someone who could give me answers?

I stepped closer to get a better look at him. His vibe screamed danger, but something in my mind said he wasn’t dangerous to me. When he started to walk toward me, my heartbeat went wild. The muscles in his thighs contracted with each step as I imagined the moves he could do with them. I squeezed mine together. 

Whatever was happening to me was too much and not enough at the same time.  

He stopped before he reached me and said something, but the words drifted off with the wind. 

“What?” I asked.

He spoke again, but I couldn’t catch it. The wind blew my hair into my face, and, frowning, I looked up at the rustling leaves. When did it become so windy?

“I’m sorry. Can you repeat that?”

The man smiled— a slow smile that hit me like lightning. I never understood girls who fell for a guy instantly, but I became a believer. He was mesmerising. My body tensed in anticipation, and a lusty haze filled my head. I felt lightheaded; my body started to burn, calling out for his touch.

He opened his mouth and spoke again, but I heard him like we were underwater. How was that possible when I could hear the birds chirping in the trees? When the leaves rustled so loudly in the wind?

“Something’s wrong. I can’t hear you.”

And for some reason, I was desperate to hear him. I wanted his voice to wash over me.

The man came closer, only inches from my overheating body. This close, I could see the silver flecks in his gorgeous eyes. What was he? Six four? Six five? I craned my neck to look into his eyes. My mind vaguely registered that I didn’t need my glasses to see every detail of him— like it knew he was so perfect that it would be a crime if I didn’t appreciate every detail.

I could smell his cologne. It was something citrusy, and every lungful made me feel drunk. My eyes took in his perfect, tanned skin. There were many little scars and marks on his body that I didn’t notice at first, but they added to the dangerous bad-boy vibe. He was someone I was supposed to stay away from. I didn’t do dangerous. I didn’t do anything that forced me to stray from my plans. 

But even though I knew that, I still drooled. 

He spoke again, and still, I heard nothing.

But his warm breath fanned my cheeks. I felt the heat of his body as he leaned closer, and somehow I heard his heartbeat pounding away like mine was. 

My breath hitched when I realised what he was going to do. I never kissed strangers. My best friend lived for one-night stands, but I couldn’t afford to. Yet this god lowered his head, bringing his full, luscious lips closer, and I didn’t stop him.

I was desperate to taste him. To feel him. To touch him.

My heart sounded like one continuous beat as I closed my eyes and waited, and prayed I wouldn’t have a heart attack before he gave me what I wanted. What I needed. What every cell in my body craved.

My tongue darted out to wet my dry lips. 

When the wait became too long, disappointment crashed into me and forced me to open my eyes. I should have known this was a prank.

But the man was still moving his lips toward me. Slowly. Very slowly. My head reeled back, trying to process what I was looking at. 

He was moving, and yet...he wasn’t.

  

“What’s happening?” I whispered. 

Was I dreaming, then? Of course! He was too perfect, and I was probably the most sexually frustrated person in the city. My horny mind conjured him up.

The man didn’t answer, and he didn’t stop moving. 

“Move back, please.”

My heart started to beat for a different reason. Perhaps this wasn’t a dream. Did I go out and get roofied? Was this a hallucination?

I stepped back from him, yet the distance between us remained the same. 

Panic set in. I could hear my heart in my ears as his face continued to lower to mine.

Panic turned to fear, its icy tendrils shooting up my spine. My body instantly cooled down, and the lusty haze cleared from my head. Even if this was a dream, I didn’t like where it was going. He was bigger than anyone I’d ever met. The thought of him pinning me down now made me feel very vulnerable. 

The man stopped suddenly and opened his eyes. The beautiful smile disappeared from his lips, and they curled into an angry snarl. His stunning eyes became ice-cold. My fear turned to terror when I sensed the anger coming from him. I didn’t even know him; why was he so angry? Why did I feel like he could snuff my life out at any second?

Everything around us stopped as if someone had pressed pause. The birds stopped chirping. The leaves stopped rustling. My whole body started trembling as I looked at the hatred on the man’s face.

“Please,” I whispered.

But I didn’t know what I was asking for.

“It’s time, Rae.”

The voice washed through my body exactly as I imagined it would. The heat returned, messing my body up again. It was the weirdest feeling—being terrified and horny at the same time. 

His words penetrated my muggy brain but they didn’t make sense. 

“I don’t... What do you mean?” I asked.   

“It’s time. Wake up.”

Jolting upright, I clutched my chest as my heart pounded against it like it would burst. My breathing was harsh, I just couldn’t get enough air. That voice echoed around me. Scrambling backwards on my bottom, I searched for the naked man. 

It took me a moment to realise he was not there. A dream. It had been a dream, after all. But he’d looked so real. Smelled so real.

A breeze blew my hair into my face, rustling the leaves, and I tensed. I knew where I was. The streetlights were dim, but the full moon illuminated my path, blurry as it was without my glasses.

I was in the middle of the park in the same spot where I had seen that stranger in my dream.

And I was stark naked. 

Again.

My panic returned as I scrambled to my feet and used one arm to cover my chest and my other hand over my bits. Not that it would make a difference. I had too much chest for that to work. Any creep who happened to be out in the middle of the night would see everything. 

Adrenaline pumped through my veins as I looked around and kept my ears open. There was nothing but the sound of the howling wind. I had been out there at night before, and the park was always full of nocturnal animals, but it was quiet now. Too quiet. The hair at the back of my neck stood. There was something in the air that didn’t feel right. Maybe I was still reacting to the dream, but I couldn’t take any chances.

I ran towards the wooded area closest to the exit that led to my apartment and slipped through the trees, feeling my way around the trunks down the narrow trail. Relief washed through me when I saw the branches of the enormous tree I used as a marker swaying in the moonlight. I hid my bag in a hole under some rocks and twigs months ago, but when I pulled it out, it felt a little empty.

This nightmare happened so often that I was running out of clothes. Why did I always end up naked when I wore pyjamas to bed?

I wasn’t stressed, and my life was on track. Why did this keep happening? If I told my therapist, she would think I was regressing, and that would delay all my plans. If I told Vickie, she would think I was even more of a freak. But even if I could, what would I say anyway? That I was popping down sleeping pills like candy and drowning in alcohol so I could pass out at night? That I had so many chains and deadlocks on my door, but I still ended up naked in the park?

I had enough of being treated like a freak. It was time to move on to the next stage of my life. 

Once I pulled my leggings and a hoodie on, I ran back out of the woods, and that feeling returned. The air felt chillier, and I couldn’t shake the feeling that someone was watching me. Not daring to look back, I started to run toward the exit. Sharp pebbles cut into my bare feet as they slapped the concrete, but I didn’t stop. 

That feeling pressed into me from behind, getting closer. And then I heard footsteps. I felt something dark and cold that made me shiver. My survival instinct kicked in, pushing me to go faster, and I finally burst through the gates and into the better-lit main road. 

Tyres screeched, and my heart stopped for a few seconds as I froze in the middle of the road while a truck hurled toward me. I forgot to breathe.

Not again.

Please, not again.   

The truck stopped just a hair’s breadth away from me, and I finally sucked in a shaky breath. Between my blurry vision and the truck’s tinted windows, I couldn’t see who the driver was. My body started to tremble with the shock of almost being run over. Then I looked back at the park entrance, at the thing I could feel watching me, and I shook for a different reason. Fear pushed me to ignore the driver and keep running. 

I could hardly breathe when I made it to my apartment. Sweat dripped down me as if someone threw a bucket of water at me. I locked the door and put all the chains and bolts back on it before I slid to the floor. 

That wasn’t the first time I’d woken up naked at the park, but it was the first time I felt with every fibre in my body that I could have died. 

There had to be a way to stop this.