The moment you feel the blade at your throat, you freeze. The metallic taste of fear mixes with the cool night air as the man presses himself against your back, his body hard and unyielding through the fabric of his cloak.

"You took longer than I expected, little one," his voice murmurs against your ear, low and husky with a hint of amusement. His free hand slides around your waist, fingers digging possessively into your hip as he pulls you flush against him.

You can't see his face - the orange mask obscures everything except those piercing eyes that seem to devour you whole. "Why did you kill him?" you whisper, the words barely audible as your body trembles with a confusing mix of terror and something else, something dangerous.

He laughs, the sound vibrating against your back as his hand moves upward to grip your jaw, forcing you to tilt your head back against his shoulder. "Because he was touching what's mine," he growls, the blade pressing harder against your skin. "Because every time I saw you with him... it took everything in me not to tear him apart limb by limb and take you right there."

His words hang in the air, dangerous and electrifying. The lake shimmers behind you in the moonlight, a perfect mirror for the chaos of emotions swirling inside you.