Free Behind The Mask by Terry Towers Page A

really? It was hard to tell the way you normally dress.”
    “A minute ago you were calling me a whore for my costume.”
    He took a step back and gave her another look over and gave his head a shake. Again, she thought she saw a flicker of hunger in his eyes, but it was gone as quickly as it appeared. “You’re not going out looking like that.”
    “Yeah, I am.”
    He chuckled. “No, you’re not. I don’t care if it’s some nerd gathering or not. I’m not going to allow a bunch of geeks sporting hard-ons, staring at you. If you’re going, then you’re to change into something else.”
    Trina couldn’t believe her ears! He was never concerned about her or what she did; if he wasn’t harassing her he ignored her. All of a sudden he was going to act like the protective older brother. Nope, not going to happen. Not tonight and not ever.
    She cocked her head to the side, her eyes narrowing at him. “I’m sorry, I didn’t realize you had a say.”
    “Well, I do. Go get changed.”
    “Fuck you, Brice, I’m leaving.” She spun on her heel and made an attempt to brush past him, but he grabbed her wrist, stopping her.
    “I’m serious, Trina.”
    “And so am I.” She attempted to break free of his iron grip, but he refused to let her go.
    “Now, Trina.”
    Anger boiled up within her. “And I said let me go,” she growled through clenched teeth.
    “I’ll call your mother and let her know.”
    Her lips twisted into a sneer. “Really, Brice, gonna rat me out to my mother? Maybe I should tell your father about the acid you have in your sock drawer.”
    His eyes narrowed at her. “That’s not mine. You know that’s Jacob’s. I’ve never touched the shit.”
    He shrugged. “Well, aside from that one time.”
    “Oh, yeah, and your father would totally believe that. You know what kind of tight-ass he is. Who do you think will get in more trouble?” She cocked her brow at him, her sneer turning into a grin of victory.
    A low growl emerged from him and he released her wrist. “Fine. Go. Don’t come running to me when some idiot tries something on you.”
    “Oh, don’t worry, I wouldn’t dream of it.”
    ~*~*~*~
    Trina fingered the gold-plated first-place medal around her neck.
    “Oh, stop gloating,” her best friend, Gwen, chastised, eyeing the medal with envy. Gwen had competed in the same competition, for best female superhero costume as Wonder Woman and hadn’t placed. While Trina felt bad – she knew how much time Gwen had invested in creating the costume by hand – she suspected sexy won out over traditional, even at nerd conventions.
    “Oh, you mean over my first place costume medal?” Her grin widened.
    “Yeah, that one.”
    “Hey, have you noticed Batman?” Trina looked over her shoulder to see another of her closest friends, Beth, dressed as Catwoman with a bronze medal hanging around her neck.
    Trina laughed. “Which Batman?” She’d seen at least a half a dozen at the convention of varying heights and statures throughout the evening.
    “The one who’s been watching you ever since the contest began.”
    “Huh?” She frowned; her eyes followed where her friend was pointing. Sure enough, standing by himself against the far wall was a tall, perhaps 6’ or taller Batman. It was apparent he didn’t need the armour to thicken his stature; he was naturally muscular.
    Her eyes locked with his across the room and an intense energy rushed through her and her breath hitched. Unlike most of the other men at the convention he refused to look away. He knew he’d been spotted staring and he didn’t give a damn. He was challenging her to look away.
    Was it some creepy Batman and Poison Ivy scenario he was attempting to play out with her? The way he was watching her, it sure felt like he was hunting her. And to her surprise her body was reacting to him. She knew she should be creeped out, but men never looked at her the way he was looking at her, and it felt good. Hell, hot men never gave