Page 128 of Stalked By Seduction and Shadows

Subconsciously, I raised one of my hands, just an inch, before remembering I wasn’t supposed to move.

Rune’s razor-sharp eyes captured the movement, his face darkening. His grin held no humor. “Little Flame,” he sighed, cruel pity marring his features. “I already knew you’d require training, but Helia save your poor soul…”

In a flash of movement, I was on my knees, tipping forward to catch myself on my hands.

I tried to raise my head, but Rune’s strong hand gripped my hair, halting me.

“Don’t look at me. Look at the ground. Spread your legs, reach your arms out in front of you, and lift that perfect ass high in the air.”

I was in a collar and leash. The realization struck me in a split second, and I didn’t have enough time to ruminate on it before Rune had released my gripped hair and slapped my ass hard.

I cried out in surprise, my mind slipping further down into submission than it ever had before, all thoughts but Rune and his will fading away.

I reached my arms out as if in prayer, my knees tilting to arch my back.

“That’s it, toy, press that forehead into the carpet or I will use my boot to do it for you.” Rune made a sound of approval as I leaned deeper, my ass on full display. “Now that’s a beautiful sight. Do you know what this position is called, Scarlett?”

“No,” I said.

Another heavy strike to my ass, my leash rattling at the sudden movement.

“No, Sir,” I corrected myself. Sir or Rune. That was how he’d told me to address him when we were playing, but Sir was more respectful.

“Given you belong to me—your filthy mind, tempting body, and radiant soul… Master or God work too,” Rune said softly. Humor laced his voice, knowing damn well I wasn’t ready for that yet.

As if he could sense the indignation break through my haze of desire and surrender, the unmistakable weight of his leather boot landed on my upper back. He didn’t press hard, but the act was degrading enough to send me deeper, my forehead pressing harder against the ground as my pussy ached for him.

“This position is called humble.” He retracted his foot.

I stayed silent. Waiting. He circled me, pulling on my leash slightly every once in a while, as he inspected me with his sharp eyes and intrusive touch. He trailed his finger up my back and down the curve of my ass. When he cupped my pussy possessively, I fought the urge to grind against him and relieve the ache that had gathered there. He tore off my panties, leaving me completely exposed and bared to him.

“Since the moment those dangerous eyes met mine, I dreamed of putting you in your place, just how you’ve always craved,” he said. “Teach you humility, respect, devotion. Make you into your most powerful self, strong enough to fear nothing and no one but me—the only being in this world you will ever have to answer to again. The only will other than your own you will ever be beholden to. The only authority you ever have to recognize other than that of your own heart.”

His words fell over me, warm and beautiful and potent as always. In Rune’s intensity, I was safe. I was held. I was seen.

“I am yours, Scarlett, here to protect you, serve you, and love you for as long as you desire.”

I jolted as if he’d spanked me again.

“You can look at me, Little Flame,” he said softly.

My heart had only just calmed, and now it was slamming against my ribs as if attempting to break free from my chest cavity.

I pushed up to see that Rune was now also on his knees. It was a sight I never thought I’d witness, and something about it made my lip tremble as I gazed up at him. Even with both of us on our knees, his size eclipsed mine.

He brushed a thumb over my lip, and his tenderness didn’t steady me. It only broke me further. This collar around my neck attached to the chain he held in his tight grip—we were this act of depravity, yet so much more. We were the meaning behind the props and the theater. We were the exchange of trust and the flow of surrender and devotion. We were the obsession and the addiction, the love and the art and the poetry. Life, in all of its complexity and duality, its grit and its unending fire.

A single tear escaped my eye. I gathered myself in his steadiness, rooted myself in his fierce hum of power.

“All my life, I’ve been searching for something, always staring out into the horizon,” I said. “My future. My grand escape from Crescent Haven. I thought what I was looking for was out there,” I pointed at the window, the glittering cityscape, “but it was you, Rune. I was looking for you.”

Rune’s dominance melted, showing me the man underneath the power, the human I cherished as dearly as I adored his terrifying vampirism.

“I love you, Rune,” I said, and his eyes sparked. “All of you. But especially the parts you save only for me.”

“They will remain only for you,” he said darkly. A vampire lord terrified of his own soul. His wicked smirk had my stomach flipping. Then, the mask fell again, and I lost myself in the rare hint of softness in his features. “Scarlett, you are the only thing that feels different in a world that never changes.”

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