Page 44 of Stalked By Seduction and Shadows

Damn him and his vampire tricks.

“And you will thank me for every single blow of your punishment.”

“You’re disgusting.” I channeled my humiliation at my uncontrollable arousal into the coldest glare. My Little Flame. “I am not your anything.”

Rune smiled, and his fingers brushed against my throat before trailing along my collarbone. When I shuddered, he chuckled and dropped his hand. “Is that what you feel, Scarlett?”

He looked at my lips at the same time my gaze dropped to his.

“Disgust?”

I couldn’t back any further into the wall at my back. When his leg inched forward, in between my thighs, I was trapped. Every single one of my thoughts evaporated. My traitorous body had all heat, all need, all focus, rushing to where his body pressed against the apex of my thighs.

Do not move. Do not move your damn thighs.

This wasn’t something that happened to me. Not like this. I’d gone on genuine dates before, outside of my seductions. I’d had flings. I’d even caught feelings, ever brief and fleeting. Besides Jaxon, all men had ever done was disappoint me. Emotionally, sure, but sexually too. There were a few decent experiences, but good sex rarely accompanied good connection and mental stimulation. It was all bits and pieces of pleasure from different people, never aligning into something deeply satisfying in all ways. The dating pool had been too small, with visitors and new villagers few and far between. That was one of the main reasons Jaxon and I needed to escape. We dreamed too big for Crescent Haven. We’d wanted so much more than what our home had ever given us.

All of this to say, never in my life had I ever been this consumed with lust.

“Stop,” I said.

Rune stared hard into my eyes. “Stop what?”

“Stop using your vampire magick on me.”

He cocked his head, confusion flitting through his eyes. “I’ve kept my shadows to myself, surprisingly, so I’m not sure what you mean.”

I held my glare even as his thigh pressed harder, and my eyes threatened to roll back into my head. “No, the sex glamour shit. The magick that makes you all irresistible, so I’ll give you all of my blood.”

His chest rumbled, his eyes now glowing infuriatingly as they flashed amusement. “Contrary to village fables and hyperboles to keep you away from this city and its big bad ruler, I’m not an incubus, Scarlett. My power over you is not a hex.” He inhaled deeply. “Have you felt this way about any other vampire? Has anyone else ever been so irresistible?” His stare was intense now, probing.

Pitifully, pathetically, I shifted my thighs. The slight rub against him only made my desire grow thicker, headier and more all-consuming. Rune let out a deep sound from low in his throat, and I felt it in the heat that had wrapped around my own neck.

The answer was no. No other mortal or vampire had ever made me feel this way. Not any of the turned or born vampires that had flirted with me last night or had stopped me on the street. Their beauty was captivating, but none had stoked this level of desire. None had this kind of irrational, indescribable hold over me.

I was in danger.

22

SCARLETT

“What’s going through that intriguing little mind of yours?” Rune asked. His body was rigid and unmoving as I fought the urge to squirm and grind against him. “Let me in.”

I shook my head in defiance, and his thigh pressed slightly harder between my legs. His fingers traced my cheekbone and jaw, and my threads of control began to snap one by one. “Why me? Why are you toying with me?”

“Because I enjoy it, and you’re the only one I have any desire to treat as my toy.”

I laughed bitterly, rolling my eyes. “Sure.” I ignored the way he’d subtly shifted my words, and I tried desperately to deny the way their implications had the need between my thighs growing into something painful.

In a movement too fast for me to see, his hand had moved to grip my face, holding it roughly in place as he spoke.

“Do not roll your eyes at me,” he said. “And don’t you dare insinuate that I’m a liar.”

“Or you’ll punish me?” I asked, my voice muffled with his fingers digging into my cheeks.

“She’s learning,” he said, releasing my face.

And then, finally, my first intelligent thought since he’d pressed his body against mine broke through the haze.

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