Page 57 of Stalked By Seduction and Shadows

“Hurry back,” Liza said, her usual purr undercut with frustration.

I tried not to leap from the couch, letting out a huge sigh when we were finally out of earshot of the born.

Seraph glanced at me, lifting a brow. “You’re a perplexing creature, you know that?”

I smiled, trying not to let my lips shake. “You need something, boss?”

We walked across the dark marble floors as voices and moans enveloped us, tingles racing along my skin at the energy and magick swirling all around.

He shook his head. “Not me.”

Confusion twisted inside me as he led me into a dark, deserted alcove and then walked away.

That was when strong arms grabbed me, and my world went black.

28

RUNE

It took every ounce of my tenuous restraint not to drag her by her hair into my study. Instead, I covered us with shadow and moved with deathly speed. My magick unfolded once the heavy wooden door closed behind us, and I slammed Scarlett hard against the wall next to one of the bookcases. I was careful to protect her head from impact.

She had the wind knocked out of her, adorably disoriented, as she glanced around the room and then at me. She trembled slightly, and the sight of it drew my attention to her rapid pulse.

I glared, unable to stop my tattoos from escaping my skin. “What. The. Fuck. Is. Wrong. With. You.”

The inky branches took solid form as they crawled from my skin to hers. She jolted, and I made sure the thorns were tucked as they morphed into bondage that held her to the wall.

She struggled, and I grinned wickedly as the bindings grew tauter with each of her moves. Eventually, she’d realize they tightened the more she resisted. Until then, it was deeply satisfying to watch her squirm.

Especially after the hell she’d just put me through. And for what? To try to make me jealous again, but this time, with my sworn enemies, who would love nothing more than to feed from her and use her until she was a hollow husk of flesh?

I thought I was the insane one in this relationship, but this girl was absolutely giving me a run for my fucking money.

“Not all of us live in castles,” she said. “Some of us need to work to survive.”

That was how she was going to play this? Fine. “Whatever tips they’ve given you tonight, I will give you that amount doubled every single shift for you to stay away from the born.”

She huffed, her glare tightening as she finally gave up her useless struggle against my shadows. “I don’t want your money. Stop trying to buy me.”

Her hair was in disarray, and I bit down more anger when she flinched as my fingers reached to push the strands out of her face. Who the fuck taught her to flinch?

“I am not trying to buy you,” I said as evenly as possible. “But the born most certainly are.”

“At least they’re straightforward with their intentions.”

“Like you?” I lifted one of the corners of my lips when her eyes narrowed. I shook my head. “My intentions are to keep you safe. Which appears to be in direct opposition to your own. There are dozens of wealthy patrons you could’ve used. Why the born? Did you really make yourself a mark just to piss me off?”

I fought the rising tide of my magick. This woman was the only being in the world who’d ever made me feel this out of control.

She laughed. “Not everything is about you.”

At first, I assumed she was playing more games. More useless ploys to ignore our irrational, perplexing draw to each other—an infatuation that I was beginning to think might be powerful enough to destroy us all.

But then I saw a flash of something cross her eyes, an emotion akin to whatever she’d felt when she’d ordered me away from her. There was something more, something I hadn’t seen in Crescent Haven. Perhaps that had occurred after I’d left. It seemed likely whatever she was hiding also explained why she was here instead of off traveling with her shifter friend.

“What is it, Little Flame? Tell me. Let me help.”

Her eyes rounded, that powerful little mind churning with consideration. She was holding back. She didn’t trust me, which made sense. That was smart of her. She had no idea how tightly wrapped around her finger I was, how hopelessly devoted I’d become to making sure she was protected, fulfilled, and satisfied at all times.

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