Page 79 of Stalked By Seduction and Shadows

“Shhh, baby, I wouldn’t want you to add to your remarkably long list with another distasteful lie.”

I grabbed his hand that still rested on my throat. “Your neck must be very strong.”

He lifted a brow.

“To carry such a big head,” I said sweetly, tapping on his forehead.

It appeared as though he was trying to keep a straight face, slowly retracting his hand and pushing away from my body.

He towered over me. “Maybe I’ll force you to repeat that joke when you’re bent over my lap and I’m turning that perfect ass as red as your namesake.” He crossed his arms and sighed. “It will probably sound even less funny the second time.”

I wasn’t sure which I was more offended by: Rune threatening me with an act that sounded utterly humiliating, or him saying I wasn’t funny.

And yet, my thighs pressed together unconsciously, heat gathering in my core. As soon as Rune’s eyes changed and I caught the first glimpse of triumph, I scrambled away from him. His soft laughter followed me into the master bathroom, where I was quick to close the door behind me.

“Where is she?”

Snow’s voice boomed through the castle. It was the first thing I heard when Rune and I descended the grand staircase in the main hall. Soft morning light illuminated the midnight blue walls patterned with black, thorny vines. A decadent chandelier hung above, and various white marble and onyx sculptures of gods, myths, and beasts lined the hall.

The frightening wall of a woman with oceanic whorls of tattoo on her dark skin stood with her arms crossed at the bottom of the stairs, next to the vampire with shoulder-length honey blond hair. I was used to seeing one, if not both, at Rune’s side at all times.

A step creaked, and Snow’s enraged face appeared as she backed up and peeked over the two vampires’ imposing figures.

“Scarlett, thank the gods.” She scanned up and down my body. She lifted a brow. She could’ve been mulling over any number of things, such as Rune’s closeness, his hand on my lower back, or perhaps my appearance.

Rune may have insisted I wear another dress that was somehow tailored to my exact measurements. No, not somehow. It was my size because he was an unhinged stalker who’d rummaged through my wardrobe.

With a sweetheart neckline, the gown was cornflower blue and impossibly silky soft, layers of fabric dropping all the way to the floor. It made my eyes appear even more shockingly blue than they already were. There were slits on each leg that were mostly hidden except when I moved, and the sleeves were long but completely open, with slits that reached my shoulders.

The vampire woman pinned a weighted stare on Rune. “She’s been going off like a damn alarm clock since dawn.”

The man nodded in agreement. “And you left us very few avenues to quiet her down.”

Snow just glowered. “The hell is that supposed to mean? You’re holding a human against her will, right after she was attacked. And now you want to impose even more force?—”

The man groaned, massaging the bridge of his nose. “We told you that you were free to go hours ago.”

“I would never leave Scarlett with you people. With him.”

We reached the bottom of the stairs, and the woman’s eyes were ice when she surveyed me up and down. “Ah yes, the poor human seems to be suffering greatly.”

“Mason,” Rune said. Though his voice was steady, the whole room could read its unspoken command. It was as though his words carried magick of their own.

Mason went silent, but she did not show a single sign of deference. This shocked me, given everything I’d ever heard about Rune and his style of rule.

“I’m Uriah,” the man said, cutting through the tension as he extended a hand.

When I shook it, meeting his soft hazel-green eyes, I could’ve sworn my neck grew hot where Rune’s shadows had coiled this morning.

I quickly moved to Snow. “Are you okay?”

She nodded, despite her lip trembling slightly. I wrapped my arms around her, though the move did not come naturally. When she relaxed in my arms, something hard and jagged in my chest melted and softened.

“Are you okay?” she asked quietly in my ear.

When I nodded, I felt a charge of magick light up the air. I flinched when I read its probing intent.

“Sorry,” she whispered. “I was making sure you weren’t drugged or enchanted.”

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