Page 92 of Stalked By Seduction and Shadows

“I’m sorry,” he said.

The air went cold. Whiplash had me shaken and disoriented. When I shifted away from him, he tracked the small movement with sharp eyes.

“No,” I said. “I can’t do that.”

His features hardened, and I remembered how accustomed he’d become to everyone bending to his whim without a second thought or question.

“We’ve only just met. And I have a job and an apartment, this new life that I’m building…” I shook my head, staring at him in accusation. He’d been digging his sneaky roots in deep, flooding me with all these sensual pleasures. Music, sex, philosophy, the teasing of the depth even as I remained in the dark about his true origins and motives. Was I only a mark to him?

“Why are you doing this? Do you think I’m easy just because I’m a young human from dry lands?” I asked.

Rune’s eyes sparked fire. “Just because you see love and sex as a game, doesn’t mean the rest of us do.”

Something cold slithered in my depths, coiling around me like a serpent as Isabella’s voice arose.

You’re a parasite, Scarlett. He sees it the same as the rest of us. You deserve whatever he has planned for you.

“I don’t trust you,” I said, rising to my feet as a woman sang of the sea.

“Clearly,” Rune said. He took a deep breath, softening after studying my face. “I’m sorry. I know the world has given you no grounds to believe in someone like me. I know there’s a reason you see interactions with men as transactional. But this is real, Scarlett. This isn’t a game to me.”

Everything inside of me wanted to believe him, and that was precisely the problem. The weakness. The vulnerability.

He’d fashioned himself into everything I’d ever wanted. Everything I felt I’d lacked. That was the best seduction tactic in the world.

“If our connection is real, then you’ll let me go home,” I said, forcing strength into my voice that I didn’t entirely feel. “You’ll find my sister like you promised me you would, and you’ll let me continue to live on my own terms for the first time in my life.”

The way Rune vibrated with dark power should’ve terrified me, but it didn’t. I kept my chin lifted, my gaze steady on his dark brown eyes.

When he nodded, I released my held breath.

“Fine. Live in denial for as long as it takes for you to feel safe,” he said. “You may leave.”

I crossed my arms. “Oh, thank you for your permission, Sir.”

Rune smiled and stepped toward me. “You’re welcome.” He leaned in close, his face inches from mine. “I’ll see you tonight.”

“No, I don’t want to see you tonight,” I hissed as I stepped back.

“Okay, then you won’t see me,” he said with a shrug.

It took me a moment to understand the meaning between his words. “Rune!”

His cocky grin doubled, staring down at me like he hadn’t lost an inch. Despite the tension and the heat in the air between us, I couldn’t let go of the brief flickers of pain in his eyes that tasted like guilt on my tongue. He’d apologized to me, after he said my involvement with him couldn’t remain a secret forever.

This was what Snow had warned me about. She’d told me a relationship with Rune was a death sentence.

Perhaps the gods’ punishment for running away from Isabella was trading my freedom for hers.

I cursed Rune for making punishment sound so damn alluring.

Rune haunted my dreams. Each time I awoke, I looked for him in my dark bedroom illuminated by a shred of moonlight. Sometimes, I saw him, in the shadowed corners or by the window, or next to me in bed, watching me sleep. Unable to discern between my dreaming and waking states, all I knew was him. He was the taste on my lips, the heat collared around my neck, the slow trace of fingers across my hipbone, my worst nightmare, and my aching need.

In the morning, I reached for him, but the sheets were cool and empty. I’d never hated anyone more.

Penn hugged me when she saw me the next morning in Marigold. “I’m so glad you’re okay.”

When she released me, I realized how tense I’d been in her arms. Some strange buried emotion bubbled up, making my lip tremble.

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