Page 123 of Stalked By Seduction and Shadows

“Down here or in the light of day, Rune is incredible beyond words. Any one of the clan would lay ourselves down before him in offering, yet he would never ask such a thing,” Reggie murmured. “That’s the difference between us and the born. Rune has our respect, not merely our fear. He tells us the truth to earn our loyalty, not provocatory lies and delusions like Durian.”

At that name, several eyes snapped to us, and Zara and Lars flashed their fangs. I nearly thought they were going to start hissing. That thought might’ve made me laugh if my mood hadn’t taken such a dark turn.

If I wanted to lean back into my power, I needed to steal it back from Rune. I stole one last glance at those powerful tattoos crawling up the back of his neck, his head tilted down to look at the human on her knees.

I focused on Zara and Lars. “Would you three like to show me around the rest of the dungeon?”

57

SCARLETT

Ifound my footing again as we moved from room to room, voyeurs of acts I’d failed to even dream up in my filthiest imagination. Pleasure and lust oozed from the dark walls, the dim lights, the hushed whispers and cries of rapture.

As we went, I noticed several people following us around, usually at a respectful distance. Some approached and asked me questions about what I was looking for here, which I always answered cryptically. I said I was here to watch, learn, or explore. These answers only seemed to excite them more. Reggie, Lars, and Zara tactfully pulled me away if anyone got too intense. I knew that Lars and Zara had ulterior motives for their protectiveness, but it was appreciated, nonetheless.

In one room, a group of vampires surrounded a human girl on her knees wearing nothing but a black collar. Everyone else gathered around the edges of the space, watching.

We paused here. Zara and Lars suddenly stood very close to me, putting distance between Reggie and me.

I wasn’t focused on them, though. I was watching the woman in the center of the circle, batting her eyes at the men who encircled her. They were calling her demeaning names, telling her all the things they wanted to do to her.

I frowned. “She wants this?” I whispered to Zara.

Zara nodded, leaning into me as she whispered back. “She loves it. Cat is addicted to group scenes, the more depraved the better. I once watched her get ritually sacrificed.”

“What?”

“In a negotiated, safe way,” she said with a small laugh. “It’s all just theater, at the end of the day. She wanted it to feel real, and her Dominant was happy to provide that experience for her.”

“Is her, um, Dominant, a vampire?” I asked, feeling slightly ill but also fully aware that I was being unnecessarily judgmental. Perhaps I was only fearful of the parts of myself I recognized in this space, these twisted impulses so brazenly on display for all to see.

“No, a wolf shifter,” Lars answered, his breath warm on my cheek.

At the first cock unsheathed from pants, my eyes widened, and I took a step back. As intoxicating as it was to soak in the desire of this room, I wasn’t sure I wanted to watch what happened next. It felt like I’d been thrown into the deep end of the pool head first.

When a vampire darted toward her, locking his arm around her neck and manhandling her to her feet, I paused in my retreat. He looked straight at me when he pierced her neck, pinching her nipple with one hand as the other held her tight. He drank as she moaned and went utterly still.

Her bliss melted inside my own veins like chocolate.

“Have you still never been fed from, Scarlett?” Reggie asked.

Now this had a great many onlookers zoned in on me, fangs flashing and dicks hardening. Zara made a small noise from the back of her throat.

I blinked, my mind threatening to split, to go in search of the nagging feeling of dread his question provoked. But I stayed firmly present, squashing the unease back down.

Rune said the attack hadn’t counted, and his words were gospel, apparently.

“No, I haven’t,” I said.

Though I’d just nonchalantly sent several vampires into fits of dangerous lust, I was back to ruminating about Rune, wondering if he’d followed me.

Was he still being careful about protecting who I was to him? Or was I driving him just as insane as I was, one small move away from throwing caution to the wind?

The man feeding on the woman pulled off her neck. At some point, he’d shoved her back down to the ground, her back against his chest. He held her in place as he loudly ordered her to spread her legs. The other men began to move, one of them shooting a glance back at me. Half of my questions were answered when Zara stroked my arm and Lars moved dangerously close.

“Scarlett,” a calm, deep voice called.

I released my held breath, feigning confusion as I turned to face Rune. He was hardly bothering to hide the wrath from his eyes, which cooled a portion of my own inferno.

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