Page 34 of Stalked By Seduction and Shadows

SCARLETT

Iknew the scent, the power, the enthralling allure immediately. Rune’s magnetism was unlike any other vampire’s here, as if he was a different beast entirely.

“Come with me,” he said coolly, not bothering to greet the men at the table. He didn’t touch me, but I felt the sear of his hand near my exposed back.

He led me to a secluded enclave near the mysterious downward staircase. Again, I felt potent energy emanating from its depths—and I somehow knew that if the glamor of Odessa’s main floor had me this drunk with power and my own aliveness, whatever depravities lay below would knock me off my feet.

Rune had gone down there earlier, and I hadn’t seen him since. I didn’t want to admit how many times I’d scanned the crowd for him, either. Had he just been inspecting his property? Or had he been inspecting… other things?

“Drink this.”

He handed me a pink, bubbly drink.

His voice was so final, so imposing that I nearly obeyed without thinking.

Nearly.

“Excuse me?” I asked, leveling a glare. “No.”

His rage melted, replaced by something almost just as eerie. A grin. A perfect, sinful, fanged smile.

“Good answer,” he said. “Don’t drink anything from strangers.”

I opened my mouth and then closed it. He watched me as if I was a rarity, or some ghost that was soon to disappear into the great beyond. I couldn’t read him, not even a hint. I reached, pulled, and attempted to peek behind his guarded features, but he gave away no micro-expressions, leaked out zero indication of his emotional state. No inkling of what he desired.

“Do you think I’m stupid enough to fall for reverse psychology or something?” I asked.

Oh, Goddess. There I went, speaking to people out of my weight class like I had the fight to back myself up.

His grin remained, but his eyes flashed a warning. “I know you’re not stupid, Scarlett.”

My name on his lips was something I didn’t know I needed, and now that I’d heard it, I feared I was already addicted.

“It’s sparkling water and electrolytes,” he said. “You looked pale.”

I stared at him. Was I in a strange fever dream? Why did Rune, the centuries-old, psychopathic overlord of thousands of vampires, give a single flying fuck about my hydration status?

“Drink,” he said again, and this time, there was no wiggle room in his command. His power was suddenly suffocating, darkening the surrounding air, hiding us from the rest of the world. His dark eyes ensnared mine before glancing at my lips and back up.

He stood too close for me to ignore his beauty, to crawl out of his terrifying trap. He was so much taller and bigger than me that he had eclipsed me from everyone’s line of sight.

Then, horrifyingly, a slow spread of warmth and ache spread from my stomach lower, down between my thighs.

No. I was the one who stoked desire. I was the one in control. Always.

I smelled the drink, detecting no scent of alcohol or elixir. I guessed it could’ve been drugged or poisoned some other way, but why? And if Rune, the ruler of Aristelle, wanted me dead or incapacitated, would I really be able to stop him?

I lifted the drink to my lips and took a sip, and something sick and twisted inside of me somersaulted when Rune smiled with satisfaction.

“That’s a good girl,” he whispered, his voice now completely different from the sharp whip of his command. It was softer now as it carried my praise, and I refused to show him the way it affected me.

“Do you always treat your staff with this level of hands-on attention?”

His eyes flashed, his lips twisting as he glanced again at mine. “No.” He paused, and my stomach again flipped when he craned his head closer. “I didn’t think I was being hands-on at all yet.”

Yet.

He was seducing me. I was not special, as much as he wanted me to think that I was. Everyone wanted to feel special. That was a seduction element that was universal.

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