Page 8 of Hunted

“Yes,” he murmurs. Our eyes meet. His eyes flash devilishly, and I press my lips tightly together as I continue to stare him down, despite having to look up. Nova takes another step and her snout presses forward and against my collarbone, nuzzling my neck. She’s sweet, catching me off guard. Hesitantly, I lift my hand and rub her flank. She nickers against my collar, causing goosebumps on my flesh. I like animals. God, the number of times me and my little sister begged our parents to let us have a pet. We never did.

“You are going to run for me and I will give you a head start. How much do you need, ten seconds? Then I’ll come hunting you.” His gloved fingers caress the horse’s head, tracing its direction until they divert toward my chin. Pinching it tight, he forces my gaze back onto his. “Tonight will be different, I told you this. Tonight we’ll both be fed, little wolf. First I’ll hurt you, then I’ll soothe your wounds. And then we’ll join our brothers for the Initiations. How does that sound?”

“You’re deranged,” I pant. My dick has become rigid in my pants. “I have a boyfriend,” I stammer. “I mean, had—I had a boyfriend. We're not exactly together but I still love him. We were together for a long time.”

“Four years and nearly three weeks, yeah, I know.” Alexandre cocks his head in a silent challenge at my surprised frown. “Oh, I know all about you, beautiful. And if you’re sweet to me, I might even tell you all about me.”

I take a step back, breaking contact with the horse and those tantalizing, silky fingers that are no good for my state of mind. “Fuck you, I don’t want to know anything about you.” Why does he have to look so good? “Maybe I’ve given you the wrong impression,” I snarl. But I don’t get time to finish my words.

“So far, you haven’t given me an impression at all,” Alexandre counters immediately. “You’re too busy reading your life away. How many hours do you spend in that library anyway?”

I snort. “Who cares? I love reading, sue me.”

Alexandre barks out an obscene laugh and tilts his head back to stare at the dark sky. I can’t help but look at the way his long neck stretches, giving me the tiniest glimpse of creamy skin where the cloak doesn’t cover him entirely. His Adam’s apple, those delicate curves…my heart rattles in my ribcage. He’s a sublime version of mankind, that’s for sure. Dangerous and sexy, handsome with an impeccable balance of soft and hard features. Self-assured as hell. Those are all red flags. Those are all reasons to stay the fuck away from him.

“Nah, that’s not it,” he murmurs toward the heavens. “But you aren’t living your fullest version of life either.” Dragging his gaze back to mine, he adds, “And I fully intend to wrinkle out whatever’s inside that pretty head of yours. After tonight, that is.”

After tonight?

He ticks a gloved finger against his own temple. “I want to know exactly what goes on up there, beautiful.”

What goes on up there?

My brain can’t think, and my heart is sending me the wrong wave of emotions. Hope, excitement, a graceful promise to not being alone anymore in life, but to share it once more with someone who wants to allot his time with me.

Would he want to share his bed with me?

Theo, my mind sings. Where are you? Just the memory of you is fine, is good enough to keep the illusion alive that I can hide from this guy, this Alexandre Arnault, who isn’t just part of the elite, but who’s also got his eyes, so like a predator’s, set on me. Thick lashes, complemented by curvy, bushy brows frame those eyes. Dark and dangerous, seeing everything.

I run.

I take off so unexpectedly that my knees buckle and need to catch my weight on both wrists, before I can push myself back up and away from him. Two, three steps in and I pick up on a rhythm, trying—and failing—to ignore the raspy snigger that hunts me through the bushes.

“This is all a joke to them,” I mutter, winding myself up in an encouragement to go faster, to seek more distance, and with that, perhaps even the way back to the castle. Would they let me out of the games before they’re finished?

I wonder what time it is, but don’t dare stop running right now. I’m still out in the open, once more on the lit-up trail in an attempt to find the right direction. I’ve never been in that part of the woods before where that piano stood, but then, I don’t recognize this part either. The only thing I hear right here is my own breathing, ragged and a little out of breath. My head is pounding, ears buzzing and mind reeling.

This night is fucking with my thoughts. I go from being terrified to being aroused, my heart pumping blood south like crazy, and I’m sure I’ve never reacted like this to another person before. Not even with Theo.

Alexandre is fatal. And with him, so are those other three guys with their Venetian masks. And the Elder, as he calls himself, his face disguised with a mask that carries the shape of a crow. A dangerous group of ultra-rich and possibly bored people? Is that why they do this?

Following the new trail as it winds and turns through the woods, I can’t help but notice that there are less and less torches out here. I must be leaving tonight’s playground. Relief skates down my spine. I can’t hear Alexandre and Nova. That must mean I’m closer to getting the hell out of here. But…where is my elation over that fact?

I can ignore it as much as I want, but Alexandre has been on my mind for weeks now. My skin prickles at the reminder of our first encounter, when I realized exactly what I’d gotten myself into. The pain he inflicted on me…that too, was a surprise. Much like our rendezvous at the library, followed by the invitation, the request to be back here, in the Wicked Chase. Him. His face, his features, his size, his words. All of it scares me, creating an inner turmoil I have never before experienced.

Yet, it’s euphoric.

I want to know more about him. What twenty-something year old chooses another person and wants to make them theirs?

I halt by a tree and with one hand supported against the trunk, I bend forward and take in a few deep breaths. I’m sweating under my uniform, my body buzzing with anticipation. I’m tired, yet I feel more alive than I have felt in a long time.

He’s coming for me.

I know he is, because he told me so. I trust that he will, which is completely ridiculous. Does that mean…that I trust him? A complete stranger who happens to have crossed my path by coincidence and decided that he wants me?

The answer is yes.

Yes, I trust him. Yes, I trust that he is coming for me. There! I can hear them now. The sound of Nova’s hoofs on the trail.

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