Page 6 of A Deal For a Kiss

I make a plan while she hands me my receipt. I’ll leave the store and walk as fast as I can until I’m back in my room and lock the door behind me.

Once I’ve done that, I’ll call every person I can think of and tell them what’s been happening. If they think I’m crazy, I don’t care. One of them will help me.

Even if I have gone mad here in this gray city.

I tuck the paper bag with my purchases into the crook of my elbow and head for the doors.

The man from the store comes after me.

I can feel his eyes the back of my neck, burning hot. He can’t do this. He can’t stalk me and stare at me and pretend he has any right to follow me all over the city.

I’m about to turn around and tell him so when I feel it. A chill on the back of my neck and everywhere else. It’s a warning. To run.

I clench my teeth and start walking. Fast, but not too fast. My heart pounds like I’m running. I wish I could run, but if I do, I know he’ll run after me. He’ll catch me so easily and there’s no one here on the empty, narrow cobblestone street.

But there are people up ahead, coming in and out of shops and talking on their phones and looking up at the sky to see if the clouds are a different shade of gray today. As my heart races, they’re almost all a blur. I walk too fast for how many people are on the sidewalk, but I don’t care. My arm brushes against another woman’s and I almost cry with relief. They’re close enough to touch, and that means he can’t do anything to me here. Not with so many people around.

I keep moving through the crowd, my bravery growing with every step. But he’s behind me. He’s right there behind me every time I look.

The chill bears down on me. I can almost feel him breathing on the back of my neck.

I whirl around, ready to scream for help, to tell him to get away from me and stay away from me, but nothing comes out of my mouth.

The strange man is gone. There’s nobody behind me. Nobody at all. The bustling sidewalks and streets are completely empty.

Where did they go? They were all just there.

Before I can scream, a hand comes from behind me and wraps around my throat.

I try to run, twisting away from his hand, but it doesn’t work. I only make it a few steps before his hand is around my throat again, and his other hand is on my shoulder. The world becomes gray, all shades of it blurred.

He crowds me against a wall. Cold bricks press roughly into my back. My bag from the shop falls to the sidewalk. I hear it land with a crumpling sound, but I barely hear or see anything. All I can do is feel. He leans down over me, his body blocks the view of the empty street, and the darkness in his eyes terrifies me.

His hand comes back to my jaw, and I can’t look away. Caught in his stare.

“You will come to me,” he says. His voice is deep and almost seductive. So much different from what I imagined.

“No,” I gasp, although it’s so hard to breathe and even more difficult to stand. What happened to me? Tears prick as I murmur, “What have you done?”

His breath warms my neck and makes me shiver more deeply than the chills that have followed me for months in Edinburgh.

My body falls heavy, as do my eyelids. I attempt to question, to accuse, but everything is weak.

“You aren’t supposed to be here.” After the words have warmed my skin, he presses his lips to the same spot. The kiss is soft but almost familiar. I tip my head against the bricks, sensation lighting me up all down my body.

The next gasp that escapes my lips is almost a moan. Confusion fills me, but it can’t push out the tingling in my skin and the heat between my legs. I should be frozen with fear, but my body wants to arch into this demon’s touch to get more of it. I’m shocked at myself. I’m shocked that this is how my body is reacting when my worst fears are coming true.

It must be a nightmare. None of this is real.

It doesn’t feel real.

“Leave me alone.” I barely manage, my words coming out as if slurred.

His eyes widen slightly, but then they narrow again, his dark gaze searing into mine.

“You will come with me,” he repeats, slowly and clearly, stressing every word. My heart races even faster. “It is too dangerous for you here.”

“No.” I grit my teeth, refusing to let any tears escape though my eyes burn with more.

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