Page 17 of The Four Leaf

She’s hiding. Samantha is fuckinghiding.

I’m lucky enough to have her in my life, not only as a supporter, but a friend. My best friend. To think for one minute that she may be into something so fundamentally important to me is… unreal.

My entire chest vibrates as I check the time on my phone. It’s only been two minutes since she took off, but the anticipation–thepull–is killing me. It’s a deep-seated hunger that will only be satisfied when the prey is in my hands. When her body is beneath mine, submissive and writhing with want.

She will be my greatest hunt yet, and if I have it my way, she’ll be my last.

I set my empty glass back down and nod to Willow, who has been conveniently tied up until her sister disappeared in the crowd. She floats to my end of the bar and grabs the empty cup, slipping it beneath her in the bin.

“I should have guessed primal a long time ago. It makes so much sense now,” she says, wiping off the counter with the smuggest of smirks on her face. “That was your favorite game when we were younger.”

Considering her box of treasures I stumbled upon a few years ago, it doesn’t surprise me in the slightest she knows what a primal kink is. “That it was. Who would have known it would turn into something like this.”

“Oh, believe me, I see the appeal.” Willow leans over, examining me with her amber eyes.

At first, I mirror her grin and tilt my head, but then an idea strikes. Willow is the only one who knows the small part of Sam I don’t, and while yes, I want Bambi to be the one to tell me, I can’t lie about the slight ache resonating in the back of my heart. The sliver of doubt still holding on tight. “You think she’ll go for it?”

This makes Willow throw her head back with laughter, garnering a few stray looks from some of the patrons. “For you? Absolutely. You have no idea, Stokes.”

Hope flares in my chest with her unsaid confirmation, snuffing out some of the uncertainty. My eyes flash to the clock.

Five minutes.

Plenty of time, considering I only need one.

The forewarning I gave her was not meant to be a deterrent, but a test of a few things. One, if she’d actually accept the terms of the game. Two, if she trusts me enough to do something like hiding in a hotel with no real idea of what will happen when I find her.

Lastly, if she goes to the only place I intend to look, she wants this as badly as I do.

And I plan to reward her accordingly.

I hand my debit card to Will. “Guess I’ll find out soon.”

You’d think hiding in a mass of thick velvet curtains, counting to sixty, nine times over, would be calming to the heart. Perhaps even give me time to think things over and contemplate how wrong I may be that he’d come here first.

But it doesn’t. I know Adrian. I know any second, he’ll walk through the door, and snatch me up, and… well, I’m not sure what’s going to happen, but I know it will change everything. As he implied, we’re already past a point of return.

We’re jumping in the pool and all I can do now is hope like hell we both know how to swim.

My heart has also not returned to normal. If anything, the sheer anticipation is keeping it at a calorie-burning rate. One minute left.

I force myself to suck in a slow ten-second breath, then push it out. I do this twice before it happens. The sound.

The sway of one door opening, then the snap of it closing, followed by the clunk of the lock.

He’s here.

And he knows I am too.

My body begins to quiver, my throat turns dry, and the air is no longer filling my lungs. This is it.

The sound of his boots meeting the carpet is nothing more than a muffled shuffle, but the sound is incredibly nerve-wracking. They’re slow and paced out. Purposeful. But he isn’t getting closer. No, he’s nearing the–

As soon as I think it, a b-flat minor chord echoes throughout the ballroom. The sound winds around my spine, and my eyes squeeze shut.

“I found you, Bambi.” Adrian’s voice is much deeper than normal, almost a husky growl that forces my thighs to squeeze together. “I want my prize.”

I lift my hand slowly and clamp it over my mouth. He may know I’m in here, but not where, and I have at least twenty seconds left–more than enough time to win.

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