Page 23 of The Four Leaf

The entrance to the woods is tight, but I rip through, ignoring the bites of pain from stray branches catching on my sleeve. I push them up my forearms as I veer to the left, the hunger growing stronger the closer I get to the spot I know she’s headed.

Five yards. Even if it wasn’t for the fact she’s cracking branches beneath her feet, I can smell her scent trailing behind her. Once I tasted the sweet musk of her cunt, I became addicted. Savored and memorized what I’ll soon get to claim.

Four yards. She’s in front of me now, tearing through the trees as fast as she can, her breath coming out in pants that match the steady beat of my heart. I love that she doesn’t hear me. I’ll have to teach her how to be quieter when she’s running from me.

Three yards. She makes a swift turn to the left, disappearing behind a group of trees almost too close for me to follow behind. When I reach it and realize I can’t, my beast roars, lust and desire surging through me, spurring me on.

My heart barrels into my rib cage as I pick up the pace, doubling back until I find a way in at the same time I hear her groaning.

Sam rolls to her stomach as I break through the trees. She jumps to her feet, positioning herself, as if ready to take off at any second.

I like that she thinks she can outrun me. That I won’t scour the fucking earth to find her.

We stare at each other from across the opening for two seconds, both of us clearly deciding what to do next. There’s nothing between us but the thick stump and cool breeze.

As if on cue, a heavy rumble of thunder sounds overhead, prompting us to move.

I race across, eating the space between us in seconds, while she turns and attempts to climb up the tree she must have fallen from.

For a moment, I consider seeing if she can manage the feat, but my beast decides not to let her get away.

I’m done playing with my meal.

Adrian catches me around the waist and yanks me down. He flips us around and has my back pinned to the tree before I take my next breath.

Different from the alley, where he merely caged me in, he captures both my wrists in one of his big hands and holds them steady above my head, effectively holding me in place. The rough texture of the wood pinches my skin, but somehow the small bites of pain don’t bother me. In fact, it enhances the arousal slinking through me.

“I found you, Bambi,” he growls, his eyes burning into me. “And I keep what I catch.”

“Like finders keepers?” I breathe, my heart singing from what his words imply.

Though his gaze remains deadly, his lips twitch, a hint of a grin playing at the edges. “Yes. You’re mine now, Samantha.”

I don’t get the chance to respond to him, nor the euphoria filling me to the brim before he captures my lips.

Unlike our first kiss, this one is wild. It’s hungry and savage and Adrian completely devours me. His free hand snakes under my shirt and dips into my bra, his fingers finding and pinching my pebbled nipple.

I arch into him, moaning into his mouth as the pain melts into pleasure, prompting him to do it again to the other one, only harder. A whimper escapes, the need growing so strong I feel on the verge of tears.

He releases my mouth with an angry groan, removing his hand from my shirt and grabbing my chin to look at him. “You remember the safeword?”

“Yes.”

“And you understand I plan to brand you in every way possible? From my mouth to my cock, you will bear all of me.”

My entire body squeezes, the promises of him and a possibility of us, doing all the right things to my libido. “Yes, Adrian. I want to wake up feeling you everywhere.”

His pupils flare. “And you will. That I can promise.”

He yanks the hem of my shirt, and in one fluid motion, he rips it from my body. I squeak at the feel of the fabric snapping against my skin, but before I realize what’s happening, he binds my hands together with the ripped shirt.

The chilly breeze does little to cool the fire raging across my exposed flesh. Instead, only intensifies the dozens of sensations skirting across it.

He jerks me away from the tree before picking me up and hurling me over his shoulder as though I weigh nothing. My heart leaps into my throat, causing my squeal of surprise to sound more like a garbled gasp.

Adrian chuckles as he turns, walking to the center of the clearing and stopping in front of the massive tree stump. He latches his fingers on the waistband of my jeans while the other hand presses into the middle of my back.

I know what he’s going to do, but the whoosh from the wind in my ears as he tosses me on the stump still makes my stomach flip.

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