Page 176 of The Owner's Temptation

“I can hear you, rabbit,” I whisper low, just loud enough to carry through the silence.

I don't expect her to respond.

But I hope she trembles.

A door creaks two corridors down.

I move fast now—dodging low under a twisted steel bar, slipping between draped chains that sway as I pass. Another turn, another hallway, then I stop.

Stillness.

I press my hand to the cold metal of the wall and close my eyes.

Ifeelher.

She's close. Her scent clings to the air—warm, sweet, electric with nerves.

I slow my breathing. Let my ears do the rest.

There—behind the old scaffolding, footsteps, barely audible, moving carefully. She’s crouched low, trying to stay hidden, heart probably racing like a trapped bird’s.

“Are you getting tired yet?” I murmur into the dark. “Because when I catch you, you’re not going to be able to walk out of here.”

A beat of silence.

Then I hear her gasp.

There you are.

I move fast, surging toward the sound—ducking behind one of the columns, pivoting sharp around the corner.

But she’s already gone.

A scrap of black mesh caught on a hook tells me I missed her by seconds.

Cleverfuckinggirl.

I chuckle darkly.

“Keep running, rabbit,” I growl, low and dangerous. “But you should know… I always catch what’s mine.”

And she’s been mine since the moment I laid eyes on her.

Now it’s just a matter of when I take her.

And how hard she begs me to stop.

She’s fast. Smarter than I gave her credit for. But that won’t save her.

Not here.

Not inWrath.

I double back through a narrow hallway lined with cracked brick, slipping around a steel post that cuts a sharp diagonal through the corridor. She’s trying to outthink me, choosing unpredictability over speed—hoping I’ll overcommit, that I’ll chase in a straight line.

But I’ve built this floor.

I know its tricks.

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