Page 11 of Saint

“Kitten.”

One name and realization hits those innocent blue eyes of hers.

“You’re—”

I nod when she cuts off her question, and her cheeks flush with embarrassment.

“Remember what you told me, Violet?” I press close and whisper. “You wanted me to find you. To chase you. To make you beg.”

Gripping her throat, I grin when she chokes for air. Her nails dig into my thighs, but she doesn’t reach for my wrists to fight me off. And I make her work for it—claw for it—before releasing her.

Violet sinks against me. Her dizzy gaze flits around as I hold her at that ledge.

“Remember what you asked for?”

She shakes her head, still trying to catch her breath. “That was just a fantasy.”

True.

Not that I care.

She might have entered the chat room thinking nothing more than she needed a quick online escape from her regular, boring life. Unfortunately for her, what she found there wasme.

“Run for me, Violet,” I whisper again.

“And then what?”

Releasing her neck, I take a step back. “When I catch you, you’ll find out.”

Her blue eyes widen, and I could focus on the fear, but instead, I bathe in her excitement. I tip my head to the side in a challenge, and for a moment, I wonder if I’ve misjudged her. If she’ll disappoint me, and I’ll have to force her to thank me in other ways.

But as a bird darts through the tree branches above us, she snaps to attention. She blinks, turns, and then she starts to run.

“Good little kitten.” I can’t help but chuckle as I watch her disappear into the trees. Tipping my head back, I take a deep breath and begin to count.

Ten, nine, eight…

When I slipped this mask on tonight, I saw things going differently, but now I have her all to myself.

5

No Prince

Violet

Kitten…

My screen name bounces between my temples as I run. My heart thunders with every step that takes me deeper into the dark forest.

I thought this was random—that the worst Liam had done was trust a hitchhiker—but I couldn’t have been more wrong.

This ismyfault.

Liam is dead because of a stupid online chat I had three weeks ago. It was supposed to be anonymous. An escape after a long day of school and work. Little did I know who I was speaking to.

Saint.

A man without a name at the time, using a simple devil emoji in its place. A man who baited me for my deepest,darkest fantasies. And like the naïve girl I am, I handed them over to him.

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