Page 14 of Don't Run
You’ve gotta start making smarter choices, Micah.
Damn near wheezing, I don’t even believe the chiding voice in my head.
Because I never learn.
Somewhere on the other side of town, my grandma lifted me up in prayer before she went to bed tonight, and here I am, letting a stranger chase me in the dark with the promise of orgasms.
“Damn, pet. I know you got more than that.” The ominous voice is behind me. Above me.All around me.
Where the fuck did he come from?
“The way you took off, I thought you were going to make this fun for me.”
My heart is skipping beats in my chest when I try to speed up, but my right calf tightens with every stride until I’m forced to slow to a walk, stumbling over fallen branches and the fragments of my wounded pride.
It feels like someone is poking me in the ribs with the claw of a hammer until I finally cave, stopping to soothe the ache with the firm press of my fingers.
I never thought Halloween would be the day I regretted paying for a gym membership I never use, but here we are.
And before I can filter through another thought, a hand wraps around my box braids, pulling until my eyes water.
“Ahh!”
My scream evaporates into the night air as a deep, growling laugh replaces it.
“Why you screaming, pet?”
Chills, chills and more chills coat my skin as he rounds me like prey.
I can’t see him, only the outline of him as he walks in a tight circle around me.
His presence is taunting and tantalizing, and the quiver in my knees is telling.
Because I like this shit, and I’m not ready for it to end.
With that being the only thought in my head, I wait until he’s in my blindspot again and take off running back in the direction of the manor.
This time my lungs don’t burn and my legs don’t ache. Adrenaline coupled with the sound of his dark displeasure push me past my limits.
I know for a fact this man is going to catch me. Iwanthim to catch me. But he’ll never be able to say I didn’t put up a fight.
Too caught up in my self-placating thoughts, I don’t realize how much danger I’m in until my feet leave the ground and I’m running in place like a cartoon character revving up before an escape.
Except there is no escaping the man with his forearm locked around my waist, effortlessly holding me against him as he zigzags through the plots in the graveyard without a word.
Thump.
Thump.
Thump.
His heart beats furiously against my back, the only evidence of his exertion. He’s not out of breath, and I don’t even know if he was running to keep up with me.
My pride won’t let me believe anything less than a fair chase, but judging by his physique alone…
“That was fun, pet.” He hikes me up further against his front and I yelp at the collision of my softness against every jagged part of him. “I usually don’t have to work so hard for it, but you got some legs on you, mama.”
I try not to get caught up in the richness of his voice or the warmth of his skin on my back. Yet arousal hums through my veins until I’m sure it’s seeping out of my pores.
