Page 68 of Like a Hurricane

“Then run, little storm,” he whispers it so quietly I almost miss it, but then his words register.

“What?”

“I’m going to earn what’s mine today,” he wraps a strand of my dark hair around his finger and tugs, “don’t think I don’t remember how you told me you liked it when I chased you. You’ve been such a good girl giving yourself to me like you have, you simply proved you’ve been mine all along but today, right now, little storm, I am going to earn you.”

He drops the bag and kicks it beneath a tree and out of view. I doubted anyone would be up here, but he was taking precautions.

The cabin was right there but he didn’t want to move from this spot and the little bubble he’s just put us in.

“And when I catch you,” he purrs, leaning in to brush his lips across mine, sending an explosion of butterflies to take flight in my stomach, “I’m going to claim you. Fuck you raw until you can’t even stand.” His hand cups me, the heel of his palm pressing against the most sensitive part of me. “WhenI catch you, there will be no doubt about who you belong to. Mine to fuck, please, dominate and worship. So run, little storm, time is ticking.”

Holy shit. This was happening.

“How can you be so sure you’ll catch me,” I breathe, taking a few paces back, my eyes remaining on his face which was set in primal dedication to this little game we are playing.

“I’m one of the best trackers to exist, I’ve been trained to find pretty things like you. This is no different, my beautiful little storm. I’ll count to thirty and then I’m coming for you.”

I’m running before the first number has left his lips.

“One, two, three…”

Adrenaline courses through my body, both fear and arousal fraying my nerves and setting me on fire. I use trees and branches to propel myself forward, burying myself further into the woods. The light of day dims when the canopy above me becomes thicker, the smell of damp earth and sea salt becoming so pungent here I almost choke on it.

“Ten, eleven, twelve…” His voice carries through the trees, rough with desire.

Still, I run, my voice trapped in my throat. I couldn’t tell you if I wanted to laugh or scream.

“Eighteen, nineteen, twenty…”

His voice disappears the further I get until I can no longer hear him. He must have gotten to thirty now, but I’m breathing so loud, my feet even louder, that I couldn’t hear anything other than myself. He could be behind me; he could be close.

And though I wanted him to catch me, I also wanted to make him work. To earn it, like he so graciously said.

The blooming heat in my core isn’t helping my grace, I’m clumsy and inelegant as I clamber over rocks and branches, making sure to pay attention to the ground so I don’t accidently impale myself on any of the sharp, merciless rocks that jut out from the ground.

“I can hear you, little storm,” His voice is both near and far, an echo through the trees that keeps coming. “It’s like you want this to be over already. Are you that desperate, princess?”

I couldn’t tell where he was and I swing my head around, trying to catch a glimpse of him but all I see are trees and shadows.

A little nervous laugh bubbles out of me and I jump over another rock, grabbing hold of a tree to stop my forward motion and swing behind it, pressing my back against the rough bark as my chest heaves with my breaths.

His chuckle sounds. He was close, so fucking close.

I could end this now. Reveal myself to him but I think he expects that from me.

And I didn’t mind proving Everett Avery wrong.

I knew he would catch me but that didn’t mean I had to make it easy.

I belonged to him but the end of this was his reward and rewards only come to those who work for it.

Chapter Thirty-three

My breathing comes out in easy, calm breaths, my steps sure and careful. Not a branch snaps or a rock moves as I stalk through the trees.

I hear the wind, the sea, the birds high up in the branches but more importantly, I hear her, can visibly see the path she has taken.

There are snapped branches, tracks where her boots have left prints in the wet earth. She moves noisily away from me, her adrenaline giving her speed but not grace.

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