I cock the gun and fire off a warning shot that makes him shriek.
“Hurry up.”
Tom scrambles to his feet, and I keep the gun trained on him as he gets in his truck and speeds off down his driveway, only lowering it once he’s vanished from sight.
Adrenaline courses through my system, and I spin around at the sound of snow crunching behind me.
Ada gasps and takes a step back at my sudden movement. Like a Pavlovian response, my cock swells at the sight of her fear now that it’s due to me.
The pent-up violence that demanded I hurt Tom far more than I did reshapes inside me to something hot. Something needy and feral. At the same time, I frown at her lack of proper attire for the weather. She has shoes on now, but no jacket. Nothing to keep her safe from the cold.
“You should go home, Princess. It’s not safe.”
Ada stiffens. “You think he’s going to come back?”
“No. If he does, he won’t get past me.” A dark chuckle bubbles out of me at the thought of what I’ll do to him if he’s dumb enough to ignore my warning.
“Then…” She takes a step toward me. Not quite close enough for me to reach out and grab her. “Why isn’t it safe?”
“You know why,” I rasp, muscles tensing with the need to spring into action. “I’m a monster, Ada. You’ve been through so much. You deserve happiness and comfort and bright, beautiful things, not…this.” I gesture at my mask.
“You saved me. And before that, you tried so hard to give me those things,” she murmurs, taking another step closer.
Too close.
I tremble as I hold myself back, groaning as the faint scent of her arousal reaches me. “The things I want to do to you…” I force myself to retreat from her a few steps. “Go home.”
“What if…” She sucks in a shaky breath. “What if I want them too? I’m so tired of being scared, Seth. Maybe I want to stop hiding from everything and face my fears. Find out what happens when the monster catches me.”
My claws slice into my palms as I fight to keep my hands by my sides and remain still. “You don’t want that.”
Ada’s eyes meet mine, defiant and burning with need. “I do.”
She’s not in control of me anymore, but I’m still helpless to resist her desires.
My restraint shatters.
“Then start running, Princess.”
CHAPTER
TWENTY-THREE
“Then start running, Princess.”
My feet move of their own accord. Though apparently I’ve been in control in my dreams, the second Seth tells me what he wants, I’m moving to obey before I can think twice. Right now, my blood ishummingthrough my body, and running feels like exactlywhat I need.
I take off, relishing the crisp crunch of the snow under my feet, the biting chill of the air. The smells of winter whisk the scent of Seth from my nostrils, though there are definite similarities. Turning back, I look to see Seth, but he’s gone. I’ve only been running for a few seconds, so I’m not sure why I can’t at least see him. Then again, he is pretty good at staying hidden when he wants to. I smirk, thinking of all the times he’s stalked me.
This one, though, will be different. I canfeelit. This time, he’s going to hunt me down, and I can’t wait to be caught.
Behind me, though, the forest is quiet,soundless. He iscoming… right? I slow, spinning in circles.
I’m not lost, I know the direction to my house, but he could have been tricking me. For a few moments, my heavy breaths are the only sounds I can hear. Then, from the left, the direction of the road, I hear branches slap againstsomething. It’s brief. It could be anything, but somehow I know it’s him.
Switching direction, I angle away from the road, though still toward my own property. He’s expecting me to go to the house, but I’m not going to make this easy for him.
After my worries about everything that has happened in my dreams, I want—no, I need—him to show me that he wants this. I need him to have time to think about what he’s getting himself into, to understand that we aren’t in my dreams and he doesn’t need to give me whatever I want.
