My hand reaches, fingertips skimming the handle—
I’m dragged into the shadows.
I scream loud in fear, panic, frustration. I was so fucking close.
His hand muffles the next scream and I thrash, throwing elbows and kicks until my arms are pinned behind my back.
“Look what I’ve caught,” he rasps against my ear. “Poor thing, thought you could hide in my room, huh?”
I buck against him, try to slam the heel of my foot into his shin. He dodges it easily, laughing. With my arms between us, my back to his chest, I can’t move.
And his hands are all over me.
Gripping my waist, slipping down the plunging neckline and then underneath to knead my breast. And his mouth. Devouring my throat in hot open-mouth kisses, then long, rough licks and sharp, hard bites just enough to leave a mark.
I keep fighting, trying to fight, but my body’s pressed too tightly against his, chest to back, hips locked. It’s the first time I’ve ever felt Sai’s physical strength and it’s overpowering.
He could do anything to me.
I could use my darkness… but I don’t want to. I want to feel it. All of it. Skin to skin. Breath to breath.
So I twist, and kick back and squirm, a frustrated growl breaking from my throat.
“That’s it, baby,” he murmurs, breath hot against my cheek. “Keep fighting me.”
His fingers run along the slit of my dress. I whimper when they slip beneath, over my pelvic bone, reaching my bare pussy.
“Don’t act like you didn’t want this.” His voice drops to a dark growl, fingertips skimming over my clit. “Wearingthis? Completely bare beneath? You’re practically begging to be fucked—”
Crack.
“Fuck—”he splutters, grip loosening—
I’m running again, ignoring the pulsing ache at the back of my head.
Heels discarded, feet thundering against the floor, I sprint back down the corridor I just entered.
My lungs burn. My chest’s on fire. The staircase rises ahead—
Julien steps out of the shadows.
I skid to a stop, panting.
His eyes—black, endless—seem to drink in the dark. He doesn’t move. Just watches. Then slowly tilts his head.
That eerie, unnatural gesture makes me step back.
My chest heaves as I keep backing up, inch by inch, stealing a glance at the floor-to-ceiling windows. But there’s no reflection. No colours. Just blackness.
It wasn’t even dusk when I arrived. I just saw the forest. I know I did. Had I really been running for that long?
There’s only one light in the corridor, and Julien stands in front of it. Blocking it. Drowning the space in shadow.
I have to move. Have to retreat—
“Looks like you’re trapped, Red.”
I curse under my breath.
