With a deep breath, I rise from the sofa and throw the blanket off me.
Am I completely insane for trying this?
I’m barefoot and naked beneath his shirt, with no clue as to where I am and how far away we are from civilization. His guards surround the mansion; each of them armed and dangerous.
But if I don’t try to escape, I will always question myselfand the life I could have had. What scares me more than anything is what will happen to me when Azrael is finished with me?
Will he put me in one of his clubs? Or worse, one of the auctions?
That’s a risk far greater than this one.
One I’m unwilling to take.
After taking another look around the room, I brace my shoulders. “It’s now or never.” Then I head toward the door and into the unknown.
The moment I grasp the door handle, a rush of sorrow washes over me.
He created all of this for me, and I’m leaving it behind.
Leaving him behind.
I’ll never witness his dark orbs flare with awe again.
I step through the door and into the dark corridor, and I’m momentarily stunned to find it empty. My heart pounds, and my blood rushes around my body in pulsating waves that have me swaying. My chest squeezes, and I rub at it, hoping to ease the pain, but it doesn’t help.
Oh shit, this is it.
I’m leaving.
Leaving him.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Azrael
Hiding in the shadows of the mansion, like a predator waiting to pounce, I watch her pause. Pure unadulterated fury ravishes my veins.
She wants to leave me.
She wants to take the one thing I hold dear and tear it from my miserable life. She’s the foundation of my existence, my very reason for breathing, and without her, I simply won’t want to exist. She’s my light.
The first opportunity she’s had and she’s ready to run.
She tiptoes down the corridor toward me, the very man she’s attempting to run from, and when she passes me without so much as a curious glance in my direction, I move, making no attempt to disguise my heavy footfalls behind her.
She stills, then darts toward the stairs, a squeal of fright filling the corridor, and with it, a flash of arousal courses through my body. Just the sound of her panic has me hard, and as I give chase, I’ve one thought in mind.
She’s never leaving me again.
Her screams bounce off the wall, and I remain silent as she stumbles on the stairs, almost falling down them in her blind panic. Is she really so desperate to escape that she’s willing to hurt herself?
She needs to be punished and reminded to never run again.
And I’m going to make sure she doesn’t.
As soon as she’s within reaching distance, I throw my arm out and wrap it around her waist. She screams like a banshee and lashes out, and I throw her over my shoulder, ignoring a stab of pain as I do.
“Fuck,” I grunt out.
