My eyes grow wide when I see the gleaming hunting knife in his hand.
“Vaughn—”
“Tonight, Evelina,” he murmurs in a quiet, dark, unhinged tone, “we’re going to change that.” His head tilts to the side, his eyes positively demonic as they shimmer like ice in the moonlight.
“Hang on,” I choke as I slowly start to back away from him. “Vaughn?—”
He reaches up and loosens his bow tie, letting it fall undone before popping the top button of his shirt, letting the skulls and ghouls inked onto his chest leer and grin at me. Ice ripples through my veins as I take another shaking step back.
“Please,” I whisper haggardly. “Vaughn?—”
“Tonight, you’re going to use your fucking safe word.”
He shrugs off his jacket, letting it fall to the grassy field.
“You’re going to fuckingscream it. Sorun, princess,” he snarls in a deep, vicious voice I don’t recognize that sends ripples skittering through my body. “And runfast. Because when I catch you…”
The knife glints in his fingers as my pulse hammers in my veins.
“I’m going to fucking break you.”
I kick off my heels.
I turn.
And Irun.
I bolt through the dark field, angling toward the forest that abuts the château estate. Pure adrenaline and fear explode through my veins like liquid fire, incinerating everything in their path as my legs pump as hard as they can.
It’s not enough.
He’s too fast.
Too strong.
Too powerful.
I make it all of ten paces before a hand grabs my hair and yanks viciously. Pain explodes in my scalp, and I yelp as he brutally tugs me back and tackles me.
He slams his weight into me, pinning me down and shoving my legs apart as he gets between them. I scream and thrash, clawing and kicking, trying to jab my fingernails into anything soft I can find. I catch something, and I hear his roaring grunt of pain before fire erupts across my cheek.
Holy shit. He just slapped me.
I want so badly to feelfurious.
Instead, all I feel is a traitorous, tingling sensation creeping over my skin. The dark need inside me coils and tightens like a noose around my soul.
His hand wraps around my throat as his supernaturally blue eyes glint in the moonlight. He brings the knife to my neck. The tip nicks my skin, and I’m about to scream when Vaughn’s mouth drops to the wound.
His lips fasten around it,suckingas his tongue drags over the cut.
My coremelts, the combination of pain and the sensual, dark feel of his tongue and lips on my skin sending a lightning storm thundering through me. He bites down, growling into my throat as I moan, my hips bucking against his body.
Oh God.
He’sso fucking hard.
Vaughn bites my throat again, growling and sliding his tongue over the cut. He pulls away, and I whimper when I see blood dripping from the corners of his lips and raw darkness blazing in his eyes.
