“I’ve been looking for you,” he whispers.
My heart skips.I know by the tone of his voice, by the way he’s breathing, deep and lustful, that this is only the start.
“You found me,” I reply, trying not to grin, the anticipation of the game already buzzing under my skin.
“And you’ve been reading again.”I hear a rustle next to me, feel his hand brush my side as he plucks the book from the chair.I hear the flick of pages.“Tell me what you’ve been reading about,” he says, feeling him tuck the book back where he found it.
“It’s a romance,” I say.I’ll draw this out as long as I can, because this is the part I love—the game we play so well.
“What kind of romance?”His fingers skim my leg gently, so gently it almost isn’t a touch.I shiver, pleasure already simmering under my skin.
“A filthy, smutty romance,” I tell him, and though I wish I could see the look in his eye, the intent on his face, I keep my lids closed.It heightens my other senses and builds the anticipation.
“What makes it a smutty romance?”Something brushes my face.His nose?Is he smelling me?I feel his lips ghost over mine, so faintly, so subtly, for the mere briefest of seconds, but it’s enough to send my head spinning.
“There’s lots of touching, kissing, licking.”I clench my hands between my thighs, aware that I’m squirming in the chair.
“And do you like that?”he asks, knocking my hands away.
“I do,” I tell him.“But I prefer it in real life.”
Silence spins.He’s waiting, drawing it out because I know what comes next.Adrenaline is already pumping, desire swarming like a frenzy of bees, and I can’t wait.I’m giddy, light-headed, and buzzing as I wait for his words, his command.
“Are you ready?”
On your mark.
I crack open my eyes.He’s moved back, standing by the chair, his arms folded, baseball cap pulled low over his brow, the bulge in his combat trousers visible through the dark material.He’s perfect, every fucking inch of him, and I almost don’t move.I’m almost grounded by how beautifully beastly he is, by the thought of what he’s about to do to me.
But I know it’ll be so much better after the chase.
“I’ll give you a thirty-second head start.”
Get set.
His face is impassive, which makes it all the more exciting.He gives nothing away.No hint of what’s to come.No clue as to what he has planned.
And then, like the shot of a starting pistol, he says the word: “Run.”
With a squeal, I leap from the chair and dart from the library.I have thirty seconds before he’ll chase me.Thirty seconds until he’ll come after me.Thirty seconds until he’ll find me, and then….
Fuck.
* * *
FENRIR
Thirty, twenty-nine, twenty-eight….
She’ll head for the stairs.She always does.
When I found her in the chair reading one of her books, I couldn’t resist.I know the type of things she reads, know what it does to her, and I’m more than happy to give her the real thing.
I’m just glad she seems okay here, back at Belial House.When she suggested coming here during her break, I was reluctant, for many reasons.What if it brought it all back—what happened, and whatalmosthappened?What if Noa was still here?
But she isn’t.The house feels cleansed, like the walls have been scrubbed, the blood gone, the memories just that.
At the time, I couldn’t take in the house’s majesty.But now, leaving the library and moving towards the open staircase—Hayami’s heady scent in the air—I can fully appreciate the architectural beauty.
