The drive to my father's property is torture. My cock is so hard it's painful, straining against my jeans as I grip the steering wheel with white knuckles. Beside me, Reese is silent, her chest rising and falling rapidly, her scent filling the cab of my truck. Her fear and arousal make my mouth water.
She finally turns to look at me. "So this is really happening?"
"Only if you want it to." I force myself to give her one more out. "You can still back out, Reese. We can go home, forget all about this."
She laughs, the sound both nervous and excited. "After four years of you holding back? Not a fucking chance."
My heart pounds against my ribs. She has no idea what she's in for, but fuck if I'm going to deny either of us any longer.
I get out of the truck, circling around to her side. When I open her door, I don't wait for her to climb down. I grab her around the waist and lift her out, setting her feet on the gravel. The night air is cool against my skin, carrying the scent of pine and damp earth.
Her body trembles against mine as I reach past her to grab my mask.
"Last chance," I whisper, cupping her face in my hands.
Instead of answering, she rises on her tiptoes and presses her lips to mine. I'm done holding back. I crush my mouth against hers, pouring four years of want and need and obsession into the kiss. My tongue pushes past her lips, as if I’m able to pour my entire being down her throat and spread throughout her to take her over like a possession.
She moans into my mouth, her hands clutching at my shoulders. I bite her bottom lip, hard enough to make her gasp but not enough to break skin. Not yet.
When I pull back, we're both panting. Her lips are swollen, eyes glazed with desire. I slide the mask over my face, transforming into something other than Ramsey—something darker, more dangerous.
The property spans over a hundred acres, most of it dense forest that I know like the back of my hand. "I'm gonna give you a head start. Five minutes. Then I'm coming for you."
Her breath hitches. "And when you catch me?"
"Run," I growl through the mask. "And run hard. Make me work for it cause I’m gonna ruin you once I catch you."
She takes off, her lithe body sprinting toward the treeline. I watch her disappear into the darkness, the sound of her footsteps fading as the forest swallows her up.
I lean against the truck, arms folded across my chest, and close my eyes. The mask clings to my face, already slick with sweat. I take deep breaths, letting my senses adjust to the night. The chirping of crickets. The rustling of leaves. The distant hoot of an owl.
And somewhere in those woods, my prey. Running. Panting. Heart racing.
I start counting. One minute passes. Two. Three. I'm not Ramsey Blackwood right now. I'm something else. Something primal. Something hungry.
I use these precious minutes to sharpen my focus, to let the animal part of me rise to the surface. The part that's been caged for too fucking long. I've hunted on these grounds since I was a kid. Every tree, every rock, every dip in the terrain is mapped in my head.
Poor little Reese doesn't stand a fucking chance.
Time’s up.
I push off from the truck and stalk toward the forest line.
The moment I step between the trees, I feel it—that switch flipping in my brain, turning off everything civilized, everything human. I'm all instinct now.
I crouch down, studying the ground. Even in the darkness, I can see where she's been. Broken twigs. Disturbed leaves. A partial footprint in a patch of soft earth. She ran straight at first, then veered left. Smart girl. The creekruns that way and she's trying to throw me off by running through water.
I smile behind my mask. She can try.
The trail leads me to the creek, just as I expected. The water glimmers silver in the moonlight. I scan the bank, looking for signs of where she entered and exited. There—a small smudge in the mud on the opposite bank. She crossed here and continued north.
I wade through the shallow water, not bothering to remove my boots. They'll dry. The only thing that matters right now is finding her.
On the other side, I pick up her trail again. Her footprints are more pronounced here.
I slow my pace, dropping into a silent crouch as I spot a flash of skin through the trees. There she is. About fifty yards ahead, weaving through the pines, looking over her shoulder every few seconds. I duck behind a massive oak, my breathing controlled and silent despite the adrenaline surging through my veins.
Watching her run from me is better than any fucking porn I've ever seen. Her chest heaves with each desperate breath. She has no idea I'm this close already. I move silently from tree to tree, keeping her in my peripheral vision. She's slowing down even more now, her head swiveling as she tries to get her bearings.
