IICYIFY
I frown, blinking at the letters. Something about it feels familiar, but I can’t place it. I open Google and type it in.
If I Catch You I Fuck You.
My mouth falls open. Heat floods every inch of me.
Oh.
Ooooohhh…
Shit.
I take off running. I don’t even care where I’m going, my boots slamming the ground, lungs burning. I feel the rush hit me like a drug. My pulse surges, laughter threatening to spill. Do I want him to catch me? Probably. Will I make it difficult?
Hell yes.
I stop for a moment, catching my breath, chest heaving hard. I really need to start working out again. There’s a rustle to my left. I freeze.
Then I see him.
Flynn.
He steps out of the shadows like something summoned, black shirt clinging to his chest, two buttons undone, sleeves rolled up to his forearms, revealing veined, inked muscle. His chest moves steadily, too steady, like he’s already measured how long I’ll last. His shoulders roll back with lazy precision. His eyes darken, dragging over every inch of me.
He licks his bottom lip slow, then drags his thumb across it, hunger in every movement.
“Run,” he groans.
The wordrunrips from his throat like a growl dragged over gravel, and something ancient snaps awake inside me. Not fear—well, notjustfear. It’s a live wire sparking under my skin, electric and starving. My boots dig into the earth before my brain catches up, and I’mgone, lungs already burning with the first wild gasp.
Branches whip my cheeks, sting like kisses from a jealous lover. I don’t flinch. Ilaugh,but it’sbreathless, manic, the sound tearing free as I vault over a fallen log. My sweater snags on thorns; I rip it free, fabric shredding like skin I don’t need any more. The lake’s behind me now, and I hear him crashing through the underbrush, a storm on two legs.
“Come on, trouble,” he calls, voice low and taunting, closer than he should be. “Don’t you want to play?”
I spin mid-stride, snatch a fist-sized rock slick with moss, andhurlit back without looking. It clips something, and his laugh rolls out, dark and delighted.
I duck under a low branch, palms scraping bark as I shove off, momentum slingshotting me deeper into the green. My hair’s a tangled banner whipping behind me, pine needles catching like claws. Another rock, and I whip it sidearm. Itthunksagainst his chest; I hear the grunt, the stutter in his step.
The ground slopes sharply; I slide on my hip through damp leaves, boots kicking up dirt as I scramble up. My heart’s a war drum, thighs trembling, but Igrinand grab a dead branch as thick as my wrist. I swing itlike a bat when he bursts through the brush, shirt torn now, ink flashing over muscle.
He ducks, eyes blazing black with hunger. “That’s it, baby. Fight me.”
Iscreechand bolt again. The forest blurs, sunlight strobing through leaves like a fever dream. My lungs scream, but Iloveit, the burn, the chase, the way my body’s waking up savage. I pick dirt, throw it right into his face.
Helicksit off his lip, groaning. “Fuck, you’re perfect when you’re vicious.”
My boot catches a root; I go down hard, palms stinging, but I roll, snarling, and kick a spray of dirt into his face as he lunges. He coughs, laugh and I scramble backward on all fours like some cornered animal, chest heaving, eyes locked on his.
“Got you,” he rasps, voice shredded with want.
Not yet.I surge up, slam my shoulder into his gut, and we crash together into a bed of ferns. Teeth, nails, breath. I bite his collarbone hard enough to mark, taste copper and salt. He flips me, pins my wrists above my head with one hand, the other dragging up my thigh like he owns every inch.
God help me, Iarchinto it, legs wrapping his hips, feral smile splitting my face. “Catch me again,” I pant against his mouth, “and maybe I’ll let you keep me.”
His eyes go molten. “Oh, sweetheart. I already did.”
His lips crash into mine, and I taste dirt, whisky,him. A broken moan spills from my throat, swallowed by his mouth. One brutal yank and my leggings are gone, panties shredded with them. I kick, but his thighs clamp over mine like iron, pinning me to the damp earth.
