My boot hits the first step of the spiral staircase harder than it needs to.
The sound echoes.
I do it again.
Slow. Measured. Intentional.
I want her to hear me coming for her. She wants her good, not-so-little stalker to find her.
I don’t rush it because this slow build, this stretch of tension is half the reason I brought her here in the first place.
I know exactly what it does to her.
The waiting.
The not knowing when I’ll reach her.
The way it will wind her up until she’s already breathless before I even touch her.
I climb higher, listening, letting the silence work for me.
Then I hear her.
A soft shift. The faintest sound of fabric brushing against wood.
My focus sharpens instantly.
Found you, baby.
I step off the staircase and into the alcove, moving slower now, dragging it out even more as I turn my head, scanning the rows like I don’t already feel her eyes on me.
Oh how the tables have turned since the first time I watched her in this very library.
She’s watching every step I take, and I’m reveling in it.
And like a jolt of lightning she moves, but all I see is a flicker of pink fabric between the shelves, and that’s more than enough.
My entire body tightens.
Fuck.
I take a step toward her, slow, controlled, letting the moment stretch as long as possible.
She slips out from between the shelves, and the second her eyes land on me…on the mask, she gasps.
It’s soft. Breath catching. Not a trace of fear. She wants this, she wantsme.
That knowledge hits me straight in the chest and settles low in my stomach, heavy and immediate.
Her eyes are wide, locked on me, pupils blown, lips parted like she forgot how to breathe for a second.
God, she looks so fucking good like this.
That dress is a problem that I need to get out of my way. Soft pink, barely there, and every shift gives me a glimpse of more skin, and it’s driving me insane.
My girl knows exactly what I’m going to do to her because she turns and runs. Something feral and wholly possessive snaps tight in my chest as I watch her take off down the aisle.
I follow.
