I point at her from across the island, my stare deathly serious. “When I catch you, I’m going to show you how funny this little prank is, Sunshine.”
Her face falls as I step around the counter. She stumbles in the opposite direction, her eyes wide as she watches me stalk her. “What are you going to do?”
I shake my head, a humorless and bitter laugh echoing between us. “You’ll find out.”
“If you catch me,” she swallows.
“WhenI catch you,” I correct. “Run, Sunshine. You'd better hide from me.”
She darts up the stairs, nearly tripping over her feet as she scrambles to get away. I hear a door slam as I lumber after her.
My rage and arousal mix like gasoline and fire, erupting through my system as I grab my skeleton key, the gas mask, and some rope.
She wants to fucking play?
Then let’s fucking play.
I step into the corridor that stretches along the upstairs. There are six different rooms, and all of the doors are closed. She’s behind one of them.
“The rules are simple,” I call out as I pull the mask over my face. “If I find you within the next thirty minutes, your body is mine until the fucking sun sets. You’ll beg for mercy.”
I get to the first door and test the knob. It creaks open, and I’m met with a dark guest bedroom. My sixth sense kicks in.
Not here.
A scared civilian hiding from an assassin. The logical explanation is the room at the far end of the hall. It has a crawl space tucked away in the closet that’s easy to hide out in. Thalia put it there when we were kids, and that bedroom belonged to her. She claimed she was going to tunnel her way out of the house, but Mom caught her before she could finish. They bricked up the back wall, but that hideaway is still there to this day.
I left Addison here by herself while I went shopping. She’s far too curious not to poke around, but I want to get her heart pumping. I want her to think she’s won, all to drag her right into my trap, terrified and pleading for help.
I slam another door open, and it hits the opposite wall with a loud smack. My footsteps are silent, and light as I wait. I creep along the wall, counting down in my head before I throw another door open. I’m inching closer and closer to her, and I can only imagine the fear and adrenaline that’s pumping through her veins. I picture her delicate hands folded over her lips to muffle her breathing. She’s probably tucked all tight in that hole, her legs drawn up to her chest as she sits in total darkness.
Yanking her out of there would be fun, but this game would be over all too quickly. As I kick in another door, I grab the alarm system remote from my pocket. I disarm the downstairs doors, releasing the outer locks.
She’s going to test her luck, and that’s going to seal her fate today.
I was truthful when I said she couldn’t run from me, but that doesn’t mean I don’t want her to try.
I step in front of the door at the end of the hallway and place my hand over the handle. It makes a light sound as I twist it, but it doesn’t budge. She locked it.
Good girl.
But that won’t stop me.
I rear back and slam my foot into it, causing the wooden frame to splinter before the door flies open. I make a show of it all—checking under the bed and pulling the closet open. But I don’t show her that I know she’s there. I pretend to gloss over her before closing the door and heading back down to the kitchen.
I lean back against the island, noting the time on my watch as I wait her out. It takes ten minutes before I hear a door upstairs creak open, and I listen to her shuffle around before she slowly begins to make her way down the stairs. She glances around the living room, scanning for me, and is completely unaware that I stand just a few feet behind her.
I make my voice clear and quiet, causing her to jump. “Run, Sunshine.”
She scurries toward the back sliding door and pulls the handle with all her might. The low, distressed sound she makes has me itching for a chase. I roll my shoulders and stretch my neck as she opens it and darts into the backyard. Her bare feet slap over the deck before she takes the stairs two at a time. She breaks out in a sprint through the grass, her powerful legs pumping and carrying her away.
The hunt begins.
She’s fast, but I’ve trained my whole life. I give her a head start to build her confidence before I crush it beneath my hands.
When she glances over her shoulder at me, I take the opening and launch myself from the house. I miss the steps completely and land in the grass before eating up the distance between us.
She screams, her eyes wide with fear as she attempts to run faster, but I close in too quickly for her to escape.
