His eyes flare. The restraint vanishes, and I realize I’ve given him a flame in a gasoline-soaked room. He’ll burn us down without blinking.
And I want nothing more.
He doesn’t touch me right away. Doesn’t kiss me. Doesn’t move. He just watches, shoulders still, jaw tight, control fraying at the edges as he holds back something feral.
“You don’t know what you’re asking for.”
“Yes, I do.” I mean it.
He steps in close again, body heat licking over my skin. His hand comes up, slides into my hair, fisting it just enough to tip my head back.
“I own this house and the forty acres surrounding it.”
My breath catches.
“No neighbors. No cameras. No one to see us.”
His voice drops—primal, dangerous, absolutely certain. “I’m giving you a one-minute head start. You’ll walk through that back door… and run. Be clever. Make it hard. Try your best not to get caught.”
His hand clamps around my jaw, turning my face until his breath skims my lips.
“I’m the hunter. The wolf.” His mouth curves into a slow, cruel smile. “And you’re my prey.”
My heart takes off in a gallop. Adrenaline floods me, sharp and intoxicating. My nipples tighten, and my thighs clench.
“What are you going to do to me if you catch me?”
“Notif.” His gaze cuts through me. “When.”
Then he grabs me by the waist and pulls me flush against him—his cock hard and thick against the curve of my ass.
“That tight little hole you’ve been saving? It’s mine tonight,” he growls. “I’m going to bury my cock in it until you can’t tell if it hurts or you’ve never been fucked better in your life.”
I gasp—because part of me is afraid. But fear isn’t stopping me.
It’s fueling me.
With Bastien, I always expected this day to come.
I twist in his grip, smiling up at him. “Catch me if you can.”
His answering growl is pure fucking menace. He releases me and steps back.
“You have sixty seconds. Run!”
My heart slams against my ribs, and I take off out of the bunker room, up the narrow stairs. My feet barely touch the steps. My lungs burn with something that isn’t fear.
It’s anticipation. Hunger. Thrill.
I slam through the back door into the night. Rain hits me, and soaks my clothes in seconds. It plasters my hair to my skin and turns the grass slick underfoot as I sprint across the yard, lungs burning and heart drumming inside my chest.
The woods loom ahead, black and waiting. Branches claw at the sky, and the ground dips unevenly.
I don’t stop. He’ll be behind me soon.
Every step I take, he’s already calculated two ahead. He’s not chasing me blindly. He’s hunting.
I hit the edge of the woods and keep moving. Twigs snap beneath my feet, and leaves smack my face. The wet slap of mud gives way to the slick pull of soft earth. My breath comes in gasps now, every inhale ragged, every exhale a curse and a prayer.
