Page 9
She’s hiding.
I walk without rushing. My shadows spread out ahead of me, sliding across the floor, under the furniture, up the walls. They’re my eyes and hands. Every inch of this place is mine, and so is she.
“You know what the funny part is, Red?” I keep my tone even. “You could hide anywhere in the world, and I’d still find you.”
I hear nothing but her breathing, short and shallow, behind the couch in the living room.
“You know why?”
A shadow slides under the couch and brushes her ankle. She clamps a hand over her mouth to keep from screaming. I can hear her teeth chattering.
“Because you smell like fucking mine.” I stop on the other side of the couch. “And you’re dripping, sweetheart. You’re leaving me a fucking trail.”
She launches herself over the arm of the couch and runs for the hallway. I let her. My shadows close the doors ahead of her, one by one. Click, click, click. They push her left, then right, then back toward the floor-to-ceiling windows, where the city lights are the only thing breaking the dark.
She skids to a stop in front of the glass, turns and presses her back against it, chest heaving, her little red dress hiked up her thighs, eyes huge.
“Please,” she whimpers.
“Please what, sweetheart?”
She doesn’t answer. She doesn’t know the answer. I can smell it on her: she wants me to stop, and she’s terrified I will.
She tries one last time, faking left then darting right. My shadows wrap around her waist and yank her back toward me.
“Nuh-uh. No more running.” I press her against the wall. “You walked into my house. In red. On Krampusnacht. That’s basically offering yourself to me on a platter, baby.”
Chapter Six
KISHA
I’m pinned between a cold wall and a hot monster, and I can’t fucking breathe.
“Let me go.” It comes out shakier than I want.
“No.” Simple and final. His shadows are freaking everywhere: sliding along my arms, wrapping around my ankles, playing with the hem of my dress. “You had your chance to run. You failed.”
“Those aren’t…that’s not…”
One shadow slides up my thigh, and I squeak, trying to squeeze my legs together. But more of them hold my legs apart.
“Still think this is a costume?” His hands are massive, warm, and they frame my face while his shadows explore my body. “Still think you’re at a regular club with a normal alpha?”
A shadow brushes across my nipple through the fabric of my costume, and I gasp. Another traces my lips like a ghostly finger.
“Stop…” But what if he really stops?…
He chuckles. “Don’t worry, Red. I’m not stopping.” His voice drops so low it rumbles through my chest. “Not until sunrise.”
My heart drops. I didn’t say it out loud… “How did you…”
“I hear every dirty little thought in your pretty head.” His grin is slow and wicked. “Every single one.” He leans in, his breath hot against my ear. “Your mouth said stop. Your body says please wreck me, and you thought that shit very clearly.”
I want to deny it. But I’m soaked through my panties, and we both know it. A tendril slides along the edge of my underwear, almost touching where I’m freaking aching.
“This is insane,” I whisper.
“Yep.” He pulls back enough to look at me. His eyes are fully amber now, glowing in the dark. “I’m insane. You’re insane for following me. We’re both fucked in the head.”
