Total pages in book: 81
Estimated words: 79211 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 396(@200wpm)___ 317(@250wpm)___ 264(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 79211 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 396(@200wpm)___ 317(@250wpm)___ 264(@300wpm)
I won’t go home empty-handed.
I scan the estate grounds and at first don’t see her. It’s dark out but thankfully there’s a full moon. In a stream of moonlight I see a flash of pale skin and gorgeous legs.
I’m after her. I’m faster than she is, but she knows the layout, which will give her an advantage in the dark.
We’ll play a little game of cat and mouse. I’ve always loved the thrill of the chase.
I bark out an order to Vas. “Cut her off at the exit.”
The car peels away, heads her off, and blocks the only exit from the driveway. She can leap the fence, which will take way too long, or pivot. She turns and runs toward a wooded area on the perimeter.
I pick up my pace. I’m not even winded, for once in my life grateful for Kolya’s ruthless training and insistence we keep ourselves in peak physical shape.
I’m almost grateful she decided to make things interesting. What’s the fun in having a meek little wife who already knows her place? It’s so much more rewarding to bring her to heel if she fights me first.
Branches snap under my feet as I chase her. She thinks she can hide here in the forest, but like any skittish prey on the run, she’s practically making a path for me. A thrill surges through me when she stays ahead of me. I’m a hunter enthralled by her cunning, and she’s my target. She can run, but there’s nowhere else to go.
I scan ahead of us and notice a barbed wire fence ahead. Our game of cat and mouse is coming to a close too soon.
She cries out when a branch snaps against her but quickly rights herself and takes a sharp turn left.
Then she’s gone. Evaporated into thin air, as if she found a portal to another dimension.
What the fuck?
I slow my pace.
I can’t help but remember what Aria told me before I left.
“There’s something that she’s hiding. I’m not sure what, but two plus two isn’t five, yet every time I try to do the math…that’s what I come up with. Something’s not right about Harper Bianchi. Just be careful.”
I laughed. “She’s a hundred pounds soaking wet. Why do you think I can’t take her?”
“No, no, it isn’t that…. It’s that she’s hiding something and it’s driving me crazy. Whatever it is has been covered up… It’s like… like there’s a filter in place, you know? At first glance it seems fine, but every once in a while, there’s a…shimmer that tells you things aren’t what they seem.”
So she isn’t a saint. That makes two of us. I don’t need a woman I’ll love. I need a woman to take my name and my ring, and my goddamn dick so she can have my babies.
She only knows this place better than I do, so it’ll take a little more time.
I slow my pace and sharpen my senses. Even though I’m determined to catch and punish her, I have to admire her pluck. I’m torn between frustration that she’s drawing this out and begrudging respect. Her evasion’s a gauntlet thrown into the ring. My need to capture and claim her feels rooted in the primal need to master.
I look around for a sign of her but see nothing.
Where is she? I flip on my phone’s flashlight and scan the wooded area. She hasn’t gone far. She’s right here.
I look for a large rock or tree, a pile of leaves. Somewhere for her to hide. She’s a clever little thing. She knew she couldn’t outrun me, so she decided to throw me off the chase.
“Come out, come out, wherever you are,” I taunt. “You know it’s only a matter of when, not if, I find you.” I lower my voice, so she hears the threat. “The longer you waste my time, the worse it will be for you.”
A glimmer of moonlight falls on a glimmer of pale pink in the dense foliage to my right.
I pretend I don’t see it, that I’m heading in the other direction. Each second that passes heightens the tension. There she is, crouched behind a the trunk of a large tree. I draw a breath and lunge at her hidden form. Score. My fingers latch onto a mane of hair.
She screams and smacks at my hand. I barely feel it. I could reach for her arm or leg, but she could bite me or twist away. I tighten my grip on her hair instead.
“Ow! Let me go!” she screams as I haul her out in front of me. Victory pounds in my chest.
Now that I’ve got her, I won’t let her go.
I tug her hair back, baring her neck. Illuminated in the beam of my flashlight, her eyes are wide in terror, her hands flailing out in front of her. My dick throbs.