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I lunge at her, but she’s quick and jumps to the side. My hands catch nothing but air, and she laughs. She sounds like she’s having the time of her life. And just like that the realization hits me like gasoline tossed onto a fire.

“You want me to chase you?”

Her only answer is another breathless laugh as she fucking skips further away, her ass swaying as she does.

Something primal takes over.

“If I catch you, I won’t be gentle,” I growl.

“Is that a promise?”

She giggles and is off again, but I easily run her down this time.

Five feet.

Three.

One.

My arm locks around Emily’s waist, and I lift her off the ground. She makes a startled sound as I yank her against me, but the momentum sends us stumbling, and we land in a heap. Her hands are once more trapped over her head, but there is zero fear in her eyes. In fact, the shy, almost timid woman that I know is gone.

“Got you.”

Her chest rises and falls against mine, wild strands of hair cut across her face.

I can smell the forest on her. The damp fall air mixed with pine and dark desire, and beneath all of it...Emily.

Leaving one hand on her wrists, I wrap the other one around her throat. My grip tightens until she goes perfectly still, but her eyes are still teasing. A raindrop falls on her forehead, then another as thunder rumbles overhead right before a flash of lightning cracks the night sky.

“Emily…I should kill you,” I say, voice hoarse.

Those soft blue eyes glitter brighter as if it’s the sexiest thing anyone has ever said to her.

“Then…fuck me…while you do it,” she whispers past my grip.

The final piece of my sanity snaps.

CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN

EMILY

“Do it.”

Alden’s fingers cut off my oxygen flow as his body trembles. I don’t fight. If he wants to kill me, I’ll welcome it and stare into the black voids of the mask where his eyes are.

I smirk at my image in the mask. Hands over my head, dirt on my face, my back pressed into a pile of fallen leaves. Black dots dance in the periphery of my vision, but I still don’t struggle.

“Fuck,” Alden growls, releasing my neck. I suck in a gasp of the cool night air. “Don’t fucking move.”

He releases my hands and pushes himself up and back so his knees straddle my waist as if to pin me in place. But I’m done running. That was for fun. Now I want him to fuck me and make me his.

My body is hot all over. Everything I’ve done has led me to this moment with him. So many years of planning and waiting for the right time. It feels surreal to be under him the way I’ve always dreamed.

Alden peels off his mask, and my breath catches as I stare into his rage- and lust-filled blue eyes. A moan escapes, and I bite my lip to stay still even as my body screams for more.

Alden drops the mask beside us, his eyes lingering on the knife, identical to his, strapped to my waist. I know he’s going to grab for it before he does. He yanks it free as more lightning streaks overhead, reflecting in the silver blade.

My heart pounds hard, and I wait for him to plunge it into my chest. Alden’s eyes are wild as he presses the tip under my chin. I say nothing. If he wants answers, he can ask.