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His uninjured hand rises, and for one fast beat I think he’s going to pull me in by the nape. Instead, his thumb drags over my bottom lip.

My tongue skims the pad of it before I can stop myself.

His hand goes still. “Thanks.”

I release him and turn back to the sink, washing my hands before drying them on a paper towel.

He stands and unfastens the gold watch from his wrist.

My breath quickens with the first tug at the strap. Gold glints under the lamplight. Metal shifts under his fingers.

“Fionn,” I whisper.

He sets the watch on the edge of the cabinet. “You have until five.”

My stomach drops, then pulls tight.

“Run wherever you like.”

I take one step backward while he just stands there, watching the vein in my neck go wild.

“What if ya can’t catch me?” I taunt. “I’m the hide-and-seek champion.”

“When I catch you.” He smirks. “You’re done running for the night. Do you remember what to say if you want to stop?”

“Necklace,” I whisper.

His hands go to the hem of his t-shirt, and the air leaves me in a muted gasp as he drags it up over his stomach and shoulders.

Ink moves over muscle in the lamplight, black against warm skin, and my mouth goes dry before I can pretend I’m unaffected.

He drops the shirt onto the chair.

“One.”

I step away slowly, making it look like defiance, though fast enough to give myself a chance.

“Two.”

The corridor waits behind me, and I hate how badly I want to know what he’ll do to me this time.

“Three.”

I reach the doorway and grip the frame, my pulse beating hard in my throat.

“Four.”

I smile despite myself.

Then I fly out into the corridor, boots heavy against the floor, the whole huge house opening around me.

The thrill of it is wrong in every way that should matter. Wrong because it’s him. Wrong because this is his house. Wrong because heat coils low in my stomach…because this is the only thing my body has craved all night.

I take a corner too fast, one hand skimming the wall to steady myself, and keep going, passing a formal lounge with a chandelier hung over pale furniture.

The door stands half open. I dart inside, breathing hard, and perform a three-sixty turn on the spot.

There are tall windows with heavy drapes I could hide behind. However, that’s too obvious, and I’m not about to make catching me an easy thing to do.