I couldn’t have designed a better game board for us.

I took all the risk. Because while the author knew who I was, I didn’t know their identity. Yet they couldn’t reveal me without revealing themselves. A real conundrum for them. So it stands to reason that Devyn would try to have me removed from the case by framing me for murder. That, and she wanted unobstructed access to Halen.

After I realized I was being framed for Jake Emmons’ murder, I started to narrow the scope on suspects. While I had some suspicion about Devyn, there was no certainty she was the author of those emails until that moment in the cave when she sank to her knees and confessed her failure.

I could have driven that antler into her and ended the threat to us right then.

I glance down at the ink on my knuckles, every selfish desire marked on my flesh. My opposite, Halen could never be as selfish.

That’s why I had to be the one.

My sacrifice had to be astronomical.

Silence descends over the marsh. It stretches until the screech of insects competes with the drumming of my heart. I push farther into the willow sprays, a violent energy coiling my spine as I realize my clever runner is using their strong scent to mask her own.

“Run out of accusations?” I call out to her.

I stop walking, becoming as still as the reeds while I wait for her voice to lead me in her direction.

“Come on, Halen,” I shout. “Don’t leave me in suspense.”

“I want the truth,” she says, her voice breathy. “Were you ever going to tell me?”

The truth.

I rub my fingers over the inflamed crescent on my chest, feeling the truth of us deep down in the rotten marrow of my bones.

“Yes.” My voice carries across the clearing. “But timing is everything when it comes to us, muse.”

“So you wanted to make sure I was good and seduced before you sprang it on me.”

A dark chuckle slips free. “Are you angry that I seduced you, or that you wanted to be seduced?” I goad her, fanning that flame.

At her prolonged silence, I say, “Six months was already too long. I made a promise to you sealed in blood. I couldn’t risk you being alone if it all came crashing back. I admit, fear ruled me…the fear of what you might do to yourself while I was trapped inside that fucking place. That fear will drive a man to extremes, Halen.” I swallow past the burn in my throat. “Tell me I’m wrong, that the guilt wouldn’t have destroyed you.”

There’s a distinct rustle in the grove of willows, and a devious smile curves my mouth. “I tried doing this the nice way, but that’s never worked for us, has it? I’m going to catch you. Not if but when I catch you, Halen, I’m going to bind your wrists, then I’m going to fuck you until you’re screaming, tears smearing your beautiful face as you finally submit to the goddamn inevitability of us.”

She rises up in the middle of the clearing and darts through the reeds.

Blood hot and adrenaline peaked, I bound out of the gloomy coverage after her.

Her hair is loose, dark tresses whipping behind her as she streaks through a field of tweed and gray, her feet finding solid purchase to push her farther ahead. I stay close behind, my breaths chopping the air, muscles on fire as anticipation to wrap my arms around her batters my skull in ruthless demand.

I’ve let her escape too many times. Felt her slip through my fingers like sand sifting too fast through an hourglass. This time, I won’t give her any chance for escape.

Her steps grind to a slog as she hits the field boundary of swampy marsh, but she fights her way through the mud. A gray skyline appears through patches of dark storm clouds, the reflection shimmering off a winding watercourse.

When Halen realizes she’s running straight toward a channel of water, she tries to change direction. She slips and slides across the beach, but claws her way back to her feet, keeping hold of the knife. Her feet slap the hard-packed dirt as she stays close to the shoreline.

Slowing my pace, I don’t follow directly in her path. Instead, I stay in pursuit from behind the spindly trees that line the marshy beach. She appears in flashes from between the trees as I keep my gaze locked on her.

The next break in the tree line is close, and I pump my legs harder to gain ground ahead of her. As the opening appears, I push through and grab her around the waist. She releases a tiny yelp as her feet come off the ground. Arms wrapped around her slight body, I secure her arm down by her thigh, bracketing her wrist to keep the knife held firmly away.

Chest heaving with each breath that tears free, she struggles against my hold.

Her back crushed to my chest, I band my arm tighter and press my mouth to her ear. “You want me to chase you like an animal, then I’ll fuck you like one, too.”

I take her down to the ground.

The lust for the hunt always rivals the kill—but our primal passions are fiercely hungry. Once the beast traps its prey, it must devour its kill.

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13

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DUAL FLAMES

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KALLUM

As her delicate scent infuses my senses, her rioting emotions arouse the bestial craving to unleash every unhinged desire. We are all animalistic when provoked into a powerless state, and Halen doesn’t just threaten my willpower, she obliterates it.

Like a shameless fiend, I revel in the maddening friction of her hot body squirming against mine. Our knees dug into the mud, I push her onto her elbows and seal my hand around her wrist, knocking the knife from her grasp against the marsh floor. I then unravel the tie from my hand and secure it around her mouth, tugging the knot tight against the nape of her neck before I flip her onto her back.

Mud covers her front, and it’s such a beautiful, dirty sight, Halen covered in filth. Her breasts rise enticingly as she drags air into her starved lungs. She tries to talk around the gag, and I latch on to her jaw and place my mouth right up against hers to taste her desperate breaths that slip past.

“You vilified me from day one,” I say harshly over her mouth. “I have half a mind to let you go on believing your lies just because it makes you so goddamn wet.” I shove my hand between her thighs to feel the proof. “Hmm. I can feel how soaked you are through your jeans, Halen.”

The violent flutter of her pulse beats against my fingers as I grip hard to her jaw. She bashes her tiny fists against my shoulders, and with a growl, I push back and straddle her thighs. I grab hold of her shirt hem and tear her top and bra over her head, using the material to bind her wrists together.

One hand fastened to her bound wrists, I pin her arms to the sodden ground and anchor my other to the waistband of her jeans. “I feel it coiling beneath your skin, that sick, needy ache. Your body is begging me to scratch it to the surface.”

As she groans around the tie, I let my gaze track greedily over her body, admiring her perfect pear-shaped tits, the scars from her accident that blend beautifully with the marks I’ve branded on her skin.

“God, you’re so fucking sexy like this,” I say as I hover closer, my shirt falling open above her. “I’m dying to tear into you.”

I lower my mouth to her breast and tease the peaked nipple with my tongue before sucking it hard into my mouth. Her body bows beneath mine, and I palm the curve of her waist to hold her against me, relishing in her reactive shiver.

“You’re going to listen,” I say, my heated gaze drifting up to lock on to hers. “Every time you interrupt, I get to touch you, taste you, and make you as dirty as I want.” I yank the snap of her jeans open in forewarning, savoring the way her belly flinches.