Page 63 of Run Little Fawn

We reach her door and she fumbles with the key card, her hands shaking slightly. I take it from her, our fingers brushing, and swipe it through the lock. The light turns green and I push the door open, gesturing for her to go inside.

She hesitates for a moment, looking up at me with those wide, innocent eyes. But there's a glint of something else there too, a challenge.

I follow her inside, letting the door swing shut behind us. The room is dimly lit, the curtains drawn tight against the city lights outside. Aria stands in the middle of the room, her arms wrapped around herself, watching me warily.

There's something that's been on my mind since the club, even if I let my lust cloud those more rational thoughts. But now, it's time to voice them.

"We need to talk about earlier."

"About what?" she asks innocently.

"About what you're doing, Aria." My voice is low, rough. "Do you have any idea how dangerous that little stunt you pulled tonight was?"

She bites her lip, looking away. "I don't know what you're talking about."

I step closer, crowding into her space until she's forced to look up at me. "Don't play innocent with me. Those people at the club, this city—it's not safe for a woman like you to be alone. You caught me by surprise, yes, but if I hadn't come along, if it had taken longer to find you, things could have gone differently. Badly."

Her eyes flash with anger. "And going to a hotel room with a man who wants to kill me isn't dangerous?"

I flinch at her words, my jaw clenching. "That's different."

"Why?" she demands.

"It just is."

"Bullshit." She folds her arms, her eyes hardening as she looks up at me. "Why are you doing this, Lucian? And don't give me the same bullshit answer as always, because that explains nothing. I know there's more. I want the truth."

I stare at her for a long moment, my mind racing. She's right, of course. I have no business being here, no right to feel this overwhelming need to protect her when I'm the greatest threat to her that exists. But I can't seem to help myself.

From the moment I first saw her, there was something about Aria that drew me in. A light in the darkness, a spark of life in a world that had long since gone cold and gray.

I tried to resist it at first, tried to push those feelings away. But they kept coming back.

I'm in too deep now, too tangled up in whatever this is between us. And god help me, I don't want to let her go.

I reach out, cupping her face in my hands. Her skin is soft, warm beneath my fingers. "For one thing, I don't want to kill you," I murmur.

I've never wanted anything less.

"But you're going to," she says, her brow furrowed as she searches my face for answers. "After everything, you're still going to go through with the Hunt."

I want to deny it. Want to live in an alternate reality where this wicked game isn't the only reason we came together. A reality where she can be something more than my prey. A reality where I can be something more than a monster.

"Yes," I finally answer, the word sticking in my throat. A failure. An admission of defeat. "Eventually. When the time comes."

She turns away from me, and I should let her go. Should let her hate me. It would be so much easier that way, for us both.

But I can't. I can't let her go, not like this. Not when I've finally found the courage to be honest with her, and with myself.

I reach out and grab her wrist, stopping her in her tracks. "Wait."

She shirks away from my touch, her eyes flashing with anger and hurt. "If you're not going to give me honest answers, Lucian, then just leave. I can't keep doing this."

I close my eyes, warring with myself. Every instinct screams at me to walk away, to protect her from the darkness that lives inside me.

Even if the darkness I'm fighting will eventually consume her.

But another part of me, a part I've kept locked away for so long, yearns to let her in. To be vulnerable.

---