Page 14 of Shadow Hunter

She scrambled backward, but he was too fast. Within seconds he was on top of her, straddling her hips and holding her hands against the ground.

She swore.

“A word of advice, Shortcake.” He struggled against her, working to keep her still as he grinned at her once more. “Learn from your betters.” He pegged her with a hardened stare as he let out a low purring growl, bringing them nearly nose to nose. “Or next time I won’t hold back.”

From the fiery look in his blue eyes, she knew that he meant it. This was a man who kept his promises, whose honor hinged on his word and nothing more. She nodded, vowing to herself then and there that there would be no next time. The man was pure unadulterated muscle and no matter how good a fighter she was, she knew when to call it quits.

No matter how his smug grin filled her with fury.

She stared up at him, uncertain what to do now that he had her pinned beneath him on the floor. She really wished she hadn’t charged him, because damn it, now her head hurt, and that meant her brain was sending all sorts of wild mixed signals into parts of her body that had never been lit up before. Clearly,she was in a vulnerable position, and yet…he wasn’t threatening her, just pinning her down, which meant she wasnotgoing to consider how she’d never been pinned beneath a man like him before.

Someone dark and dangerous.

Someone who lived up to her fantasies.

Her gaze traveled to where their bodies met. His chest heaved in and out from the adrenaline and through his shirt she could see a nicely defined pair of pecs, and from the pain in her head, she knew that washboard abs hid beneath. Even his forearms, which she’d dug her fingernails into, were well defined, honed, and from the fluid way he moved that he wasn’t some steroidal bodybuilder. That much was clear. No, his muscles were from serious training.

The thought of his nearly naked body covered in a sheen of sweat as he worked out suddenly stilled her.

Whooaaaa, Nelly.Down girl.

She’d never fantasized about a stranger like this. Ever.

A small pang hit her heart, equal parts pain and anger.

Well…maybe once before. But B was no stranger. Not really.

Her thoughts traveled to the nameless hunter, the one who’d stolen her heart with his letters, only to break it to pieces with his betrayal. She had to admit her younger self-had held on foolish dreams, and she’d fantasized for so long about meeting B in the flesh that real men need not apply. She’d been solo since she was fifteen, when her brother had left home to hunt monsters, and now without B in the picture, well…she intended to keep it that way.

No matter how lonely it made her.

“Where’d you go, Shortcake?”

The soft words whispered through her, bringing her back to herself.

She’d thought the nickname was meant to taunt her, yet there was…

Something more beneath his tone. Something that made her chest ache.

The softness in his words didn’t fit the image of the growly playful man he’d been since the moment she’d walked through the door, and suddenly she found herself wondering what else he hid beneath that icy stare.

She shook her head, quickly remembering herself. “None of your business.”

She tried, and failed, to wiggle out of his grip once more.

She needed to get herself out of here. She didn’t need any distractions. Her goal was to avenge her family, not snuggle up all lovey-dovey with some mysterious guy, get married and have loads of chubby faced cherubic babies. Not that Mr. Tall Dark and Scary would ever fit that scenario anyway. From the looks of things, he was a grade-A badass.

Not the guy you bring home type.

No, he was the kind of guy who fucks you in a dark alley and makes you moan type. The type you wantedto bring home, but who would no doubt break your heart.

Just like B did.

She swallowed, hard.

Focus, Tiffany.

She needed to get back to Caius. Pronto. Their little interaction had only lasted a handful of minutes, but still it felt as if she’d been in his arms for a lifetime.

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