Page 57 of Pretty Little Prey
Sprinting to the exit, she turned the doorknob as soon as her hand came into contact with it.Don’t look back. Don’t hesitate. She slipped out into the night.
Free. At last.
She ran through the woods. If she were a predator, shifting into her animal state could have made her faster, but sheep were not runners. As long as the men did not return any minute and Sly did not immediately crush the intruder, she had a chance at freedom.
After a bit of running through the dark woods, she tripped over a hidden branch and cut her knees on something sharp.Shoot. That would help them scent her. Under the night sky, she couldn’t see anything, but she brushed herself off and began to run again.
A wolf’s howl pierced through the air.
She froze. Howls like that reminded her of the night Rohan and his pack hunted her for hours in the woods. She had just narrowly been able to escape.
What if that was Rohan right now?
What if he had finally found her? The dragon’s guard had.
Run, Luna. She ran harder. Faster. Trees whipped past her.
The wolf howl sounded again, closer this time.
Just keep running.
Several branches snapped nearby.
Run.
A bone-chilling rattling sound came from behind her.
No. No.No.
Something thick and smooth wrapped around her waist, grabbing her from her running and yanking her back. The large appendage felt like a gigantic octopus arm as it continued to wrap around her again and again, coiling and constricting—squeezing her tight, but not so tight that she struggled to breathe. Yet.
The rattling sound calmed just as a pair of familiar serpentine green eyes appeared right in front of her face. In the darkness, all she could see were the green eyes of a massive fucking snake. She shivered at Bastille’s basilisk form. They were one of the most feared shifter breeds for a reason.
Those angry eyes narrowed on her, but then the pretty spirals appeared over them, and Luna’s body slackened, her fear slipping to the ground.
“You thought you could run from us, Cotton Ball?” Bastille’s voice penetrated her mind as she lost herself in his hypnotic eyes. “A slow, little prey. And you thought you could run from us? FromME?”
His voice vibrated with malice, but Luna still calmly stared into the green spirals, utterly entranced. He had her right where he wanted her.
“Were you headed for your beloved dragon? Be honest.”
Luna shook her head. “No.”
The green eyes widened and softened, losing a bit of anger behind the beautiful, attention-snaring spirals.
With aching slowness, the tail wrapped around her midsection eased, lowering her to stand on the ground once more.
Bastille shifted into his human form, still holding onto her tightly, as if afraid she might run again. He was also…in the buff.
Completely naked.
Luna could hardly see anything in the dark, but she felt his bare skin brush against hers. His firm, muscular, tattooed chest heated her through the thin material of Kobe’s sleep-shirt.
Bastille held her firmly against him and…
He was hard.
Chapter 24
