Page 20 of The Stalker
The name pulses through my mind, though I don’t know how I know it.Like the woods themselves whispered it to me.And the truth is worse than the fear.
Because part of me wonders if Thomas is the only reason Griffin is finally touching me, finally claiming me after all these years.If without him, Griffin would’ve stayed in the shadows forever, just watching.
And I don’t know which version of him terrifies me more.But I do know the thought of never having him look at me like I matter scares the crap out of me.
A twig snaps behind me and I spin, my chest heaving and eyes wide.But there is nothing there.Only darkness and the faint ripple of a shadow between the trees.
“Bianka...”
His voice drifts through the night, low, and stretched thin.My body seizes, my knees trembling so hard I almost collapse.Again, it isn’t just his voice I hear.It’s layered, doubled.Griffin and something deeper, hungrier, weaving together until I can’t tell where one ends and the other begins.
“You can’t run forever,” he murmurs.“But I want you to try.I want you to fight.Make me earn it.”
My stomach knots, heat sparking in places I can’t ignore.I shove it down and force my body to move, crashing through brush, with my heart hammering in my throat.
The forest seems endless, twisting and looping, as if the trees themselves are conspiring against me.I stumble and fall to my knees in a heap of leaves, my palms scraping raw.
“Please,” I whisper into the dirt.“Please, just let me go...”
But even as I say it, my thighs clench, shame flooding me.Because I don’t mean it.Not completely.Not at all.
His footsteps draw closer.Slow and steady.Like a predator savoring the chase.
I claw my way up from the forest floor, pushing forward, deeper into the dark, even though every instinct tells me I’m only running into his trap.Because that’s the truth.There is no escape.
Only him.
Chapter Thirteen
Got You
Griffin
The forest bends around me.
Every root, every shadow, every whisper of wind—it’s all mine tonight.The trees lean closer, guiding me, showing me where she’s gone.Her scent lingers in the air, sharp with fear and sweet with desperation.
