Page 19 of Cursed
“But I didn’t.” His fingers hover near my face, not quite touching. “Because I take care of what’s mine.”
“I’m not yours.”
“Yet.” Landon leans closer, his breath warm against my ear. “Did you think about removing my access? My cameras? My programs?”
The question makes my stomach clench. Of course I had—I’m a security expert. But every time I considered it, I remembered the video he has of me touching myself, moaning his name.
“You know I can’t,” I whisper.
His eyes light up with satisfaction. “And have you followed all my rules? Have you kept your hands to yourself like a good girl?”
I nod, hating how my body responds to his words despite everything.
“Show me your hands,” he commands.
I hold them up, palms forward.
Landon takes my wrists, examining them as if he can somehow detect if I masturbated again since that time at work. “These hands belong to me now. Everything they touch, everything they do—it’s all mine.” His grip tightens enough to show he could hurt me if he wanted to. “Remember that when the Hunt begins.”
His grip on my wrists softens as he leans in closer, his nose tracing a line from my ear down to my neck. I feel the slight inhale as he breathes me in.
“Every night I watch you, Sadie. Every night I see you touch things that should be mine to touch.” His lips brush against my skin as he speaks, sending electricity down my spine. “Do you know what I think about?”
I remain silent, frozen between fear and a shameful, burning curiosity.
“I think about marking every inch of your skin. Making you bleed just a little.” His free hand slides up to my throat, not squeezing, just resting there. “Just enough that you never forget who you belong to.”
My breath hitches. His words should strike fear, but instead they rouse a darkness I never knew slept inside me.
Landon dips his head lower, and suddenly I feel the wet heat of his tongue against my collarbone. Not a kiss—a claim. He traces the ridge of bone torturously slow, tasting me as if I’m something to be savored.
“I’m going to hunt you through every section of that maze,” he whispers against my damp skin. “And when I catch you—not if, when—I’m going to peel away every layer you’ve built around yourself. I’ll make you beg. Make you sob. Make you come so hard you forget your own name.”
His tongue flicks out again, this time following the hollow of my throat upward.
“The things in your nightmares, Sadie? They’re nothing compared to what lives in my head. The things I want to do to you...” He inhales sharply. “I want to consume you until there’s nothing left that isn’t mine.”
I should be running. Screaming. Instead, I’m melting against the wall, my body betraying me with each passing second.
The moment shatters with the sound of the door swinging open.
“Well, looks like the party started without me.”
Landon steps back smoothly, creating distance between us with such practiced ease that I wonder how many times he’s been caught in similar situations. My skin burns where his tongue touched me.
The woman who entered stands tall in the doorway, confidence radiating from her. Her glossy black hair falls in perfect waves, and her amber eyes take in the scene with amused interest rather than embarrassment.
“I’m Lia,” she says, stepping into the room with the grace of someone who knows exactly how much space she occupies. Her gaze shifts between Landon and me, a smile playing at her lips. “I didn’t realize we’d get private time with the hunters before things officially begin. Should I have arrived earlier?”
There’s no fear in her voice. This woman isn’t dreading being hunted; she’s looking forward to it.
Landon’s expression is unreadable. “Ms. Morgan. I believe my brother will be interested to know you’ve arrived.”
“Vane?” She sets down an expensive-looking leather bag. “Looking forward to making him eat my dust again after all these years. If he thinks he’ll be the one to catch me, he’ll have to think again.”
I feel myself shrinking beside her confidence, my anxiety magnified by her eagerness. While I’m barely keeping myself together, she looks ready to run straight into the labyrinth.
“I should go,” Landon says, his eyes fixed on me despite addressing Lia. “The Hunt begins soon. Make yourselves comfortable.”
