Page 69 of The Hunted
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LAYLA
Imeandered through the darkness, looking over my shoulder as though someone was pushing me toward something. I couldn’t see five feet in front of me. I could barely see my feet. I tried to backtrack but was only met with a crushing force of what felt like a wall.
I wiped the sweat from my forehead as the heat surrounding me became unbearable. Nerves jabbed my stomach. I had no choice but to move forward.
“Hello,” I called to the darkness before me. “Is anyone there?”
As if someone heard me, a glow of light spilled out from a room up ahead. My pulse sped up as I took a tentative step forward. Then another.
The sound of running water tickled my ears, and beneath it, a soft drumbeat. Or maybe that was my heart punching my ribs. The closer I got to the light, my anxiety began to wane. In its place was a sense of euphoria. I felt as though I’d walked into a field of flowers on a warm summer day, where happiness ruled and peace reigned.
A smile emerged on my face as I peered into the room. Candlelight flickered around the cavernous space. Water filled a bathtub that was tucked in an alcove, while a massive bed fit for six sat centerstage.
I stepped into the room, my bare feet sinking into the plush brown carpet. “Hello.” My voice was low and shaky.
The door snicked shut behind me, and that sudden euphoria was replaced with icy fear. My breathing became labored. My palms clammy. My legs weak and trembling. I ran for the door. Large, strong hands grabbed me out of nowhere. I screamed, but nothing came out.
“No need to be afraid,” the husky masculine voice said as he licked a path from my neck to my ear. “This is your fantasy.” He lifted me up and carried me to the bed.
I blinked several times, and when I did, I was completely naked. I oriented my vision, struggling to see who the voice belonged to, but he wasn’t there. I frantically searched around, and when my gaze landed on the virile man near the bathtub, I gasped.
A solid wall of muscle stood there, naked, built as if the gods themselves had carved him out of stone. Thick thighs, narrow waist, broad back, hair almost down to his shoulders. He turned the water off, and when he pivoted on his heel, my eyes went wide.
I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t form words. I couldn’t even move.
Silver eyes glistened in the candlelight. Canines, sharp and deadly, seemed to drip with hunger.
My gaze traveled down his torso, tracking every breath he took, every dip and valley on his abs. I was prepared to go lower, but I couldn’t look away. He stood like a Viking, every inch of him hard and ready to do battle.
My tongue darted out to moisten my lips.
He closed the distance between us, eyelids hooded, chest rising and falling, and his erection… I swallowed the dryness in my throat. He was huge, thick, long—and he was ready to show me a world I’d never set foot in.
He grinned, and his dimples emerged, giving him an even sexier look that had my pussy dying to feel him inside me.
“Layla.” His voice was gravelly and caused goose bumps to blanket my body and my clit to throb.
I crawled to the edge of the bed, his voice pulling me, his body exciting me, and I wanted nothing more than for him to sink his fangs into me.
“Sam.” I said his name like it was a prayer, pleading and desperate, and as though it was the most natural thing in the world, I closed my hand around his shaft.
His eyes rolled back in his head as he groaned. The sound was glorious and sent excited shivers to swirl in my belly. I felt powerful to have this man, this vampire, who could end me in a nanosecond, become putty in my hands.
He thrust his hips toward me, urging me to take control and to do as I pleased. I lowered my head, pumping him up then down, and when I lightly licked the tip of his cock, he grunted so loud the walls shook.
Before I could track his next move, he repositioned me so my butt was seated on the edge of the mattress, my legs were splayed wide open, and he was on his knees.
I was dizzy, excited, feeling like I could fly as I bared my body to the one creature I despised in all the world. Yet there was no other place I wanted to be. I was aching for his touch, his tongue, his cock, his hands, his lips, anything he could give me.
He kissed his way up one leg then the other, groaning, growling, and dragging his fangs along the sensitive flesh of my inner thighs.
My pussy was on fire. Hell, my body was burning with a desperate need for him to pound endlessly inside me.
But suddenly, the candles snuffed out, the room darkened, and the air was hotter than a blistering summer day. I felt around for Sam, but he was gone.
I sat up in the darkness, blinking several times as the light sound of someone snoring made its way to my ears.
