4. Kitten

4

Kitten

Saint

Violet's pulse flickers at my touch. It gives her away; even if she tries to fight it, she can't hide from me.

Fear cloaks her true desires.

She could have run. She should have.

Instead, she bowed at my feet. Bathed in my present while her tears streamed down her cheeks.

She might not understand why, but I killed him for her. To save her from the worse things that awaited her tonight.

I might have agreed to Liam's plan initially, but the moment she recoiled with him snapping at her in the car—it changed. When he told me why we were really out here—I snapped.

What she needed was a savior.

A Saint .

It doesn't matter who I was before that moment; she split me in two. And now the pitter-patter of her frantic heartbeat is the only thing tethering my sanity to this earth.

"Run, Violet," I repeat when she freezes at my command. "You know you want to. I know you want to."

"I don't."

But her voice quivers, and her body shakes.

Stepping to her once more, I sweep her long black hair off her shoulder, trailing the path of it down her spine. Her white sweater is splattered with blood, painting a beautiful picture of my rage. And when my fingers pause on her lower back, she dares to turn her face to me. Those sapphire eyes strike through the night, peeking up at me over her shoulder.

"I'm going to set you free."

"What if I don't want that?" She pulls her bottom lip between her teeth as her nerves skitter to the surface.

I want to pin her down and strangle that fear out of her.

"You don't have a choice." Once more, I wrap my hand around her throat, and I'm tempted to rip my mask off just so I can drink the choked gurgle that escapes when I steal her breath. "You will run for me. And you will show me what you've always wanted."

"You don't know what I want." She can barely get the words out with my grip on her neck, and I can't help tightening it.

Making her choke for it.

Making her work for it.

She needs to fight for us as hard as I am .

Violet's eyes burn with hate. She's feeding the rage so she can ignore how she really feels about this. About us. But I saw it in her eyes as she knelt on the ground beneath me.

Excitement.

Submission.

Desire.

She thinks I don't know her because she hasn't been paying attention, but I know everything.

Violet lives a careful life. Her day is clockwork. Her schedule rarely changes between school and work, and she's consistent to a fault.

Her routine is just one example of how she's been begging me to figure her out. How she wants to break out of that perfect little glass cage she's locked herself in. Violet's been tempting me to set her free since the moment I first laid eyes on her, so she should be thanking me for everything I'm doing.

Fuck .

Maybe I should thank her. Because I underestimated Violet Morrow and the gift she'd offer in return.

She dropped to her knees and bathed in her boyfriend's blood for me. And here I thought she couldn't be more beautiful.

"You're wrong," I tell her. " You don't know what you want. But I'm perfectly clear on the matter. Like this…"

I skate my hand down and press my fingers to her pulse. Her heart rate kicks up as her breath hitches beneath my touch .

"You could have run from me when I slit his throat. You ran into my arms by choice."

She tries to shake her head, but I tighten my grip. Squeezing her neck until I get the truth from her lips.

"Don't lie to me, Violet." I pull her against me, and every rise and fall of her chest douses my resistance with gasoline. "Don't you get tired of pretending to be perfect for them?"

A tear rolls down her cheek, drawing a wet path to her jaw—her neck—pooling at my hand. "How would you know that?"

I can't answer her question no matter how much I want to. She's not ready for it. So instead, I offer her the one thing no one else in her life is sick enough to. I give her me .

"Doesn't matter." I rub her throat as she swallows hard. "Do that again."

Violet's breath stutters. "What?"

"Swallow."

Sapphire eyes dart up at me, confusion laced with fear. But instead of asking why, she presses her perfect pink lips together and does as she's told, swallowing harder.

"Fuck." I swell against her and can't help but pull her closer. "I'd love to feel that throat from the inside, wrapped around my cock."

Violet's pupils blow wide as she loses her breath. But she doesn't break my stare, even if all she sees are the neon blue Xs that disguise a person she wouldn't understand even if she tried .

"What are you going to do to me?" Her voice quivers with her question.

I'm sure her imagination is running wild. And while she might be telling herself I scare her, her body gives her away.

Her little heartbeat thumps against my fingers. Her breath stutters as I hold her close. Her hooded gaze is lustful when I tighten my grip. And I do it all just how she wants it because she might not realize it, but I know her.

"I'm going to do what you asked…"

Her eyebrows pinch.

"Kitten."

One name and realization hits those innocent blue eyes of hers.

"You're—"

I nod when she cuts off her question, and her cheeks flush with embarrassment.

"Remember what you told me, Violet?" I press close and whisper. "You wanted me to find you. To chase you. To make you beg."

Gripping her throat, I grin when she chokes for air. Her nails dig into my thighs, but she doesn't reach for my wrists to fight me off. And I make her work for it—claw for it—before releasing her.

Violet sinks against me. Her dizzy gaze flits around as I hold her at that ledge.

"Remember what you asked for?"

She shakes her head, still trying to catch her breath. "That was just a fantasy."

True .

Not that I care.

She might have entered the chat room thinking nothing more than she needed a quick online escape from her regular, boring life. Unfortunately for her, what she found there was me .

"Run for me, Violet," I whisper again.

"And then what?"

Releasing her neck, I take a step back. "When I catch you, you'll find out."

Her blue eyes widen, and I could focus on the fear, but instead, I bathe in her excitement. I tip my head to the side in a challenge, and for a moment, I wonder if I've misjudged her. If she'll disappoint me, and I'll have to force her to thank me in other ways.

But as a bird darts through the tree branches above us, she snaps to attention. She blinks, turns, and then she starts to run.

"Good little kitten." I can't help but chuckle as I watch her disappear into the trees. Tipping my head back, I take a deep breath and begin to count.

Ten, nine, eight…

When I slipped this mask on tonight, I saw things going differently, but now I have her all to myself.