Chapter 7

Chapter Seven

SLOAN

M y feet pound against the snow-covered sidewalk, each step sending little explosions of white powder into the air. My breath comes in quick, visible cloud puffs, but I can't tell if it's from running or from what just happened with Alex. The streetlights cast long shadows that dance and twist with every movement as I flee through the streets.

Holy.Fucking.Shit.

The memory of his mouth on me, right there in the open, makes me stumble. I catch myself on a lamppost, its yellow light casting a warm aura in the darkness around me. My legs are shuddering – from the wintry air, from moving them harder than I have in months, from him . I press my forehead against the cool metal of the lamppost, trying to catch my breath, trying to process what just happened.

That wasn't the Alex I know. Not the Alex who carefully straightens his tie before every business meeting, who measures his words like precious gems before letting them fall from his lips. Not the Alex who calculates every risk, who plans ten steps ahead like he's playing some elaborate chess game with the world. No, the man who just had me against that wall was something else entirely. Something darker. Wilder and more feral.

Something I want more of.

Need more of.

I close my eyes, and immediately I'm back there – his hands gripping my hips hard enough to bruise, his mouth hot and demanding against my pussy. The way he growled─actually growled ─when I tried to push him away. The sound still echoes in my ears, primal and possessive. It should have scared me. Instead, it lit me up from the inside out, like he'd struck a match in my soul.

I push off from the lamppost and start running again, my black boots crunching through fresh snow. The streets are quiet. Everyone else is inside the church for the midnight mass service by now. The cold air feels good against my flushed skin, and I need to move, need to do something with all this adrenaline coursing through my body. Each breath burns in my lungs as I inhale, sharp and clean, forcing me to clear my head.

But not enough to forget. Never enough to forget.

"What the fuck just happened?" I whisper to myself, the words disappearing into the air.

The way he looked at me, like he wanted to devour me whole. Like nothing else existed in that moment except his need to taste me, to claim me. No careful consideration of his family's reputation, no thought to who might see us. Just pure, raw hunger. His eyes were completely dark, almost black, pupils blown wide with his desire for me. I've never seen him like that before – so completely unleashed, so utterly present in the moment.

Running out of steam, I slow to a walk, pressing my bare hands against my heated cheeks. Snow is falling harder now, fat flakes catching in my red hair and on my eyelashes. Maybe I should let him catch me again. Then I wouldn’t have to run again and he’d be throat fucking me with his dick so hard I’d see stars instead of snowflakes. The thought sends a shiver down my spine that has nothing to do with the temperature. What else is he hiding behind that perfectly controlled facade? What other delicious darkness is he keeping locked away?

A car passes by, its headlights momentarily illuminating the empty street, making the falling snow look like stardust. I check my phone – still two hours until the game ends. Plenty of time to get there, even with the snow falling harder.

Glancing around, I’m not entirely sure where I’m at. Pulling out my phone again, I try to pull up my maps, but I don’t have enough service to get it to work.

“Fuck,” I curse under my breath.

The snow has transformed the little town into something even more dreamlike. The buildings are getting harder to see through the thickening snowflakes, but the twinkling holiday lights are like magic as they illuminate the copious amounts of holiday decor scattered throughout the streets.

My mind wanders back to Alex as I get lost in the falling flakes. He transformed into something unfamiliar. Something that makes me ache in places I didn't know could ache. Places that still pulse with the memory of his touch, his teeth.

God, his teeth .

The thought of his teeth makes me press my thighs together as I force myself to walk, trying to ease the ache that's building again. The way he scraped them across the most sensitive parts of me… Fuck.

If he could be like this all the time... God, maybe I could handle his parents' constant judgment, their unveiled disapproval. Maybe I could deal with his mom’s passive-aggressive comments about my background and her blatant remarks about other women from "good families." Perhaps I could stomach his father's dismissive glances, the way he looks at me like I'm some temporary amusement his son will eventually outgrow.

Because that version of Alex? The one who grabbed me like he'd die if he didn't taste me right that second? That version doesn't give a fuck about any of it. That version would probably bend me over his mother's precious marble countertops without a second thought.

The image hits me so hard I have to stop walking for a moment, bracing myself against a brick wall. The rough texture grounds me, helps me focus on something other than the heat pooling low in my stomach. Snow melts against my ungloved hands, but I barely notice the cold. All I can feel is the memory of his tongue on my pussy.

I push off from the wall and keep moving, my boots leaving a trail of footprints that's already being erased by fresh snow. The wind is picking up, carrying away the sweet scent of Holly Grove. Somewhere in the distance the church bell rings, the sound muffled by the falling snow. The service is over and people will be flooding the streets soon. Midnight mass is over by now and they’ll be going out for hot cocoa and Christmas Eve festivities before returning home for the night.

He's still out here, stalking me. The thought alone makes my heart race faster. Is he as worked up as I am? Is he thinking about what just happened, about how we both lost control? Or has he already regained his composure, already locked that wild animal back in its cage?

God, I hope not.

I round another corner, realizing I've wandered into an even more unfamiliar part of town. The buildings here are older, their windows dark except for the occasional Christmas light display. The storefronts have a slightly shabby charm─a used bookstore with frost-edged windows, a vintage clothing shop with mannequins draped in velvet and lace, a tiny café with chairs stacked on tables visible through the glass.

Two guys are standing beneath the café's awning, sharing a cigarette. They notice me immediately─of course they do. I'm the only other person crazy enough to be out in this weather. The ember of their shared cigarette glows bright orange in the darkness, like a tiny warning beacon, but I ignore it.

"Excuse me," I call out, already regretting the decision as their eyes rake over me. One tall and lean, the other shorter but broad, both wearing leather jackets despite the cold. "Can you point me toward the church?"

The taller one takes a long drag of his cigarette, smoke curling from his lips as his thin lips curve into a smile. His teeth are sharply white against the darkness. "Sure thing, sweetheart. You lost?"

"Just turned around in the snow," I say, keeping my distance. But the shorter one closes it anyway, stepping forward until I can smell the cigarette smoke clinging to his jacket, mixed with something sweeter─whiskey, maybe.

"It's dangerous for a pretty thing like you to be out alone this late," he says, reaching out to touch my waist. I step back quickly, but his hand follows, fingers grazing the soft fabric of my coat. His touch is nothing like Alex's─where Alex burned, this man's touch leaves an uneasy wave of chills jolting through my body.

"You should let us walk you there," the taller one adds, his smile growing wider as he flicks ash into the snow. "Keep you safe, you know?"

"I'm good, thanks." I take another step back, but my mind isn't really here with these two. It's back with Alex, wondering how far behind me he is. Wondering what he'd do if he saw another man's hands on me right now. The thought sends another shiver through me─half fear, half something else entirely. "Just point me in the right direction." My voice is flat and firm.

The shorter one holds up his hands in mock surrender, but his eyes are still undressing me. I can feel them like phantom touches, making my skin crawl. Raising his finger and pointing, he says, "Three blocks that way, then left for two more. Can't miss it."

I'm already walking away before he finishes speaking, their muttered comments fading into the snowy night behind me. Something about "stuck up bitch" and "her loss," but I don't care enough to make out the rest.

Let them look. Let them want. They don't matter. None of it matters.

Because somewhere in this snow-covered town, Alex is hunting me. And maybe, just maybe, I want to be caught. I want to see what’s going to happen when he forces me to my knees in the snow. I want to find out just how dark his darkness goes.

I pick up my pace, snow crunching beneath my feet. My heart is pounding again, but not from fear. From anticipation. From the endless possibilities of what he’ll do to me in an empty church on Christmas Eve night.

From knowing that something has shifted tonight, irreversibly. That we've crossed some invisible line, and there's no going back.

And God help me, I don't want to go back. I want to run forward, full speed, into whatever storm is coming.

Into his darkness.