Chapter 9

Chapter Nine

SLOAN

A holiday display appears like a mirage through the falling snow – a wonderland of twinkling lights and larger-than-life decorations spread through a wooded area off the main street. Giant candy canes line the walkway, their red and white stripes glowing against the night. Inflatable snowmen bob around in the wind, and off in the distance I can hear Christmas music drifting through the air like a dream.

My entire body is buzzing with anticipation, every nerve ending alive and singing. The first encounter with Alex has left me charged, feeling electric, like I've been struck by lightning and miraculously survived. My fingers tremble as I push long strands of my hair back from my face, and I can still feel the ghost of his touch on my skin.

Who are you really, Alex?

The thought spins through my mind as I slow my pace, mesmerized by the scene before me. It's like stepping into a children's storybook, all sugar and light and magic. For a moment, I forget why I'm running, and I forget everything except the way the colored lights reflect off the pristine white snow. But my body remembers – God, does it remember.

"Sloan."

His voice cuts through the night like a blade, sending chills down my spine. A sound escapes my throat – something between a gasp and a desperate whimper – before I can stop it. I whirl around, heart pounding, but I can't see him through the chaotic maze of decorations and trees. The shadows between the lights seem darker somehow, deeper, and I know he's out there, watching. Waiting .

I should be running away as fast as I can. I should be playing hard to get and focusing on beating his ass to the church.

Instead, heat pools low in my stomach, and my pulse races with something that feels dangerously close to desire. Because this isn't the Alex Adams who makes polite conversation at his father’s church functions. This isn't the man who calculates every angle before making a move. This isn’t the man who texts me once a day if I’m lucky and only lasts two or three minutes once his dick is inside me.

This is something else. Something wild. Something hungry.

And God help me, I want more.

Come get me, Alex.

The thought makes me grin as I dart between towering nutcrackers, their painted faces seeming to watch my every move. My heart is hammering against my ribs so hard I almost wonder if he can hear it. The music grows louder – "Winter Wonderland" playing from hidden speakers, creating a surreal soundtrack for this game. Snow crunches behind me, and I don’t have to look to know he's following.

Each step sends a thrill through my body. There's something primal about being hunted like this, something that awakens parts of me I never knew existed. The cheery, hairdresser Sloan who worries about fitting into his world feels far away right now. In her place is someone feral, someone who wants to see just how far she can push him, just how much of his careful control she can strip away.

I round a corner and stop dead in my tracks. There, in a small clearing, stands a life-sized gingerbread house. It's a masterpiece of holiday decoration – strings of white lights outline every edge, making it glow like something from a fairy tale. Mechanical elves work at tiny benches along the front, their movements accompanied by the whir of hidden motors. Painted gingerbread people spin slowly on rotating platforms, their smiles somehow eerie in the mixed light.

My heart skips, then races. It's beautiful. It's creepy. It's perfect .

Hide.Run.Stay.Wait.

My thoughts war with each other as adrenaline courses through my veins. The Alex I knew yesterday would never follow me here. That Alex worried about propriety, about appearances, about what people would think. But this Alex? The one who's been hunting me through the snow? I have no idea what he's capable of, and the thought makes me shiver with anticipation.

Before I can think better of it, I duck inside, closing the door as I enter. The interior is smaller than I expected, more of a shed than a house, but the decorations continue here. Lights strung along the ceiling cast everything in a warm glow, and the walls are painted to look like frosted gingerbread, complete with candy decorations. The music is clearer here – "Silent Night" now, the soft melody at odds with the way my pulse is racing.

I barely have time to take it all in before the door swings open behind me. Strong hands grip my shoulders, and suddenly I'm on my knees on the wooden floor. My breath catches in my throat as Alex moves around to face me, his features sharpened by the twinkling lights above.

This isn't the man who carefully maintains his family's reputation, who never has a hair out of place. He’s wild and untamed and mine . His eyes are different, darker , holding promises that make my whole body quiver. His ski mask makes this even hotter than I had hoped. I’ve always had a kink for masked men, but I’ve only ever told Cara about that. He knows me better than I thought.

"Caught you." His voice is rough as he growls the words, darker than I've ever heard it, and something inside me shatters at the raw hunger in those two words. Gone is the polished pronunciation his mother spent years perfecting. Gone is the careful restraint he usually wears like armor.

This voice belongs to a predator. And I am gloriously, willingly caught.

Outside, the mechanical elves continue their endless work. Inside, time seems to stop as Alex's hand tangles in my hair, tilting my face up to his. The contrast between the innocent holiday cheer surrounding us and the heat in his eyes makes me feel a euphoric high. My entire world narrows to this moment, to his touch, to the way he's looking at me like he wants to consume me whole.

"Alex," I whisper, but he silences me with a thumb stroke down my bottom lip that steals my breath. I've seen that look before. It's a look that promises pleasure and pain, and fuck me, I want it all.

“Open,” he commands, leaving no room for argument in his tone.

I do as he says, parting my lips while he unzips his pants, making quick work of freeing his cock from the tight confinements of his pants. He’s rock hard as soon as he springs free, and my eyes go wide at the delicious sight. He’s so much bigger than I remember. Then again, maybe that’s because I’ve never seen him quite this hard before.

My mouth waters as I take him in, and I run my tongue across my bottom lip. He lets out a low, barely audible growl of approval when he sees how eager I am for him.

“You’re going to suck my cock so hard we’ll both be seeing stars,” he tells me. “You’re going to let me fuck your face until you think you’re going to pass out, and then you’ll let me keep going.”

I nod, looking up at him through doe eyes. I suddenly understand why he’s been calling me that. His sweet doe. I’m a deer fleeing from her vicious predator. But I want this one to catch me. To fuck me and to have his way with me. Tonight, I’m his to play with.

“Good girl,” he praises my nod.

Tilting my head back, Alex grips his cock, bouncing it on my soft lips a few times before pressing against them, pushing his way into my mouth. I open for him without hesitation, letting him slide into me as far as he wants to go. He’s slow and shallow at first, taking his time to let me tongue coat his cock in saliva. I groan against him when he thrusts his hips into my face, pressing himself deeper down my throat. I almost gag on him, but I grip his thighs to maintain control. It’s too early to lose control.

Alex’s head falls back as he gets lost in the tightness of my throat, and it quickens his pace. Both hands wrapped through my hair, he fucks my face in a steady rhythm for several strokes before he slams himself to the back of my throat, completely cutting off my airway. My eyes go wide when I can’t breathe, and when I pull back, he holds my head steady in place.

“Take it like you’re supposed to,” he warns, reminding me that he is the one in control right now.

Alex removes one hand from my hair to reach for a string of lights hanging above us, and he yanks it down. He pulls his cock from my mouth to wrap the cord around my neck, making me wear it like a choker.

“Mmm,”he purrs.“Much better.”

I bite my bottom lip as I look up at him, giving him the sexiest look I can manage while he’s cutting off my airway with the string of lights.

Alex’s cock is back at my lips in an instant, and this time he doesn’t hesitate to force his way into my mouth. I reach for my clit to pleasure myself while he uses my face, and I cry out around his cock as soon as my fingers find that swollen spot. It encourages him to keep going, to fuck my face harder and faster. I can’t breathe at all, and part of me is scared he won’t know when to stop and he’ll keep going until I pass out. But I have to keep going. I won’t fight him. He caught me twice fair and square, and now he gets to bask in his reward. The truth is, I’m fucking loving this and my pussy is sopping wet for him as he uses me to pleasure himself.

I continue moaning around his cock, sending vibrations through him. His hips buck as he nears his climax, and I swirl my fingers over my clit faster in response. I want us to come together.

Pulling on the lights harder, he uses them as reigns to control my upper body. I’m completely and utterly at his mercy right now. My stomach tightens as his dick swells in my mouth. He’s on the verge of cumming.

My orgasm begins when he makes the most primal, unhinged sound. He’s practically roaring as he comes, using my throat to milk himself dry and force me to take every last drop of him. I make myself come with him, and stars form in the corners of my vision as I near the point of blacking out. He’s pushing me dangerously close to losing consciousness. I don’t know how much longer I can hold on.

“Such a good fucking girl,” he grunts, emptying the last bit of himself down my throat.

Right as my orgasm fades he lets go of the light, releasing me from his grasp and freeing his cock from my mouth. I fall back, gasping for air. Tears are running down both sides of my face and my lipstick is definitely smudged down my chin. But I don’t fucking care. The look in his dark eyes tells me he doesn’t care either. He’s eating this shit up.

We're both breathing hard. The lights cast shadows across his masked face, making him look almost savage. Beautiful and dangerous, like a wolf. His thumb traces my lower lip, and I can feel the tremors running through his body, the way he's barely holding himself in check.

"Run," he says, his voice low and still rough with lust. "One hour left, my sweet doe. Make it count."

I stare at him, trying to catch my breath, trying to process everything that he just did. The music has changed again – "Let It Snow" now.My whole body feels like a live wire, every nerve ending screaming, pleading for more.

"Run," he repeats, and this time there's an edge to his voice that makes me shiver. "Or I'll catch you again, and you know what happens when I catch you for a third time..."

The promise in those words gets me moving. I scramble to my feet, adjusting my dress with shaking hands. My reflection in the window shows hair messed beyond repair, lips swollen, cheeks flushed. I look thoroughly ravished, and the sight sends another wave of heat through me. This is what Alex Adams can do when he lets go. This is what happens when the perfect facade cracks.

I pause at the door, looking back at him. He's still watching me with those predator's eyes, his usual perfect composure nowhere to be seen.

"What if I want you to catch me?" I tease, surprised by the huskiness in my own voice. In this moment, I don't care about his family's expectations or society's rules. I want more of this – more of him, raw and unrestrained.

He’s silent for a moment while he watches me, making my heart thump harder. When he finally speaks again, his voice is so feral it scares me. He no longer sounds like himself. "Then run faster."

I burst out of the gingerbread house and back into the snowy night. The mechanical elves watch my escape with their painted eyes, still moving in their never ending dance. The music fades as I get farther and farther away.

One hour left. One hour to make it to the church. One hour before he does… what? The uncertainty thrills me almost as much as the chase itself.

Behind me, I hear the gingerbread house door open again, and my pulse spikes. Every cell in my body screams to turn around, to let him catch me again, to discover what other darkness he's been hiding. But I force myself forward, running through the wonderland of lights and snow.

The hunt is on.

And this time, I'm not sure if I'm running away or running toward something. All I know is that I'm running, and somewhere in this snowy night, Alex is following.

The colored lights blur around me as I pick up speed, freshly fallen snow crunching beneath my boots. My scalp tingles where he gripped my hair. Ahead lies the unknown – more challenges, more chase, more of whatever the fuck this game is that we're playing. Behind me lies the gingerbread house with its mechanical decorations and its secrets, and somewhere in between is Alex, hunting me through this winter wonderland of a town.

One hour left to run. One hour left to play. One hour left to discover just how deep his hunger for me goes.

I run faster, grinning into the snowy night as snow blasts my face, my whole body alive.

I'm ready for it all. Ready to see just how far Alex will go when he finally lets himself fall.

The night stretches ahead of me, full of promise and danger and desire.

And I run toward it, laughing like a fucking maniac.