Page 175 of Speechless
One side of his mouth tilted up. “Ready to be my prize? Or should I sayourprize?”
My heart sped up. “Both of you?”
“If you’re okay with that.”
I pressed my lips together and nodded, wiping my sweaty palms on my shirt. “Very okay. Very, very okay.”
Bastian still wore his fighting gear, minus the thick gloves. Bare-chested and glistening. Both of their scents reached me, combining in a perfectly complemented symphony.
“There’s no one else in this building but us,” Brooks said. “The cameras are off. The rest of the guys are on watch in case we didn’t think of everything. No limits on where you can go. We’ll give you a five-minute head start.”
I bounced on the balls of my feet. “So, you’ll just come find me and…”
A low growl came from Bastian as he stepped into my space. “Fuck you. Taste you. Whatever we fucking want. Color?”
“Green.”
His hands flexed and curled. “This won’t be gentle, Rin. So don’t be afraid to fight. It’s called primal for a reason. You have your safe words. Nothing else stops it.”
Heat gathered between my legs. Anticipation and desperation. Excitement. Isolde was right. I was already falling into my instincts.
Bastian stepped aside. “Go. Your five minutes start now.”
I went. One glance behind me told me they had retreated down to the octagon. Suddenly, the dark, cavernous space took on a sinister glint. Every shadow hid an Alpha going to jump out at me. I had to find a good place to sneak and hide. I?—
Shit.
They were going to track me by my scent.
Next time we did this I would bring scent canceller and cover my tracks. Brooks would call me a brat for it.
I turned into one of the hallways that ringed the arena, dark except for the leaking light from the octagon and the red light from the exit signs.
Where to hide?
Up another set of stairs and into the darkest corner I could find behind a row of seats.
“Time’s up, baby,” Brooks called. “We’re going to hunt you now.”
The wordhuntmade me shake. I was already wet between my legs, and it would make them find me that much faster.
I couldn’t stay in a puddle of perfume. Quickly, I snuck around half the arena and back down into that hallway. I should be far enough away from them to have some breathing room.
My heart pounded so hard I was short of breath. No fucking wonder Isolde liked being chased. The thrill of knowing I was going to be found and taken—no matter what I did or said—was something I’d never felt before.
The hairs on the back of my neck rose along with chills on my skin. My nipples hardened beneath my shirt. Every sense was heightened, and right now I felt like prey. One of them was close.
Too close.
I stood in a pocket of shadow in a corner by a door, trying to make myself as small as possible. Steady footsteps walked down the hallway. I held my breath.
Brooks walked past me like he didn’t have a care in the world. He might as well have been whistling. One look to his right and he would see me. I couldn’t let him.
As soon as he was past me, I moved so fucking slowly, inching out into the hall to go the other direction. Good thing I wore sneakers that could be silent. Another step. And another. So. Fucking. Slowly.
Brooks froze. I held my breath again. He spun and locked onto me like an arrow seeking a target. I yelped and ran.
“I found her,” he yelled, the steps catching up with me too fast. There was a reason I said I didn’t run. I wasn’t good at it and I wasn’t fast.
