Page 74 of Prey

“I was building a life?—”

“You were waiting.” I plant one hand against the oak beside her head, caging her against the rough bark. “Waiting for me to find you. Waiting for this.”

My free hand traces the skin at her throat, and she shivers under the touch. Even through my tactical gloves, I can feel how her skin burns.

“You’re insane.” But the words lack bite. Her body sways toward mine despite her protest.

“Maybe.” I lean closer, letting her feel the heat radiating off my chest. “But I’m also right. You could have run anywhere in the world. Instead, you stayed in my territory, hunting my competition, making yourself visible to anyone who knew how to look.”

She opens her mouth to argue, but I grab her throat in warning.

“You wanted me to find you,” I continue. “Wanted me to hunt you down and drag you back where you belong.”

“Stop.” The word comes out as barely a whisper.

“Stop what? Stop telling you the truth?” My body presses closer, pinning her fully against the tree. “Your pulse is racing, your pupils are blown, and I can smell how wet you are from here.”

She makes a sound and tries to turn her head away. I catch her chin with my free hand, forcing her to meet my eyes through the mask.

“Look at me, Jenna. Look at me and tell me you don’t want this.”

Those gray-green eyes search mine, and I see the exact moment her last defense crumbles. The way her body goes soft against the tree, the way her breathing shifts from panicked to hungry.

“I hate you.” But there’s no conviction in it.

“I know.” I release her chin to palm her breast through the thin sports bra, feeling how her nipple hardens. “Doesn’t stop you from wanting me to fuck you against this tree.”

Her back arches, pressing her breast more firmly into my hand. “Nikolai?—”

My name on her lips destroys what’s left of my control. The careful protocol I planned dissolves into simple need as I tear at her sports bra, ripping the fabric away from her perfect tits.

“Three months,” I growl ripping off my mask and dropping it to the floor, my teeth finding the sensitive skin. “Three months of dreaming about having you under me again.”

My mouth latches onto her nipple, sucking hard enough to make her cry out. She tastes like salt and desperation and everything I’ve been craving since she sneaked out of my bed.

“Please—” The word escapes her before she can stop it.

“Please what?” I bite down on the peaked flesh, making her hands fly to my shoulders for balance. “Tell me what you need, beautiful.”

Her nails dig into my skin as I work her breast with lips and teeth and tongue. The other breast gets the same treatment, until she’s gasping and writhing against the oak.

“I need—” She cuts herself off, shame warring with desire in her expression.

“You need me to fuck you.” I straighten to my full height, looking down at her flushed face and swollen lips. “Right here.Right now. Like the desperate little thing you’ve always been for me.”

Her thighs clench together, and I know I’ve hit the mark.

“Say it,” I command, dragging down her shorts. “Tell me what you really came here for.”

“I didn’t—” The protest dies as I slide the athletic shorts down her legs, taking her panties with them. “Oh god?—”

“No god here, beautiful. Just me.” I hook her leg over my forearm, opening her to the cool forest air. “Just the man who’s going to breed you against this tree until you remember where you belong.”

She’s soaked. Absolutely fucking drenched, her pussy glistening in the dappled sunlight. The sight makes me growl like an animal as I open my pants with desperate hands.

“This is what you’ve been craving, isn’t it?” My cock springs free, thick and hard and already weeping. “Three months of waking up empty, wishing you were still in my bed.”

“Yes.” The admission tears out of her. “God, yes, I’ve missed?—”