Page 64

Almost caught.

Free again.

Every escape made me want the capture more. Every time Gunnar let me go, one certainty burned brighter inside me: He was still coming. For me.

He would always come for me.

I could run. He would come.

I could fight. He would come.

I could make myself as difficult as possible. Gunnar Blackwood would still come for me.

My wolf leapt over a fallen tree. Something massive landed behind us. I didn't look back. I knew with every shred of light in my ruined eyes that my husband was a step behind me. Because he had chosen me. Now I was going to make him prove how badly he wanted to keep me.

A breathless laugh tore out of my throat. The sound was lost to the rush of cold air against my fur. I pressed hard into the earth, my wolf's stride eating up the distance between the tall pine trees. Behind me, the silence of the woods felt charged; a living, breathing predator closing the gap step by step.

Gunnar filled the night air like a thunderhead. His irresistible Alpha presence crashed over me, making every nerve under my skin sing with high-voltage electricity. Every inch of space he gave me only anchored me deeper into his orbit.

A shadow surged from the brush to my left. It was a silver-grey phantom moving with effortless speed.

I yelped, twisting my hips to alter my path. My claws dug deep into the damp earth as pine needles flew into the air. Gunnar cut me off, his heavy wolf body brushing flush against my side. Just enough weight to send me off my trajectory. Just enough heat to send a violent jolt of pleasure straight down my spine.

I bared my teeth in a desperate snap. He dodged easily, letting out a chest-caving huff that sounded suspiciously like a laugh before slipping back into the darkness of the trees.

My lungs burned with crisp air. I wasn't playing. Well, I was playing, but I was fighting for my life. For the life I so desperately wanted, that no one had ever thought to offer me. A life I never considered possible. A life I would lie, scheme and kill to keep.

My pulse thundered in my ears like war drums. I surged up a steep, rocky ridge, scrambling for high ground. I leaped over a moss-draped fallen trunk⁠—

A colossal weight slammed into me from above. We went down together in a tangle of limbs and fur, tumbling across the damp moss. The force of his strike drove the air straight out of my chest. Before I could scramble to my feet, Gunnar rolled, pinning me flat against the earth beneath his heavy frame.

My wolf let out a submissive whimper, going pliant under the suffocating, glorious pressure of his body.

He didn't bite. He didn't snap. His head came down beside mine. His dark snout pressed firmly into the sensitive curve of my neck. He inhaled deeply, drawing the undeniable scent of my surrender straight into his lungs. His body vibrated with a low, possessive growl that shook the ground beneath us.

I shifted back. Silver fur dissolved. Bones cracked and shrank as human skin met the cool, damp earth. The monochrome of the forest blurred into soft, dark shadows, but I didn't care. I didn't need sight for what came next. I'd already memorized every part of this man and his wolf.

Gunnar shifted with me. In a heartbeat, his human frame pressed down against mine. His bare skin radiated a feverish heat against my naked body. Cold air bit at my skin. But where Gunnar touched me, I was burning alive.

His large, calloused hands slammed into the earth on either side of my head, trapping me completely between his chest and the ground. He hovered over me, his broad chest heaving, his breath hot and ragged against my lips.

"Caught you," he growled, his voice thick, rough, and dripping with dark satisfaction.

I looked up into the silhouette of his face. All the detail was gone from my ruined eyes, but in my mind's eye I saw my husband clearly. My fingers dug into the rich soil beneath us as my hips tilted up instinctively, seeking his weight, seeking his heat.

Gunnar slid his massive hand up to cup my jaw. His thumb dragged rough and possessive across my lower lip. "No matter how far you go, no matter how hard you fight, or how dark it gets... I'm coming after you, Rosalind. I will always come for you."

A sob of overwhelming relief caught in my throat. My whole life, I had been an asset to be traded, a secret to be hidden, a pawn to be moved across a chessboard. My mother had controlled me. Guards had shielded me. The world had looked at my useless eyes and assumed I was a prize to be kept locked in a cage.

Gunnar didn't lock me up. He threw the door wide open, gave me the entire forest, and proved that even with absolute freedom, he was strong enough to hunt me down, master me, and claim me as his own.

He hadn't been forced into this marriage. He hadn't accepted the burden of a fragile wife. He had chosen me.

"Then hold me down, Gunnar," I breathed, wrapping my legs tightly around his waist and pulling him down into me. "Hold me down and fuck me hard."

CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

GUNNAR