Phantom (Cat and Mouse, #0)

by H.D. Carlton

I’m not only riveted by her. I’m possessed by a need to have her. And she must be mine.

I’d love nothing more than to be consumed by her words, no matter how they greet me. Whether it’s through those red-stained lips or from her delicate hands. I want to know every facet of her, every centimeter of her—mind, body, and soul.

She plagues my mind, infecting it like a parasite and overriding any autonomy over myself. My free will is indebted to her, and without her, I am nothing.

It’s physically painful for me to walk away from her, but I know that I must. I’m a bad man, but I won’t be her monster. No. I want to be her savior.

“I want you so badly, it hurts to breathe without you near,” he whispers softly, finally—finally—gracing me with his voice.

“Because you possess my lungs, as you do my heart, Genevieve. And I intend to take yours for myself,”

“I call you my rose because for you, I would take all your pain so you would suffer none,” I tell her softly. “I would go through hell for you. Die for you. Do anything you asked. I love you, mia rosa. More than you will ever know.”

“Love cannot define what I feel for you. But I will settle for it with my words and show you what I truly feel with my actions,” he says quietly.

“I would follow you anywhere, Genevieve. If you were standing at the edge of the earth and wanted to fall, I would only stop you long enough to take hold of your hand so I could go with you. There isn’t a life where I wouldn’t be your phantom, or a death where I wouldn’t be your reaper.”

“There will never be another, nor will I live a life without you. Death awaits us all, Genevieve. Even still, it will not keep me from you.”