Haunting Adeline (Cat and Mouse, #1)

by H.D. Carlton

I don’t know if God really exists. I don’t know if mankind has ever walked on the moon. Nor do I know if parallel universes exist. But what I do know is that I just found the meaning of life sitting behind a table with an awkward smile on her face.

UNKNOWN: Sneaking off with random men, little mouse? If I catch his hands anywhere near you, they’ll end up in your mailbox by morning.

It’s the mention of Addie that sends me into a murderous rage.

“What you and every sad motherfucker that even looks in her direction will learn is no one is safe when it comes to her. I don’t care if you only breathed in her direction the wrong way, you will fucking die.”

In the beginning, I just picked her locks to get in, then reverse-picked them after I left. The only predator I’ll allow in her house is myself.

She became an inoperable brain tumor that plagues every waking moment of my life. Sometimes it feels like if I tried to cut her out of me anyways, I wouldn’t survive

You’re so beautiful when you’re scared.

“You can come out now, baby,” he breathes, the sound of his voice gravelly and deep. Oh, no. No, no, no. I don’t move, hoping that he’s just guessing. “I can smell you,” he says.

“Fucking beautiful,” he murmurs, his eyes tracing over the curves of my body.

“I can feel how tight your pussy is. The way it grips onto my gun when I slide it out—so fucking pretty.”

F uck. She’s so pretty when she thinks no one is watching.

I close my eyes and work to regain control. I have to be quiet. She doesn’t know I’m hiding in her closet. Waiting for her to fall asleep so I can stare at her beauty in peace.

The moment I saw her sitting in that bookstore, working to hide her nerves and anxiety, there I was—a grown-ass man, falling in obsession at first sight.

It’s fucking exhausting—the never-ending list of people to kill. But I’m a very patient man.

UNKNOWN: I’ll be seeing you tonight, little mouse. I snarl. ME: From outside my house, and preferably in a cop’s handcuffs. UNKNOWN: You don’t need a cop to get me in handcuffs, baby. I’ll let you do anything you want to me.

Humans don’t need to decorate themselves in gory make-up and fake blood to be scary. It’s the insides of us—the darkness that lurks beneath the surface—that’s what’s truly fucking terrifying.

It’s not something I can explain. When I saw her, I fucking nearly fell to my knees with need, and I will have her.

I came awfully close to walking in here and shooting them all dead, but then I’d have to kill all their families too, and my girl doesn’t like it when I do that.

The only pussy I want wrapped around my cock for the rest of my life is hers.

Desire shines in his yin-yang pools, and although he’s punishing me, he’s staring down at me like I’m a priceless jewel.

I keep from gritting my teeth, though all I really want to do right now is grind them to dust. The main reason I don’t is because I would no longer be able to bite Addie’s clit. And I really enjoy doing that.

Her eyes widen gradually until she’s staring at me like I’ve lost my mind. What she doesn’t realize is I did lose my fucking mind the second I laid eyes on her, and I haven’t gotten it back yet.

He’s manipulating her, and that’s a big no-no. No one manipulates my girl but me.

“That's fucked up, you're going to jail,” she cuts in, disgust curling her lip. “Actually, I hope you go to prison and are sentenced to death.” She turns with a snarl, but she doesn’t make it a step before my hand snaps out, capturing her arm and whipping her back around, directly into my chest. Addie inhales sharply, her eyes dilating as I seize the back of her neck with one hand and grab her delectable ass with the other, lifting her up against my body. “Will you be my last meal, baby?”

“You taste like heaven. I could feast on that sweet little pussy for hours and still die a starving man. It’ll be the closest I will ever get to God before they inject me with that needle, don’t you agree?”

“You shouldn’t litter,” I say hoarsely, earning a slight grin in return. He bends and picks up the cigarette butt and deposits it in his pocket. “Sorry, baby,” he rasps. “Won’t happen again.”

I want to slap him. But the asshole would probably like it, and then turn around and slap me back. And my dumbass self would probably like it, too.

Don’t be jealous, little mouse. No one will ever be capable of getting my cock hard except you.”

Even when you're married to someone for over a decade, it’s possible to never really know them and what they're capable of.

“Just don’t forget to scream my name when you’re holding that showerhead to your pussy. You can come knowing that I’ll be shouting yours, too.”

“What you’re seeing now is what I see every day. No matter how far I run, how hard I try to escape you—you’re everywhere I go. You’re everything I see. Loving you is like being trapped in a house of mirrors, little mouse. And I’ve never felt so at home while being so lost inside you.”

“You’re psychotic,” I gasp. This time he laughs, the dark rumble traveling straight to the apex of my thighs. “You will learn to love it,” he murmurs distractedly.

I feel so much power in my fingertips, I can’t imagine how much power I’d have if I loved him.

“You don’t want this, baby? You don’t want to be full of my cock and discover a new religion each time I make you come?” “You have a lot of faith in your abilities,” I croak. He chuckles, as deep and dark as the ocean. “You need faith to be a believer.” He cups me between my legs. “And this pussy deserves to be worshipped.”

“Baby, you rule the fucking kingdom, and I will gladly bow to you.”

“Remember this moment,” he growls deeply, withdrawing to the tip before pushing deeper inside of me. “Because the next time I fuck you, you will be deeply in love with me, Adeline. I’m your stalker and a murderer, and you will love me anyways.”

I look off to the side and stare out at the Sound, focusing on something mundane, despite how beautiful it is with the water sparkling beneath the sunlight. Everything is mundane when Addie is present.

After a few seconds, she continues. “I admire you more than I can say for being one of far too few people willing actually to do something to save them. The world needs more people like you, Zade.” “Maybe,” I murmur, giving in and placing a soft kiss on the corner of her lips. “But all I need is you.”

“My body is just a vessel that my soul inhabits, attached to a shell that it'll one day leave. And when that day comes, I won’t care to let that shell go. I carry my body around because I have to, not because it's a choice. But when I possess something meaningful, I’m choosing to hold on to it. Carrying something meaningful in my skin is effortless but holding onto something that I could lose—that takes devotion.”

She growls in response, kicking her legs at air. I nearly bust into the sunroom, the beauty of it lost on me when I hold the most precious gift in my arms.

“Let me know which stars you prefer. The ones above you, or the ones I make you see.”

“You think I stalked you just because I wanted a quick thrill? No, baby. It’s you and me forever.

“To be accepted into our family tonight, is to give your soul over to Satan. Do you understand?” I nod. The devil and I are already well-acquainted.