Hunting Adeline (Cat and Mouse, #2)

by H.D. Carlton

These men may be skilled in hunting, but what they don't know is that I've been hunted by a far scarier man. I was a mouse caught in a trap before, scared, and helpless as I was taken between the teeth of an apex predator. But I'm not their little mouse, and they are not Zade. And I will never succumb to them.

I’m coming home with my little mouse tonight. And then? We’re going to burn down the world together.

“Hey, Zade?” “Yeah, baby?” “Thank you.”

“Meadows, baby. Our last name is Meadows.”

Daylight savings is approaching, relieving the world of its depressive claws. Something about the sun setting before five in the afternoon really puts a damper on your day.

shoot him a droll look. “You’re here. Why are you here? Did you need something?” “Just you, little mouse.”

“You want the simple answer, too?” he asks, his voice deepening, causing my pulse to skyrocket. “It’s because I love you, Adeline Reilly. And I know you love me back.

"Without you, I will shatter. But with you, I am indestructible."

“What you’ve forgotten is that the heart beating inside your chest isn’t fucking yours,” he snarls. “It’s mine. And if my heart has stopped working, then pull that trigger, little mouse. Kill the rest of me. I’m nothing if I’m not the reason you breathe.”

He told me before that he wanted me to fall in love with the darkest parts of him, and I have.

“I don’t care if I need to set this world on fire until there’s no one left but you and me. The world will burn around us, and I’ll gladly live in chaos with you as long as the only person that is a danger to you is me.”

Only a monster can create another monster. And that’s exactly who I’ve become.

“A good man would be sorry that he corrupted something so pure.” “You’ve never been a good man,” I whisper, reiterating the exact words he’s told me so many times before. “No,” he agrees. “But I have always been yours.”

“I’ve followed you through lifetimes, Adeline. My soul needs you so badly that I’ve become a shadow, destined to hunt you for eternity.”

“Does anything about the way I love you feel tragic?” I ask, brushing my lips across her jaw. “Yes,” she whimpers. “But only because one day it will end.” A growl rips from my throat, and I fist her hair, tipping her head back and forcing her to see the truth. “You and I will never end, little mouse. Even when we’re six feet under, and our bones are dust, I will haunt your soul until it aches to be free of me. And then, I will hold you tighter.”

“I don’t ever want to be free of you, Zade. Not in this lifetime, and not in all the ones that come after.”