Hunting Adeline (Cat and Mouse, #2)

by H.D. Carlton

But the mirage shatters and all I see is a woman who became everything she hates.

When she has no answer, I shoot her a wink just to get her asshole clenching from anger, and head towards the huge military-grade van waiting for me.

I straighten my spine. “Do you know what that means for you? It means I have no humanity left in me. No empathy. No guilt. Nothing. I could do this all fucking day, and even when your body gives out, I’d just bring it back again.”

I want to tell him to get the fuck out of my no-no square, but I can’t imagine that going over well.

“You wouldn’t be able to, even if you wanted to,” he whispers. “You wouldn’t be able to stand. Your legs would be shaking too badly from how hard I fuck you.”

“You will take them outside, and you will put them out of their misery.”

“It means,” Francesca snarls through gritted teeth, “that you will end their miserable existence. And then you will dig their graves and hope to God that you aren’t next.”

Two girls are dying tonight, yet all that coats my tongue is the rapture of their glorious deaths.

I wish I never suppressed my smiles with him. Because now I don’t know if I’m capable of one anymore. The muscles in my face twitch as I force the corners of my mouth up, stretching it wide and baring all of my teeth. Despite how hard I try, it doesn’t reach my dead eyes. It’s unnatural. Awkward. Terrifying. I smooth out my face, contemplating how I can smile again. “Duh, Addie,” I whisper. “You know how to do it.” I lift the lipstick and place it on the corner of my lip and draw it out across my cheek, curving it up towards my eyes. Then the other side, until a big red smile is painted across my face. The Joker had the right idea, I decide.

He invades my body like a parasite would, an unwelcome tenant that leeches from my life force to feed his own. The sharp point of his knife finally breaks skin, and his blade glides across my stomach, drawing out a sharp yelp. Blood bubbles from the wound, and he moves his hips faster in response. “Fuck, that’s so pretty,” he groans breathlessly. A tear slips past my eye, and I pray he’s too distracted to notice. He only cuts me deeper when I cry. He wants me to writhe beneath the piercing metal and get off on the pain as he does. He wants me to enjoy this, and when he sees that I’m not, it makes him angry. He says I just need to get used to it—I just need to adjust. But I don’t know how anyone could get used to being sliced open like a fucking pig.

He stands, then pauses and looks at me. “And by the way, nothing is awkward between us. If you need me to pluck a butthole hair, I’ll do it.” He shrugs, “Or you know, pop an ingrown hair on your vagina.”

"I may own every breath in your body, but make no mistake, Adeline, you own mine, too. I am yours to command. To bend and break. To mold and manipulate. Do you think that makes me weak? Or do you think I'm strong enough to admit that even though my body can physically live on without you, I would never get my fucking soul back?” His hand slides into my hair and fists the strands tightly. "Without you, I will shatter. But with you, I am indestructible."

And then he’s right before me again, pressing his forehead into the barrel of the gun. “Does this make you feel powerful?” he murmurs.

“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.”

I open my mouth, and I scream. I scream and scream until my voice cracks beneath the pressure. Until I fear my throat will shred from the force. I want to crawl outside of my body so desperately. Just so I can escape this feeling. No. What I want is that gun back in my hand so I can turn it on myself.

The voices in my head amplify, and I’m clawing at my skull, desperate to get them out. But his hands stop me, grabbing onto them and trapping them between our chests.

Heeding his command, the metal clings as my fingers deftly undo the buckle, and memories surface of him wrapping this belt around my neck as he fucked my mouth. I want that again, but I know I’m not quite ready for it yet.

My pussy throbs in response, and embarrassingly enough, I almost want to cry. I was convinced I’d always be broken, never being able to touch or be touched. But giving Zade pleasure doesn’t make me feel weak and helpless like I thought it would. To see him lose himself in my mouth makes me feel like a queen sitting upon her throne.

“You look like such a pretty whore for me.”

With her hand back on my hip alongside the other, she digs her nails in again. I groan through gritted teeth, bliss clouding my vision. There’s still so much of me left, but I won't force her to take more. “You’re doing so good, baby. And you look so fucking pretty. I can’t wait to see how you’ll look when you take all of me.” Her teeth chatter again, a moan slipping free. “So fucking proud of you,” I mutter, intoxicated by the sight of her sweet pussy suspended above me, even when she’s allowing so little of me inside her.

What Rudy read lol

Before, I’d call him disturbed. Sick. Psychotic. I mean, he is still all of those things. But it no longer repulses me like it used to. Or maybe it never did, and I was lying to myself. I do that a lot.

It’s so quiet, you could hear a mouse fart.

I train my gaze on Jay, and though he looks just as curious, he also looks wary. Shithead never approves of my plans. Which is stupid. They’re awesome.

Shaking my head, I chew on a few half-popped kernels. They’re my favorite part of eating popcorn.

Biting back another groan, I lift her leg and hook my arm beneath her knee, keeping my thrusts short and hard and hitting that sweet spot inside of her that makes her pussy weep. Addie’s eyes roll, sleep-addled moans filling the room and inside my chest, spurring me to fuck her harder and faster. I anchor her leg higher by sliding my hand up to her throat and squeezing tightly, eliciting higher-pitched moans with the new angle. I clench my teeth, overcome with a rainfall of emotions. Rage. Love. Need. Obsession.

“Look at me while I ruin you, Adeline.”