Hunting Adeline (Cat and Mouse, #2)

by H.D. Carlton

“A crown symbolizes power. That’s what this knife is for you.”

Look how pretty you are when you fuck yourself.”

Zade may be Hades, but the dark God has never been known to bow for anyone but his woman. It gives me a small dose of power, enough to reignite my confidence.

“Slap me, punch me, kick me in the goddamn balls. But do not point my gun at yourself.”

"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."

“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.”

“Do you want to trade places and make me beg on my knees? I’ve waited so long to feel your mouth wrapped around my cock, little mouse, and I would do terrible things for you if that’s what it takes.”

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

“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.”

We’re all fucking damned anyway, forced to live outside of heaven’s gates. I find I like it better living in the darkness next to my shadow.

She’s completely naked, and the sight nearly sends me to my knees. Both in worship and sorrow.

Scars only serve as reminders of what we’ve survived, not what killed us.

“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.”

“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.”

“Pray to God, and only then will I let you come all over my cock.” “Please, Zade, please,” she begs desperately. Breathlessly. I shake my head, denying her. “Please, what, baby? I can’t answer your prayers if I don’t know what they are.” “Let me come,” she breathes. “Please, let me come.”

I’m so fucking in love with her, and while my love is brutal and ruthless, it’s also nurturing. Choosing when to be kind and when to let go will always be an uphill fucking battle.

“Your hatred has always tasted like heaven, little mouse. If I have to spend the rest of my life on my knees, then I will use my mouth for more than just begging for your forgiveness.”

And you look so fucking pretty. I can’t wait to see how you’ll look when you take all of me.”

would kill for you—I have killed for you—but I would also put down a gun and never pick it up again if you asked it of me. The lengths I would go to for you are terrifying, little mouse. So easily, you could destroy me, and I would lie down and take it. I don’t care if I live or die—as long as it’s all for you.”

“You love to pretend you’re so fucking helpless, just like a little mouse caught in a trap. If that’s what you want to be, I can show you what it truly means to be powerless. I can show you what it means to be me.”

Your love. The only thing I’ve ever needed from you. You are the one with the power, you’ve just never known what the fuck to do with it.”

“I love you, Zade. Sometimes I can’t fucking stand it,” I say, my voice raspy and uneven. “But it was the only thing that kept me alive. You saved me. Even when we were apart, you saved me. And I hope to God you never stop hunting me.”

“This is getting old, Adeline.” I rear back. “Why, are you mad that you can’t make me obsess over you to the point where I need you by my side every fucking second of the day? Or because you can’t—” “What, baby? I can’t what? Make you love me? Care about me? Or is it that I make you feel all those things when you don’t want to?”

Have you ever come face-to-face with a pissed off bear? Looked into the eyes of the beast as it seethes? Most don’t live to talk about it.

I want him to hate me so he will understand what it feels like to hate someone so much, yet still crave them.

You can’t truly love someone if you’ve never hated them. Two sides to a double-edged sword, and they both cut fucking deep.

Terror glides down my constricted throat and low into my stomach, morphing into an inebriating feeling that burns and burns until my eyes droop into a half-lidded state. “Punish me then. I deserve it,” I hiss. I want him to.

“You use pretty words as sharp knives, and I think you’ve become attached to seeing me scarred. Do they make your pussy wet, baby?”

Seeing him now, kneeling before me, I understand why. The day I handed over my love to him was the first time a God fell to his knees, bowed his head, and prayed. He prayed because I gave him the one thing he could never control, and he never wanted to lose it.

“I’ll bleed for you, Zade. I’ll always bleed for you.”

“I’ve only ever wanted to love you. But I think hating you tastes just as bittersweet.”

Every touch aches, though it feeds the growing wildfire raging beneath my skin. Desperately, I tear at his jeans, the zipper barely releasing before his cock tears from the confines.

But the dark God doesn’t care if I falter. He grabs the backs of my knees and forces my legs apart, freeing him from my hold. Kneeling before me, he slings each of my legs over his shoulders and drags his mouth against my inner thigh.

“I think I could eat you alive, Adeline. Consume every bit of you while you scream beneath me. And even in death, you would still torture me. I would die of starvation because nothing else would compare to you.”

“You’re the only thing I need to survive. I will follow you into the afterlife, little mouse. And then how will you escape me? There’s nowhere to run after you’ve been dragged to Hell.”

he works me with such precision; it’s as if I’m nothing more than a violin that sings for him when he strokes me just like that.

“I dare you, Adeline. Deny that my name isn’t carved into every star you see when I make you come, and I will show you that a God can create them just as easily as he can destroy them.”

I inhale, feeling like I’m taking the first breath after drowning for so long.

“But I hope you know I’m always going to run from you. I like the way you chase me.”

“I needed to be sure you’re one hundred percent in this with me. A baby is the only thing that could permanently tie your life to mine. Legally, at least. Ethically… well, I will always be in your life, whether you know I am or not.”

Zade is a God. And the only one who will conquer this world is him.

“Your body was fucking made for me. So you’re going to be a good girl and fucking take it.”

Heaven isn’t a place you go to when you die, it’s inside the person that’s worth dying for.