Hunting Adeline (Cat and Mouse, #2)

by H.D. Carlton

Addie, baby, I need you to fight for me, okay? I need you to survive until I get to you.

“I swear to everything that is holy, I will destroy you if you touched my girl.”

I’m going to burn the entire fucking world down until I find her, and I don’t care who gets burnt.

I am no longer a man—only a beast succumbing to primal instinct. I am annihilation.

I know my body is going to give out on me, but nothing—and I mean, nothing—is going to keep me from finding her.

That’s such a good girl, little mouse. Open that pretty mouth and taste me… You’ve been naughty, mouse. You like it when I punish you, don’t you? I could eat you for days, and it would never be enough… Fuck, baby, I’m so fucking addicted…

“Meadows, baby. Our last name is Meadows.” “Yours. Don’t get ahead of yourself. You’ll be expected to beg.” There’s no stopping the savage grin from gracing my lips. “I love to beg.”

“Your pussy is a delicacy, baby, and I could eat it forever and never grow tired of the taste of you. Is that refined enough?”

“My entire world revolves around you. If you want mint chocolate chip, then that’s what I want, too,” he had said. “Do you even like it?” “I like you, does that count?” “

“Happiness is fleeting. All that matters is that they’re living their life the way they want to.”

“You’re brave. Incredibly brave, and a goddamn survivor, and it’s admirable as fuck. You have no idea how proud of you I am. But you’re also impulsive, and reactive, and I refuse to lose you again, do you hear me? I won’t. Which means that you have to listen to me, and you cannot go off and do your own thing because you think you’re helping. We’re a team, baby. Got it?”

“It’s because I love you, Adeline Reilly. And I know you love me back. When I’m inside you, you won’t be thinking of anything else but how to get me deeper. The only fear you’ll taste is from a God sending you to heaven too soon.”

“You will always be the little mouse, and I will always hunt you. I’ll patiently wait until you’re ready for me to touch you, but make no mistake, Adeline, it’ll still hurt when I do.”

She flushes brightly, red staining her cheeks as she shifts, those thick thighs clenching. My cock hardens painfully in my jeans, picturing them wrapped around my head instead. She likes to try and suffocate me between them, but I would gladly die between her thighs.

My chest swells. Having Zade’s love feels like a dream, but having his trust and confidence feels like a dream come true.

“Placing the crown on my queen,” he croons. “What do you mean?” I mumble distractedly, shivering from the electric currents traveling up my leg. “A crown symbolizes power. That’s what this knife is for you.”

"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."

“Crawl to me,” he orders, his voice as rough as lava rock, yet as enticing as the spiced whiskey he swallowed. “Show me how pretty you are begging on your knees for my cock.”

“You’re so fucking beautiful; I want to cut the eyes from those who get the privilege to look at you,”

“But you are my whore. You’re my everything, and you become so much more with each passing day. I possess every fucking part of you, Adeline. Even when you screamed and cried that you didn’t want me, you could never let me go. All those nights you stood at your window, letting me watch you. Confronting me instead of running and instigating me knowing what would happen. And when you did run, you only ever used your mouth to try and get away. You gravitated towards me, just as I did you. And that is something no other man will ever 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.”

“A good man would be sorry that he corrupted something so pure.” “You’ve never been a good man,”

“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.”

“Don’t let that control slip from your fingers because if it does, I will be responsible for every one of my actions. I’ll fuck you so deeply, you’ll be crying for me to stop, and I won’t, Adeline. You’ll have to fucking kill me before that happens, and I will die without a shred of remorse.”

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.”

“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.”

“You’ve taken my entire heart and soul and my ability to love another. Sometimes I hate you for that,”

“Am I your salvation, too?” I choke out, barely getting the words out before a sob breaks free. “You were always going to be the one that saved me, little mouse.”

“Giving my heart to you was something I prayed I’d never do,” I whisper. “But you’ve always been a God, and I didn’t realize my pleas were going straight into your hands. Yet they always went unanswered.”

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.

“You will never be able to live without me, Zade,” I breathe. “If you’re my death, then I’m your fucking lifeline.”

“I was only ever helpless when I fell in love with you. And you may hold all the power over me, little mouse, but I’ve never been defenseless. Don’t mistake my lack of control for weakness. All the ways I’ve hurt you have always been intentional.”

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

“When you’re scared and can hardly breathe, this is where I’ll be. Deep inside of you. Whether I’m with you physically, or in your heart, I’m always going to be there.”

“Look at me while I ruin you, Adeline.” Grip harsh, I jerk her face towards mine, capturing her wide caramel pools with my own. “You will always be mine,” I growl. “Even in your fucking nightmares.”

“Are you proposing because you’re in love with me or because I gave you anal?” I tip my head back, a laugh working from my throat. And when I drop my head down again, a smile still on my face, she’s sliding the ring onto her finger.