Hunting Adeline (Cat and Mouse, #2)

by H.D. Carlton

I’m halfway through the room when I hear my plastic bag give out, and one of the water bottles breaks right through, loudly smacking off the floor and rolling several feet. Just barely, I bite back a gasp, trapping it on the tip of my tongue right alongside my erratic heartbeat. My wide eyes snap to Jerry. His snores have cut off, but he appears to be sleeping still. A dangerous amount of adrenaline is coursing through my bloodstream, and my vision goes spotty from how hard my heart is pounding. I cup the bottom of the bag and tiptoe to the water bottle, cringing when the sack crinkles in my hand. Then I crouch down and grab the water bottle, keeping my movements slow. Screwing my eyes shut, it takes several seconds to try and calm my heartbeat. My hands are clammy, and sweat is breaking out alongside my hairline and lower back. I don’t think I’ve ever been this fucking terrified, and I’m too consumed in it to feel any type of thrill. It’s just that… pure terror. Breathing out softly, I stand again and try to recover the bottom of the bag, but before I can, another water bottle slips through, once more crashing to the floor.

HOW ARE YOU SO BAD AT THIS

“Rocco Bellucci,” I mumble, immediately digging into his background. “Got a few charges for public intoxication, domestic violence, and battery.” Daire shrugs. “Pretty standard charges for ninety percent of the male population.”

NINETY PERCENT?????

It’s the first time he’s been in Parsons Manor, and his body language suggests he’s ready to get the fuck out. He took one step in, and the front door shut on its own behind him. Since Addie’s been home, the activity has increased. Her energy has been dark, and the manor never had any warmth to begin with.

Oh that's right, haunted house

“Forcing a gun into that pussy and making you come all over it? Or all the other times you told me no, and I did it anyway?” he volleys back.

What a wild thing to say to your formerly trafficked girlfriend

A shiver rolls down my spine, and goosebumps spread across my body like the Black Plague.

What

“I hate to cut into this beautiful moment, but Sibby is taking her clothes off.”

lol

Everything has its own place atop it, arranged neatly and positioned in straight lines. Either Jimmy or his cleaning service has OCD.

This isn't OCD

Just as the words leave her mouth, the cop’s voice blares from their loudspeaker, naming my make and model and demanding I pull over. “Okay, scratch that,” she says, her tone pitching with fear. I glance at her, noticing how she clenches her thighs again, her nipples hardening beneath her long-sleeved shirt. Fright is palpable on her face, sweat beading alongside her hairline.

Why is she like this

My Mustang tilts on one side before dropping back down on all fours, causing Addie to gasp and dig her nails into my leather seat, followed by a little whimper in her throat. This… this is actually Hell. If we were alone, I’d drive with one hand and reach over and take care of her with the other.

Why are you both like this

She shifts again, rubbing her thighs together and making throaty little noises. Goddamn it. “Addie, baby,” I say, glancing her way. “Yeah?” she croaks, her wide eyes locked onto the road. “I’m going to need you to stop distracting me.” Her mouth parts, and she meets my flickering gaze, half of my attention on the road, the other half on my girl. "I'm not doing anything," she insists, yet her flushed cheeks and hard nipples say otherwise.

:(

“Would you make me bleed?” she asks, her voice hoarse as the smoke swirls around us. “If you ask me to,” I murmur. “I’d prefer to see you covered in my own blood, though.”

Sir??????????????

So, he was trying to hide in the boonies a few hours out from Seattle, but that is currently backfiring. There are probably several people who heard him scream, but no one is going to help him. Not when they’ve got their own criminal activities taking place and their noses or veins clogged with whatever drug they could find. Pretty sure a dead guy is lying on the side of the street up the road, and several people stepped over him and kept it moving.

WHERE ARE YOU

Just because you take the time to pick up the pieces after shattering a dish doesn’t mean that it’s not your fucking fault that it broke.

How profound

big pharmas

Just the one pharma, actually

Dropping his burning stare, he brushes the material of my dress to the side, both legs now bared. I decided to forgo panties with this dress, the silk too thin to conceal panty lines. If he lifted the material another inch, he’d be able to see between my thighs. His nostrils flare, and I feel my face grow hot, flushing hotter when he leans in closer. I can smell you. Something he said to me so long ago, when he told me to run and hide in Parsons Manor, promising a punishment if he found me. I have a feeling he can smell me now, and just how much my body weeps for him.

:(

“Did you know that reclaiming something that was stolen from you can help with trauma?” he asks. “Yes,” I murmur. “And if something hurt you before, giving it a new meaning can help.” His eyes lift, focusing on me intently. “Do you want me to show you a new meaning to this knife?” I hesitate but then nod my head. A different kind of fear is seizing my body—the kind that I’ve always been attracted to. And I’ve missed it so much. “Pull up your dress,” he demands roughly, his voice deep and raspy. Quickly, I do as he says, bunching the material up just high enough to bare the apex of my thighs. His nostrils flare, and he clenches his jaw briefly before ordering, “Now wrap your hand around mine.” Furrowing my brows, I do as he says, grabbing ahold of his hand that’s curled tightly around the blade. “Wouldn’t want to cut up those pretty hands of yours. So, you’re going to guide me.” I shake my head, feeling myself start to retreat. “I won’t touch you,” he promises. “You’re in control, little mouse. I’m only here to protect your hand. Instead of allowing this knife to cause you pain, use it to give yourself pleasure instead.” My throat constricts, and I have the strongest urge to run away. But that feeling is what keeps me still. I don’t want Xavier to win. To haunt my life so terribly that an inanimate object has the power to control me. Nodding my head, I guide his hand up, my breath hitching when the handle slides along my slit. Zade watches my movements closely, his teeth cl...

Please fuck all the way off

Normally, I don’t think I could ever get enjoyment out of fucking myself with a knife handle.

???????????????

But using Zade’s hand to do it adds a layer of pleasure I wouldn’t be able to find on my own. Seeing his blood drip from our hands instead of my own—it does something to me that I can’t explain.

?????????????????????????????

“Now watch yourself. Look how pretty you are when you fuck yourself.” Mouth parted and chest heaving, I look down between my slick thighs, the euphoria heightening from the sight. “See how you’re dripping all over our hands, baby?” Both of our hands are covered in his blood, my arousal mixing in and carving paths through the crimson staining our skin. My stomach tightens, an orgasm building low in my stomach. “Yes,” I moan. “You know what I see? I can see how tightly your pussy is clenching the knife,” he growls, face strained with need. “Like it’s just begging to be filled.”

I AM DISTRESSED

For a few moments, I hold on until I can’t anymore, gagging a little and retreating until he pops free, a trail of red-tinted saliva clinging to my bottom lip. Just like he wanted, the blood from my mouth is smeared down his length, and a sick thought flashes in my mind. I understand why Xavier liked it so much.

I hate you

He fucks my mouth savagely, saliva spilling past my lips in which I use my hand to spread up and down his length, his teeth gnashing in response.

absolute word salad

Zade and I—we don’t make sense to the outside world.

Or any world

“Can never be too wet, can you, kitty cat?” I say coyly, echoing his words back to him from our first encounter.

Please stop

He succumbs to me like the Titanic did the ocean.

Ohmygod

“Just stay like this,” she whispers, repeating the motion again and again until I’m close to snapping her neck like a goddamn toothpick.

Ah, romance

I tell her about the first person I killed, and she tells me about hers.

Ya know, pillow talk

I’d make a good fertilizer,

You'd have to die first

“Oh!” Sibby shouts, causing me to jump again. “You should write a book about it. Your readers would swoon over the big, scary guy coming to your rescue and then murdering your abuser.”

I am not swooning

I'll never understand how humans fear death when time is far scarier. It ultimately leads us to death because it’s the only thing that truly makes us mortal. We’re locked in the illusion with no way out. Fuck, I really want out.

(john mulaney voice) she's not a philosopher

“Yes, me!” he shouts. “I have no goddamn control when it comes to you. I lost it when I saw you in that bookstore and never got it back. You think me stalking you was control? Drinking from your body despite your cries? Do you think I have it right fucking now?”

Ah yes. It's all her fault.

It takes several moments, but slowly, it dawns on me. His words finally fucking process through the thick skull God cursed me with. Zade gave in to every one of his darkest instincts because he never possessed the control to stop himself. He took, and took, and took because it was the only thing he could take. But that never made him powerful—it made him helpless.

I know you're dumb but surely you're not THIS DUMB

Until now, I could never make sense of that when he’s always done what he wanted. Stalked me, touched me, fucked me whenever he wanted. No matter how many protests fell from my lips, or how many times I fought him. He chased me when I ran, pulled me back when I pushed him away, yet would worship me at my feet if I asked him to. And I finally understand why. One cannot wield power if one does not have control over it.

Honestly I hope you die

I haven’t forgotten how terrifying Zade's cock is.

Is it haunted too

It’s a normal human reaction, but when has Zade ever acted like anything less than a deity?

I hate you so much

“You’ve always been an atheist to my word.

What??????????

Only the devil can wield the shadows around his body with such divinity. A devil and a God—two opposing forces that make up one contradicting being.

.___.

My core throbs when a deep rumble vibrates throughout my hands, building as I deliberately brush my hardened nipples against his face.

...sexy?

“You think you’re broken now, Adeline? Wait until you free me from these confines,” he threatens, the deep timbre of his voice lined with sharp glass. “I’ll fuck you until every single one of your bones breaks beneath me.

Feel like this should be a deal breaker

Now that I’ve given him everything, I will experience Zade truly at his most unhinged.

You mean there's more?

“I’ll never get tired of hearing you say you love me, and if you ever stop, I’ll put strings in your fucking lips and make you say it.”

Um

“I want this,” I admit. Grabbing his wrist, I guide his hand, holding the knife right above my breast. The previous amusement shutters from his eyes, replaced by something dark and treacherous. “I want one just like yours,” I say, rolling my hips to remind him that this is real. He tenses, the veins roping up his arm and neck pulsating. He’s studying me closely, and I’m beginning to lose my nerve. “Please, Zade,” I plead quietly. Closing his eyes, he takes a deep breath, and by the time he’s opening them, his beast has taken over. “Rub your clit, baby,” he directs. I do as he says, reaching between us and finding the sensitive little bud and start circling it lightly. My lids flutter, acute pleasure rising and stealing my breath. I feel my pussy clench around him, throbbing with desire as my touch grows firmer. He growls, rolling his hips so I can feel how full I am of him. One of his hands slides beneath me, cupping the back of my neck firmly while he leans in close, poising the tip of the knife right above my heart. He’s looking up at me beneath his lashes, waiting for my reaction. I only give him a husky moan as a response, grinding against him. I’ve been at the mercy of Zade’s pain before, and it was one of the most euphoric experiences in my life. “I’m not going to stop,” he warns me. “I’m not scared of you,” I bite, moaning again as an orgasm builds. “So many lies,” he whispers, right before he presses the blade in and starts to cut. I suck in a sharp breath, burning...

Thanks I hate it

“You take it so fucking good,” he groans, biting his lip as blood bubbles and pours from the wound, pooling in the divot in my throat and the sheets beneath me.

It just feels so unhygenic

Seconds later, the sharp edge of the knife is pressing into my jugular, and Zade’s dangerously soft voice is filling my ear. “I can slit your throat so fucking easy. And the harder you come, the faster your blood will drain from your body,” he drawls.

WHY

“Fuck, you’re so beautiful when you cry for me. Do you think I’ll ever stop now? I want to drink your fucking tears like they’re the blood of Christ.”

You're so weird

Her head is the size of this manor, and just as dark as the inside of it.

Okay

“And, Sibby… limit your knives and guns.” I hear a dramatic sigh from the room,

Unironically love Sibby

Addie’s hips sway angrily as she half-runs toward the front door.

WHAT DOES THIS MEAN

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

Again with the farting

An animalistic urge is beginning to take over. I want to take her to the ground and fuck her in the pool of blood.

Please focus

There’s nothing thoughtless about how Addie moves now, and my fascination with her has only amplified. All those idle threats she used to make about killing or hurting me—she could make those come true now. Fuck. Yes.

God