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“What if I don’t say yes?” I tease.
“Don’t.” Gently, he grabs my neck. “Fight me. Saynoand make me fight for you.”
With his other hand, he caresses my hair. I left my heels, blindfold, and mask in the bathroom of Delta’s. But I still wear his collar with its chain tucked under my posh jacket. I can feel his plug inside me, and the toy in my soaked panties.
This is going to be the most erotic run of my life.
We left the other kings and queens moaning in the throne room. It’s just us while Axel reminds me, “Use your safe wordand I stop, or use your panic button, and I’m there. I promise.”
“There?” I smile, shoving his granite chest away. “Where, dickhead?”
With a lightning pivot, I laugh, racing down the stairs, then turning up the sidewalk.
Axel will give me thirty, maybe forty seconds before he chases me. Inertia will pull him down the block, thinking I darted onto a quiet side street, so immediately, I duck into the next dark space, a cobblestone parking area beside a row house. Crouching behind a Range Rover, I’m so thankful for these big-ass, fancy cars tonight.
Holding my breath and body still, shadows cloak me. The gas lantern flickering by the hospitality door of the home I’m hiding beside barely illuminates the summer night.
With heavy steps, I hear Axel thundering right past me but I wait. Ten. Thirty. Sixty seconds before I strain my ears until I’m sure he’s not there.
From Delta’s, the best way to the famous pineapple fountain in Waterfront Park is up Meeting Street, then down Broad, then Exchange Street. The wider sidewalks of the main roads make it the fastest way.
But no.
First, a woman running in a Chanel suit like her hair is on fire in the middle of the night would draw way too much attention and ruin our game.
Second, wouldn’t Axel expect me to do the most obvious, gambling on my speed versus his?
Third, that’s no fun.
Fourth, it’s not smart.
Axel’s chasing me. And if his father is, too?
Good luck catching me, Bratva boys.
I sprint through a side courtyard and cut through an empty church parking lot. Peeking around a front gate’s brickpillar, I scope up and down a quiet, residential street with its renowned homes. It looks empty.
I suppose as I run, at any moment, Axel, his asshole father, or some rando could jump out and grab me but somehow…
It makes this even more thrilling.
Sweat moistens my skin. Desire has long since soaked my panties. My thighs are slick with both, my ribs heaving with bated breath.
But it isn’t from exertion. My body’s too trained for this.
It’s from the thrill of the hunt. The drug of the chase. The rush of being loved.
Axel bought me a ring.
“Yes” beats through my veins.
My feet pound like my heart.
Thirty minutes is more than enough time to race directly to the fountain, but Axel knew that. The extra minutes allow for extra subterfuge.
Which way would he go?
Glancing over my shoulder, I make sure he’s not already there. That somehow he didn’t double-back to trail me.