Page 82 of Dance of Thorns

There’s nothing threatening or malicious in his tone. It’s like he’s just stating facts: play, and not say the safe word, and let him fuck me, which I know is going to be…well,intenseis an understatement. If I do all of that, Imightlearn something important about my friend.

Or I can walk away and never find out.

I shiver, breathing in the cold metal of the door. “How do I know?—”

“That I actually have something to tell you about her that you don’t know?” I feel him shrug. “You don’t. But walk away, and you’ll alwayswonder, won't you?”

He lets go of my body, his hand sliding from between my legs and where they're pinning my arms above my head before stepping back.

Fuck. He’s right.

“Fine,” I choke, steeling myself as I place my palms against the wall. I close my eyes and arch my back a little. “Do it. Do your fucking worst.”

The silence hangs for three long seconds. Then, quietly, Bane starts to laugh.

“Oh no, little bird,” he murmurs with dark amusement. “That’s not how this game goes.”

His mouth returns to my ear.

“I told you: I don’t want to beservedmy meal of you.” His teeth nip at me, and I whimper pathetically. “I’m going to hunt you. Not chase.Hunt.”

My heart jolts violently in my chest.

Fuckingwhat?

His large hands slide over my hips, twisting me to face the dark, glass-covered rooftop.

It was colder earlier, but it’s warmed now, turning the air hazy with misty fog.

“I’ll give you a sixty-second head start,” Bane murmurs behind me, his large hands still splayed over my hips. “You can run, you can hide. But this door stays locked…and there’s no other way down.”

His hands slide from my hips, leaving me shaking as my eyes struggle to pierce the gloomy maze of trees, gargoyles, and hedges.

“Don’t forget your word,” he rasps in a haunted, dark tone. “Sixty. Fifty-nine.”

I whirl. “Wait, we’re startingnow?!”

“Fifty-eight. Fifty-seven.”

Holy fuck.

I don’t even think. I just turn and run into the garden, letting the dark mist swirl around me and leaving him counting by the door.

It’s a big roof, but not huge. I get to the far side in less than twenty seconds, and the width is even less than the length.

This won’t be about putting distance between us. It’ll be abouthiding.

Moving quietly.

…Like the prey he wants me to be.

I shiver as I duck behind a row of low hedges and dart down the length of it. I almost scream as I round a corner and practically crash into the leering, snarling face of a carved gargoyle.

“Thirty!” I hear Bane bark out.

Fear and panic explode through me as I scurry behind a huge Japanese Maple and then slide behind another statue, this one of a huge stag with its front legs mounting a boulder.

“Ten.”