Page 25 of Echo (A Monster’s Prey #2)

Silence.

My eyes popped open as the alarming silence rang uncomfortably in my ears. Something was wrong.

I strained my ears to figure out what that was. When that failed, I turned on the lamp.

At least I tried.

When I twisted the little knob, nothing happened. That was what was missing; the hum of electricity. He cut the power.

The fucker was trapping me.

This forced me to come to terms with the undeniable truth. Eventually, he was going to get in here. Whether that would be from me making a mistake or the house crumbling around me, was up for anyone’s guess, but I’d lose this battle of wills, eventually.

It was probably too much to hope that he’d give up on me before either of those things happened. I was right about him. He was a bigger problem than Mark had ever been.

And yet I yearned for his touch, for the sense of being cocooned in his safety. For his ravenous hunger.

I’d resisted the urge to touch myself earlier on principle, but my core throbbed. How far was he willing to go for me?

A stupid question that would end with my bones in a ditch.

I reached between my thighs and rubbed my clit, thinking about his touch and how every stroke of his fingers was flirting with danger. The way he growled like an animal when he touched me, as if he couldn’t even pretend to be a man anymore.

I tried to focus on Van instead of him, but it wasn’t the sweet man who had me panting for attention. “Think about Van.”

A dark chuckle sounded outside of the window. It should have terrified me, but all it did was make my need skyrocket. “If you have to tell yourself to think about him, he’s not what you need.”

I smothered the moan in my throat, not wanting to give him the pleasure of knowing it was him on my mind.

“That’s my pretty Little Rabbit. Come outside so I can hunt you.”

The offer was more tempting than I cared to admit, but luckily the memory of him chasing me through the woods the other day was still fresh enough to use.

His growls on the other side of the windowpane helped with the fantasy. Even in my mind I couldn’t escape him, I knew he’d catch me. It was just a matter of time.

It made getting to the edge that much easier. The only thing that ruined it was the fact that it was my hand and not his.

“Who are you thinking about?”

His voice hit something deep at the core of who I was.

He’d already taken residence inside my thoughts. I couldn’t let him know how deep he’d gotten his claws into me or he’d destroy me with them.

It took every ounce of power I had to whimper the wrong name as I came. “Van.”

His roar of indignation took me even higher. Every muscle in my body tensed with waves of pleasure and fear. I shouldn’t have poked the bear, but part of me wanted to know what he’d do about it.

Was this where his obsession with me ended?

“Come outside. Now.” The calm, tempting voice that was Echo was gone. This was one hundred percent the monster. And he was pissed.

“Fuck you.”

“I’ll make sure another man’s name never crosses those luscious lips again.” Now that my mind wasn’t wrapped up in its own pleasure, the roar he let out sent a chill of fear down my spine. “Do as I say or…”

I didn’t stick around to hear his threat. I ran out of the room, bonking my shin on the doorframe.

The thick darkness made it impossible to see, and I didn’t know the house well enough to navigate without light. I hugged the wall, weary of the stairs I knew were somewhere in front of me.

Heavy footsteps clomped on the roof right above me. He knew every step I made. How could I possibly escape? Did I even want to?

Not really.

Being a better, healthier person was probably overrated. Would I really be happier without the rush of adrenaline that Echo gave me?

Just like that, I was already wavering. It took me most of a decade to get the strength together to leave Aurelio.

A force pushed against my shoulder blades and sent me flying.

I landed ass over kettle, with the wooden stairs digging into my back.

I put my hands behind my head to give it some half assed protection as I slid the hard way to the bottom floor.

I hit the landing with a heavy thump that highlighted the pain ricocheting up my back.

“Okay,” I whimpered. “I went too far. I’m sorry.”

Pushing a man like him probably wasn’t the wisest decision in the world. I was willing to admit that my pride put me in this position.

Hands came around my neck, picking me up to slam me into the wall. Pearl was right, my big mouth was going to get me killed.

A roar filled the air outside and made the house itself shudder with terror. Glass tinkled with the force of the vibration.

Dread filled me as I realized it was human fingers glued to my windpipe.

Echo was still outside.