Page 28 of Echo (A Monster’s Prey #2)

My headstart meant nothing.

Sounds of hoofs on the ground were loud, and too many to be just him. Like there was an entire army of mimics on my ass. He’d mentioned there were ten of them, including his brother. Was there really nine on the property?

Was that how he was everywhere?

Fuck.

Icy fear filled my veins.

Wait, I shouldn’t have heard him moving at all. I could only hear him when he wanted me to. The hunter slinked through the woods without notifying his prey. Was he just messing with me?

He was.

None of my ancestors' journals mentioned that there were multiple. Maybe they didn’t know?

No. Echo wasn’t going to share me with his brethren. He was the only one. He was mimicking his own footsteps. Sneaky bastard.

“Smart, Rabbit.” His chuckle bounced off the trees, making it impossible to know where he was.

Anticipation had me double and triple scan the area around me. It was coming. I knew it was. It was a matter of where and when.

It made my stomach do somersaults and my hands shake. Somehow, him waiting, rather than pouncing, made it that much worse.

Exactly like he wanted it.

Movement on my left made me swerve to put trees between me and my attacker. I yelped as a fox jumped into his burrow without giving me a second glance. It was scared, just like me.

Because that’s where he is.

I angled to put more space between us, but with his speed, that probably didn’t mean much. I didn’t have sage, like before, or light. Which left me with painfully little to fight him off with.

No salt. No shield knots.

No shoes. There was no telling what condition my feet were in.

No pants. The nightie and thong weren’t going to protect me from much. I was willing to bet he’d drag it out, just to watch my ass bounce as I ran.

A wave of darkness came over me, smothering the moon and stars in the process. I came to a halt, barely stopping in time to not run smack into a tree. Vines tangled around my wrists and pulled up taut over my head.

The heat of another body blanketed my back.

“I don’t have the patience to drag it out.” My fragile clothes ripped. “If his name ever crosses your lips again…”

“Van,” I taunted him.

His teeth sunk in my shoulder. I whined as his teeth went deeper and deeper. His claw dug deep into the front of my thigh. I hissed as his finger dragged down. Then across three times to make an E. Then moved to the right to make half a moon. He was carving his name into my skin.

My core greedily begged for attention, clenching and throbbing, as he continued until he put the circle for an ‘O’.

“You think he’ll fuck you like I do?” He moved the claw he’d been using to rub through my slit. “So, wet.”

“You're covered in blood,” I reminded him.

“I know.” He chuckled, sliding his fingers inside me. “Makes my touch smooth, don’t you think?”

I couldn’t deny that part. I found myself riding his fingers within moments. They were so much better than mine. Everything about him was better than me touching myself.

I shamelessly chased the rising high. Letting the knot deep in my gut tighten until I stood on the edge of the peak he promised me.

Only for him to pull his hand away right before I could fly over. My eyes flew open where they’d fluttered closed.

“You took my orgasm from me. Now I’m taking yours from you.” The serious set of his mouth told me he’d have no arguments on the matter. He yanked on the vine or rope around my wrists, and it unknotted.

Keeping my hands bound together, but with a long tether to control me with.

“Are you going to untie me?” I whimpered. This wasn’t how this was supposed to go. Now I was dripping and empty with no relief in sight.

“I caught my Little Rabbit.” He rubbed my chin, and I felt blood and my own excitement smear across my face. “If you want to try to escape your cage, I’ll keep you on a leash.”

Heat burned my cheeks. “What?”

He tugged on the vine, pulling me forward. I stumbled after him, unsure of what else to do. Howling filled the air, sending a tingle down my spine. Like my senses were hyper aware, but I felt no fear.

Echo wouldn’t let anything hurt me.

“Good, Rabbit.” A sense of pride filled his growl, like I had the perfect reaction.

“I won’t run,” I promise him.

“I know you won’t.”

Shadows moved in strange ways and I remembered what Echo said about the hunting hours. Were there really more monsters in these woods?

Strange chittering came from the trees that carried a sense of urgency.

“This Rinah Witch is mine.” The snarl that ripped out of his chest soothed the nerves that were starting to jump under my skin.

His heavy hand landed on my ass, where he’d carved some symbol into my hip that I still hadn’t gotten a good look at. The sting from the swat burned enough to make me hiss.

My skin turned hot with embarrassment, realizing I had no clue how many monsters were feasting their eyes on me.

But Echo’s proud walk and smirk, as if he loved how he had a prize no one else could have, made me feel like the sexiest woman in the world.

I found myself at odds with myself on how to respond. He was parading me like a show dog, but I’d never felt so desirable before.

He tied me to a tree, but I could see the barn in the distance.

“Such a good, Rabbit.”

“Echo,” I whined, rubbing my thighs together for some kind of reaction. “Tell me what you want.”

“Be you,” he answered so gently, that I could swear I heard the man beneath the monster. “Always.”

I wrapped my thighs over his hips and yanked him close. He was too big to get my legs around his waist, but he wasn’t exactly fighting me.

The rope burned and rubbed the skin on my wrists as it bore my weight for a moment, until Echo grabbed under each thigh.

I sunk onto him, taking what I wanted.

And I wanted it from the monster.

I wasn’t a victim of circumstance. I loved being hunted and taken. This was who I was, and while it wasn’t exactly my shining glory, I wanted the monster.

Always did.

“You're mine now,” I told him.

It was time to admit that it was my own fault I was burned, because I willingly stepped into the smoke and flames.