Page 75 of Haunting the Hunter

“I did it…” she gasps, free hand braced on my chest, looking up at me with those wide eyes of hers. Those big, beautiful almond-brown eyes, and it feels like I’m looking into them for the first time. The way that the golden rays hit her irises just right, making them look like a pool of honey. I can’t help but be mesmerized.

“You let me out. You followed your instincts like I showed you.” I smile and continue, brushing a thumb along her jaw. “But this time, you trusted me…”

“And you didn’t take advantage of it,” she counters, raising a brow at me.

“You’re going to make me think you actually like me,” I tease, tugging her closer. “I’d be careful.”

“You’re obnoxiously cocky and a bit terrifying… but I thought it was obvious I liked you,” she says, giggling, her head tilting back with the sound.

Shit. I’ve never heard her laugh like that, and I’ve watched her long enough to know—it’s rare.

“Your smile,” I blurt it out, staring at her lips, transfixed.

“Yeah, what about it?” she says casually, pulling out of my arms and closing the journal on the desk next to the large pile.

I step closer, following, craving her proximity.

“I believe there isn’t anything I wouldn’t do to see that again,” I admit, and she smiles again, stealing my breath. I want to live in that smile. In those dark brown eyes. I have to admit, I’ve wanted her, in every way, but I didn’t know why. But helping her come into herself, seeing what she can do—I have been alive for a long time, and I can say I have never known this feeling.

She was afraid, but she didn’t fight me. She wanted it. Her vulnerability, her sensitivity, her stubbornness, and her fire… There may be a million women like her—but they’re not her.

And she is mine.

And I… want to be hers.

“Careful there, demon,” she teases, turning to face me, blissfully unaware of the obsessive thought process I am having. “Wouldn’t want to fall for me.”

But there is no doubt left in my mind…

I pull her back into my chest and take her lips in a deep kiss, gently brushing her hair behind her ear. She looks up at me in surprise and pulls away. I give her a gentle smile and gaze into her dark eyes, saying my damning truth.

“It’s far too late for that, Callisto.”

CHAPTER 24

CALLISTO

Ican’t get his words out of my head.

Alabaster… He got to me. Hereallygot to me.

His words stick in my brain like caramel—sticky and sweet. So wrong, but I feel myself leaning into them. I’m already afraid that whatever game he’s playing is working.

“Hey, girl,” I say when Karma walks over, weaving between my legs. “I can’t cuddle right now.” I scoop her up, being sure to give her an extra scratch before carefully placing her back down.

I hold the bag of runes carefully in my hands as I sit cross-legged on the floor of my room. I reach in, mixing them before I cast them on the ground before me, my question clear in my mind.

Is Cade in danger?

Three runes stare back.

Hagalaz. Thurisaz. Isa.

Something unexpected will happen. Maybe an ambush. He’s going to be trapped—isolated.

My breath catches. Fuck.

I feel Alabaster’s presence behind me before I hear him.