Page 30 of Hunt Me

I fall into step fifty feet behind her, hands in my jacket pockets. Casual. Just another guy on the street. I don’t break stride, don’t look directly at her. Let my gaze slide past like she’s not worth noticing.

But her pace increases.

She glances over her shoulder, proving she knows.

Somehow, she fucking knows.

The paranoia I saw in her code translates perfectly to real life. She checks reflections in car windows, storefronts. Her fingers dig into her laptop bag strap.

I close the distance. Forty feet. Thirty.

When she glances back over her shoulder for longer, our eyes meet for a fraction of a second.

Recognition flares across her face.

Then fear.

And then, her footsteps speed up into a near-run and she cuts left down a narrow side street. Her laptop bag bounces against her hip.

Perfect.

I match her speed, herding her away from the crowds. She glances back, sees me gaining, and darts right into an alleyway between two brownstones.

Dead end. Her footsteps halt and she just stands there for a moment before, spinning to face me and backing into the brick wall. Her hand plunges into her bag.

I’m faster.

My fingers close around her wrist as she pulls the pepper spray. One sharp twist and it clatters to the pavement. I kick it away, then press my body against hers, pinning her to the wall.

“Hello, Iris.”

Iris is breathing hard, eyes wide. This close, I can see the tech-enhanced contacts she wears, the faint code tattoo peeking from her collar.

“Get off me.” Her voice shakes despite the defiance.

“Not yet.” I bracket her head with my hands, caging her in. “You’ve been avoiding me.”

“You’re insane.”

“Says the woman who came as she watched me jerk off.” I lean in, lips brushing her ear. “Did you touch yourself again after you shut me out?”

She shoves at my chest. Useless. I’m stronger than I look.

“I could scream.”

“You won’t.” My hand slides down her side, feeling her tremble. “Because you want me to catch you.”

“You don’t know anything about me.”

I laugh against her throat. “I know everything,detka. Your systems, your secrets, your fantasies.” My fingers find her hip, squeeze. “And now I know how you feel pressed against a wall.”

“Alexi.”

My name on her lips hits hard.

I press forward, letting her feel exactly what she does to me. My cock strains against my jeans, thick and hard, digging into her stomach. No hiding it. No pretending this is just about the game.

She moans. Soft. Almost inaudible.