Page 45 of Hunted By Darkness (The Dark Soul Collector #2)

Silas

I t’d only been a week since Nika came out of her recovery sleep. I’d been securing several properties with her in mind. I didn’t want Nika to want for anything. I wanted her life to be what she chose, so the lad helped me with choosing all the things she loved.

It bothered me I didn’t know them myself, but I wasn’t a shameless sod incapable of asking for help. I’d destroy every bit of pride if it made my rebel happy.

It’d been rather chaotic because dealing with Normies wasn’t a strong skill of mine. Maude and Dick were gems, though. They helped me settle a few of the finer things, like a location that’d work for all our needs.

Nika had a soft spot for the head squatters and the cute wanker.

It was irritating to admit, but they’d become something of a family to her the way Maude and Dick had for me.

She wouldn’t want to be far from them, so I bought several properties close to each other. Not obscenely close, but close enough.

The lad had his own fortune, and he refused to let me pay, but the other two were plonkers without a penny to their name. Nika wouldn’t leave them to fend for themselves, so I’d prove that I was an honorable bloke and take care of her in all the ways important.

Still, my bird hadn’t been quite herself.

Of course, she put on a brave face, but grief was hard to come out of, especially when it was for more than one person.

And despite living for decades, this was the first she’d lived without other people telling her how to do it.

A boat lost at sea and all that. She was out of sorts, and I wasn’t the only one who’d noticed.

Hopefully, tonight would change that a bit. I was about to make an absolute arse out of myself, but if all went to plan, it’d be worth it.

I expelled a shaky breath and fixed my cloak, the usual mask affixed to my face as I waited. I hadn’t been this nervous since I’d told the gorgeous nymph I loved her. What if I blubbered like a troll or forgot how to speak words as I often did around my goddess?

Over a bottle of whiskey, I’d gotten candid with the lad.

I told him what I wanted to do. I expected taunting and jeering, but his green eyes lit up, and the lad had been quick to offer an idea.

Forget that we were absolutely off our faces, but it was a shameless one.

Even I couldn’t hide my surprise when he suggested it.

Little bugger was as diabolical as they came. Possibly a bit sadistic.

It made a bloke wonder how he’d figured us out, but then again, the Fae had something of a tradition once upon a time.

One that included a full moon and chase through the woods.

As far as I knew, they didn’t do it much anymore.

But one thing I was certain—I’d definitely underestimated the lad more times than I could count, that moment included.

Looking down, I took out the list I’d written in silver. It wasn’t the usual list. This one had everything I wanted to say to my bird, just in case I got tongue-tied or was out of breath after…

“What’s gotten into you tonight?” I heard my bird twitter angrily at the lad. “And why the fuck am I wearing this? Where are you taking me?”

“It’s not me who’s taking you,” Lev said, pushing her out into the light after finding some smart way to send the other two nosy sods out for the night. “Have fun, you two!”

My jaw was nearly on the floor when I caught sight of her, and I was tempted to cut out the middle man and just have my fun with her somewhere no one could see. But the game was afoot, and I’d be damned if I didn’t see it through.

This needed to be a night she’d never forget.

Her eyes traced my cloaked form, suspicious. “Why are you wearing that?”

I didn’t answer her, just offered her a hand.

She crossed her arms over her chest, her breasts practically spilling out of the corset she wore.

See-through tulle made up the rest of the glittery black dress.

Her hair had been curled and tucked back with glistening gems. She could’ve been Lilith herself for how swiftly the mere sight of her put me under a spell.

Her bare feet slipped out from under a thick ring of tulle as she walked forward.

Cautious, she tilted her head and her tongue dashed across her rose-colored lips.

My cock couldn’t have chosen a worse time to be stiff and uncompliant.

Though, I couldn’t blame the monster in my trousers.

My rebel looked like the gorgeous prima ballerina of a dark and seductive play.

“Where are we going?”

“Do you trust me, love?” I asked her, my voice all bedroom.

She took my hand and rolled her eyes. “You know I do.”

The mischievous grin I wore was hidden behind my mask. “Then follow me into the woods, little rebel.”

I led the beauty to the edge of the forest, and she peered around as if she’d figure out what I meant to do. But unless she was a scholar in the old ways—which Lev assured me she wasn’t—she’d be clueless. The practice dated back thousands of years.

I crept behind her and leaned forward. “Now run, little rebel.”

Scoffing, Nika tossed me a glance from over her shoulder, purple curls adorned with gems shifting across her pale skin. “What?”

“Run,” I growled.

I heard her pulse spike. “Run?”

“If you don’t, I’ll fuck you right here where everyone will see. But if you run, you stand a chance at escaping. Don’t hold back, little rebel. I certainly won’t,” I warned, softening my voice to the point of a whisper.

I could see the challenge glint in her eyes as she weighed whether or not to argue, but then she was gone.

I closed my eyes and folded my arms, waiting.

As tradition dictated, I wouldn’t use any magic, only my senses.

Proof that no matter where she went, I’d find her.

To the Fae of old, it was a rite of passage.

I wasn’t much for the old ways, but this was one ritual I could get behind.

It made my cock hard to think of the moment I found her.

When I laid claim like I had in the city, but with a grander purpose than before.

Tonight was more than the chase.

Tonight was the start of the rest of our lives.

NIKA

It was that night all over again, but something about this was different.

I knew it from the moment Lev came swooping into my room demanding that I wear the dress he’d brought and taking it upon himself to do my hair and makeup.

He refused to tell me anything. It wasn’t often my friend was secretive, but when he was, it was only ever with me in mind.

But still I couldn’t help but wonder what they had planned, and why it was starting with a chase.

“Run,” the masked assassin ordered.

A familiar warmth flooded my waist at the single, growling command. A primal calling. It made me want to do exactly what he said, no matter what it led to. It was the same thrill as the night he chased me through the city.

I didn’t overthink it.

I just ran.

He didn’t follow me. He didn’t chase right away. He stayed firmly in place, a dangerous figure looming in the shadow of night.

It was meant to be a game the same way the first one had.

It should’ve made me laugh or made me feel silly.

At the very least, I should want answers, but I didn’t.

Because it was the truth. I trusted him with my life.

I’d run from him just as quickly as I’d run to him.

And as much as it bothered me to admit to myself, I got off on it.

But why now? Why tonight?

I weaved through the brush and around trees that climbed high into the sky, keeping the fluffy skirt of my dress from catching on branches. I navigated roots and dead leaves with bare feet.

Lev insisted I didn’t wear any shoes. Or underwear, for that matter. The man had seen me naked, but even I gave him a look when he suggested I wear the dress, and only that. We might’ve been best friends for decades, but I still didn’t know what all went on in that head of his.

The full moon shined down from a clear sky. Most nights it stood as a solemn reminder of what I’d lost, but tonight it was a different feeling.

It felt like fate.

I didn’t stop running. Each light footfall took me deeper and deeper into the forest. I couldn’t explain the sensation that washed over me as I fled, but maybe…

Freedom.

I’d been a prisoner in my own life, then the first step out of the world I knew put me in a world of trouble.

I’d been handed an ominous fate. And then it ended.

The villain was slain. The world put right.

I’d waded through one emotion after another, listless and purposeless.

What now? What did I see for a future I wasn’t sure I’d get?

Between the grief of losing and the guilt of surviving, I struggled to figure out what I wanted.

How did a woman who only knew how to survive learn how to live instead?

But without understanding how, I knew the answer I’d been searching for was here in this forest. In this chase where I was meant to finally be found.

I sucked in a sharp breath when I felt him close in, the lethal assassin in the dark. He was swift and deadly, but I wasn’t afraid. His hand wrapped around my throat, and I was pushed back. I moaned as my body was pressed against a tree, his touch possessive and full of gentle authority.

The masked assassin tore through my dress and corset before yanking them from my body.

I couldn’t breathe as his silver eyes leisurely raked over my naked curves.

His hand took the same path as his stare, touching me softly.

I could’ve sworn my heart would break through my chest as he canted his head and brushed his thumb across my nipple.

He moved in close, the heat radiating off him. “Found you, little rebel,” he murmured, angling my head with one hand and squeezing. I didn’t need to see his face to know he was smirking at me.

I climbed up his body, tugging on the waistband of his pants. “You always do. Now, what are you going to do about it?”

My gasping breaths failed when he drove his hard length inside me without waiting.

Bark scraped against my skin, but I hardly felt it through the devastating pleasure.

I rocked back and forth, our skin slapping together.

Every thrust was aimed to throw us over that earth-shattering edge.

Silas pressed his masked face into my neck, and I dragged my fingernails down his cloaked back.

The intensity of being fucked after I was found couldn’t be overstated. I wouldn’t last long at all, and by the way he was slamming into me, he wouldn’t either.

“Oh, fuck,” I moaned, biting my bottom lip.

His hoarse voice came between grunts. “You’re so fucking tight and wet. Did you want to be fucked by a masked killer that much, little rebel?”

I sucked at the air, swiveling and drowning in the intensifying stimulation. “Yes.”

“Did you want to be found, little rebel?” he demanded huskily, his hips punctuating every word.

“Yes,” I breathed.

His hold on my throat tightened, and it was close to sending me over the edge. “Who knew my feisty minx was so desperate for this assassin’s cock?”

His breathless taunts and heady grunting only spurred me on. I swiveled and drove down on his cock like I couldn’t wait. Because I couldn’t. I wanted to feel that euphoric rush.

Silas sunk into me as deep as he could go, and the crash hit us both hard enough that it was nothing but curses leaving our mouths for nearly a minute. I clung to him, panting, and he kept me pressed against the tree with his hands spreading my legs wide open.

Liquid dribbled down my legs as I caught my breath. “All this so you could chase me through the woods, tear off a dress I’d only just got tonight, and fuck me with your mask on?” I taunted.

“Cheeky,” he panted.

He was careful as he let me get to my feet and removed his mask, but he didn’t stop there.

He knelt down on one knee and wiped the white liquid sliding down my thigh.

He dropped a kiss on my stomach. Smile on my lips, I slid my fingers through his hair, still shaking a bit after an intense quickie in the woods.

Never guessed it was the exact thing I needed, but it was.

Silas’s eyes shot up to mine before he dug something out of his pocket. I stared down at him in confusion before seeing the thing he’d retrieved. It was a beautiful grey gem in a twisting circle of silver and gold branches. He lifted the ring, his jaw ticking and body shifting uncomfortably.

“It’s an old Fae tradition, yeah? Chase the bride through the woods, and she’ll be yours forever when you find her,” he mumbled cutely, fidgeting. “Bit sexist if you ask me…”

I giggled, but tears were already pouring down my face. “Says the shameless pervert.”

His silver eyes gleamed in amusement. “For fuck’s sake, love, you can’t be lovely and cheeky at me right now. I’m going to be stumbling and muttering like a sorry sod. I need to get this next bit right.”

I caught my lower lip between my teeth and stared at the ring. “Okay…”

My pulse raced as Silas exhaled a breath and clenched his jaw.

Shedding his smile, his eyes burned into mine.

“I have a list of reasons for why you should choose me. It doesn’t seem like enough.

I’ll never deserve you, but I hope you’ll stay with me all the same, little rebel.

I never understood this insistence on wearing rings and vowing yourself to someone until I met you.

I want you to be mine in all the ways that matter. Say you’ll be mine forever, Nika.”

In that moment I knew, my purpose was to love this man.

I got on my knees and grabbed the hand holding the ring. “I’m yours forever, and you’re mine, Silas. Wherever you go, I’ll go, too. Always.”

I’d been the girl who’d spent her life believing that love happened to everyone else. I was never meant to have a happy ending, but Silas proved I was wrong. I’d never been so glad to be wrong about something in my entire life.

His smile was breathtakingly gorgeous as he slipped the ring on my finger and kissed me to seal our promise.