Page 57 of Little Spider

Slowly, carefully, I slide out from under his arm, holding my breath as he stirs, muttering something in his sleep. I freeze, muscles locking, but he doesn’t wake. Inch by inch, I slip off the bed, my bare feet hitting the cold floor.

“Where are you going?”one voice mocks.“Running again? He’s just going to catch you. You love it when he chases you. Makes your heart race, doesn’t it? Makes you feel alive.”

I ignore it, grabbing my discarded clothes and pulling them on. My hands shake so badly I can barely tie the drawstring of my sweatpants. I glance back at him—still asleep, one arm stretched across the bed where I was lying.

“Leave while you can,”one voice urges.“Or stay and let him fuck you again. You know you’re wet just thinking about it.”

I grit my teeth, shoving the voices down, forcing my legs to move. I grab my phone from the bedside table. My fingers brush his jacket draped over the chair, and the scent of leather makes me dizzy.

“He’ll find you,”one voice purrs.“Maybe you want him to. Maybe you’re just making it more fun for him.”

I bite back a sob, turning the doorknob as quietly as I can. The latch clicks.

I slip into the hallway, cold air hitting my face like a slap.

I don’t know where I’m going. I just need to move. I just need to get away from the way his touch still burns on my skin.

“Run, run, little spider,”one voice sings.“He’ll catch you. He’ll drag you back, pin you down, make you admit that you’re his. Isn’t that what you really want?”

I break into a run—down the stairs, out into the night. My breaths tear out of me like I’m being strangled. The city lights blur around me, and I just keep going, pushing through the panic, the shame, the twisted ache that refuses to fade.

“You’ll come back,”the voices whisper, echoing in my skull.“You’ll crawl back to him, begging to be hurt again. You’re just as sick as he is.”

I don’t stop running, even when my legs ache, even when tears blur my vision.

I can’t go back. I can’t let him see me like this—broken, unhinged, lost in my own twisted desire.

But the voices are right about one thing.

He’ll catch me and the worst part?

I think I want him to.

CHAPTER TEN

DAMIEN

Iwake up in an empty bed.

For a moment, I just stare at the ceiling, trying to process it, my mind sluggish from sleep. My hand moves to where she was curled up against me, but all I feel is cold sheets.

My jaw clenches. She’s gone.

I sit up slowly, muscles tense, eyes scanning the room. Her clothes are missing from the floor. Her phone charger, too. My gaze locks onto the slightly open door, and a slow, simmering rage curls through my veins.

She ran.

Again.

I shove the blankets back and get to my feet, every movement calculated, careful. I can feel the anger winding tighter, pushing against my ribs, begging to be let out.

Did she really think I wouldn’t notice? That I wouldn’t wake up and come after her? Stupid fucking girl.I run a hand through my hair, trying to steady the pulse pounding in my head.

She actually thought she could slip away after everything. After begging me to make her mine. After screaming my name, clawing at my back, falling apart in my hands.

The memory makes me smirk, but it’s tainted with annoyance. She thought that was it? One night and done? Like I’d let her walk out without permission?

I grab my shirt from the floor, pull it over my shoulders, then lace up my boots with quick, angry movements. She’s out there somewhere, probably thinking she’s safe, probably convincing herself she’s free.