Page 50 of Stockholm (Angel of Mercy #1)

The adrenaline of the game is starting to hit me, crashing against the leftover fear from waking up and thinking I was about to be murdered by an intruder. My body quakes as I try to pull on my jacket and Bo’s too large tennis shoes.

“Here,” he says, grabbing our flashlights. “Let’s fucking go! We need to make it hard on them for scaring us like that.”

“What do you think they’re going to do?” I ask, as he whips the door open and we sprint into the grass. The moon paints us in its light as he takes my hand in his, leading us to the treeline.

He grins back at me. “Noah’s gonna fuck you, that’s what. And while he’s wearing the mask you told him you liked so much.”

I swallow, my stomach clenching at the thought.

A loud bang sounds behind us, making me stumble.

“I lied,” I hear Jesse’s voice shouts. “Times up, baby. Better hide before I find you, little rabbits.” He cackles and the sound has fear exploding in my chest.

“Bo, I can’t run in these,” I say, letting go of his hand. I hide behind a tree. “Keep going.”

He looks like he wants to stay with me, but Jesse’s sing-song voice comes closer and he kisses my forehead. “Have fun,” he says, smiling at me, then darts off into the woods. Jesse hears the sound of branches, and his head quirks like a hunting dog before tearing after Bo.

My breath hammers in my ears as I kick off the shoes, the noise of it amplified in the dark woods. Thankfully the ground is rather soft, mostly loose dirt, and it doesn’t feel harsh on my feet. I stand, creeping through the treeline and trying to search for a hint of where Noah might be.

As I scan the area, his outline appears between two closeby trees, and the suddenness of seeing him shocks me enough that I freeze in place.

Both of us stand there for a moment, until his head slowly starts to turn in my direction. I’m a statue, trying my best to be silent, but my breath is heavy like I’m actually being hunted.

“I can hear how scared you are, angel,” he says and my mouth dries. “Your nervous little panting is making me so fucking hard.”

Something moves in the trees over my head and I crouch down automatically. I look up to make sure there’s not an animal descending on me, and he snaps forward in an instant, flying in my direction.

I turn, a scream erupting in my throat as I tear through the trees. My flashlight beam shakes in my hand, my eyes barely keeping up with the trees as they get thicker the farther into the woods I run.

“Fuck, you’re fast,” he says behind me, and I can hear the grin in his voice. “Keep running, I love having you as my own little prey.”

I know it’s Noah. Logically my brain registers that it’s him. But as I fly over the ground, my mind whirring a mile a minute to not hit a tree and hurt myself, I feel like his prey. I feel like there’s a predator at my back and I’m barely outpacing him.

The thrill has my blood singing as I run.

A fallen tree appears in the circle of my flashlight beam, but I’m going too fast to stop.

My attempt to sidestep it fails when my foot catches on the exposed roots and I tumble to the ground.

The layer of leaves cushion my fall and I roll, trying to scramble to my feet.

Peeking back, I see Noah plant a foot on the tree at a sprint and gracefully launch over it to land with a crash an inch away from me.

My chest is knocked back down to the earth, and I attempt to crawl out from under him when a strong arm slams my shoulders to the ground.

“Caught you, little rabbit,” his voice says softly in my ear and my skin electrifies. My fear mixes with the heaviness of his body on mine and I feel a tear roll down my cheek, my body confused.

I choke on a gasp, pressed into leaves with his hand on my head, panic coiling in my muscles as I lose the ability to crawl away. I know it’s Noah. I know he’s no threat, but my instinct is to fight .

I try to buck him off but he covers my body with his, forcing me all the way down until I’m unable to do more than squirm.

“Your fear is like a fucking drug,” he groans, pressing his hardness against me and I try to scramble away again.

He just laughs, keeping one arm pinned against my back and raising up to sit on his heels as he yanks down on my leggings with his free hand, exposing my underwear.

A very real knife is pulled from his tactical belt and I inhale sharply, another terrified jolt running through my body.

He slices my panties free and shoves them in his pocket. “We’ll need those later,” he says in a dark voice, pulling me up and tossing me over his shoulder before stalking back toward the house.

I’m frozen, dangling like I’m some kind of captured game, embarrassment burning in me that I’m completely exposed to him with nothing covering me. “Put me down, Noah!”

He smacks my ass and I cry out, jolting forward, and hang on to the back of his shirt for stability. “In your dreams, my little captive.”

I hear a crash off in the trees and a snarl. “Ow! Fuck, Bo, you just kicked me in the balls.”

There’s a laugh sounding from the trees and Bo’s outline zips off back into the darkness, Jesse clamoring to his feet and taking off after him. “I’ll drag you back to the house you fucking brat.”

Noah gets my attention with his hands running up the back of my thigh and I try to kick out at him, which earns me another spank. I press my head to his back and growl my frustration at being treated like this, but Noah just laughs as we break the wood line .

“What’s wrong, baby?” He’s got one arm tucked snugly around my thighs to keep me in place, while the other creeps back up toward my center.

All the air leaves my body when he slides a finger inside me. I can’t stop the moan that escapes my mouth but I tighten my thighs as if that will keep him from continuing.

“You're awfully wet for how much you're fighting this,” he says, readjusting me on his shoulder so that I’m tousled enough for him to slip another finger inside me. I fist his shirt, taking in the tactical belt and what is probably a real gun. Somehow, I can imagine feeling like I’m being carried off by an actual stranger.

Something I don’t actually want but does allow me to step outside myself a little bit.

“Please put me down,” I ask as he carries me into the house and toward the stairs.

Instead of an answer, he continues pumping his fingers inside me and adds in a roll of his thumb over my clit as my body tenses.

The tension and the friction starts to build in my body.

I shudder and he feels me tensing as we start up the staircase.

“Do you like being paraded like this, little rabbit? Did getting caught by a predator like me get you fucking worked up?”

I squeeze my eyes shut, the words like fire on my skin but his fingers haven’t stopped and something about the way he’s talking to me has me about to come on his shoulder.

“Please put me down, I’m—I can’t wait til we get upstairs.”

“Wait for what, Emma?”

I growl, as he fucks me harder. “You know what I mean, please just stop for a minute.”

“No,” he says, as we reach the hallway. “I rather like the idea of you falling apart before we even reach my bed. Now ask my permission like a good girl.”

My mouth falls open when he hits a spot inside me that has stars popping up in my vision. “Please,” I beg, not knowing what I’m begging for.

“‘ Please , can I come, sir. Please can I come on your hand?’ That’s what I want to hear,” he says as we turn toward his room, a smirk evident in his voice .

I’m biting my lip as hard as I can against the onslaught of sensation and it crests before I can gain the courage to word the question. My body tightens, legs clenching as I cry out, my orgasm hitting me like a freight train.

The door kicks open and Noah carries me into the dark, chilly room, pausing for a moment as I start to rouse from the explosive way I just fell to pieces.

When my hands unfist his shirt, he throws me on the bed, my squeak of shock breaking the silence, room spinning as I slam onto the mattress.

My body shivers, the quick change in position after dangling over his shoulder forcing me to shake my vision back to normal.

His dark eyes raze up my body, and he slips his hand his pocket to grab my underwear before stalking forward, pausing an inch away from my face.

“Open your mouth,” he says quietly, and when I do he stuffs my panties inside and covers my mouth with his hand.

I know I should feel indignant but that look in his eyes when he sees me this way has my heart soaring in my chest. He’s loving this and it makes my blood sing when he looks at me this way.

Fixated. He’s locked in with me and it feels like a drug that I'll never get enough of.

My gaze locks on his, hands flying to his wrist as he leans over me, taking up the entirety of my vision.

“Fuck, angel. You came without permission, didn’t you?” He fakes a sympathetic sigh and my heart hammers. “I have no choice but to punish you now.”