Page 38 of The Hunter

Long. Sharp. Just sitting there like an open invitation.

He may have saved me from the cold. May have wrapped me in warmth and left me to rest beside a fire like I wasn’t his prisoner. But that didn’t erase the fact that he’d drugged me. Taken me. Locked me away in a place where no one would find me.

Nothing would change that.

With cautious motions, I crept forward, every step measured. Silent. Calculating. Then I reached for the knife.

“Don’t even think about it,” he said without turning.

My spine went rigid, my heart skyrocketing into my throat. I paused, trying to get my breathing under control. “Think about what?” I asked, hiding my hand behind my back as if I were a child who got caught stealing candy.

“Using the knife.” He finally glanced over his shoulder, a smirk playing at the edges of his mouth. A black T-shirt clung to his torso, highlighting those infuriating biceps I’d been trying not to notice.

“You’re a pretty bad kidnapper,” I retorted. “Leaving weapons out in the open. You’d think you’d lock up anything I could use against you.”

“I don’t exactly see you as a threat... Mrs. Kane.”

My jaw clenched at the name, but I masked it quickly. “Why’s that?” I crossed my arms in front of my chest. “Because I’m a woman?”

“No,” he said simply. “Because I’m faster than you.”

“But I’m closer.”

“Doesn’t matter.”

“Oh no?”

He slowly shook his head.

“What makes you think that?”

“Want me to prove it?” His eyes lit up with mischief. “Go ahead. Try.”

“Try what?”

“Try getting the knife.”

“Seriously?” I replied, shocked he’d allow me to do this.

It wasn’t even a competition. I was less than a foot away, while he stood close to five feet away.

Although with the way his gaze raked over me, it felt like he took up the entire space.

“Yes.”

“And you’re going to let me?”

“No. I’m giving you the opportunity. Big difference.”

“And if I succeed?” I asked, holding my head high.

“You won’t.”

“You don’t know that.”

He glared at me for several more moments, as if wanting to insist hedidknow that. Instead, he pushed out a long sigh.

“Fine.” His eyes locked with mine. “If you capture the knife, I’ll let you go.”