Isabella's POV
My breath was ragged, and my heart was beating at an abnormal pace, yet there was a chilling stillness in my form, too afraid to even breathe as I watched the ghost-masked guy with wide, horrified eyes.
He was wearing black cargo pants, black boots, and a black compression shirt. His muscles bulged out, and even his six-pack abs were visible through the shirt. He was so tall, probably 6'2 with those massive shoulders.
The way he was leaning down and staring at me with that ghost mask. It was terrifyingly intimidating.
I scooted back on my bum, almost crawling back as he stood up straight and stared down at me casually with his hands resting in his pockets and a tilted head.
I swear to God at the speed my heart was pounding. I was sure it would burst out of my ribcage at any second.
He observed me scooting back for a couple of seconds before he prowled towards me, and his black gloved hand reached for me. A scream tore through my lips as I raised my arms, bracing myself, but he never touched me. My heart was pounding in my ears as I slowly looked at him. His hand was frozen mid-air, and when I looked, he gently brushed the leaf from my shoulder, slow, deliberate. I flinched and took in a shaky breath when the familiar cologne filled my lungs.
"Run," he murmured, voice deep, accented too calm.
"I don't like catching easy prey."
My pulse spiked.
That voice... I've heard it. I know it.
Nikolai.
"Run!" He boomed, causing my body to react on its own as I scrambled to my feet, almost falling as I bolted through the forest.
Branches whipped my face as I winced, but didn't stop. My watch was beeping like a wild device in panic mode, but I didn't care. I was running blindly, hoping to get to a safe exit. My heart was slamming ruthlessly in my ribcage.
He was Nikolai. I was sure if it, but why was he here? How was he one of the hunters?
I don't know where I was going. There was a faint trail amidst the trees that I was following. There was no one around, but my heart almost cried when I heard his footsteps, slow, patient, deliberate. Like he wants me to run with everything I got. Like he was savoring the chase.
I ran faster and then looked behind my back and there was no one.
I couldn't run anymore; my legs were burning, so I hid behind the fallen log, trembling. I could hear the screams of others, but that wasn't it; I could also hear the moans, the whimpers, and groans. My ears and cheeks were burning a bright shade of red. The voices were loud and sounded distant. This whole forest felt like a carnival of sinful darkness.
"You run like a perfect prey, little dove." He rasped. I covered my mouth as fear crawled up my spine. I did my best not to make any sound despite the shivering of my fingers.
"Where are you hiding?" He murmured. My wide eyes searched for him, but he was nowhere in sight.
I felt it before I could even react or breathe. The hair at the nape of my neck stood up when I felt the warmth and a presence behind me.
Then his deep, ominous voice, low and dark, threaded through the silence.
"Found you, solnyshko." He mused right behind my ear.
I swear to God, tears of fear brimmed in my eyes, and I was sure that I'd die of a heart attack at this rate.
"Stop, please." I almost cried out trying to run again, but he grabbed my wrist in his firm grip and yanked me to him with such force that I bumped into his solid chest.
His mask pressed into my cheek as I felt his breath, hot, calm, and deliberate.
"You shouldn't be here." He murmured, that deep growl of his voice, I could feel it in my chest. "This place isn't for soft things like you," he said calmly.
I tried to pull back, but his hold was strong; he was twisting my arm behind my back as my front was pressed against his chest. His hold was firm but not painful, but I couldn't escape it either.
"Let go! W...what are you even doing here?" I asked in hysteria to get away from him. God knows how terrified I am of him.
"I can ask you the same, Isabella." He said my full name. I'm f*cked...
"So you like these types of things," I gritted. I don't even know what I was spouting at this point.
"I do, but ever since I tasted you. I don't like anything else," his deep voice, the erratic heartbeat, the heat of his body pressing into me, the raw confession. Everything made me speechless and flustered.
His free hand, which was clad in a black glove, grabbed my throat in a firm grip as he raised my face to meet his eyes.
"I'm here to protect you. I couldn't stand the thought of another man hunting you down and solnyshko. I love the chase. F*ck! It makes me want to devour you. You've no idea how I'm controlling myself right now." He rumbled in that deep baritone and squeezed my throat enough to emphasize the depth of his words.
The speed at which my heart was jackhammering, I was sure he could feel it and hear it.
"L...let go, please." I forced those words out of my lips, I gulped, and he felt the movement on his palm. Looking at the ghost mask and being held by him was the most terrifying thing ever.
But there was something else besides fear. Something darker, the pull. Thrill. Attraction.
And then just like that, he let go of my wrist and not my throat, and then pulled off his mask. His wild, unhinged, stormy eyes peered at me like a starved predator.
He was hungry.
The smell of pine was strong as the lights turned red, and they began to flicker.
I grabbed his wrist to remove his hand from my throat, but my strength was nothing compared to the beast of a man as he pulled me closer, wrapping his free arm around my waist so my body was pressed against his as he crashed his lips against mine in a hot, searing kiss, making my toes curl.