“Run, and if I catch you within the next hour, I get your name.”
“And if you catch me, but I don’t give it?”
It was a question I could have only dreamed she would ask me. My chest rumbled at the thought of forcing it out of her. “I’ll take it.”
“Take… Take my name?” she asked, stumbling over her words.
“Take you until you give me your name.”
“So if you catch me, I either have to give you my name or be kidnapped?”
She tried not to meet my eyes. I trailed a gloved hand down her face before grabbing her chin and forcing her to look at me again.
“You are so smart, Rebel, and so pretty.” I leaned down to her ear and heard the sharp intake of breath. She didn’t move, and I wondered if it was out of fear or want. Her hands moved to my biceps, using me to steady herself now.
I turned, biting down on her neck hard. She screamed, her fingers digging into my shoulders, pushing me away.
“And delicious,” I added.
“Rook!” she yelled. I didn’t move, though, kissing the spot instead as her body relaxed. I finally pulled back, looking at the angry red spot smeared with black and white paint.
“See? Beautiful,” I said, stepping back.
I swung a leg over my bike, my helmet strapped to the seat behind me. I wanted her to watch my face, see my eyes the moment I caught her. Her fingers went to her neck, wiping at the paint to stare down at it as her nose scrunched.
“Hey, Rebel?” I asked, right before starting the bike.
“What?”
“Run.”
Eight
Regan
My hands shook as I ran around the corner, the giddy flutter of my chest making me laugh. I knew I didn’t have to do it. I could leave and he still wouldn’t know who I was, but the fact he cared so much to know my name felt nice.
I could order a car. It wasn’t like it would be too hard to get one here in the next ten minutes, but I didn’t pull out my phone.
Instead, I took off running down a side street. Every street in town felt safe enough, and with so many people out for the night, I didn’t feel in real danger. Then again, I had a feral biker after me, who seemed intent on hunting me down, and I wondered if I should rethink my survival skills.
I ran down a few more side streets until I stopped in front of a restaurant to catch my breath. I wasn’t exactly a runner, and it currently showed as I pulled in deep, ragged breaths.
A motorcycle revved in the distance, but I had no way to know if it was Rook’s or one of his friends’. The corner felt safe enough, so I stayed for another twenty minutes before I heard a bike getting closer.
My heart jumped again before I walked down another side street, keeping an eye out for bikes as I went. He had to have toldall his friends to drive around town because the sound of them seemed endless. He was messing with me, making me not know which way to go because there were bikes all over the place.
I didn’t know what I would do if Rook caught me, or if I even wanted him to, but I still wanted to play.
And I still liked the way my heart raced when I heard another bike getting closer.
For the first time in a long time, my dull life didn’t seem so dull.
I started to wonder if Rook had this effect on me.
I took off again, this time ducking down a side alley. This one led to a few more hidden shops, but was less busy than the main road. I wondered how often Rook came to this part of town to know if he even knew his way around here.
This part of the alley had no formal road, so it wouldn’t be somewhere he could be driving up and down.
