Chapter 102: Run, Bunny, Run!

"Don’t come any closer," Daemus warned, his voice a strained rasp.

His silver eyes were locked on her, blown wide and dark. At his sides, his fists were clenched so tightly that the muscles in his forearms quivered. Sharp claws had extended from his fingertips, digging ruthlessly into his own palms.

Drip. Drip.

Drops of warm blood slipped from his knuckles, splattering against the carpet.

Blair took a slow step forward.

Daemus took another step back, putting distance between them. "I’ll hurt you again," he gritted out, his chest heaving.

"You could never hurt me," Blair replied softly, her voice steady despite the frantic hammering of her heart.

"But I did," Daemus argued, a shadow crossing his features. "And I want to do it again."

"I want you to do it again."

Daemus’s breath hitched sharply in his throat. He froze, paralyzed by her words.

Blair closed the remaining distance between them. Daemus stayed where he stood, his posture rigid as stone as he looked down at her. She gently wrapped her fingers around his bloody, clenched hand.

Slowly, she rubbed her thumb across his knuckles. Blair easily uncurled his fists, coaxing his claws out of the deep crescent wounds in his palms.

"I know about the pills, Daemus," Blair told him quietly, keeping her eyes focused on his bleeding hand. "Taking as many as you did... it could cause more harm than good."

Daemus didn’t answer. He was hyperaware of the soft, delicate sensation of her hand clutching his, her thumb gently stroking his wounded palm. A shudder wracked his entire frame. The urge to pull her flush against his body, to feel every inch of her skin against his, was a physical ache that radiated through his very bones.

"You always help me," Blair started, her voice dropping to a whisper. "You always come running whenever I need you."

She finally lifted her head. Her pink eyes met the wild, silver depths of his gaze.

"There isn’t a lot I can help you with in return," Blair continued, her cheeks flushing a brilliant, fiery red. "Let me help you, Daemus."

Before her courage could falter, Blair guided his bloody hand upward. She pressed his palm flat against the bare, soft flesh of her left breast.

Daemus let out a ragged, shaking exhale at the contact.

"When we first met," Blair breathed out, her chest rising and falling against his hand. "You asked me if I could handle it if we had sex."

Blair bit down hard on her bottom lip, doing everything in her power to hold onto the tiny shred of confidence she had barely managed to muster. She let go of his wrist and took a step backward, putting a few feet of space between them as she backed up toward the window.

"Why don’t you find out?" Blair challenged softly.

She clenched her hands into tight fists at her sides to keep her fingers from trembling. Her heart was racing so fast it felt like it might burst from her ribcage. Seeing the blood dripping from his hands, she could only imagine how painful it must be for him to hold himself back like this. She didn’t want him to suffer anymore.

Daemus just watched her move across the room. He still hadn’t moved from where he stood. His bloody hand remained slightly raised in the air, his nerve endings still burning with the phantom sensation of her breast against his palm.

His dark eyes never left hers. "You don’t know what you’re saying."

Blair turned and unlatched the large window. She pushed it open, letting the cool air and the bright light of the full moon spill into the dark hotel room.

"I’m saying that I want to help you," Blair insisted. She quickly averted her gaze, suddenly finding the floor very interesting as embarrassment washed over her. "What kind of girlfriend would I be if I didn’t help you... feel better?"

Before Blair even had a chance to process her own words, she was swept off her feet, engulfed by his muscular arms. In the next second, Daemus launched them both straight out the open window.

The night air whipped at their bare skin as they plummeted. The white towel wrapped around Daemus’s waist was instantly lost in the descent, fluttering away into the darkness.

Blair let out a startled squeak, immediately throwing her arms tightly around his neck and burying her face deep into the warm, solid expanse of his chest.

Daemus hit the ground running. The impact didn’t even slow him down. He moved with supernatural speed, his strides tearing through the environment. Blair kept her eyes squeezed shut, clinging to him for dear life as time blurred around them.

When he finally slowed to a halt and set her down, Blair’s legs felt like jelly. She wobbled, nearly collapsing before catching her balance.

She blinked, looking around at her surroundings.

Trees surrounded them, their thick branches blocking out most of the moonlight. The grass beneath her bare feet was soft and damp. They were in the middle of a forest.

Blair’s brow furrowed in confusion. They were in the city. Just how far had he taken her?

"Run."

The single word snapped her attention back to him.

Blair looked at Daemus. He was standing a few yards away, hidden in the shadows. "What? Why?" she asked, confused.

A low growl ripped from Daemus’s chest. "I will give you two minutes to run away from me."

"Daemus, I don’t—"

"Do it!" Daemus roared.

Blair didn’t dare argue again. She spun on her heel and took off, sprinting blindly deeper into the forest.

She pushed past low-hanging branches, her breathing turning jagged and uneven in the cold air. Her heart pounded a frantic rhythm against her ribs, growing faster and faster with every yard she gained.

Exactly two minutes later, a snap of a branch echoed from behind her.

Daemus had started the chase.

Blair pushed her legs to move faster, but she could already hear the rapid, thundering thud of his footsteps closing the distance behind her. The speed of his approach was terrifying.

She was running naked through the woods. There was a wolf beastman chasing her under the light of the full moon.

A situation like this would have normally paralyzed her with terror. But as she dodged a tree root, she realized her chest wasn’t tight with fear. She was anxious. Her stomach was tied in knots, buzzing with anticipation to know what he was going to do when he finally caught her.

The reality of the situation suddenly dawned on her. This is what Daemus wanted. He wanted to chase her first. It made her realize just how much the full moon had controlled his instincts. Right now, running through the woods, he didn’t see her as a mate.

He saw her as prey.

Blair quickly glanced over her shoulder, her eyes scanning the dark shadows behind her. She didn’t see him.

She turned her head back around...and slammed face-first into a solid wall of muscle.

Blair gasped, rebounding off his hard chest and nearly losing her balance. Before she could fall, Daemus’s hand wrapped around her neck.

He pushed her backward, pressing her against a tree.

Daemus leaned in, a grin stretching across his handsome face as his silver eyes burned into hers.

"Caught you, Bunny."