Page 46 of Alluring Darkness
Why hasn’t he shown up yet? I saw his face in the parking lot when I blew up his engine. He didn’t look confused. He looked determined. So he must know that it was me. Maybe I should have left a note? Then he—
A soft click comes from my door. My heart leaps into my throat, and I snap my gaze towards the lock.
Two seconds pass.
Then the handle is slowly pushed downwards.
Excitement flutters through my stomach.He’s here.
I quickly straighten and lift the gun.
The corridor that connects all the dorm rooms is always lit, so yellow light spills across the threshold and pools on the floor as the door is pushed open. I’m standing right next to it, hidden by the door and the darkness in the room.
My heart patters in my chest as a tall and muscular man becomes partly visible.
He stops in the doorway for a moment, staring at the narrow single bed that has been pushed against the wall by the windows. I’ve stuffed clothes underneath the covers so that it looks like I’m lying there sleeping.
I hold my breath.
Then he steps fully into the room.
My heart does a somersault in my chest, because even in this darkness, I would recognize that lethal body anywhere.
Moving like a viper, I yank my hand up and press the gun against Eli Hunter’s temple.
He stiffens in surprise. The reaction is so subtle that if I hadn’t been looking for it, I would’ve missed it. But I did see it. And a victorious grin spreads across my lips in response.
Kicking the door shut, I use my free hand to flick the light switch next to the door.
Yellow light floods the small room, illuminating the single bed with the stuffed covers, the closet on the opposite wall, the empty desk, and the wooden chair pushed underneath it. And, of course, the dangerously hot man in front of me.
Eli slides his gaze to me, but otherwise doesn’t move an inch.
I push the gun harder against his temple while flashing him a wicked smirk. “Oh you’re fucked now, asshole.”
Amusement and disbelief glitter in his eyes as he huffs out a laugh. “Fucked?”
“Yes, you—”
He moves so fast that my brain can’t even process what’s happening.
One second, I’m standing there holding the gun to his head. The next, he shoves my arm to the side, snatches the gun from my fingers, and slams me up against the wall.
My breath explodes from my lungs as my back hits the gray concrete wall hard enough to rattle my teeth. Blinking in surprise, I draw in a breath to refill my lungs.
Once my vision is clear, I find Eli standing right in front of me. He has one hand on my chest, pushing me up against the wall. In the other, he holds the stolen gun that he is now aiming at my forehead.
“Fucked?” he repeats, amusement lacing his tone. A smile that is pure villain spreads across his mouth as he rakes his gaze up and down my body. “Would you like me to show you what it means to befucked?”
Insanity dances in those burnt gold eyes of his. Deep down, I know that I probably should be terrified. But I’m not. Because that madness calls to the insanity in my own soul. Like a siren song, it pulls at me, telling me to come and dance in the flames as the world burns.
The intensity in his stare is so all-consuming that I can’t even formulate a response.
“Strip,” he commands.
His mere presence is so dominating that my soul vibrates from the authority in that one word. There is absolutely no room for argument. This is the voice of a person who expects to be obeyed.
Dark desire washes through me.