by Kris Kendall
***
The chase was on, the air wrought with tension, with the suspense… with the excitement. The thrill pounded in my blood as I watched the corner of Nora’s white skirt flap once before vanishing into the cluster of trees.
I couldn’t have planned it all better. True, I hadn’t expected to find her tonight. I hadn’t expected the connection to be so strong, the want so… addicting. There were stories of the power that bonded mates, but the real thing was a thousand times more potent. Damn I wanted her like a human needed air. I wanted to devour her, consume her, drive her into blinding madness and then let her plummet as hard, as fast, as I had. I already knew she felt it. Every breath she took sang through me. Every flicker of her want blistered me. I was teetering, suspended over eternity and she was the only thing holding me.
“Fifteen seconds, luv,” I murmured into the night. “Fifteen seconds and I will end both our suffering.”
I waited twelve seconds before setting off after her. It was against the rules, but it was as far as the knot at the back of my belly button would allow her to go, as far away as I was willing to be from her.
‘I’m coming, little one,’ I thought, tracing my tongue over my bottom lip, already tasting her there.
I didn’t care about the others. They could roam aimlessly through the woods for the rest of eternity. They would eventually climb out, get into their cars and leave. I wanted her! She was my prey.
The autumn winds whispered through the naked branches overhead. They swayed and rustled, speaking in a language only those closest to nature understood. I usually took a moment to listen, to enjoy the subtle beauty of my world, but not tonight. I was on the hunt and nothing was going to stop me.