Total pages in book: 68
Estimated words: 63970 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 320(@200wpm)___ 256(@250wpm)___ 213(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 63970 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 320(@200wpm)___ 256(@250wpm)___ 213(@300wpm)
He was probably right, but she couldn’t not call him on it. “Arrogant?”
“Surprisingly, not about much,” he replied. “But I know what I am good at and this is it. I do a couple of things well, and fucking is at the top of the list. So it’s up to you. Let’s see how fast you can make it through the maze. You’ve got a whole minute on me.”
“Or you could just walk to the end of the maze and catch me there.” She was starting to think he was sneaky.
“I don’t have to do that. I’ll have you in my arms in less than three minutes.”
Blood thrummed through her. She wasn’t sure what she wanted—to win or to get caught. She only knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that she wanted to play. She made it to the floor of the dungeon and stopped to stare. Big Tag might complain about the parties Sanctum threw, but damn the man knew how to go all out. There was a whole maze erected on the dungeon floor, a green, high-walled shrub maze. The plants weren’t real, but in the dim light the leaves looked shiny and healthy. Flowers were strewn through here and there, giving the whole thing generous swaths of color. Beyond the flowers there were also twinkle lights threaded through, and someone had left the hamster wheel lit. The soft blue light filtered in and gave the whole place a soft, gauzy feeling.
It was a fantasy world and it was all for her.
She took off running, taking the first right-hand turn offered to her.
“Do you honestly think you can get away from me?” Jared’s voice floated through the maze, seeming to come from everywhere at once.
Maybe he was right and this was absolutely how they should do this. She’d made a hash out of it the first time, and she wasn’t sure a sit-down with a cup of coffee and a talk about her fucked-up life conversation would really work for them. “I think I’m trying to help you out. I’m going to be recovering for a while. Maybe a long time, depending on what they find. We’re not a long-term couple, Jared.”
She made another right. Wasn’t that what she’d heard she should do? In a maze you should always take a right turn? Or was it left?
“I don’t care. Do you know what I’ve learned over the years? That we don’t get to schedule our tragedies or our successes. They will happen when they happen, and how we deal with it makes or breaks us. I will not walk away from the woman I love because her struggle came at the wrong time in our relationship. This is what it means to be a couple. Do you not want to be with me because of the crap I get from trolls? Because it’s a lot, and you’ll get judged the same way I do for as long as I’m in the spotlight.”
She stopped, dragging air into her lungs. How big was this sucker? She thought about the dungeon and how big the space was, but the boys had turned it into a twisty-turny puzzle. She wasn’t even sure where she was compared to the regular dungeon. She was turned around. “I was willing to walk away with you when you were at the height of this mess. Right after you were arrested, I went to the police station. You wouldn’t see me.”
“And I was wrong. I was stupid. I was scared that I would hurt you. You should run, love. I’m very close.”
She took off again, even though she couldn’t see him coming up behind her. Where the hell was he? Despite the fact that she knew he would never hurt her, her heart was pounding in her chest. Maybe she needed a little more cardio.
Her feet thudded along the floor and then she cursed because Big Tag was an asshole and he’d put up a few obstacles. This one was a small fence that crossed the path. She would have to climb over it. She was sure it would also be used at some point to tie up a sub. She hoisted herself over it.
Or maybe it was meant to tire out the poor sub and make it far easier for her Master to chase her down. She wouldn’t put it past the Doms.
Jared would likely simply jump over the little fence like it was a hurdle.
He was so fit and full of life, and she was about to be the opposite.
Was that what she was really afraid of? Or was it merely a small part of the horror she faced? She ran, her brain whirling. She was in a maze, in a place she should know so well, but it was fucked up. She’d stood in this space a thousand times, but now it was twisted, and a place that should be safe for her was foreign.