Chapter 36
THIRTY-SIX
COME FIND ME
Beckett
Stepping out of the shower, I wrapped one towel around my waist and scrubbed my hair dry with another. I opened my mouth to ask Addison if she wanted to watch a movie, but the words died on my tongue. I’d left her in the bedroom talking to her grandmothers so I could shower.
A slow smile spread across my face as I read the message she’d written on the mirror.
Come find me, Daddy.
I grabbed the closest piece of clothing I could find, the pair of sweatpants I had been planning on putting on after my shower, and dropped my towels where I stood.
I stepped into the sweatpants and pushed open the door.
Immediately, my eyes scanned the bedroom.
The bed was messy, but there was no sign of Addison.
And I knew she wasn’t likely to stick around.
Pushing through the bedroom door, I hurried down the hallway, flinging open each door and searching every place I thought she might be hiding. I crouched down quickly and peered under each bed and in each closet. But each spot seemed more unlikely than the last.
When we’d discussed me chasing her, she’d been intrigued by the idea of running. She wanted to really be chased, not just found. Which I knew meant only one thing.
I ran down the stairs and stopped just in front of the front door. It was still locked, and since she didn’t have a key, I knew she couldn’t have escaped that way. Instead, I spun around and strode toward the back of the house.
It was still mostly dark downstairs. There were a few lights on, and I could see the back porch light through the windows. But it was the moonlight that lit up the space. It was high and bright in the sky, which made it easy enough to notice the back door that was left slightly ajar.
Pacing across the living room, I rounded the kitchen table and shoved through the back door, letting it fall closed behind me.
A cold breeze swirled around me, and I held my breath as I scanned the tree line, looking for any sign of Addison. I was thankful for the full moon, so I didn’t have to struggle too hard to find her.
She’d stopped at the edge of the tree line and was looking back at me. She was a good distance away, but it looked like she was barefoot, wearing the same thin joggers she’d changed into before I’d gotten in the shower, and a white T-shirt that hung off one shoulder.
She was going to be so cold.
I took a step toward her, giving her a singular warning that I was coming after her.
Adrenaline pumped through my veins as she flinched.
There was half a second where she didn’t move.
Like she was frozen waiting for my next move, but she quickly thought better of it.
A moment later, she turned and took off into the woods.
I stepped off the patio in a dead sprint after her.
The ground was unforgiving beneath my feet, catching more rocks and sticks with every step, but I didn’t stop moving.
Not even when the bare branches slapped me in the chest and stomach, and I felt the first warmth of blood gathering against my skin.
I was going to find my girl. She could run, but she couldn’t hide, and I knew she would tire eventually.
The cold was a distant memory as I shielded my face from the worst of the tree’s attacks. At the edge of the stream, I stopped abruptly and held my breath, listening for anything that would give me a clue to which way she’d gone.
A sound like breaking branches made me jerk my head to the right, and my intuition told me it was her.
“There you are,” I muttered and ran in the direction of the sound.
The ground was even rougher at the edge of the stream. The rocks were sharper, and the terrain was more unforgiving. But I kept moving.
I followed the little sounds she made, stopping every so often to listen and make sure I was still moving in the right direction.
My heart pounded, and my lungs burned, but nothing compared to what I planned for when I finally caught her.
How viciously and deeply I would fuck her.
How pretty she would look with her face in the dirt while she choked on her tears.
She’d let me free a deeper, darker part of myself, and I would reward her immensely for it.
Then again, I’d come to realize that Addison enjoyed it rough almost as much as I did.
Too entrenched in my imagination, I almost missed the flash of pink hair to my left. Pivoting, I took off after her. She darted between trees, and I knew exactly where she was going.
My legs were nearly twice as long as hers, so it took little effort to catch her. But that would ruin the fun.
I slowed my pace until I was just behind her. Until I could hear the terror in each of her panted breaths and feel her urgency in each pump of her arms and steps she took. I imagined her heart racing and her baser instincts insisting that she keep moving.
My smart girl didn’t look back as she tried to outrun me, but she was already tired. She tried to push herself harder, but her legs were about to give out. Her knees buckled every once in a while, and she was more focused on not falling than she was on me behind her.
We broke through the trees and into the clearing, and I locked my arms around her middle. I rolled so she fell on top of me, and we both tumbled to the ground.
She began to scream, but I slammed my hand over her mouth as we hit the ground. Rolling on top of her back, I pressed enough of my body weight on top of her that she couldn’t move or wiggle out of my grip.
I dropped my mouth to her ear. “Stop fucking screaming,” I growled, and she whimpered against my hand. “You knew what would happen when I caught you, baby girl. You said it yourself: chase me, catch me, fuck me, use me.”