𝐇𝐔𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐑'𝐒 𝐏𝐑𝐄𝐘 (+𝟏𝟖)

PROLOGUE

H U N T E R

This was all her fault.

She should've stayed at home; tucked away in blissful ignorance in the mundanity of her small apartment while immersed in the pages of her favorite novel.

Had we never crossed paths, maybe she would've had a chance. But everything happens for a reason.

They say love changes people for the better but that shit was nothing more than a warm, comforting lie.

Nobody ever talks about how it can change you for the worst, illuminating the darkest aspects of yourself — parts of yourself that you never knew were there.

That's what she did to me; all it took was one look.

I'd never forget the night I first laid eyes on my little bambi. Her brunette hair that cascaded down her dainty shoulders like rivers of rich dark chocolate, the fear and anticipation swam in the depths of those innocent, dark brown doe-eyes with a shade so dark that it rivaled the caliginous of the night sky.

Those damn delectable, pouty lips that I intended to put to good use in every way a man could conceive, no matter how fucked up the context.

Her supple, honey-tan skin tempted me to turn it into my canvas, marking her until she became a beware sign for any man stupid enough to approach her.

Before her there were certain lines I wouldn't have crossed. Now, the lines were curved, blurred even, and nothing else mattered - not when it came to her.

I'm not a good man; I never pretended to be. But Mallory Carter managed to make me a worse man than I already was when she invaded the atmosphere of my world with her sweet smiles, those succulent curves, her lavender scent, and that smart-ass mouth.

Not that any of it was intentional on her part of course. A little deer like her wouldn't know she was in the den of lions until the final curtains were drawn.

Fucked up, isn't it?

To find the one person capable of grounding you and domesticating your demons amidst all the darkness but knowing the only thing waiting for them when they take your hand is a life of submission and utter devotion to a monster, if not certain death.

Yet she still wielded a power she didn't know she had over me, unaware of the chaos she brewed every time she looked at me as if I hung the moon and stars.

Unaware of how her saccharine voice could bring a man to his knees, giving him something to believe in.

I hated that she was oblivious to the twisted game of chess she had unwittingly become part of the moment her eyes captured mine, when the most valuable piece on the board has already been placed.

I was a sick bastard but she wasn't my miracle cure. She was nicotine personified, and I was addicted.

She can't fix me but I can break her.

The allure this girl held over me was unfathomable, and yet a simple truth still remained — she was mine.

And there was no line I wouldn't cross to keep her.

. . .

This book is dedicated to all the girlies who fantasize about being claimed by a psychopath.

All you see is mafia leaders and drug lords on Wattpad and we love that. But there's not enough stalker and serial killer romances. But baby, that's where I come in. So, get ready, my little crackwhores!