Shadows loom and multiply, my brain playing tricks on me. The silence is so sharp it’s painful.
My eyes bore into the black, searching. A light wind rattles the bare branches, leaves at my feet fluttering. Fear washes through me, my heart kicking out as a shape moves from behind a broad tree trunk. At first, I think I’m imagining it, the darkness acting as a weird hypnotic presence, but when the shape charges straight for me, I release a low, braying scream.
Adrenaline surges through my veins as I weave around trees, stumbling, as heavy steps crash through the underbrush behind me.
Whatever’s behind me is gaining, their steps louder and faster.
Terror blends with fright, a random thought that this isn’t Luca or Brecken or Roo, but a stranger, running me down.
Oh god.
The thought has my pace faltering. It has me wanting to check who’s there. To demand they announce themselves.
I peer over my shoulder and almost die of petrification. A dark form tracks me, uncaring that I can make him out. I can’t tell who it is though, a black hat covering their hair, black stripes muddying their skin.
A low scream bubbles from my throat in fear, my eyes wide as I run. My knee glances against a tree knoll, bright pain flaring. I hobble on, lurching from oak to oak. I grapple with their rough texture as I try and propel myself faster, further, the lights now visible.
Out of nowhere, I fly to the ground, something knocking my foot from under me.
My face hits the dirt after my hands, the air punched out of my lungs. A sound rips from my throat as a body slams to the ground directly behind me. Hands pull at my jeans, tugging me backward and under his strong frame.
Instinct takes over. I kick out, fighting. An unrecognizable grunt follows as he grapples for control. But I wriggle, writhe, twisting out from under his hands to scramble forwards on my hands and knees. Somehow, lungs burning, I get to my feet, ready to stand. But I’m forced down again, our exhales loud.
For a second, that strong, heavy body flattens me into the earth, a solid erection digging into my lower back.
It has my blood burning, my fear switched out for craving.
It has my need to escape dimming.
My calves are pinned down by solid knees as ragged breaths fill the space around us. A hand delves under my abdomen, popping the button of my jeans. The zipper hums as it lowers, an alarm call for what comes next. With sharp tugs, my jeans are stripped down my legs, the texture of the ground a clarifying sensation. I reach forwards, crawling, but I’m pulled back, my panties violently torn from my body.
Fear intertwines with lust and longing. With the cold. I balance on a knife-edge of reality and fantasy, unsure which one is winning. As hunter and prey, the game demands our silence, so I fall into the illusion of being taken against my will and being unable to do anything about it. I submit, offering my compliance.
My breathing thins as a condom rolls along that long iron bar I felt at my back. Knees nudge at my thighs, spreading me wide, my jeans tangled around my ankles. Inexorably, I’m filled with cock. He pushes right to the hilt, wedging me apart in a long, deep, satisfying thrust.
My body hums and thrills at the blatant possession. At knowing I have boyfriends who’ll give me this, no questions asked, no judgments made. And by the way my hunter surges inside me, fucking me as if the world is on fire, I don’t think my notebook is just for my personal gain.
A large hand gathers my hair. But instead of snapping back my head to secure me, I’m pushed deeper into the dirt. His weight surrounds me, the spice of cologne mixing with the loamy earth and the rot of wet leaves.
Harsh breaths tunnel over my ear and neck, goosebumps skittering. His rhythm is punishing, my hunter taking what he wants from my unresisting body. A coil tightens in my belly, my hips instinctively lifting. His undeniable strength surrounds me, holding me captive as he ruts inside me. The raw, feral claiming has my pussy spasming, a savage orgasm clawing from deep inside.
As I spiral up and away, he bellows a soul-deep roar into my shoulder, shuddering and jerking as he unloads.
The anonymity is disconcerting. The silence too.
Moments pass. He pulls out and stands, allowing me to twist onto my back and study him. Cold, I pull up my jeans, my panties nowhere to be seen. I thought I’d be able to work out who it was, looking up at him from the ground, but the details are obscured by the dark.
Once he’s righted his clothing he stalks off into the night, leaving me here. Uncaring about the dirt, I catch my breath and sift through the knife-sharp images. I want each one embedded in my memory.
Brecken
She climbs to her feet,brushing her jeans and sweater down. Somewhere nearby a bird shrieks. Winter freezes, scanning her surroundings before breaking into a run. Rattled, she missteps and tumbles in the dark as I follow her at a distance. Heat leaches from her bones, her steps stiff and awkward.
Purposefully, I snap a dry, thick twig underfoot. Spooked, Winter speeds up, running as fast as she can. Maintaining distance, I track her. The moon offers fuck-all light, but she makes so much noise it’s easy. At some point, she stops and takes a breather, and that’s when my brother’s tandem, stealthy pursuit of her becomes obvious.
While I stop when she stops, he doesn’t, and his footsteps are clear as day.
With a soft cry, Winter rushes on, heading for the creek and a swathe of pines. She doesn’t make it far before I hear her get taken to the ground, the sound of bodies falling. A yelp follows as I catch them up, Winter struggling to fend off her hunter.