My body clenches, and my mind immediately goes to the video he has. The fucking blackmail. He doesn’t say it, doesn’t even hint, but I’m not an idiot. I have a good imagination, too. There are other ways he could get back at me.
This shouldn’t sound like something I’d be into, but my heart racing belies my nerves. The fact that I don’t just screamstopright now and end it means I’ve officially lost my mind.
Running seems like the better choice. He knows it and I know it.
He steps back, dropping his arms, and I bolt. It’s a split-second decision. Fight or flight. Run or… something worse.No fucking way is that video getting out.
I leave my sweatshirt behind and dash up the stairs, bursting through the doors. I take half a second to choose a direction, even with the girl at the desk yelling after me about my student ID. His threat of fucking me wherever he catches me rings in my ears. I can’t stick to public roads—not when he’s bound to be eager to hunt me down.
The woods.
I glance behind me and see him striding out the door. Not in a hurry. Not at all perturbed. He looks every inch the composed predator, and I’m turning into the scared prey. He says something to the girl at the desk, and she hands him my ID. His lips keep moving, the smile in place, but the glass blocks me from hearing the lies he tells her.
His gaze shifts to me, and I gasp at how hot it is. If it had any weight, I’d combust on the spot. But it also holds more malice than I expected, and that forces me to move.
I burst into a sprint, heading away from campus. I don’t want him to catch me, but perhaps I can lose him on one of the many trails that winds through the park a block away. It’s parallel to my neighborhood, so if I get far enough, I can cut across and lock him out of my apartment.
My breath comes in ragged gasps by the time I get to the trail head. It’s nothing more than a break in a two-post fence line, but the wide, wood chip path is easy to spot. Behind me, my predator has picked up his pace. His footsteps drum steadily against the pavement—and then the noise dampens. He’s reached the trail.
I’m swallowed by the forest, where the air is colder. It’s lit intermittently by glass lamps on wrought-iron posts. They give off just enough of a glow to illuminate a small circle around each one. It doesn’t touch the pockets of darkness in between.
My fear spikes, adrenaline bleeding in with it.
I should be scared—I know what Greyson is capable of. My stride lengthens, but I won’t win this race. He’s in shape. Tall. Strong.
He draws closer. Relentlessly closer.Thump, thump, thump.
I can’t tell if that’s my heartbeat in my ears or his footsteps.
All I know is that this is worse than walking into the locker room, because I don’t know if he’s serious. I don’t know which version of him I’m going to get when he catches me.
I veer off the path, crashing between two shrubs. The long branches snatch at my clothes and hair, and fallen twigs snap under my sneakers. I push myself faster, weaving between trees. If I can’t outpace him, I might be able to outmaneuver him.
But that proves false, too. He tackles me out of nowhere, and we crash to the ground. My hands slide in the dirt and pine needles, my teeth clack with the force of the fall. I dig my nails in, trying to get purchase, but he grips the back of my head and forces my head down. My cheek rubs the dirt. The earthy scent fills my nose.
I scramble, still trying to break free, when something heavy presses into my lower back.
I let out a strangled whimper.
He yanks my leggings down. I’m slick with sweat, collecting pieces of leaves and needles as I squirm on the ground. He pins my legs together, and the sound of his zipper going down is my undoing.
He’s going to fuck my ass.
I let out a shriek, doing my best to try and twist around. He grunts, and his fingers dig into my hair. He lifts my head and slams it back down.
Stars burst in front of my vision, sparking in the darkness. The noise in my throat dies to a small cry, and my chest heaves. Simultaneously, I’m surprised by the violence—and not. Heat rushes through me, fire pooling under my skin and between my legs.
I can say stop.
I shift, my mouth opening and closing. I don’t want to say it—not yet. I’m running purely on adrenaline and instinct.
He runs his finger through my wetness, shocking me into silence. His throaty chuckle is the only warning before he grips my hips, pulling them up slightly, and slams into me. Not my ass—thank god. His thighs bracket mine, keeping my legs pinned together.
The friction of him sliding into me is too much, and I moan. Fucking hell, I shouldn’t want this. I push up, but he collects my wrists and pins them behind me. He torques one of my arms up, and I fold back into the ground. Pain travels up my arm, pulsing into my shoulder.
But then he moves faster. He hits a spot deep inside me, drilling into it like a wild animal.
That’s what we’re reduced to—animals fucking in the forest.