“Rabbits don’t like to swim, huh?” he says as he curls my legs around his waist.
“Not by force.”
“All of this has been by force,” he says with a smirk. Lex brushes the hair away from my face. “You swam just fine so far.”
My heart thrums against my chest. The sun blazes down on my pale shoulders. The world melts around us, dripping down like the water off our naked bodies.
“What do you want, sweet bunny?” he whispers. I didn’t realize I was staring so hard at his lips until he spoke. His words paint the landscape again, dotting it with trees. His finger rides along my pouty lower lip. “If you want a kiss, you need to take it.”
I won’t kiss him. It still feels too wrong. Even though he’s made me come, it wasn’t initiated byme. I can still hold on to that stupid fact. I pretend my refusal to initiate means I’ve somehow negated the copious amount of infidelity we’ve already engaged in.
Even though my thoughts are unfaithful.
“You’re so fucking stubborn,” he says when I don’t make a move. His hand wraps around the back of my neck and pulls me into him. He kisses me, and I let him. A frustrated groan leaves his cold, wet lips. “I’m going to take you back to the car, lay you down on the hood, and fuck you with my mouth.”
No one has ever talked to me like that. It’s exciting and equally terrifying. I can count on one hand the number of times Bryce has gone down on me, and I remember the stale movement of his jaw as he did. It seemed like a chore to him. I have a feeling Lex will eat me like I’m his last meal before going to his death. He’ll walk to his execution with a belly full of every moment since we met. He’ll leave me feeling devoured, never happy with the feasting of any other man. And he knows it as his hand rides up the back of my thighs and grabs my ass.
I push away from him and start to swim across the pond, kicking my feet as I tread water with my hands. The thought turns me on and pokes at a playful side of me I didn’t know I had. I’ve probably always had that side, but I’ve never been allowed to let it surface until now, in the freedom of a serene pond with a man like Lex.
“Where are you going?” he calls.
“Catch me if you can, predator.” I let out a chuckle.
He growls and takes off after me as I swim away from shore. Once the pond gets too deep, he swims toward me, his muscular body cutting through the water like a bullet. I hold my breath, dive under, and propel myself beneath the cool surface. Sounds are muffled, and a suffocating silence surrounds me. I open my eyes and take in the greens and browns on every side of me. I can’t hear him or feel a change in the water, but I know he’s there, hot on my trail. I feel his breath on my neck, even when I know it’s not possible.
When my lungs beg for air, I pop up to take a quick and hearty breath. I can’t see him. Ripples of the disrupted water roll away from me. As I turn to swim toward shore, I hear him surface behind me.
“Sneaky little prey,” he says. I don’t need to turn around to know his eyes have taken on a darker cast. I hear it in his voice. It’s a visceral hunger lurking just below the surface that chills my veins and tells me this is no longer fun and games. When he catches me, he’ll devour me.
I kick my legs and push myself toward the shore. I have to swim long after he can walk, but I still make it first. Barely. The rocky bottom scrapes my knees as I try to get to my feet and run from him. I can’t look back because he’s only steps behind me.
Grass cushions my bare feet, pine needles cling to my wet ankles, and I can hear his heavy, dedicated footsteps closing in. They thunder in my ears and compete with my heartbeat. I have no choice but to leave my clothes behind as I take off toward the car.
My heart nearly beats from my chest, ready to rip through my sternum. I instigated the chase and now I’m the one feeling hunted. Afraid. But I should be. I picked a true predator to chase me—to hunt me like the little rabbit he thinks I am. It’s all so fucking dumb. The moment he gets his hands on me, I’m in for it. No amount of pleading will stop him from taking what he wants. What he captured. What he worked up a sweat for.
I touch my car’s silver hood. It’s hot from the sun’s early rays. Just as my fingers land on the hot metal, strong arms grab me. He pants against my ear; it’s the worst frustration I’ve ever seen. Like a predator who chased his prey, only to have it pivot at the last moment and escape his mighty jaws. Only...I didn’t escape, and I won’t be able to now.
He’s trying to hold back and stay in control. I feel it in the tremble of the muscles in his strong body. Lex growls as he turns me around and pushes me against the hood of my car. He lifts me and lays me on my back. He has me in his grasp and doesn’t look like he has any intention of letting me go. Pieces of his slicked-back hair fall over his forehead, and he brushes them back with a frustrated motion.
“That was really stupid, rabbit.” He’s so close to my mouth I feel every syllable against my lips.
I know it was stupid. He doesn’t need to remind me. I have no clue why I did it. I just did, and now I’m in the clutches of the most dangerous predator I’ve ever met. He’s not a coyote. He’s a wolf. A majestic and beautiful creature that would happily tear me to shreds.
“I want to rip through you, take you,” he groans. “But I’m trying...really trying...to make you feel good instead.” The metal burns me as he yanks me toward him and lifts my thighs. I try to keep them closed, but he rips them apart with a rough touch. His fingers make the bruises on my thighs ache, and when I flinch, he ignores the pain and holds them open.
“Don’t you close those legs. I told you I would lay you on this goddamn hood and fuck you with my mouth.”
And he does. Oh god, he fucking does. He buries his face between my legs and licks at me like he’s ripping the flesh off my bones with his tongue. It’s rough enough that I raise my hips to put some space between my pussy and his mouth. He releases one of my thighs and puts a flat hand on my pelvis, pushing me against the metal.
“Don’t you move away from me. Stay here and let me take what I caught.” He looks up at me from between my legs. “Don’t start a game you can’t handle losing.”
I shiver at his words, and he buries his face into me again. He keeps me firmly planted against the metal. His teeth rake the hood of my clit between him sucking on it, and it’s like nothing I’ve ever felt—an uncomfortable pain and pleasure fighting for survival within me.
“Lex,” I whisper.
He doesn’t respond, just shoves three of his fingers inside me. I scream out as he stretches me. It’s too sudden. I wasn’t ready for it. I’m not ready for any part of him.
I never will be.