This isn’t about form, endurance, or beating personal records. This is pure survival instinct; my body pushed beyond its limits by desperation. In track, I knew the finish line, understood the rules, and recognized my competitors. Here, the only rule is don’t get caught, and my competitor is a man who makes predators look tame.
I push myself harder, ignoring the burning in my thighs and the ragged sound of my breathing. The gap between the manicured gardens and the wild tangle of trees grows smaller. Twenty more seconds and I’ll reach the first line of pines that mark the woodland’s edge.
A twig snaps somewhere to my left.
I don’t look. Looking slows you down. But my heartbeat skitters wildly as I realize Hunter isn’t behind me at all.
He’s cutting me off.
16
HUNTER
Icircle through the dense undergrowth, moving fast and silent. Years of hunting have taught me patience and how to track prey. And Aurora Harrison is the most exquisite prey I’ve ever pursued.
The moonlight catches on her hair as she darts between the rose bushes, unaware I’ve cut around to intercept her path. My blood pumps harder watching her run—the determination in every step, the clever way she uses the terrain. She’s not panicking. She’s thinking. Planning. Fighting.
Fuck, that turns me on.
Lesser women would have surrendered at the first sign of pursuit, hoping clemency might follow submission. Not Aurora. She fights, challenges, and refuses to yield even when cornered.
I slip between twin oaks, positioning myself ahead of her intended path toward the woodland. Her breathing is coming in quick, shallow pants that make my cock strain against my pants. The sound of prey pushing its limits, testing its capabilities against a superior predator.
The woodland she’s aiming for would give her an advantage—tighter spaces, more places to hide. Smart girl. But I knowthese grounds almost as well as she does. I’ve studied every inch of this property as well as my own.
I crouch lower as she approaches, her silhouette visible through the sparse trees marking the boundary between manicured gardens and wild growth. She’s slowing slightly, her hand pressed against the stitch in her side. Even in pain, she moves with grace, determination etched into every line of her body.
My fingers itch to trace those lines, to map the geography of her surrender.
This isn’t just desire. This is raw hunger. I want to consume her, possess her completely. And her resistance, her refusal to surrender easily, only intensifies that need.
I shift positions, ready to intercept. She’s close now, eyes fixed on the woodland ahead, unaware that her sanctuary has become her trap. The wild tangle of trees she thinks will hide her will, in fact, witness her capture.
She doesn’t see me yet, but she will. And when she does, when our eyes meet, and she realizes I’ve outmaneuvered her, that moment will be sweeter than any conquest I’ve known before.
A twig snaps beneath my boot, a tactical error that sends Aurora’s head whipping in my direction. Her eyes widen with fear when she realizes I’m not behind her. I’m right here, waiting.
One second. That’s all it takes.
I lunge forward, capturing her slim wrist in my hand. Her momentum carries forward even as I yank her backward, spinning her around before slamming her against the ancient oak. My body pins hers completely, her chest crushed against rough bark, my much larger frame eliminating any possibility of escape.
She screams. A sound that pierces the quiet night and shoots straight to my groin. The vibration of it travels through her body into mine, and I press harder against her, one hand capturing both wrists above her head.
“I told you running would make things worse,” I growl against her ear, feeling her shudder. “But I’m so fucking glad you did.”
Her fear is intoxicating—the rapid rise and fall of her breath, the trembling of her limbs, the way she squirms against me only to discover there’s nowhere to go. My cock hardens instantly, pressing against the curve of her ass through my pants. I roll my hips, making sure she feels exactly what she does to me.
“Feel that?” I ask, my voice dropping lower. “That’s what your little game of chase did.”
Another desperate sound escapes her throat—halfway between a whimper and another scream. I press my lips against the exposed skin of her neck, drinking in the salt of her perspiration.
“Go ahead and scream again,” I encourage, scraping my teeth along her skin. “No one can hear you out here. It’s just us.”
My free hand slides around her waist, pulling her hips back more firmly against me.
“I caught you, Aurora,” I murmur against her ear. “Now you’re mine.”
Aurora’s hips push back against me, the curve of her ass grinding against my hardened cock, and a groan rips from my throat. Even pinned against this tree, completely at my mercy, she can’t hide her desire.
