Terror ate at me as I pushed out of the front doors. Two burly men on the other side were startled. I was past them before one lunged after me, but I twisted away like I was playing football and got off easy with only minor scratches as his fingernails caught on my forearm when I tugged free. He chased me with a curse, and I darted past stone pillars to my right along the Courtesan Hotel, where spotlights lit up the brick façade of the historical architecture.
My escape already felt futile with feet pounding behind me. My soles slipped on the dewy ground, but I sucked air deep into my lungs and determination set in. Sadly I was tired and in horrible shape after the hangover. I grabbed my side as a stitch started and ran along the damp grass of the lawn. Overhead, stars shone, and the moon was a distant silver glow. I wished, more than anything, I could be safe in my little house I’d bought, only big enough for me. I wanted to lock the doors and hide, the same way I did at the end of most workdays. People drained me all day long and I had to have time to recover.
Thisdefinitelyhadn’t been a fucking field trip to a spa, and I was at the end of my rope. Sweat dripped down my forehead and stung my eyes.
As I hit the corner of the building, my choices were to turn left and attempt to scale the fencing around the lawn—which was so tall I wasn’t confident I had a chance of making it—or go right toward the lake. At least with the lake I could follow the beach and get the fuck away from here. The water always went somewhere, even if it was only to the bottom of the fucking lake.
There was shouting behind me, and I thought I recognized Camden again.Like hell I’m fucking a stranger tonight.
I went right, into the semigloom along the side of the building. There were no spotlights here. I sprinted past ornately framed glowing windows and balconies and didn’t bother to look inside. The lake wasn’t too far away. There was a path nearby dotted with trees and decorative pole lights that gave a soft romantic glow, and it appeared to wend its way around the lawn and down to the lake as a scenic walking route. I gasped as I stepped on a hidden sharp rock and hobbled in the direction of the path as fast as I could manage, even though it would let whoever was chasing me run easier, too.
Somehow the cement of the sidewalk was colder than the grass had been. I tried to go faster, but my lungs screamed with the effort. Sweat stuck my tank top to my body, and the cool breeze coming off the lake hit my overheated skin and had me shivering. Heavy footsteps pounded directly behind me. The trees on either side of the path felt sinister in a way they hadn’t when I’d first caught sight of them and had imagined a chance at freedom. I had a moment where it seemed like I was stuck in a bad slasher flick.
Don’t run into the forest, you ditz! Well, look at me now.
The monster was behind me, and I already knew it. I ran harder, hoping there was still a chance ahead at clear sailing. I pumped my legs but began to feel dizzy and tired, whether from the adrenaline, or not getting enough oxygen, or the fact I was still dehydrated…. Well, I could take my pick. It all equaled caught. I slowed and didn’t want to give in, but my body was giving up. Tears welled in my eyes and I furiously blinked them away.
The footsteps behind me weren’t slowing; in fact, they were gaining ground. Part of me wished I would have stayed inside the Courtesan, but that wouldn’t have ended well, either. Vane, Jaxson, and Ross might trust Ms. Winters enough to think she’d just let me go after tonight,no harm done, but I sure as fuck didn’t.
Anger at the men who were supposed to be my friends, and the world, propelled me faster for a few seconds, but then my toe caught on a ledge of cement in the path, and I groaned as I hopped around in the shadow of a weeping willow. Long branches caressed my face and left cool streaks of dew on my hot skin.
And then arms closed around me. I grunted as I was lifted off my feet and the breath was knocked out of me. Strength surged through me, along with bright pops of strange excitement, and I kicked and squirmed as I was dragged off the path closer to the willow tree. A hand dipped between my legs and squeezed none too gently. I let out a mortified moan as pleasure slashed along my shaft and excitement boiled in my gut. Since when was I fucking hard? I yelled wordlessly as I was wrestled farther off the path, but my attacker—fucking Camden, with a fat bank account—was built like a brick shithouse.
I lied about going to the gym four times a week, and it certainly wasn’t saving my ass now. The darkness and the low-hung branches would keep anyone from seeing us—stop anyone from saving me.
“Oh, you fucking want it,” Camden said, his voice hot in my ear. I gasped as arousal fluttered through my stomach. I was so shocked that I stopped struggling, and he let out a pleased grunt as he dragged me tight to his strong, hard-muscled body. I froze as the large mound of his very hard cock dug in against the small of my back. My brain scrambled. I had both a leap of excitement and a surge of dread. I almost stopped breathing.
Camden had his arms wrapped around me. I stomped on his foot with my bare one, but since he was wearing shoes, he only laughed as he spun me around. With an arm free I was able to pull back and punch, but I’d never been good in a fight. My fist grazed his chin. I whined and shook out my aching hand, and he let out an “oof” that turned into a low growl. We fought hard for about a minute, me trying to drag myself back to the sidewalk by flinging my weight around, and him struggling to pull me deeper into the shadows.
My stomach sizzled with nerves and heat when he managed to latch one of his hands around my right wrist, then less than a few seconds later he caught my left one. We both strained, and my wrists ached. He dragged me forward, tight against his chest, and thumped me back against the trunk of the willow tree. He moved both of my wrists into one of his hands and his firm grasp hurt.Fuck, when did we get this far from the path?The warm, safe glow from the lights was only about six feet away from us. I strained against him and let out a wordless cry that he smothered with his lips.
Warm, soft. Kissing me. Oh God. More.
I’d barely had time to realize I was leaning into him and tried to jerk away when he used his weight to trap me against the tree. His touch was harsh as he cupped my chin and forced my head up and back. And then his hot tongue was lapping at the seam of my mouth.
“You’re mine. The Alpha won. Open,” he whispered against my lips.
The strange words boiling this down to what seemed like a weird dominance contest confused me, as if he had a right tofuck menow because he’d run me to ground. I shook my head, and he huffed out an amused laugh. Next thing I knew, he’d sunk his teeth into my bottom lip. It fucking hurt, though I didn’t taste blood, but he gripped my flesh between his teeth and put more pressure on it, to the point I was squirming against him. The pain did weird, not entirely bad things to me, and I whimpered as agony and lust got confused together in my body. His cock—massive and fucking hard—dug in against my stomach, and my eyes fluttered closed. Need surged, shocking and swift, in my gut, and I was harder than a rock, too.
What is wrong with me?
I opened up before Camden could bite clean through my lip, and he groaned as he slid his tongue into my mouth. The invasion had my toes digging into the grass. He let go of my wrists, and I hated the way my hands wanted to curl around his neck to hold him in place. I forced my palms back against the tree bark. I tried to wriggle away and only managed to rub my cock against his hip and sigh into his mouth. He slid his hands down my sides and held me still as he rocked himself against me and teased his cock on my abs. I dug my fingers in against the tree until my nails hurt.
And then he had his hands in the waistband of my shorts. I grunted and tried to shove them away, but he pulled me from the tree and we went to the ground with dizzying speed. I took most of the impact and was stunned as he rolled me to my stomach and dragged the absurd shorts Darcy had handed me earlier this evening down my thighs and off. I tried to kick at him, but he grabbed my hips and yanked, putting me underneath him. My cock was at a bad angle against the hard ground, but I couldn’t move with the wall of muscle on my back. I tried to elbow him away.
“Get the fuck—ah!” Pain seared through me and blanked my mind as he sunk his teeth into my shoulder. The pinch burned, and I didn’t think he’d broken the skin, but I flopped to the ground, and then there was a massive cock poking at my asshole, looking for a way in. I really tried to get away. My heart crashed in my ears, and I dug my fingers into the ground, clawing. A humiliating, panicked sob flew from my mouth. He opened his jaw and let go of my shoulder, and the pain was almost as bad when his teeth unclamped from my skin as it had been when he’d bitten down. I was stunned breathless. He wrapped an arm around my middle and canted my hips up, his cockhead still hopefully poking my hole.
“You’re too big, oh my God, you’re way too big for that, please don’t,” I gasped out, horrified at how fucking scared and useless I sounded.
“You’re not ready,” he said on a sigh. “Thought for sure you would have been prepped to go after you took off that way, after I saidnot to run.”
The soft kiss he dropped onto my asscheek had me so confused. I let out another sob. “Stop.”
“No, I wouldn’t do that to you,” he agreed. For a few breathless seconds I let my forehead drop to the ground while I muttered a thank-you, though whether to him or God or the fucking lake monster that might be out there waiting to eat me—it was possible, with the luck I’d been having lately—I wasn’t sure which. My hands shook as I tried to push up onto my knees, and he sat back and let me go. I heard shuffling and thought he’d gotten to his feet. It appeared sanity had returned, or some of it anyway. I was too fucking relieved that he hadn’t pushed what had felt like a stallion-sized cock into my unlubed ass to look this particular gift horse in the mouth.
As I finally rocked myself up onto my knees, I let out a hiss. My sensitive cockhead dragged on the ground in an unpleasant way as I was straightening, and when I was upright, I was staring down at my full-on fucking traitor of a hard-on. I bit my lip, aggravating the injury there, and the pain zinged directly to my balls, then up to throb in my cockhead. It wouldn’t take much to get off with the way I was keyed up.
What the actual fuck?I’d only ever been this hard with someone in my ass, actively drilling. I breathed through the red-hot need burning away in my groin.
