He doesn’t speak for a moment, and I feel myself on the edge of that old precipice, resisting the urge to say sorry without knowing why.
Before I begin to spiral, though, he asks, “But if I don’t give you a choice, how can you put a stop to it?”
“I can’t,” I whisper. “But I don’t want to be able to.”
He draws back to study me, his expression making me shift uncomfortably.
“What if I go too far?” he questions at last.
“Then I’d have no choice but to follow,” I breathe against his chest.
He takes my chin again, forcing me to meet his eye. I can tell the darkness has returned, but it’s edged with something else. Concern. He wants what I’m offering him, but he’s scared to take it.
“This is what I need,” I insist. “I need to feel comfortable resisting, saying no, trying to put a stop to it. And knowing it’ll happen anyway. I want to feel completely helpless. At your mercy. I want you to control me,reallycontrol me.”
Quill presses me against him. I can feel his long shudderingbreaths, his stiffness against my lower stomach. I haven’t freaked him out. He’s just as turned on by me at the thought of me relinquishing all control.
He tears himself away from me, his eyes hooded with lust as he gazes at me. Then he whispers, “Run.”
I swallow nervously. “What?”
“Start running, cricket,” he breathes. “And you better run fast. You better try your damn hardest to escape me, because if I hunt you down, I’m going to have my way with you, and you won’t be able to do a thing about it. Turn around andrun.”
The setting sun has turned him into a shadowy creature, sheathing his face in darkness, with only the whiteness of his scar standing out in stark relief. I bite down on a scream, an actual, full-bellied scream, my lungs squeezing with real fear. And then I do just what he says. I run.
Although deep down I know it’s just a game, it doesn’t feel like one. I’m running through the forest, faster than I ever have, thorns and branches whipping at my skin, my adrenaline spiking.
It doesn’t take a huge leap of imagination to believe that it’s a real monster hunting me, and it’s terrifying to know I’m his prey.
I’m definitely not fit, so it doesn’t take long for me to start panting hard, but I keep going. I don’t hear a thing behind me, so I vaguely wonder if, after all, I’ve managed to escape. But I know Quill well enough to realize I can never hope to escape him, and that both terrorizes me and thrills me in equal measure.
I’m just reaching a small clearing in the woods, gasping for breath, my body covered in a sheen of sweat, when a sudden force knocks me down, and I feel myself being pinned under a hard, warm body.
Two legs straddle either side of me, while a large hand grabs both my wrists and traps them behind my back.
“Quill! Let me go! Stop!”
Remembering what I’d told Quill just before, I wriggle around desperately, protesting loudly, and my heart races with excitement when he doesn’t loosen his grip. If anything, he tightens it.
Fuck.It feels so good to put up a fight, to get out all of my frustration and pain, all the emotions that sometimes make my heart heavy in spite of my current happiness. The more I see he’s not letting go, the more I’m driven to resist, just to feel his control over me.
Then I feel his other hand pull down my jeans and palm my ass possessively.
“Alright, little cricket. Ready for your punishment?”
Chapter 29
Quill
Piper thrashes under me, panting into the frozen ground. She ran so fast she’s sweating despite the low temperatures. Which is good, because I have plans, and they don’t involve her wearing layers and layers of clothing.
Anyway, even if she weren’t hot now, she would be by the time I’m finished with her.
I grab the twig from my back pocket and the army knife I always have on me. I quickly whittle it down, but not too much, because a few extra stubs will make it more fun—at least for me.
My cock is straining against my boxers as I stroke her bottom with the switch. She inhales sharply when she feels the rough wood against her cheeks. She clenches, tightening her ass nervously at the punishment she probably expects will turn her pretty cheeks red.
I’m not exactly planning a normal spanking, though.
