She scrunches her nose and pushes it away, like a petulant child not wanting to eat her peas.
“Suit yourself,” I say, devouring the pheasant on my own.
Her stomach growls, and I want to spank and force feed her. She can’t take care of herself properly.
Goddess, help me.
This female is infuriating. Maybe even more stubborn than Alaina.
I roll out a blanket into a makeshift bed, my arm behind my head on one of the tree’s roots. I prop my knee up, while the other leg is extended straight out in front of me. I hold my arm out to her, gesturing she come lay down with me.
She turns her head away from me as she rests her head in her arms.
It seems someone isnotbeing a very good listener. If she was, she would know this isn’t an invitation for her to decline.
She’s testing my patience. I’ve shown her enough mercy. She’d be smart not to push me further.
I shoot her the same look my mother used to give me when I acted out in public. After twenty-one years of it, I’ve perfected it. “Getthe fuckover here,” I grit.
The skittish little thing jumps at my bark. Yet, she doesn’t follow orders.
I meet her gaze with raised eyebrows. I don’t like repeating myself. “I can tie you to the tree if you’d prefer.”
She swallows her fear, but I could’ve sworn I saw her pupils dilate. She crawls to me.
I still when she rests her head in the crook of my neck. The smell of honey infiltrates my senses and disrupts my nervous system. Thankfully, she had an extra pair of clothes in her bag. There’s no way I could do this with her naked.
Might as well say a prayer for myself. One of us isn’t going to make it out of this situation alive.
I just hope it isn’t me.
***
It’s an hour into our unspoken standoff.
She doesn’t trust me enough to fall asleep while I’m still awake. I guess I have the same concern. But I don’t need her slowing us down in the morning. I close my eyes, pretending to drift off, hoping she’ll eventually succumb to her exhaustion.
After several minutes, her head lifts from my chest. She probably thinks I wouldn’t notice she isn’t touching me anymore, but I do.
Is she trying to escape?The apex predator in me hopes she tries. I do love a good chase. I keep my eyes shut and listen to her movements. I pick up on the disturbance of the ground beneath us.
Yep. There she goes.
I knew I couldn’t trust her.
She thinks she’s so slick, but she isn’t as smart as she thinks she is. I had no plans on sleeping tonight. I wouldn’t want anyone to take my prey, my future kill, away from me.
That’s my job.
Detecting her movements, I know exactly where she is. Her footsteps are uneven and clumsy, which makes me think she’s walking backward. I keep my eyes closed as I know it’s likely she is still watching me.
There’s a subtle whooshing sound from her foot pivoting into the forest floor, and I hear her gently brush against leaves.
I open my eyes to the direction I heard her leave and catch the tail end of her sneaking through the trees to make her escape.
I let her, of course, for several reasons.
I’ve come to enjoy how she looks in her false sense of safety. I enjoy the hunt, as I never knew where to expect to find her, as rogues often never stayed in one spot for too long. The second reason is I want her to get her hopes up as high as they can be to make for a greater disappointment when I show her this plan of hers has failed.
