His teeth scrape down the side of my throat before he plants an unexpected, scalding kiss there. Then he’s sucking, pulling the thin skin into his mouth with so much force I know there will be a bruise. Electricity sparks where his cock grinds on me, and my legs wrap around him instinctively. I’m squeezing, pulling his pelvis tighter to mine, writhing up, even as my brain screams at me to stop. He releases my neck with a popping sound. There’s a sting of pain where he ravaged my skin, but I forget when his deep voice fills my ears.

“Are you wet, little deer?” he rasps. “Dripping like you were last night?”

It hits me like lightning.

He hasn’t said it. Not yet. Hasn’t told me to yield.

I freeze, mouth dry, throat tight. Wondering if I’ve blown it.

“No.” The lie sounds like a question.

Shane’s eyes flash, pure predator. Before I can react, before I can breathe, he’s pressing off me. Like last night, I’m ready to scream in frustration at the loss. Unlike last night, Shane’s hands return almost immediately. He flips me in a single smooth movement, ripping my leggings down. A rough finger teases my entrance. Then he plunges it inside me, pumping in and out lewdly. The sound of how wet I am makes my face burn. I’m glad I’m on my stomach. I’m not sure I could meet his eyes right now.

“Sure you aren’t wet?” There’s the slightest bit of amusement in his voice.

I don’t get to respond. Pain explodes across my ass, the crack of palm on flesh piercing the stillness of the woods.

My gasp is choked. I try to crawl forward, away from the agony. Fisting the back of my shirt, he holds me in place before delivering another excruciating spank. I’m swallowing my yelp when he speaks again.

“Don’t you ever lie to me.” His reprimand is dominating, primal. I can’t reconcile it with the polite, awkward lawyer who enjoys cat puns. It doesn’t compute.

His breath hits my skin, then searing, wet heat engulfs my sex, and the only pussy I care about is the one between my legs. Hands press my thighs wider; fabric rips as my leggings tear. He runs his tongue along me, gentle, savoring strokes that make it hard to think.

Life or death.

Crawling away from his mouth feels like dying. He swears under his breath. Then his hands are underneath me. As he tugs me back, he lifts my hips higher and holds them, giving himself better access to my pussy. Scorching breath hits my begging flesh. The thought of moving away makes me want to weep. Shane takes a long, lingering lick and then another. This feast isn’t for my benefit. It’s all for him. The way his hands knead my thighs, fingers tightening each time he swirls his tongue inside me, gives him away. So does the way he presses hot, open-mouthed kisses between my legs as if he’s making out with my pussy. I’m not sure he means to make contented sounds while he enjoys me, but he does. It doesn’t matter if he’s not doing it for me. I’m melting anyway, dissolving into a puddle of desperation. I don’t know how long it takes me to come to my senses, but I finally do.

He didn’t say it.

I surge forward, ripping at the grass as I try to pull myself away. My leggings are tangled around my ankles, forcing me to crawl. He must be as dazed as I feel, because I make it a few feet this time before he’s on me again. The spell is broken. Three hard spanks in rapid succession make me shriek into the ground. I’m catching my breath when I hear fabric moving, a zipper being tugged down.

Run.

I don’t even get to try. My thighs are shoved apart again, his legs brushing mine.

“Yield.” The command comes as he thrusts his cock into me.

I knew it was coming, but the force makes me cry out. Shane’s big. I don’t know how big because I haven’t seen his cock, but there’s a sharp sting as my body yields to his. The depth, the stretch, and the suddenness of the breach chill me, sending icy lightning bolts through my limbs. He’s too thick, too hard, and there’s too much power behind the thrust. I’m face down, hands clawing the earth as my body tries to adjust.

Suddenly, I’m wondering if I should have had a gentler sexual encounter with someone postdivorce to prepare for this. Maybe going from a decade of monogamy to being railed by a near stranger in the woods is too drastic a change for my body.

Margot’s warning returns. He’s different in the woods.

She’s right.

He’s terrifying.

SEVEN Claire

My brain feels like it’s being split in two. So does my pussy, but that discomfort is pushed aside to deal with the asshole of a voice inside me screaming, I cannot do this.

It’s a familiar voice. The same one I heard when I found the texts in Keith’s phone. Shrieking and shrill, trying to convince me that my life was over. Insisting I wouldn’t survive the next minute, that I was going to die of a broken heart in our bedroom, holding the damned phone.

I didn’t die. I made it through the next minute and every single one since.

Fuck the voice.

It was wrong then. It’s wrong now. This may be my first time with Shane, but it isn’t my first time doing this. I know what I’m doing. I know I like this, love this. He’s not the only one who’s different in the woods.

I’m different.

Braver.

Wilder.

Hungrier.

So hungry. A switch in my brain flips. The only word for what’s coiling up inside me is craving. There’s no room for fear anymore, not when I focus on how he’s filling me. I was wrong. His cock doesn’t hurt. It isn’t too much. It’s perfection, sinking into my body like it was made for me.

Shane drops to his forearms, his chest at my back. His thrusts are punishing, but now I’m eager for each one. Hip bones piston against my ass, flesh hitting flesh accented by our ragged panting. My body shifts across the ground incrementally. The scent of grass and dirt fills my nose. Breeze kisses the skin not covered by Shane’s body, the rest of me consumed by his heat. Pleasure builds, intensifying with every stroke, every exhale on the back of my neck, every soft, huffing grunt that slips between his teeth.

Tilting my hips, I force my legs as wide as the ripped leggings will let them go. I want him deeper. More. I want more. Fingers sink into my hair, grabbing it. When my eyes flicker open, I’m staring at the sky, my chin aimed upward as Shane pulls my head back.

“Spreading your legs for more, little deer?” His breath on the side of my neck makes me shudder. “You run and run, but secretly all you want is to be pinned, isn’t it?”

My pussy is spasming, answering, Yes, fuck yes, even though my teeth are clamped together. I can’t keep my hips from flexing and shifting, as if I can somehow fuck him right back even though I’m trapped beneath his weight.

He releases my hair, but before I can drop my head and ease the strain on my neck, his hand wraps around my throat. A desperate moan slips between my lips before I can catch it. He squeezes lightly, then harder. If I was wet before, now the floodgates have opened, a surge of arousal rushing around his cock. The slick sounds push me closer to orgasm.

“I can feel how close you are,” Shane growls, his voice low. “Don’t fight it. Show me how much you like being hunted. How much you like being my prey.”

I want to hold off to spite him for catching me so quickly. My body decides otherwise, the first tremor of orgasm crashing into me as he tightens his grip on the sides of my throat.

“Fuck,” I gasp, stars exploding in my vision. My fingers dig deeper into the soil, searching for something, anything, to keep me grounded as pleasure threatens to carry me away. I can’t stay still, can’t think. All I can do is writhe and gasp as unintelligible sounds pour from my mouth. I’m coming so hard I don’t know my name.