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"No—Not—I don't… You've thought more about this than I have," I said. Now that he mentioned them, my brain was racing to follow. The first suggestion was the most immediately appealing, although they all had merit.
"You have plenty of imagination, petal—you only need to decide what suits you. For now, we'll start with all those clever ideas you've been brewing."
"Like being hunted?" I asked immediately.
Khell'ar grunted and nodded, turning us and carrying me back to the couch, settling me in his lap. "If you refuse to be distracted, then we'd better start, unless you'd rather wait for dark. First, are you sore anywhere? Ankles, knees? Anything that would bother you while running?"
"I don't want to wait. And I'm not sore," I answered immediately, and Khell glared at me, forcing me to take a longer stock. "I really don't think so. I'm not much of a runner, though."
"I could catch you in seconds if I wanted to, but this is a game, so it's not about how fast you or I are," he said, adding with a twitch of a smile, "but I expect you to run."
I nodded, my fingers tightening in his hair, slipping against the thick and silky weave. He'd had it tied back this whole time, and I wondered what it looked like, felt like, when it was loose.
"There's no one around, just us," Khell'ar assured me. "Do you want to wear your monitor band?"
I'd taken the little device off after the first night and hadn't put it back on. Did I want to be wearing it so I could reach out to the agency during the chase? "No."
Khell didn't seem surprised, and he didn't ask me twice. "Is there anything you didn't include on your form that I can't do to you once I catch you?"
I blinked at that, studying his expression, but it was too smooth and professional again, the teasing and flirtation from minutes ago sadly missing. "I can't think of anything."
He was quiet, watching me. Was there anything I wouldn't be willing to let Khell do to me? He'd already been teasing and stretching my ass since the first night. He could spank me, choke me, chain me up…
"I'm going to do my best to scare you, petal, to be the beast," Khell said, reaching up and holding my chin. "Do you think being frightened will make a difference? Do you want me to check in with you once I catch you before I continue? It can be just a little word, or a kiss, or a touch on the hand."
Oh. Would being frightened of Khell'ar change my enjoyment of being fucked by him? I thought back to when we'd met, how careful he'd been, how it had made me think too hard. How the grip of his hand around my throat had cut through the noise and cleared my thoughts, made me his, calm and thrilled.
"No," I said. "No, I want to stay in the game, even when I'm frightened."
CHAPTER 12
Sunny
I opened the cottage door at exactly one-thirty, dressed for the first time in days.
Khell'ar had chosen the garments, laying them out on the bed for me to find before leaving the cottage. It was just another sundress, dark blue with straps that tied at the shoulders, and a matching set of pink lace underwear and a bralette that he'd spread out with obvious attention. The bra would do next to nothing for support. Running through the woods with lace and underwire would be more uncomfortable than helpful, but I put it on dutifully all the same. He'd also left a pair of comfortable but thin flats at the foot of the bed. Not that I'd brought running shoes with me. Not that I was meant to be able to escape.
On the dining table, I found a plate of light fare to eat and a quick note with instructions. Stay in the cottage until one-thirty. I wasn't sure what Khell was doing in the hour and change since he'd left. A costume change, maybe, I thought, grinning and remembering the funny red cape and deliciously short leather skirt he'd been wearing the first day.
The woods were quiet outside of the cottage—a little birdsong, a breeze rattling branches of leaves overhead, but peaceful. Was this cottage really so secluded? Were Khell'ar and I the only people for miles? Astraeya had promised there was more to this area than meets the eye, but for now, all I could be sure of was an endless expanse of trees and underbrush.
My chest burned before I realized I was holding my breath, searching the trees for Khell. Was I meant to just start running? I opened my lips to call for him and then shut them again. Be patient. Play the game.
I stepped forward to peek around the corner of the cottage, when an iron grip suddenly snapped around my wrist where I held the doorknob. My heart crashed in my chest and I jumped, spinning to face the snarling face of…
Khell.
I caught my breath, uneven as it was, and for a moment I smiled, my heartbeat racing from fear into excitement. Khell'ar bared his teeth at me, tusks biting into his upper lip, and his brow furrowed, eyes almost entirely dark in the sunlight.
I opened my mouth to ask how he got back inside the cottage without me noticing, but he yanked on my arm, pulling me roughly to his chest so I had to crane my neck back to look at him.
"Where does this sweet little cunt think it's going?" Khell'ar growled, his free hand slapping down on my ass and gripping it roughly.
Back to bed with you, I thought cheerfully. But of course, that wasn't what we were meant to be doing.
"Let me go," I breathed, uncertain if I sounded nervous or simply aroused.
"Why would I let you go when I could drag you by those pretty gold locks down into the dark?" Khell's voice was full of all the roughest of his echo, and I pressed my thighs together, my sex squeezing. "I could stuff you full of cock and seed until you knew nothing else."
