CHAPTER 16 “Catch Me If You Can”
“Catch Me If You Can”
The great doors of the mansion burst open with a thunderous crack.
I stumble out into the night, the wind tearing at my long blonde hair, whipping it across my face as I run as if I were possessed.
My blue eyes, wide with terror, catch the brief flash of lightning that splits the night sky, illuminating the eerie facade behind me, the windows like black, watching eyes.
Rain begins to fall, thin at first, then in heavy, slanting sheets. My white dress clings to my legs, dragging through the mud as I sprint toward the forest at the edge of the estate. Every breath is a gasp, a struggle between fear and exhaustion.
Behind me, the doors I fled through groan shut on their own, echoing across the courtyard like the final toll of a bell.
The forest looms ahead—a wall of black trunks and twisted branches clawing at the sky. I don’t hesitate, rushing into it like a blind man.
Anything is better than what’s inside that house.
The moment I cross beneath the trees, the world changes.
The rain barely reaches the forest floor; it’s swallowed by the canopy above.
The air is heavy, still, colder than before.
Each step on the wet leaves sounds too loud.
I can hear my own heartbeat pounding in my ears, and beneath it, something else.
Footsteps.
Slow. Measured.
Following.
I turn sharply, holding my breath. My eyes scan my surroundings. A beat passes. Then two. And three...
Nothing. Only darkness.
The trees press close, their bark glistening like damp skin. I take another step back, frame trembling—
Whispers slither between the trunks. Shadows crawl across the forest floor. A branch snaps somewhere to my left. My gaze flits back and forth, panic on the edge of hysteria threatening to consume me.
I bolt.
Roots claw at my feet, snagging my dress. Branches lash my arms as I push through the undergrowth. The forest seems to shift around me, paths twisting back upon themselves. Behind me: more footsteps.
“Elena...” comes a voice. Velvet and smoke.
I whimper.
My lungs burn.
My legs ache.
The voice laughs, cruel and sinister, coming from all directions and from nowhere, all at once. “Run, sweet Elena! RUN!” The taunt echoes through me like bones tumbling down a well.
The wind picks up, shrieking through the branches like the wails of the eternally damned.
Above me, crows circle, but none cry out.
I dart forward again, deeper into the blackened heart of the forest, where no moonlight pierces and the air is thick, oppressing.
Something pulses ahead—white alternating with black, faint, flickering.
I hesitate.
Then—that sound again. Not just footsteps.
Breathing. Ragged. Too close.
I stumble over a fallen log and hit the ground hard. Lying in the cold mud, I try to still my breathing. The darkness presses in—total, suffocating. From somewhere in the trees comes a soft, scraping sound. Metal against bark.
“Elena...”
I clamp a hand over my mouth, tears burning my eyes. The voice comes again, closer this time. Circling me like a predator.
A form shrouded in shadows appears in the trees ahead.
For a brief moment, relief washes over me and I’m tempted to call out, but the feeling is temporary.
My throat goes dry when the shape drifts towards me, and it comes into clear view: a tall, thin silhouette, its limbs too long, its head tilted at an unnatural angle, weaves between the trunks in a way that marks it clearly as not human.
“Little thief.” That same scraping sound fills the air, making me grimace in pain, and I realize, it’s coming from the thing inching closer to me. “You shouldn’t have returned. You won’t escape me this time.”
I scramble to my feet, not bothering to ponder on the meaning of its words, and make a run for it, deeper into the forest.
My lungs are on fire, my vision hazy.
The shadow follows—gliding, silent, gaining ground.
The woods seem endless, and somewhere behind me, something begins to laugh. A dry, broken sound that echoes through the trees.
More footsteps. Faster. Heavier.
Whispers, taunts, murmurs.
The ground vanishes beneath me—
I fall, tumbling down a steep muddy slope into darkness, branches whipping my face. I hit the bottom hard, dazed, covered in leaves and rain. The forest above is a shifting silhouette of black and silver.
For a moment, there’s only silence. Then—the sound of rushing water. And a voice, right beside my ear, deep and threatening: “You shouldn’t have left the house, Elena.”
I scream as I’m pulled to my feet and my head is plunged into water.
The water is shockingly cold. It burns my lungs as I thrash, my fingers clawing at the unseen arms holding me down. The darkness beneath me is endless, shifting. The world becomes a rush of sound and pressure. The stream swallows my screams in a burst of bubbles.
I’m going to die.
Hands—cold, impossibly strong—seize me by the back of my neck and lift me out of the water.
“You disobeyed me, little lamb.” Niko’s anger is a palpable thing as his fingers press into my flesh, his lips grazing my ear as he hisses through gritted teeth.
“You fucking disobeyed me, again. I told you to stay away from the forest, for your own safety! You need to be taught a lesson, once and for all.”
Relief, fear, and to my utmost horror, pure arousal, flood me at the implications of what he’s telling me finally sink in.
“What’s your safe word?” he asks, hot breath skimming the side of my drenched face. “Say. It.”
I shake my head. Curiosity of what he’ll do to me is too strong of an incentive to keep myself from crying out in fear. There’s a part of me that knows I’m safe in this man’s hands, however absurd it might be. He’s giving me a choice. Just like he did last time.
And just like last time, I’ve already made it.
I shake my head again, preparing myself for what’s to come.
My panties are a mess, the cool breeze and frigid night air only heightening my state of arousal. My core pulses. My clit is swollen and sensitive to the point of pain.
Shame washes over me.
I shouldn’t want this. Shouldn’t be desperate for this type of humiliation and pain. And yet, the anticipation alone is making me feverish and needy.
As if reading my thoughts, my panties are pulled to the side as Niko dips a callused finger into the proof of my depravity.
I moan, still catching my breath, as his finger sinks deeper into me.
“Will you look at that,” he murmurs, working my pussy with utmost precision. “Your pretty cunt is begging for a cock, isn’t she?” He chuckles. The sound hits me somewhere deep, low. “Now, be a good little historian for me, and take a deep fucking breath.”
My head is shoved under water again. I twist, eyes bulging out of my sockets, then go slack as Niko’s fingers start pumping away. My walls suck him in, and I can feel my juices as they leave a trail down my inner thighs.
My nightgown is ripped down my back just before my ass is pushed out, and my hands fall forward as I try to regain some balance, but then I feel the full weight of solid muscle as he mounts me from behind, making me unstable once more.
A fresh load of cream gushes out of me when the swollen head of Niko’s heavy cock breaks my entrance, splitting my pussy in two. Bubbles fill the water while I moan and whimper, opening myself to take more of him into my body as I struggle not to breathe.
My lungs scream for air, and just before I’m sure I’ll pass out, I break the surface again, gasping—a single, desperate breath—before he growls in my ear, “Say it, Elena,” and I’m forced under, once more, when I refuse to do so.
I don’t want this to stop.
Jesus Christ, I don’t ever want him to stop.
His thrusts turn punishing, the hold on the back of my neck like a bar of steel as he keeps me pinned under water. This time, the water closes in heavier, thicker, as if the stream itself wants to keep me.
Sound vanishes.
Only the deep, muffled thud of my heartbeat and the ever increasing heat in my belly, remain.
My vision blurs. My pussy clenches and ripples as Niko strokes me long and deep, fucking me without mercy, until all I know is his cock and the wave of bliss that consumes me as my orgasm erupts from my body.
The hand on the back of my neck loosens suddenly, and I surge upward, breaking the surface in a violent gasp.
But he’s not done with me, oh, no. I fall forward onto the muddy bank, coughing, the world spinning, when my legs are kicked apart and ass is hoisted back up.
Niko shoves my face into the dirt, impaling me on his cock, once more.
“You’re perfect.” He groans, the sound sinful and decadent. “So fucking perfect for me, aren’t you?”
Through the slits of my eyes I see a pair of figures standing in the shadows of the woods, just beyond the tree line, watching us. I panic, trying to buckle, but Niko’s massive hand keeps me in place.
“Shh, just a little bit more.” He soothes, his balls slapping my clit while the cool breeze caresses my naked flesh, causing my nipples to turn to two hard beads. “You can take it, Elena. Open that pussy nice and wide for me, let me feed her my cum.”
He spreads my cheeks, spitting on my hole. His thumb caresses the tight ring, then pushes through the barrier and remains seated there. The pressure is too much, and yet—I want more.
“Oh my God,” I whimper, half delusional, while I rock my hips, meeting his thrusts head on. Movement catches my eye, and my lids snap open, only to land on two very familiar faces.
“Nikolas—” I try, gaze bouncing between Rein and Hunter as they stand motionless, observing us. “Nikolas!” But he ignores me and clamps a hand over my mouth, muffling my protests.
Sounds I’ve never heard myself make before erupt from me when his thumb starts working in unison with the movement of his hips, hitting me in long dormant places.
My lids shut as another wave of heat threatens to consume me.
Long forgotten are the two brothers and their unsettling appearance in the forest in the middle of the night.
Long forgotten is my naked body, splayed out for all to see, as I’m fucked into oblivion.
All I know is the relief and peace that floods me as a piece of my suppressed soul falls into place as the second orgasm leaves me a boneless mess.
Where it was always meant to be.
Hot liquid hits my back in streams as I lay on the cold ground, blissfully ignorant to my surroundings. Niko’s callused palms glide over my flesh, rubbing it in until my entire backside is covered with the sticky material.
“So soft. So beautiful,” he murmurs, a satisfied lilt to his words, wrapping me in my ripped nightgown and hoisting me up into his strong arms. “My scent is all over you, little lamb. I’ve marked you as mine. And no one will dare touch anything that’s mine.”