Chapter 2 #2
When I tip my head back, Henry kisses me deeply. He devours my moans as Adam works my orgasm out of me and only pulls away when I do. Adam wraps his arms around me and hugs me until I stop shaking and my breathing returns to normal.
“You called me a church slut,” I mumble.
“You like that? Thought that was pretty good,” he laughs and kisses the top of my head. “If I dated women, I’d snatch you up, Wren.”
“I wouldn’t want to date women either,” I laugh and sit up. “Men are easier to understand.”
Adam helps me out of his lap and I turn to find a man standing with Amanda.
The way he is staring at me has me melting in his gaze.
He is tall, and broody. He has a darkness in his emerald green eyes and something about his aura terrifies me but draws me in all at once.
There is something vaguely familiar about him, but I can’t pinpoint why.
His dark brown hair is just long enough that I could run my fingers through it.
Somehow even in its disheveled state, it’s perfect.
“This is my older brother’s best friend, Tate,” Amanda says. The way she is smirking at me, I am assuming he’s been here for a while.
“Wren,” I say sweetly.
“Like the bird?” he asks, raising an eyebrow.
“Yep,” I chuckle. “Like the bird.”
“Amanda says you’re interested in joining the hunting games. Is this true, little bird?” he asks. His deep and gritty voice causes a warmth to spread over me, settling in the pit of my stomach.
“Uhm… Y-Yeah,” I stutter.
“Okay,” he says simply. I can see a hint of what looks like excitement in his eyes.
“How do we know who exactly is hunting us?” I ask
“You don’t,” Amanda laughs.
“Oh… You’ll know when he has you pinned and starts to fuck you,” Henry adds.
“You’ll have a safe word,” Amanda adds quickly. “No one is allowed to cause anyone real damage. Well… besides maybe emotional damage from getting hunted and fucked like an animal.”
“Sounds… Primal,” I smile.
“Now… How on earth does a little church girl know anything about primal play?” Henry asks.
“Henry, darlin’... I’ve been repeatedly raped by my youth pastor since I was fourteen. You learn a lot from someone that depraved.”
“God almighty…” Henry says in a hushed tone.
“Oh, sweetie… he abandoned me a long time ago,” I laugh. Tate is studying me intently and his facial expression is softer than it just was, but somewhere behind his eyes is a raging fire.
I am sitting in the passenger seat of Amanda’s car and I am practically giddy for tonight. I think Amanda thinks I’m insane, but after three years, she’s used to my unhinged responses to stressors.
Amanda told me all about how we can’t take anything with us except for our cell phone in case we actually do get hurt or wish to stop.
We have a basic map so that we know where we can use the restroom and get water.
The only rule the guys have is they can’t touch us if we are stopping to get water, but we have a three-minute time limit.
I am wearing black shorts and a black tank top with my gray and black running shoes.
I chose all dark colors to hopefully blend in better.
The whistle will sound at eight and again at four in the morning.
If we’ve been caught, it is the responsibility of the person who caught us to get us back home.
If we are not caught, the coordinators of the games will make sure we get home.
We arrive at the one-hundred-acre wooded property, I see right away that it is fenced in and that makes me feel a little better. No random people can sneak into the game this way. We get to the property gate and there is a man with a clipboard standing there waiting for us to stop.
“Evening, ladies,” he says with a kind smile. “Names and IDs, please.”
“Amanda Collins and Wren Jacobs,” she says as she hands our IDs to the man. He looks at them for a moment before handing the clipboard and our licenses back.
“Both of you read and sign. This is just a liability waiver to protect the property owner as well as the individuals coordinating and participating. Legalities matter, so don’t break the law. Universal safe word is red. If you need a moment to prevent calling red, say yellow.”
We both take a paper and look it over before signing it and handing it back. “Is that it?” Amanda asks.
“That’s it. Have fun, ladies,” he says.
The gate opens and she matches my excitement as we drive through the gate. We follow the handwritten signs for parking and jump out.
“What do we do now?” I ask.
“Now, we can go mingle until they blow the whistle,” she says. “Do you want to try to stick with me tonight? We will likely end up getting separated, but it wouldn’t hurt.”
“Yeah, at least for a while,” I say. “It will be light enough outside for a minute that we can get somewhere and holed up.”
“I’m afraid of falling asleep somewhere,” Amanda laughs. “I’ll probably wake up to someone putting their dick inside of me.”
“Same, although… that’s kinda hot.”
“Oh. By the way, I’m pretty sure Tate is going after you,” she says.
“Oh?”
“Yeah. Robert isn’t participating but he is doing the assignments. The guys pick us so that everyone has one person, rather than two people going after one,” she explains. “I heard Tate tell him your name.”
“Is he always that… intense?” I ask.
“Oh, you mean quiet and creepy? Yes. He’s a great guy, he’s just not really into talking. He’s not shy or anything. He just doesn’t like people, but somehow seems to like you,” she says.
“Is that bad?” I ask.
“No, if I didn’t see him as a brother, I would definitely let him chase me through the woods,” she laughs.
We join a group of girls that are waiting for things to start.
Amanda’s brother comes around with another waiver for us to sign.
It’s essentially just to cover the guys in case someone tries to say they were assaulted.
It’s the understanding of the use of the safe word and giving the guys consent to do as they wish until that word is given.
Why someone would get as far as starting the games and not understand what’s going to happen is beyond comprehension.
Some people just look to be a victim, I guess.
It sucks because that only goes to discredit survivors of assault.
Things like that are the main reason I never said anything about what Oscar was doing.
I knew that no one at the church would believe me and it would only be my fault, so there was no point in saying anything.
I’m pretty sure that my parents knew what was going on because they brought up Oscar marrying me.
I feel as though they would only bring that up if they knew that he was assaulting me.
They would rather put me in a marriage with my abuser than anyone to know that I’ve had premarital sex.
Although assault doesn’t count as sex, to them it does.
I thought they had finally gotten it out of their system, but a few weeks before they died they brought it up again.
Luckily, I was far enough away that I was able to avoid much of the coercion.
Robert, Amanda’s brother, walks back over to us and smirks at me. “Can I help you?” I ask.
“Just curious on how you grabbed Tate’s attention,” he says.
“They’ve exchanged very little in conversation,” Amanda says. “He just kinda latched onto her when he got there. To be fair, she was in someone’s lap getting finger fucked on a dare.”
“Ah, well… have fun with that,” Robert laughs.
“I don’t think that you two are making vague enough implications that I’m about to get wrecked,” I laugh.
“I’ll be less vague then,” Robert says with a smile. “If he’s as enamored as I think he is, you are definitely about to get wrecked.”
“He’s twice my size, so I am, admittedly, a little worried for my internal organs,” I say.
Robert chuckles but then nods to someone behind me.
I feel his presence near me, but I can’t tell how close he is.
It’s like my body recognizes him but it’s so melted by his aura that the alarm bells are not sounding for him being so close.
“Tell me, Wren,” Robert says. “What is a pastor's daughter doing out here? Shouldn’t you be getting ready for church tomorrow?”
“Y’all just love this whole preacher's daughter stereotype,” I laugh.
“The serious answer is simple. I was sheltered as a child to the point that the only thing I know outside of every word of the Bible is how to be assaulted by someone meant to protect me. Anytime I joke about it or mention it, you all look horrified. It is so normal to me that it doesn’t register that it should be painful to talk about.
It’s a situation where I can predict every little thing that he will do to me in the event that he gets me alone again.
This allows me other ways to take control of my life since my parents died.
Although I know y’all are just having fun, I’m tired of having to justify myself just because I grew up with the Bible being shoved down my throat. ”
“That’s her nice way of telling you to shut the fuck up,” Amanda says.
“I’d love to hear the mean way she’d say that,” Robert says with a smirk.
“No, you don’t,” Amanda cackles and turns to me “Let’s go find some water.”
Before I can step away, a large, warm hand grips my waist. “Hope you’re ready to fly, little bird, because I’m coming for you,” Tate whispers in my ear.
I can feel his breath on my neck and his scent overwhelms me.
It’s a mix of a woodsy musk with a hint of citrus.
When I think of the word lust, this scent is what I imagine. This man is intoxicating.