The door slammed shut behind me as I stepped out onto the back porch and stared up at the twinkling stars overhead. As the echo of it faded into the night, silence enveloped me and a light mist fell down to dampen my face.

I shut my eyes as I stood there and took in several breaths, calming myself enough that the angry rush of blood from what I’d learned earlier wouldn’t impede my search for the one sound I knew would eventually find my ears. And there—right there—was the distinct sound of footfalls in the distance. The crunching of branches and twigs underfoot. The telltale sounds that someone was running from me—and that someone was Jesse.

After asking what I wanted from him, I’d told him in no uncertain terms. Jesse had backed away from me, and I was sure that would be the end of that. That he’d do the smart thing, put on his clothes and leave. But the little lamb was determined to chance fate and play with the Wolfe tonight, and I wasn’t about to leave now.

I’d given him a decent head start, sixty seconds to run as far and fast as he could. That was about how long I imagined I would need to at least try and control the violence I wanted to let loose on King. Instead, Jesse had offered up himself to the slaughter, and for tonight, he would suffice.

A loud cracking sound ricocheted through the dense pine trees, and I was extremely pleased that I had decided to rent the entire B&B out for three days, minus the staff.

With all I needed safely tucked into my pocket, I stepped off the porch and ran my hands over my face and back through my hair. The rain was a welcome relief against my hot flesh, and even though it was light, it was enough to be gathering on my skin and running in rivulets over my naked chest as I made my way to the edge of the forest.

My adrenaline was pumping, my pulse was racing, and the sticks digging into the soles of my feet hurt enough to make my hard cock even harder. I had been waiting for this, waiting for Jesse to be brave enough to tap into this side of himself, and I was immoral enough to be happy it had happened here. Where no one could hear him. Where he was all mine.

With his time up, I sprinted forward in the direction I’d heard the cracking sound, the rocks and debris covering the forest floor wet under my feet as I went. The leaves and branches slapping against my arms, chest, and face were no deterrent as I went. I could see Jesse’s footprints in the soft dirt ahead of mine, telling me exactly where he’d gone, and I followed at a fast pace, determined to hunt him down.

A curse echoed through the trees and sent my heart pounding as my legs powered me through the eerie darkness, my senses on high alert, my lust and arousal at a fever pitch. I wondered what had caused him to cry out. He knew the game as much as I did, and his role was to run and hide, so what had made him give up his advantage? Had he hurt his foot? His hand? He wasn’t wearing anything other than what he had when he’d left my bed, so the possibilities were endless, and I wanted to get my hands on him and make him curse again.

I stopped for a moment, noticing how quiet things had gotten, and turned to my left. All I could see was the dark outline of trees for miles, and I shut my eyes waiting…waiting…and then there it was. The slightest disturbance to the right, and I whipped around in that direction and sprinted toward it. That was when I saw him, the silhouette of Jesse’s lean frame up ahead of me, which then shifted and began to run.

Yes, run, little lamb, run… My feet pounded on the ground as I increased my pace, and Jesse stood no chance. He was no match for me, not in speed or power, and as I advanced upon him, about to reach for his arm, Jesse stumbled over something and fell at my feet.

Fate? No. Just bad fucking luck on his side.

Jesse quickly rolled over to look up at me, and when he saw me looming over him, he started to scramble backward on his hands, which were sinking into the wet dirt below them.

“And here I thought I’d have to chase you for miles,” I said. I bent down, grabbed a hold of his ankle, and then yanked him toward me, his ass and bare back dragging along the forest floor. He gasped as his tender skin scraped over the foliage, and when I dropped his ankle and straightened to my full height between his naked legs, I saw a shiver rack his body, as Jesse’s instinct to flee took a hold of him.

Not willing to chance that, I placed my foot down on his bare stomach with enough pressure to keep him in place. His hands came up to clasp my ankle and halt it, but if I wanted to walk right over him then, there’d be nothing he could do to stop me.

The light from the moon slithered through the branches to illuminate the pale skin of the body I was about to violate, and I dug my hand into my pocket and removed the condom I had shoved in there.

Jesse wriggled, and I leaned forward a little until my heel was pressing into his concave stomach. His breathing was coming in fast pants, and the panic in his eyes was as real as it was delicious.

I put the packet between my teeth and slowly unfastened the pants I’d pulled on earlier before reaching inside to free my engorged cock. It was thick and stiff, and wanted to get back inside the tight hole it had been in only an hour or so earlier, and as I tore open the condom packet and rolled it on, Jesse began to struggle.

“Let me go,” he said, and shoved at my foot, but he was unsuccessful in moving it, and once the condom was in place, I shoved my pants down my hips and removed the hold I had over him. I gave him a feral smile, daring him to try and run, as I dropped to my knees between his spread legs. Jesse sucked in a breath and brought his legs up to kick at me until I grasped an ankle in either hand and glared down at him.

“You’re only making this harder on yourself,” I growled at him.

“Fuck you,” he spat at me, and began thrashing around again. As one of his feet slipped free of my hold, his heel connected with my chin, hard, and I cursed. He stilled immediately, as if sensing he’d just upped the ante, and the taste of blood from a cut inside my cheek made my balls tingle. Jesse might’ve been the first to draw blood tonight, but he wouldn’t be the last.

I dropped his leg and then shoved his thighs open, a palm on the inside of either leg, and when my eyes fell to the tight briefs he wore, I could see his dick straining at the confines of the material.

Jesse played the victim to perfection, just as I knew he would. He was glorious in his horror. Exquisite in his arousal. Ever since that night at the gala when he’d responded to the bite of pain so beautifully I’d suspected this was a kink he’d respond to, but one he’d never tested. And his body was telling me loud and clear that it was getting off on being manhandled just as much as it was aroused by terror.

It was immoral. It was warped. And it was exactly why I had known I could never stay away. Because only one other had ever wanted it all with me—and he was no longer an option. But Jesse? He was an invitation to go back and explore every depravity I’d left behind.

I lowered my head between his splayed thighs and scraped my teeth up his covered cock, and before I reached the top of it, his hands were in my hair, pulling and tugging me away. I raised my head to look at his face, and his chest heaved as he lay helpless beneath me, and just when I thought he was giving up, Jesse narrowed his eyes and put all his force into bucking up against me, reaching out to claw and scratch at my face.

In an instant, I let go of his legs and took hold of his wrists, yanking him up to sitting so fast that he fell forward into me, and he looked like a rag doll I was shaking. His arms were dirty, his back no doubt scratched to shit, but the blown pupils and thrumming at the base of his throat told me not to stop, and I wasn’t going to.

I warned him tonight. I told him to let me walk away from him. He said no. So unless he gave me the sign to stop, I wasn’t going to—and so far he hadn’t.

What a brave little lamb he was turning out to be.

* * *

I figured Wolfe must’ve looked similar to the devil, because right then he appeared terrifying as hell, yet I wanted to fall into his arms and obey his every command.

As I stared up into his face, I knew I had nowhere to go. He had my arms in a viselike grip and my feet were cut from rocks and twigs. Not to mention my back. It was torn up, and the pain from it was a constant sting to go along with the rush of adrenaline brought on by sheer terror. But all the way through this little game were Wolfe’s final words from back at the house: “This brave rebellious streak you have, it’s what draws those like me to you. It hides under the innocence, under the sweet fire that’s right there on the surface…use it, let me dominate it, and be sure to struggle out there when I catch you. If you lie down and give up, I’ll take it as a sign you want me to stop. Don’t forget your safe word.”

“I’m going to fucking tear you apart,” Wolfe snarled in my ear, and then, with a force I wasn’t expecting, he shoved me back, and I hit the ground so hard the breath was knocked out of me. Before I could catch it again, I was flipped over onto my stomach, and Wolfe’s large hand was holding me down between my shoulder blades.

Oh God, this is crazy… And even though I held the power to stop what was happening, there was no way I was uttering my safe word. I wanted to see how far he’d go, and he was trusting that I could handle it. I wouldn’t let him down, and what was more, I…wanted it. The pain. The pleasure I knew would eventually come. Use me…

The earth was cold and wet, and the smell of dirt filled my nostrils as Wolfe jerked my briefs down over my ass. Instinctively, I began to struggle, my legs kicking out, trying to throw him off balance, and my fingers clawed at the ground.

“You can’t have me,” I said, giving him the words I knew would push him over the brink, and I was right, because a low growl ripped from Wolfe’s throat, and his hand came up to squeeze the back of my neck. As he kicked open my legs with his knees, my briefs strained across the top of my thighs, but with one hand he ripped them in half, leaving me bare and his for the taking. The hold he had on my neck ceased as he lifted my hips and parted my cheeks.

“The fuck I can’t,” Wolfe said, and then, with no more warning, he thrust his cock inside me, and the burn as he invaded my body had me crying out. I didn’t have a chance to get my bearings before he pulled out and drove back inside.

God, I was full, so full of him, and the friction was almost more than I could take. I closed my eyes and tried to lift myself up onto my elbows to gain some control, but Wolfe pushed me back down, holding me there as he fucked me without mercy.

I could hear his grunts, the pleasure my body was giving him, and even through the pain, I found myself relishing the feeling of him taking me so completely. The sting I’d felt when he’d first entered me eased as the high began to take over. My erection, rigid and desperate for release, dripped pre-cum down my stomach, and I went to reach for it, but Wolfe delivered a blow to my ass that had me rearing up.

“You don’t touch what’s mine,” he said roughly, between thrusts. “And you don’t fucking come unless I tell you to.”

He was brutal as he rammed into me harder, one side of my face in the dirt and wet leaves. It should’ve been too much. I shouldn’t have enjoyed the feeling of being held down, of being helpless beneath such savage domination, but I was so turned on that I couldn’t see straight.

What did that make me? Was I as screwed up as Wolfe was for wanting this ruthless side of him to destroy me?

Wolfe’s hips began to move faster, plunging inside me so deeply it was like he was a part of me, and when it seemed like he was close, he spoke.

“You want to come?” he asked, and I was so damn eager I didn’t hesitate.

“Please.”

“You come with me or you don’t come at all.”

I squeezed the muscles of my ass together to give my assent, and I heard Wolfe’s shuddering rasp above me. With a roar that shattered the quiet of the forest, he came inside me, and the pulsing heat of his cock had my own release wrenching out of me. I’d never felt so high before, like I was floating on a cloud of ecstasy instead of where I actually was—facedown on a forest floor while Wolfe fucked me without abandon.

As he gave one final shove, milking himself dry, a fatigue like I’d never known overcame my limbs, and I stopped struggling. Wolfe pulled his spent cock out of me, and when he let go of my hips, I collapsed. I could hear him removing the condom and zipping up his pants, but a fog was settling in, pulling me toward a deep sleep.

And then, with gentle hands that belied the past few minutes, Tor scooped me up, cradling me in his arms, kissing my forehead and murmuring, “My brave little lamb. You have pleased me tonight.”

I felt a deep satisfaction at his words as I went limp in his arms, exhausted from the fight. There was dirt under my fingernails and on every inch of my body, and I knew I had to be covered in scratches. But even though I hurt all over, it had been worth it. I’d never felt so alive.