The Joy of the Hunt

Welcome back to TJoTH!

This is another short-ish chapter (though longer than the last). Going forwards each post will be significantly longer than this though. Still building suspense. I feel in this case the build-up is absolutely necessary, not to mention madly erotic. After all, this is the joy of the hunt ;)

More detailed explanations and answers to questions posted by readers can be found among the comments. I answer directly there.

** This chapter contains suspense and mind-games, but no sex. **

Touched up and reposted Jan 18th, 2014.

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Chapter 2 -- The Chase

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She couldn't believe her ears, no she simply could not believe what was happening. Although she thought that she had been scared silly before, that was nothing compared to how she felt now. He removed his lips from beside her ear and retracted his head enough for her to be able to see his face. The cool detachment she saw there chilled her blood and made her doubt she had ever really known him, *could* ever really know him.

She had been prepared for death, or at least so she thought. Still, she was not prepared for what he was threatening now. Not from him. Not from the calm, cool, collected, handsome gentleman.

Only, he wasn't that person right now, was he? The "handsome" was certainly still applicable, but the other epithets seemed to be misplaced at the moment. Looking into his face she could see only the Monster, an aroused monster at that.

The closeness of their bodies as he continues to press her against the door leaves her no room to doubt just how aroused he is. The bulge just lightly touching her lower abdomen, right next to the hand on her hip, is throbbing slightly and... twitching? At least it is moving enough for her to feel it straight through the fabric of his tailored dress pants.

She tries to regain some semblance of control and manages to calm her breathing enough to get a question out;

"Adrian! What do you think you are doing?" She means for her voice to sound strong and demanding, but what comes out is more of breathless plea.

He looks at her with amazement, perhaps leaning towards bewilderment, tinged with something akin to fondness; The kind of fondness someone holds for a prized possession, not for another person. She shudders as she realizes that in his mind he owns her. The shudder turns to a shake when it hits her that, for all intents and purposes, he probably *does* own her.

"What I am doing? I think I am about to... indulge." he states. His voice is as soft as crushed velvet, as hot as a winter storm, when he purposefully takes her question literally and answers it.

"I think the time for restraint has come to an end and I am *doing* something about it."

In contradiction to his words, he angles his body away from her and studies her with a bemused expression.

"Fortunately, your actions have caused my desires and the necessity to... correct your ways to coincide. Yet another thing I could be thanking you for, it seems."

With these words he takes a step forward and, without ever releasing his iron grip on her wrists, glues his silk clad body against hers. His hips and thighs take over the role that the hand on her hip used to have, keeping her firmly in place. This leaves one of his hands unoccupied but not for long. Instead he takes full advantage of the situation as he reaches around her and grabs her firm ass, pulling her center impossibly closer to his. The impressive bulge of his rock hard erection digs into her lower abdomen and he slowly and sensually with no sense of shame at all, grinds himself against her while purring like a big cat.

The deep purr is as much a physical feeling, a vibration that enters her bones, as it is a sound. It enters her soul and sings a powerful siren song for her to join in. Her knees go weak. At this point she might very well fall if he releases her hands, but that seems very unlikely to happen. Adrian is clearly enjoying her occasional feeble attempts to free her wrists.

At such close proximity it becomes overwhelmingly clear just how masculine he is, how powerful he is, how he will stop at nothing to get what he wants and how what he wants right now is...

Her.

She didn't sign up for this! Through the days and nights that she's been kept here he has never shown any overt signs of coveting her. In fact she has rarely seen him, except perhaps as an ever present shadow. And, of course, she has not been able to fail to notice him when she has tried to flee. Somehow he has shown an uncanny ability to pop up just as she's getting out the window, climbing over the fence or reaching the edge of the woods. Each attempt got her a little bit farther before getting caught; and so she kept trying.

Right now that seems like a giant mistake, like she has played right into his hands. She can't hold back a small sob of fright at the look in his eyes. If it's his anger or his lust that scares her the most she does not know; at the moment it is hard to tell the difference. She draws a ragged breath and tries to regain some semblance of control. "Adrian..."

"Shhhhhh. Quiet, Little One." He says with a small smile. He towers over her with his head bent down to whisper in her ear, a finger lightly placed on her lips to complete the shushing.

"You seem to be under the illusion that what happens next is in any way under your control. Let me tell you now..."

A brief pause follows before he continues, emphasis placed on every word t the point where doubting their validity becomes impossible.

"It."

"Is."

"Not."

He flashes her a crooked smile before continuing his explorations down her throat, breathing in the scent of her as he goes along. He raises his head again and gazes deep into her eyes, while his smile slowly fades.

"You are so fond of running, my luscious girl. You really want to get away from here, don't you?"

He seems surprised at the sudden insight. She can only nod, a tear slowly running down her cheek, dripping onto her exposed collarbone.

"Well, that just won't do. Never let it be said I did not give you a fair chance.." Shaking off his reverie he is suddenly all business.

"Listen to me closely, because I will not repeat myself."

After a brief pause where he looks at her imploringly she finally responds with the small nod he apparently needed to continue.

"In a moment I will let go of you and you will be free to run. From then on the clock starts ticking so I suggest you start running immediately. I will give you a five minute head start and if you manage to get to the edge of the woods before getting caught, I will let you go; I will even help you get back home. On this I give you my word."

If there is anything she knows about Adrian, it is that his word is sacrosanct. Her eyes widen in surprise as she takes in his words.

"You would let me go? But... but why?" He sighs in exasperation, but still deigns to answer her.

"I have already explained this to you. Every prey deserves a fair chance. Even the human sport of game hunting is not performed with a machine gun, now is it?' He pauses, looking at her expectantly to agree with his sentiment. Again he seems pleased at her small, jerky nod and continues;

"Now, have you understood everything I just told you?"

She realises that she is prey to him, and although the thought doesn't surprise her she thinks *he* might be surprised at just how far she can get in her allotted time. With all the practice she has gotten from her escape attempts, five minutes should be ample time to get to the edge of the forest surrounding the estate. She looks him in the eye and nods slowly to confirm that she has understood.

"Well then. Off with you, my little deer! Run like the wind!"

He flashes her another breath taking smile, releases her wrists and moves back from her hips. The suddenness of the movement causing her to nearly collapse on the floor, her knees still weak from the fear and adrenaline.

"I wouldn't dally; the clock has already started ticking." He casually leans back against the wall and crosses his ankles while glancing at the near priceless Omega that adorns his left wrist.

"Four minutes and forty five seconds left." He arches a perfectly shaped eyebrow in an unspoken question; Did she want to get away or not?

She gathers her wits about her, momentarily thinks about replacing her ruined shirt or grabbing a pair of shoes but quickly decides against using precious seconds of her remaining time. Instead, her mind made up, she bolts out the door, her feet drumming against the carpeted corridor floor.

She runs down the stairs, taking two, three, four steps at a time and reaches the great wooden front door, pulling it open.

Or rather, she would have pulled it open if it hadn't been securely locked.

"This is not playing fair!" she mutters under her breath while quickly scanning the entry way for other means of escape, trying to ignore the slight chuckle of amusement from upstairs, elicited in response to her words. Damn vampire hearing!

Looking around the opulent hallway she can see that the windows are all made of stained glass, the non-opening and quite priceless kind, where every piece of glass is set in lead. She quickly dismisses her first impulse to grab something hard and smash one of the windows in as she realizes the lead setting would remain as a spider web; keeping her locked inside. He may like to refer to her as a 'silly girl', but she is anything but unintelligent. This is when it strikes her, this is another test!

She leaves the hallway, purposefully stepping into the servant's quarters where she assumes, and hopes, the windows will be of the regular kind. Her efforts are rewarded right away. The hallway behind the door is lined with windows; all of them thin glass and on hinges.

Quickly looking around her, trying not to think of the seconds ticking by eating into her 5 minute window, she settles her gaze and then her hands on the nearest window; opening it as wide as it will go.

Carefully, she slides out through the rather cramped opening. Immediately she finds herself in the rose shrubbery planted right below the window. The smell of crushed roses is extravagant, but at the moment all she can think about is how the wicked thorns have caught her clothes and the skin of her upper body and just how much pain not being delayed is worth. It's an easy choice. Thorn wounds will heal, if she is not caught again.

With this thought in mind she steels herself and tears her body from the grasp of the shrubbery. She can feel some thorns breaking off only to lodge deep in her skin, others stay on the branch and leaves long, oozing gashes before they release her. At this point she doesn't truly feel the pain. Her whole being is focused on the flight, where she needs to go, and the inner sound of the seconds ticking by.

She gathers her wits about her and sprints down the gravel pathway toward the front gate of the estate. For a moment she is grateful for the soft round stones that dress the path, at least her naked feet surely are sending her mind their thanks. Reaching the gate she pushes the button to open it.

This time it comes as no surprise when nothing happens.

However, this is a scenario that she has been through before. Thus she doesn't have to search for another way to get over the walls, she just runs straight to the old oak at the edge of the garden. Swiftly scurrying up its' stem she evicts all thoughts of anything but the necessities for escape from her mind, promising to return to them later. Reaching the right branch she takes a graceful leap to land on top of the wall, at the exact place she landed earlier today.

To her dismay, if not to her surprise, new shredded glass has been added to replace the pieces which she painstakingly removed during her previous attempt earlier in the day. Expecting this to be the case she manages to avoid all the shards but one upon landing.

The one shard she cannot avoid slices deep into her foot. She bends down to remove it with a whispered profanity, but does not allow herself to feel the pain just yet. There will be time for that later.

The offending piece of glass removed, she shimmies along the edge of the wall to the point she recalls is lined with soft, leafy hazel bushes. Once she reaches the correct place she grabs a hold of the side of the wall and gently lets her body stretch along its outer surface, held up only by her fingers on the edge. When she feels she has reached a point of balance and is ready for the drop she lets herself fall, picking up speed before being intercepted by the non-thorny bushes.

She stands up and quickly looks around; relieved she got another step done without speed limiting injuries. The glass shard was quite enough, thank you.

* * * * * Tick-Tock * * * * *

She tries to keep the thought of the seconds slipping away out of her mind as she takes aim on the line of trees nearest to her current location. There is a fairly large cleared area around the estate, but the forest line is still easily within reach by an extended sprint.

* * * * * Tick-Tock * * * * *

She focuses her sight on the nearest tree and takes off. She does as he suggested, she runs like the wind.

* * * * * Tick-Tock * * * * *

* * * * * Tick-Tock * * * * *

* * * * Tick... Tick... * * *

She has no explanation as to how she knows with such conviction, but the moment her five minutes are up her heartbeat accelerates.

There is nothing to worry about, she tells herself. Mere seconds away from freedom. There is no way he will get from her room to where she is right now, at least not in the few seconds needed to reach the tree line. She tells her conscious mind this, while her feet keep running and her sub conscious is sending out every hormonal danger signal that evolution of man has created. Adrenalin and Cortisol are fighting for dominance inside her all-too-human body, allowing her to push herself beyond the normal physical limit. Terrified beyond words, she keeps running at full speed.

* * * Tick... [SILENCE] * * *

She's nearing the trees now, close enough to make out the texture of the bark. When she is only a fraction of a second, mere steps away from safety, from freedom, she turns her head to force her racing, terrified subconscious to realize he is not there, right behind her.

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* * * * * * * * TOCK!!! * * * * * *

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The impact as she runs straight into a tree is profound. As she runs at full speed and force into an immobile object, her body bounces back violently and leaves her, breathless, on the grass. But she made it! She made it to the tree line!

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.

.

Or wait, did she? The bounce sent her back a few steps. Carefully peering to her left and to her right she sees no stems there. How could she not have noticed she was aiming straight for a tree before turning her head to glance behind her? A very uneasy feeling builds in the pit of her stomach and she slowly raises her gaze straight before her to glare at the offending tree.

It, no he, is right there. It takes her a moment to focus and realize that this is not a nightmare.

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'Hello there, Little One.'

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Another A/N about tenses;

This chapter mixes it up a bit, again on purpose. A more relaxed (past) tense is used when describing the surroundings and lighter notes. Present tense reappears when highly stressful events occur through Little One's eyes.