As I drove up the highway, I wondered how serious he was about hooking up for a few hours of playtime. I mean, he was my cousin. We never talked about it, but he texted a lot of hints regarding it for when he visited during the holiday. I never knew if I should take him seriously. My conscious self, the sensible part of my brain, told me 'nah, how could he be serious, we're cousins for fuck sake?!' But the other part of me, the part of me with the little horns . . . said differently.
We hadn't seen each other for years, once in a great while at some significant family event - a marriage or funeral. I'd often wonder what made him still think of me, or to think of me at all. Mostly because he was married. Not just married, but married to a very stunning woman. What could he want with me?
Well, I was about to find out for sure in a few minutes. He'd texted me to come visit him at a cabin he was renting for the time he was here to hunt. I knew of the area only generally, so I was going to have to start paying attention if I wanted to find it.
After 20 minutes more of driving, I found the driveway I'd been searching for. Lo and behold, there was his truck with Maine plates. I pulled up alongside it, and let my vehicle idle while I contemplated what I was doing. "I'm just visiting a relative," my horned self insisted. With that, I turned off the ignition and reached for the door handle.
The night air was cold and I could hear the water down below somewhere, splashing from the strong wind that was blowing down from the north. They've been predicting snow all week, and I, for one, was looking forward to it.
As I walked towards the door to the cabin, I thought I could hear footsteps in the leaves to my left. I hesitated and looked that way for a minute before thinking my imagination was taking off again. I reached the door and knocked. And waited. And knocked once more.
Hmm. There were no lights on inside, except for a fire, I could tell, built in the central part of the cabin. He had to be here, his truck was here. Maybe he came out for more wood.
I turned to go back towards the footsteps I heard a few minutes ago, but realized all there were in that direction were trees. So I turned to the right side of the path, and sure enough, there was a very large wood pile. But Brent wasn't there. I felt the hairs on the back of my neck start to stand up, and I didn't like where I was suddenly. How well did I know Brent, after all? Not since we were kids. I didn't know him at all, as an adult.
Just as I was asking myself these questions, someone grabbed me from behind. I heard the zip of handcuffs and felt the cold steel around my wrists before I even knew what was happening. There was a hand over my mouth, as a voice whispered, "Don't scream, it'll do you no good anyway." And the voice was right; where was the next driveway? About a mile away? What did I get myself into?
As my assailant dragged me towards the cabin door, my eyes raced about, looking for any sign of Brent, hoping for rescue? Then it dawned on me. . . had he already been attacked too? I began to seriously panic at this point. I struggled against my captor, to no use, he was very strong, and as I could tell, very turned on.
He laughed. "Stop struggling Claire, it's only me."
Inside the dim light of the cabin, I looked around, finally looking at Brent who was still chuckling, "I really got you, didn't I?"
"Could you take these damn things off?" I demanded, turning to indicate I meant the handcuffs. He obliged, and as he was close to me, I could smell him. The scent was tantalizing, and familiar. Where had I smelled it before?