Lights out

It was too late to hide, too late for strategy. I ran on instinct alone, my arms pumping at my sides as I drained my last reserves. The trees blurred around me. My feet flew over the forest floor. I caught sight of a dense scramble of shrubs and beelined toward it.

“Oh, no, you don’t!” Josh called, his feet pounding against the ground as he gave chase.

Despite how hard I was pushing myself, I heard him gaining on me. It was tempting to glance over my shoulder and check how close he was, but I worried that slowing down even half a second to do it would spell my demise. Every step felt like it could be my last. My shoulders stiffened as I braced against being tackled from behind.

Fucking run, bitch, I told myself, pushing through the pain to put on one final bid for freedom.

A masculine growl hit my ears as I approached the scrub brush.

Holy shit, was I going to make it?

My gaze snagged on a barely-there game trail bisecting the dense thicket, so narrow it had probably been made by rabbits. It was the only way through I saw, and I didn’t have time to look for another route.

Here goes nothing.

I plunged straight into it, ducking to avoid the higher brambles and lifting my arms to protect my face. Briars snagged at my pants. My arms burned as prickers ripped across my skin. A crash sounded behind me, followed by a frustrated yell. It was too narrow for Josh to follow.

Triumph and anticipation coursed through me as I pressed on.

Part of me wanted the chase to last forever, while another part couldn’t wait for the fight to start. Dampness coated my panties. My breasts felt full inside my sports bra, longing for Josh’s touch. Despite my renewed efforts to win, my body was prepared to lose, turning supple and pliant.

I burst out of the other side of the thicket back into sunlight and angled downhill. The brush hadn’t been that deep, but it was wide, and Josh would lose precious seconds circumnavigating it. Seconds that I pla

I pushed harder, half ru

He couldn’t catch me. Not yet. It felt like an hour had passed since I’d last looked at my watch, but I knew that was because of the chaos of the chase. I couldn’t risk checking it again. All I could do was pray that my legs held out long enough to get me over the finish line.

My hair whipped around me, pulled free by the brambles. I could feel the first burn of blisters forming on my heels. Each breath I took was more ragged than the last. I could do this. If I just held out a little longer, I could win.

A dark shape tore out of the trees to my left, and this time I really did scream as Josh plowed into my side, tackling me around the waist like a goddamn middle linebacker. I’d told him not to go easy on me, and, fuck, did I regret it now. All the air in my lungs burst out of my mouth in a rush as we went down. He managed to turn midair, taking the brunt of the fall when we landed, but it still hurt like a sonofabitch. Rocks bit into my skin. My head bounced off the ground.

“Shit,” Josh groaned. “Aly, are you o-”

I slammed my elbow into his stomach.

“Kaaay,” he wheezed, his arms loosening around me.

I struggled free from him and scrambled to my feet, trying to bury the regret that threatened. I hoped I hadn’t hurt him too badly. The goal was to have fun getting rough; not seriously injure each other.

An iron vice clamped around my ankle, and I had just enough time to realize Josh had grabbed me before a vicious yank pulled my leg out from under me, and I went pinwheeling forward.

Motherfucker.

I slammed into the ground, catching most of my weight on my hands and knees.

Owww.

I didn’t let the pain slow me, twisting onto my back as Josh dragged me toward him. He looked both pissed off and turned on, and it sent my pulse ratcheting up another notch.

I had to get away, but, god, the temptation to give in was strong.

Sorry, baby, I thought, lifting my free leg.

Josh’s beautiful brown eyes flashed wide when he realized I was about to kick him in the chest. I pistoned my foot down, but he released me and rolled sideways just in time to dodge the blow. I spun the other way and surged to my feet. He must have been one step ahead because he snagged my arm and spun me back around.

I was halfway through breaking his hold when he grabbed the back of my head and hauled me forward, crashing his mouth into mine. It was almost my undoing. My body recognized him as its main supplier of orgasms. Sex hormones rushed into my veins, my hypothalamus giddily triggering the flood. Despite my desire to get away, my lips popped open on instinct, welcoming him inside.

He swirled his tongue against mine, backing me against a tree.

I moaned into his mouth, clawing at his shirt as I pulled him closer.

His erection pressed into my belly, long and hard and –

Shit! What was I doing?

I stomped on his foot.

He swore and hopped backward.

I turned and fled down the hill.

Just like that, the chase was back on.

The forest was thicker here, broadleaves creeping in, their lower branches whipping against me as I fled past. Good thing I had the next week off. I was going to need all that time to heal afterward. I could already feel bruises blossoming over my skin from our brief tussle, and I was sure I had more scrapes on me than the night we’d fled from Brad’s house.

No. Don’t think of him, I told myself. Thoughts of him aren’t welcome here. This is just for me and Josh.

The sound of pursuit reached my ears, and…was Josh laughing?

I smiled as I stumble-ran down the last few yards of the hill. He was right; this was a fucking blast. I might have been minorly a

The sound of rushing water told me the stream was just ahead. It came into sight a second later, looking wider than where I’d first crossed it. That was okay. I was moving so fast that I was sure I could vault it again.

Trouble was, Josh was moving even faster. The snap of a stick told me he was only inches away before his fingers snagged the back of my shirt. I twisted, trying to break free, but his momentum carried him into me. His big arms banded around my waist, and we stumbled, feet tangling, and fell.

Straight into the goddamn water.

Cold! Fuck, it was cold!

Though it was barely a foot deep, it felt like I’d been dumped into an arctic lake. The brook must have started high up in the mountains, where white still capped the tallest peaks.

I came up spluttering, my mouth full of water. If I contracted giardia, I was never going to forgive Josh for having such shitty timing.

He grabbed my ankle and hauled me toward him. My ass hit about a dozen river rocks along the way. I tried to kick him, but he snatched my other foot out of the air, fingers clamping down and biceps straining as he fought to keep me still. His show of strength was impressive as hell.

I had to get away, or I was done for.

I stopped fighting him and surged forward instead. He wasn’t expecting it. I plowed straight into his chest, knocking him over backward into the water. His hands popped loose, and I started to scramble away, only for him to grab my pant leg and tear a huge hole in it as he dragged me back down.

More splashing ensued as he tried to get ahold of my slippery flesh, and I tried to get the hell away from him. We must have looked ridiculous. Like two lost salmon ineptly flopping around as they attempted to unravel the mystery of which way was upstream. Thank god this section of forest was far enough away from civilization that we were the only humans for miles around, and there was nothing but confused forest creatures to witness our idiocy.

I would have laughed if not for the genuine threat of becoming a guest star in Josh’s next video. People online were mean. And also a little scary. There was an ongoing discussion in one of his comment sections about where we might live based on the glimpses of the city they’d seen out his windows. We’d stopped filming near them in response, but that didn’t mean web sleuths weren’t still trying to find us.

If I could avoid giving them more fodder, I would, which was why I needed to get away. Now.

I managed to slip free from Josh long enough to flip onto my front and scramble forward on all fours. I’d barely made it to the muddy edge of the brook before I was tackled again. This time, Josh put all his weight into it, flattening me like a pancake. I floundered beneath him, trying to throw him off, but between the slimy mud and the fact that he was well over two hundred pounds, it was a lost cause.

He managed to grab both my wrists in record time and pin them over my head, holding them in place with one oven-mitt-sized hand.

Shit. I was going to lose.

A dozen jujitsu moves flashed through my head, but each one could cause serious injury, and as much as I wanted to win, I could never bring myself to hurt Josh like that. And nor could he, I realized. Josh was even more skilled than I was in martial arts, but he hadn’t used a single move on me either, which was why we’d resorted to slap-fighting like a couple of amateurs.

Still, I wasn’t ready to give up, so I bucked my hips sideways, trying to throw him off.

He dug his fingers into the hole in my pants and ripped upward, tearing them to my waist. My underwear got unceremoniously yanked aside, and I had just enough time to realize what was happening before he surged into me with a brutal thrust.

I cried out, both from surprise and relief.

Josh froze behind me, tension in every line of his body. “Are you done fighting, or do you want me to give you another chance?” He ended the question by rocking his hips forward, showing me what I’d be missing if I made the wrong decision.

The sharp sound of an alarm rose around us, our watches beeping in tandem. My time was up. He’d won with seconds to spare, and there’d be no more chances for me.

Instead of answering his question aloud, I turned my alarm off and arched my spine, lifting my hips enough for him to slide in another inch. My pussy clenched around him, trying to drag him deeper. I wanted it hard, rough. He’d run me down like I was prey, and now I wanted him to fuck the last of my resistance out of me.

He groaned, the hand pi

With a snap of his hips, he thrust into me harder, deeper, and even though we’d been doing this for months, I still felt like he was going to split me in half.

“I loved chasing you,” he said. “Loved that you were smiling the whole time.”