Page 46 of To No End

(Thirteen Days Remain)

I sought out my revenge on Trace’s prank about a week into my visit. When I was young, I learned a trick with Rain that sent my parents into a near panic. It consisted of pretending I had fallen off my horse and hurt myself, when in actuality, it was an acrobatic feat that I’d practiced many times with Versa as my audience.

We were riding together, with me trailing a short distance behind Trace and Alcar. Close enough, though, that they’d hear a commotion and stop. As planned, Rain slowed a little, stood on his hind legs, let out a deafening squeal and I “fell” and rolled to the ground. Like clockwork, Trace turned just in time to see enough of the act that looked real from a distance.

I lay there, not moving, pretending to be completely knocked out when Trace galloped to me, lunging to my side. I could feel the horror emanating from him. I reveled in his fear, remembering the exact moment I had tried to escape the flesh-eating eels.

He held me in his arms, cradling my face, asking over and over again, “Cress, Cress, are you okay? Wake up!”

When I finally decided he’d had enough torture, I opened my eyes wide and smiled directly up at him. Now that my eyes were open, I could see the concern and fear settled deep in his brow. He was scared. Had I truly rattled him that badly? The look on his face when he saw me smile and knew what I had done in jestwas a mixture of relief and an inexplicable anger that I’d never encountered.

Before I could respond, Trace had lifted me like I weighed nothing, hoisted me over his shoulder, and began carrying me toward a nearby tree.

“You want to play damsel in distress?” he said with an eerily calm ferocity.

“You deserved it!” I tried to sound playful to offset the intensity radiating from him.

Trace set me down and turned me toward the tree, facing away from him. My body was limp and pliable as I let him have his way, unsure of exactly where this was headed. I began to look over my shoulder to peer in his direction. “Don’t look at me. Don’t move a muscle,” he ordered.

I heard him rip the fabric from the sleeve of his shirt, tear it in two, and suddenly, a strip of cloth was being wrapped tightly across my eyes, blindfolding me. Another piece quickly found its way across my mouth. I had been so distracted by the urgency of his actions, I didn’t have time to process if I was scared or turned on.

I trusted him completely, but this was all truly surprising. After some brief rustling noises, I felt the feeling of worn leather binding my hands tightly behind my back. Now the nerves were setting in as bit-by-bit Trace rendered me helpless.

The forest seemed still and silent. I could feel the hot, heavy breath of Trace’s lips near the back of my ear, hovering close to my neck. He used his knee to nudge my feet into a wider stance.

“That was a very big mistake, Cress,” was all he said in a low, almost predatory manner.

My body was becoming hot with desire; the suspense of not being able to see, speak, or use my hands was alluring. Trace reached his arm around my waist, taking no time at all to plungehis hand down the front of my trousers and run his long, rigid fingers along my slippery heat.

I arched my body into him, seeking more. He began to draw pleasure from me in rapid circles, my ragged breaths inaudible through the gag. I could feel myself reaching a climax, as he did not relent, and just as I was meeting my end he stopped and removed his hand, leaving me practically aching for him. Why would he do this to me?

“Are you distressed?” he asked, toying with me.

I whimpered with a nod. He turned me around so I was now facing him, but alas, I could still see nothing beyond this blindfold. My fingertips itched to touch him. He yanked my boots from my feet, removed my pants swiftly, and if it weren’t for the absolute certainty that we were utterly alone in the middle of nowhere, I’d have feared for my propriety.

Trace was now clearly on his knees before me as he swung one of my legs over his shoulder, forcing me to balance on the other. A near-impossible task as I was still trembling from minutes before. And then his mouth was consuming me.

Firm brushes of his tongue, light flicks across my center, his fingers working me into a frenzy. I had nothing to steady myself. My hands were rendered useless. I leaned into the amazing feeling of his mouth against me, and in minutes, I was chasing that climax again. I could feel the intensity of it building and once more, as I thought I would topple over the edge—he stopped.

Once more he deprived me of his touch, of the sensation. All of my muscles tightened, building with the anxiety of being taken close to release and then denied.

“Are you distressed?” he asked again.

If only I could see, I was more than certain there would have been an absolutely sinister look on his handsome face. I was unbelievably distressed—so much so that the aching wasborderline painful, and I could feel the beginning of stinging tears hovering below my lashes beneath the blindfold.

Once more, Trace turned my half-naked body to face the tree, away from him, and wedged his knee between my legs to spread them. I heard the unbuckling of his belt and the sound was that of salvation. I yearned to feel every inch of him inside of me, to set me free from this torturous build-up.

Trace forcefully bent me over, taking me abruptly and without warning. His thrusts, short and rapid, had me taking deep breaths through my nose, as I could not get enough air with the cloth gag in my mouth. The lightheadedness caused by this created an unnatural, almost euphoric sensation.

He punished me with a vigor I had never felt from Trace. If he did not bring me to an end soon, I was going to fully collapse. I had already been bracing most of my weight into the tree in front of me, the rough bark irritating my skin, a sensation that could only be ignored by the countering force of Trace. His pace edged me toward eruption and as I tightened all around him, the bastard did it again.

He stopped. Standing completely still, unmoving, but inside of me and he began to slowly pull out.

“Are you distressed?” he panted the words in my ear.

I nodded yes, anything to get him to stop this cruel madness. I felt him untie the fabric gagging my mouth and when it fell to the ground, I took in deep heaping breaths for the first time since this all had begun. He spun me around, facing forward now, but still blinded.

“Say my name,” he commanded.

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