CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

I couldn’t feel my fingers anymore, the twine cutting into my skin. My breath rasped against the gag in my mouth, hot and suffocating, making my lungs burn with every stride. The darkness was impenetrable, the moonlight barely enough to cast shadows on the uneven ground.

I couldn’t see shit. My legs ached, stumbling over roots and rocks, but the adrenaline kept me moving. Cherish was just ahead, her silhouette a blur in the dim light. Her bound arms swayed awkwardly as she fought to keep her balance, the gag in her mouth muffling her breathy cries.

Ryan was just behind me, his heavy footsteps crunching through the underbrush, a constant reminder that we were still alive, still moving.

The cold bit into my skin through the thin layers of my clothing, but I refused to acknowledge it. I had to focus.

The fear coursing through me numbed everything else, sharpening my senses to the sound of our footfalls and the rustling of branches around us. I fought back tears, swallowing hard to keep them from spilling over and blurring my vision further. If I couldn’t see, I couldn’t run, and if I couldn’t run…

No. Don’t think like that.

The woods felt endless, the trees like looming sentinels watching our every move. I glanced at Cherish again, my chest tightening at the sight of her stumbling. She caught herself before falling, her bound hands twitching as though they were desperate to reach out for something to steady herself.

Ryan’s muffled grunt of effort from behind me pulled my attention back.

He was keeping up, but I could hear the strain in his breath, the exhaustion creeping into his steps. His limbs weren’t right. Shifted at odd angles and tied behind his back. That had to fucking hurt.

The gag pressed against my tongue, the rough material chafing the corners of my mouth. I wanted to scream, to yell, to curse Wilder’s name into the night, but the sound was locked inside me, trapped like everything else. My mind raced, desperate for a plan, an escape, but nothing made sense. Nothing about this made any fucking sense. They did shit like this simply because they could? It was sickening.

A branch snapped somewhere off to the right. My heart leaped into my throat as I whipped my head toward the sound, my breath catching. My pace faltered for just a second, my foot catching on a root. I stumbled, barely managing to catch myself before I went down. Cherish turned her head slightly, her muffled voice reaching me in panicked tones.

I managed to get my legs back under me and kept moving, but the sound stuck with me, echoing in my head.

Were they already coming?

I ran forward, nearly colliding with Cherish’s back. I couldn’t tell if it was the adrenaline or sheer terror fueling me now, but I clung to it like a lifeline.

The forest was alive with the sound of our frantic footsteps and snapping branches, each noise a reminder that we were prey. My heart pounded in my chest, every beat a desperate plea to keep going, keep moving, keep surviving. Cherish tripped, her shoulder slamming into mine and sending me off the faint path we’d been following.

I stumbled sideways and barely caught myself. I caught a glimpse of KJ skipping behind us and immediately regretted looking back.

“Run!” I tried to shout through the gag, but the sound was muffled and useless.

I shoved my sister forward with my shoulder, hoping she’d take the hint. If we both couldn’t make it, one of us needed to. She hesitated for only a second before darting ahead, her bound hands making her movements awkward but determined.

I didn’t stop to check which way she went. I couldn’t, veering further off the path, the dense underbrush grabbed at me like it wanted to keep me there. Branches snagged on my clothes, tearing my sweatpants, and scratching my skin.

I pitched forward, landing hard on my stomach. The impact knocked the air from my lungs, and I coughed, dirt and leaves sticking to my face as I tried to catch my breath.

The gag in my mouth felt like a suffocating weight, and I dragged my face against the rough forest floor, forcing it free with sheer desperation. As soon as it was off, I gulped in fresh air and pushed myself up, ignoring the pain that shot through my wrists.

I could feel thin trails of blood from where the flesh had split, some of it dripping down onto my hands.

I started running again. My legs burned as I forced myself into a sprint, dodging trees and stumbling over roots. I realized too late that whoever was behind me easily could have caught me already. They had stopped when I fell, treating this like a game of cat and mouse.

They didn’t seem to be struggling like I was to see two feet in front of them. A pained shout echoed through the trees from further back, and my stomach dropped. That had to have been Ryan. I zigzagged, crying out as my shoulder bounced off a tree. The ground abruptly dipped, and I pitched forward.

Before I could go sailing down into darkness and whatever else awaited me at the bottom of what I assumed was a hill, A strong arm wrapped around my middle, yanking me off my feet and dragging me backward.

I screamed, thrashing wildly, tripping up whoever had me.

We went down together. The ground came up fast, but my fall was cushioned—by them.

No. Not them .

Wilder.

The scent of his cologne, the solid build of his body pressing against me, was unmistakable. My stomach twisted as dread and fury clashed, boiling into something dark and uncontrollable.

"I’ve been dreaming of this day all week," Wilder confessed, his voice low and unbothered, as if we weren’t sprawled in the dirt of the forest. He wasn’t winded in the slightest, his strength an inescapable cage.

“Get the fuck off me, Wilder!” I growled, my voice breaking with rage as I lurched forward. His weight bore down on me, pinning me like prey under a predator’s claws.

Something hard pressed into my back, and my heart plummeted, dread coiling in my stomach like a living thing.

“No, not again,” I choked out, putting all I had into getting away. It felt fucking pointless without the use of my hands. The twine around my wrists dug deeper into my skin, sharp bursts of pain shooting up my arms. I didn’t care. I Escape was all I could think about.

“You can fight all you want, Mint. It’s just going to make me want you more.”

I screamed obscenities at him. The ground was cold and unyielding, just like him, and every inch of me burned with the knowledge that there was no getting out of this. His strength, his control, was absolute. He was suffocating me with the wool I’d had pulled over my eyes.

“Wilder, please !” I breathed raggedly, the words ripping from my throat. It wasn’t even a plea for mercy, it was desperation, confusion, and a fear I couldn’t suppress.

“You don’t have to beg,” he replied, his tone laced with something far too close to sensuality.

He yanked my pants down for the second time that night. He maneuvered my body easily, spreading my legs apart until I felt the burn in my thighs.

“Wilder—” I tried to protest, but anything I wanted to say was lost as he slammed inside me. The sheer force of it sent me sprawling forward. With no way to catch myself, I braced, expecting to hit the ground. He caught me at the last second, his hands gripping my waist to keep me steady, to ensure I took everything he gave.

His breathing was steady while mine came in broken gasps. The pain gave way to a mix of pleasure and humiliation. My body screamed at me to stop fighting, to surrender to the inevitability of him, but I couldn’t convince my mind to do the same.

“You feel so fucking good,” he growled. “You were made for me.”

The way I clenched around him, the heat pooling low in my stomach, and the traitorous shiver that ran through me as his gloved fingers dug into my hips, had to be a reaction from muscle memory. I couldn’t deny what he coaxed from my body even as I hated him for it.

“You’re mine, Mint,” he hissed, his voice like velvet laced with poison. “You’ve always been mine. I won’t ever let you forget that.”

His words felt like a noose tightening around my throat, pulling me deeper into the suffocating darkness that was him. Tears burned in my eyes, spilling down my cheeks as his pace grew harder, the rhythmic sound of our bodies carrying through the treetops.

I hated him.

I hated that I loved him.

I came shuddering around his dick. I could feel my cum and juices all over him and dripping down my legs.

“Good girl,” he rasped, his voice thick with satisfaction. “I fucking love you.”

He didn’t stop.

He didn’t slow.

He pounded into me, fucking me through every jagged edge of my release until I was quivering beneath him and cumming again, pleasure making my toes curl. Even in his brutality, he cushioned me, one arm holding me up so I wasn’t slamming face-first into the ground. It was infuriating, the way he could do something so violent and still make it feel like care.

“Stop, please,” I groaned, my voice breaking.

“You don’t want me to stop. You never do.”

I clenched my teeth, trying to block out the familiar sensation building inside me yet again, trying to think of anything else.

It didn’t matter. He knew my body too well. He suddenly shifted, his hands firm on my hips as he flipped me onto my back. I tried to twist away, but his weight bore down on me again, pressing me into the dirt.

His knees forced mine apart, and his gloved hands gripped my thighs, holding me in place as he pushed back inside me. His masked face loomed above me, blocking out the world, his dominance suffocating and inescapable. “You’re beautiful, like this too.”

All I could do was glare at him. My body ached, trembling beneath his relentless attention, my wrists still bound tight with twine, dug into my skin with every feeble movement.

“Don’t fight it, Mint. You can’t win. “Give me what’s mine.”

I shook my head weakly. “No,” I choked out, as the pressure built, coiling tight in my stomach, my muscles trembling with the inevitability of what he was dragging out of me.

“I feel it. You’re so close.”

“No,” I denied, but it was futile. Pleasure hit me in uncontrollable waves.

My vision blurred, and I gasped, tears streaking down my face as I came again,

“That’s my girl,” he rasped, his voice thick with satisfaction, his thrusts punishing as he chased his own release. When he finally pulled out, I thought it was over, but then his hands gripped my shoulders, lifting me into a sitting position.

Before I could process what was happening, fingers dug into my jaw, prying my mouth open. More gloved fingers gripped my hair. “Don’t make me tell you twice.”

His voice was calm but laced with a warning I wasn’t going to test.

I opened wider and waited.

“No teeth. You’re beautiful just the way you are, but you’d look just as pretty without them.”

The twine bit into my skin again as I shifted closer to him. His hand guided me, leaving no room for defiance. He slid his slick dick into my mouth, the size of him stealing the air from my lungs as he hit the back of my throat. I could taste us on him, pre-cum, and my juices.

I gagged and he pulled out, easing himself back in. “Relax, we both know you can take this.”

I glared up at him, hoping he could see some of what I was feeling. He chuckled and tightened his grip on my hair. “You can’t look intimidating with my dick halfway down your throat.” He pushed all the way in to emphasize his point. “You do look gorgeous as ever, though.”

He began thrusting in and out, setting a steady tempo. “That’s it,” he encouraged, his tone softer now.

He groaned and started to fuck my mouth like he had me., unrelenting, only slowing when I choked and needed a moment to catch my breath. My throat burned, my jaw ached, and my humiliation deepened with every second as saliva dripped down my chin. He didn’t let up. His control was absolute, his hand gripping the back of my head, keeping me exactly where he wanted. I had no warning before he stilled and nut shot across my tongue, coating it entirely.

“Swallow,” he commanded, his voice low and firm. When I hesitated, he pulled out and cupped my mouth. I tried to turn my head but that only caused his grip to tighten. I forced myself to swallow, the act hollowing me out in ways I didn’t think were possible. My body trembled, every muscle in me screaming for this to end.

“That’s my good girl,” he murmured, his thumb stroking my jaw as he finally released his hold on my hair.

He leaned back slightly, his gloved hand sliding under my chin to tilt my face up toward him. “You’ll remember this,” he said, his voice low and possessive. “You’ll remember who you belong to and never fucking forget it.”

I didn’t respond. My thoughts were a chaotic mess, torn between anger, humiliation, and something darker I didn’t want to name. Despite the disgust and rage twisting in my gut, there was a sickening part of me that acknowledged his words.

“So perfect,” he murmured again, branding the word into my soul. When he finally let go and pulled back, the world seemed to tilt, leaving me dizzy and unmoored.

I slumped forward, my bound wrists awkward and useless. He caught me before I could fall, his hands steady and sure.

His touch felt like a prison, a cage I would never escape. A gloved hand stroked my hair, fingers gently picking out the leaves and dirt that clung to it.

His touch was infuriatingly gentle, as though I was something fragile, he was determined not to break. The tender care was a cruel juxtaposition to what had just happened, making me feel even smaller. He didn’t force me to look at him, though his hand lingered on my cheek for a moment longer before sliding down.

“I’m gonna get you up now.” His arms slid beneath me, and he moved slowly, lifting me to my feet as though I was made of glass. My legs wobbled, and he steadied me, his hands unyielding on my waist. “Let’s go. The others are waiting.”

He guided me forward gripping my arm. Every step felt like a march to my own damnation.