Chapter 5

I 'm losing control.

She's fucking with me more than I thought she would. Those pretty little lips are so distracting I can almost feel my cock shoved between them, pumping down her throat.

This wasn't the plan. I was supposed to chase her through the forest, then fuck the living daylights out of her. She's supposed to be mine. Instead, she's making me bend to her will.

Wounding her was harder than I thought it'd be. I've had so much anger built up for her over the years that I didn't even give it a second thought. It should be easy to hurt a girl from the family who took so much from me, but I think it hurt me as much as it hurt her when I slid my knife through her back.

Of course, she had to be facing away from me. I had to slice her from behind. I don't think I could have done it if she hadn't turned to run. Perhaps that's cowardly of me, but she's forcing me to unravel when I least expected it. I am supposed to be in control tonight.

Not her.

She's running again. I think I scared her enough to get her heart pumping, but how far will she go? Will she try to run all the way through the woods this time? Or will she try to be smart and hide from me again? Hiding would be the foolish thing to do, because I'll have to punish her again. This time I won't be as forgiving. My blade will cut deeper, and I'll really wound her. I'll carve my initials into her flesh, branding her as my property. She belongs to me.

The society had contemplated killing her as soon as her father died, removing her from the equation to prevent any future problems, but I wanted to do it myself. I needed time to think it over.

Admittedly, she's made me feel more alive over the last year than I've felt for as long as I can remember. Perhaps as far back as childhood. She's different from anyone I've ever met. Her mind works in different ways. She's more independent than most, never needing the comfort or company of anyone else to be content. She's a loner. Much like myself.

She's the only person who's ever made me want to be with someone. We haven't exchanged more than a few words prior to tonight, but somewhere along the way, I may have let myself get in too deep. Words weren't needed for us to make a connection. Presence alone was enough.

I'm certain she feels it. She won't say it, but the feral way she looks me up and down, appearing to be as animalistic as I feel… it tells me. She needs me.

Stop it.

I shake my head, letting out a thunderous roar filled with frustration. My volume escalates as it gets longer, and I don't have to hear her to know she's running even faster now. Anyone would. I'm fucking scary, and I know it.

She's going to feel so good when I catch her. She's going to be crying, begging, and screaming for more of me. I'll have her for breakfast, lunch, and dinner every day going forward, and I already know it'll never be enough. I've waited so long for this.

Just a little bit longer , I remind myself as I reach down to my cock, adjusting it in my pants. I'm so strained it hurts. My release can't come soon enough.

I stand there for a moment, listening to her frantic footsteps fade into the forest. She's quick, but I'm quicker. There's a path up ahead that she'll find, and if she doesn't hide, she'll take it. It's a fast track out of the trees, and from there she'll be able to see the lights of the lodge. I'll let her get close enough to get a little taste of freedom, then I'll close in for the kill.

I've run this stretch of forest every morning for the last year. I know the quickest way to the path, and I'll beat her there by a long shot. She's scared, and she'll make mistakes as she runs. The direction I pointed her in is rocky and far from level which will slow her down, especially taking into account the fact that she's barefoot right now.

When she's no longer within earshot, the adrenaline sets in, raging through my body as she puts distance between us. I need her as much as I need air. My body has become too accustomed to being around her; I can't think straight when she's not around. Why else would I have spent every waking second of my time near her?

Isabelle doesn't know that I've set up camp in the tree line outside of her estate. Most nights I sleep there, making sure she goes to bed alone and not with someone else. Isabelle can't have anyone else, at least not anyone else who will live to see the end of it.

For too many nights, I watched her through her window. She closed her curtains when I first began dropping hints of tonight, but she eventually grew the courage to leave them open. I think she wanted me to see her. It was the same routine every night. The lights on the lower level of the mansion would be shut off as she made her way upstairs to her bathroom. Less than ten minutes in the bathroom and she was always on her way to bed, dressed in the most scandalous little nightgowns. My personal favorite is a deep shade of red, decorated with black lace. Some nights she sleeps naked, and I like that even more than my favorite nightgown.

The best part of it all was when she would pull her pink vibrator out of her nightstand. She'd crawl into bed, sliding her dress up as she lightly touched herself. Never wasting any time, Isabelle went straight to work with her vibrator, arching her back off the bed as she pressed it into her clit, legs spread wide. Cock in hand, I found my release with her every fucking night. She's a horny little thing, and I can't get enough of it.

My cock strains harder in my pants, making me run harder. My sweet gazelle has been wounded, slashed through the back by a lion. I didn't get as good of a look at it as I would have liked, so I'll have to carve her some more when I catch her. She drew more blood from me with that fucking rock than I did with my blade, but I won't make that mistake again.

I won't be as forgiving this time.

Even though I no longer feel the urge to kill her, I love the idea of her blood slicked across her body while I pump her full of my cum. Shiny and warm, it'll decorate her skin perfectly.

Running harder, I leap over the same log I've jumped over every day for a year. I could run this course with my eyes closed, and it almost feels that way because it's so dark here. This land is unforgiving at night. It'd be far too easy to get turned around, which is all the more reason to spend endless amounts of time here.

I'm banking on the guess that she'll find and take the path. I sent her straight for it. My pace quickens, and I'm moving so quickly it doesn't feel real. My legs pump hard, and I'm sprinting at full speed. The way my blood is pumping has my heart working so hard it feels like it's going to explode out of my chest, but I keep going. I don't have another choice. The chase will only last a few more minutes. Isabelle runs five miles every morning, averaging a seven minute mile. At full speed, she's likely to complete a mile between six and a half and seven minutes. I'll be there less than one minute from now, and she'll be there shortly after.

Curving around the last few bends, I find the bushes I've planned on hiding in. The lodge is in the distance, accompanied by the soft glow of moonlight reflecting off the lake. I stop, diving into the bushes before she gets here. My breathing is ragged, and I'm having a harder time getting it controlled than I thought.

I'm too worked up. I need to calm down. I have to focus.

Focus, Greyson. Fucking focus.

Squatting, I slow my breathing, taking deep inhales and exhales so that I can hear her coming. I smile to myself, clenching my fists as I prepare to pounce.

She's going to be so surprised when I tackle her. She'll be so tired from running that she won't be able to fight me. I already know she won't want to fight me. Like the good girl she is, she'll submit to me, letting me fuck her like she needs it.

Her footsteps are distant at first, but she's running so fast she's here in an instant. It takes everything in me to wait for her to reach me. Everything inside me is telling me to run. The animalistic instinct has taken over, and she's running straight into my trap.

My sweet gazelle.