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Authors: Ella Ardent

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BOOK: Hunted
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Shara tried to tear her way through the net, but it was some kind of synthetic, maybe nylon, and very strong even though it was fine. The mesh was fine, too, so she could barely get a finger through one of the open squares.

On the other hand, she could stand on it. She stood and tried to work the gather loose at the top, at least until she heard a step.

“Don’t kid yourself,” Neil said. There was no humor in his tone, no sexual satisfaction or desire. It was weird because he’d used similar tools to Damon, but it wasn’t hot at all. She was outraged he’d drugged Jared just to get the man out of the way, and wasn’t at all convinced he’d managed the dose carefully. He had Jared slung over his shoulders, and the other man looked to be out cold. It creeped Shara out to see him so still.

“Did you kill him?” she demanded.

Neil shrugged, not seeming to care. “Probably not. We’ll find out by tomorrow.” Shara thought he was smirking at her. “Don’t break your fingernails trying to get out. It can’t be done.”

Maybe because he’s outsmarted her. That he was gloating, and not because he intended to seduce her royally, was really a turn-off. If it had been Damon who had sprung this trap on her, she’d have been dripping wet and ready for him.

Neil nodded when she didn’t say anything more. “I figured you’d trip this one.” He sighed. “It was completely predictable.”

“How many traps have you set?” Shara demanded.

He just smiled and hefted the weight of Jared. “Don’t go anywhere. I’ll be back in a while.”

And he walked away, his fatigues and his quiet step ensuring he disappeared almost immediately into the undergrowth. Shara couldn’t believe it. He’d trapped her, but just meant to leave her like this. What was he going to do to Jared? What was his plan?

And where was Damon?

* * *

Damon saw what happened to Shara and was content to let the other man have his fun. He saw it as an opportunity to affect his future prospects.

If Neil had set two traps that were virtually the same, he’d probably set more.

It looked like Jared was down for the count, and Damon hoped the man did wake up. He could have freed Shara, but he had a feeling that was what Neil expected him to do.

Instead, Damon followed Neil stealthily, hanging back in the shadows and moving silently. That man slung Jared into a nylon hammock colored to blend into the growth. It might have been from the same company that had made Damon’s tent. He secured Jared into the hammock, laced it tightly, then hauled it up into the tree canopy. If Damon hadn’t seen him do it, he’d never have been able to locate Jared.

To his surprised, Neil didn’t return to Shara then. He glanced back, listening, smiling when Shara swore with frustration. Then he headed in the opposite direction. Damon followed carefully, noting how the other man walked around the perimeter of certain clearings and noticing there was a faint path to be discerned in the undergrowth when he looked.

He would bet Neil had charted a path that avoided all of the traps he had set.

He shouldn’t have been surprised when Neil went to the water reservoir. That man checked the level then nodded with satisfaction. Only about a fifth of the water had been taken. Damon had filled one canteen and he expected Jared might have done the same. Maybe Shara had taken more.

Neil emptied the water from the reservoir, letting it spill onto the ground until there was only about a quarter of it left. Then he worked the plug out of the top with his knife, dropped something into the remaining water, and watched carefully. He must be waiting for it to dissolve, whatever it was.

Damon dropped a hand to his own canteen, knowing Neil’s choice ensured they would short of water before they were picked up. And who knew what he’d put in the water supply? It could have been as simple as a laxative, or it could have been much worse. The water didn’t change color or look any different than it had.

Neil then left the reservoir, taking the same path back across the island to the clearing where Shara was trapped. Again, he clung to the perimeter of those same clearings, and moved with a confidence that proved he knew he was avoiding his own traps. Damon waited until Neil was back with Shara before he let the man out of his sight.

Then he retraced their steps and made some adjustments to Neil’s carefully laid plans. Damon didn’t like that Neil was mean. He distrusted that the other man wanted to win at any cost.

And that meant he would ensure Neil didn’t win, one way or the other.

When he was back at the reservoir, he filled his second canteen with the tainted water. He made sure he hung it from his left shoulder, so he wouldn’t mix them up. His other canteen was on his right shoulder.

He looked for traps on every clearing as he made his way back to Jared, and found six of them. Damon relocated them with care, placing them squarely in Neil’s established path. Then he went to check on Jared. The other man was sleeping heavily but otherwise okay. Damon unbound Jared and left the canteen from his right shoulder with him. He poured some water into Jared’s mouth, hoping it would diminish the effect of whatever drug he’d been given. Then Damon crept silently through the jungle to watch whatever Neil would do to Shara.

It wasn’t about winning anymore. It wasn’t even about claiming Shara anymore, or fulfilling her fantasy.

It was about protecting the woman he admired most, and doing what was right.

Chapter Five

Neil was right. There was no way to get free of this net without a knife. Shara dropped down in frustration and swung in the net, knowing she had no choice but to wait for his return.

Where had he gone? What was he doing? Was he trying to build suspense by leaving her alone like this? If that had been his plan, he should have touched her and teased her a bit, left her hungry for what he could offer, and then gone on his errand.

Whatever it was.

That’s what Damon would have done.

She wondered where Damon was, and feared Neil might not want to be interrupted. Maybe he had gone after Damon, to drug him like Jared, so he didn’t have to worry about the other man coming upon them.

So he could have her completely at his mercy.

Shara didn’t much like the sound of that. She scrabbled against the gathered top of the net again, thinking there had to be a way out, but made no more difference to her situation than she had the last time.

The sun would be setting soon and it would be getting darker. She would be cold in the evening air, but there wasn’t much she could do about it. Shara didn’t imagine Neil was going to do anything about it either. After all, he was gone. It didn’t seem like he even wanted her, which was supposed to be the point.

She swore and dropped down heavily again, not enjoying this particular part of her birthday present. Something glimmered in the shadows of the forest, and she realized it was the blade of a knife.

And a man stood there, watching her.

It was Neil. She would have recognized his cold smile anywhere.

He held up the knife, then strolled toward her. “You’ll be wanting one of these.”

“Are you going to give it to me?”

He must smiled. He unfastened the rope he had coiled over his shoulders and stepped closer, tugging it between his hands. It was a heavy jute rope, as thick as her wrists, and Shara’s mouth went dry at the sight of it. Was he going to let her go and try to bind her? Would she have a chance to run? She was ready, her strength coiled, but Neil flicked the rope around her waist.

He knotted it securely behind her back, then spun her in the net, winding it around her. He knotted it again, binding her upper arms to her body, securing her inside the hard mesh of the net. He smiled at her, his eyes chilly, then spun her again. This time, the thick rope went across her mouth. She parted her lips to complain but he tugged it tight in that moment, gagging her with the heavy jute. The mesh of the net dug into her skin and she’d never felt so powerless in her life. She struggled, thrashing and kicking, as he walked away.

He loosened the rope and lowered the net so she dropped hard onto her knees. Shara struggled to her feet, hoping she’d be able to run, but there wasn’t that much slack in the rope. She could move maybe six feet in either direction. Neil strolled back toward her, taking his time in his confidence that she was trapped, and kicked off his boots. He removed his pants, letting his erection spring free, then smoothed the condom over his cock. It was when he took a tube of lubricant from his kit that Shara feared his intention, because he put lots of it on the sheath.

Then he pulled his knife and came to her. He spun her around and Shara was terrified. But he bent her over and cut the net behind her ass. She heard his knife fall to the ground, then he held fast to her hips and took her from behind. There was no preamble, no foreplay, no tease. He just slammed home with a grunt.

If Damon hadn’t initiated her into this kind of play the night before, Shara knew she would have found it incredibly painful. As it was, this wasn’t the most sensual experience of her life. Neil pounded away, gripping her hips as he drove deep repeatedly.

The only mercy was he came quickly, so it didn’t last long.

Then he stepped away, disinterested in her pleasure. It had been easy to fulfill Damon’s demand this time, and Shara had no desire to touch herself after that encounter.

She was disgusted and revolved. She wanted to bathe herself, as well as put as much distance between the two of them as possible. But there wasn’t much she could do, not when she was trapped like this.

And Neil knew it. He was smiling when he spun her around again, and seemed to savor her powerlessness. He had his pants back on already. He lifted the end of the rope that hung down her back and bound her ankles together, still keeping her trapped within the mesh.

“I win,” he whispered to her, his eyes glinting. “And no one’s going to have the chance to say otherwise.”

Shara made a protest behind her gag but he just smiled. He ran a fingertip across her face, appearing to enjoy that she was so completely captive.

“Now we wait,” he said before stepping away. He hauled on the rope, leaving Shara bound and hanging in the middle of the clearing. She watched in horror as he set another similar trap, carefully covering the green mesh net with leaves so it couldn’t be seen.

When all was arranged to his satisfaction, he saluted her, then disappeared into the shadows. She knew he was out there. She knew he was watching.

She understood he expected Damon to try to rescue her. He would trap Damon, right before her eyes, then probably spend the rest of the weekend taking his pleasure.

And ignoring her own. Shara wasn’t sure what she could do about it, but this wasn’t the birthday present she had planned.

Somehow, she had to save this gift to herself. But how could she warn Damon? And how could she escape Neil?

* * *

The only way to disarm Neil was to step into his trap.

Damon crouched in the tree, watching the other man hide in the shadows. Shara was fighting her bonds, struggling to free herself, but she didn’t have a chance. In fact, given the way the other man had taken her, Damon had to think it was a bad idea on her part to be waving her bare ass with such enthusiasm. It was the only part of her not trapped in the mesh and her ripe butt looked enticing even to him as she wriggled.

He spared a glance at the sky, knowing he had to release her before it got dark.

He considered the trap again, then eased from tree to tree, staying high up in the canopy. He was getting closer to Neil and didn’t want to attract the man’s attention. The rope that sprang the trap, though, was over a bough right over Neil’s head. Damon had his knife in his teeth and made his way with caution. He was considering the last increment of space, that last jump to the tree over Neil’s head, when he got lucky.

Jared moaned, then shouted. There was a sound of something falling heavily, probably Jared falling out of the hammock he didn’t know he was in, then silence.

Neil straightened at full alert. Damon didn’t dare move a muscle. Shara continued to moan and squirm.

Neil looked at Shara.

He looked toward Jared, then scanned the jungle, clearly torn between checking on the other man and keeping vigil at the trap he’d set for Damon. It was almost enjoyable to see him worry about it, then he decided to check on Jared. Neil slipped through the jungle, and as soon as he was out of sight, Damon moved quickly to the top of the tree in question. He pulled up the end of the rope and knotted it to the tree so the trap couldn’t be sprung, then dropped the end back down again. He’d planned to cut it, but this was faster.

He moved immediately to the other side of the clearing then and moved deeper into the jungle.

He was in position just in the nick of time. Neil came back through the jungle, looking pissed off. He took his place again, his eyes narrowed, and Damon hoped he was mad enough to make a mistake.

Then he crept through the jungle, drawing closer to Shara, but making more noise than he usually would. By the time he stepped into the clearing, there was no visible sign of Neil.

But Damon knew the other man was there. He scanned the shadows with apparent care, eying Shara, then stepped toward her. She made a muffled cry, her eyes wide as if she’d warn him of the trap and Damon smiled.

BOOK: Hunted
12.92Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

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