He started walking again. What was cheating compared to Claire’s safety? He stopped again. But everyone was trying to keep her safe—that was the problem. Too safe for her own good. A baby bird who never dove from the nest had weak wings, easy prey for any chickenhawk that came after it. And much as he hated it, he wouldn’t do her any favors by coddling her.
He checked his watch. Twenty-five minutes to wait. He had the feeling it might be the longest twenty-five minutes of his life.
“Whoa!” Her backpack swung from her shoulders in a crazy arc and threatened to unbalance her. She glanced down and nearly fell into the water as the snake oscillated under her, gaping and hissing.
“No, no!” She dug what were left of her fingernails into the bark. His ghost-white mouth was even scarier close up, its fangs as long as her pinky finger. Why had she made that stupid bet with Luc? If he were here, he’d have probably killed it and cooked it by now. Instead she was going to be the snake’s lunch.
After what seemed like an hour, the snake veered off and continued its reptilian way downstream.
And just in time because her arms and legs were about to give out. No more snakes in sight. She carefully lowered her feet into the stream and released the branch. Wincing, she examined the hunks of dirt and crud embedded in her skin and rinsed her hands. At least she wasn’t bleeding too much. Once she found a stopping place, she’d disinfect the open cuts with her liquid hand sanitizer.
She walked upstream, her legs wobbling slightly from the adrenaline aftershock. Wow, she’d done it. She had saved herself from a nasty-looking snake. And all by herself. Maybe this survival stuff wasn’t so bad.
But that didn’t mean she’d won the bet. She glanced at her watch. Only five minutes before Luc started after her. She checked the riverbank for a place to step out of the water. She found a relatively flat grassy area that might not show her bootprints and hopped onto it.
Okay, now what? She saw a deeply wooded copse just past the grass and headed into the brushy part, careful not to break any branches. Luc had taught her the fresh green insides of broken wood were an obvious giveaway. She was really glad she’d worn long pants or else Luc would have been able to track the blood from her scratched legs. She didn’t need any more injuries.
Geez, it was nice and cool in here, at least ten degrees cooler than in the open. Claire took the time to suck in a refreshing breath. But not too much time. Luc would move much faster than she did, especially with her snake delay.
Oh, a big tree with a hollow at its base was inside the grove. Claire picked up a stick and poked the leaf litter. Nothing came leaping out at her, so she decided to give that a try. The entrance was fairly overgrown but she still needed some camouflage.
Luckily there was a big pile of freshly fallen tree branches whose leaves had started to wilt. She shoved them in front of the hollow, climbed in and pulled her wooden screen closed.
Claire looked up. She’d never been inside a tree before. She had about eight inches of clearance above her head. She’d never been claustrophobic, so it was more cozy than enclosed. Her hidey-hole had kind of a musty, dry smell but wasn’t unpleasant. She tried not to think of what kind of crud was lurking below the dry leaves underneath her.
Maybe she should clean her hands before they got infected. She manually picked out the last bark bits and pulled out her pocket hand sanitizer. She bit back a gasp as the rubbing alcohol hit raw flesh. Wow, that hurt. Waving her hands in the enclosed space, she wondered how long she would need to stay to prove her point. It wasn’t as if Luc would stand in the middle of the woods and yell, “Ollie, Ollie, oxen-free” or “Come out, come out, wherever you are.” She might need to spend the night in the tree. She hadn’t considered that when she made the bet. But if she lost, she was his captive. Under his total control. For as long as he wanted.
So why wasn’t Claire jumping out and calling his name?
Because this wasn’t some sexy hide-and-seek game she was playing—this was a test of her skills and endurance.
It sure was quiet and cool inside here. She yawned. Between hard physical work during the day and heavy duty sex with Luc at night, she hadn’t gotten much sleep all week. She rested her head on her bent knees. Maybe she’d close her eyes for just a minute.
But if she didn’t learn from her mistakes, why the hell was he training her? Would an enemy let her off the hook? No.
He bent down and clamped a heavy hand on her ankle. She let out a scream.
“Gotcha.” Luc purposely hardened his expression, became a stranger.
“Yeah, you got me. How did you find me?” She wiggled out of the hollow and screamed again as he tossed her over his shoulder.
He ignored her question. “You gonna come easy or do I have to tie you up?”
“Tie me up?” she squeaked, his shoulder probably pressing into her diaphragm. “Oh, no, you don’t.” She struggled against him, kicking her boots into his thighs and almost landing one where it counted.
He set her on her feet, careful to keep a mean look on his face. “I hunted you, I found you, and you’re my captive now.”
“What? No, that was a joke, right?” He pulled out a length of rope and tied her wrists together. “Luc!” She finally tried resisting and swung her hands at his head, which he easily ducked, tying her ankles together, as well.
He swung her onto his shoulder again and headed for camp. “You wanted SERE training, you got it. You survived for an hour, but your evasion and resistance leave something to be desired. As for escape, we’ll see about that.” Once he had her in the tent, she wouldn’t be out of his sight.
“Hey, I did more than survive, I won that part.” Her breath was choppy due to his quick pace. “Did you see that gigantic cottonmouth swimming downstream?”
“Yeah, why?” It had been a big son of a bitch. Used to them, Luc hadn’t thought twice about it.
“It came straight at me. Fangs and all.”
“What?” He slowed for a second. She hadn’t been bit, had she? He picked up the pace to carry her to camp and his snakebite kit.
“But I escaped it.” She gasped for air again. “Grabbed a branch…swung my legs up. Went right under me.” She slammed his ass with her hands. “So there.”
Good for her. He shivered for a second. What if she’d been bitten and he hadn’t found her? She could have gotten seriously ill.
He forced himself not to soften. But she hadn’t been bitten, and maybe some of her success was due to his training. Her wings were getting stronger.
“What…gave me away?”
Good, she wanted to know so she didn’t make the same mistake. “You overturned a couple rocks, crushed some grass, but that stinky hand sanitizer was a dead giveaway.”
“Crap,” she muttered.
Luc allowed himself a grin since she couldn’t see his face. To tell the truth, he was enjoying this walk with her curvy butt next to his cheek, her breasts rubbing his back. He ran his hand up her thighs and she let out a yelp.
“What are you doing?”
“Checking my prisoner for weapons.”
“Don’t have any there…you ass.”
He wasn’t sure. To him, her body was one deadly weapon as far as he was concerned. “You gonna honor our bet? Or weasel out?”
“What’d you have…in mind?” She sounded nervous but a bit excited, as well.
“Oui ou non,
Claire?” Shoot, he shouldn’t have used her first name. That made him seem like an easy mark.
“Yes, all right!”
Good. She was all his to do what he wanted to do. He’d make sure she enjoyed herself, as well, since watching her come was so fuckin’ sexy.
A few minutes later, Luc approached their camp. “Ah, we’re home.” He dumped her onto the sleeping bag and she glared up at him.
“I suppose that little caveman stunt of yours made you all hot and bothered?” Her tone was frosty but he sensed the same excitement building in her.
“Sure did,
cher.”
Her breasts were bobbing up and down against her shirt. “I think I’m gon’ make you all hot and bothered, too.”
“Untie me.” She held out her wrists imperiously for him to loosen her.
“Fine. But there’ll be no escape for you.” He cut her hands free, but quickly pushed her onto the bedding.
“Luc, what are you doing?” she all but squealed.
He’d been aggressive with plenty of bad guys and even a couple bad ladies, but they’d never brought out this almost animalistic lust that Claire was inspiring in him.
“You ever let a man do whatever he wanted with you, sweet Claire?” She shook her head. He hadn’t thought so. “You never trusted any of them enough for that, did you?” She looked away but he read the truth in her eyes. “You trust me?”
She looked at him with her big brown eyes and nodded. His heart gave an extra beat. Her trust was beginning to mean the world to him. “I want to do all sorts of wicked, naughty things to you while you’re like this, Claire.”
Her pupils dilated and she gasped. Bingo.
He licked the shell of her ear and sucked on the lobe, sending shivers through her. “You want this,
oui ou non?”
he murmured. “You tell me
‘oui,’
then no stopping.” To seal the deal, he nuzzled her neck, where her pulse beat furiously.
She nodded slowly.
“Oui.”
“Now you belong to me.” His blood pounded through his veins at the idea of making her totally his. “Say it.”
“I belong to you,” she whispered.
Damn right. His cock immediately hardened at her capitulation. He sat on his haunches and ran his hands leisurely over her clothed body. Breasts, belly, bottom. Down the outside of her legs and up the inside. He wiggled his hand between her thighs and pressed it to the searing heat between. Oh, yes, here was the proof that sweet Mademoiselle Claire was totally turned on by his game.
She gasped as he leisurely pressed the heel of his hand on her center. “Oh, Luc, there.”
He immediately withdrew his touch. “You don’t have any say, remember? You are only here to give me pleasure.” That wasn’t true, but it sounded good.
“Yes, Luc.” She bit her lip with her white teeth and he nearly groaned himself.
He straddled her thighs, his erection resting right below her belly button. He unbuttoned her shirt, revealing her white cotton bra, two points pushing eagerly at the fabric. She lay quietly but watchfully, waiting to see what he would do next. Next was the front clasp of her bra, easily flicked open. He spread the cups apart and she was bare to the waist.
He would never get tired of seeing her plump breasts topped with sweet milk-chocolate nipples. They tightened even further under his hungry gaze. She instinctively tried to cover herself, but he wouldn’t let her.
Instead she met his gaze defiantly. Good. He didn’t want to break her spirit. He deliberately covered her breasts with his hands, thumbing her nipples. She tried to stifle a little moan, but that small sound sent a wave of triumph over him.
“You have pretty tits. Too soft and sweet for a rough man like me.” He bent down and gently rubbed his cheek over her soft, soft skin, his stubble grazing her nipples. Her heartbeat strummed in his ear, a near match to his.
Despite his desire, he took his time, sucking on one peak as he toyed with the other. They swelled under his fingers and tongue as Claire’s whimpers spurred him on. “Ah, you love this?” He didn’t need any answer to know she did like what he was doing—the bucking of her hips giving her away.
He dragged his tongue lazily around her left breast, looking into her hazy brown eyes before blowing a stream of cold air across her wet flesh.
“Luc!” She wiggled against him.
“Quiet!” he commanded. “Or else I’m gon’ roll you onto your belly and give you a good spanking.”
Damned if her hips didn’t buck again, the idea arousing her and him, as well, as he imagined his hand on her bare ass, hearing her yelps of mixed pleasure and pain. He wiped his damp forehead. She was turning him into a real pervert.
He swung off her body and undid her pants, pulling them and her panties down to her ankles. She let her knees fall open, showing him everything. His nostrils flared at her scent. He’d been dying to taste for himself, but she’d been too shy.
Not anymore. He was in charge, right? Right. He stripped off her boots and clothing. Was she ever sexy, her breasts thrusting into the air, her slim waist curving into round, full hips and tapering into strong, sexy legs. Even her peach-painted toenails made him hard.
“Je vais te lécher le clito, toi.”
“You’re going to lick my what?” She lifted her head, only to drop it as he put action to words and licked her hard clit for all he was worth. Now the hip bucking really began, forcing him to clamp his arms around her thighs to keep his face in her burning-hot
chatte.
He was as hungry as if he’d come out of a six-week training exercise and she was a lavish buffet. He couldn’t get enough of her salty-sweet taste, her musky smell, her silky thighs locking around his head. She was probably screaming but he couldn’t hear so well. Her body told him plenty, though, her juices slicking his face. He darted his tongue over her clit, her pussy, even plunging deep inside her like a little cock.
Luc moaned into her body, imagining his big cock doing the same. Who was being tormented here, anyway? She shuddered under him, and he slipped two fingers inside her pussy and found a swollen nub on the wall. He pressed gently and she went wild, thrusting and arching until she came, shouting his name.
Claire finally calmed and Luc let her go, kneeling over her naked body again. “You never did that before, did you,
cher?”
She shook her head, her face flushed and sweaty.
“Good.” A primal satisfaction rushed through his veins, his adrenaline pumping as if he’d completed a successful mission. He had been the first. He stood and eagerly stripped off his T-shirt, pants and boots. His underwear was the last and most welcome to go.
Standing naked and erect over her sated form, he was a conqueror about to plunder her body. He’d introduced her to the joys of a thorough orgasm, made her scream in delight, and now it was his turn.
“What are you going to do now, Luc?”
“It’s your turn to pleasure me now.”