by S. J. Lewis
Another laugh. Whatever Lane might have said before, Kimberley definitely felt as if she were being laughed at.
“Mmmmm….” Lane mused, her hand still under Kimberley’s chin. “No, I suppose it doesn’t look that way. Such a shame, for such an ingenious and daring plan to fail so soon.” Silently, she stared into Kimberley’s eyes. Kimberley tried to meet her gaze, but after a minute she had to turn away.
Lane took her hand away and stood up. She was tall enough so that she had to stoop over a little in the confines of the tent. Kimberley found it easier to look her in the eyes when those eyes weren’t quite so close to hers. For a long time, Lane just stood there, regarding Kimberley. Her smile faded away and she frowned minutely. That small, thoughtful frown disturbed Kimberley more than Lane’s feral smiles had.
“I suppose I could just let you go,” Lane said at last. “But I’ve never done that before. It doesn’t feel right. And you are a rare prize, Elf-Girl.”
Kimberley shrugged resignedly. She looked away.
“But…” Lane went on. “I have an idea…”
“What?” Kimberley looked up again to see Lane pulling her black top off over her head. “What…what are you doing?”
Lane tossed the top away. She reached around behind to unhook her brassiere and smiled. “What do you think I’m doing?” she asked. That predatory smile was back, and Kimberley was pretty sure she knew what Lane was doing.
“I…ah…you said you liked men.”
“Oh, I do!” Lane shed the brassiere and tossed it aside. Her breasts were small, round and high like those of a young girl’s. Her nipples were prominent and dark. They suited her perfectly. A she-predator would have teats, not udders.
“Then…why…”
Naked to the waist, Lane knelt down in front of Kimberley and put her face only inches away. Those lovely, terrible eyes were glowing. Kimberley felt Lane’s arms go around her neck and she shivered.
“If I’m going to do something I’ve never done before, I might as well do something else I’ve never done before,” Lane purred.
“Ah…never?” Kimberley gulped.
“Not with a captive,” Lane murmured and she drew Kimberley to her for a kiss.
Kimberley only had time for one small squeak of surprise. Lane’s lips were soft and warm…no, not warm, HOT! In fact, the woman seemed to be radiating heat now like a furnace. She felt Lane’s tongue probe gently between her lips. She yielded. Her own tongue began fencing wetly with Lane’s. She felt Lane shiver.
“Ahhhh…” Lane exhaled as she broke the kiss. “Elf-Girl, you are indeed a prize.” Her breath smelled faintly of mint. It took Kimberley a moment to refocus her vision. Lane sat back and began to remove her boots. Like all the rest of her outfit, they were black, and while they looked serviceable, they did not look like regular trail boots. She chucked them away and then wriggled out of her pants and panties. Kimberley couldn’t help staring. Lane’s body was lean and muscular, but still very feminine…like a female leopard, she thought. She was a bit confused now. Lane wanted her, she had no doubt…but how? She was still bound but fully clothed, while Lane was naked but unbound.
She got down on all fours and crawled slowly towards Kimberley, grinning hungrily. That female leopard image suddenly became too apt and Kimberley shuddered.
“Relax, my little Elf-Girl,” Lane purred. She pushed Kimberley slowly over onto her back and straddled her body. “I won’t say that I won’t bite you, and I won’t say that I won’t eat you…” she chuckled. “But you have no cause to fear.” She lowered her head to kiss Kimberley again. This time, Kimberley responded rather than yielded. Lane’s kiss was intoxicating. Kimberley didn’t want it to end. She was distantly aware of Lane’s strong and nimble fingers slowly unbuttoning buttons, opening her blouse, pushing her sports bra up and out of the way. She moaned. She had to.
Lane broke the kiss at last. Her face was flushed, her breathing heavy…just as Kimberley’s were. She twisted her fingers into Kimberley’s hair before bending her head to take Kimberley’s swollen nipple into her mouth. She bit down, lightly, her tongue-tip flickering across the sensitive nub of flesh. Kimberley writhed and moaned under her, feeling Lane’s teeth tug on her nipple as she squirmed. The feeling was intense, overpowering, overwhelming…Kimberley ran out of adjectives. Only Alpha had ever made her lose herself like this before. It was like being caught in whitewater rapids, the roaring current too strong to fight. It was almost all she could do to remember to breathe.
She was rolled over onto her belly. Lane pulled her shirt down to her bound wrists and then did the same to her sports bra. Kimberley felt her wrapping rope around her arms, just above her elbows, pulling it tight, and knotting it. It was painful, but not too painful. The heavy canvas floor of the tent rasped against her breasts and nipples. Kimberley wondered why she’d done that until she felt the bonds on her wrists being removed. Lane pulled her shirt and sports bra completely off, then rebound her wrists, freed her elbows and rolled her onto her back again.
“Lovely, lovely Elf-Girl,” Lane murmured as she ran her hands over Kimberley’s torso. One hand slid under Kimberley’s shorts. Her fingernails tickled at Kimberley’s lower belly. Kimberley squeezed her eyes shut tight, wallowing in the sensations. They kissed again, another long tongue-kiss that left both of them huffing and panting afterwards. Lane gave Kimberley a quick little peck on the forehead before turning to stripping her captive of her last clothing; boots, socks, shorts and panties were all tossed into a loose pile. Kimberley shivered in anticipation. She could not think straight now…she could barely think at all now. All she knew for certain was that she was waiting hungrily for Lane’s next touch, her next kiss, her next gentle bite.
Lane ran her long-fingered hands all over Kimberley’s naked body. Kimberley closed her eyes and let the feelings wash through and over her. Finally, she could bear it no longer. As Lane’s hand ran slowly up and down her inner thigh, Kimberley raised and spread her knees and opened her eyes to look at Lane. “Please…” she begged. “Please…”
Lane’s eyes seemed to be glowing with some inner fire again. She was breathing rapidly and shallowly through her half-opened mouth, and her skin was damp with sweat. She smiled at Kimberley. It was a strange smile, more of triumph and possession than anything else. “Say it again, my lovely Elf-Girl,” she whispered hoarsely. “Say it again!” Her fingertips lingered near Kimberley’s pussy, her nails digging lightly into the soft, intensely sensitive flesh of her thigh.
Kimberley looked deeply into Lane’s eyes, licked her lips, swallowed. “Please! Please!! Please!!!” She couldn’t stand this much longer. She felt as if she was going to explode. Had her hands been free she would have grabbed Lane, thrown her down…and then what? She couldn’t think that far ahead. Even if she weren’t bound, Lane seemed strong enough and cruel enough, to set the pace to suit herself anyway. But surely Lane couldn’t hold out much longer herself…could she?
“On your belly, Elf-Girl,” Lane ordered. She put her hands under Kimberley and helped her to obey. Kimberley breathed in the smell of old canvas and her own musky sweat, wondering what was coming next. She heard Lane moving around somewhere behind her, and then felt Lane’s hot breath in her ear.
“A very strong and very cruel man taught me this once.” Lane hissed softly. Kimberley felt her wrapping rope around her ankle, knotting it tight. Then Lane bent Kimberley’s leg double, calf to thigh. She ran a single strand of the rope around Kimberley’s thigh, pulled it painfully tight and knotted it securely to the bound ankle. She did the same to Kimberley’s other leg before flipping her over onto her back again. Kimberley raised her head as best she could to look down along the length of her body, between her breasts, along her belly, to the tuft of honey-blonde hair between her raised and parted knees. She could see the single rope strands digging deeply into her thighs. Somehow, she felt more open, more vulnerable this way than she had when she was staked out naked in the long grass last year.
/> Lane flowed forward, her hand sliding under Kimberley’s head to lift it. “Now, kiss me, my Elf-Girl,” she purred. “I’m going to make you come…and when you do, I want you to scream into my mouth.” Her lips fastened onto Kimberley’s. As Kimberley felt Lane’s fingers sliding into her, she opened her mouth wide, wider, her tongue stabbing into Lane’s mouth as Lane’s tongue stabbed into hers. Lane’s fingers found Kimberley’s swollen clitoris. They rubbed, they pinched, they prodded. Kimberley desperately sucked fresh air in through her nose whenever she remembered to breathe. Lane would not break the kiss, and she was far too strong to fight.
“Mmmm…that’s it, Elf-Girl. Now the last one.” Lane thrust another finger between Kimberley’s lips. Kimberley tasted herself on it, salty and sweet. She licked and sucked Lane’s finger clean. She was still bound and still on her back, drenched in the sweat of her exertions. Her body was still tingling, and she was still short of breath. Lane’s thick hair hung down to either side of her face, hiding it in shadows, but Kimberley could swear that she could still see Lane’s terrible predator eyes glowing faintly in the dark. She was sitting alongside Kimberley, her hip against Kimberley’s chest. Her free hand rested lightly on Kimberley’s breast. The air in the tent was heavy with the scent of female sweat and musk.
“I’m almost tempted…” Lane stopped and laughed faintly. “I’m almost tempted to have you tie me up now and have your way with me, Elf-Girl. You’d like that, wouldn’t you?”
Kimberley smiled sleepily. She didn’t say anything.
“Yes…” Lane leaned closer, her face still obscured in shadow. “I’m sure you would…but you also might leave me naked and bound for those men who took your friend to find, hmmm? I can’t risk that.” Her hands reached out to tickle Kimberley’s ears, lightly.
“Oh, my!” Lane chuckled as Kimberley shuddered violently. She repeated the touch, and
Kimberley moaned as her body spasmed. “How very interesting! I wish I had known sooner, dear Elf-Girl. We might have had even more…fun.” She leaned away, tossing her hair back. “Well, perhaps next time.” Now Kimberley could see that she was smiling. “Well, since I won’t let you tie me up, and I can’t free you just now, you’ll just have to wait there for a moment. I’m very…excited, as you can see. I have to do something about that.”
She turned away, towards her bedroll. As she did, Kimberley caught sight of something and gasped. Lane paused, looking back over her shoulder. She looked down to where Kimberley’s gaze was fixed and then back up at Kimberley. “Yes,” she nodded. “I was branded three years ago, Elf-Girl. Shall I tell you about it?”
“You…you don’t have to.” Kimberley shook her head.
“Oh, but it’s a very exciting story.” Lane picked up something and turned back around to sit facing Kimberley. She held the object up and smiled. It was a vibrator. She switched it on, and Kimberley heard a low, muted buzzing.
“It was the second time I came to this place,” Lane went on. The first time…well, I played a tourist the first time. It was fun, but I wanted more of a challenge. I wanted something more…raw.” She applied the blunt tip of the vibrator to her nipple and shivered, tilting her head back, sucking in a breath with a long hiss.
“Raw?” Kimberley asked after a moment.
“What?” Lane seemed to return from some far place. “Oh, yes. Raw. Well, I found it. He was tall and strong and thirteen years older than I was. He took me from the hotel out into the woods and he kept me there for three days, Elf-Girl. He kept me naked the whole time and chained to a stake for most of the time. I loved it!”
“You…just went with him?”
Lane chuckled. “You’d have to meet him to understand. And anyway, I’d been…in heat ever since I’d looked into his eyes. He took me to a campsite he had. Once we were there, he made me strip and watched while he threw all of my clothes into the fire, one by one.”
Kimberley shuddered, remembering what had been done to her clothes…and all of her equipment as well…last year.
“He didn’t tie me up at first. He could have. Instead, he put a chain around my neck with a padlock. The other end of the chain was fastened to a tree stump with a big spike.” Lane looked down at Kimberley. “Then he made me get down on all fours…like your friend…but with my head touching the ground and my ass up in the air for him. That was the first time he ever…took me. I remember I kept trying to lift my head off of the ground, and he kept pushing it back down. I didn’t get much satisfaction out of that first time, but it left me wanting more…so much more! And I got it.” She laid down on her side, facing Kimberley, only a few feet away. Her voice had grown quieter and huskier.
“He tied my hands behind me the next time. He wanted my mouth. And he came in it. I’d never had a man come in my mouth before and when I coughed and choked and spat it out, he gave me a good going-over on my ass with a strap. The next time, I swallowed it all.”
Kimberley nodded slowly. It sounded very familiar. She could picture Alpha acting that way with her and her responding as Lane had.
“He fed me.” Lane breathed. “He gave me water. When I got too dirty, he washed me. And he fucked me…hard…several times a day.” Lane inched closer, her eyes boring into Kimberley’s again. This time, Kimberley found it much less disturbing.
“Then he wanted my ass.” Lane’s face was only inches from Kimberley’s now. “For the first time, I was scared. I told him no. He wouldn’t listen. I didn’t quite realize that he didn’t have to. So many things are so very different here. I screamed and I cried, but he went ahead anyway…” She paused and took a deep breath. “That did something to me. After that, I was his. I would have done anything he wanted. Absolutely anything. Do you understand?”
Kimberley gulped and nodded. Yes, she understood very well. Except for… She gulped again. “And he said he wanted to brand you?”
“No.” Lane’s voice was very, very low now. “He said he was going to brand me. I suppose I could have told him ‘no’…in fact, I know now that if I had, he couldn’t have branded me…but it never occurred to me. He brought me back to town with my hands tied behind me and that chain still around my neck. He took me to the slave market. They branded me there in a small back room. They put some kind of hard rubber bit in my mouth to keep me from biting my tongue.” She shuddered. “I felt OWNED. I loved it!” She sighed. “We only had a few more days. When they were over, he went his way and I went mine.”
“You miss him?” Kimberley asked.
“Sometimes I think so.” Lane nodded. “Sometimes I think I just miss that feeling.” She fell silent for a moment, looking off into nothing. Then, suddenly, the old Lane was back, smiling that predator smile. “No more talk for now, Elf-Girl.” She rolled over so that her back was to Kimberley and began to use her vibrator. Kimberley, with an effort, rolled onto her side so she could watch it all better.
Lane used the vibrator vigorously, sometimes thrusting it into her gaping mouth before putting it back between her long legs. She made considerable noise as well, mostly groans and hissing intakes of breath. Kimberley wondered why Lane hadn’t made her use her mouth to give her pleasure…or indeed use anything else. She also hoped fervently that Lane was not going to leave her bound like this all night. Her thighs were beginning to hurt.
Chapter Eight
Kimberley came awake immediately and completely, just as she always did when camping outdoors. She sat up, blinking and confused for a moment. Why was it still so dark? Then she remembered where she was and how she had gotten there.
Lane was gone. So was all of Lane’s gear. While that strange woman had finally untied her so that she could sleep in relative comfort, she had kept the bedroll strictly for herself, forcing her sort-of captive to sleep on the floor of the big tent. Kimberley sighed and crawled around collecting her clothes. She hoped she’d be able to find her pack again, but if she couldn’t, she supposed she could replace all of her stuff when she got to the trading post or town. Whatever it
was, it couldn’t be far away. And it shouldn’t be too hard to get there this morning. It wasn’t likely that there was more than one group of hunters hanging around the place waiting for female prey to wander by. The four men who had taken Barbara last night were probably going to sleep late today. She snickered at the thought and wondered how much sleep Barbara had gotten. She did feel a faint pang of conscience about setting her friend up like that…but she thought she could survive it. Anyway, at the moment all she really cared about was getting herself a hot bath, a hot meal, and fresh clothes.
It was starting to get warm in the tent. The faint, lingering scents of last night began to revive. Dressed now, Kimberley crawled over to the zippered flap and opened it. She stuck her head out to draw in a deep breath of fresh air and was startled when her own pack tumbled in onto her. There was a note pinned to it. She read it.
“Dear Elf-Girl…” Lane’s writing was sprawling and spidery, but not too hard to read. “You see I have not only set you free, but also retrieved your pack for you. I wish you luck with your plans, but since I am not entirely sure that you would not betray me to the hunters as you did your friend, I think I will move elsewhere for now. L.”
Something made her carefully fold the note and tuck it away in her shirt pocket. Lane was a very strange woman. Kimberley didn’t know how much of the story she had related to her last night was true…Lane’s brand had looked exactly like Cat’s…but it didn’t matter. She was free again.
It wasn’t just a trading post, but it wasn’t quite a town either. Like Gordburg itself, it looked something like a movie lot for an old Western. The two main buildings were a general store on one side of the dirt road that served as the main street and a two-story building opposite it that seemed to be a combination saloon and rooming house. There were a few small, one-story buildings that looked to be houses, and a barn-like building at the far end of the street. She was pretty sure what that was for. It was early, but there were a few men already up and about. Kimberley felt every one of their eyes on her as she hitched up her pack and strode up to the saloon. She pushed through the swinging doors and went in.