Man Hunt

by Harper Dell

  “Untrue,” said Ayden. “I would like to call her as a witness.

  Leah stepped forward.

  “In the name of the Mothers of Azaria, do you swear to tell the truth?” Vasha asked.

  “Of course,” said Leah.

  Ayden leaned forward, his chains clanging. He was nervous, she could tell. His smell was sharper, stronger … more alluring. She closed her eyes a moment and imagined herself back in the cave underground, lying in those strong arms, pressing against him, breathing him in. Then she opened her eyes and was brought quickly back to reality.

  “Leah, did you hear the question?” Vasha asked.

  “I’m sorry. Could you repeat it?”

  “The male asked if you are afraid of him.”

  “No. I am not afraid.”

  “Do you believe me now?” he asked Leah.

  “Yes, Ayden, I believe you.”

  Ayden smiled.

  “What has this to do with the proceedings?” Britha protested.

  “Nothing further,” said Ayden.

  Britha stood and walked toward Leah.

  “Did the man attack me in this very courtroom?” she asked.

  “It looked that way, but…”

  Britha cut her short, “Did he try to evade capture?”

  “At first, then…”

  “I saw a lion carcass when I came to rescue you. Did the man use brute strength to single-handedly kill a blade lion?”

  “He did,” Leah sighed to gasps from the audience.

  Britha addressed the gallery. “Strength that has already been shown to be a threat to our people, that his ancestors used to all but wipe us out.”

  “Very well,” said Vasha. “I have heard enough. You know the penalty for these crimes?” she asked Ayden.

  Ayden nodded. “It was explained to me.”

  “Death by beheading. To take place tomorrow, midday.”

  As the crowd roared, Leah checked the time on her wrist communicator. He had twenty-four hours. They had twenty-four hours.

  “May I take the prisoner down?” Leah asked.

  “Britha will accompany you,” said Vasha.

  As Britha roughly grabbed Ayden’s arm, Leah walked by his side. She dared not make eye contact with him for fear she would burst into tears. They moved down the solid stairs, Britha walking ahead. Ayden ran his fingers lightly over Leah’s arm. Pinpricks of pleasure followed his lead.

  “I won’t lose you now,” she whispered, brushing her body against his on the narrow stairwell.

  “Not a chance,” he replied, as even in the hateful environment she felt him respond to her heat.

  “Here we are,” said Britha. She took his chains and strapped them to two large metal rings attached to the wall. Then she turned to go. “Coming?” she asked Leah.

  “One moment,” Leah said.

  “You are wasting your energy.” Britha shrugged and headed out.

  Leah leaned in to Ayden and kissed him, an open-mouthed, searching kiss that held a desperate urgency.

  “I’m sorry,” she said.

  “Come back after the court closes tonight,” said Ayden. “Everyone will be celebrating. You won’t be noticed.”

  “I can’t simply take off your chains,” Leah said. “You will be under heavy guard from now until tomorrow.”

  “I know. I’m working on a plan. Just be here.”

  “Count on it,” said Leah as she heard Britha call her name. Then she turned on her heel, shut the cell gate and left him aching for more.

  Chapter 7

  When Leah returned that evening after a day of pacing and stressing, it was to find Ayden free of his chains and with a smile on his face.

  “How did you do that?” she asked.

  “I’m a big scary man, don’t you know?”

  “Oh I know,” she said as he took her in his arms.

  “When you rode me yesterday, it was such a turn on. Now can you do it with a smile?”

  “I am sorry about that, Ayden, really. I was feeling everything inside, more than you can imagine, but I wanted to punish you.”

  “Well that’s over with,” he said, hugging her close to him, clearly relieved.

  Leah pulled back. “There is no time for indulgence now. The guard only let me in because I know her. She has strict instructions from Vasha herself not to allow me down here alone. Have you worked out a plan?” She eyed the camera on the wall, which was now ripped from its bolts.

  “Sure,” he said, “I’m going to give them something to be scared of. But first I need to know if you’re with me. I mean all the way.”

  “To the end,” she said.

  “What about your birth mother? The shame? The punishment?”

  “My mother understands. She has been deeply in love. That is why my sister and I were born.”

  “Deeply in love, huh?” He grinned.

  “Yes,” she said in her matter-of-fact way.

  “Does that mean you would come with me even if it means leaving Azaria?”

  “You are all I can think about.”

  “It won’t be easy. And I’m not just talking about today.”

  “Whatever happens in the future we will manage, as long as we do it together,” Leah said.

  “I’ll take that as a yes.”

  “I have no option. I must listen to my heart and my emotions. That is the way I have always been. Plus, it’s in the prophecies.” She grinned. Then her face grew more serious. “And I am beginning to understand that this society is being sustained with lies. It is no way to live. My mother understands that too.”

  “In that case,” he said, pushing her against the wall and picking up the chains at his feet, “I hope you’ll understand this.”

  Ayden gently wrapped the chains around her, careful not to tarnish her feathers. Leah did not resist, waiting patiently for him to complete his task. When he was done he attached the chains to the rings on the wall, making her movements restrained but not painful.

  “Now?” she asked.

  “Now we wait,” he said, “for your guard to return with my evening meal. They won’t be able to execute me as long as I have a hostage. It will buy us some time.”

  “I’m not sure how much it will help. There is no way out of here but up, and it is not long before the space above those stairs will be teeming with guards.”

  “That might not be a problem.”

  Leah raised an eyebrow. “In that case, scratch my nose,” she said.

  Ayden did. Then he leaned forward and kissed it. He kissed each eyelid, each check, and each ear. Then he took her top lip in his and pulled it gently with a small nip. Leah shivered. Ayden moved his lips onto her open mouth, using his tongue to taste hers.

  Leah wanted to reach out and touch him, but at the same time there was something about the chains holding her that was exciting. She was forced to be restrained, to hold back and move at his pace. And boy was he moving. He ran his hands down her body, pulling them away for only moments at a time to slip over the cool chains. Against that coldness, her body felt even hotter and she groaned with anticipation.

  Then Ayden stopped.

  “What is it?” she asked.

  “Hear that?”

  Leah listened. There were footsteps coming down the stone staircase.

  “Here goes,” he said, moving behind her, his back against the wall, the chains allowing just enough room for him to squeeze in.

  Leah wanted to tell the guard to go away and leave them alone. Ayden’s manhood strained against her backside and she instinctively pushed her own body against his.

  “Are you trying to torture me?” he whispered.

  “It doesn’t have to be torture,” she whispered back, shifting her tasseled leather skirt sideways and maneuvering her body so he could slide into her folds. Leah gasped as he filled her up. Just then, a woman’s legs became visible at the base of the stairs.

  The guard stepp
ed down and dropped the tray of food with horror. Though she couldn’t see what was going on behind Leah’s back, the scene in front of her was shocking enough. Leah stood chained from ankle to wrist to neck with the beast holding her from behind. He was making grunting noises as he pulled her closer, one arm wrapped around her breasts, the other grasping her toned leg.

  “Let her go,” the guard shouted.

  “Only when you let me go,” Ayden roared back. “This woman is my hostage.”

  The adrenaline pulsing through him felt as though it pulsed through Leah, and it was all she could do not to scream with passion. She moaned instead as a bead of his sweat rolled down her backside.

  “Are you okay, Leah?” the guard asked. “Has he hurt you?”

  “Don’t come any closer,” said Leah. “He has the strength of twenty women. He will overpower you too.”

  “Nah, you’re the only one I want,” Ayden whispered into her ear, grabbing her earlobe with his teeth. A shiver of ecstasy rushed through her, making Leah grow wetter.

  “Please, you need to control yourself,” the guard implored. “If you injure her you will only make the charges against you stronger.”

  “And what more can they do than kill me?” he growled, simultaneously thrusting his hips.

  Leah’s orgasm hovered just within reach as she reveled in this new, animalistic side of Ayden.

  “You should go now,” she gulped as Ayden pushed in deeper and snarled. “The man was calmer before you came. I think he needs time to cool off.”

  The guard nodded. “I’ll be back with help,” she said, turning toward the stairs.

  “Not too soon I hope,” Ayden said, flicking his tongue behind Leah’s ear.

  “Don’t stop,” Leah breathed, turning her head a moment to look at him.

  “I’m not cooling off yet.” He grinned as he pushed his hips forward, thrusting deeper into her. Leah pushed back against him, and the pull of the chains on her wrists served to add to the myriad sensations pulsing through her body. She turned her head again and kissed his neck, and then with one final thrust of his hips he exploded inside her. Leah shuddered against him and yelled. She saw the guard look back and shiver before hurrying up the stairs.

  *

  Ayden moved out from behind her and went to fetch the food the guard had dropped, prizing it out from beneath the prison door.

  “They feed their prisoners well,” he commented, eyeing the tasty selection.

  “We are women. That is our way.”

  Ayden picked a plump scarlet fruit from the platter and fed it to Leah, licking off the juice that dripped down her chin.

  Moments later, they heard a clattering on the stairs and Ayden resumed his position behind Leah.

  “Here come the big guns,” he said.

  Sure enough, Vasha appeared, her robe crinkled, her long gray hair flying in all directions.

  “Sorry to wake you,” Ayden said. “I didn’t have time to wait until morning.” He had one arm across Leah’s chest and another reaching down across her bellybutton.

  “Let Leah go,” Vasha insisted. “You are not doing your case any good.” The old woman looked stressed, but she spoke with the same authority Ayden had heard in court.

  “My case is over,” he said. “It is my people I am concerned with now.”

  A loud grunt showed Vasha’s disdain. “Your people are violent murderers. They do not deserve any concern.”

  “That’s what you’ve led your entire planet to believe, isn’t it, Vasha? The truth wouldn’t serve your purposes.”

  Vasha unlocked the gate and moved toward them. She looked closely at Leah. Ayden knew she was taking in her dilated pupils, high color, and the slackness in her satiated limbs. Then she lifted Leah’s skirt and dropped the tassels down angrily.

  Ayden held Leah tighter, this time to keep her safe.

  “You are a fool, Leah.” Vasha scowled and shook her head.

  “I have made my choice.” Leah pushed Ayden’s arms aside now. No more need for pretense.

  Vasha turned her attention to Ayden. “What do you want?”

  “Water. I want you to send my people water.”

  “That will not be possible.”

  “You know that’s not true. If you can send capsules to spy and send bodies back to us…” Ayden grimaced with revulsion at this. “Then you can send water.”

  “Why should I help you? There is no real threat to Leah. I could simply have you both killed.”

  “True,” said Ayden. “But if your people find out that she gave herself to me willingly, that I am not the beast you portray me to be, it would upset your pot of lies, create all sorts of problems for you. You might even inadvertently be helping the prophecy to take form.”

  Vasha bristled at that, but she remained quiet, seeming to go over the options in her mind. Then she finally acquiesced.

  “If we send water, will you end this farce and face your punishment?”

  “If you send water we will continue with this farce and let you continue with yours.”

  Ayden could feel Leah tensing against him. In a society where authority ruled, this could not be easy for her.

  “You can’t stay down here forever,” Vasha said. “There will come a time when we will have to deal with you, and dear sweet Leah might get caught in the crossfire.”

  “Just give me proof that you have sent the capsule of water.”

  “Fine. One capsule. We will discharge a hologram in this room to prove it.”

  True to her word, an hour later Ayden was gratified to see images of a large capsule leaving Azaria to satisfy thirsty mouths.

  He loosened Leah’s chains so that she could sit comfortably. “I don’t think anyone will be back for a while. Vasha is trying to figure out what to do with us next,” he said.

  “They’ll be conducting a meeting,” Leah agreed. “Vasha is nothing if not efficient.”

  Ayden moved to undo the chains completely.

  “No, not yet.” Leah giggled. “I liked that other side I saw of you earlier, when you took control. Let’s play a bit.”

  Ayden’s eyes lit up.

  “In that case, I’ll tighten these,” he said. He raised her up against the wall once more and pulled on the chains.

  Chapter 8

  “That feel right?” Ayden asked.

  “I think so,” said Leah.

  He reached an arm forward, indicating one of the large gold and green feathers glimmering at her sides.

  “I’m taking one of those.”

  “Uh huh.”

  He pulled on one of the feathers, and it came out with a sharp sting. Leah quivered and then she smiled, which he took as permission to continue.

  He ran the tip of the feather along her soft stomach, up and down in generous waves.

  Leah giggled.

  He drew the feather along the sensitive skin at her sides, causing her to squirm.

  His body so near, his breath so close, and the unbearable delicious tickles running over her skin all threatened to suffocate her with endorphins. When he moved the feather lower, she flinched as he ran it along the insides of her legs.

  “Should I stop?” he asked.

  “Yes! No!” she said in the same breath, as the tip of the feather brushed against her sweet spot. He gave her only moments to digest the feeling before the feather was under her armpit, and Leah laughed, squirming with the delectable anguish… then he lowered it again.

  They spent a lazy, relaxed night bringing each other to ecstasy again and again, releasing the chains as surely as they strengthened their feelings.

  When Leah’s body clock woke her from a deep, satisfying sleep early the next morning, she shook Ayden awake.

  “They will be back soon. You had better tie me and commence with your plan,” she said as he yawned and stretched his long limbs. “How do you intend to escape?”

  “I don’t.”

  Leah rai
sed an eyebrow as Ayden lifted a large loose block from the concrete floor to reveal a deep hole which marked the beginning of a tunnel.

  “Somebody obviously wanted to once before, but the ground was too hard to dig very deep.”

  “You’re going to hide in there?” Leah wondered how he would comfortably fit his large frame into the small space.

  “I hope not for too long. By the time all the guards are off searching for me, we’ll be able to simply walk out of here.”

  Ayden first tied up Leah, then slipped into the hole, pulling the large block back over him. It was as if he had never been there.

  Before long Leah heard voices and footsteps. She closed her eyes and let her body go slack as Vasha’s voice echoed ahead down the stairway.

  “It has been long enough, Man. Your people have been sent their water. Now let Leah…”

  She stopped mid-sentence and Leah knew she must have seen that Ayden was gone. Followed by Esplana and Wentiesh, Vasha no doubt had to keep up appearances. Leah heard her open the gate and run to undo her chains. She sank to the floor.

  “Leah, talk to me,” said Vasha as she tapped her seemingly unconscious face.

  “No, leave me alone,” Leah mumbled.

  “It’s me, Vasha. The man is gone.”

  “Gone?” Leah asked as she blinked open her eyes. “But how? Where is he?”

  “You tell me,” Vasha said.

  “I don’t know. He knocked me out. Said he had to get out of here. That he will not die. You were right all along. He was using me, just like he told us in court.”

  Vasha eyed her suspiciously, clearly not convinced, and then she looked at her colleagues, who were waiting wide-eyed for her next move.

  “Well I hope you have learned a lesson.” Vasha sighed. “The man is a coward. Can you walk?”

  “Yes, let’s get out of here.”

  Vasha helped her slowly up the steps, shouting to the Organizing Secretary above to get hold of Britha immediately and telling Esplana to organize a meeting of all the women of able body in the town square. “It is time for a man hunt!”

  “Will Britha not manage on her own?” Leah asked innocently as they reached the top of the stairs.

  “This man has caused enough problems. We cannot let him escape.”