Page 17 of Echo (A Monster’s Prey #2)

He stood beside my car before I even turned around, so I darted into the forest. My heart pounded in my chest and breathing became harder.

A single rational part of me knew that this was a bad decision, but it was way too late to undo it. The damage is done. Make the best of it.

Everyone said this mimic was more active at night, so I followed the slivers of light that filtered through the canopy. I couldn’t hear hooves behind me, but I knew that meant nothing. I’d never heard him move before.

Wild sage grew in patches, and I jumped between them when I could. I considered taking my lighter and setting the whole thing on fire, but decided against it. My luck I’d get trapped in the flames right with him.

“Smart rabbit.” I could swear his hot breath tickled my ear. But I didn’t fall for the distraction.

The ghost of clawed fingers caressed down my arm, but didn’t grab me. I took that to mean he couldn’t and shoved the fact that it made me want to salivate into the back of my mind.

One monster was gone. I was not inviting a bigger one to move in with me.

It was hard to tell where I was, but I knew the sun rose on my left, so I was going south. So I was going alongside the main road… Hopefully.

With a little luck that I normally didn’t have, I could wave down a car before he caught up.

“Run, Little Rabbit.” His voice came from a little further away.

Good.

Keep going, Madison.

The forest was more alive than I’d ever heard it before.

Nails scraped on the wood as squirrels scrambled to hide.

The crickets chirped in bursts and birds squawked as if they were in a panic.

Normally, it was silent when he was near, but it was screaming now, as if DEFCON level five had been activated.

As if nature herself was rejecting his presence.

I came around a tree and found a mountain lion and a cub feasting on the fresh carcass of a deer. The blood spatter around them glistened on the blades of green grass like some messed up painting that hadn’t dried yet.

Mama lion responded in a blink of an eye, leaping at my feet with a threatening yowl.

I backed away to avoid her, and the world fell out from under me with a pop of my ankle that sent a shot of agony up my leg.

A short freefall in the air ended with my shoulder hitting the ground with a painful thump.

Before I could recover, my momentum rolled me down the hill I’d stumbled on.

Twigs stabbed into me as brush whipped my skin.

Roars and growls echoed off the trees. I landed with my back against a fallen trunk.

Blood flooded my mouth when I bit down on my tongue from my harsh landing, coating my mouth with the taste of metal.

At the top of the hill, the monster grabbed the mountain lion by the throat with one hand, like wrestling a grown predator was just another Saturday for him. A small nuisance in his day of murder.

I climbed to my feet and took his distraction as a chance to put some distance between us. The pain radiating up my ankle and up the back of my legs made it easier to ignore the scraps and scratches as the branches tried to grab me as I passed.

In the tumble and fall, I’d lost track of things, but I was pretty sure I was going in the same direction. Doubt took root the deeper into the woods I went. It felt like I’d been running for hours, and I didn’t think I was any closer to anything that could help me.

Did I get turned around?

The wind shifted, and a horrible stench hit my nose. It smelled like…cow manure.

Aaron Falin’s Cattle Ranch.

I’d never been so happy to smell shit in my life. If I could find his ranch, I could find the road. I pushed my legs harder, going as fast as I could.

The trees started narrowing and made it hard to navigate. I could only hope that if it was harder for me, it would be harder for him and would offer me more cover. But it was clear we were in a section that man hadn’t landscaped, closer to the house the trees were thinned out.

I learned from my previous mistake and kept a closer eye on my surroundings to make sure I didn’t interrupt anyone else’s lunch and end up with another thing on my ass.

There wasn’t anymore sage to stand on, so I’d lost that layer of protection. I’d known that would happen sooner rather than later, but it still worried me.

“Madison,” my own voice whispered behind me, and nearly stopped me in my tracks.

I shook off the unnerving pit growing in my stomach, that was exactly what he wanted. To slow me down. I refused to let him find a shock factor to throw me off.

Instead, I pushed my legs as hard as I could. He’d fallen behind and I wouldn’t let him close that distance again. Keep going, Madison.

Between the trees, there was a rotting wooden post and rail fence in the distance that I was willing to bet was the property line. There was a cleared field with brown as far as the eye could see.

I weaved through the trees, hopefully creating confusion. There it was, and I knew there was a prize on the other side. I went right and slammed into a tree I’d somehow missed.

The impact knocked the wind out of me and I flew backwards. Arms wrapped around me, pulling me back in and holding me close to what I’d thought was a tree. When I’d ran full force into the thing, it was easy to mistake him for a tree, but it was him.

He caught me.

He picked me up like I weighed nothing, pinning me against the giant tree that had hidden him. The thin tank-top I wore offered zero protection from the rough bark digging into my back. His hand went around my throat, squeezing the sides. The blood rush was instant and made me dizzy.

See, bitch. I told you running would get you killed.

Yet his amused chuckle sent butterflies fluttering through my stomach and a shiver down my spine. I needed fucking therapy.

Behind him, I could see how close I’d been to breaking through the treeline. All the hope that I’d had crashed around me. This was the end.

I closed my eyes, surrendering to whatever he intended to do with me. I’d done everything within my power, it was all up to him now.

“I caught you,” he announced as if I hadn’t already figured that out. His hand was big enough that his thumb was able to caress the shape of my lips without releasing my grip. “Good girl, doing exactly what I wanted you to.”

My eyes popped back open in shock at his words, only to find that the edges of my vision were blurring.

“You’re so beautiful and smart. You fight so hard.” He groaned as if he couldn’t get enough of it. His other hand rolled over my hip. “Run. I’ll gladly keep hunting you.”

He wasn’t angry?

I stared at his face, searching for the outrage, but all there was what I thought was a smirk on his snout and a glimmer in his glowing eyes.

“But I’m being difficult.” I found I could speak, despite the tight hold on my throat.

“More,” he begged. “The harder you fight the sweeter the hunt is.”

His claw ripped through the tank-top like it was nothing, right down the middle, revealing my black bra. It also showed the sage I’d tucked into it where leaves popped out in the run. I knew I was a weak bitch.

I needed insurance that the lady downstairs wouldn’t take control. She was already salivating.

He laughed, ripping the bra away, making my breasts bounce in the process. His skin sizzled where the sage touched him. Patches of dark-tan skin peeked through where the sage melted through the shadows that coated him. Was I seeing his true form? “I’ll gladly burn for you.”

So, that was what the sage did. It burned him.

He released my throat, but used his body as a barrier to block any further escape. “As much as I love watching you bop around the farm in these shorts.” With one hard yank and some pinching, as the fabric was stressed, I stood before him in only my panties.

“Bend over the post,” he commanded. “I told you there would be a price to pay for running.”

“You have to be fucking me.”

“Not yet.” He grinned again.

I pressed my lips together, but I didn’t see a way out of doing what he said. I bent at the waist, grabbing the second bar down.

The air wafted uncomfortably between my thighs. What exactly did he intend to do?

I held the position for what felt like hours, and he did nothing. I turned to look back and found him simply staring at me.

“I apologize, Little Rabbit. Your perfection distracted me.” He groaned. A sharp piercing tore through the flesh under my hip, above my ass. I yelped as he dragged his nail across. “Now, everyone will know you are mine.”

“What are you doing?” I squeaked, but ultimately endured the pain. My fingers tightened on the boards to help me brace myself. When his nail finally left my body, I gasped in relief.

Without any warning, he thrusted into me. My body welcomed him, like I was made to take the abuse. The way every inch of him slid against me was heaven.

I pressed my lips together to smother the moan I cried out.

He grabbed my chin. “Go ahead, Little Rabbit. I want you to scream. Let me see those tears.”

He wasn’t gentle like he’d been last time. No, I'd been a pain in his ass, and he wanted me to know it.

And yet, every brutal thrust was filled with passion and desire. If his idea of punishment was fucking me like he hated me, that was a passtime I could get used to.

His hips hit me hard enough I was sure I’d have bruises, but there was still something so delicious about it.

Tears welled in my eyes, but the knot deep in my gut tightened too. Everything inside me was at odds with myself.

Maybe the fact that I never once tried to fight him said it all. From the second I thought he was Mark, I loved this disgusting creature’s cock.

His fingers slid over the front of my thighs and made a slow line to my clit. Those razor sharp claws should have given me pause, but instead I grinded into the pad of his fingers. The barely there touch of his nail added another layer of confusion to my body.

Growls filled the air, making me clench around him. Making every movement he made that much more intense.

Pleasure snapped in my gut and pulsed through my nerves, until even my hair quivered. My eyes rolled back and my knees threatened to give out. The monster was the only thing holding me up.

He roared as he came behind me. Exhaustion hit me like a freight train, and my eyelids grew heavier than anvils.

I fought the best I could, but in the end, everything went black.