Page 254 of The Queen’s Shadow

I squealed and nearly jumped out of my skin as Rycon dropped out of the tree I had been leaning on. He landed deftly on his feet in nothing but his shredded jeans and motorcycle boots. His ruined t-shirt was long gone, and the silver of the moon cast sharp shadows on his chiseled chest. “Did you think you got away?” He taunted me, his golden eyes flashing. I narrowed my eyes and fired a quasar at him. He leapt out of the way, rolling across the clearing, giving me the opportunity to bolt again. I shot for the trees and he snarled behind me, furious that I had managed to evade him.

I could hear him following me, but had no idea how close or far he was. I just focused on pushing through the brush, hoping that I was fast enough to outrun him.

He somehow managed to drop down in front of me again, and I realized the bastard was following me in the trees like a damn howler monkey. A burst of laughter escaped me at his sudden reappearance and I fired another quasar at him, earning me a frustrated ‘fuck!’

Turning on my heel, I bolted back the way I came. There was a crash of tree branches and a rustle of leaves behind me, but when I looked back to see what he was doing to cause all the commotion, I couldn’t see him at all. He had disappeared again.

I found myself back in the clearing and was sprinting for the shelter of the treeline when I was suddenly ensnared by a thick loop of jungle vine.

What the fuck?

The vine tightened around my chest, pinning my arms to my sides. I screeched in rage and tried to whip around, awkwardly attempting to aim another quasar behind me, despite barely being able to move my arms. He yanked on the end of the vine hard enough that I hit the ground on my back.

“Got ya.” He chuckled, as he rolled me onto my front, pressing a boot firmly between my shoulder blades. I screamed in frustration, blasting blue fire from both hands as I squirmed beneath his foot, but he didn’t budge. He grabbed my wrists, carefully positioning himself out of the line of fire as he bound my hands together behind my back.

“Let me go you prick! You cheated!” I snarled. He just laughed and tossed me over his shoulder, smacking my bare ass as I kicked my feet in the air.

“There were no rules against using props, Kasha, don’t be a sore loser.” He dumped me at the base of a large tree and ripped down another thick coil of vine from the branches above.

The second his hands were off me, I curled my knees under myself and launched to my feet. I was ready to bolt again when he snatched me by the vine that was still secured around my chest.

“Enough,” he growled, tossing me back against the tree roughly. The amusement had bled from his voice and his eyes flashed in the moonlight as he went to work tying me to the trunk of the tree. “No more running.” He snarled, and from the look on his face I got the impression he wasn’t talking about the game anymore.

Once he had me so secure I couldn’t move an inch, he stood back to admire his work. My legs were free, but he had tied me high enough that only the tips of my toes brushed the ground. I needed to strain to touch the soft dirt of the forest floor. He had looped a vine around my shoulders, and another across my rib cage, binding my back completely flat against the trunk. The bark of the Kapok tree was digging into my bound hands where they rested at the small of my back.

I struggled against the restraints, testing them to see if he had left any weak spots. I bit back a smirk at how pissed he would be if I managed to escape. My smile died before it was born, however, when I saw the way he was looking at me.

His eyes slowly travelled down the length of my body, seeming to take in every detail. He licked his lips and his nostrils flared, before he stalked towards me.

I squirmed again as he approached, the fire in his eyes making me feel both nervous, and excited at the same time.

He reached forward and hooked his fingers into the blue lace of my thong and without warning, he tore it clean off my body.

“Rycon!” I screeched, and he slapped my pussy sharply in response.

“Quiet.” He growled, looking somehow both angry and aroused at the same time. “For once, Kasha, I’m going to speak and you’re going to fucking listen.”

I swallowed, feeling my eyes widen at how serious he sounded. With the hand that wasn’t cupping me, he pushed two fingers into my mouth, hooking them over my bottom teeth and pulling my jaw open. “Nod if you understand.”

I nodded, and he pulled his fingers out of my mouth while he spread me open with his other hand. I felt myself part beneath his touch, and his finger met the hot wetness that was already pooling. A deep rumble exploded from his chest, and he pressed his finger all the way into me. I gasped in shock at the sensation, and he watched me closely. I waited for him to smirk, or at least smile, but he was as serious as the grave, and my heart rate accelerated at the dark look in his eyes.

“By the end of tonight, you will be mine.” He said, his voice even, and ruthless. “There will be no more running, Kasha. No more packed bags. No more locked doors. You will be mine.” He curled his finger deep inside me, pressing against that spot that sent fireworks directly to my clit. “And you will fucking admit it to me.” He leaned forward, biting the swell of my breast so hard I cried out.

Pulling away again, he continued to stroke me firmly from the inside. More wetness continued to spill out of me and he wrapped his free hand around my throat.

“Say it.” He snarled, and I shook my head, whimpering against the fire he was building between my thighs. If he wanted me to be his, he was going to need to work for it. This was another game, one I wasn’t sure I even wanted to win.

“No?” He inserted another finger and I groaned, feeling myself unintentionally strain towards him. The heat was building to the point of no return. It was more intense than what he had given me that morning. This fire was burning in my very bones, and my entire body was contracting with it. “Say you’re mine, Kasha.”

I shook my head again, focusing instead on the building sensation. I was right there... balancing on the knife’s edge…

“Then you don’t get to come.” He hissed and pulled his hand away.

I gasped, the sudden absence of his fingers leaving me feeling empty. I felt myself clench and pulse in protest at the loss of him.

Anger licked my insides at the unfairness of it. I had been so close.

“Rycon, what the fuck!” I snapped, straining against the restraints. He stood back, just out of reach, watching me struggle. His face was a stony mask, and I knew there would be no negotiating with him.