Ashley was losing the battle to contain herself, as the fingers followed her movements. She squeezed her strained thighs in an attempt to lift up and away from his hand, and as soon as her bottom left the saddle, he inserted two long fingers inside her dripping walls. Her channel gripped onto to him and began to tighten with contractions, and more juice trailed from inside of her. His voice taunted, “You’re quite a little slut, aren’t you girl?” She gasped, and he could tell by her quivering that she had begun to cry. “No wonder that weak boyfriend chose you. The only type of girl he could satisfy would be one with a loose cunt.”
Ashley wanted to tell him he was wrong. Charlie was the only boyfriend she had ever dated, and after her experiences with Garrett she was not even sure she had ever been aroused by him. Certainly not to the extremes her abductor seemed to produce from her. The walls of her core were trembling against his fingers and she felt her impending orgasm. “Please stop,” she sobbed.
“What excites you more, slut… having me in your hot pussy or your mouth?” The girl was almost wailing in distress while his hand continued its insistent torture and his words cut through her.
“I’m not like that,” Ashley whimpered. Yet, here she was practically climaxing again at the stranger’s touch, causing uneasy self-doubt to battle with her body’s demands. She began to wonder if she really was as he suggested and just never had the opportunity to follow it through. Her mother’s many lovers flashed through her mind, and Ashley wondered if the condition was hereditary.
Garrett sensed her confusion while she battled her increasing passion, but the game intrigued him. The girl had no idea he was merely stripping away at her confidence. When the first shudders of her climax hit, Garrett whispered into her ear, “You little slut. I did not give you permission.”
Ashley sobbed and tried to stop the gripping, liquid reaction of her sex while the man pressed and stroked softly inside of her. Her clit felt electrified with feeling while he stroked it, continuing to arouse her while she came. “Oh god… stop,” she wailed.
“You can’t even control yourself, slut. It would take a slut who would cum for anybody to please that little cock you were with. What was your little cock’s name, girl? Or have you had so many you don’t remember.”
Ashley wailed continuously while she climaxed, and the man kept stroking her bead. The fact that he had reminded her of Charlie and she still could not curb her reaction, made her cry harder. “Please, I don’t understand what you’re doing to me. Stop.”
She felt his whiskers on her cheek and he said, “Thank me, slut,” while he continued to brush across her rigid clit.
Ashley finally gasped, “Thank you.” The man did not stop, and she panicked. “Please… oh, god.”
“Thank me, Ashley,” he ordered.
“Thank you,” she wailed. “Thank you, Garrett.” Finally the fingers stopped strumming, and she sagged in exhaustion against him, still feeling occasional spasms between her legs.
They were high in the mountains now and the wind blew unimpeded across some of the open ridges. Garrett pulled her bottom up onto his thighs and held her close enough to button her into the coat with him. He tilted his head down against the wind and rested his chin on her head until they made it across the open bluff. Finally, they were on the other side and surrounded by the protection of the rising mountains, and Ashley sensed they were slowly descending again.
Garrett did not stop to dismount when he reached into the packs for the jerky and water. He unbuttoned his coat so Ashley could use her hands. They continued to travel until the sun was setting and Garrett pulled into another one of his many hiding spots in the mountains.
Garrett swung down to the ground and Ashley tried to lift her leg over the saddle. The muscles were frozen in place, and she groaned and tried to use her hands to pull her leg up. “Fall,” he ordered.
Ashley looked down at his up stretched arms. “What?” she asked nervously.
Garrett knew her muscles were stressed to a point that she would not be able to dismount, no matter what the threat. “Fall. Your legs are cramped up.”
Ashley reached down to his hands and leaned until she toppled into his arms. When she tried to put weight on her legs they buckled, and he slowly lowered her to the ground. She massaged her sore thighs while he set up camp. “Gather up wood.”
She managed to struggle to her feet, and she shuffled stiffly to the sparse cloister of trees on one side of the clearing. Ashley picked up as much as she could carry so that she would not have to make another trip. Garrett watched her wince as she moved along the trees, and he studied her pale skin and marred legs and feet. The girl was an enigma, as most of the others interested in camping had tans and muscles, and a definite independence that required stiff punishment to break.
This woman was different, and although he could sense it would not take harsh punishment to break her, her frightened features and the thought of her training seemed to arouse him to a much greater degree. He wondered what in her background had caused her to be so different. Garrett lit the fire and Ashley sat close to the warmth, continuing to rub the knotted muscles in her thighs.
“Don’t you ever go outside?” Ashley looked at him with a bewildered amber stare. “By the condition of your feet, it seems as though you’ve never walked barefoot in your life, and you obviously don’t have much riding experience.”
It was the most the man had spoken since he had taken her, and Ashley was confused at the seemingly normal conversation after all that had transpired. She watched the flames catch, while he knelt on one knee and fed the fire. In a quiet voice she answered, “I burn easily, so I’ve gotten used to staying indoors or in the shade. Mother got me riding lessons in an inside arena for a few months when I was younger, but then I had to go back to school.” It seemed inane to be conversing with the man, but it was safer than some alternatives. Maybe if he realized how unsuitable she was for his designs, he would let her go.
Garrett began to unfurl the bedroll. “Get the jerky and water.”
Ashley slowly rose on her strained legs and limped towards the saddle lying at the top of the bedroll. She untied the laces on the saddlebag and pulled out the familiar cloth bag, and then her eyes focused on the shining blade of a knife. Garrett sneaked glances as he continued to smooth the blankets, wondering what her reaction to the knife would be. Ashley ran her finger longingly down the metal surface, and then she closed the pack and walked back to the man with the food.
As he pulled at the jerky, Garrett thought about her response. It did not take much to decipher with the Ivy League college, riding lessons and boarding schools, that the girl had come from wealth. The camping trip had probably been some stubborn, youthful prank to piss off her mother. “Your mom must have been thrilled at your vacation plans,” he baited.
Ashley stopped chewing, and her eyes filled with painful tears. Before she thought through her words and understood the man was prying for information he could use later, she said softly, “She was busy this summer, and she thinks I’m at a resort in Freeport.”
“I guess she’s not too enthralled with your low class boyfriend.” Garrett watched her flinch. Mom doesn’t know about him, does she, naughty girl.
Ashley had no answer. She certainly did not want to explain that her mother had been practically absent during her life, with the exception of a few summer months when she could not find someone to watch her. She finally managed to find a school that would keep her daughter year round. The riding academy had been Ashley’s last summer away from school, and that was only because the students stayed on the estate while parents were free to travel unimpeded by their children. Although Ashley was sure her mother would have sneered at her choice of Charlie, ultimately, she would not have cared as long as it meant she was free of her daughter.
Garrett watched her expressions change, and had a pretty good idea of her upbringing. Her somewhat quiet acceptance to his authority was beginning to make sense. The girl had been shuff
led off to be raised by paid employees who found it easier to keep their charges busy with studies and chores rather than allowing them freedom or promoting independence and confidence. She was used to following orders.
This was going to cause him to rethink a few things. With the other abductions, half the training was breaking the women to his wishes. Ashley was already accustomed to transferring her will to another person, so he would be able to work on some of the unique training methods Colby had suggested they use when he set up the ranch. The winter was shaping up to be something much more interesting than Garrett had anticipated. He was surprised when she finally responded to his comment about her boyfriend.
“Charlie’s a good guy. He’s nice, and he doesn’t care about getting rich, and the crazy stuff the other kids do at school.”
Garrett sneered. “Charlie is weak, and he looked for an equally weak girlfriend who wouldn’t think for herself and discover what a simpering idiot he is. What, did he manage to corner you in the library on one of your few trips out from your dorm?”
Ashley glanced up at him nervously. That was almost precisely how she and Charlie had met, except it was at the bookstore. She was standing in line to trade in last semester’s books, and Charlie saw them in her arms. Two of them were books he needed, and Ashley had allowed herself to be bartered down in their price while Charlie shyly asked her out to a movie.
She had never even been on a date before, and she discovered Charlie was almost as inexperienced as she was, after being raised miles from town on the ranch. It was only during his last few years of high school that he had managed to use the family’s pickup truck to join a few in town events. By then, most of the kids had already formed their friendships and groups, over the years.
Half of their dates had consisted of walking around campus, because neither one of them were assertive enough to suggest ideas for alternatives. Ashley had been relieved when she had discovered two other girls at the dorm, Amy and Linda, had mothers similar to hers. They formed an uneasy friendship, but included Charlie and her on their dates. Finally, someone was making decisions, and Ashley settled into a comfortable relationship with Charlie, organized by the suggestions of her friends.
It was Charlie’s inability to guide her that had led to Ashley’s only reservations about a life with him. That was the primary reason she was intimidated about letting the relationship blossom to the new level of meeting his folks. If they stayed together, who would make their decisions?
Ashley glanced at her captor. Here was a man who would never need to be told what to do. In his domineering, confident bearing, she felt a strange familiarity of the guidance she was used to. Any decisions were taken out of her hands and all she had to do was follow his orders.
“Charlie’s not weak,” Ashley began her denial.
“Charlie was too scared to fight back, even though he had to know I was coming for you. The pathetic fool started crying when I tied him up. Do you really think he has the balls to organize some kind of search for you? He’ll accept the authorities’ decision when they tell him in a few days they have no idea how to find you, and he’ll melt back into his nondescript life until he finds another outcast at college to pick up.” Garrett’s words were intentionally cruel, but for some reason it seemed important for him to usurp any feelings she had for her former boyfriend.
Garrett watched her flinch and her eyes fill, and he realized she shared his thoughts about Charlie’s inabilities. She also believed his taunting suggestions about her own imaginary failings. If she had been brought up differently and she had learned a measure of confidence, Garrett figured she probably could have dated almost anyone she chose. Instead, she stayed safely on the sidelines, waiting for whatever life threw her way. This time, it had been Garrett.
Ashley said quietly, “If I’m such a loser, why don’t you let me go?”
“You might be worth at least a little cash after I train you. One of the ranchers might decide to buy you as a servant.” Garrett almost laughed at her shocked expression. “Hell, I didn’t grab you for myself, stupid. You and your friends are part of a long list of the many commodities we’ve taken and prepared to be sold.” It was the first time he had spoken the words and not meant them. He had every intention of trying to keep the pretty girl with her practically non-existent self-esteem. His rod began to fill and his eyes narrowed as he watched the girl staring into the fire, misery etched into every feature on her face.
His words had frightened her into silence. She had not come close to adjusting to all that had transpired over the past few days, and now an unknown future loomed ahead, making her feel as though she were falling from an endless cliff. A small part of her mind had assumed she was staying with this man, and she was trying to accept what she could. Knowing that her time with her captor was only a stepping-stone to a more uncertain future with someone who would no doubt be equally displeased with her flaws was causing her to sink into an apathetic despondency over her failures.
Garrett realized he had gone too far when the girl had not responded with the frightened reactions he had received in the past from his captives. When the other girls understood they were being subjected to his tortures, only to be sold to someone else when he was finished with them, they either shrieked in terror or fought until he broke them. Ashley seemed to simply give up... Still, there was something in her eyes. Garrett leaned back against the saddle and stretched out his legs, spreading his thighs. He rubbed his cock through his jeans and said, “Come here.”
Ashley pulled out of her misery and looked over at him. The look in his eyes let her know what he wanted, and she slowly shuffled away. Her thoughts had already traveled to finding a way to kill herself rather than trying to continue in this unbalanced terror any longer. There was no sense in attempting to appease this man when in the end there would be no way she could ever accept the unknown future ahead of her.
He reached out to grab her braid, but she managed to scramble out of his reach. Ashley rose to her unsteady legs and ran back to the edge of the clearing, trying to remember the path they had taken. Garrett let her go, watching her indecision as she wandered into the trees. When she was hidden he followed, silently stalking her. Some of the others might have actually tried to run, but not this one. Her fear would have her trying to find her way back to the uneasy protection he offered.
Ashley kept finding herself blocked in dead-ended paths by rock walls or trees so thick she was too frightened to go through them. She silently cried in frustration while she searched for the trail. Sharp stones tore at her feet, and she was sure they were bleeding again. Why doesn’t he come after me? I know he can catch me. Ashley looked behind her, and panicked when she realized she could no longer see the glow from the fire. What if he’s decided I’m not worth the effort?
A branch fell to the ground near her and she shrieked, certain a bear or mountain lion was going to pounce. Her frantic thoughts turned to rattlesnakes and wolves, and she was shaking in terror and tried to hide behind a tree. All thoughts of attempting an escape were gone, and she decided she would rather put up with the man’s punishment rather than remain alone and frightened. If she called out, would he come for her? Could he even hear her? It seemed she had been walking for hours.
Garrett smiled and shook his head in the darkness when he saw her crouched down and shaking behind a large aspen. He picked up a branch and tossed it near her, and she shrieked, “Garrett, help me.” She began to cry, and he decided to help her make her way back to the campsite. She had merely circled the tree line for the ten minutes she had been gone.
He tossed another branch close behind her, and she crawled in his direction. Guiding her with thrown rocks that probably sounded like footsteps in her panicked imagination, she made her way back towards the clearing. When Garrett was reasonably sure she would spot the fire, he walked back and climbed into the bedroll, letting her think he had merely chosen to go to sleep rather than to chase after her.
Relief washed thro
ugh her as she finally spotted the flicker of the flames through the trees, and she pulled herself to her feet. She slowly made her way out of the shadows and stared at the man. He was sleeping, and for some reason it made her angry that he had not even bothered to go after her. She slowly walked up to him and tried to figure out what to do. Another branch crashed close to the campsite, and she dropped down beside him and stared into the trees. She wanted him to hold her again, and make her feel safe. Her trembling fingers reached out to touch his shoulder. Stopping just short of touching him, she lay down and curled on top of the blankets with her back to him, and watched the fire until her eyes finally closed.
After he was certain she was sleeping, Garrett pulled the top cover from underneath her chilled body, and wrapped her in its warmth. She snuggled back into him and once more unconsciously grasped his arm. In the morning after a silent breakfast during which the girl glanced nervously at him from under her lowered lashes, he once more sat back against the saddle. “Come here.”
Ashley realized this was to be the price of continuing the precarious condition of his protection. “I’m sorry I ran away,” she said softly. At least it seemed like he was not going to abandon her. She looked into his dark blue eyes, and he glanced down to where his hand was rubbing the bulge in his jeans. Tears made muddy paths down her cheeks, but she reached out and unfastened his pants. She lowered her head and felt his length fill her mouth, assuring herself performing the act was the only way she could survive.
Ashley felt fingers gently stroking her hair, and it made her cry harder. Even while she sucked and licked his shaft with her tongue, her confused mind tried to deal with the comforting feelings his hand was offering. Maybe he would not be too mean to her if she just did what he demanded. Still, when she felt the hot stream begin to spurt, he had to use force to keep her head in place until he filled her mouth. “Swallow,” he threatened, and he delighted at her humiliated sob as she complied.
Predator Ridge Page 6
