by Eric Vall
ERIC VALL
Chapter 1
Birds chirped happily, and the warm spring air was full of bugs as Paige and I stalked through the shadowed forest. In her hands, Paige clutched a primitive spear made from a big kitchen knife attached to the end of a long, fairly straight, stick.
I carried a recurve bow. It had a solid wood core with two black, fiberglass limbs attached to it. Both of us were clothed in a woodland camouflage hunting jacket, matching pants, and heavy boots, but Paige, the woman behind me, wore it much better than I did, and it was nice to see her in something other than her usual collage t-shirts and baggy jeans.
Paige wore her brown hair up with a pencil pushed through the bun, and she nodded to me when I motioned for her to crouch beside the animal trail we were following.
I pointed to the fresh tracks in the earth and the broken branch on a nearby tree. Our quarry, a rather sizable doe, looked to have passed this way. I didn’t speak, but Paige nodded in understanding. That’s why I had brought her along for the first hunt, she had shown a certain aptitude and appreciation for the task that none of the others possessed.
I stood and motioned her forward. Our pace was slow as we picked our way around bushes and tried to avoid anything that might make extra noise. We had been out here for an hour but, if I had to guess, I would say we were no more than twenty minutes’ walk away from the campus. However, our attempts to move quietly had slowed us down greatly.
Paige tapped on my shoulder, and I turned to see her point off to the right. She nodded in that direction and waved for me to follow. I nodded and fell in step behind her. She had sharp instincts and must have seen something.
A moment later the forest in front of us opened into a small idyllic clearing. We stood just inside the tree line and watched as two deer, a large doe, and a young fawn, pranced about. They chased each other in a circle for several minutes. It was a beautiful, almost serene, moment. It almost felt as if we had stumbled upon some entrance to another, less chaotic, world. I smiled and watched for a moment longer. Nature had always had a way of making me smile.
I looked at Paige and put a finger to my lips. She nodded and crouched down a little as I pulled an arrow from the quiver at my hip and nocked it. My eyes never left the clearing or the animals within it. While I was grateful that they were unaware of the danger that Paige and I represented, I did wish they would move. Neither of them were a good target from my angle as they were faced towards me. I was more likely to hit a rib than anything vital. I wouldn’t take any shot unless I knew I could drop it, since it wasn’t right to just wound the poor beasts. So I stood there, arrow ready, and waited.
The deer were in no hurry to do anything except graze, and they never changed facing even as they moved about to pick up fresh acorns from the ground.
I was patient but as I glanced over to my companion, I noticed her fingers drum slowly against the shaft of the spear, so I reached out and placed my hand over hers to still the motion.
Paige went red and looked to the forest floor.
I smirked and withdrew my hand. Then I looked around, picked the closest, sturdiest tree, and leaned against it. If we had to wait I figured I might as well get comfortable.
The canopy of trees blocked the sky just enough to throw off my sense of time and made the entire thing feel like it was taking longer than it probably was. Though as I looked to my companion, who had also found a place to lean quietly, she looked as alert and attentive as ever. That was another reason I had chosen to bring her first. I knew that some others, especially Tara and Bailey, would not be as patient.
A branch snapped in the trees across from us, and the deer who still grazed looked in that direction and froze.
I stood upright scanned the other side of the treeline but saw nothing. A minute passed, and the deer began to move again, but this time they gave me what I wanted as they started to move towards the treeline to my left, so I raised the bow and pulled back the arrow with a gloved hand. I kept both eyes open and aimed at the doe. Without a sight on the recurve I had to rely on my experience and my recent practice to put the arrow where I wanted.
I heard Paige suck in and hold a breath to contain her excitement as she waited for me to take the shot.
I tracked the animal with my weapon until I had the perfect broadside shot lined up a little behind its front leg. There was a THWAP as I let the string slide out of my fingers. The arrow was buried in the side of the deer before it even had time to react to the sound.
The doe jumped, ducked, and took off into the trees.
“Come on,” I said as I burst into the clearing.
“What happened, did we miss the shot?” Paige asked as she followed close behind me.
I stopped near where we had seen the deer last and scanned the area. There was a nice crimson path that led into the trees. I grinned wide. “No, we hit it good.”
“Then why did it run?” She asked.
“Broadheads kill by slicing up tissue and organs,” I explained. “Sometimes that means the kill is not instant and your quarry has a chance to run.” I pointed to the blood. “We can follow this though. It is important that we find the deer and make sure we finish what we started.”
“Of course,” Paige said with a nod. “Lead the way.”
I nodded and started to follow the trail back into the forest.
Twenty yards in I found the arrow, bent, unusable, and soaked with blood, laying on the forest floor.
“That doesn’t seem good,” the bookish brunette said.
“It’s actually very good,” I said before I pulled out a small rag and used it to remove the broadhead from the useless shaft. “It was stuck in there pretty good which means this thing worked itself out. That’s gonna mean more blood and a faster kill.”
I left the broadhead wrapped in the gore soaked rag and put it and the ruined shaft into my quiver. It took me only a moment to pick out the next splash of red on the forest floor, and it was larger than the spots of blood that came before it.
“Well they certainly don’t show this part in the movies,” Paige said with a smirk.
“No they do not, but at least our path is clear,” I said with a small laugh. “The broadhead has certainly done its job. Come on, let’s find it before something else does.” I got up and started to give chase.
Unlike the first part of our trip, I now crashed and stomped my way through the woods. I knew that the faster the quarry ran the more it would bleed. Twigs and branches stung my face as they smacked against bare flesh, but I looked back once and found Paige moving with the same intensity and speed as me. A large toothy grin was plastered across her beautiful face. I let out a laugh and kept running.
Our path was clearly marked in fresh blood for two hundred yards. It was not only on the ground, but spread across bushes and even splashed on some nearby trees.
At the end of the path, our prize waited.
The doe sat in the dirt and panted heavily. Its left side was a mess of blood and matted fur, and as I stepped from the bushes, the beast tried to stand but only got two feet under itself before it fell back to the dirt. It let out desperate bleating cries as I knelt beside it.
“Hey, don’t worry,” I cooed as I set down my bow and pulled my knife. “It will be over soon.” I reached out and gently ran a hand over the doe’s head. It trembled under my touch and screamed louder as Paige stepped into view as well.
“What now?” She asked.
“We finish the job,” I said before I leaned in and, while holding the head up with my free hand, cut its throat.
The deer slumped forward immediately as a rush of hot blood poured out of the new wound.
“Never leave a wounded animal to suffer,” I said as I stood and cleaned my knife on my, already bl
oodstained, pants.
“Never,” she agreed as she approached. She took a seat next to the dead animal and stroked its fur. The brunette smiled, adjusted her glasses, and looked up at me. “It’s cute.”
“Not too cute to eat I hope,” I said.
“Hey, I probably would have eaten the dogs,” she replied.
“I’ll keep that in mind,” I said before I retrieved the bow. I clipped it to my backpack and crouched beside Paige. “Lets each grab a side and hoof it back to the stream. We can clean it there and use the guts for our trotline.”
“I haven't cleaned anything this big before,” she said as she stood and grabbed both the front legs.
“I know, but we can fix that,” I said and then I grabbed the back legs. Together we hefted the thing into the air, and my bookish companion groaned.
“How far is the stream again?” She asked.
“Maybe ten minutes from here,” I said with a chuckle. “Why, is it a little heavy?”
“Just move before I drop this thing,”
I nodded and started to lead us through the forest. My arms started to burn even before I could hear the rush of water in the distance. It was large, for a doe. I stopped at one point and dropped my end.
“What, tired already?” Paige teased as she dropped her own end. She raised an arm above her head and stretched.
“What can I say, I’m still trying to get in shape,” I replied with a grin. “Got any workout tips?”
“Yeah, workout with me,” she said as she gave me a wink.
“You are a great source of cardio,” I said as I pulled out a coil of rope from my pack.
“Yeah, do I get your heart beating a little faster?” she asked as she eyed the rope and raised a brow.
“You have been known to in the past,” I said with a smirk as I stood there, rope in hand. “Don’t worry, this isn’t for you.” I knelt next to the doe and started to create a small harness.
“Shame,” Paige said as she bit her bottom lip in faux innocence.
I chuckled but continued what I was doing. I wrapped the rope first around the creature’s chest a couple times before I looped it around the front legs where they met the body. I tied it specifically so that both ends of the rope were free, and once done, I handed an end to Paige.
“That was kinda hot,” she said. “You really know your way around a rope.”
“What can I say, I am a man of many skills.” I winked. “Now come on, let’s get this thing to the stream and clean it out. Maybe afterwards we can take a bath and wash off some of this blood.”
We each pulled one end of the rope up over our shoulder until the front half of the beast was off the ground and dragged it along behind us as we continued on.
Once we reached the stream, I quickly busied myself with untying the harness.
“You want me to gut it?” Paige asked as she shed her backpack and pulled out a small skinning knife we had retrieved from the sporting goods store in Lanceton a few days before.
“If you wouldn’t mind,” I said as I pulled the rope free and began to coil it again. “I’m gonna go find some good sticks so we can hang this lady up and skin her afterwards.”
“Sounds fun, haven't skinned much yet,” she said.
“Not properly anyway,” I said.
Paige nodded, and I watched as she unzipped her jacket to reveal the powder blue crop top she was wearing beneath. It exposed most of her smooth toned midriff, and the nipples that poked against her top made it clear she wasn’t wearing a bra.
“You know, it’s usually rude to stare at a woman’s chest,” Paige said as she noticed where my eyes were fixed.
“Right, sorry,” I said as I shook my gaze free of her body.
“I said usually,” she said with a grin. “Unlike Bailey, I only go without a bra on special occasions or when I want to get noticed.” She knelt by the animal and started to make the incision in the belly.
“Well you certainly have mine,” I said and as I watched her deliberate and careful movements, it was obvious that she would have made a great surgeon. She would still make a wonderful doctor for our group. I just hoped that if something serious happened, we had a book with detailed enough instructions for her to at least try to help us.
I left her to work knowing she would call for me to help if she needed it and went in search of some sturdy sticks with which to help hang the deer when she was done.
When I returned Paige was covered in blood up to her elbows and some was smeared across her face. As she smiled her bright white teeth stuck out against the dark rapidly drying blood around them.
“How’s it going?” I asked as I took a seat on one of the stones by the stream.
“Good, I think I’m done,” she said with a nod. “Got a nice pile of entrails over here and one empty chest cavity.”
“Perfect,” I said as I worked to sharpen both ends of a roughly two foot, slightly curved, branch.
“What are you working on now?” She asked as she came over and sat down beside me.
“We’re gonna hang the beast to skin it,” I said. “We’ll punch this through a spot in the back legs and attach the rope to it.”
“Oh okay, so it’s kinda like a clothes hanger,” She said
“Yeah, I suppose it is,” I replied with a chuckle. I held the wood up to inspect it as I finished the second end. “Good enough. Come on, let’s get this thing up.”
We made our way back to the deer. My companion had indeed done a marvelous job of clearing out the insides.
“You messed up several of this thing’s organs,” she said. “Cut the heart, punctured a lung, stuff like that.”
“I’m just happy that I didn’t hit the guts or the belly,” I admitted.
“Me too,” she said. “I can only imagine how awful it would smell to puncture one of those.” She nudged the pile of entrails and turned her attention back to me. “So, you gonna show me how to do this?”
I nodded, knelt at the back of the animal, and pushed the sharped wood through the leg in a meaty spot right above the knee. Once I did that on both sides, I tied the rope around the middle of my makeshift gambrel and dragged the doe to a nearby tree. The rope was tossed up and over a branch, and I pulled until the entire creature was off the ground before I tied it around the tree to keep it all in place.
“Looks good, in an eerie sorta way,” Paige said as she pushed some loose hair out of her face and stared at the doe who now swayed gently about a foot in the air. “Now what?”
“Well, best thing to do, usually, is to let them hang for a couple days, weather permitting.”
“So what, we just leave it here then?” She asked.
“No, that would be a bad idea,” I said as I shook my head. “Too many predators and scavengers in these woods. There would be nothing left.”
“Oh, well can’t we hang it at campus?”
“We can get picky later,” I began, “for today we are just gonna let this drain a bit, skin it, and haul it back.”
“So what you’re saying is, we have time to kill?” she asked.
“Yeah, I think it’s time for a bath,” I said with a nod as I turned to look at the stream beside us. I pulled off my jacket and striped off the shirt after it.
“It’s a good plan, but you know you didn’t need an excuse to get me naked, right?” Paige asked as her perky breasts bounced as they were freed from her tight blue shirt. She strutted over to me and pressed them against my exposed chest.
“I just thought you might need help to reach some places,” I said with a grin.
“You’re right. There are some places that haven't been reached since the last time we were together,” she cooed as she unbuttoned my pants and tugged at my boxers.
“Well I better take care of that then,” I said as I rubbed a hand between her thighs.
Paige moaned, and her knees buckled. She stood a step back, kicked off her shoes and frantically worked to remove her pants. “Damn these things for being so tight.”
I walked over, grabbed the waist and janked them down around her ankles in one swift motion. She had on a small purple thong that was drenched in far more than just sweat.
“Been waiting a while?” I asked as I raised an eyebrow.
“Oh shut up and finish what you started,” she pleaded.
“As you wish,” I said with a smirk before I finished pulling off her pants. I sat her down on a streamside stone and removed my own camo pants.
Paige breathed heavy as she watched, and a devilish grin split her face as I freed my swollen self from my boxers.
“Looks like I wasn’t the only excited one,” she said as she pulled her thong to the side to reveal her smooth, wet mound. She was practically panting as she stared at my cock and licked her lips.
“Did you remember the condoms?” I asked as I stared at her revealed glory.
“I skipped them,” the petite brunette said as she shook her head. “I want to feel you inside me, like really feel you. Just be sure to pull out.”
I nodded and strode forward. If that was what the lady wanted I would be happy to oblige. Though as I stepped up she moaned, leaned forward, and took me in her mouth.
“You were holding out on me last time,” I said before I groaned.
She didn’t stop but instead worked harder and took it deeper.
“Oh god, keep going like that and this will be the only place you feel me today,” I grunted.
She stopped, pulled back and wiped her mouth as she sucked in air. “Fair point.” She stood up and kissed my neck before she turned around and bent over. She placed her hands on the rock, spread her legs, and kept her ass in the air. She dripped in anticipation as I stepped up behind her and let out a loud moan as I pushed myself slowly inside.
Paige’s tight pussy gripped my cock as I slid slowly in and out of her.
“Fuck, I forgot how tight you were,” I muttered.
“Good thing you get me so wet,” she sighed. “I am not sure you could fit inside me otherwise.”
“Well we can’t have that,” I said as I reached around and grabbed her nipples. I gently pinched them between my fingers as I increased the speed of my thrusts.
