Primal Play

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Primal Play

Chapter 1

Tahnia stood at the edge of the trail with her hands on her hips, emerald eyes bright with the same look she always got when she was about to do something she might regret later. The late afternoon light caught the freckles across her nose and shoulders. Her red hair moved in the light breeze, still damp at the ends from the humidity that never quite left central Florida, though to be honest, today was fairly crisp at eighty-five percent. She wore nothing but a scrunchy in her hair, a pair of beat up running shes and a thin sheen of sweat. Her clothes were folded on a fallen log behind Monty.

Monty was still catching his breath from the walk in. He had his hands on his knees, soft belly hanging a little over the waistband of the shorts he had not yet taken off. His thinning brown hair stuck to his forehead. He looked up at her and managed a crooked smile.

“You sure about this?” he asked. “I mean, I know it was my idea and all, but…”

Tahnia shrugged one shoulder. “You found the kink, baby and you found the place. I said I’d try it. Just remember the rules.”

He nodded. “No hard hits. Nothing near the eyes. No blood. Safe word is pineapple.”

“Pineapple,” she repeated. “And if you can’t catch me, that’s on you.”

Monty straightened and started pushing his shorts down. His legs were pale and lightly freckled, almost no body hair other than a patch of black chest hair. Tahnia watched him for a second, then turned and stepped out of her shoes. She left them beside his. The ground under her bare feet was warm, packed dirt mixed with pine needles and a few dry leaves. She flexed her toes, felt the strength in her calves and thighs from years of field sports, and glanced back once.

Monty was naked now, half hard already, eyes wide. He looked smaller without his clothes. He always did.

“Ready?” she asked.

“Yeah.”

She took off.

This was going to be easy. Tahnia ran light on her feet, red hair streaming behind her, the muscles in her legs working cleanly as she picked her way between palmettos and long-needle pines. She heard Monty crash after her, breathing hard already, bare feet slapping the ground. She slowed just enough to let him keep her in sight. If she ran full out he would never catch her, and then the whole afternoon would be a wasted hike. She wanted to feel the chase. She wanted to feel him work for it.

Behind her, Monty cursed when a branch caught his shoulder. She smiled to herself and cut left, ducking under a low limb. Her breasts moved with the run, small and firm. Sweat slid down the center of her back and gathered at the top of her ass. She could hear him gaining a little on the straight stretch, then losing ground again when the trail narrowed and forced him to pick his feet up higher.

She let him get close enough that she could hear the rasp of his breath. Then she put on a short burst of speed, just to make him work. Her strong thighs drove her forward. She felt good. Alive. Maybe just a little mean in the best way.

Monty called her name once, half laugh and half plea. She answered with a sharp turn that took her off the faint path and into thicker brush. Twigs scraped her calves. She ignored them. The rules said be careful of eyes and no real violence. Everything else was open.

She was fifty yards ahead again when she realized she had not heard him for a few seconds. She slowed and listened. Nothing but wind in the pines and the distant sound of a car on the road they had left behind. She turned in a slow circle, chest rising and falling, and caught movement between the trees.

Monty was still coming. He looked exhausted already, face red, one hand braced against a trunk as he pushed himself forward. She waited until he spotted her. Then she smiled that small, secret smile and ran again.

Neither of them noticed the two shapes that had been ghosting along with her for the last five minutes. They stayed low behind a screen of saw palmetto, eyes fixed on the red hair and the pale, sweating body that kept flashing between the trees. When Tahnia moved, they moved. When she stopped, they settled again. They never made a sound.

Tahnia cut across a small clearing and felt the ground change under her feet. Softer. She glanced down and saw the edge of an old mattress half buried in leaves and sand. Someone had dragged it out here and left it. She stepped over the corner of it and kept going, deeper into the scrub. Monty’s voice floated after her, thinner now.

“Tahnia… slow down…”

She thought that perhaps her fella didn’t quite grasp the idea behind this game he’d wanted to play, no, begged her to play with him.

She did not slow down.

She wanted him to earn it. She wanted to feel his hands on her when he finally got close enough to grab. The thought sent a quick, bright pulse through her. She ran harder for another ten strides, then eased again so he would not lose her completely.

Behind them both, one of the watchers shifted its weight. It had seen the mattress. It had seen the way the woman’s legs flexed when she jumped it. They stayed low and moved when the red hair moved, keeping the same careful distance. The two legs were making noise. The watchers made none.

Tahnia reached a wider stretch of trail and turned to look back. Monty was closer than she expected. He had found a second wind or pure stubbornness. His face was flushed dark, mouth open, eyes locked on her. She felt a sudden, sharp thrill low in her belly and almost laughed. She took three more steps, then deliberately slowed, letting him close the gap.

Monty’s hand brushed her hip. She spun away at the last second, still grinning, and the chase started again.

Neither of them looked toward the thick line of brush twenty yards off the trail. The watchers stayed perfectly still, watching the pale legs and the red hair and the way the man stumbled after her. They waited. There was plenty of time.

Chapter 2

Tahnia heard the sudden crash behind her and almost stopped. Branches snapped. Something heavy hit the ground with a dull, meaty sound. She called Monty’s name once, sharp and short, then kept moving because the rules were still the rules and she had already decided she was not going to make this easy for him. When no answer came she told herself he had tripped. He was out of shape. He would catch his breath and keep coming. She had to believe that or the whole afternoon turned into something else.

The two dogs appeared without any warning at all.

One moment the trail was empty. ...