“Oh, you don’t even know the half of it,” he says as he moves up to kiss me.
“Mmm,” I groan as I bring my hand to his face. His neatly trimmed beard feels soft against my palm. When he pulls away I hold onto him so I can look at him.
“What?” he asks, smiling. He looks different with his guard down. When others are around, he has a thick wall around him that I can’t see over. But out in the middle of the woods between my legs, six inches from my face… He looks happy.
“I know you… I just can’t figure out how,” I say, studying his face. “What’s your last name?”
“Andrews,” he says simply.
“Tate Andrews… No… What’s your real name?” I ask.
“You always were an intuitive little bird,” he says as he sits back and helps me back into my shorts. When he helps me stand up and looks at me with a smile, it hits me.
“Oh, fuck,” I gasp and take several steps back instinctively.
“Say it, little bird. What’s my name?” he asks as he backs me up against a tree. He puts his hand on the tree beside me and leans in until he’s just inches away from my face.
“Josiah,” I say.
“Good girl,” he smiles. “It’s been a while, huh?”
“How… Tate… I left the church and have no intention of going back. I don’t know what your goal is by being here, but I want nothing to do with anything connected to that place,” I say.
“I left when you did,” he says simply.
“What is that supposed to mean?” I ask.
“I’ll explain at a better time. Let’s walk back,” he says as he puts his hand on the small of my back to urge me forward. I narrow my eyes at him when he turns around to see why I’m not moving. “I will happily pick your little ass up and carry you out of here if I have to.”
“Are you saying I’ve been captured?” I ask.
“Yes, because like fuck if I’m letting anyone else take you home tonight,” he says as he gently grabs the back of my neck and pulls me closer. “When we get back to home base, I’m going to bend you over and claim my prize in front of everyone, so they know exactly who the fuck you belong to.”
“Belong?” I ask.
“Yes, little bird,” he says, cupping my cheek. “You are mine to chase, to fuck, and to break.”
I smile brightly because the idea of him, claiming me causes the heat to pool in my belly again. He takes me by the hand, and we walk in silence through the woods. We aren’t super far from home base, so it takes us less than twenty minutes to walk past the wood line.
Everyone from before is here but all of the women are paired off with their respective predators for the evening. Amanda isstraddling Noah’s lap but has her head on his chest. He is gently rubbing her back as he talks to another man nearby.
Tate walks me up onto the back porch of the main house and leans me against the banister. He puts his hands on either side of my body to box me in. “There are a lot of people here,” I say.
“Nervous, little bird?” he asks.
“What if someone takes a video or something?”
“Let them.”
“It could easily get back to….” I stop talking rather than putting any of my fears onto him.
“To who, Wren?” he asks, narrowing his eyes.
I sigh and shake my head. “Just forget I said that.” Tate turns me around and bends me over the railing slightly before pulling my shorts and underwear down to my knees.
“Who are you worried about finding out?” Tate asks again.
“Oscar,” I say quietly as if saying his name will somehow summon him from the depths of hell that is Free Will Baptist Church. How fucking ironic of them.