Chapter One
Eris
The rush Eris felt riding on the back of a horse was something she’d chased for years. For a while, riding had been enough to hit that dark spot inside her, to give her the sense of escaping a chase and riding the high. Her childhood mare, Bluebell, could take her on any adventure she wanted without fail. Outside of school and her social commitments, Bluebell was her escape. Now she was a college graduate, living in the city, so she could only see her faithful mare around her schedule working at the nursery.
As much as she loved her life in Virginia, something was missing. She’d known for a while now. Last year she’d taken the vacation of her life to Rawhide Ranch, but her own uncertainties had held her back and denied her the experience she truly craved.
The guy she’d spent her week with, Gabriel, was everything she could want in a man. Even as a temporary partner, he’d made her heart yearn and her pussy throb each time they played together. He’d even asked, like a fucking gentleman, if there was something she was holding back, because he could sense shewasn’t being entirely truthful. It had come up more than once and thinking about it now left a twisted feeling in her belly.
Eris wanted to be hunted. She wanted the thrill and fear of primal with the added assurance that underneath it all, the person behind it wasn’t really going to kill her. She could take a little pain with her pleasure, and she didn’t have a problem getting dirty. Admitting what she craved though, even to herself, always made her second guess what was wrong with her.
It had started as nothing more than a passing fancy at first, her mind running wild when she was out riding alone in the early morning or into the night. Her childhood home rested on several acres, and her parents had no qualms with her taking out her favorite steed for a nightly stroll even if she came over at odd hours. Bluebell was a rather calm mare, and she knew how to take care of her longtime friend day or night. She never pushed Bluebell for more than she could give, and she didn’t make her horse run like her life depended on it.
That twisted fantasy just existed inside Eris’ head, and at this point, she wasn’t entirely sure if it would ever be more than a wild thought. Her overactive imagination was the part that would get her into trouble one of these days.
“Are you still thinking about asking someone to hunt you?”
Tara’s words startled Eris out of her daydream. Thinking of Bluebell and all their rides— even recent ones—made her heart soar, but she was still missing the rush she so desperately wanted to feel. She needed a person to truly fulfill the fantasy, and she wouldn’t be able to run as fast as she could go on horseback. Running on foot would be more primal, more real.
It was exactly what Eris wanted, even if part of her was still scared to admit it.
Staring at Tara now, Eris was almost certain she was once again wearing her feelings all across her face. “Am I that transparent?”
Tara chuckled over the video call, the fuzzy screen behind her making the picture a little distorted. Tara had taken riding lessons with Eris for years, and their families were neighbors on the outskirts of town. It was fun always being around Tara. Her bouncy, honey-colored locks still moved with vibrancy despite being restrained into a ponytail for the time being. Her friendly blue eyes crinkled at the corners when she smiled knowingly.
“It’s not that you’re transparent, doll. You just have a… a certain look about you when you start daydreaming.” She wiggled her brows to emphasize her point. “Found someone up to the task?”
Eris pressed her lips together, unsure what to say next. Did she explain to Tara in no uncertain terms that she had zero plans of ever asking her online dating pool about some primal play? It wasn’t the way she would prefer to go about things, and if she was being honest, asking an everyday guy about it seemed like the perfect invitation to create problems.
She cringed at the idea outright. CNC in general was too dark for her, but she understood that sometimes, with the right person, elements of it could slip into primal play. There could be some crossover fun if the partnership was strong, and she knew before she even looked at her dating profile that she wouldn’t trust a stranger with primalorCNC with a ten-foot pole. She needed a connection to extend that amount of trust.
In short, true CNC was not her thing. What she got lost thinking about on those quiet nights strolling through the grass with Bluebell was primal play, and finding a partner who could handle her desires in the right way. Bluebell was a good listener when they were alone, and, thankfully, her childhood horse didn’t judge her like some of the people in town might.
“No,” Eris replied, blowing out a breath. “I haven’t asked any of the dates I’ve gone on about primal play, much less CNC.”
“CNC,” Tara interrupted, chewing on the tip of her pen. “That’s consensual?—”
“Consensual non consent,” Eris finished. “It’s high-stakes primal play. I don’t know that I actually need the extent of CNC. It’s not as though I’ve had the chance to try it out. But primal in general is the idea.”
“Ah.” Tara released the pen from her lips, tapping her forehead with the end instead. “The ‘chase-me kink’. Got it.”
Eris blushed, surprised how freely Tara spoke about these things. She twisted some of her waist length, black hair around her finger and let her thoughts carry her away. Last year when Tara had moved away, ditching a fiancé who was her parents’ idea of perfection, she’d seemed like such a reserved and demure woman. They hadn’t gotten around to talking about kink or anything risqué until the last few months, after Eris’ trip to Rawhide. It had turned out her childhood friend ended up knowing a lot more about kink play than she’d ever let on.
Rawhide Ranch was a place Eris had heard about through another friend, and she took the first chance to go as soon as it arose. She’d thought at the time that she’d outlined what she hoped to find well enough, but when she’d spoken to the man she ended up spending most of her time with, he’d had no clue about her darkest desires.
Gabriel Soren was gorgeous, but they hadn’t stayed in contact. He was fun, and handsome, but Eris didn’t think she would cross paths with him again. Their last day together had been marred by inconsistencies between their lives, and she’d secretly believed he might be a workaholic. That definitely wasn’t something she wanted in a long-term partner. Still, both her heart and her needy pussy yearned to see Gabriel again. If only she had plans to go back to the Ranch. That was their one connection point.
Master Derek had spoken with Eris a couple times when she’d been at Rawhide. He’d known, in that way a true Dominant does, that she’d been holding herself back from being happy. He’d even encouraged her to try and share her desires further with Gabriel, but she hadn’t been able to. Taking a liking to Gabriel, who, after all, was another visitor to the Ranch, didn’t create a permanent bond between them. They’d both been there to have a fun and safe experience, and that’s all it had ever amounted to. At the end of her trip, she’d left feeling more frustrated than anything with Rawhide. She hadn’t taken advantage of what the Ranch offered. Instead she’d let her own fears block her from real happiness.
It was a hurdle she was still working over.
“It’s more than a chase-me kink,” Eris groaned, pressing her elbows to the tabletop to prop her chin in her hands. Tara watched with bemused eyes, and Eris realized she was waiting for more. “I do want that, Tara. I want someone totally obsessed with me to chase me and hunt me. I’m not just going to ask a random date to do that, or even someone I’ve gone on a couple dates with. That’s a deep level of understanding kink and safe words, and it’s too much to put my trust in just anyone’s hands. I need someone with…”
Even when Eris’ voice trailed off, she could see in her longtime friend’s eyes that she understood. “Someone with experience?”
“Yes, exactly. With primal play in specific. Not CNC, per se.”
“Oh sure,” Tara agreed, nodding like she was super familiar with the difference. As far as Eris knew, Tara did not have a kinky lifestyle. She was kink curious at best. Maybe she had some bedroom desires, but Tara didn’t ever mention anything specific to Eris. If Tara had hidden pleasures, she did a damn good job keeping them to herself. “And you didn’t find that at the Ranch?”