Free Female Prey & the Elusive Prey by S. J. Lewis Page A

wasn’t quite so openly anxious to get it as she had been the first time. That eager, hungry look was burned into his mind, a promise of things to come.
    This was so unlike any previous experience she’d ever had that Kimberley was completely unsure what to do. Different ideas kept floating through her mind: All of them fell between gritting her teeth and bearing whatever they would do to her and making them fight for every damned inch. As much as she wanted to, though, fighting just didn’t seem to be a viable option. There were three of them, all bigger and stronger than she was, and the casual cuffs and slaps they’d given her so far showed that they had no compunctions about using force…or pain…on her. In the meantime, she had to pick her way along this seemingly endless trail, and choosing where to step next took so much of the attention she could muster, as tired as she was, that there was little left over to plan anything. Other thoughts kept drifting up, too, distracting her, like that old fantasy about being captured by pirates. How young had she been when she first dreamed up that one? It had been safely and remotely thrilling back then. In a fantasy you never got tired, hungry, thirsty, dirty or felt anything like the pains of this all-too-real reality.
    The big, black leader of the group signaled another halt, this time by the banks of a stream. Kimberley closed her eyes, sank to her knees and then slowly toppled over onto her side. Hands were on her body again, as they had been at every halt, but this time they didn’t stop her from slipping into an uncomfortable sleep. When a thumb began probing between her lips and then into her mouth she barely even noticed, and didn’t try to bite, as she had earlier.
    He was a bit disappointed at elf-girl’s lack of response. It wasn’t as enjoyable handling them if they just laid there motionless. He supposed she really could be as tired as she seemed, and not faking it in an attempt to gain some small sympathy or mercy. They did that sometimes, but it had been a long and grueling chase to run her down, and he was feeling a bit tired himself. He pinched one pink nipple, and was rewarded with only a sleepy murmur and a faint frown.
    He let the rest halt run a few minutes over the norm, and then gave elf-girl’s sweetly-rounded rump a slap to wake her. Her body jerked in reflex, but her eyes stayed closed and she didn’t move. Faking? He nodded to Lloyd, who grinned before getting a cupful of cold stream water and dashing it into her pretty little face. She jerked again, spluttered, rolled wearily onto her back and looked up at them, licking her lips unconsciously for as much of the water as she could scavenge.
    “No.” she said. It wasn’t a plea.
    “Come on, elf-girl.” He chuckled, tugging at her leash. “Time to be moving.”
    “No.” she repeated, closing her eyes. “No more.”
    He was a bit impressed. No histrionics, no claiming that she wouldn’t take another step, no list of complaints, just: “no.” It wouldn’t do her any good, but she had guts.
    “You can’t quit, elf-girl.” He told her quietly, giving her leash another little tug. She didn’t move.
    The mild tone of his voice sent a quiver of fear through her, but Kimberley ignored it. They could drag her by her neck if they wanted, but she wasn’t going to take another step. She was at her limit, and almost too tired to even care what might happen. A part of her was certain that they wouldn’t do her any lasting or serious damage, and at the moment she couldn’t think of anything else they could do that would be so much worse than leading her through the woods like this that she’d jump to her feet and follow docilely rather than endure it.
    “Last chance.” He told her in the same quiet tone. When she still didn’t move, he nodded to Kurt and Lloyd and was rewarded with feral grins. Kurt in particular liked giving lessons with carefully-calculated pain and discomfort. He