She smiled at him and he placed one last kiss on her lips before they exited the car. He carried her bag with their extra clothes in it and they walked around the side of the house, past the pool area, and stood at the bank of the Wekiwa River.
“Remember what I said. This is riskier because I haven’t been here before. Miguel assured me we were safe from people in these parts, but the animals are awake at night, Izzy. Gators aren’t something to fuck with, so if you hit a nest, run and don’t look back.”
“I got it. I’ve grown up in Florida, Micah, I know how to outrun a gator.”
“Yeah, but can you outrun me?” he asked, wrapping an arm around her lower back and pulling her tight to his body.
Her hand slipped between them and she stroked his semi-hard cock through the cargo shorts he was wearing. The bugs were already unbearable and they would certainly be covered in more than just some mud and water by the time this was over.
“Truth or Dare?” he asked, drawing her attention back to his face.
“Dare.”
“Run,” he growled into her ear, pushing her back from him.
Without a second look, she turned and took off through the water in front of them. He bounced back and forth on his feet in excitement, trying to give her a little head start. Isabel was fit, but he ran at the gym nearly every day. He watched as her white sundress disappeared into the shadows and listened to the water splash as she ran down the river, hoping to escape him. Like a sacrificial lamb, she made her way through the woods, and when he could barely hear her in the distance he set off after her.
He took off at a healthy pace down the embankment, waiting until the last possible minute to cross the water. Running in wet shoes was never fun, but tonight he’d deal with it to catch his Izzy.
“Come out, come out where ever you are!” he taunted, running toward her footsteps. Since they were in uncharted territory, he didn’t want to let her get too far ahead. The adrenaline running through his body was impossible to control. He picked up his pace, letting out a growl that could have been mistaken for an animal, not a human. His heart raced as he kept up a painful pace. When suddenly he heard a branch break towards his left, he stopped and listened, holding his breath so he could hear without interference. Yes, it was her, it was most definitely her. She had changed directions on him and if he hadn’t noticed, he could have lost her. She was moving faster than he had expected.
As the chase continued, the forest awakened around them. First it was the cicadas. Their noise was nearly deafening at times. An owl started with short fast sounds until another joined in and screeched their dissatisfaction with the night being ruined. In all the years he’d lived in Florida, he had never realized how loud the wilderness was until that moment. He needed all his senses in pristine condition to track her, and the noise was making things difficult.
When he started to think he had lost her trail, he saw it. Out of the corner of his eye, her white dress was passing between two large oak trees. He picked up his pace at the same time she did. She heard him. His beautiful lamb knew he was getting close and the thrill of it was too much to bear. He could see her now, all of her. Her dark hair had come loose from its braid and was flowing behind her. The white dress she had worn already had stains on it, and he couldn’t wait to destroy it. She jumped over a fallen limb. But the extra time it took her gave him the time he needed to catch up. She was so close now he could reach out and touch her. The sound of her fast-paced breathing spurred him on and in the perfect moment, he pounced, pulling her to the ground as she screamed for her life.