The Huntsman and the Nix

Hey, everyone--

This is an erotic novel calledThe Huntsman and the Nix. It is a gentler tale than Achen and a different hero. In theHuntsman and the Nix, I didn't sustain the non-con like I tried to do inNuë and the Djinn and inThe Achen Enforcer. It does have non-con in it, so heads-up. It is my retelling of the Snow White fairy tale. There's another story rolling around in there, and I'm curious how fast people will pick up on it.

I wrote this novel from a single point of view. About three-quarters in, I remembered that more than one person reflected how much they missed a second perspective in Achen Enforcer, so I went back and rewrote the whole thing from a dual point of view. In this case, I really think it worked better. Thanks for that. Those moments are one of the reasons I return to write for this site. 

This is my opportunity to say hey to people. Bellie444, who crafts wonderful erotica, and my window friend hadaly, of course and always. Hey to Pskvy for sending her very cool energy my way and for the feedback and early editing. Hello to SofBlack, who has recently posted some great new stuff people should check out, for sure. Hey to Elizabeth, if she's around, who prevented me from sending a book to my publisher with a great big ugly plot hole in it and who is a genuinely cool person. Hello to Tess (Hey, Tess!), Joymac, and AlaninSF--always a pleasure. Thanks to mittyfinch for encouragement on Achen Enforcer. You nailed it. Shelleycat, I'm so pleased you picked up on the alternate storytelling tradition in Nuë and the Djinn. I worked hard on that and was hoping someone would notice. I know it threw people. Hey, Niomi2921, Eaxia, EGRI, nthusiastic, and cantfightfate, and other people who have hung out with me on this site. As long as you're still around, I'll keep coming back. 

Email me if you're interested in chatting about the story or writing or just to say hey. I hope you enjoy it. 

-Harp Strathe

THE HUNTSMAN AND THE NIX

by Harp Strathe

Prologue

The man choked once, a strand of gray hair falling forward. The small crystal glass he'd been holding dropped straight down, a delicate shattering that left only fine dust and an impact mark. The liqueur was a garish blood-color splashed across the white floor tiles. 

"What have you done?" the man said to the figure across the room.

"Tell me where the data ring is, Adelaid," the figure said. 

He pulled a breath, wheezing. "No," he got out. "I won't tell you," he said, his speech slurring. His legs gave way, falling to his knees.

The figure walked to stand over him. "She didn't get your message," the figure said. "I intercepted it. She didn't leave on the shuttle."

"You're lying," he said, swaying, his mouth drawing down into a grimace. 

"If you don't tell me where the ring is, I'll have her killed."

The man looked up at her, his eyes searching. "You wouldn't--"

"Do you think I would do this to you and not to her?"

"Don't hurt her."

"Where is the ring, Adelaid?"

"She has it. I told her to hide it," the man said.

"What did you give him?" a second figure said from the doorway, the first figure turning to look.  

"A dissociative anesthetic. Untraceable. He's helpless," the first figure said. "Do something terrible. Make it bloody, Speculo. Violent, something that will convince others. When you're done, go and get her. Take her to a cell and search her. If she doesn't have it on her, make her tell you where she put it. Then kill her."

"You got it, boss."

"Do whatever it takes, you understand? There will be no cameras running."

"Don't. No, don't--" the gray-haired man said again as the first figure walked away, the edge of a shoe catching the red liquid that had spilled and leaving the thinnest arc of a stain, a trail like blood across the white tile to the door, a sign of things to come. 

The first figure exited while the second stayed, the sound of a heavy blow and a yell of fear and pain before the door closed, silence following. 

* * *

(THREE HOURS LATER)

She ran, looking back once, hearing the clank of the door and the guards emerging from the building behind her. Her breathing was harsh in her ears. Approaching the high sheer wall, three times as tall as she was, she didn't pause, scrambling up and up, feeling her momentum failing, but they hadn't seen her yet. Then she was on the top, dragging herself onto the ledge and crouching. 

"There!" one of the guards yelled, his voice followed by shots, cracking and echoing, a ricochet off the wall not far. 

Putting one hand down, she leapt from the wall, falling a long way and landing, crying out in pain and grabbing her shoulder when she rolled on it, and then she was running again. The line of the forest was in front of her past a second fence, tall wood pickets. She leapt, her hands coming onto their tops, pulling herself up and and simply continuing, landing on her feet on the other side, coming down in a crouch and springing into a run again.

Getting past the tree line, she shifted direction. Running in a straight line would be stupid. She wanted to be higher anyway. 

Hearing search vehicles southeast, she ran until it got dark and didn't stop. They couldn't see, but she could. 

She ran until it was truly dark. Slowing to a walk, she found a place in a hollow tree on its side. Getting the red rag she'd wrapped the knife in, she tore off a long strip and wrapped her shoulder, hissing and whimpering, the whole area swollen and tender and hot. Wrapping the knife again, she put it in her pocket and scooped out the hollow tree, curling up, her breathing slowing. He was dead. Her eyes stung, small hitches as she cried, and then she slept. 

#

(SIX HOURS EARLIER)

Speculo came through the door of the holding cell. Speculo Tab, head guard at Forsyte Institute, was a handsome man with blunt-cut blonde hair who had always made her skin crawl. He'd brought another man with him, Jot, a large guard with a face like the front of a truck. 

They had already put her in restraints on top of a bare mattress on a raised table, her legs slightly apart, her arms slightly out from her sides, the electronic shackles that restrained her wrists and ankles controlled by a button that hung on a lanyard around Speculo's neck. 

The men came into the cell, Speculo touching a button on the table, which began to sink down until it was resting on the floor, her view getting lower as he came to stand over her. 

"Bruja is a beautiful woman," Speculo said. "But you're so much more beautiful, the prettiest of all, tormenting every man at the institute since you first got titties. Bruja knows you've got the ring. Don't tell me where it is yet, because we should take these things in order. I think we'll start with a search."

Moving to stand straight over her, straddling the table she was lying on, he reached his hands down, starting at her neck and roaming over her breasts, looking into her eyes, down to her belly and over her hips. 

He straightened. "If that's all we searched, we wouldn't find hardly anything, would we? I think we need to check more. Jot."

Jot got on his knees behind her head, unbuttoning her shirt and pulling it down off her shoulders, the shirt still under her. She had an undergarment on, thin straps, material that hugged her breasts, and Speculo squatted, sitting on her hips and pushing it up.

Speculo looked at her exposed breasts. "Ripe and full and firm, and look at those red nipples," he said. He looked up at Jot. "Have you ever seen such perfect tits?"

"No, Spec," Jot said.

Speculo stood up again, getting a big red rag out of his pocket, long, and rolled it in the air, his arm coming up and bringing it down, smacking her with it several times on her breasts, Isobet keeping her cries behind her teeth. "Look at how they jiggle," Speculo said, and laughed. "She's never had them touched, I imagine, unless she's been touching them herself. Have you been touching yourself, you dirty little animal? Let's remind her how good it feels. Go ahead, Jot."

The guard was above her and she watched his hands come, dirty hands, settling on her pale skin, cupping her breasts, which jutted from the arc of his palms. 

"Just like that," Speculo breathed, dropping the rag and settling down onto her again, bending over her and bringing his mouth close to her nipple, his tongue coming out, watching her face. Then his mouth was on her nipple, sucking, the sensation immediate and strong. She closed her eyes, grimacing. He came up. "Play with the other nipple, Jot. Let's see what the little beast does, if the Nix likes fucking."

They continued, switching sometimes. Speculo's mouth was tugging on one nipple and the guard's fingers on the other, her belly sinking. She felt her nipples tighten and rise, becoming more sensitive. 

"Fuck, she's ripe for sex. Are your nips hard?" Speculo said to her low when he came up, his voice thick, his fingers plucking now, too. "I think they are. Yeah, she likes it. I wish I could keep her as a fuck-pet. Let's get a little rougher, Jot."

She wanted to cry out as Speculo bent again, nipping at her breast, biting her nipples, sharp bites, the guard beginning to pinch. They moved between the two. Nobody spoke, the cell full of the sound of their heavy breathing, the sloppy sound of Speculo's mouth, her breath choking out. 

Speculo finally came up. "Now you'll be ready when I put the clamps on. Less inclined to fight. The director's told me to do whatever I need to in order to get you to tell me where you hid the ring." He straightened over her, standing again, and his hand went to his belt, tugging and clanking. He unzipped and let his pants fall open, pulling out his hard sex, showing it to her, touching himself. "What do you think of that, little beast?"

She didn't respond, looking back at him.

"Always that bitchy look on your face. But I forgot. We need to do a more thorough search." He bent down and put his hands on the waist of her pants and pulled them off and down around her ankles, and then her underwear, nowhere else for them to go in the restraints. 

She looked at the ceiling as he straddled her again, lowering himself, planting his knees outside her legs and turning her thighs outward. His thumbs spread her. "Let's look here. I've never seen a prettier pussy, all pink and fresh." He leaned down, sniffing at her sex. "Sweet."

He licked his fingers and his hand slipped between her spread legs, angling past her channel until he was pushing on her butt, finding her, his finger shoving in deep. Her breath choked out again. 

"Anything up there, little beast? Did you hide the ring there?" he said, looking down at her and moving his finger in and out of her bottom, pumping, the whole area burning. "I don't feel anything. Play with her tits, Jot, but gentle now. She'll be numb soon enough. I've got something I brought for our little experiment. We like to experiment on Nix here at Forsyte Institute, don't we?"

Fingers returned to her nipples, which were sensitive, yes, but the touching was gentle now, something like a cramp going through her belly. She felt Speculo spread the lips of her sex, and then there was a humming and he spread her lips more. He was looking down at her. She couldn't move in the restraints. "I always wondered what you'd be like," he breathed. 

He touched the device to her sex, watching her face, spreading her more, delicate touches. It immediately felt good. She clenched her teeth, closing her eyes as it roamed and then wedged lightly against her, her thighs trembling, her sex twinging. He brought it closer, the pleasure continuing, her cheeks getting hot. The sensations got stronger. She opened her eyes. 

"That's right," Speculo said. "The other guards are waiting just down the hall, but first I'm going to show you what a filthy little beast you are." He pulled the humming device off of her and looked down at her. She felt a burning ache, felt her sex pulse. "Oh, yeah. You like that." He returned the device, her breathing getting faster. 

The pleasure was getting stronger as she pulsed against the device again, her breath choking out, the fingers on her nipples making it worse. She couldn't stop it, feeling herself losing control. 

"You thought you were a little house-Nix, but that's not true," Speculo said.

It was on her. She couldn't stop the sensations. 

"That's it," he said through heavy breathing. "Show me how much you like it, little beast."

Her legs tried to spread, the sensations rising to impossible heights, and then pleasure burst over her. She closed her eyes tightly again, straining, her hips rising, whining a little as it went on, breaking over her, her sex pulsing wildly against the humming. 

"So that's how you are," he breathed, grunting lightly. "That makes me so hard. You could charm the birds out of the trees, couldn't you? Pretty soon, we're going to go down the hall to a room there. It's got old-fashioned restraints hanging from the ceiling and all sorts of toys. I get you first, but there's a few guys already there who are going to help you to remember where you put the ring. We've wanted you in our hands for a while. Got to check here as well." 

She felt Speculo's finger at her entrance. She felt him push into her channel, first one finger and then another, filling her, moving them in and out, pumping and curling, holding her eyes, and it made the sensations more. 

"Getting all wet," Speculo said, making a raw sound. "That old man should have made a bunch of Nix females for fuck-pets. These fingers in your cunt? I killed Forsyte with these hands. He died screaming and begging. Look at you, you perfect little animal. You feel good on my fingers, tight and hot and slick." He pushed in roughly, his eyes on her face. "Sensitive and swollen, and virgin-tight. Give it to me, Jot."

Speculo pulled his fingers out of her as Jot got something from his jacket, heavy, a long tube, Isobet's eyes tracking it as he handed it to Speculo. 

Speculo thumbed a button on the side and a crackling noise came from it. "I found this in the old supply room and I thought of you, so I charged it up. You don't know what it is, do you?" he said, watching her face. He retracted the end and showed it to her, the crackling continuing, a metal circle emerging with the word ETYSROF in a half-circle at the top and ETUTITSNI in a half-circle across the bottom. "Make sure she doesn't move, Jot."

Isobet's eyes went to Speculo as Jot grabbed her arm, his other arm on that same side of her head, putting weight on her so she couldn't see, controlling the area. She realized what it was and cried out and then she felt Speculo push it onto her shoulder, felt the circle, feeling like nothing at first and then she arched as much as she could, shrieking over and over, thrashing. Speculo pulled it off. She was sobbing. 

Speculo grinned at her. "That's got me so turned on. Take this, Jot. Go on. I don't need you for this. Leave the door open. I'll call you when I'm done with her and we'll take her down the hall. Tell Best and Asito that I said you get her next. You can fuck her in her ass while I whip her tits. Then the rest of them will have a go at her. She'll tell us where the ring is before we're spent. After that, I'm afraid we're going to find her dead in the jungle trying to escape, aren't we, little beast?"

She was still crying out a little. Jot got up. As he walked by her, she could see his sex large and hard in his pants, his eyes meeting hers with a promise in them. He went to the cell door and opened it, leaving it open and walking out and down the hall. Her gaze returned to Speculo. 

"Look at you, glaring at me. Such eyes. You could reach right into a man with those eyes," Speculo said. "Bruja won't care. She hates you, you know. She's jealous of the attention the old man gave you. Jealous that you're younger than she is. But more than any of that, she's jealous that you're so much more beautiful than she'll ever be, and there's nothing like jealousy to make a woman mean. Let me give you a big taste of what's coming." 

He was breathing heavily, his musk strong, his sex hard and large, almost purple at the head, arcing up his belly, Speculo running his hand over it. He brought himself over her, one hand coming down to his sex between them, looking into her eyes and touching himself. "Coming in hard, little beast," he told her. 

He positioned himself between her legs, his sex at her entrance, his other hand bracing beside her, the key on its lanyard falling forward and dangling in her face and that's what she'd been waiting for. 

She darted up, her shoulders coming off the mattress, and caught the key in her mouth, biting on it with her teeth, feeling the simple on-off button depress, and the electronic shackles were gone and she was free. 

Still not making any noise, she brought her knee up straight behind him to try to get out from under him, one knee hitting hard between his legs on something soft there. 

Speculo drew his breath in and tried to yell but he seemed to swallow it, his face going red and then almost purple as she brought her knee up again, no accident this time, straight under him as hard as she could, the same place, since it seemed to hurt. His body went rigid, his butt tucking, curling around his sex as she pushed backward, getting some distance. She turned on her hip and raised her knees, all her bunched pants would allow, kicking him with her heels directly below his breastbone as hard as she could. 

His face looked almost serene as he fell back on his side and curled up, his breath choking out. She came up, her knees sideways, wiggling closer to him and reaching for the knife at his waist, feeling him try to also reach for it, his fingers scrabbling, his hands weak. She was grunting with effort. He cried out, but he had no breath. She pushed his hands away and pulled it free. 

Sitting up, she got past his flailing arm and buried it, stabbing again, making small noises from between her teeth. There was blood. Blood was everywhere, all over everything, but she didn't want him getting up again, and she finally made herself stop. 

Scrambling backward and lying down, she set the knife down and pulled her pants up. Rolling to her feet, she buttoned them as fast as she could. Speculo's eyes shifted to hers, his mouth open, nothing coming out except more blood. She bared her teeth at him. 

Pulling her shirt down, she retrieved the knife and saw the red rag, wrapping it around the knife and pocketing it, and didn't bother with the rest, running out of the cell door and down the hall, leaving bloody shoe prints. 

Then she was through the cell door, moving fast. She went through three more doors and found the exit, urgency crawling through her, the sound of the doors too loud, guards down the hall waiting, but then she was out. She ran, her heels flying, her breathing steady.

#

(TWELVE HOURS LATER)

Waking with a start, she looked around. It was still dark, darker in the log where she was curled up. There was something near, something large, and she reeked, smelling herself, coppery. Blood. She smelled like blood. Soundlessly getting up into a squat, she listened as something paced closer, hearing the faint snuffling sounds not far and then a deep cough. Big. It was big. She froze, her eyes scanning, seeing the only choice and wondering if she would be fast enough. 

She broke cover, running for the tree, flying across the ground. It was behind her, faster than she was, and she was going up, her hands catching at the trunk, at branches. It followed. She could swear she felt its hot breath, the animal giving a grunting snarl, the massive snap of its teeth behind her. She kept going. She hadn't even seen what it looked like.