You're mine

Chapter 1

Ashley was running for her life through muddy fields and dense forest, attempting to evade the sniper who was on her tail. She'd been grounded by one of their anti aircraft missiles, and her parachute was kind enough to tangle itself into a chestnut tree, of all things. The spiky shells of the nuts had pierced the fabric of the chute and stuck as if they were deliberately trying to hinder her escape, and so she had to hurry to cut herself down. From her vantage point in the tree she couldn't miss the convoy of vehicles that was attempting to negotiate the rough terrain to intercept her.

As she made her way through the trees the convoy had been her most pressing concern, right up until the point that Ashley felt herself being pelted with the bark of another chestnut tree. The bullet had lodged itself into the unfortunate tree at about the height of her knee, and had missed hitting her by only a few centimetres. From the direction that the tree had been hit, Ashley realised that it could not have been a member of  the convoy who had fired upon her. She was being flanked by a sniper.

He was fast, and he was a good shot. From the shot that had come near to her, it looked as if he was aiming to wound her rather than kill. Some consolation at least, although she certainly didn't want to find out what he would do to her if he caught her. She rounded a corner to find a thicker patch of trees in the distance that would provide better cover, if she could get to them. She ran for it, using the small rocks for cover as best as she could. She reached the trees safely and continued running for several minutes before sinking to her knees to rest.

After catching her breath, Ashley thought it best to move on. She quietly got to her feet, scanning the trees ahead for the best route out of the forest. Her heart skipped a beat as her eyes met those of her pursuer; he was crouched in the trees no more than twenty feet away from her. She panicked and ran, attempting to get a head start before he could get up. Too slow, too slow, too slow! her brain chanted as she stumbled on the uneven ground. Her sniper, used to this land, had no such trouble. He seemed to have decided that he was too close to use his gun in such dense forest. Or he was just enjoying the chase. Either way, at least she wasn't getting shot at.

Ashley didn't spare a moment to look back, but she knew he was close; she could hear his breathing as he ran along behind her. He laughed as he saw her stumble, but he didn't catch her. He was playing with her, enjoying the chase. Bastard. He said something to her as he matched her pace. Her Serbian wasn't too good, but she was pretty sure that what she heard went against the Geneva Convention. Her face burned in rage as she heard him mention something about enjoying the view and almost not wanting to catch her.

She reached the top of a small hill within the woods and cried out in shock as she realised that the ground dropped out from under her feet for several metres, and she didn't have any hope of stopping in time. She fell through the air and landed back on the forest floor with a thud. Winded, she tried to roll over and get back to her feet, but she was dragged backwards and flipped onto her back again. Caught. Shit.

Luka was glowing with the thrill of the chase, but he kept his expression brutal. The woman was still trying to get away, and aimed a kick at his shin while attempting to punch him in the face. She was impressive; she connected both of her strikes before he was able to evade. Not a problem; she was fast but she couldn't hit as hard as his bones were used to. He grabbed her wrists and held her still, growled in her ear for her to lie still. She either didn't understand him or she was ignoring him. It didn't matter either way, he still needed her to stop. He slapped her hard, and then backhanded her as well, but she only redoubled her efforts to escape. She was screaming what he could only assume were insults as she continued to kick.

"Get off me you murdering bastard!" the woman screamed as she tried to free herself from his grip. Her face had turned an angry red from the force of the blow that he had inflicted on her, but she seemed determined not to let him see that he had hurt her. Angered by her refusal to cooperate, Luka screamed "Shut up!" at her in Serbian. She stopped screaming, but wrestled her arms free and rolled on top of him so that she could put her weight behind her fist as she smacked it into his jaw.