Step by careful step, Lena drew close to her destination. A nervous energy had taken hold of her body, urging her to go faster. The blonde wanted to run, to make her feet pound the floor in the same way that her heart was pounding against her ribs. Lena wanted to but knew that she couldn’t.
Despite the nerves edging her on, Lena couldn’t race through the corridors without attracting attention. Ikea had many hidey-holes but it there were always customers as well and Lena didn’t know which were the ones hunting her. From the moment she had set a foot inside Lena had been sporting a blush on her cheeks at what she’d hidden in the building. Each time her eyes lifted from her feet the gazes of the people around her burned into her skin. As if they knew what she’d hidden here. With a shallow breath, a thundering heart and a wetness that made itself known with each step, Lena kept walking.
The taboo of being naked at odd times or places had been a thrill that Lena had sought for years. During her late teens, she had spent every moment her parents were out of the house in the nude, but it was only through the internet that Lena had started to get more adventurous. Late-night nude ventures into the yard, commando shopping trips, Lena had even wandered out of a hotel room without her clothes. Just a few minutes outside her room, when Lena was back inside the thrill had been enough that she had muffled her moans with a pillowcase while her fingers set a quick rhythm.
A year ago Lena had found an entirely different kind of game on a forum. An adult version of hide and seek where someone hid a USB drive out in the world for others to find. The drive needed to be somewhere Hunters could reach it, in a tree, behind a poster or even taped to the inside of a garbage can. Lena had joined in with green drives that contained nude photos of herself without her face. Each one had been more risqué than the last and hidden in a different place. None of them had been found but not for lack of trying.
Even if she tried Lena couldn’t count the orgasms she’d had while following the online chat to find her drive. The drives she had left out in the open had been live for a day each. Those days Lena’s horny brain ruled as she followed the group chat, she dropped hints in the chat while her eyes stayed glued to the screen. Her fingers kept her on the edge as she read the responses. Each time she’d gone to pick the drive up she had been filled with exhilaration and a sense of disappointment. By the time she made it back home Lena’s pussy had dripped through her panties and the following hours had been driven by the thought of how she might be used if the drive was discovered.
Since first discovering that forum Lena had drifted along with her fantasies as much as she could. Afterward, she was always surprised by just how far those fantasies went. Blackmail and nonconsent had featured in each of them to a startling degree. There was a fear that came with these drives, a fear of fantasies coming true that were better left in her dreams.
This time Lena had made a red drive, emboldened by the fact that none of her drives had been found Lena had filled it with more than simple anonymous nudes. This one held the full pictures without any cropping. Her body and face were on full display as Lena had let the camera take pictures while she posed and played with herself like a pornstar. Even going so far as to enact several acts on her favorite dildo, Mr. Purple had seen a lot of action during the preparation. The ultimate prize had been a video where Lena rode her favorite toy as she begged the camera to be used by whoever found the drive.
This drive was live for forty-eight hours. For forty-seven of those hours, Lena had shifted between a state of anxiety and lust addled moans. Lena’s fingers had been hard at work at a bundle of nerves inside that never failed to make her shudder and shake.
When the final hour arrived Lena had stepped on the bus for a torturous ride to Ikea. More than any of her adventures before it had seemed as if everyone around her knew that she had a dirty secret. Every glance seemed to rest on her just a bit too long and the conversations dropped to a whisper when she walked by. Stuck near the back of the bus Lena had kept her legs tightly crossed as the one on top set a rhythm that sent sparks through her body. Lena kept a tight grip on her phone, each glance at it sent a wave of fear and lust through her body. Fear of being found. Lust at what she might have to do to earn the pictures back.
Within the first twelve hours, the hunters had narrowed down the location to the Ikea warehouse where she had hidden the drive. Since the warehouse had opened in the morning chats had been flooding the group as they deciphered the last riddles. The hunters visited different parts of the store and sent pictures to the chat to keep a log of where they’d been. Yesterday four of them had been working together to find her. Today there would be three hunters in the store with her.
A sprint through the store would have been suspicious but a speed walk didn’t draw more than a glance, so many people were in a hurry in Ikea. A sudden vibration startled Lena out of her power-walk. For a moment she pinched her eyes shut to question whether she should check or not. With a groan Lena unlocked the phone because she couldn’t bear not to look, the chat opened and a coldness washed over her. As Lena looked at the latest picture she forgot to breathe.
One of the hunters was inside the model apartment where Lena had hidden her drive. The people flooded around her as Lena stood frozen in the middle of the aisle. Lena couldn’t tear her eyes away from the screen while her stomach flipped over itself. Three bouncing dots drew her attention to the fact that the hunters were typing.
Seconds ticked by. Seconds where Lena did nothing more than bite her lip, an uncomfortable tightness grew in Lena’s chest as she waited. When the chat finally came in she staggered towards the nearest shelf. With trembling legs, Lena was forced to hold on for dear life as her heart pounded in her ears.
They hadn’t found the drive.
Lena’s breath came in short, sharp gasps as she followed the discussion. There were three hunters in the building with her. Two of them were searching the apartments while the last was off to look in the various kitchens. Lena’s thighs pressed against each other, a certain rhythm to the clenches of her muscles. Distantly she was aware of just how cold her hands felt. The chats kept coming in and Lena didn’t dare move. Afraid that if she did, the hunters would somehow find the drive. Pictures kept coming in and Lena bit down on the sleeve of her jumper; desperate to hide her screen away from prying eyes.
With a lump stuck in her throat, Lena waited, anxious to see if the hunters had found her drive. Within a few seconds, new pictures started coming in and Lena’s vision swam as her hiding spot featured on two of the pictures. She was left with bated breath, sure that she had lost the game and her drive. Minutes went by. Minutes where darkness started to creep in on the edges of her vision. When the next picture finally came in Lena almost sank to her knees. The two hunters had moved on to a different apartment.
“They haven’t found it.” The whisper fell from her lips in disbelief. The store around her felt too bright and loud as the realization of just how close she had come to being exposed set in. A mix of feelings churned inside her head, a desperate relief that her pictures were safe. A tinge of dissappointment as Lena saw a flash of herself chained down as she was forced to suck a man’s cock.
One foot before the other and Lena began a slow staggered walk towards her drive. Somehow she couldn’t keep a straight line as she walked forward. But step by step clarity returned to her. The anxiety was chased away by an excitement that burst forth from within.
Lena set a faster pace than before, determined to ignore the sticky wetness that clung to her thighs. With a fierce blush on her cheeks Lena rounded the corner of the aisle and got a view of the model apartment she had chosen. Yet before she could reach the threshold Lena saw a glimpse of someone inside. With careful steps, she hid to the side of the door and chanced a glimpse inside.
There was a man searching the room. Someone of average height, bald with a thick beard. His rolled-up sleeves showed tattoos of a Nordic design, even though he kept his phone clutched in one hand the man kept looking. A cold sweat trickled down her spine as Lena bit on her bottom lip. There wasn’t a way for her to get inside the apartment without being seen even though the drive was right there. It didn’t seem as if the man had any intentions of leaving the apartment in the last minutes of the game. When Lena peeked around the corner the man seemed to have an almost frenetic energy as he opened drawers and appliances all over the kitchen.
A terrible buzzing erupted in her hand and Lena let out a sharp gasp. The man looked up at the sound and their eyes met. Lena swallowed, with the push of a button the alarm that signaled the end of the game was shut off.
With a deep fortifying breath Lena stepped inside, all too aware of the burning gaze that followed every move she made. It felt as if her legs were made of Jell-O as butterflies raged inside her stomach but Lena pressed on. Ages seemed to have passed before Lena finally rounded the kitchen island and squeezed by the man without touching him or risking a glance to meet the hunter’s eyes. It had taken ages but Lena finally stood before her chosen hiding spot when the man spoke and she startled at the low bass with a western accent.
“I ran out of time, didn’t I?”
The words sent a wave of heat through her body. Lena ignored the question reached out to the oven even though her hands wouldn’t stop shaking. The drawer right beneath the oven opened smoothly. She patted the underside of the drawer to search for where the drive was stuck to the bottom. When Lena finally felt the duct-taped drive she let out a sigh of relief.
“Sorry, better luck next time.” Lena made the mistake of glancing up when she spoke and the last of her words ended in a high-pitched squeak. The hunter looked at her with piercing blue eyes that rooted her to the spot. There was a wry smile on his lips that captured her gaze. He was about to say something but Lena turned on her heel and fled.
From behind her the words drifted to her ears. “Next time.” But Lena didn’t stop, couldn’t stop. This adventure had been nearly too much for her and Lena ran through the store without giving anyone else a second thought. With the drive and her phone held tight Lena burst into the revolving door, hopping from foot to foot as it took too long to open to the outside. In the distance, Lena saw the bus pull up to the stop. As soon as the door slid past its walls Lena rushed forward. Forty yards passed quickly and Lena settled into one of the seats while it felt as if her heart was ready to burst out of her chest.
The bus had already passed the next two stops before Lena managed to get her breathing under control. Her gaze was drawn to the passing trees while Lena idly turned the drive over and over in her hand. When her thumb traced over the back Lena felt a bump and her brow furrowed.
The earth fell away from underneath her feet as a devil emoji sticker smirked at her from atop her drive. Lena’s breath quickened as her mind tried to understand what she saw. When Lena had taped the drive underneath the drawer it had a blank black case. A voice managed to cut through the chaos and Lena turned her head to see an older woman look at her with a worried frown.
“Are you alright? You look a little pale.”
Lena’s eyes fell to the smirking devil as the words fell from her lips, soft ones, as if she was afraid the devil might reach out towards her.
“I don’t know yet.”
An: Contest entry for the March writing challenge by the TimeBombChallenge[TimeBombChallenge](https://www.reddit.com/r/timebombchallenge/) community. Inspired by some of the fun I’ve seen in the discord. There’s more to this story but that’ll be for another post if this one proves to be interesting.
Any and all comments are appreciated as I’m not quite sure I got the right tone for this one.
Below this you will find the original post of the story in the TBC subreddit. If you liked the story please do leave a like on the link below as the winner will be determined by the amount of upvotes they get. Once there you could also take a look at the other entries.
Source: reddit.com/r/eroticliterature/comments/t58100/pride_comes_before_the_fall_timebombchallenge