Escape. She had to get to the door. Run to the next chalet for help. Find Casey. Frantic, Eva hugged the wall and slid toward the door, her gaze darting to and fro, trying to locate the man in the darkness.
He’d felt big, muscular, but he stalked like a predator, so silent. A tremble rippled through her body, her skin prickled, hair at the back of her neck lifted with foreboding.
Damn it. Where’s Casey?
A hell of a time for her to do a moonlight flit.
Eva inched farther along the wall, trying to picture the chalet interior in her mind. She reached out, hit the door handle.
“Got you,” a man whispered.
Eva yelped and she ducked her head to bite again. Her captor grunted, grasped her firmly and tossed her back on the sleep-bed.
No surrender! No capitulation without a fight. She wielded her elbows, aiming for his ribs.
“Fuck it. Stop fighting.” He cursed a colorful streak, snatched her again, fingers biting into her arms.
Strong. Too strong.
Gods, it was happening again…
“Let me go. Please, let me go and I won’t tell anyone.” Her voice scarcely recognizable, she gulped, frantic for air. His hands shifted, grazed her breast. She lashed out with her fist, wriggled, kicked, sobbed. “No. No, no, no!”
“Fuck.” The man’s grip tightened and he twisted what felt like rope around her wrists.
“No!” Panting, she lashed out with her feet. “Please don’t do this.” Terror crawled over her. Her pulse thundered in her ears. Fast. Choppy. She lashed out again and almost wriggled free. “No, let me go! Please, please. Don’t hurt me!”
She backed up on the sleep-bed, toppled off the mattress, hit the floor with a spine-jarring thump. Unable to break her fall, her head struck the tiles. Pain speared through her skull, stunning her for an instant.
He was on her in a trice, his weight pressing her down before she could gather her addled wits.
She felt a cloth pressed against her nose. Pungent and unpleasant, the scent brought tears to her eyes. Couldn’t get away. Couldn’t hold her breath. Stark panic loomed then, but it was too late. Had to breathe.
She slumped, edges of black sliding over her vision.
Lights out.
Nobody home.
“You done?” Saber’s voice ripped through the darkness. His nostrils flared and he stiffened. “Who’s bleeding?”
“She bit me,” Felix said in an aggrieved tone.
Unexpectedly, a laugh escaped Saber. He flicked on the light and saw his brother sitting on the floor with the unconscious woman. She was bleeding too. “You hurt her. I told you not to hurt her!” For an unexpected second, Saber wanted to rip the scantily clad woman from his brother’s arms, cradle her protectively in his own.
Sweet baby Jesus, he had to get past his…his…infatuation with this woman.
He didn’t want another woman, didn’t need one after Lori.
He clenched his hands into fists, the prick of claws bleeding through the tops of his fingertips shocking him even more. What the fuck?
“I didn’t do anything. All I did was hold her so she wouldn’t hurt herself. Why is she bleeding?” Felix asked in alarm upon seeing the woman’s head. He brushed aside her blonde hair and probed the wound. “Honestly, I didn’t hit her when she bit me. I heard a thump. She must’ve hit her head when she fell off the sleep-bed.”
“Bring her. We’ll treat her injuries on the way. Hurry before we attract attention.” Saber waited until Felix picked up the woman and carried her from the room before he flicked off the light. He tried not to notice the generous swell of her breasts as Felix passed. He tried not to notice the length of her bare legs beneath the bit of pale-blue silk she was wearing.
He tried to focus on Lori, the woman he’d loved and lost.
He failed on all three counts.
“She’s okay,” Felix said when Saber joined him at the rear of the vehicle. “The bleeding has already stopped. I’ve sprayed the area with anti-infection serum.” He strapped her into the rear of the vehicle, checked her pulse and nodded. “I’ll stay with her, just to make sure the bleeding doesn’t restart.”
Saber gave a clipped nod and closed the rear door for his brother. He jogged around to the cockpit and strapped in, trying to get past his rush of guilt.
No choice.
Saber started the shuttle, and moments later, when they were clear of the resort, he hit vertical climb and punched in the coordinates for the camp. Instead of setting the vehicle to automatic pilot, he operated it in manual, needing something to concentrate on other than his zigzagging thoughts. He’d failed Lori, but he wouldn’t fail everyone else who depended on him.
By the time they reached the captive camp on the far boundary of their land, daylight had broken. Saber landed the vehicle and powered down. He opened his door and leaped out, the tweet and chirp of birds and insects an assault against his ears. The vivid flora on this island attracted bugs and beasties by the truckload. They seemed to thrive in the fragrant tropical heat.
Saber wiped the sweat from his forehead and strode to the rear of the vehicle. He hoped his family thrived too.
“How is she?” Saber’s eyes went right to the woman, her pale face and her loose golden hair.
“Still sleeping due to the sedative on the medi-cloth,” Felix said. “I’ll wait around until she gains consciousness.”
Leo appeared, with Joe and Sly trailing him.
Saber scowled. “How is the other woman?”
Leo lifted his hands in surrender. “Whatever the problem is—I didn’t do it.”
“Not guilty,” Sly and Joe chorused.
Felix carried the woman past Saber. A low growl built in Saber’s throat when he noticed Sly and Joe’s undisguised interest, their gazes lingering on the woman’s legs and breasts. The warning rumble escaped before he could halt it.
What was wrong with him today?
“Saber?” Leo asked.
Saber ignored his brother’s prompting query. “She got hurt during the capture. How is the other one? Is she okay? Uninjured?”
“She’s sleeping off the sedative. She might have a few bruises but nothing worse than that.”
Saber gave a stiff nod, his feline stirring uneasily under his skin. “I’m going for a run. Keep the women restrained until I return, even if they wake up.” Saber unbuttoned his shirt and shucked his footwear and clothes. He pictured the black leopard and let the shift take him. Muscles twisted and reshaped and he fell to all fours as black fur formed on his body. Fully shifted, his senses amplified. The bright colors jumped out at him while the earthy scent of the forest filled his lungs.
The camp was a small clearing with two rough huts to one side. After they’d sighted several zylon in the region, they’d built a sturdy fence covered with fine mesh to keep the wee beasties away from their captives. The last thing they needed was for their prospective mates to die of zylon poisoning. As it was, they were going to need to do some swift talking and romancing to get these two women to stay on the island.
Edgy restlessness filled him and he broke into a lope. It wouldn’t hurt to check the perimeter, make sure they’d caught all the zylon during their last sweep. He exited the enclosure, scented the air and allowed the pleasure of running to take over. The rush of cool air over his fur.
His sensitive nose discovered the scent trail of a zylon. A fresh one. Saber sped up and thundered through the vibrant yellow and blue undergrowth. Overhead, tall black trunks and branches and green and yellow foliage shaded him from the early heat of the sun-star. The scent grew stronger, and Saber slowed into stalking mode. His nostrils flared, his whiskers brushing delicately against leaves. Up ahead, he caught a flicker of movement in a large clearing. A zylon sniffed at a rock while another sprawled in the dappled sunlight.
Saber moved closer, quivering with the need to spring, to attack. The zylon might look cute and fluffy but he’d witnessed firsthand the agonizing death of one of hi
s people when they’d first arrived on Ione. Luckily, they’d discovered bites suffered while they were in feline form didn’t carry the same toxicity.
A shadow blotted out the sun-star, and Saber froze at the base of a black tree trunk. The zylon popped onto their hind legs, their alarmed chitter filling the clearing. A raucous cry sounded.
Before Saber could blink, a humongous bird dived down and plucked up one of the animals. The other zylon broke for cover and dodged to escape a second bird. Saber didn’t move a muscle and watched, astonished, as the two birds rose and disappeared above the tree tops.
Sweet baby Jesus. Why hadn’t they seen those birds before?
Saber hastened into a lope and headed to the camp. Inside the compound, he shifted and pulled on his clothes. “Felix!”
His brother strode from the nearest hut. “Yeah?”
“I know why there aren’t many zylon at this end of the island. I watched a bird catch one. A shit-ass big bird.”
Felix chuckled. “Was it yellow?”
“No, it was— Very amusing,” Saber said, remembering the vintage television shows they’d studied at school on Earth, what felt like a million years ago. One of them had a big yellow bird that talked. “How is the woman?”
Felix sobered. “I hurt her. I didn’t mean to, but I hurt her. Saber, this is a stupid idea. Why don’t we return the women to the resort and forget about the whole plan?”
“Fuck.” Saber rubbed his hands over his face then shot a hard stare at Felix. “We need mates to stop the fighting between our males. Damn it, Felix. We’re sitting on a testosterone powder keg, and it’s going to blow if I don’t find a way to keep women here permanently. We need the stability that women provide. You know that.”
“Things have already been calmer since the first guests have arrived,” Felix said.
“But they’re not going to stay. We need mates, children. Strong family bonds. We’ve found a place to settle but we have to make it into a home. And we have to do while ensuring the resort’s a success because we’re running low on money.”
“Why the hell didn’t you say something?”
“I didn’t want to worry you all. We can’t stop now or we’ll lose everything. I had to borrow money on Dalcon, the money we needed to get the resort running. I can’t default on those loans. The trad-bankers weren’t interested in financing me. I had to go to the market bankers. If the resort fails, if the males start fighting, our community will splinter. I have to keep us safe.”
“Fuck,” Felix said, his gaze losing some of its normal devilry. “Those market guys don’t muck around.”
“Which is why we have to stick with the plan now that we’ve committed our resources.”
“You still should have told us how bad our situation was.”
“Everyone has been working so hard. I wanted to encourage them.” Saber caught a flash of movement from the corner of his eye. He turned, couldn’t help a rueful grin. “Did you tie up your woman like I suggested?”
“No need. She was still unconscious,” Felix said.
“She isn’t now.”
Felix turned in the direction Saber indicated. “Bloody hell. Where does she think she’s going? We’re in the middle of nowhere.”
“She’s a feisty one.”
A familiar shadow blotted out the sun-star.
Saber cursed and started sprinting toward the woman.
Too late. One of the big-ass birds swooped, talons extended, and plucked the woman off the ground.
Her terrified scream rippled through the clearing. Saber put on a burst of speed and jumped for the woman’s legs. He gripped them, pulling with all his might, and for an instant the bird wavered.
Then it flapped its mighty wings and rose into the air—taking the woman and Saber with it.
The woman screamed again and wriggled frantically. Saber didn’t blame her. Horror skittered through him as the bird soared above the treetops, transporting them miles from the camp.
“Stop kicking!” Saber shouted above the whistle of the wind.
A treetop, higher than the others, tore at his boots and he tried to tuck up into a ball.
The woman didn’t halt her screaming but at least she ceased her kicking. Saber’s arms ached from holding on, pain throbbing through his shoulders. Where the fuck was the bird taking them? A nest? Food for its chicks?
Saber tried to think, to plan.
The camp was no longer in sight. They’d flown over a huge ravine and the trio of volcanoes on the west side of the island was much closer now. A plume of smoke rose from one. Below, heavy forest covered the land and to their right, a curving silver line indicated a river. Fuck, even if they managed to escape, they were miles away from the resort. Many days on foot.
Saber’s arms quivered, his muscles screaming. He groaned.
“Let go,” the woman yelled.
Saber groaned again, determined not to leave the woman alone.
A high-pitched shriek filled the air. Wind whistled past Saber’s face. The woman screamed again, her cry full of terror. Saber twisted and cursed.
Another big-ass bird was heading directly for them—humongous talons outstretched and hunger in its yellow eyes.
Chapter Three
Eva dangled beneath the bird, clasped in its sharp claws. Dull pinpricks of pain ached at her ribs while her legs burned and felt as if they might break off at the hip sockets because he—whoever he was—refused to let go. Fear scraped its way up her throat as the second bird cawed a warning and headed straight for them.
They were going to die.
Eva couldn’t see any other way out of this mess.
The bird carrying them dived without warning, and the man gripping her legs cursed as his legs dragged along the treetops. He shouted, lost his grip on one of her legs as his limbs hooked in a tree. A raw scream burned her own throat as panic had her struggling fiercely.
The second bird soared after them, screeching a high-pitched challenge. Talons extended, it dive-bombed. The first bird, handicapped by their weight was slow to react, slow to maneuver. The collision between the two birds sent them all closer to the ground, and the man clutching her legs gave a horrid moan.
Fear worse than anything she’d felt before seized her body, squeezed the breath from her lungs. An icy chill encased her. She was going to die.
The second bird came at them again. There was a horrid midair thud and then they were falling, falling, falling.
Eva screamed, arms flailing to no effect. Air whooshed by, branches whacked and gouged her torso and she hit the ground, the collision smacking the breath from her body.
Above them the two birds continued their squabble. Eva was terrified to move, terrified to check to see if her limbs were intact.
“Lady, you all right? Can you move?”
“Eva,” she said, gasping for breath. If she was going to die today, she wanted someone to know her name.
“Eva.” Her name was a testy snap. An order. “We have to move in case the birds come back.” He was closer now, his hands moving up and down her body.
She smacked them away but, goaded by his urgency, Eva attempted to crawl under a bush. A pained groan escaped.
“No, not here. Farther into the jungle where the trees are thicker.” A shriek from overhead hardened his face. “Move. Now!”
Eva scuttled like a Dalcon mousekit trolling the market for rubbish. She practically dived into a bush, her pulse almost drowning out the strident calls of the birds circling overhead. Tremors racked her body until the flap of their huge wings and their caw-caw cries became distant.
Only then did Eva attempt to stand. Her muscles and limbs protested but amazingly, she thought she was okay. Bumps and bruises. She’d be sore tomorrow but it was nothing a little medical attention couldn’t cure. She glanced around, took in the surrounding trees and plants. The island didn’t look so picturesque after being dumped into the middle of the tangled, colorful wilderness.
In her peripheral visio
n, she watched the man stagger—the kidnapper who’d attempted to save her from the bird. What was his game? Was he hired by the Dearbhorgaill duo? Either way, she couldn’t trust him.
He gave a low curse and flung off his shirt. She gawked as he removed his footwear and finally found her voice when he yanked down his black trews.
“What are you doing?” she shrieked. “You have rocks in your head if you think I’m having sex with you.”
“Did you just imply I’m crazy?”
“If the hat fits. I’m not having sex with you.”
He paused again, his trews baring his hipbones, and shot her a cocky grin. It transformed his carved face into something mesmerizing. “I don’t believe I asked.”
Eva had to remind herself he was a kidnapper and not trustworthy.
The harsh shrieks of the birds flying overhead again had his expression returning to forbidding. The air seemed to shimmer around him and, right in front of her eyes, he transformed into a sleek black leopard.
Kidnapper, savior, kitty-cat. He just kept revealing layers, each more confusing than the last.
His eyes were jade green, the same color as the sea that washed the shores of Ione Island. She gaped and something flew into her mouth. With a sound of disgust, she spat out the leggy bug and spluttered, wiping the back of her hand across her mouth. “Yuck. That was disgusting.”
The big cat gave a bark that sounded disturbingly like laughter, and Eva glared at it. “Not funny, kitty-cat.”
The cat’s tail lashed back and forth and its mouth opened to reveal sharp white teeth. A low growl emerged from the beast’s throat. Eva took a step back, and the cat-man barked out another rough sound at her expense. Definitely amusement.
“Well, if you’re so smart, how do we get out of here?” She attempted a shrug and a sliver of pain shot down her shoulder. “Ow.”
The cat stared at her, and of course it didn’t reply. Her skin tingled under the acute focus, and Eva scowled. She slapped at another bug, noticed the rips in her nightgown, the way her left boob was almost totally revealed. She tugged the fabric back into place but the attempt was useless since the material dropped back to its previous position.
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