Black Seduction

by Lorie O'Clare

  He finished cleaning his wounds and forced himself to stand. He ached. His injuries burned. For a moment his vision blurred. But if he waited much longer, slept, or even rested, it would be harder to track the three of them.

  Raul leapt from the ledge where he took his respite and landed easily onto the next large boulder. His muscles screamed in protest but he didn’t slow his pace. Angela was safe with Ran and Rafe. His littermates would kill to protect her and die ensuring her safety. In turn, he would take care of all of them. It’s what he did. It was what he would always do.

  * * * * *

  Angela ran on red alert. The cold, night mountain air chilled deep into her bones. She didn’t argue when Ran and Rafe stripped out of their clothes and dropped to all fours. They would be a hell of a lot warmer in their fur.

  And they covered a hell of a lot more distance on four legs instead of two. Angela put speed into it. Instinct demanded it. Not only did she run over land foreign to her, but she ran with two single males. The knowledge prickled over her skin, keeping her tense and far from cold. Ran and Rafe would protect her, and she would willingly fight to save their lives. They were Raul’s littermates.

  They said he loved her. Something inside her stirred at the thought. Was it love? She’d always admired Raul, fantasized about him. But all this was so sudden. She wasn’t sure what it was she felt.

  When they reached a plateau lodged between two mountains, Angela started worrying Raul wouldn’t be able to find them. Mountain creeks swelled in places, the bubbling water roaring as it rushed past them, indifferent to their plight. The water would wash out their scent and possibly throw Raul off on which way they headed.

  They slowed, sniffing the air and taking in their surroundings. Angela also picked up on their curiosity and lust, although she couldn’t tell which one of them released the scent.

  How dare you dishonor your littermate, she growled, lowering her head and glaring at both of them. He fought so we could escape and is probably injured. If you have an interest in me, you tell him about it, not me. Take me on without him here and I’ll kick your ass.

  Rafe straightened, raising his head and looking down at her with glowing green eyes. Ran carried the backpack on his back, which held their clothes and apparently a few other items from the way it bulged in places. He slowly swished his tail, looking ready to accept her challenge. She wouldn’t rely on Rafe to defend her if Ran decided it was time to play.

  She turned and ran from them, keeping close to the bubbling water. They were both right behind her, and surprisingly, neither one tried to mount her when she stopped by a fallen tree.

  Perfect. Hopefully Raul would be able to follow their scent this way. Knowing she weighed the lightest, she wasn’t the best candidate to run over the huge trunk that created a makeshift bridge first. But at the same time, her size wouldn’t collapse the trunk and make it so the other two couldn’t cross.

  Angela stepped forward then jumped to the side when Rafe leapt at her and growled.

  What the fuck? She cringed at the sign of her startled howl. These males weren’t going to tell her what to do. Quickly raising her head, she took a step closer to the fallen trunk.

  You’re not going first! His spitting hiss, mixed with a nasty rumbling growl, made his point clear. He leapt at her and would have knocked her sideways if she didn’t jump out of his way. And away from the fallen log.

  Ran stepped forward, making it so she would have to move around him or plow into him to get back to the trunk. Rafe then moved to the makeshift bridge and stepped onto it.

  She watched the water rush underneath and the wood shift under his weight. It appeared to have been there for a while and was possibly used by other animals that made this hidden plateau their home. Either way, Angela didn’t realize she held her breath until he was halfway across and the sound of wood cracking forced the air out of her lungs.

  Ran didn’t stop her when she hurried to the edge of the bank. He was right there next to her. She smelled his fear and felt the sudden urge to step into him, brush her body against his and assure him with her touch his littermate would be fine. Before she stopped herself, Angela moved closer to him. The look on his face, with his green eyes wide and his mouth open, although he didn’t pant, was enough to tell her what he thought of water. Taking a shower or hot bath in human form was one thing. But large bodies of water in general didn’t appeal to jaguars, especially in their fur.

  There. He made it. Her rumble, deep in her throat, made Ran swish his tail. He pushed against her, a friendly, happy action, although when her gaze met his, the shade of his eyes darkened.

  I’m next, she told him, her growl short and quick as she moved around him and headed to the log.

  Ran didn’t stop her and she jumped onto the log, instantly feeling it move slightly underneath her and balancing herself before continuing across the water. Sprays of water jumped up to sink into her fur around her ankles and legs as she kept a steady pace and walked over the trunk. She kept her focus on the other side, watching Rafe’s attentive face come into focus as she got closer.

  She heard the slapping of water against rocks and her heart jumped. In the dark, it was harder to tell how close the water was underneath her. Which probably made this an easier journey.

  She prayed Raul wouldn’t have too rough a go of it if he didn’t reach this spot before daybreak. Jumping to the other side, she shook her fur, drying off after being sprayed with the cold mountain water. Rafe’s large, warm body pressed against hers and he ran his thick, long tongue down the length of her neck. He looked away quickly when she backed up and focused on his face.

  Already Ran hurried across the fallen log toward them.

  Shit. Don’t be an idiot and fall off the damn thing. Angela focused on Ran and ignored Rafe as she growled.

  Ran didn’t look down. He didn’t look to either side. He was a large, black force moving closer and closer over the water in the dark. The roar of the water seemed to grow louder when she noticed the log shift against the bank in front of her.

  Hurry. Hurry. The rumbles emerging from Rafe seemed to encourage his younger littermate.

  There wasn’t any way Ran heard him though. His green eyes bobbed in the darkness and Angela saw his tail jerk at odd angles as he struggled to keep his balance. The log shifted again, rolling just a bit. Maybe no more than an inch. But it was enough.

  Angela hissed, every muscle in her body tensing when Ran rolled to the side with the log. The water underneath him seemed to roar faster. Ran howled, digging his claws into the log and holding on, when suddenly he appeared to be running sideways on the log as it rolled and the end of it moved on the bank.

  Don’t use your claws! she howled furiously, jumping to the edge of the bank and bouncing against the side of Rafe when he hurried forward with her. Keep moving forward and don’t slice the damn thing in half! she roared.

  Rafe leapt on the end of the log and steadied it, although the sound of splitting wood turned Angela’s insides to ice. She shook with nervous anticipation as she hurried to Rafe’s side, willing Ran to be closer to them. He looked up at them, his body curled over the top of the log, and the fear and panic in his eyes made her shiver.

  Keep moving. Rafe’s low growl sounded like Raul for a moment.

  Angela looked at him quickly, but although his body brushed against hers, all of his attention was on Ran. His fierce profile brought an image of Raul to mind. If Ran destroyed the log, Raul wouldn’t be able to cross. But then if Ran fell into the water, they would all get soaked retrieving him. Just thinking about the possibility she might have to save Ran’s ass by jumping into the freezing water made her insides churn. She would do it. But damn—she hated water.

  And if they spent much more time here, maybe Raul would catch up with them.

  She shifted her attention to Ran, not taking time to scan the darkness around them. Ran once again stood, his eyes wide and glowing as he focused on them and started moving closer. He froze w
hen the wood split. Angela couldn’t breathe, couldn’t move. The log that was lodged into the ground in front of her split in two.

  Part of it rose out of the earth, its jagged edges like knives, reaching out to slice whatever it could reach. She jumped, instinctively growling when momentarily it looked like a grotesque beast, trying to get out of the water and attack whoever disturbed it.

  Jump! she screamed, the sound of her own voice echoing off the cliffs and steep rocky inclines surrounding the plateau.

  Now! Rafe roared next to her, his deeper baritone adding to the chorus reverberating around them.

  Ran leaped into the air, and Angela looked up, frozen momentarily while silently urging his body to stretch farther, remain airborne longer, until finally she regained control of her senses and darted to the side to avoid being crushed.

  Ran rolled to the ground, fiercely howling and hissing as his large body shook the ground. Angela was overwhelmed with relief. She jumped onto Ran, licking and purring as the tension and stress of the moment quickly faded. She cleaned his cheeks, his neck, his shoulders before realizing she straddled him like a mother would her cub and ensured with each stroke his body was still intact.

  But as he rose and shook himself furiously, spraying all of them as if they had just been caught in a sprinkler, her giddiness quickly evaporated into something more serious.

  What the hell were you thinking? How can you so easily jack with a computer but not have the sense to keep moving when you’re crossing a mountain stream?

  Ran stood, swishing his tail, and pushed into her before she could move. His thick, moist tongue stroked the hair on her neck the wrong way, and gave her entire body chills. Rafe watched, looking somewhat amused, until Angela realized the intense emotions all of them were experiencing could too easily turn into something else.

  And they were in their fur.

  Telling a single male no in his fur was about as effective as telling the water in the spring to part so she could walk through it and not get wet.

  Ran licked her again and she jumped out of his way, only to almost lose her footing on the soft edge of the bank. His large mouth grabbed her by the back of her neck, making her lose her balance completely when he dragged her away from the water.

  Let me go! There wasn’t enough anger in her scent to convince either of them she was pissed for being pulled from the water.

  Ran obliged though, and she fell to her side in the soft, thick grass, her entire side instantly getting soaked from the heavy mountain dew. Neither of them closed in on her but stood close, waiting until she stood. Ran and Rafe would protect her, as she would them. And that’s what made jaguars such a powerful and committed species.

  These males might want her but they respected Raul. They weren’t greedy or selfish. Like their brother, Rafe and Ran were in their prime, perfect male jaguars. Any female who sniffed around these two would have to meet her approval before they got too close. That’s what made a litter tight, taking care of each other.

  And what her littermate had forgotten existed in Colony. The camaraderie of their community was destroyed, but it still existed in the males standing on either side of her. Raul possessed it too. Enough so to send them away, order his littermates to take her and leave the grotesque existence that no longer held honor.

  Relieved the moment of panic was over, and suddenly feeling the tightness in her muscles from crossing a mountain and getting wet and cold, Angela didn’t want to move. Somewhere out there Raul still traveled. When he reached the plateau between the mountains, he would need help crossing the water.

  She sat, not wanting to travel any farther. I don’t suppose there’s a warm blanket and coffee in that backpack on your back, she rumbled, noting even her voice sounded tired.

  Rafe looked away from her first, slowly surveying the land around them, until with a quiet growl, he walked away from them, moving slowly. They were all tired.

  He was the first to start changing, with Ran quickly shaking the bag off his back and also taking his human form. Angela felt the piercing jolts of pain slice her spine as she allowed her body to alter its shape. Her muscles shifted against bone, and blood slowed in her veins when her heart struggled to adapt to a new beat. The darkness around them grew milky, harder to see into as dark shadows grew and distinct objects blurred. Her night vision disappeared and her hearing changed too, giving her the impression for a few moments someone stuffed cotton in her ears.

  Before she straightened onto two legs, Ran pulled clothes from the backpack and tossed hers to her before shaking out his jeans. Although her human eyes were limited in what they could see at night, she was more than aware of the two naked men who dressed in front of her. Both of them took moments to let their gazes travel down her body, focusing on her breasts, her hardened nipples and her pussy.

  Reprimanding them or demanding they turn around would be hypocritical. She instantly noticed Ran’s trim body, muscular and sprinkled with hair on his chest and legs, although not as fully developed as Raul’s. And Rafe, also strong and handsome, with roped muscle stretching down his powerful-looking legs. Even in the cold, neither of them shriveled into nothing.

  The cold air attacked her ruthlessly when she straightened as a human. Suddenly her hands shook so badly she could hardly put her clothes on.

  “Let’s find firewood and get a fire going,” Rafe ordered, his voice still a bit too gravelly from changing.

  Ran grunted, adjusting his sweatshirt and then trudging after his littermate. They left her alone, standing in the wet grass to fight with her clothes.

  “Give me a minute and I’ll help,” she called after their backsides.

  “You can pitch the tent,” Ran offered, not looking over his shoulder but waving his hand at her.

  “The tent?” She didn’t know they’d brought a tent. Battling with her clothes, she adjusted her shirt, hating how it smelled like Devon, and walked over to the backpack. “Holy crap. No wonder he practically broke the fallen log,” she whispered after examining the contents of the bag Ran had carried on his back. There was enough stuff here to do some serious camping.

  It looked somewhat thrown together, but she found a coffeepot and coffee, utensils, and a pot as well as a few cooking supplies.

  “What? No coffee?” Ran appeared back to his jovial self when he appeared a short bit later, carrying a handful of branches.

  “I figured you’d at least have your kill ready for us.” Rafe was right behind him.

  “Dream on.” She hid her smile and watched when they dumped the firewood into a pile. “I can’t believe you managed all these supplies.”

  Rafe knelt nearby and started stacking wood for a fire. “We organized what we would take earlier this week, when it became obvious Colony chose a path we didn’t agree with.”

  “Raul talked about bringing you into our litter sooner, but he insisted on doing it without our help, and when he could find you alone.”

  “Like you’re going to want our help when it comes time to mate with your female,” Rafe growled, although there was no fierceness in his tone.

  “I had no idea,” she said, more to herself, as she twisted a can opener she held in her hand and stared down at a few cans of beef stew. The smell of precooked food instantly filled their small campsite.

  “He wanted to give you time to grow up and enjoy the thrill of being chased and learning about love.” Ran sounded so serious.

  “Raul is going to kick your fucking ass for telling her that,” Rafe hissed.

  “He does and I’ll kick right back,” Ran argued quickly. “You saw how confused she looked earlier. She’s got a right to know how Raul feels. You know damn good and well he’s all tooth and claw and forgets about feelings.”

  “I appreciate it,” she said quietly, and squinted as she tried to search the darkness on the other side of the water. “I wonder how far behind us he was.”

  “Hard saying.” Rafe pointed to the backpack. “There should be matches in there, if di
pshit here didn’t get them soaked.”

  “Fuck you.” Ran pulled the tent out of its bag and then reached for the backpack, tossing it to his littermate. “Next time you can haul everything on your back.”

  “Might have to,” Rafe muttered.

  “What if he’s too injured to travel?” Angela hugged her legs, letting her ass fall onto the damp ground, and stared into the darkness. “Maybe we should go back and find him.”

  Neither of them answered right away and she didn’t look in their direction. Rafe fumbled with the fire and Ran started assembling the tent. Their silence told her enough though. They worried about their oldest littermate too.

  “He’ll find us,” Rafe finally said. “Raul said to make it to the next mountain. We didn’t make it that far, but when he reaches the water, he’ll need help crossing.”

  Angela shot her attention to him. A cold breeze attacked and she shivered until her muscles hurt. Ran stopped organizing tent poles and pulled out a blanket then stood.

  “Raul will find you. All of us. Our litter doesn’t ever give up. If he is injured, when he gets here, you’ll need to be rested so you can take care of him.” He shook the blanket and then leaned over her and wrapped it around her shoulders.

  “If he isn’t here by morning…” she began.

  “Then we’ll go find him,” Rafe finished for her, and then lit a small twig that had dried leaves on it and used it to start the fire.

  Angela sipped on hot coffee after warming and dishing out bowls of beef stew for the three of them. She stared at the glowing flames while relaxing after they finished arranging their campsite. The water no longer seemed to roar but instead created a soothing sound that could easily lull her to sleep.

  If she could sleep.

  Both males held sticks and poked at the fire while they talked. They looked her way, their gazes strolling down her body when she stood. The smell of their interest and lust quickly drowned out the smell of anything else around them.

  “I think I’m going to do some hunting,” she announced, suddenly feeling antsy.