“Maybe I should come along.” Ran moved to stand.
“I said I was going to go hunting. I’m not in to being hunted,” she drawled, narrowing her gaze on him and keeping her expression firm.
“I’d fuck you in a second, given half the chance,” Ran returned without hesitating. “But I respect what belongs to my littermate. You may hunt alone, but don’t go too far or be gone too long.”
Angela stared at him, unwilling to let him see how his words affected her. She kept her expression hard, although her insides softened noticeably while a flushed heat swept over her flesh. Ran and Rafe were good males, damn good males. She would keep a close eye on any female who sniffed around either one of them. They both deserved the best.
“Keep alert for that littermate you respect so much,” she growled.
They both straightened but she ignored their looks and turned before they could protest that they wouldn’t be doing anything else. Leaving her coffee mug next to the other supplies, she dropped the blanket she’d wrapped around her. Immediately the cold night air attacked with a vengeance and her teeth chattered while her knees turned wobbly. It was so cold that changing into her fur might take a few minutes.
She forced herself to walk, quickly feeling the temperature drop around her even more as she put distance between her and the fire. Her spine prickled and cold, wet, thick grass soaked her shoes and the bottom of her jeans.
The prickling intensified when she breathed in the smell of another animal. Not one of their own. Wildlife, large, a predator, and nearby. Angela squinted against the darkness, the prickling turning into painful jabs as her spine crunched inside her, demanding she allow her more primal side loose.
She fisted her hand to control the change but allowed a small part forth so she could see better in the darkness. All of her senses intensified, the smell of the beast lazily sauntering toward the water hit her at the same time she heard his enormous claws rake the earth as he moved, and his large brown shadow became more distinct against the blackness surrounding them.
Angela froze when the large brown bear turned and noticed her. Just as quickly as it looked her way, it turned its attention to the water, as if her presence didn’t bother him. And she knew the bear would smell she wasn’t human. Her insides froze as she glanced in the direction the bear did, fear gripping her with icy-cold fingers.
“Shit. Please be you,” she whispered.
On the other side of the stream stood a black jaguar, not moving but appearing tense, ready for action.
Angela’s clothes almost ripped off her body as the change tumbled through her. She reached for her shirt, ready to peel it off her body, when two jaguars practically leapt over her and bounded toward the bear and the jaguar, who now squared off on either side of the water.
“Wait for me,” she howled, her voice garbled when her mouth no longer held the proper shape for words. She almost fell on her side, trying to get her damn jeans off.
Blackness around her faded into more distinct shades of gray. Shadows weren’t dark blurs anymore, and the cold receded while her heart pumped furiously in her chest. The bear moved into the water, indifferent to the two jaguars racing toward him. Instead, it galloped across the spring, splashing water everywhere. The jaguar on the other side didn’t move.
Angela ran after Ran and Rafe. Something wasn’t right. She focused on the male who stood like a statue across the spring from them. He needed to move, unless he planned on attacking. And even then, simply standing there seemed incredibly odd.
Unless…
Oh shit. Crap. Fuck! She roared in anger, pushing herself to move even faster.
If Raul was injured, hurt too bad to fight the bear, or even ward it off, he didn’t stand a chance.
She hated water. Despised it. Loathed it more than anything else out in nature, especially when it tumbled and spit with an energy that would pull a creature under if it wasn’t a good swimmer.
Angela didn’t stop when she reached the bank where the bear slid into the water, but leapt in after him, her scream loud enough to warn the bear and every other creature in a mile radius that someone was about to die.
Chapter Six
Raul blinked and stared at the cloth ceiling above him. Brightness streamed through the pale gray fabric and he squinted, feeling the dull ache of a headache for his efforts.
“How are you doing?”
He jerked his head then focused on Angela, who sat cross-legged next to him on a pile of crumpled blankets. The tent flaps behind her weren’t zipped but hung closed, enveloping them in a small, intimate world of pale grays and brightness.
“Don’t try to move.” She rested her hand on his leg, the warmth of her touch searing his flesh.
He glanced down, noticing other than a blanket he recognized from home, which partially covered him, he was naked.
“You’re overdressed.” He didn’t try to stop his cock from hardening as he took in the sleeveless white muscle t-shirt he recognized as one of his hanging loosely on her torso. Firm, round breasts with perky nipples created a view that could make him believe he had died and was in heaven.
She smiled, not seeming to mind he practically drooled over the view she offered. “You scared the crap out of me last night,” she offered quietly.
He reluctantly lifted his gaze to her face, saw the worry in her sultry green eyes and itched to run his fingers through her thick, long, black hair. It was down, loose, and looked as if she hadn’t brushed it since she woke up. The early morning look on her was damn appealing.
“Come here,” he said, his voice husky, and then slowly her words registered in his brain, which was apparently a lot foggier than he first realized. “I didn’t mean to scare you.”
She leaned forward, resting her hands flat in front of her and straightening her arms so her long hair drifted forward over her shoulders and almost blocked his view of her luscious cleavage as she pressed her breasts together.
His cock jumped, showing its appreciation, and stretched as it hardened farther. She hovered over him, and her gaze traveled lazily down his body. Only once did her expression change, turning a pretty rosy hue over her cheeks when she focused on his dick.
“Did all of these injuries come from fighting off Colony?”
“Colony.” The images hit him almost as hard as that bear did last night.
Bear. Everything flooded over his brain with a vengeance that kicked in brutally. Fighting litters he had known since he was a cub. Climbing over the mountain while making sure wounds didn’t bleed out. Overwhelmed by exhaustion and pain as he fought the urge to find a cave and curl up to lick his injuries. Taking on a few smaller predators who felt cocky and thought they might be able to take him on since he was injured. Then the bear.
“Maybe I should get you some food, something to drink.” She turned toward the tent flap, the smell of her concern and worries not the aroma he wanted to inhale from her.
“No.” He lifted his arm and grabbed hers. A nagging ache seared his insides, starting at his shoulder and slicing clear through to his fingertips. He clenched his teeth, enduring it, and pulled her until she fought not to fall on top of him. “You’re not going anywhere. And I’m fine.”
She went down on her elbows, bringing her face a lot closer to his. “I’m sure you are,” she whispered, her eyes shifting as she searched his face. She didn’t believe him.
“Kiss me.” It occurred to him it didn’t hurt as much to lift his other arm and he wrapped it around her neck, pulling her closer until her lips brushed over his.
“Raul, you’re hurt,” she said, moving her mouth over his. “At least I should clean your injuries again. I did the best I could last night.”
“That’s not a kiss.” He flexed his muscles, keeping her face in kissing range, and closed his eyes as he persuaded her to open up to him.
He didn’t want to dwell on any pain pulsing inside him. He would heal. And this was the best damn therapy he could think of while his body mended
.
Angela stiffened as she pressed her lips to his, trying hard not to put any of her weight on him. Raul didn’t want to be treated like some damn invalid. Being gentle sucked. He wanted her now, all of her, without her holding back.
He growled, nipping her lower lip, then scraped his teeth over the moist, sensitive part inside her mouth. She hissed, sucking in a breath and opened farther as her tongue dipped inside him.
Raul loved how she tasted. He explored her mouth, impaling her with his tongue and growing painfully hard when she opened up even farther for him. Her long hair brushed over his chest and shoulders, tickling and torturing his flesh. So many tiny nerve endings twitched with newfound energy as the pain from his injuries paled in comparison to the need that pumped inside him.
He barely noticed that one of his legs was stiff, and didn’t want to cooperate when he shifted. Instead, he pushed his hand under her shirt and enjoyed the softness of her flesh as he ran his fingers down the sensual curve of her spine.
“Take off your clothes,” he demanded, loving the thought of simply ripping them off her.
“Raul.” Her tone sounded as if she might argue.
He opened his eyes, rubbing his fingers along the small of her back, then slipped his hand inside her underwear. She didn’t wear that many clothes. But he didn’t want anything on her right now.
Meeting her gaze, he prayed her worried look wasn’t from lack of interest. “If you don’t want to…”
“No. That’s not it,” she said quickly. “You’re hurt. And I do want to be with you,” she offered, her words trailing off.
His heart leapt with joy as he searched her face, praying what he saw, what she said meant she wouldn’t dispute their mating. When she blushed, his confidence soared to new heights.
“The pain is from needing to be inside of you, nothing else.” He used his good arm and pushed himself to a sitting position. It was hard to fight off a groan when he saw the torn shirt someone used to wrap around his upper thigh.
His memories were blurs. But someone, if not all of them, went to great efforts to take care of him. And now she sat here by his side, watching and waiting until he awakened. He would live, and right now he wanted to live with the knowledge Angela was his.
“Raul,” she whispered, searching his face while her cheeks flushed with arousal. “I want you to get better.”
“Take your clothes off,” he said, and brushed his knuckles over one perky nipple.
Angela sucked in her breath, her lashes fluttering as she pulled her gaze from his face and focused somewhere lower on his body. Slowly she pulled the t-shirt over her head and tossed it to the side.
“You’re more beautiful than I imagined.” And he wouldn’t tell her how often he imagined how she would look lying naked underneath him.
“You’ve seen me naked before.”
“Yesterday morning was quick, necessary. And seeing a female take her clothes off before she changes into her fur is hardly the same as seeing her body blushed with arousal and craving my touch.” He cupped her breast, not wanting to be gentle with her, but in spite of his mental argument that he would focus on injuries later, his body didn’t want to move quickly.
“I’m not the only one aroused and craving to be touched,” she purred, and then gently, so damn gently, brushed her fingertips down his abdomen and stopped just out of reach of his swollen cock.
“Angela,” he growled, grabbing her hair behind her head and dragging her over him.
She cried out when he impaled her mouth, and his breath caught when her body pressed against his cock, enveloping it in warmth as her smooth skin prevented it from jerking upward.
If he didn’t adjust her he would come before he even had the chance to show her what she meant to him.
“I’m hurting you.” She moved quickly when he grabbed her hips.
“Not like you think.” He wanted to go up on his knees, pull her down underneath him and adore every inch of her before sliding deep inside her ripe heat. His damn leg was stiff and numb, almost tingly, and it didn’t want to cooperate. And he wasn’t going to force it and have Angela get more skittish if she smelled his pain. “Straddle me, sweetheart.”
“Your littermates confessed some things about you last night,” she whispered, and slowly stretched and removed her underwear.
“I can imagine.” He didn’t want to think about them right now. The fresh scent of her desire wrapped around him and he ached to drown in it.
“They claim you’ve cared about me for a long time.”
“I already told you that.” He grabbed her arms when she stretched her legs and slowly came down over him. “Rub yourself against me, my little cat. Soak my cock with your cream.”
She rested over him, the heat from her pussy devouring him. His cock swelled painfully, twitching eagerly against her smooth flesh as if it was determined on its own to find a way inside. And as much as he craved adjusting his hips, plunging deep into her pussy, he forced himself to be still. Instead he pulled her closer, willing her to glide her moist heat over him.
“Why didn’t you tell me how you felt about me?” She lowered her face to his and moved her hips.
Her pussy slid up the length of his cock. “Fuck,” he hissed, hardening every muscle in his body and dwelling on the pain just so he wouldn’t force himself inside her. “That’s so damn good, sweetheart.”
“Why, Raul?” she persisted, her voice husky with her need. She rubbed her breasts against his chest and whispered into his neck. “Did you think I wasn’t interested in you?”
“I saw your interest. And I knew you were young. The honorable thing to do was wait and let you grow up, enjoy your wild days.”
“Didn’t it bother you seeing me with other males?”
He stared into her questioning eyes. “Jealousy is a weakness. I never doubted for a minute none of those males would keep you interested.”
“Is that so,” she said, a smile playing at her lips.
“Yup.” He dragged his fingers through her hair and pulled her mouth to his.
She moved her hips again and this time he thrust upward, but when he did, she lifted her pussy off his cock and then chuckled into his mouth. Injured or not, he growled, slapped a hand over her ass and pushed her back down over his cock. Thrusting again, he found entrance and slipped deep inside her.
Her cry was so beautiful, sensual, and his heart swelled. He knew taking her was the right thing to do, but feeling her heat tighten around him, swell and convulse when he moved inside her, reassured him. Angela was meant to be his. It was always meant to be this way.
She moved her hands, pressing on the ground and lifting herself off him. She arched her back, running her hands through her hair. “You’re pretty sure of yourself.”
“I’m pretty sure of us,” he admitted, loving the view she offered.
Her body stretched before him, her breasts round and perfectly shaped. A good handful, with brown nipples that puckered into hard nubs. There was enough meat on her that he didn’t see the outline of her ribs, but her tummy was flat, her skin smooth. Her hips curved into muscular thighs and he reached with his good arm, grabbing her soft flesh, and squeezed while she lowered herself onto his dick.
Her eyes were exceptionally glazed with her passion. He watched her lashes flutter and then she focused on him. She lowered herself slightly as she rose, gliding over his cock, the slightest smile playing at her mouth.
“I’ve got that impression about you,” she said, her voice cracking while her muscles constricted around his dick and she sank low again. “It’s quite a gift to know how life will play out.”
That wasn’t how it was, but letting her see any doubt right now would raise questions in her. For Angela he would be strong, give her assurance of a good life. And for her he would fight even harder for that life to be the best it could, with honor and love.
Love.
What he wouldn’t do to hear that word pass her lips.
“I’m
sure about us,” he reminded her, seeing that she liked hearing it. “But life, it holds mysteries. That’s what makes it worth living.”
If only he could move his other arm, grab her hips and take control of their lovemaking. She moved at a steady pace, not too fast, and it brought his blood to a boil. He wanted to impale her, ached to drive into her, hard and fast.
“You’re definitely making it interesting,” she murmured, and looked down when a cloud covered her eyes.
She regretted leaving Colony. He didn’t blame her, but together they would make a new life that would be prosperous.
Her arms flexed, and her full breasts moved as she got into her motions. She sucked in her lip, closing her eyes, and inhaled while her pussy constricted and did a number on his cock. He forced himself to endure the pain. More than his own pleasure, he needed to touch her, needed more than he needed to breathe, to give her all that she deserved.
Angela rode him, fucked him willingly, and sat with him when he was hurt. She stayed with his litter, followed his orders, and showed what he already knew to be true about her. Her loyalty and honor ran true and strong, as pure as she was beautiful. The perfect mate for him. And he would give her perfection too. Or the best that he could, which he would see to it, for her sake, was damn near perfect.
“Look at me,” he instructed, focusing on her face while grabbing her hips with both hands.
“Raul,” she whispered, searching his face and then glancing at his injury when he moved his injured arm.
“Focus on me, my little cat,” he told her, gripping her hips and pushing her down on his cock, hard.
“God!” she cried, arching her back, throwing her head back, and ignoring his comment to look at him when she squeezed her eyes closed and clamped down on his cock.
She squeezed the life out of him, coming hard and then collapsing forward, moving her hands at the last moment to slap the ground and not his shoulders. He didn’t care about the pain, not with the view she offered, the pleasure she gave and received. He thrust his hips up, fucking her hard and greedily, needing more than his next breath to make her come again, to feel her cream soak his shaft, his balls, and see the pleasure on her face.
Black Seduction Page 7