Black Surrender

by Lorie O'Clare

  “Rafe VicMoran,” he said, his voice deeper than usual.

  “This is Jimmy VornBach.” Perry gestured to the thin male next to him, who’d stood when Perry had. “Jennifer VornBach is his littermate. She won’t give either of you any grief,” he added, turning his attention to her for only a moment before focusing again on Rafe. “So what incredible feat did you manage to end up here in the cage?”

  “The cage?” Rafe ran his hand up and down Anna’s back but made no move to enter farther into the den.

  “Natasha puts anyone here who annoys her,” Jimmy offered. There was disgust in his tone as he puffed out his chest and focused on Rafe, only giving Anna furtive glances as he spoke, as if he was trying to figure the two of them out. “Does she have your entire litter?”

  “Nope. Tell me the howlings about my litter,” he insisted.

  A shiver raced up Anna’s spine. The first time she’d read the traditions, the words had burned into her brain. The Kalusians and VicMorans were the first two litters. It was quite clear in the opening paragraph how both dens started the line of jaguars. According to the writing, the Kalusians and VicMorans would bring about the end to their kind as well. Those opening words, howled so many centuries ago, smelled worse than anything else she’d read in those ancient writings.

  Anna imagined Rafe wasn’t thrilled by that opening paragraph either. He had no control over what his ancestors might have done any more than he could influence what his line would do generations from now. Everyone was excited over the written laws and traditions being found.

  Anna sniffed out their excitement as meaning they weren’t really learning the laws and traditions, just howling loudly about having them again. From what she’d read, the laws were antiquated and suppressed females when she already fought with her litter to run when she wished. There were speculations in the writings about what was to come and how existing traditions would prove future events.

  “Natasha informed the litters in Colony that the laws and traditions had been found. She announced several males had unearthed them but then howled how the VicMoran litter had confiscated them and were translating the ancient writings.”

  “The laws and traditions are being translated, but by a group of jaguars, and they are where anyone can see and read them anytime they want,” Anna interrupted.

  Rafe gave her an interesting look, and a wave of embarrassment rushed over her. She held her head high, unwilling to cower under his penetrating look simply because she defended him.

  “There are quite a few of us who believe the VicMoran litter runs with honor,” Jennifer piped up, nodding as she spoke and smiled at Rafe. “It isn’t hard to smell Natasha’s lies,” she added, but had dropped her voice to a whisper. She curled her lip when her littermate snarled at her. “What? They’re going to kill us anyway,” she snapped at him.

  Anna frowned, not understanding why Jennifer’s littermate snapped at her for commenting on the VicMorans. Not that she liked the way the female smiled at Rafe. Her look was a bit too hungry for Anna’s tastes, in spite of how she’d backed down from her own challenge.

  Anna heard a clicking sound at the same moment Rafe grabbed her, almost lifting and placing her on the other side of him as he began snarling at the door.

  “It’s feeding time,” Perry informed them, and waved his hands at all of them as if suddenly trying to herd them together. “Upstairs now. All of you.”

  “What?” Rafe began.

  Four large males, all at least ten years older than Anna, entered the living room, one after the other. The last of them closed both front doors with a bang and a click. “Move, cubs!” one of them howled. “Or maybe you have lost your appetite?”

  Jennifer raced around them and hurried up the stairs as if her life depended on it, which maybe it did. Perry was right behind her, moving just as quickly for such an old jaguar. Rafe held Anna, his confusion smelling as strong as hers, but the spicy smell of his anger wasn’t missed either.

  “Randy, what the hell is going on here?” Rafe roared, focusing on one of the males who’d just entered.

  Anna didn’t recognize any of the males, but then all of them would have run with an older crowd of jaguars when she was a cub. Apparently Rafe did know the male and stared at him, facing him as he let his confusion show.

  “There is no howling during feeding time,” the male closest to Rafe bellowed, and held a gun that looked nothing like the weapon Natasha had used earlier. Nonetheless, it looked dangerous, and he pointed it at Rafe.

  She wasn’t sure if she would have leapt in front of him to protect him from the weapon, but Anna wasn’t given the opportunity. Rafe grabbed her arm, yanked her off her feet when he lifted her to the stairs, turning his body at the same time to protect her from the weapon.

  “You used to run with honor, Magjulian,” he growled, and put his hands firmly around Anna’s waist as he marched her up the stairs.

  * * * * *

  There weren’t blinds or curtains on the windows, just black bars secured outside the glass. The walls were a plain white and brown carpet smelled like plastic. Other than a few itchy-looking blankets badly folded next to the door, there were no accommodations in their prison. At least she’d been locked up with Rafe. Anna wasn’t sure she could endure the two black panes of glass that looked like soulless eyes if she’d been locked in here alone.

  She sat cross-legged on the floor, picking at the container of old meat in front of her. Even if she had an appetite, the smell of the venison, which was far from fresh kill, turned her stomach. Finally, giving up, she shoved the meat to the side and leaned against the wall, stretching her legs out in front of her, and watched Rafe as he continued to pace.

  “Natasha has probably contacted our litters by now,” she said, breaking the silence that had grown between them for the length of time they’d been locked in the room.

  “Probably,” Rafe muttered, and quit pacing to stare out one of the naked windows. “The female was chastised for howling her opinion by her littermate when we were downstairs.”

  Anna felt her hackles rise on the back of her neck as she stiffened. It was hard enough trying to keep from throwing one hell of a fit after the day they’d had, and she wasn’t sure she would be able to take Rafe defending that female who damn near threw herself at him. It also sucked when even the slightest reaction to his words easily filled the room with the smell of her jealousy. Anna pulled her knees to her chest and hugged them as she dropped her face, willing the world to leave her alone long enough for her head to clear and allow her time to figure out their predicament.

  “What I meant was I’m guessing there are listening devices in this den.”

  Anna jerked her head up when Rafe’s hand touched the side of her head. She hadn’t heard him move, further proof her nerves were shot and her senses on overload. He squatted next to her, stroking the side of her head and staring into her eyes with enough compassion and concern it damn near made her cry. There was no doubt her emotions were completely fried.

  “I think they’re listening to us,” he mouthed, barely whispering. “And I wouldn’t be surprised if they’re watching us too.”

  Instead of waiting for her response, Rafe stood, turned his back to her and stripped out of his sweatshirt. Anna stared at bulging muscle rippling through his back. In spite of their nightmare, her body instantly reacted to the incredible view. His sweatpants hung above his hips, showing off every inch of his incredible body from the waist up. She was damn near drooling when a spray of light exploded before her, and then they were engulfed in darkness.

  “There wasn’t a light switch,” Rafe whispered, after he’d wrapped his sweatshirt around his hand and punched out the light in the ceiling. Moving in the darkness, he bent over and picked up his container of meat and moved to the window.

  Anna watched him take strips of the tough meat out of the container as he shook out his sweatshirt then covered the window by placing meat on the top of the window frame, which manage
d to hold the shirt in place. It didn’t cover the entire window but it helped. Anna straightened, pulling off her sweatshirt, which Rafe turned around and reached for as if he’d asked for it. There was a hint of a roguish grin on his face when he stared at her for just a minute before doing the same with her sweatshirt to the other window. Again, it covered just over half the window, but the darkness and their makeshift curtains offered a bit of privacy.

  “I’m sure Natasha will be pissed.” There wasn’t an ounce of regret in his voice as he whispered and moved along the edge of the room to avoid the bulk of broken glass on the carpet in the center of the room. Grabbing the pile of blankets, he returned to her side. “We’ll get out of here,” he reassured her, shaking out one of the blankets and laying it out on the floor.

  “Yup,” she whispered, and crawled onto the blanket as Rafe stretched out on it next to her.

  “We might have company soon.” He smelled excited about the thought as he opened another blanket and covered the two of them with it. “But I’m willing to take my pants off if you are.”

  Chapter Seven

  As wild and aggressive as Anna had been the night before when they’d been in the rain forest, chasing each other from tree to tree without a thought on their minds but how good the sex would be once Rafe captured her, tonight, with both their worlds turned upside down, Anna was enticingly submissive. Rafe wasn’t sure which turned him on more, his feisty cat who would bare tooth and claw to try to prove to him they were equals or the willing, gentle creature who cuddled into his arms right now.

  “I dare them to interrupt me right now,” Anna purred. Her scent more erotic than angry when she rolled to her side, facing him, and her breasts pressed against his chest. She hissed as her nipples hardened.

  There wasn’t any point in talking. The jaguars’ behavior in the living area of the den downstairs indicated they couldn’t howl freely, which apparently they couldn’t do outside the den in Colony anymore either. A lot had changed here, and Rafe would work to sniff it all out tomorrow. For tonight though, both of them had been through enough. He would be sharper, more in tune with his surroundings after some sleep. But he wouldn’t get any rest with Anna cuddled next to him without making love to her first. And he wasn’t the only one who needed this.

  Rafe ran his hand down Anna’s back, slid his fingers underneath her sweatpants and helped ease them off her. She did the same with him. Rafe took both pairs and placed them within paw’s reach between him and the wall. If Natasha sent her henchmen out to annoy him further tonight, their clothes would be nearby. It was another thing Rafe had noticed about this den, the walls were a hell of a lot thicker than they first appeared. The bit of carpentry skills he possessed helped him notice how the den had been structured differently than most. There were steel plates in these walls, which made it damn hard to hear anything outside the room or to smell intruders if they approached. He hadn’t heard or smelled the males before they’d entered the den downstairs.

  The moment the two of them were naked, Anna draped her leg over his and the heat of her pussy scalded Rafe’s flesh. Instantly his dick reacted, growing and hardening as his need for her climaxed to the critical point within seconds. Her sensual little body curled into him. She made soft, moaning noises as she caressed him with her flesh and her small hands attentively explored. When she dragged her fingers down his middle then wrapped them around his cock, all matters of the world around them ceased to matter.

  “Anna,” he groaned, feeling his teeth grow in his mouth as his world turned into a fiery state of passionate need.

  This adorable female cuddling against him did things to his brain, and his body, he hadn’t known a female could do. She made a soft purring sound deep in her throat as she tilted her head back and stared into his eyes.

  “Yes?” she whispered then licked her lips.

  Her tongue darted out, moistening them then receded. Her lips remained parted and her hair fell behind her, draping over his arm she’d turned into her pillow. She was incredibly beautiful. Even in the dark with his human eyes and no moonlight to help, he was able to see how her pupils dilated and her skin was flushed with her desire.

  “Take what you want.”

  “I thought I was.” She grinned as she continued to watch him.

  Her fingers moved along his shaft, squeezing and releasing as she stroked him, forcing him to grow in her hand as she worked magic on him. Rafe had known a female or two in his past who considered themselves experts at fucking. He would never put Anna in that category. Yet the way she stroked his dick, held it confidently and possessively in her hand, did things to him those females didn’t begin to do.

  Rafe wanted to offer her as much pleasure, if not more, than what she gave him. He’d never considered laying his kill at any female’s paws or surrendering himself to anyone. Yet with Anna, it was as if he already had. Somehow, between meeting her when she first arrived in Guarida to this moment as they lay between miserably uncomfortable blankets, she’d claimed his heart.

  He moved his arm, causing her head to roll slightly so she was in the perfect position to kiss, then cupped her soft ass as he moved just enough to press his mouth to hers and not interrupt her stroking his dick. Circling one of her breasts with his fingers, Rafe held the weight of her in his hand, squeezing.

  Their kiss was as hot as the space between them. He groaned into her mouth, opening her with his tongue, and breathed in the scented air. There was no way he would have been able to handle his captivity if they’d separated them. Something told him, regardless of how evil Natasha was, she’d known he would have killed or possibly have been killed if she’d taken Anna from him.

  When Rafe pinched Anna’s nipple, she cried into his mouth. Arching against him, she began moving her hips, grinding against his dick as she continued pulling and stroking, squeezing and massaging his length with a rhythm she’d created that would do him in if he didn’t remain focused. He didn’t want her to stop. Hell, he never wanted her to stop. But at the same time, the amount of effort it took to keep his brain from completely fogging over with lust was worth it when he slid his hand down between them and cupped her pussy.

  “Oh damn,” Anna whimpered as she broke off the kiss and her head fell back.

  At first, as he stared down at the arch of her neck, Rafe didn’t notice she had quit stroking his cock. Her lashes fluttered over her eyes. Her lips were parted and her breathing came fast. Rafe stared down at her, watching as she started to pant when he eased his fingers into her heat. The way her smooth pussy walls clamped around him, suffocating him as if she’d just engulfed every inch of him, destroyed what little coherency he’d managed to hold on to since they’d started their erotic exploration and foreplay.

  “You’re so incredibly beautiful.” He’d never made it a habit of praising a female while fucking her. But then, this wasn’t fucking. He was making love to his female, tangling the bond they’d created around the two of them even tighter.

  Anna’s lashes fluttered some more. A smile tugged at her mouth and she moved her lips, although there was no sound other than her soft groans as he slid his fingers deeper inside her.

  His muscles were rigid as he held her in his arm and used his other hand to draw out her first orgasm. The small room they were in clouded over with a thick, rich smell from the cream lacing his fingers. Rafe increased the momentum but worked not to take her over the edge too fast. He wanted her ripe, ready for him, and making her come too hard and too soon would make it take longer for her second orgasm to happen. Selfishly, he wanted her to explode when he entered her.

  Which would have to be soon or he’d come from just watching her flushed face as she moved closer to the edge. “Rafe,” she gasped. “Please.”

  He couldn’t wait any longer. Pressing her back to the floor, he lowered his mouth to an exposed nipple and suckled, latching on like a starving cub. Immediately her fingers tangled in his hair, holding him there as she rocked her hips. His fingers moved in
and out of her silky heat. Their hearts pounded in unison and the aromas drifting heavily around them were as intoxicating as their actions were to each other.

  “Now,” Anna insisted, suddenly pushing him off her and rolling him onto his back.

  Rafe opened his eyes, his vision clearing as he stared into the determination on his female’s beautiful face. He didn’t stop her from mounting him or grabbing his dick in spite of how perilously close she brought him to coming. Maybe she didn’t realize how seductive she was. Anna remained gentle, her fingers continuously brushing over his flesh, her movements sure but not pushy.

  Rafe watched as she spread her legs and brought her wet pussy to his hard dick. She knelt on one side of him, but her legs weren’t long enough to kneel on both sides of his hips and ride him. So she braced her foot against the floor on his other side and rested her arm on her knee as she began sheathing his dick with her soaked heat.

  The moist heat wrapping around his cock sucked the air right out of his lungs. There was an incredible sense of satisfaction on Anna’s face as she sank down on top of him.

  Rafe watched her face when she’d finally taken all of him inside her. She bit her lower lip and her head fell back. He loved how her long, black hair flowed down her front and back, parting at her shoulders. Anna arched her back and her round, full breasts began bouncing when she created a rhythm over him that was going to make him come hard if he didn’t go insane from the intensity of it all first.

  The more Anna strived to show her strength, her ability to take control and lead through a situation, the stronger the urge within him grew to protect her. He pulled her to him, offsetting her balance and rhythm. Anna complained with a short snarl but regained her control, and her long hair brushed over his chest as she resumed her rhythm.

  “Don’t move,” she ordered, leaning into him and nipping his lip.

  “Then you better come now,” he warned her, keeping his teeth clenched as he spoke. She was going to milk him dry at the rate she was going.