by Vonna Harper
Hok’ee was a man of ropes and strength. How had he turned into a master of bondage? Maybe the change was in her, and not him. He’d become what she wanted.
Risking his disapproval, she lowered an arm so she could slide her hand between her legs. The chain was taut, her labia stretched to its limit. The scent of wanting rolled through her. The clamps were heavy and solid, the small flat surfaces against her flesh slick with her arousal. “You own me,” she whispered.
“For now.”
A warning note in his voice pulled her out of the spell she’d wrapped around herself and back to reality. As the self-imposed fantasy faded, she realized her hand was indeed between her legs. If not for her jeans, she would have been touching herself. Garrin was behind her, hopefully unaware of what she was doing. She didn’t dare face him until she’d found a way to cool her flaming cheeks and throat.
Hok’ee, are you aware of what just happened? Are you responsible?
And is that all you want from me? It is the only thing that matters to you?
“Where were you last night?” Garrin asked.
Determined not to face him, she stopped and made a show of looking off into the distance. “I told you—”
“That something came up. It’s also not nearly enough.”
“I’m answerable to Dr. Carter, not you. I don’t owe you an explanation.”
“Don’t you? You were gone all night.”
Alerted by his tone, she faced him. Except for a certain residual energy, everything about her fantasy had faded. Earlier, Garrin’s behavior had set off warning bells. Now they returned. “I apologize for that. If it had been practical, I would have returned.” Liar. “But I wasn’t going to risk breaking my neck walking around in the dark.”
“There wouldn’t have been a risk if you’d returned before it too late. Damn it, you know your responsibilities.”
“Why don’t you spell them out?”
He looked as if he considered her less than bright. “You know the parameters of the grant as well as I do. We’re to do a thorough evacuation and evaluation of—”
“That’s your responsibility. Mine is less clearly defined. I’m allowed a lot more leeway,” she interrupted, then was sorry she had.
“Not the kind of leeway you took yesterday. You took off without giving me more than the minimum of information about where you were going. And you certainly weren’t back by the time I returned.”
“Returned? Where did you go?”
He hesitated, then: “I was looking for you, what do you think?”
“Why would you do that?” Hands on her hips, she squared on him. “Unless you didn’t believe me.”
He set his shoulders. She didn’t for a moment believe that his shifting of the rifle from one arm to the other was an unconscious gesture. Nature’s creatures, even predators, lived lives defined by the need for caution. Those who lived did so because they took nothing for granted. Maybe Cougar was responsible for her increased awareness; maybe her own instinct was at work. Whichever it was, she had no doubt that Dr. Garrin Gentry wasn’t the mild-mannered professor she’d taken him to be.
“Are you threatening me?” She indicated the rifle.
“What?” He looked flustered.
“It’s a question I have to ask.” Was Cougar nearby? Would he come to her defense if Garrin tried anything? “I’ll tell you what I’m thinking,” she went on. “Then I hope you’ll let me know whether I’m onto something.”
“Go on.” He held the rifle in the crook of his left arm, his right hand only inches from the trigger.
“You didn’t object to my leaving yesterday because you wanted to be alone. You weren’t looking for me. You had your own agenda.”
“And what would that agenda be?”
“I’ve seen the way you’ve studied our surroundings, and the things you’ve said about how there might be more significant sites in the area than that one kiva. I wasn’t the only one interested in exploring Toch—Sani.”
Garrin clenched and unclenched his teeth. At the same time, he rocked back and forth slightly. He kept his gaze on her, barely blinking. Perhaps most telling, his nostrils flared and stayed that way.
“You’re guessing, Kai. Fishing.”
“You’re not denying it.”
“I don’t owe you anything. Do I have to remind you, I’m the senior—”
“And I’m an independent contractor. You aren’t my boss.”
He sputtered but didn’t say anything. As the silence stretched out, she admitted they weren’t getting anywhere this way. At least things were out in the open, to some degree. Garrin had been searching. As for whether he’d found anything—
He hadn’t seen her and Hok’ee. Otherwise, he would have already thrown that at her. What did she mean, throw? If Garrin knew where and how she’d spent the night, he’d want nothing to do with her—if he could wrap his mind around the truth.
“I really would like to know if you found anything,” she said, keeping her tone as neutral as possible. “You were hardly frantic with concern for me, which makes me think you had other things on your mind.” She took a deep breath. “Of course if you’d seen a cougar—”
“I more than saw one, damn it. Look, just because I didn’t break into tears when I spotted you doesn’t mean I wasn’t worried.”
“Were you?”
For too long he didn’t react, and his belated nod lacked conviction. “I tried calling you. Either you didn’t bother to answer, or you didn’t want to get in touch with me.”
She wouldn’t have known about his call, if there’d been one, because Hok’ee had taken her cell phone.
Which, she reminded herself, wasn’t the point. Although the lack of disclosure from either her or Garrin bothered her, the truth was that she was finding it hard to focus on the conversation. She’d shaken loose of most of her crazy fantasy about clamps and chains. Now if she could just rid herself of the sensations that had accompanied that fantasy. Want it or not, her labia continued to burn.
“I killed that damn cougar. I know I did.”
Determined not to let more get past her, she brought Garrin back into focus. He needed a shave, and dust clung to whatever he used to hold his sparse hair in place. His shoulders were narrow for a man of his height, which she took to be just a hair under six feet. In contrast to his well-fed middle, his legs were scrawny.
Next to Hok’ee, he wouldn’t stand a chance.
“I don’t know how to respond to that,” she said. “I saw what I saw, or rather didn’t, which was a dead predator.”
“What were you doing standing on that very spot, huh? Answer me that?”
There was no winning this argument, no story creation that would dispense with his questions and suspicions. “I’m not going to try,” she handed him, “because no matter what I say, you’ll take exception to it. My suggestion: we have most of the day ahead of us, and a job we’re both earning decent salaries to accomplish. As soon as I get some fresh water, I’m going to get to work. What about you?”
“Don’t worry about me, Kai. I know exactly what I need to do.”
20
She was with him. Standing close to the man who’d killed Anaba. Talking to him.
From where he crouched, Cougar couldn’t hear what the two were saying. He considered slipping closer but didn’t, because he wasn’t certain human words would make sense. Besides, the man kept looking around nervously. And he carried his rifle.
Cougar revealed his fangs in a smile without warmth behind it. It was right for the man to be afraid, and to wonder where danger might come from.
Did he know he was being watched by a creature that wanted him dead? More than want, Cougar would avenge Anaba’s death.
In his mind, he slipped down to where the man stood. Because he’d been created with the instinct for survival, he knew what it took to remain hidden. He also understood the danger the rifle represented. However, a sudden attack would knock the weapon out of the enemy’s ar
ms. Then he’d take his time.
The cold smile died, replaced by the image of the coward as he tried to run. The man would scream and cry. Nonsensical words would bubble out of him, along with saliva and great gasping breaths. Cougar would allow him to run, for a while. He’d hold back just enough so that the foolish human would dare believe he might live. Then, pushed on by thoughts of Anaba, Cougar would close the distance between him and his prey. Shrieking in rage and justification, he’d expel his hot breath against the back of the man’s tender neck.
The stench of the man’s loosened bowels would fill the air. He’d collapse onto his knees. Scrambling around, he might clamp his hands over his throat in a useless attempt to protect it.
Understand my vengeance, Cougar would tell him. The words finished, he’d bury his fangs in the man’s hands and pull them off his throat. A single bite, and bones would break and blood begin to flood. The man would cry or scream, it didn’t matter which. After letting him do so for a few moments, Cougar would silence him by ripping out his throat.
The woman would see.
Shaking his head, Cougar struggled to concentrate. The woman had a name, a smell, a voice. He knew her body, or rather, the man Hok’ee knew it. Hok’ee would never forgive him if he harmed the—if he harmed Kai.
Kai. A woman. Soft, yet strong. Brave. With knowledge about him he hadn’t believed possible.
What was it that had happened when she’d touched his fur and then reached through it to his muscles? She’d taken them both far into the past where everything had begun. With her by his side, he’d returned to the time and place of his birth. Together they’d watched a people Cougar had loved but who no longer existed. Together they’d watched those people build and cook, and they’d both rejoiced when the men returned with fresh meat.
Kai hadn’t known such a journey was possible until he, unwittingly, had shown her the way. And because they’d taken it together, they would be united for as long as they both lived. Maybe there’d be more than one step into history.
Did Hok’ee understand that? Would he share her?
In terms of work accomplished, the day had been a bust. True, she’d talked to Dr. Carter, who’d reiterated that she indeed was at liberty to let instinct and intuition define what she did. She’d come close to telling him about the ruins she’d spent last night in but hadn’t, because she didn’t want to risk mentioning Hok’ee. Maybe later, if she could find a way to separate the discovery from everything Hok’ee represented.
At least in the afternoon she’d found a fairly decent example of the wattle and daub architecture the Basket Makers were known for. The partial pit house wall she and Garrin had uncovered near the original kiva strongly represented the meshwork of poles and reeds held together with thick layers of adobe-like mud, but it wasn’t as if archeologists hadn’t already written extensively about the process. Or rather, she acknowledged, they’d written about the steps and finished product. What had always been missing was how the pit house builders had felt while they were working on it.
There she was going on again, she admitted as she stretched out in her tent after dinner. Ever since learning of Hok’ee’s existence, she’d longed to dive deeper and more fully into the past. Had the Anasazi sung as they went about their work, and if so, what had their songs been about? What stories had parents and grandparents told the children? What legends and beliefs had been passed down through the generations?
So much lost.
Unless Hok’ee and Cougar…
Running. Strength in her muscles, and the wind cooling her temples. Surrounded by massive stone walls that whispered ancient stories.
She was naked; even her feet were bare. Her heart felt massive and powerful, her lungs capable of endlessly providing the oxygen her body demanded. She was running from something, and yet she wasn’t. The answer to what was happening would soon matter, but it didn’t right now because rejoicing in what her body was capable of had become everything.
She was no longer a modern woman. She had no ties to anything civilization offered and demanded. Instead, fueled by her newly enlarged heart, she embraced the primal. Survival was assured to those who heard this land’s song, and made it their own. That’s what she’d done somehow. She’d opened herself to listen and learn, and had been rewarded with perfect muscles and bone. Maybe her intellect had kept pace; she couldn’t be sure because she no longer thought as she always had. Instead of words spun into a cohesive whole, she reacted to what her senses told her.
Run here, listen to that sound, study the movement next to that bush, taste the air and know whether it promises rain.
Joyfully hugging herself, she silently thanked the Anasazi for showing her the way into this world she’d never known existed. Then before she could throw out a prayer, she sensed a change. Her nerves told her she wasn’t alone, warned her to treat the newcomer as any animal would, with caution. Stopping, she looked in all directions while brushing sweat off her streaming body. She was alive with the joy of life; the simple words said it all.
There. Watching her. Waiting.
Staring back at the dark form, she accepted that the newcomer was both man and animal. Although his form was human, he was one with the land, and that made him more.
What do you want, she silently asked. How long have you been following me?
“Forever,” the man/creature responded. “I’ve always been here.”
“Impossible.”
“How do you know?”
She didn’t, and that was the hell and thrill of it. As a man, the newcomer was everything she’d ever wanted. He was well over six feet tall, with sculpted muscles and sun-toasted flesh. Thick golden brown hair framed a broad forehead, impossibly deep-set eyes, and high cheekbones. Like her, he was naked, his erection huge.
Her own sex responded by loosening and then tightening. Her breasts became heavy with hard, sensitive nipples. Unwilling to deny the truth, she fingered the aching points.
“Look what you’ve done to me,” she said.
“I’ve made you into what I need.”
She was trying to form a response when the man shifted, changed. There, the animal coming through. Not just animal but a big cat, a predator. All raw power.
“What happened to him?” she asked, trembling.
“The man, you mean?” Cougar replied. “He’s still here, just beneath the surface.”
“I want him back.”
“What you get is me.”
She’d known the predator was going to leap before he did. Instead of trying to flee, she widened her stance and set her legs. He struck her in the chest, knocking her off her feet. She landed on her ass, arms back to break her fall. Instantly furious, she scrambled onto her hands and knees, then buried her nails in the form looming over her. Her fingers found only fur.
He leaned so close that his breath heated her lashes.
“What is this about?” she demanded. “I haven’t done anything—”
“You belong to me.”
Was that true? She couldn’t think, let alone decide.
“You belong to me, and him,” the cougar added.
“Him? Hok’ee, you mean. Show him to me. Let him come through.”
“Not tonight.”
Movement, the powerful form pushing against her side until she gave way. Before she could think what to do, Cougar lay her on her back and straddled her. She’d been here before, or a place and emotion close to this one.
Reaching up, she stroked her captor’s front legs. He loomed over her, around her, everywhere. She smelled only him, his animal heat. She tried to open her legs, only to stop with her thighs pressing against his rear paws.
“You can’t want this,” she told him. Bending her knees, she ground them into his belly. “Not just this when you can have more.”
“I take what I want. You can’t stop me.”
“Maybe I don’t want to try.”
She stared at those great killing teeth so close. Then his tongue eme
rged, pink and thick. She didn’t move. He repeatedly licked her cheek and the side of her neck until the abrasions made her whimper.
“I’ll take you,” Cougar said. “But not as Hok’ee did.”
“Animal to animal, you mean? But I’m not one.”
“I don’t care.”
Another harsh lick sent hot shivers down her body. She was waiting for the sensation to end when he lifted himself off her. A paw capable of ripping out a heart rolled her onto her belly.
The ground carried a million memories. It had been trod on since the beginning of time and would be here long after she ceased to exist. But right now she and the earth were the same, either that or she was drawing wisdom from those countless memories. Dirt and rocks absorbed the sun’s heat and accepted a winter night’s cold. It asked for nothing, yet provided roots with the nourishment plants needed for life.
She wanted life, wanted Hok’ee. But he wasn’t here, or rather his physical form wasn’t. Maybe he’d sent Cougar in his stead; maybe Cougar had fought him for supremacy.
Didn’t matter. Only life did. Life at its most elemental.
Planting her hands under her, she lifted her upper body. Cougar lathed the back of her neck, compelling her to set her elbows to keep from falling. Her neck felt as if it had been stuck by a finger of lightning.
Another rough touch from the great creature stole her breath. He hadn’t used his tongue this time. Instead, he’d placed his fangs around her neck.
She froze. The lightning strike that lived within her grew in intensity until it was everywhere and everything. She was on fire, afire, so alive there wasn’t room for anything else. Sharp points pressed against her tendons and veins.
“I’m yours,” she said, not moving.
“I know.”
When the pressure increased, she tucked her knees under her and lifted her lower half off the ground. After a moment, Cougar released her. Eyes drifting closed, she let her head drop. She needed neither encouragement or warning to spread her legs. The tongue that had taken her down into animal trailed over the base of her spine. More flames coiled through her, making her pant. Her mouth opened, and she drooled. Lowering her upper body a little, she offered her ass fully. Harsh, wet kisses tracked from her spine to her ass. Sucking in air, she tried to reach behind her so she could separate her rear cheeks, but had to stop because she couldn’t keep her balance.