Soul of the Wildcat

by Devyn Quinn

  Her body throbbed with tremors of desire, and he hadn’t even really done anything yet. “What are you going to do now that you’ve got me naked and willing?”

  Jesse’s big hands circled her hips, lifting her to the perfect angle for penetration. The tip of his cock pressed against her creaming slit. His crackling gaze locked with hers, the depths of his eyes smoldering with untamed lust. “I’m going to fuck you hard and fast.” He entered her with a single thrust.

  The slide of his length into her waiting softness just about did Dakoda in. She exhaled on a breath of surprise. His penis felt like a bar of molten steel, penetrating her to the very last inch.

  Fingers digging into her skin, Jesse pounded her like a sledgehammer striking concrete. It didn’t take long for her to realize today’s lovemaking wasn’t about love at all, but pure sex. The desire of the male to claim the female. There were to be no soft words or caresses of foreplay. Just raw brutal need spurring him on.

  Jesse’s hips moved against hers, unrelenting in the force or brutality of his desire. A hungry male smile curled his lips. Each hard strike of flesh on flesh tore a whimper from Dakoda’s straining throat. Every stroke took her breath away.

  Orgasm arrived like a star gone nova. Dakoda felt herself go rigid as his cock scraped every nerve ending inside her clenching sex. He stroked her repeatedly, barely giving her a second to realize she was melting and contracting around his shaft. She heard herself begin to cry out. She wanted to scream his name but she couldn’t get enough oxygen in her lungs to help form coherent words.

  Jesse never stopped pounding her, never stopped pushing her closer to the dark abyss of pure pleasure. There were too many sensations to process, each streaking by at light speed. Her brain overloaded. Shorted out. There was nothing left but Jesse, delivering stroke after brutal stroke of pure white fire.

  Dakoda reached for the sensations, desperate to hang on to them as long as possible. They slipped through her fingers like sparkling grains of golden sand. The tidal wave of climax built, sweeping her away into an endless void.

  Just as she hit the edge, Jesse pulled out of her. She gasped in surprise when he rolled her onto her stomach and then pulled her up on her hands and knees. “Deeper,” he growled. “I want to go deeper.”

  Dakoda didn’t think that was physically possible. She was wrong. Jesse pressed the velvety tip of his penis against her slit, slipping through her dewy labia the way a hot knife slid though butter. Her nipples ached for the scrape of his teeth, the pull of his mouth suckling at the pebbled tips. She lifted a hand, twisting one nipple viciously for her own satisfaction. A hot coil of gratification snaked down her spine.

  Jesse rolled his hips, each tight lunge taking him deeper than before. He pulled back, barely allowing the broad round head of his crown to peek out, before shoving his thick length right back inside. “Come with me,” he grated, delivering one final jolt. His rough command startled. The message was apparent: he was in control to the very end. The way he fucked her was unmistakable.

  In the cougar’s world he was the male, her lord and master. She would submit, as nature intended. Each stab of his rigid cock burned, forcing her closer to the pinnacle of an absolute erotic meltdown.

  Dakoda opened her mouth to protest against his dominance, but nothing coherent emerged. The sensations boiling through her core simply felt too damn good. “I–I, oh, God…” A sob broke from her lips, but she couldn’t say another word. Jesse’s cock surged inside her, spitting a stream of liquid flame.

  Taking a grab at the euphoria pouring over every nerve ending, Dakoda caught the glittering wave, seeking to master it even as it attempted to sweep control out from under her feet.

  One of Jesse’s hands slipped around her body. His probing fingers found her clit, rubbing intense circles into the center of the small hooded organ. His touch felt more electric than ever before. “Take it all the way,” he urged. “Enjoy the beast raging inside.” His hot breath burned against her ear. His commanding touch seared her to the bone.

  For a dizzying instant, Dakoda could almost imagine herself as a cougar, paws pounding the ground as she ran alongside her mate. Her heart thudded wildly against her rib cage—wild with craving and yearning for something she couldn’t quite yet grasp.

  At the last possible second, she let go, enjoying the fierce power of a mind-blowing orgasm. The shock of ruthless delight stole her breath all over again.

  Giving a contented sigh, Jesse slowly disengaged their hips. His half-flaccid penis slipped away, leaving a cold spot in its wake. The breeze winnowing across the grass cooled the heat generated between them. “God, that was great,” he said hoarsely, panting hard between each word.

  Dakoda huffed. “Glad you think so.” Arms and legs giving out beneath her weight, she collapsed facedown onto the ground. Cheek pressed against the soft grass, she lay gasping and shivering. The crushing waves of pleasure slowly receded, each lapping sensation growing weaker and weaker.

  Though she’d been with men who tended to get a little rough from time to time, Dakoda had never had a man claim her in such a way. When they’d made love previously, he always played the gentle, humble lover. Today was different. He’d come after her in ruthless pursuit, determined not only to mark her with his scent but also to dominate and control her in every way.

  He’d done it, too.

  Like a branding iron against naked flesh, he’d burned his essence onto hers, so deeply that for an instant their two separate bodies seemed to become one, undulating with perfect synchronicity. Dakoda would’ve sworn for a moment their minds had touched, allowing her to feel the same sensations he did when in cougar form.

  Awesome. It was just fucking awesome with a capital A. With that in mind it wasn’t at all hard to imagine what it would be like to completely embrace his world. To give herself up to his primitive, carnivorous lust for the rest of her life.

  And, God, it was so damn tempting…

  Jesse stretched out beside her, pulling her into a light embrace. Lifting one of her legs over his hip, he snuggled his body closer to hers. A fine sheen of sweat covered their bodies. His hand came up, slipping behind her neck and angling her head. Lips nibbling hers, he was about to slide into a kiss when an ear-shattering yowl tore apart the sultry afternoon.

  Acting with split-second timing, Jesse bolted in front of her. He hit the ground on his hands and knees, skidding a little as he smoothly transformed his shape from man to cougar. His change came none too soon. Another cougar burst through a nearby thicket, charging toward them at top speed.

  Still too dazed to fully comprehend the source of the terrifying screech, Dakoda’s eyes widened at the sight of a second cougar. By the look on the big cat’s ferocious face, it had come to fight.

  “Jesse, look out!” she shouted as the strange cougar surged across the clearing. Sweating, she scurried around to find her clothing, needing to cover her naked ass.

  A series of thunderous roars split the air as the two cougars came face-to-face, anger boiling through them as each big cat released howls resembling battle cries.

  Ears pinned back against his skull, Jesse acted first. He roared, leaping toward the intruder and closing his fangs around the other cat’s neck. The two great animals fell, rolling together, a writhing heap of flying fur and razor-sharp claws. The screeching emanating from both huge felines was chilling, battering against her ears with vicious ferocity.

  Pulling on her slacks and fumbling into her shirt, Dakoda realized that the other cat must have scented her female musk.

  “Wait a minute,” she muttered, putting the pieces together. If the cougar was drawn by her scent, that must mean it was one of Jesse’s tribe mates. They were fighting over her like a prize to be possessed, a trophy in a world where willing females were in very short supply. Jesse was trying to defend his claim on her. The other cougar was determined to take it. Between the two of them, they were trying to impress her with their male prowess.

  Angered by
the stupidity between two dumbass males, Dakoda swore under her breath and grabbed a good-sized flexible stick off the ground. I’ll give ’em each a piece of my mind. Stick held out like a bat, she sped toward the massive cats. The sooner she broke them apart, the less damage would be done.

  It vaguely occurred to her she should be afraid of two tangling cougars fighting for pride, passion, and a piece of her pussy. Fear wasn’t on the agenda, though. She was pissed. In the animal world they might clash for the right to mate, but in the human world the female decided who the hell she was going to fuck.

  At least this female did.

  Wading into the fray, she whacked the nearest cat on one fleshy haunch. “Stop it!” she shouted, delivering a second and then a third smack. “I won’t be fought over like a piece of meat.” Brandishing the stick like a mother after two naughty boys, she broke the two big cats apart. A few minutes later both sat side by side, as docile as kittens.

  Dakoda stood with her hands on her hips, glaring down at both. “Shift,” she ordered. “I want to look at people faces and not cat ones.”

  Both cougars disappeared, slipping back into human form. Two naked men sat in their place, not an unpleasant sight at all. Though she recognized her cougar, Dakoda had no idea who the young stranger might be. Shorter and stockier than Jesse, he wore his brown hair in a strange cut, shaved on both sides of his scalp with just a strip down the middle of his head. Though short on the top of his head, he’d allowed the hair hanging down the back of his head to grow back, braiding it into a long tail of sorts. A smattering of stubble covered his face, much too youthful to belong to a full-grown man. He looked to be nineteen, or maybe twenty, tops. With his intense brown eyes and sun-burnished skin he was still a sight to behold. The Tlvdatsi were proving to be a beautiful people.

  Jesse’s naked body gleamed with sweat and blood as he checked a vicious scratch on his forearm. “Damn, Robin, that fucking hurt,” he groused.

  The other man shrugged. “Sorry, man. I was lost in the cat, you know?” He turned his unblinking gaze on Dakoda. “Ah, man, I knew I smelled a female.” His grin widened. “Nice body, too.”

  Dakoda followed the line of his stare. Of course her shirt was open and her tits were hanging out. In her haste to dress, she hadn’t bothered with underwear, doing her best to cover herself before the two immature idiots ripped each other apart. No wonder she’d been able to break up the fight so easily. She was giving the men quite a distraction.

  Feeling heat creep in to her cheeks, she buttoned her shirt. “I just washed,” she mumbled with more than a little embarrassment. “Surely the smell isn’t that strong.”

  The newcomer smiled. “Oh, believe me. Once you get a whiff, there’s no mistaking hot p—”

  A low growl rolling past his lips, Jesse delivered a hard jab to his friend’s rib cage. “Back off,” he said through a cold stretch of his lips. “She is taken.” There was no mistaking the possessive tone behind his warning.

  Dakoda felt her heart give a particularly hard thump against her ribs. “I’m not taken,” she said quietly. “I make the decision of who I’m with or not.”

  The stranger’s eyes brightened. “Then there’s always hope,” he quipped.

  Jesse elbowed him again. “Right now she’s with me, so fuck off, chump.”

  The other man held his hands up in defeat. “Okay, okay, man. You don’t have to rub it in. I get the message. You got her, you’re hanging on. That’s cool. All’s fair.”

  Dakoda sized up the opportunistic young man. “And just who are you, anyway?”

  The young man scrambled to his feet. Fully exposed in every way, he appeared to be comfortable with his nudity. “Robin, ma’am,” he said, politely introducing himself. “Robin Huskey. I’m Jesse’s cousin.”

  “Twice removed,” Jesse grumbled, standing up. “Where did you come from, anyway?”

  Robin shrugged. “Just out loping around the land.”

  Jesse huffed and rolled his eyes. “In other words, you’re avoiding work.”

  Robin gave his cousin a light punch on the arm. “Actually, I’m not the only one, Jesse. Joseph’s been looking for you for days now. He’s pissed, too, man. We’re not just supposed to run off without letting someone know.”

  Jesse shot Dakoda a surreptitious look. “I had things on my mind,” he grumbled under his breath.

  Dakoda knew exactly what he had on his mind. S-E-X. As much as he could get, and as often as he could get it. His verbal jabs at Robin were just as possessive as his blatant lovemaking had been earlier. He had mapped out his territory, and now he was defending it.

  Typical male.

  Dakoda broke into the argument. “Excuse me, guys. I’d like to finish getting dressed.” Reclaiming her discarded clothing, she headed behind a copse of trees to change. The last thing she wanted to do was show more skin. Having one horny cougar on her tail was bad enough, but dealing with two would be just a little too much. Despite her checkered past, she wasn’t into threesomes.

  Still, she had to be more than a little pleased when she remembered how Jesse had rushed into the fight, fangs bared and ready to tear up some ass. Had it been any other man, Dakoda probably would have been pissed off beyond reason or recovery. But it was Jesse, and she found there was something poignant in watching him back another man down in her defense.

  Deep down, Jesse was a decent and honorable man. But at his core he was utterly dedicated to the survival of his people in these harsh mountains. Were the choice between saving the life of his cousin or hers, she had no doubt he’d choose Robin. Despite the intimacies they’d shared, she was still an outsider in his world.

  She’d stumbled onto the secrets of the Tlvdatsi by accident. Even though Jesse claimed she carried the genes of such inside her own body, she still didn’t feel any sort of a connection with the knowledge. It was sort of like being born with a certain skin color. Though she was aware of it, there wasn’t really much she could do to change it.

  Safely covered from head to toe, Dakoda stepped out from behind the trees. Her knees were still a little shaky from the incredible sex coupled with an equally incredible scare, but she’d supposed she’d survive.

  She found the two men sitting by the fire, deep in discussion. Jesse welcomed her with a bright smile. “Everything okay?” he asked.

  Dropping down beside him, she nodded. “Fine.”

  Jesse’s hand slid around her waist, his palm resting lightly against her back. He move wasn’t very subtle, unmistakably sending the message they were very much a couple to anyone who had eyes and mind enough to connect the dots. He’d have been less obvious sending up smoke signals. “I was just telling Robin about our little adventure with the friendly neighborhood poachers,” he said, briefly filling her in on key points.

  Robin agreed grimly. “This is some serious shit. Best to get back to camp and let Chief Joseph know.” His eyes flashed with anger, with the hot vigor of a young man ready to make war. “It’s time their atrocities against our people were stopped once and for all.”

  Dakoda’s body automatically tightened, gathering tension. “Not to mention mine,” she reminded quietly. “That was my partner they gunned down.”

  Robin skimmed the remnants of her uniform. “I’m sorry for the loss of your partner, but I am glad you were there to help my cousin.”

  Pursing her lips, Dakoda glanced away. The meal she’d recently consumed all of a sudden felt like lead in her gut. She swallowed hard to keep the food down. “Thanks,” she choked, fighting to clear her throat. “We were just trying to do our job.” What else could she say at this point? She didn’t even know where the poachers had buried Greg’s body.

  Looking from one to the other, Jesse’s dark brows knitted with frustration. “We’ve all suffered enough.” He turned to Dakoda. “Robin tells me we’re about a week from our settlement. It’s going to be hard travel, but there will be two of us to take care of you, plus any more men we might meet on the way. Do you think you ca
n handle it?”

  Dakoda lifted her chin with determination. “The sooner we get going,” she said resolutely. “The sooner we’ll reach home base.”

  21

  The sun was just beginning to disappear behind the mountains when Dakoda set her eyes on the Tlvdatsi settlement. The sight nearly took her breath away.

  Her first impression was that she’d somehow glided through a rip in the fabric of time, stepping back at least two centuries into the past. The outpost looked like a couple of blocks had been lifted straight from some Hollywood set depicting life in the old West. A series of neatly constructed log cabins were set amid corrals and other pens for livestock. There were a multitude of horses, cows, goats, chickens, dogs and even a few fat, lazy barn cats. A nearby waterfall fed into a pond of clear, clean mountain water.

  Dakoda’s head swiveled, trying to take in every little detail as they walked toward the cabins. In choosing to break away from the established reservations and form their own settlement in the mountains, the Tlvdatsi presently lived much like their ancestors had, with few modern conveniences. Expansion into the twenty-first century was coming slowly, but surely.

  A week’s hard travel had taken its toll, both physically and emotionally. Her clothes were torn and filthy, little more than rags, and despite the fact that two men had been on the prowl for food, she’d lost at least ten pounds, maybe more, from the intense exertion of hiking through areas where trails didn’t even exist. No wonder the men preferred to travel in their cougar forms. It was a hell of a lot easier for the big cats to slip through the tangle of brush than it was a human on two legs. She’d often found herself wishing she could slip off her human coil and morph into a leaner, faster body.

  A small group of tribesmen began to gather around, curious about the newcomer in their midst. Both of her companions had chosen to stay in cougar form for the last leg of the journey, which meant Jesse had abandoned the clothes he’d borrowed. Dakoda had hung on to the clothing, though. She wasn’t too proud to wear the extra layers on cold nights. Snuggled between two furry cougar bodies, she’d stayed quite warm and comfortable.