“What the hell?” she screamed, then quieted when the man slapped his palm over her mouth. He looked around the clearing for a second, searching for something. His head tilted in the same way the jaguar´s head had earlier, which freaked her out slightly, but she lost that train of thought when she heard gunshots in the distance.
Yvonne tried to yell for assistance, but the man still held his hand over her jaw. She flinched when she saw two more naked men run towards her. One of the two grabbed her arm and started to drag her. The third pushed her into a sprint, she felt so weak that she knew she wouldn´t be able to fight them. Her adrenaline was lagging, she stumbled a few times, but they pushed her relentlessly, until once again she was out of breath, her lungs burning with the need for oxygen. As she stumbled over again, one of them, the man that was pushing her from behind, lifted her up and threw her over his shoulder.
His shoulder pounded her ribs as he raced through the jungle, making her breath come in ragged gasps. Vines and razor grass slapped her legs and torso as they moved. As her body jolted with each step he took, she blacked out into peaceful, painless oblivion.
Chapter Three
Yvonne returned to consciousness with a bang. She felt as though her batteries had been recharged, her head was suddenly clear and alert. She´d never passed out and woken up feeling like this before! The aches and pains of her battles emanated from every inch of muscle. Her body felt like it’d been drawn through a ringer then run back through.
Stifling a groan, she realized the men who’d “rescued” her were speaking amongst themselves.
Yvonne held still, resisting the urge to make herself more comfortable and rub her aching body.
Any movement could draw the attention of the men who had grabbed her. She could hear them arguing in the background. She opened her eyelids slightly, just to let a sliver of light through so that maybe she would be able to see them and what they were doing.
They were ahead of her, but just to her left. She could see two of them, but the third man was hidden from sight by the other two. She assumed they were arguing about her, but she didn´t understand why they were so angry. Who were these men anyway? Why the hell were they running through the jungle practically naked? Each wore a pair of torn and ragged jeans that had obviously seen better days, but it still wasn´t much protection against the creepy crawlies and animal life here. Hell, the plants didn’t play around in the jungle either. She could feel the burn of finite cuts and bruises over every inch of exposed skin.
She couldn´t deny that their nakedness had been a pretty sight, now that she was able to think about it. Hell, they´d been kidnapping her for God knows what reason, but even she couldn´t help but appreciate that her kidnappers were bronzed gods in the flesh.
With hard-toned and muscular bodies, each was as different and as beautiful as the next. They kept moving, as if unable to remain still for any amount of time.
One with shaggy blond hair with a mouth that quirked as if he were more used to smiling than fighting—another had jet black hair that hung to his shoulders and obscured his face. She thought the other one had brown hair, but she couldn´t remember, she did remember the scars that covered his torso. They looked nasty, and must have been very painful at the time, but somehow, and maybe it was just her, they didn´t detract from his looks.
The scars made him look like a warrior. Not only that, but in a strange way, they kind of reminded her of the markings of a cat. Obviously, they were old and faded now, but they were long and seemed to curve around his limbs and torso, just like a cat´s pattern.
“We can use her as ransom to get off this island,” the black haired one said.
Yvonne wanted to laugh at that statement. The very idea that anyone would pay to retrieve her was ludicrous. If anything, they’d be happy they didn’t have to pay her high bill. She’d be lucky to not be shot after her epic failure.
The man with sandy brown hair snorted in a guffaw, echoing her sentiments. “What makes you think they care about her, cousin?”
“We should just get rid of her and be done with it. She was working with them and wanted to kill us,” the blond said, crossing his arms over his chest and looking combative. “I don’ care how fine her ass is, she’s with them.”
The blond had the sound of the South in his voice. Maybe Louisiana or Mississippi. He was certainly a long way from home. She felt like kicking his ass for making that suggestion.
“You’re wrong, Remy. Those were tranquilizers she was using. She was trying to take us all alive.”
“You’re thinking with your dick, Armando, if you think those bastards will pay to get her back. We’re the only ones that want her. They don’t care anymore about her than they can throw her. She’s just as disposable as her men,” the black haired one spoke up.
Armando sighed, scrubbing a hand through five o clock shadow on his jaw. “You’re right, Rafael. We have to do something, however,” Armando said. “We can’t leave her here at the others’ mercy. Not everyone can control themselves as we can.”
Remy sniffed the air, glancing in her direction. Yvonne closed her eyes to avoid detection.
“Whatever that was, it was potent,” Remy said.
“It came from the lab. I’m sure of it. If they have something that powerful at their disposal, there’s no telling what else they have in development,” Armando replied.
From the way he spoke and the others reacted, it seemed to her Armando was their leader, whether acknowledged or not.
The fact that they thought they could use her as a bargaining chip made her feel better that her life wasn’t in danger. But not much better.
Why couldn´t they get off the island? What was stopping them? They were Americans, by the sound of them, the blond had a southern twang to his voice, the black haired one had a Northern accent, and the other had a strange mix of Spanish-Bronx. Either way, they all obviously had to have a passport, so why couldn´t they get off the island themselves? Why the hell did they need to use her in a deal?
She couldn’t seem to connect the dots. Nothing on this fucking island made any sense! She continued watching and listening to them, but they were just arguing about what to do with her. She was pretty confident, that she would be able to escape them, some of her best guys at Star Hunts had never been able to match her in a fight. Remy, the blond guy, had finally wound down, as the other two were persuading him that their way was the right way.
Knowing that their plans to use her for their own benefit didn´t exactly make them endearing, she didn´t understand the raw animal attraction she felt just looking at them. Whatever it was, she had to use whatever she could to her advantage. She sensed an interest in her, if their words were anything to go by. She’d use that if she had to. Whatever it took to survive.
Hearing footsteps near her body, she feigned sleep, her eyes were closed now so she couldn´t see who it was, but she felt him nudge her gently in the ribs with a bare foot.
Sucking in a quick breath, she grabbed his leg quickly and took him down to the ground. Using his weight against him, she used the momentum of his body crashing down to the floor to push her onto her feet, and she jumped into a run. She managed to run about six feet away from the group before she was tackled to the ground.
Bronzed, scarred arms came into view, locking around her waist as he took her to the ground. A yelp of surprise squeezed out of her—she hadn’t expected them to react so quickly, to move so fast. These men were not a joke, despite running through the jungle like naked maniacs. That probably meant she should be more worried than she was.
The dark, scarred man lay on top of her. Muscular forearms bunched, bracketing her head, and his body covered her from head to toe.
A thick erection nestled itself into the crack of her ass. Hot breath fanned across the back of her neck as he panted above her. The brief chase had obviously excited him.
His warm breath tickled her neck and shoulders, making her painfully aware of every inch of him. His muscles
tensed. She could see the sinew and muscle delineation stand out against his forearms, making him appear like a tiger even more.
Slowly, as if in sensual warning, he rubbed his cock against her slightly, not threateningly--how she knew that she didn´t know, but it seemed to be a helpless gesture. He nuzzled his head against her, his nose pushed into the nape of her neck, she heard him sniff, then felt his chest rumble.
Her body seized in surprise, that was not a human gesture, only cat´s chests rumbled. Before she could panic, he rolled her over and laid directly on top of her, his cock pushing heavily on her belly. His hard planed chest squashed her breasts. They were so close, she could feel the beat of his heart pounding against her ribcage.
Sandy brown hair hung over his forehead, making his eyes look wild. She could see his pupils dilate like crazy, flickering between full dilation and small pinpricks. She tensed against him, but then felt his entire body stiffen, and he jumped from on top of her back to his feet.
Snatching her up with him, he grabbed her arms and held them behind her back. Growling at the Remy, he snarled, “I told you we should have tied her up, she wouldn´t be working for the fucking Project if she couldn´t fight.”
The blond hissed back. “What should I tie her up with? My cock´s big, but it ain´t that fuckin’ big.”
Armando glared at Remy, his chest heaving as if he’d burst into a fight. Finally, he snorted with laughter.
Remy grinned at him, then winked at her. “No, chérie I´m not into rape.”
Yvonne didn´t say anything, but if it had come to that, and she was about to be raped, she knew that she could incapacitate them pretty easily. Her knee strike was powerful. They wouldn’t be able to use their dicks for a while if they tried to take it from her. Escape was another thing entirely, she was obviously outmatched, but if they even tried to force her, she´d rip off their dicks and shove them up their asses. Or crush their balls like she was stomping grapes.
Ignoring his comment, she asked the scarred man, “Who the hell are you? Why did y’all grab me?”
He ignored her, but the guy on the dirt, now leaning comfortably against a tree trunk, answered her, “I am Rafael, that ugly son-of-a-bitch is Remy, and the happy one holding you is Armando.” The blond, Remy, walked over and kicked him in the gut. They mock fought for a couple of seconds and stopped at a hiss from Armando.
She’d had their names and faces right then. She felt proud of herself for discerning their identities before they’d been revealed.
“Why are you out here? The only thing I can think of is that you´re the animal rights activists that let the big cats go, but I don´t think you´re dressed suitably for the job, so why the hell are you out here? And why do you need me to get you off this island? Are you the men responsible for releasing the animals?” she asked.
The men exchanged a look.
Armando laughed nastily at her, Rafael snorted, and Remy snickered.
“So many questions,” Remy sauntered over and chucked her gently on the chin.
Watching his eyes dilate with his proximity to her too, she flinched and felt like an idiot at their laughter, but it was the only possible explanation she´d been able to come up with. Hell, if she´d have known what freaky shit was going on down here in the Americas, and all in Uncle Sam´s name, she would have been protesting too. The government was screwing with nature.
She looked around at the three gorgeous men and knew that she had to somehow escape from them, which was a damned shame. Why couldn´t she have met them back home? Surely she deserved a good fuck after what that shit of a husband had done to her? But no, she had to get away from the three hunks before those freak cats caught her scent, tracked her down and ate her for dinner.
She flinched again when Rafael invaded her personal space to sniff her, his chest so close to hers she could barely take a breath without her breasts touching him. He shuddered slightly and quickly spun around and away from her. She noticed suddenly that they all spoke to her, but angled their bodies away from her--she didn´t smell that bad for Christ´s sake!
How embarrassing. Yvonne had been busy imagining some kind of fantasy foursome, and they´d been cringing at her BO. No, wait, Armando´s erection hadn´t been faked, so what the hell was going on? She was pretty but she didn´t inspire instantaneous lust in any man. Unless it’d been ages since they’d been with a woman, she really didn’t understand their reaction to her. She didn´t think that any woman could, especially, when that woman was covered in mud and wore torn and dirty army gear. She hated to think of what her hair must look like after being dragged repeatedly through the jungle.
She studied them surreptitiously in the silence that followed her questions, then stiffened her body when Armando jostled her and pushed her over to the tree that Rafael had been leaning against. She sat on the forest floor, looking up at them, knowing that she wasn´t in the best position for escape, but she knew that unless she could injure them somehow, she wouldn´t be making a getaway anytime soon. Of course, the other option would be to seduce her way out of this, but she wasn’t convinced she could take on three testosterone raging men in the condition she was in. Could be fun, though….
“We´re the ones who are asking the questions, chica, remember that. What the fuck are you doing here? Are you a scientist?” Armando asked her suspiciously.
“What? No! I was hired to track down a pack of cats that had been released from the facility here on the island. That´s all. My job was to capture them alive,” she told them honestly.
“Hmm, do you believe her, Rafa?” Remy asked mock-sweetly.
“I don´t think I do, the Project wouldn´t let just anybody in on their secrets ... she must be important to the whole thing....”
“No!” Yvonne interrupted quickly, sensing the danger in the physical reaction of the men. They were pissed at the project, for what reason, she wasn´t sure, but she had to tread carefully. Maybe they were the ones who had indeed let the cats go in the first place and they just didn’t want her to know their role in this.
Try as she might, she couldn’t think of another reason for them to be lost in the jungle with no way to get back home. “I´m telling the truth. I was hired--I´m a tracker, normally humans, but I can hunt too. My remit was to catch the cats and return them to the facility here on the island. That was it. I know nothing about the project, only what was deemed necessary for this assignment--basically fuck all!”
“Didn´t you think that was wrong? Hunting cats that had escaped from experimentation, only for you to send them back there? Or do animals not count? You said you´re a hunter, I suppose it doesn´t matter to you,” Remy said quietly.
Not a question per se, more of a statement. She abruptly felt like crying. “No!” she told them vehemently, “I didn´t want to do it, but it was either that or I go to prison. I love animals, they´re much nicer than humans,” she said earnestly, “But I can´t go to jail, I just couldn´t stand it.”
Their love of animals was pretty convincing to her—they had to be the men responsible for unleashing the genetic experiments onto the island. She had no way to anticipate what they were capable of, and she didn’t want to find out.
“Why were your choices prison or this?”
She sighed, hoping the truth would help her in the end. “My ex saddled me with nearly $300,000 in back taxes. This was my only chance to pay off that debt with the IRS. It’s hard to resist that much money when you’re so desperate.”
“So, you prefer to condemn helpless animals instead. I see,” Rafael replied.
“I don´t! You might think I had a choice, but I didn´t. I know nothing about the project, security only cleared me to know the basics, nothing specific or detailed.”
Armando smiled nastily at her. “Know what that means guys? She has no idea what we are.”
Yvonne felt taken aback. Just when she thought she’d figured things out…. She crossed her arms over her chest, feeling a chill creep over her skin. “What do you mean, ´what
you are’? You´re men,” Yvonne added hastily.
“Show her Remy,” Armando said, keeping his eyes trained on her face, waiting for her reaction.
Yvonne´s head spun around in time to watch Remy throw himself to the ground. His body crouched, his back curled until his head flew back and his face became a grimace of pain. Hair sprouted through his pores, bones audibly crunched and cracked until suddenly Remy wasn´t a man anymore. He was a golden cougar.
Yvonne didn’t realize she’d stopped breathing until the cat hissed at her. She gasped, feeling her heart pound with fear. She stared blankly at him for a second and covered her eyes, muttering, “I´m crazy, I´ve lost it. Fucking Tyrell, he´s made me lose my frigging mind.” She shook her head, willing the image to go away before she uncovered her eyes again. She lowered her hands slightly, but the cougar was still there, she flinched and recovered her eyes, wondering what kind of nightmare she’d wandered into
Armando gave a cold laugh and grabbed her elbow, dragging her to her feet. “Come on, we need to stay on the move. There will be more out after her--she´s scented strongly. We have to move out.”
She looked at each of the men. “Are you all like … like that?”
With a hiss of pain, Rafael shifted into a black panther, and before Yvonne knew where the hell she was, a red/yellow snake lay dead at her feet minus it´s head. She tried not to be the girl that she was when she saw the dead creature, but she couldn´t help her grimace of distaste. She had spoken the truth, when she´d told the three men that she preferred animals to humans, she would never willingly hurt an animal unless it was injured and needed to be put down, or it was about to hurt her--she was a Vegan, for fuck´s sake! Seeing the dead snake detracted from Rafael´s return shift back to a very naked, virile man.
“Why did you have to kill that snake?” she demanded angrily, looking away from his nakedness.
“Muñeca, that snake is, what we Colombians call a verrugoso, aka a Bushmaster. That thing will kill you quicker than Armando will smile. It will bite you twice, and within seconds--muerto,” he snapped his fingers, then chucked her under the chin again, “You should be grateful, it had its beady little eyes on you,” he teased her, not offended by her anger.
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