by Vonna Harper
Anaba was behind the rim and standing in the sun, his tail lashing and fangs exposed.
It’s me, Hok’ee, he said in the silent way the Tocho used when they were Cougar. Study me. You’ll see I speak the truth.
Instead of answering, Anaba lifted his head so he could catch the breeze. His tail stilled, and he closed his mouth. As Hok’ee grew closer, Anaba began changing form. By the time Hok’ee was close enough to speak in a normal tone, his friend had become human.
“You heard my call,” Anaba said. “I hoped—”
“That’s not why I came. When I first heard you, I tried to tell myself it was nothing I had to concern myself with.”
“You left her?” The handsome, hollow-eyed younger man frowned. “Is she dead?”
“No. I would never—”
“But Cougar might.”
Nodding reluctantly, he waited for Anaba to continue. After a moment, Anaba dropped cross-legged to the ground, prompting him to do the same. Although like Anaba, he was naked, he gave little thought to the rough surface his buttocks were on. Both men’s cocks were limp.
“I left you alone because what takes place between you and the woman is for the two of you,” Anaba began. “But I came close enough that I could hear and smell. Tell me, when you were fucking her, were you aware of anything else?”
Normally nothing or no one could approach his home without him knowing. Realizing how vulnerable he’d been caused his muscles to contract. But because he’d never lied to Anaba, he shook his head. “When I’m with her, nothing else matters. I become weak.”
“Maybe that’s why there are no female Tocho. He who has power over us wants us strong, horny but strong.”
He who has power over us. How simple and yet complex the explanation was. More importantly, would that mysterious and powerful force kill Kai because of what she’d done to him? Better he die a second time. After all, he’d been the one to bring her into his world.
“I didn’t want to say what I just did,” Anaba continued, “but I felt I had to.”
“I should have thought of it. I didn’t because…” He glanced down at his cock.
“I understand.”
“Tell me, have you felt the force today? Perhaps it knows what I’ve done.”
“I can’t answer that. Only you can, eventually. Hok’ee, I wanted to stay where I was so I could hear…” His eyes nearly closed, Anaba cupped his hands around his cock, drawing Hok’ee’s attention to the other man’s newborn erection. “I came just from listening to the two of you.”
“You’re human.”
“Sometimes. Hok’ee, I was still sitting there when I sensed something that made me uneasy. After becoming Cougar, I went in search of it.”
This, he now understood, was why his friend had wanted them to talk. Much as he longed to tell Anaba what Kai had revealed about his past, that would have to wait. “What did you find?”
“The man who came here with the woman. He has left their camp and the cave they’ve been exploring.”
Alerted by the tension in Anaba’s tone, he leaned forward.
“At first I thought he was searching for her, but then…”
“Where did he go?”
“White-Falls.”
The Tocho had given the name White-Falls to a thin waterfall that began at the top of one of the highest canyon walls. The waterfall had all but dried out this summer, but the small deep pool at the base still provided water for the area’s animals, including him and the other Tocho when they were near there. As vital as the water was, that wasn’t why his belly had suddenly knotted.
“He made it to the top?”
Anaba nodded. “It took him a long time. He kept looking around, often using his binoculars.”
“He didn’t see you, did he?”
“A predator knows how to stalk without the prey being aware.”
Suddenly understanding, Hok’ee shook his head. “He wasn’t looking for Kai, was he?”
“I don’t think so. I believe he wanted to see where White-Falls began, but he didn’t want her to know what he was doing, which is why he waited until she was gone. Hok’ee, he found it.”
There was only one it, the complex and virtually intact structure that had been built in a deep crevice partway up the canyon and was within easy walking distance of the creek that became White-Falls. The canyon wall’s many angles hid what the Tocho called Ghost House, until someone was nearly on top of it.
Although Tochona was home to a half dozen ancient ruins, only Ghost House remained as it had been at the beginning. It even included a burial pit, complete with the bones of the humans who’d once lived there. Because of Ghost House’s location, it was sheltered from most winds and the worst of the seasons. And inside the multi-storied, multi-roomed house lay proof of what The Ancient Ones’ lives had been like. He and the other Tocho spent little time there because it belonged to Anasazi ghosts.
“Where is he now?”
“On his way back down. He was inside Ghost House only a few minutes before he hurried out.”
“Maybe he sensed the ghosts.”
“Maybe.” Anaba frowned. “As soon as he came outside, he used his binoculars to look around for a long time. I heard him muttering to himself, and his legs and arms shook. Hok’ee, if he tells others what he’s found—”
“Outsiders will come here,” he finished. “Maybe hundreds.”
“And we’ll no longer be safe.”
What, he asked himself, would Kai say and do if she saw Ghost House? She’d come to Tochona to explore the area’s past, but she hadn’t expected to find anything remotely like Ghost House. She’d be as excited as her companion had been, and she would have a hand in bringing in outsiders.
He could keep her with him, not allow her to get anywhere near Ghost House. But even if he did, the man would—
“Hok’ee, I know why he didn’t stay up there.”
Blinking, Hok’ee focused on Anaba. “Why?”
“Not just because of the ghosts, but because he doesn’t want her to know.”
“What? They’re companions. He—”
“Companions, or competitors?”
One of the problems with not being able to remember his past was that there were holes in his knowledge of what it was like to be human. In addition to using the nearest town as hunting ground for a sex partner, he educated himself about the human species. Anaba had been a Tocho longer than he had, and thus had learned more about those strangers.
“Hok’ee, there’s only one way to stop him.”
And her. “But if he doesn’t return to where he came from, someone will look for him,” he said, unable to mention Kai.
“If his body is found far from here, and we move or hide his belongings, the searchers might not come anywhere near Ghost House. In time, Tochona will cease to interest them.”
“I pray you’re right. When you and I are human, we care for each other. If one of us was killed, the other wouldn’t rest until we learned who was responsible and made the killer pay.”
Nodding, Anaba released his cock and patted Hok’ee’s knee. Occasionally, when solitude and the need for sex became too much for them, they pleasured each other. They just didn’t talk about this aspect of their relationship.
“If it looked as if he’d fallen,” Anaba said, “there’d be no reason to investigate further.”
Putting off the moment he couldn’t ignore, he pondered how he might force the man over the top without leaving proof of his involvement. He didn’t care how long it took for the man to die, or whether he screamed until death overtook him. Recalling what Kai had told him about his own death, he accepted that he had no more concern for what he’d once been and endured than he did for the stranger.
“Hok’ee, what about her?”
“Kai,” he whispered. “That’s her name.”
15
Hok’ee knew Kai was where he’d left her long before he ducked and slipped through the opening. Outside, the shadows
were everywhere, and because night came quickly once the sun set, he’d resigned himself to hours of darkness. True, he could turn on a flashlight or light a candle, but he wasn’t sure he wanted to look at the woman who’d turned his world in directions he hadn’t expected. A woman for whom he had the power of life or death over.
Heart beating faster than he wanted, he straightened and waited for his eyes to adjust. There she was, sitting on his bed and eating an apple as if his presence was of no concern to her. She’d put her shirt and jeans back on, but her breasts remained unrestrained, making him wonder if she’d bothered with her underpants.
“Is it you, Hok’ee?” she asked. “Or is Cougar about to break out again?”
“Cougar has turned this body over to me,” he said, although that might change at any time.
“I heard something. A high-pitched scream. Was that Cougar? He was hunting?”
“Anaba was calling me. I went to him.”
“Anaba?”
“My friend.”
She frowned, then nodded. “What did this friend want from you?”
“Not want. He had something to tell me,” he evaded as he stepped toward her. “You didn’t try to leave.”
“I should have.”
“Why didn’t you?”
“Damn it!” Jumping to her feet, she started toward him, only to stop with her head held high and nostrils flared like a deer sensing danger. Looking at her, the blood in his temples pulsed. Only a few minutes ago he’d been awash in self-hate for having approached her in the first place. If he hadn’t hauled her into his world, he wouldn’t be facing this terrible decision. Now, although he was no closer to committing himself than he’d been during his reluctant walk here, it suddenly didn’t matter.
She was woman, sex and energy, breasts he’d cradled and a cunt he’d flooded with his seed. It was enough. Tonight, sex was enough.
Wasn’t it?
Although he knew Cougar was responsible for some of what he was feeling, he gave no thought to making certain the beast was under control. In truth, having Cougar pulsing inside him would make tonight easier. He’d fuck, not think, not look into tomorrow, just fuck.
“Don’t look at me like that,” she ordered. “It makes me uncomfortable.”
“Like what?”
“You know what I’m talking about, as if you’re a predator and I’m—shit, tell Cougar to go back to sleep, or whatever he does. Otherwise, I’m walking out of here.”
Instead of giving into the impulse to laugh, he stalked toward her. Cougar’s muscles flexed, contracted, flexed again. As unsettling as the sensations were, he loved existing between man and animal, the single-minded strength, the simple emotions.
She was beautiful, a doelike creature. Although she stood her ground, he sensed she was a heartbeat from bolting. If she did, Cougar might spring after her. She had to know that; maybe it was why she was trying to dig her toes into the hard ground.
“I have no doubt my coworker is looking for me. He’s armed. Did I tell you that he’s armed?”
“No, he isn’t.”
“What?” Her eyes widened. “How do you know what weapons—”
“He isn’t looking for you.”
Frowning, she shook her head, then went still. “Is that what Anaba had to tell you?”
As his respect for her was growing, he mentally reached out for Cougar. No matter how fiercely Cougar fought for freedom, he vowed not to let the predator loose now. Concentrating, he waited until he’d achieved the man/animal balance again. Then he took another step. Her smell drifted over him.
“You and I are in here,” he told her. “What takes place elsewhere doesn’t matter.”
She stared at the scant distance left between them. “What is this about? You intend to reward me for telling you what I did about your past by—by forcing yourself on me?”
“You want me.”
“I want civilized, damn it! I deserve to be treated like a woman.”
The only woman he had any knowledge of had ended his unborn child’s life and robbed him of his one chance at having a family, of belonging to someone. Was that why he’d driven the motorcycle the way he had, because he’d wanted to join his child?
“You won’t fight me,” he told her. “I know you won’t.”
“You don’t know anything about me! Hok’ee, you’re scaring me.” Judging by her suddenly widening eyes, she already regretted her admission.
Fear had a scent far different from sex, and yet both reached deep inside him. Not content to let Hok’ee have these moments, Cougar pushed into the inner space Hok’ee hoped to claim. But even as he resented the intrusion, he fed off Cougar’s energy.
Looking at Kai’s widely staring eyes made him regret his role in her agitation, but any emotion was better than the nothing that coated most of his days. She was his, his possession, a beating heart after too long of hearing only his own.
“You’re getting that look,” she muttered. “The cougar look.”
Cougar’s muscles rippled, leaving no doubt of his frustration with the confined space. Hok’ee wanted his own body, his arms and legs, hands and cock, but not that thin veil called civilization.
Stalk her, close in on her, let her know what was going to happen.
“Get back!” she snapped. “God damn you, don’t play your stupid game.”
“It’s not a game.”
Judging her expression, she already knew that. Another wave of fear coursed through her, but although she took a backward step, her fearful expression didn’t last. He wanted to try to know what she was experiencing, but it wouldn’t happen now, not with blood flowing into his cock, his chest hot and tight.
Melting into Cougar without surrendering human form was easier than he’d thought, probably because for the first time in this short shared existence, he wanted to be both man and animal. A man stalking the woman he intended to claim.
“Ah, shit,” she muttered. “Fucking shit.”
“You want to fuck?”
“Not like this, damn it.” Not taking her gaze off him, she crossed her hands over her crotch. “I don’t know who you are, or what you’re capable of.”
“Touch me, then you will.”
It was the last thing she wanted to do. He only had to catch her strangled breathing to understand that. But did she have any choice? Willing himself to stand his ground, he held out his arms, palms up, so hopefully she’d know he was opening himself to her.
“You’re—” she started. “Damn you for putting me through this.”’
A man should have a response, right? But there was too much animal in him for that to happen. He’d keep his human form; doing that was vital. As for the rest of him, in truth, he had no interest in the man who’d been given the name Hok’ee.
Her nostrils flared as her gaze skimmed down him. Her hands, still protecting her crotch, pressed against her jeans. Then, her cheeks reddening, she slid her right foot forward. How long, slim, and yet strong her legs were, made to wrap around a man’s body. And that soft, ever flowing cunt—just thinking about it made him grunt.
Hearing the raw sound, Kai started. Then, putting everything she had into it, she willed herself to return to the wordless challenge Hok’ee had thrown at her. Although he remained fully human, he seemed larger than before, more intimidating, determined.
He’d had a number of reasons for returning to her, most of which she wasn’t sure she wanted to know. Despite his reasons, right now only one thing mattered to him. He reminded her of a prisoner forced behind bars for too long. Now that he was free, he cared about nothing except exploding in the nearest cunt. Only once he’d accomplished that could he begin to think about the rest of his life.
What force, event, thought, or impulse had turned him on? He’d climaxed not that long ago with her willing body wrapped around his. Shouldn’t he be satisfied?
He wasn’t, though, and from everything she could tell, sex was the only thing that mattered to him. Feeling the pu
ll of his energy gave her the insane courage and energy to slide those last few inches and place her fingertips on his hips. Holding her breath, she stood on her toes, ready for what?
Yes, Cougar, crouching beneath the human skin, but sharing the same lungs and breathing in the same scents. No surprise, because Cougar was all about sex. No matter what it took to achieve the predator’s goal, he’d do it. What did he care if the female resisted? Only his needs mattered.
What a sad, hollow, and dangerous way to live.
Even as she moved her fingers upward in hopes of determining whose heart beat the strongest, she acknowledged the impact Cougar was having on her. Despite what she’d just told herself, she loved his simplicity and primitive qualities. He was the most honest living organism she’d ever come across. There was no questioning his needs and goals.
Or how much her needs mirrored his.
Afraid, yes. Challenged, certainly. Hungry, maybe more than she’d ever been.
“Do you know what you’re doing?” Hok’ee muttered as she flicked his nipples.
“I hope so.”
“I’m not sure—I can’t guarantee what’s going to happen.”
“I know.” Still touching him, she shifted her thoughts from Hok’ee to the other half of him. I can’t give you what you want and need, she told Cougar. No one can. But I’ll listen. I promise I’ll do that.
“Kai?”
Just like that, she could no longer concentrate on trying to communicate with Cougar, but with the beast so close to the surface, maybe it didn’t matter. Maybe he knew.
“I don’t understand what I’m doing,” she admitted. “A large part of me wants to trust instinct, but one of us has to think and reason.”
“Why?”
“That’s what you’d like, isn’t it?” she threw at him. “Both of us going at it like animals. Sorry, but that’s a luxury I don’t dare allow myself.”
