Petting Them: An Anthology of Claw-ver Tails

by Tate James

  "Damn," he hissed between his teeth.

  "Please tell me you have protection," I whispered against his mouth.

  He nodded, his hand slapping out, reaching for his pants. I helped him and when he pulled a condom from his pants pocket, relief filled me followed quickly by the urge to hurry. I took the condom from him, ripped it open and slid it onto him before I straddled him once more, my legs falling on either side of his hips.

  Wren looked up at me, his eyes sparkling with passion and desire. I couldn't remember a time I had felt this needed, this wanted. Maybe I had once with Preston, but it was obvious he didn't care about me as much as I did him. He had left without a backward glance and I had pined for him too long. That ended tonight, it ended now.

  I slid down onto him in one quick thrust—well, okay, it ended up not being so quick. I attempted the one quick thrust, but it had been so long since I had sex that it was an excruciatingly long time before my groin met Wren's. Air hissed between both of our teeth and Wren's gaze glittered dangerously as his jaw locked and he swallowed.

  I shuddered, feeling full, so damn full. I wanted to move, but at the same time, I knew I needed time to adjust. He was big. So much bigger than my dildo at home. That thing was puny. Why had I bought that again?

  Finally, after several moments of tense silence, I started to move. My hips rising and falling slowly. He groaned. I groaned. Ripples of pleasure echoed through my skin, up into my bones. I sighed as I rose again and once more sank down, taking him all the way to the hilt.

  "Wren," his name slipped out of my lips and that seemed to be his breaking point.

  Acting on what appeared to be pure instinct, Wren's arms closed around me and he rolled until he was back on top. "God, Sweetheart, you make me lose my mind." His voice thickened as he spoke, his hips jerking into me. I gasped as I felt him push all the way in and then moaned when he retreated. "You feel like fucking heaven."

  I bit my lip to keep myself from crying out as sparks danced in front of my vision. I held onto his arms as he pumped inside me. The sky above us was filled with millions of stars. It was beautiful, but not nearly as beautiful as Wren made me feel as he fucked me into oblivion. I cried out as he started to move faster, his hips pistoning. His hands went to the inside of my knees as he pulled them up and out.

  "Fuck." He even cursed beautifully. I reached up, cupping his jaw and his eyes opened. He looked surprised as though he hadn't even realized he closed them. Something on my face must have called to him, because he took a moment, his hips slowing as he leaned forward. His mouth captured mine and his tongue invaded.

  He kissed me like a wild animal—all teeth and desire and passion. I loved it. I scratched his arms, his back, his chest as he fucked me. When he pulled away, I gasped for breath and rode out the orgasm that tore through me. He grunted, his hips stilling as he, too, came. Then he sank into me, his whole body sticky with sweat. I didn't mind.

  Having him over me like that made me feel wanted, made me feel desired. It was an emotion I hadn’t felt in a long time.

  9

  I felt strange walking towards the clinic the next morning. There was a soreness between my thighs, but a lightness in my step. It was just like my first time—with Preston—right before I realized he was gone and he wasn't ever coming back. That thought stopped me in the parking lot between the residence house and the clinic. It was a dark cloud hanging over me. I put a hand to my chest and forced my feet to keep moving, to leave it behind me. To leave Preston behind, and all of my feelings for him. Just like he had done to me.

  I opened the door to the clinic with a bright smile and walked back to the kitchen, following the smell of delicious food. The smile fell from my lips when I reach the door. Wren was nowhere to be seen—only Jay and Preston. I felt awkward around Jay, unsure how to approach, and...well, I'm not exactly sure what I felt around Preston. A part of me wanted to be smug—he may not have wanted me but someone else certainly did. But another part of me tamped that darker more cynical side of me down.

  Instead of talking, I took a seat at the table and started to eat. Preston finished up at the stove and moved to the table with a fresh plate of something meaty and delicious smelling. He set it down and then just as he was about to sit, a ding pinged from his cell phone.

  With a sigh, he answered, talking quietly in a language I had heard at the airport but didn’t know the name of. He moved away and as soon as he was out of the room, I feel the tension leave my body. Jay watched me with curious eyes.

  "So," he started, biting into a loaf of bread, "I hear you and Wren went on a date last night."

  All too soon, the tension was back. My shoulders stiffened and my spine straightened. How much do I tell him? I wonder. I don't want to lie. I'm not a liar. But...I also don't want to hurt his feelings. Surely he knows about—

  "Hey, don't worry," Jay said, nodding to me. "It's not a big deal. It's none of my business—" I hate his flippant tone. It tells me he's hiding something. So, I reach forward and put a hand over one of his on the table, cutting him off.

  "I'm sorry," I said, not looking at him. "It's not that." I inhaled a deep breath, daring myself to be brave. It felt like I used it all last night, though. I wanted something and I went for it. Where is the Jen who did that? Where is the Jen who told Wren exactly what she wanted...and got it? I knew I had to find her again. "I just don't know how to do this, really..." I finished, feeling awkward, but finally allowing myself the chance to look at Jay's expression.

  He wasn't angry or judgmental. He just looked at me with curious eyes, his friendly face an open book. One that was just as confused as me. "About you and Wren..." he said. "Are the both of you together now?"

  "It's not exactly like that," I said, taking my hand away and shaking my head. "It's casual. I'm not looking for a relationship right now." I fought the urge to look towards the doorway where Preston had exited.

  "So...you're not..." Jay looked at me, his eyes burning with intensity. It shocked me so much that I pulled back a bit more, my back bumping into the spine of the chair. "Jen," he said, leaning forward as I leaned back. With his tan skin and his wild hair, he looked like a handsome, albeit rugged, man. All of it had my attention. "Would you go on a date with me today?"

  I blinked, looking up at him. Of all the things I expected him to say, asking me on a date was not one of them. "Um...you're asking me on a date?" I felt like an idiot repeating what he had said, but this could not be happening to me.

  I hadn't been on a real date in six years. Until the night before, I hadn't had a whole lot of sex in six years. And all of a sudden in the span of forty-eight hours, I was asked out twice and having sex again. It felt unreal.

  "I am," Jay said, his gaze captivating.

  My lips moved before my mind had caught up. "I had sex with Wren last night." My eyes widened as I said it. But it was better that I be open about it. I didn't want him to get the wrong idea about me. "I'm not..." I started, wanting to defend my actions, but Jay shook his head.

  "You don't have to explain yourself to me," he said. "You're an adult and, anyway, I already knew."

  "You knew?" I squeaked. A different kind of shock rippled through me. I had trusted Wren. He couldn't have—

  As if he knew exactly where my thoughts were going, Jay stopped them in their tracks. "Wren didn't tell me," he explained. "I just kind of figured that you and him might have done something when I saw the both of you come back last night."

  "You saw us?" I really needed to stop repeating everything he said.

  He nodded. "You looked intimate," he said. "There is a different way that people move when they've opened themselves up. I'll admit, I was jealous."

  "You were?" It was like all of my brain cells had dried up, or packed their bags and run back to America.

  "I was, and I'm glad that you're not serious. It means I still have a chance." That grin of his was enticing and wicked. It sucked all of the breath out of my chest. A rush of heat flooded my cheek
s as he stood up from the table, and reached down for my hand. He lifted it up and bent over, pressing his lips to the crest of my knuckles. "Let me have a chance, Jenique," he said. "I can promise to make it exciting."

  I didn't know what to say or how to respond. But I did know that I had never in my life had a proposal such as this. I thought what had happened with Wren was an anomaly. I'd had an itch to scratch and so had he...I didn't know it would be so amazing. Then, when it had been...I just let myself be consumed by it. I had still been floating so high on that orgasmic bliss when we returned that I hadn't even noticed Jay's presence.

  "Please, Jen." Jay gripped my hand and pulled me from my seat. He towered over me, a shining presence. So full of life and sun and beauty and humor. He leaned down once more, this time closer so that I could feel the warmth of his breath against my cheeks as he spoke. "Let me take you with me for the day," he said. "You won't regret it."

  South Africa was becoming a lot of things to me. An adventure. A new opportunity. The chance of a lifetime. A beginning. Of all the things I thought about my actions here, regret was the furthest thing from my mind.

  So, I said, "Yes."

  “Did you know that the sun is almost a perfect sphere?”

  I scrunched up my nose and turned my face towards Jay. “I didn’t take you for the random facts guy.”

  Jay smiled and shrugged. “I can do more than make jokes.” He moved in close, pushing me up against the market stall.

  “I didn’t say you couldn’t.” I couldn’t help but smile back. His grin was contagious, and I let it overtake me. Jay was on another level today. He was easy-going and laid back and so incredibly charming and sweet, I was sure I’d have to see a dentist when I got back home.

  The idea of leaving, however, left me with an achy feeling in my chest. It wasn’t just because I would miss Jay and Wren—though I would, for sure. Things still didn’t sit right with me about Preston. I came to South Africa thinking I could get a little adventure and I had gotten that—with a dose of two hot as sin safari guides that were trying their damnedest to get my attention.

  “But just what are your random facts supposed to prove to me then?” I asked, turning my attention upward and letting said sun rest on my face, warming my skin.

  Jay moved forward, standing over me and his shadow moved to block out the sun. “Impress you?”

  I laughed. “Was that an answer or a question?”

  “Both?”

  I continued to chuckle and turned my gaze away, examining the local area. I never expected that he’d take me to a farmer’s market for a date, but I had to admit it was kind of the perfect place. The scent of barbeque and roasting veggies surrounded us, making my mouth water. My stomach growled despite the fact that we had eaten breakfast just two hours ago.

  “Come on, I know a good stall.” He took my hand and led me away from the empty stall we had stopped to take a break near.

  I followed him, marveling at the people around me. I wished I had brought my camera. I would have loved to take photographs. The sights. The sounds. The languages—I could hear multiple being spoken. It was breathtaking. Looking around, I would have never imagined Africa like this. I didn’t know what I would have imagined. Everything I knew about the continent, much less South Africa, had come from textbooks that I hadn’t reviewed in over a decade. It was beautiful. No paragraph in any textbook could have accurately described the diversity or the atmosphere of culture and...enchantment.

  “They have the best braai I’ve ever had here,” Jay said as he pulled me in front of a stand.

  “Braai?” I asked. I had never heard the term before.

  “Yes.” Jay put two fingers up and pointed to something on the hanging menu behind the woman at the stall. He said something in the same language Preston had spoken earlier. “It’s called barbeque in America.”

  “I like barbeque!” I said excitedly.

  He looked at me, grinning from ear to ear. “Then you’ll love this.”

  But I wasn’t too sure about that, because, in the next instant, Jay leaned around me, his smile slipping away. “Jay?” I called his name, but his focus was somewhere else, on someone else. I turned my head, following his gaze. “What is it?” I asked.

  Across the street, there were two men with scruffy looking beards climbing into a Jeep. Jay watched them as though he knew them, but he neither called out to them nor waved. Only when I touched his arm did he jerk as though he had been shocked.

  “Hey,” I said, “are you okay?”

  He shook his head, looking down at me before looking back up as the men started their vehicle and pulled out. “No,” he said, “we have to go.” Jay turned to the woman behind the stall. He said something quick in that strange, but beautiful language before he was suddenly hauling me away.

  “Wait, where are we going?” Jay moved us through the crowd with speed, ducking and turning, and avoiding over-enthusiastic sellers.

  “We have to get back to the clinic,” he answered. “I have to tell Wren and Doc.”

  “Tell them what?” We got to the vehicle and Jay shoved me into the passenger side, leaving me breathless and confused, before sprinting around and leaping into the driver’s seat. “Jay?” He started the car and pulled out, backing up and then jerking the car into drive. “Jay!” I reached over and touched his leg. “What the hell is going on?” I demanded. “Talk to me.”

  His dark, molten eyes—dark as burnt soil—looked over at me. There was worry in his gaze, a concern stretched too thin. He pulled away and focused on driving. The bumps that rattled the front end of the Jeep seemed both louder and farther away at the same time. How? I couldn’t say. “Doc told you about the poachers that hurt Leo right?” he asked.

  “Yeah, what does that have to do with any…” Realization overcame me. “That was them?” I clarified.

  He nodded. “I don’t know what they’re doing back in this area, but I know those kinds of people. They aren’t the type to just give up and walk away. I have to tell Doc. He’s going to want to check on Leo. Maybe some of the other animals he’s been looking after.”

  “You think they’re going to try something?”

  Jay shook his head, a frown marring his face. It was unusual and I didn’t like it on him. “I don’t know, Jen. I hope not, but…”

  “Okay,” I said. I reached over again and, this time, when I touched his leg, it was for reassurance. “It’ll be okay,” I promised. “Let’s just try to get back to the clinic in one piece.”

  He nodded and eased up on the gas, but his hands didn’t loosen from their death grip on the steering wheel. It was a minor concession. I had to content myself with that.

  10

  “You’re sure it was them?” I watched as Preston paced back and forth, his face a mask of concern. Wren stood just a few steps behind him, his arms crossed, his expression unreadable.

  “I’m positive, Doc,” Jay said. “Like I said, I took Jen to town and they were getting into their car. I saw the guns in the back.”

  I blinked, glancing back at Jay. I hadn’t seen any guns but, then again, I had barely been paying attention, I had been so focused on Jay. I trusted him. I believed him. The thought of those men—the poachers—being back in this area was startling and a little scary.

  “Shouldn’t we let the authorities know?” I asked.

  Preston shook his head, slapping a hand to his forehead. He shoved that hand up, moving it through the thick, dark strands of his hair. He looked so distressed. I clenched my hands into fists at my sides as I fought against the urge to go to him. He looked almost the same as he had six years ago.

  My mind flashed to an image of him pacing back and forth in my dorm room.

  “I feel like I failed,” he said, striding from one end of the room to the other. He paused in front of the door, whirled around and paced back to me. “That damn professor didn’t cover half of the shit that was on the test.”

  I laughed, shaking my head as I sat on my bed
. “You’ll be fine,” I assured him. “Finals have us all stressed to the max.”

  “Stressed, yeah, I feel fucking stressed.” Preston stopped in front of me, his ocean eyes staring down at me. “But you relax me, Jen. You know that?” His smile was soft and sweet. “Sometimes, I feel like you’re the only thing that relaxes me.”

  I swallowed with difficulty, a blush rising to my cheeks. “I-I’m glad to hear that.” I stared at his mouth—the softness of his lips—and I wondered how they would feel on mine.

  I shook the memory away, sucking in a sharp breath. “Why not?” I asked, directing my attention to the mention of authorities.

  “They can’t do anything,” Wren answered, stepping forward. “Those men are known poachers, but unless they get caught red-handed, then they’re as good as free.”

  “What are we supposed to do then?”

  “We’ll have to go out more,” Preston said. “Check on Leo and the other animals. We’ll have to take shifts.”

  I nodded. “Okay, I can—”

  “No!” I blinked as Wren, Jay, and Preston all shouted at once. They stopped and looked at each other for a moment before Preston dropped his arm from his hair and moved across the room, coming to stand in front of me.

  “I understand you want to help, Jen.” His hands settled on my shoulders. “But it’s too dangerous. Poachers can make a lot of money selling certain animal hides. We’re talking thousands of American dollars. We don’t know how determined these men are. We don’t know if they’d be willing to hurt someone or even kill them to get their prize.”

  My mouth dropped open in shock. “Kill someone?”

  “It’s been known to happen before,” Jay’s voice was low, quiet.

  “There’s a local anti-poaching security team,” Wren said. “We’ll go ahead and contact them, but it’ll take a while for them to get here. I heard they were having problems a few towns north of here. They may not have the manpower available to send people right now.”